Plotlogs
The Dragons Heart Ruby Sr Selina 240613
At the base of Mount Galdhopiggen, a group of adventurers from the House of Shemra stood facing a daunting task. Their mission was to retrieve the legendary Dragon's Heart Ruby, a gem of unparalleled power and beauty, rumored to be hidden deep within a cavernous labyrinth inside the mountain. The cavern was known for its treacherous paths and had claimed the lives of many who dared to explore its depths.
The team was met by members of the House of Odin, who offered a veiled warning about the dangers that lay ahead and the impossibility of navigating the abyss that awaited. Despite the ominous greeting, the adventurers pressed on, bound by a shared goal and a steadfast commitment to their cause.
Meridith, a figure of determination and strength, led the charge. She was accompanied by Sara, Trevor, Magnus, Calista, Autumn, and Abby. Together, they embarked on a journey fraught with peril, encountering obstacles that tested their resolve and pushed them to their limits.
As they ventured deeper into the cave, the group faced relentless challenges. They encountered skeletons of fallen adventurers, hints of the deadly trials that had thwarted others before them. Yet, undeterred, they pressed on, driven by a shared sense of purpose and the guidance of Meridith.
Their unity and determination eventually led them to a colossal chamber where they confronted a trapped and anguished dragon spirit. It was a testament to the adventurers' resolve that they chose to free the spirit, despite the danger it posed. Their act of mercy did not go unnoticed. The dragon, acknowledging their bravery and selflessness, granted them access to its treasure hoard, among which lay the coveted Dragon's Heart Ruby.
However, their triumph was short-lived as they were betrayed by the House of Odin. A tense and fierce battle ensued at the entrance of the cave, with the adventurers fighting valiantly against their assailants. As explosions threatened to seal their fate, it was their unwavering faith in Shemra that ultimately saved them. They formed a circle, joined hands, and offered a prayer to their Eidolon. In response, Shemra herself intervened, pulling each adventurer to safety in the heart of her mountain in Haven.
The adventure concluded with the group safely united in Shemra's mountain, weary but victorious. They had faced unimaginable trials, fought bravely against betrayal, and forged unbreakable bonds in the flames of adversity. The Dragon's Heart Ruby was theirs, but more importantly, they had each other, a treasure far greater than any gem.
(The Dragon's Heart Ruby(SRSelina):SRSelina)
[Wed Jun 12 2024]
At the base of Mount Galdhopiggen, Cavern Entrance
Mount Galdhopiggen, Norway's highest peak at 2,469 meters (8,100 feet), is situated in the Jotunheimen range within the Lom municipality of Innlandet county. Renowned as the tallest mountain in Northern Europe, Galdhopiggen is surrounded by dramatic landscapes and glaciers, including the significant Styggebreen glacier. This peak is a favorite among hikers and climbers, offering several routes to the summit. The most frequented path begins from the Juvasshytta mountain lodge, requiring a guide to cross the glacier safely. Another popular route starts from Spiterstulen, which is a longer but less technical hike that does not necessitate glacier crossing. Both routes reward adventurers with stunning panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and valleys. The ascent to Galdhopiggen, while challenging, is accessible to those with moderate fitness levels and provides an unforgettable experience of Norway's natural beauty.
It is afternoon, about 87F(30C) degrees,
[OOC: Welcome to The Dragon's Heart Ruby. I will be your Storyrunner for the evening, and I just want to make a special mention that I love seeing when people use Think, Recall, Feel, Internal, and Attempt to try to do things (please do NOT worry about spamming me, I can scroll). I will try to go slow enough to allow each person to do one decent post per 'round.' If you slide into some Banter, I may stay quiet for a bit, if it is appropriate. If you see a message in all this color, that is a private message, directly to you, which you may act upon, and others may not know any information from it. If you're ready, let us begin...]
Regardless of how everyone chooses to reach Norway, the group eventually stands together at the base of Mount Galdhopiggen, before a cavern that leads into the mountain. An aseembly of House of Odin demis greets you with waves then lumber closer. They are bundled up for much cooler weather than the team from Haven, and light preciptation falls all around the group, but light enough that it will not matter once the team moves into the cavern.
The leader of the Odin team steps forward and offers to shake wrists with whomever is designated as the leader of the Haven team and he says, "Welcome. You are here for the Ruby then? They say it is in this cavern, but none have ever made it to the bottom and come back out alive." He is what one would expect, large, broad, long blond hair, blue eyes, clad in something resembling armor, with weapons handy, much like the rest of their team. But there is some uncertainty among the Odin team, like they do not quite trust the Covenant members looking for what could be both national or House-related treasures for them. A couple of the Odin team exchange glances like they expect an ambush, or to set one off perhaps.
Meridith steps out of thin air, a hand held to Sara as she guides her through the path. She gazes around at their surroundings, nodding at the cavern, at the mount and at Sara. She offers her hand to the leader of the Odin tteam, though she doesn't make it a warm reception. Curteous and professional. Her eyes glance to the other members and their worries and she gives them a dark twinkle.
Sara help attempt
Sara did absolutely nothing there.
Trevor steps out of that air, somewhat late, and orients himself. He's got sunglasses on, and thank for it too - he's able to scan the surroundings, an instinct kicking in to check for details. He scans the mountains, looking for a glint or a flash of some sort of scope.
But, he leads Meridith take the lead, stepping back, settling in once he thinks everything is all hunky-dory.
Sara inclines her head in greeting to everyone, staying close to Meridith and flicking her eyes about her surroundings cautiously.
Arriving with Abby as they have found their way to Norway, Magnus is clad for battle as the massive man reaches out a hand to the House of Odin and says, "Brethren. I have returned to the land of my home to assist these, the Covenant of the Dragon. I have brought my Beloved alongside me for battle, as have these others, so that Mother Freyja will be blessing us this day." He beams a big, broad smile at Abby as he looks back to them. "Worry not, my friend. We will survive, for we are strong of will and mighty of body."
Calista lingers by Trevor, naturally, having come from the same origin as the man. Though much smaller than he, she stands tall and also offers her own nod of greeting to the welcoming committee. "Our greetings," she adds to Magnus's soliloquy, in her confidently articulated voice.
Assisted by a pather, Autumn arrives and joins the group before she turns to the leader. "Greetings," she speaks while she adjusts her cloak. "We will. We are also resilient."
"We have left some supplies for you just inside to keep them dry. Rope, lanterns, rations, GPS tracker to be able to retrace your steps, that kinda thing," the Odin Leader tells Meridith, gesturing toward the cave. He motions to himself at the others and says, "We will stay here at the entrance to keep anyone else from going in and to help if you have trouble finding your way back." He lifts a radio and shows the frequency to Meridith.
Magnus's greeting gives some of the Odin team pause to exchange looks, but then they step forward to shake wrists and give the large man a hug, grinning at him as if he is merely a long lost cousin. The warmth helps cut through some of the stiffness, and the others then exchange more pleasant greetings with the rest of the Covenant members.
Eventually, the Odin Leader resumes talking with Meridith once the bit of merriment is done. "There have been rumors of earthshakes near the mountain. I fear you may not like what you find down there. If you find the way blocked by a tunnel collapse, just come back. There's little chance of getting around it," he tells Meridith in a warning fashion. "When you return, we shall hold a feast back in town," he declares though, letting out a roar to help everyone get in the mood for their adventure ahead.
Sara levels her gaze toward the cave entrance. "Well then," she says, glancing towards the others. "Sounds like a good time to me!"
Calista gives a smile over to Sara, looking like the enthusiasm shared by her team members encourages her as well. "A little spelunking is on my BINGO card, how about yours?" she asks Trevor playfully then.
Meridith gazes upon them slowly, making some quiet determination in her own mind. She doesn't speak on it, nor make other note of it, but she simply loses further emotion within her expression. She nods simply and memorizes the frequency, gazing upon the assembled Scalebound for one of them to note it and make sure they snag a radio for it.
Magnus' display of comraderie with the Odin team, the friendly greeting is acknowledged by her but it doesn't make her look pleased. Maybe her face is just like that right now.@line
She gestures to the Leader and nods. "We'll see it done," she replies as his roar finishes. Letting the others wrap up whatever they wish before she begins to approach the entrance of the cave. "I'm assuming command," she tells her compatriots. "But I don't care if any of you wish to take point, action or thought. Speak freely, act freely, I am here to guide and protect, not lead nor work alone." She tells Calista, Trevor, Sara, Magnus, and Abby.
Trevor smiles at Calista - it's fond, warm. "Can't say it's on my BINGO card," he says, patting his vest with gloved hands. What's he..? Oh. Looking for a BINGO card, and he doesn't have one unfortunately. "But, spelunking definitely is on a list of mine."
Letting out a loud roar in league with the Odin Leader, Magnus raises his broadsword into the air, etched with old Elder Futhark runes as he looks to his compatriots and gives a big smile. "We will conquer this for Shemra, for Selina, and the Covenant. It is our bonds of battle that make us strong. "Yes, I am with you, my sword and bow. Onward to victory!""
Sara steps confidently to just behind Meridith's right side. "None of us are here to work alone," she muses. "I suspect this will take all of us."
Abby stands close to magnus, clad head to toe in armor, with a smile on her face and cast a glance towards the cave, "Ah, a feast sounds like it'll be a lovely time after a bit of spelunking." nodding in understanding to Meridith
Calista gives a little eye roll but then changes her focus to Meridith. "Thank you Meridith," she says distinctly. "We appreciate having the sounding point." Another grin for Magnus and his passionate rally and she's tugging her backpack up higher on her shoulders. "We ready then? Who's grabbing the radio?"
"I..." Magnus says as he looks down at his hands full of weapons, "My hands are full of weapons. I did not plan to hold a radio."
"I vote Trevor for radio duty. Anyone else?" Sara says with a grin.
Meridith nods to Sara. "My thinking entirely."
Calista says "I do think Trevor's hands are more valuable being available."
Calista says "Would you want me to take it?"
"For Shemra," Autumn speaks, lifting her massive blade before she sheathes it back to her back.
Meridith says "You may if you wish, Calistta."
Trevor lifts a hand, running his gloved hand through his hair. "I don't mind carrying it," he says with a shrug - causing the rifle slung on his front to shift momentarily. "But, Calista has a point there."
Sara glances over Trevor. "Watch where that thing goes, eh?" she snickers.
Meridith says "It's a radio, clip it to your belt or something"
Meridith wags a hand.
The Odin Demis step aside to give the group plenty of room to head toward the cavern. True to their word, there are plenty of supplies, multiple packs worth, with everything mentioned plus probably some other essentials that were left unmentioned. There are three radios in the bunch, ten lanterns, extra flash lights. Everything the group should need to be able to make their way down into the cavern. Plus food, if one does not mind MREs and trail rations. Excellent to have for the heavy physical activity ahead of the group.
Once they get assembled and start down, the cave coils and turns, winds and curves, but it remains on constant decline, leading further under the highest mountain peak in northern Europe with every step the team makes. Soon, the gentle sounds of the drizzle outside. And very shortly after, the only noises that can be heard are those the team makes and the faint echoes of those noises. The cavern is wide enough currently for three people across, though two might be more comfortable. The astute amongst them would be able to tell the ceiling is slowly lowering toward them as well, but currently is still a good twenty feet above anyone's head, including Magnus' There is a good layer of bat guano across the floor of the cave, hinting at the number of bats that normally roost in the place during the daylight hours. Thankfully, most of them have vacated for the night.
Meridith strides inside, eyes adjusting easily to the reduced light. She takes point, at the front, trying to have Sara close behind her. The rest she gives leeway to position how they see fit. She doesn't gather any of the supplies offered, uninterested in the lights and food.
Sara keeps closely behind Meridith, moving cautiously. "Not exactly spelunking, is it Calista she calls back over her shoulder. She has also passed by the supplies, seemingly focused on the task at hand.
Sara keeps closely behind Meridith, moving cautiously. "Not exactly spelunking, is it Calista?" she calls back over her shoulder. She has also passed by the supplies, seemingly focused on the task at hand. (fix)
Sara blinks rapidly, allowing her eyes to adjust to the dimness of the cave.
Having grabbed a few food in case and have passed the lantern, Autumn follows Meridith whole she sticks close to the group. Her eyes adjusts as she surveys around the dim cave.
Meridith pockets a flashlight if nobody else bothers
Meridith warns the party, "If you cannot fly, or make might leaps, please grab climbing gear."
Sara grabs onto some climbing gear, just in case.
Abby treads carefully into the cavern, especially upon seeing the guano caking the floor, and snatches some of the supplies including a flashlight and climbing gear offered on the way in. She squints her eyes from the darkness of the cave, following close behind the group.
Autumn also grabs some climbing gear.
As the Scalebound pass into the cavern, Trevor stops momentarily, taking some MREs, and a few trail rations and stuffing them into his pack. Always handy to have food, just in case. You never know. Then, he hands Calista a radio, "Take one," he murmurs softly, tucking a second into a pocket of his vest. Ropes, and other assorted climbing gear are also carefully handled, and placed inside his ruck. That thing is filling up, and at this point it might overfill. A loop of rope, though, an extra one - which he loops carefully around his shoulder, slung across - in case he needs to access it easier.
Following behind Meridith and Calista, Magnus walks beside Abby as he holds his sword at the ready, bow slung across his back as he glances around, having taken a handful of food to munch on as they wander down the cavern. He has taken some ropes, a harness, and other climbing gear with him as he can easily be a pack animal for the rest of the adventurers. Being able to see in the dark, Magnus foregoes a lantern for himself, but grabs one for anyone else that needs one, happily munching on his snack while he follows along, humming an old Norwegian tune that his grandmother had sang to him as a child.
As the Scalebound pass into the cavern, Trevor stops momentarily, taking some MREs, and a few trail rations and stuffing them into his pack. Always handy to have food, just in case. You never know. Then, he hands Calista a radio, "Take one," he murmurs softly, tucking a second into a pocket of his vest. Then, he's pausing taking a lantern, though he seems uncertain how well it's going to be to handle.
OOC: Trevor just wants to point out, to ignore the attempted emote, and go with his earlier one.
Calista accepts the radio from Trevor, clilping it to her utility belt ad suggested by Meridith earlier and also takes some climbing gear based on Meridith's suggestions once more. A flashlight already in her pack has her passing on that for now, to save on space. She gives Trevor a grateful smile and lets herself focus in on the sounds and dim light of the cave. "What's your criteria for spelunking then?" she wonders of Sara amiably, keeping her voice low to avoid too much of an echo.
"Oh, rappelling down the side!" Sara notes with a grin that perhaps may be difficult to see in the low light.
"Isn't that just mountain climbing?" Calista muses, as she looks around her at the slowly closing in walls.
Supplied and ready, the Covenant team descends further into the Earth. After several twists and turns, the team comes to an itersection, but two of the three paths have been blocked off the tunnel collapsing. There are human skeletal remains mixed in with the rubble. That leaves only one path deeper into the cavern, and the foreboding feeling that the team is not meant to be here takes root. Soon enough, the team passes another similar intersection, followed by another. So far, seven paths with only one correct way, the other paths having led to an early demise for the adventurers on those journeys.
That is when the team comes to their first real obstacle: a huge open chamber with no floor. The tunnel continues on the other side by the looks of it, but the bottom of the chamber is not visible, even with night vision and shining lights down into it. Certainly not a good place to fall, as the team may not even have enough rope combined to reach the bottom, presuming someone survived said fall.
"Damn," Autumn mutters upon stopping before the floorless chamber. She peers down the large hole and shakes her head. "I doubt that all of us will be able to jump over."
Sara stops abruptly. "Fantastic," she says, looking to Meridith and the others. She leans down and plucks a bone from the rubble, examining it closely. "I think I need a drink."
"Oh good, an oubliette," Calista says wryly as they reach the opening, keeping well close to the wall's edge where there is floor purchase
Calista says "A french term for a pit they threw people in to be gone and forgotten about."
Meridith emote gazes upon the cavern, stepping slow, lightly, focused on her senses, enhanced as they are and peering into the immense twisting caverns in which they find themselves. As they arrive to the huge chamber with now floor, she gazes some at the distance, trying to calculate it and see if such a telekinetic leap would suffice.
Calista looks at the open cavern dubiously. "I am of course just... making light of a very large problem."
Meridith says "Not a person. But a rope, perhaps"
"Rope might not make it all the way down, but they might be able to go...across?" Sara thinks out loud.
Meridith nods to Sara.
"Perhaps you could use a boost, Meridith I could throw one of these ropes across with a grappling hook or something similar." Magnus notes as he stows his weapons, rubbing his hands together.
Trevor stops before the pit, kneeling down to rummage around in his ruck. Taking out the harness, and some of the climbing gear he grabbed earlier. He adjusts, putting the harness on. Then rams a climbing stake into the wall - it's loud, causing a brief echo - and loops the rope that was around his shoulder tightly around the stake - then attaches it to his harness. He shifts, checking how sturdy it is, and it's capable of holding himself. "Anyone else wanna attach up? We can climb as a unit?"
Sara stares at Trevor. "Where are you going to climb to get you over there?" she points to across the giant missing section of floor.
Meridith nods gently. "Here is my plan," She notes. "I will leap across. Magnus will toss a rope with some pitons and I will secure it. Magnus will remain on this side as an assistant anchor, we will cross, then we will all help Magnus across."
Meridith says "Agree or disagre?"
"Like walking a tightrope?" Sara asks a bit nervously.
"That sounds like good idea," Autumn replies to Meridith.
Meridith shakes her head to Sara. "No. Harness, then, clip the harness to the rope."
Meridith says "Then climb"
Calista says "I think she means more like rappeling."
Sara says "Oh, yeah, I can do that."
Abby says "Seems like a good plan."
Magnus nods, "I will assist and be made ready."
Trevor's thought was to climb down, see if there's anything below that could be seen, but, this idea posited seems like the option everyone is going with, so, Trevor keeps himself secure to the wall for now. "Yeah, that's a solid enough plan, let's do that," he agrees with the rest of the group.
Meridith nods, she begins to stride away and then breaks into a dead sprint, at the edge she springs with grace, humming with telekinetic prowess as she moves to leap and land across.
Sara watches Meridith with an impressed expression.
Magnus says a quiet prayer to Freyja that Meridith gets across the chasm.
Calista waits with baited breath.
Trevor exhales in, watching, and carefully, slowly, removes his sunglasses. It's already dark inside and it's NOT going to be good for seeing in the dark, to continue to be wearing sunglasses. He's moving slow, like any movement is somehow going to throw Meridith off.
Abby watches Meridith with a furrowed brow, hoping she makes it across.
Watching Meridith, Autumn purses her lips as she stands still.
Despite all natural law suggesting Meridith should plummet to her untimely death right here, a break in physics from a telekinetic shove helps her to land on the other side. Barely, and with enough forward momentum to hit the wall at the other end of the tunnel with enough momentum to hurt a normal person. Thankfully, Meridith is also resilient enough that it just knocks the wind out of her. That leaves the team able to toss her rope and pitons to make a single strand rope bridge of sorts. Presumably hammered into the upper area of the wall, not the lower area of the wall. So with a rope harness and a carbiner, each member should be able to hook on and pull themselves across to the other side then disembark into the other tunnel. What order is everyone going across? Yes, it matters, dun dun DUN!
Meridith waits vigilant on the otherside once everything is set. She holds the rope tight. "Women first. Men after, Sara?" she offers. Perhaps eager to see Sara across as soon as possible. Her eyes scan the opposite side for trouble, this is of course, new territory
Sara exhales slowly with relief. "Meri!" she calls to Meridith. "You sure?"
Calista glances up at Trevor, from their side of the cavern, she says nothing though there is a slight concerned pull to her brows.
Trevor frowns at the situation, the gears in his brain turning. Rope looks secure enough, but lightest first makes sense? That would seem a plausible solution. But, Meridith is leading the situation, and then Trevor turns to Magnus, "Guess we're going last?"
Attaching the grappling hook to the end of the rope, Magnus gets some room around himself before he starts to swing it, aiming over by Meridith as he uses his full strength to yeet that rope across the chasm and into the wall behind her, hoping to reach her if not sink the metal end into the wall secure enough to hold his own body weight, and surely all of the others much smaller than him. "Yeah, we'll go last, Trevor. Want to make sure that the smaller ones get across if it ends up falling."
Meridith is presuming the lightest are the women, perhaps.
Trevor frowns at the rope, and asks Magnus, "How much do you weigh?"
Looking back at Trevor from his seven feet of height, Magnus notes, "Around three hundred pounds give or take whether I'm bulking or cutting."
Trevor tries to do some math in his head, "Plus all the equipment? So, like.. what, three fifty?" It's a very rough estimate, as Trevor looks Magnus over, trying to figure out a logical or mathematical solution to the situation.
Calista gives Trevor's arm a squeeze with a little nod before she gets herself hooked up appropriately into the climbing gear she had taken from the supplies and gets ready to hook herself onto the now secured rope. Meridith had called Sara over first, however, and so she waits, patiently. "Sara, is there anything I Can do to aid you?" she asks of the other woman.
"Well, I guess it doesn't pay to be the shortest, sometimes," Sara says, strapping herself up into her harness. She looks to Magnus and Trevor. "Ready boys? I'm headed over!" She walks to the edge and clips a carbiner to the rope, where she decides it's best not to look down, and proceeds to attempt to pull herself to the other side as quickly as possible.
With the offer of help unneeded, Calista watches Sara go across with a small, nervous smile. Waiting for that form to reach the other side with Meridith safely.
Following Calista, Autumn then hooks herself to the rope and goes across. Upon reaching the other side, she unhooks herself and steps back to give space.
Trevor is still helpfully harnessed himself into the wall and it doesn't it seem to be going anywhere, so, he walks close to where Sara is heading across, carefully watching.
Wrapping the rope around himself as an anchor as well as having it secured in the ground, Magnus can easily hold any of the others as they cross.
Sara makes it across safely and does not fall... Calista makes it across safely and does not fall... Autumn makes it across safely and does not fall... Abby makes it half way across and her hands slip, leaving her dangling in the middle of the pit, attached by a harness to the rope!
Looking down at himself in full armor, weapons, gear and holding onto a rope, Magnus frowns as Abby makes it nearly across and suffers an issue. "Trevor, perhaps you may need to go out and assist Abby. I can hold the both of your weight."
Trevor grunts suddenly, at watching Abby slip. "Shit," he says.
Trevor slides his pack off, and removes his rifle, leaving it on this side. Less weight, hopefully.
Meridith is swift to assist, lifting Calista with telekinetic force, enough, hopefully, to help others aid her before it wears off.
Calling out to Abby as he holds tight on the rope, Magnus keeps it taught as he plants his feet into the ground. "We're coming to help you, honey!"
Calista has finished unhooking herself from the rope and making space for the others when Abby slips. "Abby!" she calls out loudly, reflexively. A very distraught look is cast across the chasm to Trevor and Magnus there on the other side.
Abby flounders as she dangles over the chasm, peering in the dark abyss as her face pales, "Shit shit shit!"
"Abby! Hey, hey. Look up at us. They've got you," Sara says, waving to get her attention off of the darkness below her.
Meridith of course meant Abby
"Abby, you're going to be okay," Autumn tells Abby with a concerned look. "We'll help you. Just keep calm."
"Eyes up here Abby!" Calista calls out sternly but with a forced cheerfulness, just being a source of comfort on the safe side of things.
With his pack and rifle removed, and safely on the other side, Trevor unhooks himself from his other rope, and then attaches himself to a carabiner to the new rope that Abby is hanging off. And then he begins to slowly, carefully, work his way across the rope towards her. "I'm coming," he calls.
Trevor is able to quickly climb, upside down, along the rope out to the middle where Abby has been lifted by Meridith. Thankfully, that lift takes the extra load off of the rope long enough for Trevor to get Abby moving again, and if Meridith does a pull, it should get Abby to the other side safely. Trevor may as well finish his crawl without a harness, so he gets to the other side in a slightly different fashion. That just leaves the big man, Magnus, to try to get across on his own now.
Taking the end of the rope and securing it with multiple pitons, wraps, and knots, Magnus tests the rope for his significant weight, and then attaches his harnass to belay himself across the secured rope to the other side without issue, his strength and deterity granted from his supernatural shifting powers allowing him the athetic prowess as he gets to the other side and settles his feet down on the ground, unhooking and checking on Abby, "You okay, honey?"
When Abby is safely across, Calista is trying to help her get up along with Meridith's telekinesis help. She gives the woman space after a quick hug and then when Trevor reaches the small group on the other side, Calista is instantly by his side. No dramatics, just an arm linked through his briefly.
Sara smiles softly at Meridith.
Meridith doesn't react strongly. For a moment, a brief tension passed her expression, but she is otherwise wordless throughout the ordeal. She returns the soft smile to Sara once Abby is safely across. She gives a nod to the assembled, then focuses as Magnus is to cross. Certain she may need to take action.
Abby once her feet hit solid ground once more, she lets out a relieved sigh and gives a grateful smile to the others.
Magnus reaches down after he gets across and gives Abby a big hug before he checks his gear, ready for the next challenge.
And once the team is reassembled, they can continue down the path, secure in the knowledge that most attempts to find this treasure probably did not make it this far. Of the six groups that most assuredly did not reach this point, they have some advantages still in their favor. Whatever the next obstacle, surely they will be able to surmount it, right? They eventually come to a legit hole. While the tunnel would have continued past, shortly after, the tunnel is collapsed. That just leaves the hole as the next possible way forward for the team. Thankfully, light reaches the floor of this particular pit, so the team can make out a floor perhaps two hundred feet down. That means the chamber below has to be quite large. It also means leaving that chamber will involve some pretty intense climbing.
[OOC: Feel free to post how the team will overcome this particular hurdle, but also feel free to take a 10 minute break here. Everyone be back by 8:05pm, please]
Meridith strides forward, accompanied by the party, staying on point, a hand offered to Sara as she goes, diligent and wary of every step within this hole in the earth, eager to be done with it. A deep pit, she muses. "A two hundred foot drop. I might be able to manage it, but, I doubt I could help others. A climb may be wise. Anchor to the top here?" She offers. "I can go first to test. I am least likely to suffer griveous injury should I fall..." She notes. "But," She offers to Magnus, Trevor, Calista and Abby. "I am open to other solutions."
Sara clasps her hand in Meridith's, peering downward. "You could technically lift us, can you set us down?"
Gazing down to the floor of this pit, Calista makes a humming thoughtful noise from her throat. "Well, we can't have expected paved multi user paths and wayfinding," she notes wryly. "Real glad we took that climbing gear..." She nods to Meridith then. "I don't think it's all that hard to get down per se, but... to get back up might be another issue. We should try to leave an rope anchored here for the return trip."
Meridith says "I cannot for the duration of the full drop."
Meridith says "A last minute rescue, sure, but even that has a chance of failure"
Calista says "Provided the rope holds."
Sara says "Down yes. The up will be the worst, but perhaps we should ....hrm."
Meridith nods to Calista. "That is my feeling as well, but. Mistakes can happen, let us be sure to set up contingency. A broken leg here could be a death sentence..."
Sara says "Maybe leave more than one bit anchored just in case."
Meridith nods to Calista.
Nodding as he glances down the hole, Magnus rubs his hands together again, looking in the supplies for some climber's chalk as he looks through the equipment for more rope. "I can lower each of you all down, perhaps in groups of two or three easily. I can climb it myself I think. if we are needing someone to have to free climb using handholds.:"
Sara raises her eyebrows. "Support giants come in handy," she grins.
Meridith says "Having Magnus simply sit with a rope around him could suffice..."
Calista says "This sounds like the Princess Bride now."
"I am quite the large giant, and I can carry most of the rest of your weights easily." Magnus says with a chuckle.
"The cliffs of insanity!" Calista says with a wry grin. "Anyone?"
Meridith nods to Calista.
Calista clears her throat and nods to Magnus then.
"True, perhaps," Autumn speaks with a look at Magnus and looks down.
Magnus chuckles to Calista as he says, "Not all giants throw rocks."
Sara places her face in her palm.
Trevor glances down the hole, a curious expression across his face. Everyone else seems to have a solid plan, so Trevor is going to defer to the others, letting them decide the best course of action here.
"Yeah," he says after a moment of contemplative silence, "Seems like a solution."
But there's now talks of movies and large women and Trevor trails off, closing his mouth to whatever he was going to say next and listens.
Magnus motions to Abby, "Abby is quite the statuesque lady. Absolutely, my dreams are of her."
"The pit of despair and rodents of unusual size." Abby adds on to Calista's quote belatedly before smile brightly at Magnus with a blush, "Oh, you."
Meridith says "I prefer it...I don't wish Sara to fall without me there..."
Calista stifles a small giggle behind a hand, casting a playful look at Trevor now, since he is so quiet.
Sara kisses Meridith's cheek.
Sara says "I say we let Magnus be our anchor."
Magnus laughs along with Abby and Calista's quotes as he leans over to kiss the top of Abby's head. "We will keep everyone safe. I will anchor you all."
Meridith nods. "I'm nott an expert climber, so, if someone here is, by all means go ahead and set the points to clip to"
Does anybody want a peanut? While the team gets situated to prepare for their descent, a tremor works its way through the ground. Those with some form of acute hearing or sensitivity might realize that the tremor began down in the chamber below, or somewhere really close to it. While Magnus could indeed raise or lower people by rope relatively easily, that would require him to stay stationed up there or be the first one back to it. Just a thing to consider if anything goes awry in the chamber below, as almost seems destined to happen with that tremor now. Rappelling down would actually be fairly easy, in fact, it's mostly just falling with a stop at the end without hitting the ground in this case. Regardless, that tremor certainly seems like a sign to either hurry up or pack it in and flee...
Trevor looks over at Calista, catching her look.
That smile fades at the tremor, and it turns into a frown.
"I think we need to go," Sara nods.
Meridith says "I know what it is, it won't be our first meeting."
Meridith says "Those who wish to flee, do so, but I am descending."
Calista says "I do think we should be rappeling down. Like I said, the down is the easy part... it's the up we'll need a bit more finesse. Should we anchor off and see to it then?"
Calista nods to Meridith. "I'm not going to watch Meri go alone, so..."
Sara says "Same. "
Magnus nods, "We can rappel down and we can have some of you tie to me in case of any issues. I can carry you down."
Sara is already back to gearing up, looking for a place to anchor in a rope.
Meridith nods, preparing herself to descend. Probably a tied rope to a harness, and then being lowered down, while anchored with Magnus on tthe rope?
Trevor is all practically now, moving to secure himself an anchor point somewhere along the edge of the hole, attaching a rope to his harness and securing it tightly. He looks around, waiting for the rest to get themself into position.
Magnus makes ready as he uses Pitons and various climbing tools to get plenty of anchors in the ground, helping everyone set up their own ropes, while also putting a loose rope tied to himself in case anyone falls so he can slow their descent.
Sara knots a rope to her harness, check to make sure it's secure, and then secures to an anchor near Magnus. "I'm ready," she says, feet at the edge.
"I will descend as well," Autumn says, ready to climb down and hooking her harness once she gets a chance.
Abby's mouth goes dry as she feels the tremor but nods to Meridith, "I already made it this far so definitely descending." she secures herself to the rope and makes ready to climb down.
"Alright, Magnus is our belayer so to speak," Calista says more to herself than anyone else. "Let's do this." She, like everyone else gets hooked up and between harness, ropes and friction hitches... hopefully they're all covered here.
Helpfully, the hole is definitely big enough for everyone to descend at once if they trust their anchoring and can be careful not to bump into each other on the way down. Barring that, it is really easy to get down. It is the back up part that will be put to a test later.
It takes a little bit for everyone to reach the bottom, and that's when they realize: bones are scattered everywhere down here. Covering the floor almost entirely. The lanterns and flashlights help illuminate the chamber, and to one end, there seems to be a new tunnel going deeper into the Earth still. That also seems to be the only direction that continues from here. Every step crunches on bones of previous adventurers that managed to make it this far. Adventurers that did not make it back out. There are thousands of remains in this place. And a terrible roar sounds from the depths of the new cave entrance they have found.
Sara turns to Meridith. "You said this is not your first meeting. Does it..like you?"
"He's here," Autumn speaks in a hushed voice once she makes it down. "He wants to stop us from getting the Heart. But we will not let him."
As Trevor's boots meet the ground - or well, the scattered bones of adventurers, he looks up to where they just left - looking at the ropes dangling. Then he blinks, looking towards the sound of that.. roar.
Calista keeps in tight formation with the others in their group, always an eye on her perimeter now - though the roar gives a pretty good idea of where the danger lies.
Meridith smiles warmly, gazing towards that roar. Her expression shows contentment, ease, confidence. She steps forward slowly, swishing her blade through the air. She gazes at Sara and replies finally, "Everybody likes me," she insists.
As he gets down to the ground, Magnus unhooks himself from the climbing harness as he checks over his sword and bow, running a hand over his armor to make sure it is steady and secure. As he hears the loud roars, he takes in a deep breath, his brow furrowing down sternly as he absently raises his broadsword in front of him, his other hand reaching over to pat Abby's back, checking to make sure she is there as his eyes keep forward, looking down the hole. "Onward. We will do battle and we will conquer, for Shemra."
Trevor steps up close to Calista, leaning slightly to whisper something.
"No turning back now," Sara smiles. "Onward it is."
"For Shemra," Calista repeats softly in chorus with Magnus.
"For Shemra," Trevor says softly, after pulling away from his whispered conversation.
Calista whispers back to Trevor with a small, playful wink given.
Sara traces her fingers over a rose gold and emerald necklace with vines and flowers as she turns her head to the sound of the roars.
Abby steps lightly around the bones scattered on the floor and looks on towards the source of the roar that ring throughout the cave, smiling over at Magnus and idly fiddling with her someone.
Magnus has a few moments to take a few deep breaths, recalling a memory as he breathes in the bones of his countrymen, the salty tinge of crunched bone and dusty stench of the bowels of the earth. His hand grips the broadsword tighter as he grits his teeth, steeling his nerves as he gives a nod to Meridith, following with her, at the vanguard of the team. "We are ready for whatever happens. Shemra bless us."
Meridith nods. "Then, no more wasting time, let us proceed." She declares and begins to stride ttoward the sound of the roar, tiptoeing past the bones.
Sara follows swiftly behind Meridith, keeping light on her feet.
Calista keeps up with the others, though prudently is not leading the charge at the front.
Trevor follows along, somewhere in the middle - his rifle is still slung across his chest, but there's one hand on it, almost protectively. He's somewhere in the middle, next to Calista, and his eyes dart around, scanning for any possible tricks or ambushes that could be lingering.
Nodding her head, Autumn turns to follow Meridith and Sara. One hand is lifted to grip the handle of her blade, while she tries to move her feet around the skeletal remains.
Abby follows the others hurriedly sticking somewhere towards the back as trudges on
Pointing at the cave entrance, Magnus peers closely at it. "There is a spirit there, draconic. A red dragon impaled on iron spikes, and it is thrashing and spewing fire all around it."
Sara says "Well no wonder. It's hurt."
Meridith says "I suspect it is his heart we claim."
Calista frowns at this recreation of an image from Magnus. "That's awful sounding..."
"Just like the dragon spirits at the mountain temple," Autumn tells Magnus as she looks up at the entrance. "All trapped."
Sara says softly, "I can slow the heart, but I cannot make it stop completely."
Abby peers to the entrance to the cave with a look of concern, "The poor thing, it's in pain."
"This is perhaps Shemra's rival, the red dragon we seek to destroy...or an aspect of him." Magnus murmurs quietly as he raises the point of his broadsword and points at where the spirit is, "We should put it out of it's horrendous misery and carve out it's heart for our patron."
"I agree we need to end its pain," Calista murmurs back in pitying tones.
Meridith takes a deep slow breath. Recalling what it is she knows.
Meridith closes her eyes and places her hands together, fingers twining one another
Trevor was about to ask something, but stops, when it seems like Meridith is about to give information. He stands tall, shoulders squared - hand resting on the barrel of his rifle as he listens.
Meridith nods. "This is not Gonthorian, but one of his victims..."
Sara says "So perhaps....we free them."
Furrowing his brow, Magnus listens beyond the veil, watching the spirit and nodding, "It is...cursing Gonthorian's name. It vows to claw his eyes out if the dragon gets free. It is perhaps...an ally to our cause."
Abby looks back and forth between the spirit and the group, "It seems like we have common enemies, he could likely convince him we mean no harm and set him free, he could help us out."
Another thunderous roar causes a tremor through the caverns as whatever is in the cave continues to thrash and writhe against its bindings. Most of the people present cannot see the spiritual manifestation of the cause, but everyone can see a blackness where the spikes have been driven through. While they are spiritual, they are also semi-tangible. Those that can see and hear the spirit may need to approach and help him settle before the others can safely engage further with the spirit.
Meridith steps forth, slipping into the nightmare realm without hesitation.
Looking over at Meridith, Magnus nods as he also steps forth, runed broadsword in hand as he strides to meet his fate head on.
Sara glances after Meridith, a worried expression on her face.
Calista holds her ground, watching those with a connection to the spirit make their moves. She stares out to that dark blackness, a small frown taking over her expression there.
"I wonder how long he's been suffering," Calista murmurs quietly outloud.
Sara says "From the description, I'd wager quite some time."
Trevor frowns as both Magnus and Meridith depart, and Abby, Autumn, Calista, Sara, and Trevor are left in the cavern. It's not the most helpful of suggestions, but, "Anyone want water? It's been a journey," there doesn't seem to be any danger at the moment, and Trevor sets his rucksack down, rifling through it and pulling out a bottle of water for himself.
Uncapping it, and taking a sip, he looks over to Calista and Sara, offering up a solemn nod in return.
Sara shakes her head. "Not a way for anything to be." A weak smile is given to Trevor. "Thanks Trevor. I'm okay for now."
Abby steps towards the spirit in step with Magnus and looks over the pillars binding it
Calista takes Trevor's offer of water, allowing that moment for self-care and to busy their hands.
Trevor water doled out to whoever wants it, Trevor recaps the bottle, placing it back inside and stands, re-shouldering his ruck.
Meridith just vanishes as far as everyone is concerned. Was she even really here before? Or is this just deja vu? Those that remain outside the nightmare can still see inky black things in the cave. There are dozens of them, but maybe just loosening or pulling out a few will work enough to let the spirit free itself, if that is what people are inclined to do. The dragon is still very much thrashing and writhing, trying to spray fire everywhere, for those that can see that.
"Does.. anyone know what those inky black things are?" Calista puts out there, looking towards the source of the roaring.
"I suppose this dragon and us both have common enemy," Autumn says before she lifts her left hand. "I cannot hear it, but I can see it." After that, she also vanishes into the nightmare.
steps carefully about, running her hands along the walls of the cave. "I don't know," Sara says, moving towards one.
As Autumn leaves, Trevor glances around. "Fuck, shit," he says, cursing under his breath. "Do we follow?"
And then there were just Trevor, Sara and Calista left behind. "No, you cannot see it Trevor- or... can you?"
Sara steps carefully about, running her hands along the walls of the cave. "I don't know," she says, moving towards one. (fix)
Sara says "Hey you two. Help me?"
Calista moves behind Sara. "Yeah, I've got you Sara," she says, deciding on action.
Trevor wrinkles his brow, but follows after Sara, "Yeah, what's up?"
Sara points to some of the inky black images lining the cave. "See if you can pull some of those?" she says.
Calista says "Or just... grab and pull?"
Sara grasps one of the objects, twisting back and forth, and pulling hard.
Sara says "I would say perhaps we cut them, but that may hurt it worse."
"Unless....." Sara ponders, narrowing her eyes. "What if we can loosen what we can, and maybe cut the tips off the others? That may allow it to pull itself free."
Walking closer to the dragon spirit cautiously, Magnus calls out to it, "Beast, I am Magnus Kron, Jotun from afar coming back to my homeland. Blooded of Shemra, she the enemy of Gonthorian. We are here to help, we seek a heart."
Rallying herself, Calista just decides to approach one of these black objects and hope that her hands find purchase and strength to pull.
Trevor listens to Sara, who seems to have a better handle on what's going on. He steps forward, strong, gloved hands grasping at one of the black objects and - tries to pull at it, trying to dislodge, or loosen it.
Sara suddenly screams. "NO!" digging her fingers in and yanking desperately on the inky object in her hands.
"NNGH!" Calista lets out the sound of intense pain as she pulls hard.
Narrowing his eyes, Magnus growls as he leaps forward, broadsword in hand as he slices at the inky object that Sara is pulling, "Something is wrong, these are hurting something!"
Trevor grits his teeth, and sets his jaw, pulling twisting, despite the burning searing up his hands and arms.
Sara grits her teeth, whirling at Calista and Trevor. "We need to move away from each other further," she states, an intense look of anger in her eyes. Her nails are nearly splitting with the effort of pulling the object.
Sara, Trevor, and Calista all manage to rip one of the inky black spikes out of the draconic spirit nailed to the floor. As soon as the spikes are wrenched free from their hold, they vanish in flickering black flames and are gone entirely. That's three spikes down. Four of five more might be enough to set it free...
Sara hits the floor a moment with shaking hands, glancing to the others. "We have to keep going," she says, eyes blazing. She immediately springs up and heads for another, wasting no time in taking hold and yanking with all her strength.
Calista pants with the physical and mental effort of what that spike took from her, shaking out her arms with a gutteral growl of pain to work it off. But her jaw is set stubbornly as she looks for another. "Another!" She announces, already moving to one.
Magnus moves to the other side, slicing through one of the inky spikes if he can, then pulling on it with his strength if the sword does not work.
Abby looks on as the others as they tear the pillars free and rushes over to rip one out as well.
Meridith ahs. "Our friend here killed them, I was afraid of that." She lets out a wearied sigh. "Well they were bound to act, let us keep them busy here, so they do not bother our allies on the other side?" She tells Autumn, blade raising up.
Trevor finds something in him, and he turns, facing Calista and Sara momentarily. A flicker of something in him.
He walks away from the wall - towards them?
Something else comes up, and he turns on his heel, ripping at one one of the other spikes.
Meridith err...meant that subtlety
Sara closes her eyes, focusing everything on the task at hand as she continues to yank at the inky black spike, fingers tearing at it without ceasing.
Sara falls to her knees, head down. Shaking in sheer determination, she seems to recall something buried in her mind. She forces herself back up, yanking harder despite the pain.
Alighting in his eyes, Magnus steps back from the beast, hands releasing the inky tendril as he says, "No...no..." he looks down at his arms and holds them tight against his body, the massive giant dropping to his knees as he fights against something within, teeth chattering as he looks down at his hands, his eyes in a panic as he makes to run but is frozen in place, then instinct takes over and the cracking of bones is heard, the tearing of flesh, as Magnus starts to shift into a more animalistic form...
Abby lets out a shakey breath and close her eyes as a cold sweat washes over her entire being. She wraps her arms around the base of the pillar, crouches down and lifts up the black spike from it's perch, whispering to herself to try to calm herself down.
Roaring out into the cavern, Magnus(Bear) lets the animal instincts taking over as he furiously begins to swipe and maul the inky tendrils, the objects of his abject feral hatred, as he reverts to a primal state.
Calista sags against the spike, like her body won't move - but she holds steady, her face contorted in concentration and conflict.
Through pain and clenched teeth, Sara calls out, "Steady! It wants you to feel like this. Remember who you are!" followed by another cry of pain from the effort of pulling.
Sara's cry is heard through Calista's gritted teeth grunts of effort.
Trevor lets out a groan, his body battling against his mind. Which one is stronger?
Trevor grinds his teeth - holding onto the tendril he's tugging out. This is *his* focus, determined. Sara's words seem to have an impact, and he pulls stronger, tighter.
Like he's trying to pull the entire earth with him.
Sara, Calista, Abby, and Trevor manage to pull out an inky spike, which once more dissipates in a dark flash of black flame. Magnus(Bear) has gone full bear, which has him mauling and swiping at the spike with feral determination, but he is no longer pulling it that way. He has given in to whatever it was he felt. And while it might ordinarily drive him to great heights, today, it drives him to turn, toward Abby.
Sara whirls around to see the bear moving toward Abby. "Oh, shit."
"MAGNUS!" Calista cries out loudly when the stars have dissipated from her vision.
Sara says "Magnus! That's Abby. You don't want to hurt her. You're here for Shemra, remember?"
"We're doing this! Your brethren! Your beloved! We're here for Shemra!" Calista tries desperately to appeal to the bear.
"Magnus, my Battle Brother," Trevor calls out, voice joined the fray. "MAGNUS. LISTEN. THIS ISN'T YOU."
And with a ripple of nightmare energy, someone is ripped out of the physical space and into the nightmare space! Thankfully, before he can bring any harm to Abby. But the group outside the Nightmare still needs to find at least one more spike to remove before the dragon will be freed.
Sara moves a hand to her necklace. "I really don't want to have to do anything that hurts him," she whispers.
And with a ripple of nightmare energy, Magnus(Bear) is ripped out of the physical space and into the nightmare space! Thankfully, before he can bring any harm to Abby. But the group outside the Nightmare still needs to find at least one more spike to remove before the dragon will be freed.
Calista pants a little bit, the urgency fueling the adrenaline in her veins as she looks for another spike.
Sara looks to Abby and Trevor. "Yes?"
Calista nods to Sara with conviction. "Yes. For Shemra."
Sara says "For Shemra."
Abby struggles to stay on her feet as she rips the pillar free and turns towards the Magnus(Bear) and blinks as he is ripped into the nightmare. she grips her necklace and nods, "For shemra."
Sara turns and squints her eyes. "There," she points, not too far in the distance. "We all go, and we all pull."
Calista tracks her gaze to where Sara points and then she's already moving.
With the bear situation resolved, Trevor glances around at the remaining women.
There's a look.. about him. And it seems to be some battle deep inside him.
Why shouldn't he? His to choose. His to..
The words of everyone else snaps him out of that. And he's quiet, eyes scanning to where Sara points off, and he too moves, following closely behind Calista.
Sara wastes no time sprinting to the inky darkness, and in a moment has palms around it and is yanking with all her might.
Calista joins Sara, united in purpose and pulls hard.
Sara nods to Trevor and Abby. "Here!" she calls.
"Trev," Calista implores through gritted teeth. "Help us.."
Abby dashes towards the remaining spike and tackles it, pulling on with every muscle in her body.
Trevor reaches out, gripping at the object, pulling with everything he has.
Surrounded by skeletal warriors, Magnus(Bear) immediately goes into a rampage and begins to swipe at them, slamming them to the ground as his large paws maul everything around him, his large maw opening to bite down and tear the limbs and heads from anything he can get his teeth on the boney warriors.
Sara screams, a sound of both terror and hysteria. "I...said...NO!" she states, tears streaming down her cheeks. Looking to the others, she implores, "Remember....please. We have to keep going."
Sara bites her bottom lip and through her tears, shaking arms and fingers insist on pulling the object, refusing to let go.
Abby's knees threaten to buckle underneath her as she grips, a cry of anguish tears it's way form her throat as she struggles to push on.
Calista makes a cry of emotional pain - like heartbreak - sounding defeated and angry all at once. She fights off shuddering sobs while her arms shake from the effort to hold on.
A roar escapes Trevor's lips as he pulls on the tendril. Whatever battle he faces, whatever his struggle, he doesn't cry.
He shifts to a better posture, gripping at the thing - pulling, tugging, twisting. Trying to get rid of it, but not letting go. No. He can't, they *have* to pull together.
"All together.." Sara calls in a shaky voice. "On three. Ready?"
"Ready," Trevor grunts out, through gritted teeth. "Count it."
Calista focuses on the sound of Sara's voice, her blue-grey eyes looking to the woman with some clarity as she joins the pull.
"One, two...THREE!" Sara yells, pulling as hard as she possibly can at the word three. "For Shemra!"
Abby lets out a deep shake breath, "Ready."
Calista doesn't waste any more strength on talking. She make a gutteral sound, a productive growl as women of the ages in labour would call it. Pulling though, in this instance.
The presumed final spike puts up one hell of a fight, hitting all four people trying to pull it with a hell of a whammy. But in the end, Shemra's faithful are, at their core, bold and resilient and determined! The spike starts to loosen, then there is crying out. And then a roar from Trevor. And the spike starts to slide free. It balks, and Sara calls for the team to pull together. And the combined efforts are juuuust enough to tear it free, and it fades in a flickering of black flames. The spirit roars once more, sending a tremor through the cavern, likely felt outside.
At Sara's count, Trevor pulls, if he was shirtless, or sleeveless there would most likely be a rippling of his muscles. Every part of him pulled tight in his attempt to remove this thing.
Sara falls to the floor in a heap.
Calista drops to the floor as well, a bit of an emotional sob leaving her as some emotions go whooshing out with the fading of the black flames. She looks to Trevor then, somewhere closeby her.
Sara picks herself up, looking about her. "Are you all alright?" she asks with concern.
Feeling rough from the emotional battery and all of the fighting, Magnus(Bear) slumps onto the bone piles in the Nightmare, the massive bear lazily holding it's head as he nuzzles around in the nightmare looking for a way out as he huffs out some deep breaths, calming down.
Abby's knees gives way underneath her as the spike dislodges itself. Drenched in sweat as tears run down her face as she sobs to herself.
Trevor slumps down, collapsing onto his rear and looks to Calista. "Yeah," he says to Sara. "I'm good, you?" It's an ask to everyone else, not specifically Sara.
Sara tilts her head to Abby. "Hey, Abby," she says, kneeling beside her. "It's okay, you did it. We made it."
Still watching Trevor, Calista takes some heaving breaths and gives a little nod of confirmation to the question. Though, eventually she breaks that stare to look at her fellows near her, Abby and Sara. "You guys are amazing," she finally breathes out in quiet encouragement.
After the roar, the dragon becomes ethereally visible and tears itself loose of the final spikes, and they all flicker into dark flames and disappear. It is panting heavily and still looks quite angry. It swings its head about and then focuses on the four people it can see. "What are you pathetic beings doing down here?" it growls at the group.
While there is no mirror visible nearby, there does seem to be one that has fallen out of someone's extra supplies. It is currently on the floor near Trevor. It will be a tight fit to get out of the nightmare through it though.
Battered and exhausted, after Magnus calms down, he takes deep breaths as he shifts back, the sickening sound of bones and muscles reknitting themselves as he crawls around naked, getting up to a kneeling position.
"Freeing you," Calista states perhaps a little bravely to the question of the spirit that is now visible - moving to stand back up on her no longer shaky legs.
Sara glances around her, noting several of them are still missing. "We were attempting to help you," she says, palms up as though to show they mean no harm.
Trevor finds a surge of strength, standing up alongside Calista - nodding at the two women in total agreement.
Crawling out from the mirror, fully naked, bruised, and battered, the massive man Magnus grunts as he moves to the pile of clothes that he tore off in the change, looking through them form salvagable wear.
Meridith steps back through looking wearied, but only physically. Outfit torn, any cuts have mended or been reduced to minor nuisances, her blade is away and her eyes lock on to Sara, showing immense relief and pride, and that gaze is soon shared with the rest of the covenant, from Abby, to Calista, to Trevor. She nods softly.
Abby sniffs and nods to Sara, wiping her eyes. She looks up to the dragon and rises to her feet, calling out, "We come here seeking the dragon's heart ruby. We are enemies with the one who trapped you here. May we ask for your aid in our journey?"
Sara glances at Meridith, visibly relieved.
Magnus finds that his jeans weren't torn as he puts them on to hide his naughty bits, slowly standing to his full seven feet of height to strap on his weapons and armor alongside a shirt and shoes.
Leaving the nightmare while she recovers, Autumn appears near the mirror and turns to look at the spirit. "Gonthorian has trapped dragons before like you have been," she speaks to the dragon. "And he wants to ascend first so he can burn the world. We want to stop him from achieving that, so we ask for your help."
As he pulls on his clothes and armor, Magnus reaches out to give Abby's hand a squeeze for comfort and support for the both of them, leaning over to kiss the top of her head as he steels his jaw, standing up straighter as he looks at the dragon. "The House of Odin is with you, can you give us your name, Dragon?"
"You are treasure hunters like all the rest then!" the dragon booms, rearing back as if he wants to bathe the lot of you in fire. Only, he is a spirit now, so it will do no good. He considers each person present and then growls. "But you did undo that upstart Gonthorian's bindings," the dragon says, moving its great head back and forth inside the cave as if waffling back and forth about whether or not to give the adventurers anything for their troubles with him. "Fine, but when you confront Gonthorian, as I know you wish to do, you tell him the Great Red Dragon sends his regards," he finally says to the group. He shakes his head at Magnus and says, "In my time, dragons needed no names." He steps aside and motions toward the back of the cave. "Take only what you can safely carry out," he suggests as a warning against greed [OOC: And the adventure xp to money conversion rate!].
Meridith nods to the dragon gently, content to let the others take center stage. She has no desire for the treasures or baubles, but encourages anyone who wishes to take a trinket to do so.
Sara moves to Meridith, gently entwining fingers with hers for a moment.
"We have only come for Heart Ruby, if you will allow us to take," Autumn says, glancing at the treasures at the back but she does not move to take. "We will also be glad to have new ally to our cause."
Nope. Trevor isn't greedy, even though treasure was offered up - but instead, he sticks with his allies, regarding the dragon.
Sara also makes no move for any treasure or trinkets, content where she is for the moment.
Abby gives a wan smile up at Magnus for his comforting gestures and looks torwards the back of the caves for their objective.
Magnus nods as he stands stoically next to Abby, "Yes, the heart. We will perhaps appreciate your allyship in the days to come."
"I did not say ally. But if you can use the Ruby to thwart his plans, I'm all for it," the dragon tells Autumn simply. And then, much like a certain other silver dragon spirit, he just vanishes. Ghosts run out of steam eventually, and given the amount of roaring and quaking he caused, he was probably on his last legs for the day before the team showed up anyways.
At this point, the team can venture into the back of the cave and find a dragon's hoard. Gold coins, armor, weapons, amulets, capes, and all manner of magical items. But in the center, on a pedestal, there is a heart shaped ruby, as big as Magnus's fist, balanced precariously on a stand that should have fallen over during the quakes, but did not. The dragon has given permission to take whatever someone might want to carry, but they do have a 200 foot rope climb, another 25 foot rope shimmy, and a couple miles worth of hike just to get back to the entrance.
Meridith humms, and fetches herself a cloak none the less.
Calista clears her throat. "I'm not here for the treasure, and I think what we've achieved is amazing but..." She steps forward to the horde. "I promised Shemra, when I was very new here... that I would bring her a shiny some day."
Meridith says "We are bringing her a delightful Shiny, Calista. Please, consider a token, how often can you say you'll have the opportunity to take a trinket from a dragon?"
"So I'll just... be taking a little something," Calista says with a small, impish smile. "For the horde."
Meridith says "Your kids will hear this story one day, and you'll have something tangible to share."
"I see," Autumn replies and turns to browse the treasures. Her hazel gaze glances at the armor and bows, then she looks at her bow and the kevlar vest under her cloak.
Calista nods softly to Meridith, eyes scanning the treasures around them now.
[OOC: For purposes of moving forward, consider whatever you take here as part of your rewards at the end of the plot. There is still more to go. The egress! Presumably, someone takes the Ruby, yes?]
Magnus nods as he looks over the hoard as he picks up a magical bow, a replacement for the modern bow he has, and a more fitting weapon to match his old broadsword with runes on the blade. "Hmm...this is very nice." he also glances to Meridith as he takes the ruby if she does not.""
Sara lingers her eyes over a cloak, which she picks up with a nod. "I could use one of these."
Meridith nods to Magnus, allowing him to claim the ruby.
Taking the ruby in hand, Magnus carries the large weight with him as they depart.
Abby strides to the back of the cave and picks up a magical trinket small enough to fit in the palm of her hand.
Trevor wanders carefully into the back of the cave, looking around the shinies, the treasure and the weapons. Trevor seems to be much like Autumn in this case, and regards the weapons. No. He's already got weapons - and it's a tough climb back, so, he plucks up some gold coins, tucking them into a pocket - and then strides back to the group.
Sara tucks the cloak into her backpack, slipping it easily inside for the journey ahead.
"Hmm... I don't mind new bow," Autumn murmurs to herself as she also gets a bow. "I can get better armor next time." She then turns to head back to the group.
Sara stands beside Meridith, glancing back towards the way they came.
Maybe it's the old cliche, but Calista appears to be eyeing the jewelry - the amulets to be exact. She stoops to retrieve one, enjoying its intricacies before she stows it in her backpack.
And then one more, and a trio of gold coins, and it would seem Calista is satisfied.
Meridith nods and once everyone is ready, with the ruby safely stowed, she begins to depart with a polite bow
With all the treasure looted, as the team begins to leave, the ground starts to shake, and a cave in seals off the rest of the treasure, keeping it safe from further incursions by outsiders. Possibly at least. Treasure Hunters are tenacious. Thankfully, the dragon spirit that caused said cave in managed to localize it enough to not mess up the team's departure route. And now, they have a 200 foot climb to contend with in order to leave...
Meridith nods. "Strongest climber, can carve hand holds for the ones to follow, pitons and then, we can follow. I'll go last and catch those who fall?" She notes.
Magnus nods as he takes his things and looks up, checking for any ropes that survived as he says, "I'll go first." and then starts to climb, clipping himself into the rope if it is still there.
"I don't think I'm the best climber," Trevor points out, glancing up at the large, two hundred foot climb. Then Trevor pauses again, "We've been through a lot, I'll ask again, anyone want some water before?" Oh and Magnus goes, already starting to climb.
Calista sucks in a deep breath. "Just take it slow, yeah? We can clip and go slowly but confidently!"
Calista nods to Trevor then, grateful for his reminders for self care. "I'll have some, Trev," she replies softly with an appreciative, small smile.
Sara says "I'd think perhaps if we clip onto a rope and hang on, once he's up there he could just pull us up?"
Grunting as he climbs, Magnus nods down to Trevor as he says, "I'll take some water after we get all the way up here. The rest isn't bad to get back."
Meridith passes on the water
Magnus makes relatively short and easy work of scaling back up the rope and leaving behind a way to help everyone up after. Between hoisting and holds, everyone is reeled up one after the other with only a couple of minor snags, like lost grips or wobbly slips. Before long, everyone is back at the pit, shimmying their way across. And soon thereafter, they are nearing the entrance. [OOC: Everyone just showstat Perception and/or Demolitions for me if they are above 0.]
Meridith is pretty sure it was higher than that hmmm
Magnus frowns as he holds up his hand to try and signal to stop, "Something here." he says quietly, don't go further.""
"I knew it," Sara whispers.
Meridith hesitates a moment. "The ruby. Hand it here, I can path us out. It'll be slow going but..."
Calista halts immediately at Magnus's signal. She wasn't rushing anywhere in any hurry as it was.
Trevor stops, hand reaching down to fidget at the rifle strapped to his front - holding onto the stock.
Magnus nods to Meridith, handing her the ruby as he raises up his bow.
Glancing at the walls of the cave, Autumn was about to move before she stops. "They want to trap us here inside," she whispers as she moves closer to the group.
"I didn't trust them from the beginning," Sara whispers in a huff.
Meridith shrugs gently. "We don't know who or what yet. Let's not leap to conclusions."
Sara brings her fingers down from her necklace, but her eyes are narrowed.
Abby peers around the cavern, standing stock still as she awaits further information.
"We know you're close. Come out and give us the Ruby, and we will let you live!" calls the Odin Leader from the entrance to the cave the team has spent the last several hours in. "We don't want to blow up the cavern. Still more treasure down there, we wager, but we can clear it out if need be," he calls down, just like a cliche villain, monologuing and telling his plan. There is a beep from the equipment, which has a GPS tracker that they could have been keeping track of the entire time. Or just waiting for it to come back into signal range. While Meridith can likely build a Path for everyone to get out, it takes time to build. Enough time that the Odin team might come storming down shooting during.
Meridith says "Better idea..."
Sara smiles wryly.
Sara whispers, "Can I?" with a flutter of eyelashes to Meridith.
Meridith hands the ruby to Sara and feels the muscles in her body begin to tense. Her eyes shift, focused, predatory. Fury. A promise made earlier she intends to keep. She in the direction of the odin leader, eyes closing focusing.
Meridith glances at Sara, curious.
Sara grabs Trevor to whisper something to him.
Trevor leans down, offering up an ear to Sara.
Sara tucks the Ruby into her pack, inside the cloak.
Sara whispers, "Alternate idea. We still have a mirror?"
"I don't have all day! ... Oh wait, we do," the Odin Leader says with a bit of a sneer. Someone pushes a button, and an explosion occurs further back in the cave, behind the Covenant team. "No going backwards now. Always forward, even if we have to walk you out one corpse at a time," the Odin Leader calls, and another button is pressed, and another explosion happens closer to the team. It might be that Demigods from the House of Odin are familiar with the tricks to get out of such a predicament.
Trevor tilts his head curiously, but nods at the whispered words. "Hey!" Trevor calls out, shifting somewhere into the middle of the crowd of Scalebound. "There's something we can probably work out, and probably something you should know before we make our exit."
Trevor isn't much of a negotiator, that part is obvious, but, he seems to be trying *something*.
Calista jumps, startled at the explosions happening behind them. She stays close to the cave wall, out of sight but looks imploringly to the others to get this show on the road, whatever the plan may be - since it seems there is one already in planning.
Sara looks to Calista and gives a small smile.
Autumn pulls out the bow, the one she found at the horde, and draws an arrow, ready to shoot as she gazes at the entrance. "Time to summon Ifrit again," she mutters quietly while she chants under her breath, flinching a bit from the explosions. "That bastard's soul will be damned to deepest parts of Hell."
Magnus frowns as he calls out to them, "Brothers, do not do this. I am Magnus Kron, and I will not tolerate this betrayal. I will destroy each and every one of you, your kin, and the traces you have left in this world. Do you wish to see your legacy erased? I will have your bones crushed in my hands, for I am Jotun."
Sara whispers, "Mirror. Can we use it?"
Sara whispers, "It was by you!"
Magnus raises up his rune etched broadsword and bellows, "I fear not death, and I will show you my strength!" he finds a loose boulder and picks it up, throwing it at full speed and full strength out of the tunnel.
Sara turns to Meridith. "Your thoughts?" she says in a low voice.
Sara says "Or, there's that, too."
Meridith nods. "Of course, the mirror works too, but nightmare or no we must climb."
Sara says "Climb, path, run, whatever."
Sara says "As long as it gets us out of this cave."
"Jotun are not Gods! You are unworthy!" the Odin Leader calls back down, just before the boulder comes up. It misses him entirely, but goes flying further down the mountain. "Suit yourself," he calls back, and someone starts pushing all of the buttons, one by one, getting closer to the Covenant team with each teeth-rattling detonation as it gets closer. Two more, and the team will likely be crushed under the mountain.
At this point, staying still is literally a death sentence. They planned this trap specifically to get the Ruby from your team if you returned with it.
Sara flinches. "We need to move now."
Well, Magnus is throwing boulders, so Trevor steps back, letting Magnus take control of the situation, though, he has a feeling that there might be shooting. And he shifts his rifle, hand gripping around the barrel of the gun, finger splayed out in proper trigger discipline.
With a sense of urgency, and impending cave-in, "Whatever the fuck we're doing, we need to go NOW."
Calista looks to Meridith then, poised to move, strung in nervous anticipation. "We can't let them get that Ruby."
Meridith nods and once she manages to build the path toward them, she vanishes. Such a hasty combat pathing doesn't typically allow bringing people but if she can she will
Sara follows with Meridith, grabbing her hand at the last moment and extending hers outward for another.
Meridith gives Sara a gentle shake of her head
Sara sniffles and looks about herself sadly.
Sara says "Well, that leaves one other option."
Meridith vanishes in a flicker of shadow, egressing the cave and appearing by the Odin Leader. He does not seem surprised by this and has his own axe out to start fighting with her, relatively equal in terms of strength and such. The other members of Odin Team start shooting rifles into the cave, perhaps not entirely all demigods. Another explosion happens behind the group, close enough for them to feel the heat from it.
Sara says "Alright, we have to get out of here."
"FOrward then!" Magnus says as Meridith paths, charging out of the tunnel with his broadsword held high, leading the charge to fight the House of Odin.
Sara stays low and to the walls, attempting to get herself within range without being detected.
Calista also keeps low and at an angle from the shots coming in, but trying to get away from the progressively closer explosions.
Meridith shows no hestiation when she steps free of the shadows. She launches forward, swift steps, her blade flashing out at the man, and keeping close to him. She uses her telekinetic powers to yank the detonator to her. Or whoever has it. Her primary focus is buying the team time.
"And you are unworthy of Heart Ruby!" Autumn snaps at the Leader and turns to run towards the entrance. "Only thing you will be worthy of is scorching wrath. Ifrit, come one more and show them power of Hell!" A puff of black smoke appears as the dusky demoness narrows her eyes.
Abby draw her gun and a fires off a shot, ducking low to avoid return fire, and charges towards the mouth of the cave.
Eyes darting from the entrance, to the explosions behind him. Grimacing, Trevor positions himself, in the most defensive posture he can. He moves with the group, reaching out to tap Calista, make sure she's there - and rattles shots off towards Odin team. He's gotten better, as anyone who's fought with him may notice.
Sara manages to make it near the entrance, and chants quickly. The runes on her necklace glow dark red, and suddenly some members of the Odin clan find themselves struggling to see as the vessels in their eyes burst.
"Now would be a good time," Sara calls to the others.
Sara takes aim with a bow, loosing arrows outside the entrance with ease.
Calista pulls out darts from her utility belt, loading her tranq pistol and stepping out from the wall, she aims at the leader that Meridith engages with and shoots. Following this, she grabs the back of Trevor's vest as requested, ready to move as a unit with him.
Buying time for the team is an excellent idea, and Meridith pulls that member of Team Odin over to her and delivering a vicious cut to remove him from the fight. He falls and loses his grip on the detonator, so at least there may not be any more explosions in the cave.
Magnus takes the brunt of the fire from the enemies around the mouth of the cave, but the Covenant team has some occasional points of cover along the way and seems inclined to use them. Once Magnus has reached the top, he gets beset by three Odin members.
Sara manages to blind one of the Odin people just in time for Trevor to shoot one. Ifrit lights someone on fire with a fireball. And Autumn manages to get almost to the entrance of the cave.
Abby and Sara end up shooting another one and he goes down.
Odin Leader rolls past Meridith and picks up the detonator. He flicks a switch on it, perhaps hoping to bury the half of the team that is still in the cave, but he sets off the back set, not the front set. And then he gets hit with a tranq dart from Calista and drops the detonator again!
Meridith takes the man down with a snarl, her eyes are full of hatred, and she holds nothing back. "Greedy." She hisses. "Unworthy." She pulls her blade back turning to the Leader as he rolls past her and tries to detonate, she lets out a scream. "YOU DARE!" She bellows and thrusts a hand trying to throw the man off the edge of the precipice to his death, whirling about with her bow to fire an arrow at him.
"Move," Trevor shouts, "Get out of the cave," and he double-times it out, hopefully not dragging Calista behind him. Once outside, he drops to a knee, taking aim at whoever seems to be a threat, providing cover fire for Meridith and Magnus, as they hack and slash their way through the traitors.
Sara scrambles out of the cave, where she directs her attention to the leader Meridith holds. Her necklace glows the same deep red, and his heart begins to slow.
Abby dashes to the entrance of the cave and fires off shot after shot at the Odin members, ducking in and out of cover as she tries to keep her cool amid the fire.
Once she's at the entrance and out, Autumn takes cover as she fires arrows with the new bow. While Ifrit fires off fireballs, she moves her left hand towards one of the Odin members and, with a snap of her fingers, her bracelet's runes glow red-orange as their armor smothers and blackens.
Sara nods and equips her bow, firing off several shots and whipping herself back and forth in an attempt to dodge several more.
And move Calista does. She's small but she's quick and she hustles it out of that danger cave in zone with Trevor. Keeping her distance still, she takes aim at the next closest target with her tranq pistol, to render them an easier target for her fellows.
Reaching out one of his hands, Magnus grabs one of the House of Odin members and attempts to pull him in the line of fire of the other ones, his sword lashing out with his free arm to slash at another one, trying to leave the third one to need to work through the one he's manhandling as he roars out a challenge, "Is this the best you can do, House of Odin? We are Scalebound, and our hearts or of a dragon!"
Magnus are, even.
Meridith manages to throw Odin Leader off the edge of a small cliff. But if she can survive it, no doubt he can too. The Odin team is shattered by the forceful response from the Covenant team, either already fallen or falling back. The ground is shaking, and the detonator has not been flipped to set off the last set of explosives. As everyone scrambles to get out of the cave, an avalanche starts to fall from further up the mountain. The Odin members remaining turn and just outright flee, knowing the area is about to be under a deluge of rock and maybe some snow. The Covenant has to come up with a plan, or they will be buried too!
Sara turns terrified eyes to Meridith.
Meridith closes her eyes, a slow deep breath, she extends her hand to Sara to take it and clutch it tight
Sara nods.
"Shit," Trevor lets out, standing from his kneel, he whips around, head on a swivel. Can they take shelter in the cave? Has it been completely closed off?
From the corner of his eye he catches whatever it is Sara and Meridith are doing, or.. planning, something he might not be aware of, but steps towards them.
Sara glances towards Meridith and closes her eyes, realizing what is happening.
Stepping out of her cover, Autumn moves towards Meridith and Sara and takes the latter's hand. Strapping her bow, she frees her other hand and holds it out while a poof of smoke signals her familiar's departure.
Abby pales at the coming avalanche with the wide eyes and turns her gaze to Meridith for guidance to see how they'll get out of this mess. She steps closer to them to see what they're doing.
Meridith speaks softly. "Allies, please, join me. A prayer, to the one whom we fight for, for the reason we are here. It is our faith that will show us the way home."
Sara grasps the hands of Meridith and Autumn, closing her eyes.
Luckily, Trevor never undid the strap. He clicks the safety on his rifle, and steps closer, taking Autumn's hand and extending his out for whoever is next to grab his.
Calista is right there, of course, taking Trevor's hand and Abby's.
Magnus reaches out and holds hands with Abby as he joins the chain, raising his voice in prayer in his native tongue as he bellows out to Shemra.
Faithful cultists looking to their Eidolon in times of trouble and need. There is no better faith, and no better fuel for their Ascension. And when the chosen of an Eidolon gives such fervent and heartfelt prayers in moments of crisis and danger, those that can answer do. While Shemra is nowhere and everywhere, she usually maintains herself in Haven. Which is a long ways away. But she has been known to walk and move about and be in other places. She has gone sightseeing around the world. But for this instance, she needs to stay where she calls home: Her mountain, in Haven, and pull everyone to her. First is Meridith, her chosen. Then Sara, her chosen's lover. Then Magnus, her support giant from the beginning. Then Abby, his lover. Autumn is tugged next, a late addition to Shemra's ranks, but valued nonetheless. Then Calista, the one that gave Shemra a place to play and hear people laugh and have fun. Finally, Trevor, the late soldier to the party, but welcome nonetheless. All of them appear, in that order, in the pulsing heart of Shemra's mountain. They can feel her smile. And then she has to rest for a bit, having strained herself in pulling them back.
[OOC: And that brings The Dragon's Heart Ruby to a close. Thank you all for coming, and I hope you enjoyed. It was a blast to run. And gimme a few minutes to do some administrative things, and then we can do some rewards if people like!]
Magnus wooooo!
Abby cheers
The team was met by members of the House of Odin, who offered a veiled warning about the dangers that lay ahead and the impossibility of navigating the abyss that awaited. Despite the ominous greeting, the adventurers pressed on, bound by a shared goal and a steadfast commitment to their cause.
Meridith, a figure of determination and strength, led the charge. She was accompanied by Sara, Trevor, Magnus, Calista, Autumn, and Abby. Together, they embarked on a journey fraught with peril, encountering obstacles that tested their resolve and pushed them to their limits.
As they ventured deeper into the cave, the group faced relentless challenges. They encountered skeletons of fallen adventurers, hints of the deadly trials that had thwarted others before them. Yet, undeterred, they pressed on, driven by a shared sense of purpose and the guidance of Meridith.
Their unity and determination eventually led them to a colossal chamber where they confronted a trapped and anguished dragon spirit. It was a testament to the adventurers' resolve that they chose to free the spirit, despite the danger it posed. Their act of mercy did not go unnoticed. The dragon, acknowledging their bravery and selflessness, granted them access to its treasure hoard, among which lay the coveted Dragon's Heart Ruby.
However, their triumph was short-lived as they were betrayed by the House of Odin. A tense and fierce battle ensued at the entrance of the cave, with the adventurers fighting valiantly against their assailants. As explosions threatened to seal their fate, it was their unwavering faith in Shemra that ultimately saved them. They formed a circle, joined hands, and offered a prayer to their Eidolon. In response, Shemra herself intervened, pulling each adventurer to safety in the heart of her mountain in Haven.
The adventure concluded with the group safely united in Shemra's mountain, weary but victorious. They had faced unimaginable trials, fought bravely against betrayal, and forged unbreakable bonds in the flames of adversity. The Dragon's Heart Ruby was theirs, but more importantly, they had each other, a treasure far greater than any gem.
(The Dragon's Heart Ruby(SRSelina):SRSelina)
[Wed Jun 12 2024]
At the base of Mount Galdhopiggen, Cavern Entrance
Mount Galdhopiggen, Norway's highest peak at 2,469 meters (8,100 feet), is situated in the Jotunheimen range within the Lom municipality of Innlandet county. Renowned as the tallest mountain in Northern Europe, Galdhopiggen is surrounded by dramatic landscapes and glaciers, including the significant Styggebreen glacier. This peak is a favorite among hikers and climbers, offering several routes to the summit. The most frequented path begins from the Juvasshytta mountain lodge, requiring a guide to cross the glacier safely. Another popular route starts from Spiterstulen, which is a longer but less technical hike that does not necessitate glacier crossing. Both routes reward adventurers with stunning panoramic views of the surrounding mountains and valleys. The ascent to Galdhopiggen, while challenging, is accessible to those with moderate fitness levels and provides an unforgettable experience of Norway's natural beauty.
It is afternoon, about 87F(30C) degrees,
[OOC: Welcome to The Dragon's Heart Ruby. I will be your Storyrunner for the evening, and I just want to make a special mention that I love seeing when people use Think, Recall, Feel, Internal, and Attempt to try to do things (please do NOT worry about spamming me, I can scroll). I will try to go slow enough to allow each person to do one decent post per 'round.' If you slide into some Banter, I may stay quiet for a bit, if it is appropriate. If you see a message in all this color, that is a private message, directly to you, which you may act upon, and others may not know any information from it. If you're ready, let us begin...]
Regardless of how everyone chooses to reach Norway, the group eventually stands together at the base of Mount Galdhopiggen, before a cavern that leads into the mountain. An aseembly of House of Odin demis greets you with waves then lumber closer. They are bundled up for much cooler weather than the team from Haven, and light preciptation falls all around the group, but light enough that it will not matter once the team moves into the cavern.
The leader of the Odin team steps forward and offers to shake wrists with whomever is designated as the leader of the Haven team and he says, "Welcome. You are here for the Ruby then? They say it is in this cavern, but none have ever made it to the bottom and come back out alive." He is what one would expect, large, broad, long blond hair, blue eyes, clad in something resembling armor, with weapons handy, much like the rest of their team. But there is some uncertainty among the Odin team, like they do not quite trust the Covenant members looking for what could be both national or House-related treasures for them. A couple of the Odin team exchange glances like they expect an ambush, or to set one off perhaps.
Meridith steps out of thin air, a hand held to Sara as she guides her through the path. She gazes around at their surroundings, nodding at the cavern, at the mount and at Sara. She offers her hand to the leader of the Odin tteam, though she doesn't make it a warm reception. Curteous and professional. Her eyes glance to the other members and their worries and she gives them a dark twinkle.
Sara help attempt
Sara did absolutely nothing there.
Trevor steps out of that air, somewhat late, and orients himself. He's got sunglasses on, and thank for it too - he's able to scan the surroundings, an instinct kicking in to check for details. He scans the mountains, looking for a glint or a flash of some sort of scope.
But, he leads Meridith take the lead, stepping back, settling in once he thinks everything is all hunky-dory.
Sara inclines her head in greeting to everyone, staying close to Meridith and flicking her eyes about her surroundings cautiously.
Arriving with Abby as they have found their way to Norway, Magnus is clad for battle as the massive man reaches out a hand to the House of Odin and says, "Brethren. I have returned to the land of my home to assist these, the Covenant of the Dragon. I have brought my Beloved alongside me for battle, as have these others, so that Mother Freyja will be blessing us this day." He beams a big, broad smile at Abby as he looks back to them. "Worry not, my friend. We will survive, for we are strong of will and mighty of body."
Calista lingers by Trevor, naturally, having come from the same origin as the man. Though much smaller than he, she stands tall and also offers her own nod of greeting to the welcoming committee. "Our greetings," she adds to Magnus's soliloquy, in her confidently articulated voice.
Assisted by a pather, Autumn arrives and joins the group before she turns to the leader. "Greetings," she speaks while she adjusts her cloak. "We will. We are also resilient."
"We have left some supplies for you just inside to keep them dry. Rope, lanterns, rations, GPS tracker to be able to retrace your steps, that kinda thing," the Odin Leader tells Meridith, gesturing toward the cave. He motions to himself at the others and says, "We will stay here at the entrance to keep anyone else from going in and to help if you have trouble finding your way back." He lifts a radio and shows the frequency to Meridith.
Magnus's greeting gives some of the Odin team pause to exchange looks, but then they step forward to shake wrists and give the large man a hug, grinning at him as if he is merely a long lost cousin. The warmth helps cut through some of the stiffness, and the others then exchange more pleasant greetings with the rest of the Covenant members.
Eventually, the Odin Leader resumes talking with Meridith once the bit of merriment is done. "There have been rumors of earthshakes near the mountain. I fear you may not like what you find down there. If you find the way blocked by a tunnel collapse, just come back. There's little chance of getting around it," he tells Meridith in a warning fashion. "When you return, we shall hold a feast back in town," he declares though, letting out a roar to help everyone get in the mood for their adventure ahead.
Sara levels her gaze toward the cave entrance. "Well then," she says, glancing towards the others. "Sounds like a good time to me!"
Calista gives a smile over to Sara, looking like the enthusiasm shared by her team members encourages her as well. "A little spelunking is on my BINGO card, how about yours?" she asks Trevor playfully then.
Meridith gazes upon them slowly, making some quiet determination in her own mind. She doesn't speak on it, nor make other note of it, but she simply loses further emotion within her expression. She nods simply and memorizes the frequency, gazing upon the assembled Scalebound for one of them to note it and make sure they snag a radio for it.
Magnus' display of comraderie with the Odin team, the friendly greeting is acknowledged by her but it doesn't make her look pleased. Maybe her face is just like that right now.@line
She gestures to the Leader and nods. "We'll see it done," she replies as his roar finishes. Letting the others wrap up whatever they wish before she begins to approach the entrance of the cave. "I'm assuming command," she tells her compatriots. "But I don't care if any of you wish to take point, action or thought. Speak freely, act freely, I am here to guide and protect, not lead nor work alone." She tells Calista, Trevor, Sara, Magnus, and Abby.
Trevor smiles at Calista - it's fond, warm. "Can't say it's on my BINGO card," he says, patting his vest with gloved hands. What's he..? Oh. Looking for a BINGO card, and he doesn't have one unfortunately. "But, spelunking definitely is on a list of mine."
Letting out a loud roar in league with the Odin Leader, Magnus raises his broadsword into the air, etched with old Elder Futhark runes as he looks to his compatriots and gives a big smile. "We will conquer this for Shemra, for Selina, and the Covenant. It is our bonds of battle that make us strong. "Yes, I am with you, my sword and bow. Onward to victory!""
Sara steps confidently to just behind Meridith's right side. "None of us are here to work alone," she muses. "I suspect this will take all of us."
Abby stands close to magnus, clad head to toe in armor, with a smile on her face and cast a glance towards the cave, "Ah, a feast sounds like it'll be a lovely time after a bit of spelunking." nodding in understanding to Meridith
Calista gives a little eye roll but then changes her focus to Meridith. "Thank you Meridith," she says distinctly. "We appreciate having the sounding point." Another grin for Magnus and his passionate rally and she's tugging her backpack up higher on her shoulders. "We ready then? Who's grabbing the radio?"
"I..." Magnus says as he looks down at his hands full of weapons, "My hands are full of weapons. I did not plan to hold a radio."
"I vote Trevor for radio duty. Anyone else?" Sara says with a grin.
Meridith nods to Sara. "My thinking entirely."
Calista says "I do think Trevor's hands are more valuable being available."
Calista says "Would you want me to take it?"
"For Shemra," Autumn speaks, lifting her massive blade before she sheathes it back to her back.
Meridith says "You may if you wish, Calistta."
Trevor lifts a hand, running his gloved hand through his hair. "I don't mind carrying it," he says with a shrug - causing the rifle slung on his front to shift momentarily. "But, Calista has a point there."
Sara glances over Trevor. "Watch where that thing goes, eh?" she snickers.
Meridith says "It's a radio, clip it to your belt or something"
Meridith wags a hand.
The Odin Demis step aside to give the group plenty of room to head toward the cavern. True to their word, there are plenty of supplies, multiple packs worth, with everything mentioned plus probably some other essentials that were left unmentioned. There are three radios in the bunch, ten lanterns, extra flash lights. Everything the group should need to be able to make their way down into the cavern. Plus food, if one does not mind MREs and trail rations. Excellent to have for the heavy physical activity ahead of the group.
Once they get assembled and start down, the cave coils and turns, winds and curves, but it remains on constant decline, leading further under the highest mountain peak in northern Europe with every step the team makes. Soon, the gentle sounds of the drizzle outside. And very shortly after, the only noises that can be heard are those the team makes and the faint echoes of those noises. The cavern is wide enough currently for three people across, though two might be more comfortable. The astute amongst them would be able to tell the ceiling is slowly lowering toward them as well, but currently is still a good twenty feet above anyone's head, including Magnus' There is a good layer of bat guano across the floor of the cave, hinting at the number of bats that normally roost in the place during the daylight hours. Thankfully, most of them have vacated for the night.
Meridith strides inside, eyes adjusting easily to the reduced light. She takes point, at the front, trying to have Sara close behind her. The rest she gives leeway to position how they see fit. She doesn't gather any of the supplies offered, uninterested in the lights and food.
Sara keeps closely behind Meridith, moving cautiously. "Not exactly spelunking, is it Calista she calls back over her shoulder. She has also passed by the supplies, seemingly focused on the task at hand.
Sara keeps closely behind Meridith, moving cautiously. "Not exactly spelunking, is it Calista?" she calls back over her shoulder. She has also passed by the supplies, seemingly focused on the task at hand. (fix)
Sara blinks rapidly, allowing her eyes to adjust to the dimness of the cave.
Having grabbed a few food in case and have passed the lantern, Autumn follows Meridith whole she sticks close to the group. Her eyes adjusts as she surveys around the dim cave.
Meridith pockets a flashlight if nobody else bothers
Meridith warns the party, "If you cannot fly, or make might leaps, please grab climbing gear."
Sara grabs onto some climbing gear, just in case.
Abby treads carefully into the cavern, especially upon seeing the guano caking the floor, and snatches some of the supplies including a flashlight and climbing gear offered on the way in. She squints her eyes from the darkness of the cave, following close behind the group.
Autumn also grabs some climbing gear.
As the Scalebound pass into the cavern, Trevor stops momentarily, taking some MREs, and a few trail rations and stuffing them into his pack. Always handy to have food, just in case. You never know. Then, he hands Calista a radio, "Take one," he murmurs softly, tucking a second into a pocket of his vest. Ropes, and other assorted climbing gear are also carefully handled, and placed inside his ruck. That thing is filling up, and at this point it might overfill. A loop of rope, though, an extra one - which he loops carefully around his shoulder, slung across - in case he needs to access it easier.
Following behind Meridith and Calista, Magnus walks beside Abby as he holds his sword at the ready, bow slung across his back as he glances around, having taken a handful of food to munch on as they wander down the cavern. He has taken some ropes, a harness, and other climbing gear with him as he can easily be a pack animal for the rest of the adventurers. Being able to see in the dark, Magnus foregoes a lantern for himself, but grabs one for anyone else that needs one, happily munching on his snack while he follows along, humming an old Norwegian tune that his grandmother had sang to him as a child.
As the Scalebound pass into the cavern, Trevor stops momentarily, taking some MREs, and a few trail rations and stuffing them into his pack. Always handy to have food, just in case. You never know. Then, he hands Calista a radio, "Take one," he murmurs softly, tucking a second into a pocket of his vest. Then, he's pausing taking a lantern, though he seems uncertain how well it's going to be to handle.
OOC: Trevor just wants to point out, to ignore the attempted emote, and go with his earlier one.
Calista accepts the radio from Trevor, clilping it to her utility belt ad suggested by Meridith earlier and also takes some climbing gear based on Meridith's suggestions once more. A flashlight already in her pack has her passing on that for now, to save on space. She gives Trevor a grateful smile and lets herself focus in on the sounds and dim light of the cave. "What's your criteria for spelunking then?" she wonders of Sara amiably, keeping her voice low to avoid too much of an echo.
"Oh, rappelling down the side!" Sara notes with a grin that perhaps may be difficult to see in the low light.
"Isn't that just mountain climbing?" Calista muses, as she looks around her at the slowly closing in walls.
Supplied and ready, the Covenant team descends further into the Earth. After several twists and turns, the team comes to an itersection, but two of the three paths have been blocked off the tunnel collapsing. There are human skeletal remains mixed in with the rubble. That leaves only one path deeper into the cavern, and the foreboding feeling that the team is not meant to be here takes root. Soon enough, the team passes another similar intersection, followed by another. So far, seven paths with only one correct way, the other paths having led to an early demise for the adventurers on those journeys.
That is when the team comes to their first real obstacle: a huge open chamber with no floor. The tunnel continues on the other side by the looks of it, but the bottom of the chamber is not visible, even with night vision and shining lights down into it. Certainly not a good place to fall, as the team may not even have enough rope combined to reach the bottom, presuming someone survived said fall.
"Damn," Autumn mutters upon stopping before the floorless chamber. She peers down the large hole and shakes her head. "I doubt that all of us will be able to jump over."
Sara stops abruptly. "Fantastic," she says, looking to Meridith and the others. She leans down and plucks a bone from the rubble, examining it closely. "I think I need a drink."
"Oh good, an oubliette," Calista says wryly as they reach the opening, keeping well close to the wall's edge where there is floor purchase
Calista says "A french term for a pit they threw people in to be gone and forgotten about."
Meridith emote gazes upon the cavern, stepping slow, lightly, focused on her senses, enhanced as they are and peering into the immense twisting caverns in which they find themselves. As they arrive to the huge chamber with now floor, she gazes some at the distance, trying to calculate it and see if such a telekinetic leap would suffice.
Calista looks at the open cavern dubiously. "I am of course just... making light of a very large problem."
Meridith says "Not a person. But a rope, perhaps"
"Rope might not make it all the way down, but they might be able to go...across?" Sara thinks out loud.
Meridith nods to Sara.
"Perhaps you could use a boost, Meridith I could throw one of these ropes across with a grappling hook or something similar." Magnus notes as he stows his weapons, rubbing his hands together.
Trevor stops before the pit, kneeling down to rummage around in his ruck. Taking out the harness, and some of the climbing gear he grabbed earlier. He adjusts, putting the harness on. Then rams a climbing stake into the wall - it's loud, causing a brief echo - and loops the rope that was around his shoulder tightly around the stake - then attaches it to his harness. He shifts, checking how sturdy it is, and it's capable of holding himself. "Anyone else wanna attach up? We can climb as a unit?"
Sara stares at Trevor. "Where are you going to climb to get you over there?" she points to across the giant missing section of floor.
Meridith nods gently. "Here is my plan," She notes. "I will leap across. Magnus will toss a rope with some pitons and I will secure it. Magnus will remain on this side as an assistant anchor, we will cross, then we will all help Magnus across."
Meridith says "Agree or disagre?"
"Like walking a tightrope?" Sara asks a bit nervously.
"That sounds like good idea," Autumn replies to Meridith.
Meridith shakes her head to Sara. "No. Harness, then, clip the harness to the rope."
Meridith says "Then climb"
Calista says "I think she means more like rappeling."
Sara says "Oh, yeah, I can do that."
Abby says "Seems like a good plan."
Magnus nods, "I will assist and be made ready."
Trevor's thought was to climb down, see if there's anything below that could be seen, but, this idea posited seems like the option everyone is going with, so, Trevor keeps himself secure to the wall for now. "Yeah, that's a solid enough plan, let's do that," he agrees with the rest of the group.
Meridith nods, she begins to stride away and then breaks into a dead sprint, at the edge she springs with grace, humming with telekinetic prowess as she moves to leap and land across.
Sara watches Meridith with an impressed expression.
Magnus says a quiet prayer to Freyja that Meridith gets across the chasm.
Calista waits with baited breath.
Trevor exhales in, watching, and carefully, slowly, removes his sunglasses. It's already dark inside and it's NOT going to be good for seeing in the dark, to continue to be wearing sunglasses. He's moving slow, like any movement is somehow going to throw Meridith off.
Abby watches Meridith with a furrowed brow, hoping she makes it across.
Watching Meridith, Autumn purses her lips as she stands still.
Despite all natural law suggesting Meridith should plummet to her untimely death right here, a break in physics from a telekinetic shove helps her to land on the other side. Barely, and with enough forward momentum to hit the wall at the other end of the tunnel with enough momentum to hurt a normal person. Thankfully, Meridith is also resilient enough that it just knocks the wind out of her. That leaves the team able to toss her rope and pitons to make a single strand rope bridge of sorts. Presumably hammered into the upper area of the wall, not the lower area of the wall. So with a rope harness and a carbiner, each member should be able to hook on and pull themselves across to the other side then disembark into the other tunnel. What order is everyone going across? Yes, it matters, dun dun DUN!
Meridith waits vigilant on the otherside once everything is set. She holds the rope tight. "Women first. Men after, Sara?" she offers. Perhaps eager to see Sara across as soon as possible. Her eyes scan the opposite side for trouble, this is of course, new territory
Sara exhales slowly with relief. "Meri!" she calls to Meridith. "You sure?"
Calista glances up at Trevor, from their side of the cavern, she says nothing though there is a slight concerned pull to her brows.
Trevor frowns at the situation, the gears in his brain turning. Rope looks secure enough, but lightest first makes sense? That would seem a plausible solution. But, Meridith is leading the situation, and then Trevor turns to Magnus, "Guess we're going last?"
Attaching the grappling hook to the end of the rope, Magnus gets some room around himself before he starts to swing it, aiming over by Meridith as he uses his full strength to yeet that rope across the chasm and into the wall behind her, hoping to reach her if not sink the metal end into the wall secure enough to hold his own body weight, and surely all of the others much smaller than him. "Yeah, we'll go last, Trevor. Want to make sure that the smaller ones get across if it ends up falling."
Meridith is presuming the lightest are the women, perhaps.
Trevor frowns at the rope, and asks Magnus, "How much do you weigh?"
Looking back at Trevor from his seven feet of height, Magnus notes, "Around three hundred pounds give or take whether I'm bulking or cutting."
Trevor tries to do some math in his head, "Plus all the equipment? So, like.. what, three fifty?" It's a very rough estimate, as Trevor looks Magnus over, trying to figure out a logical or mathematical solution to the situation.
Calista gives Trevor's arm a squeeze with a little nod before she gets herself hooked up appropriately into the climbing gear she had taken from the supplies and gets ready to hook herself onto the now secured rope. Meridith had called Sara over first, however, and so she waits, patiently. "Sara, is there anything I Can do to aid you?" she asks of the other woman.
"Well, I guess it doesn't pay to be the shortest, sometimes," Sara says, strapping herself up into her harness. She looks to Magnus and Trevor. "Ready boys? I'm headed over!" She walks to the edge and clips a carbiner to the rope, where she decides it's best not to look down, and proceeds to attempt to pull herself to the other side as quickly as possible.
With the offer of help unneeded, Calista watches Sara go across with a small, nervous smile. Waiting for that form to reach the other side with Meridith safely.
Following Calista, Autumn then hooks herself to the rope and goes across. Upon reaching the other side, she unhooks herself and steps back to give space.
Trevor is still helpfully harnessed himself into the wall and it doesn't it seem to be going anywhere, so, he walks close to where Sara is heading across, carefully watching.
Wrapping the rope around himself as an anchor as well as having it secured in the ground, Magnus can easily hold any of the others as they cross.
Sara makes it across safely and does not fall... Calista makes it across safely and does not fall... Autumn makes it across safely and does not fall... Abby makes it half way across and her hands slip, leaving her dangling in the middle of the pit, attached by a harness to the rope!
Looking down at himself in full armor, weapons, gear and holding onto a rope, Magnus frowns as Abby makes it nearly across and suffers an issue. "Trevor, perhaps you may need to go out and assist Abby. I can hold the both of your weight."
Trevor grunts suddenly, at watching Abby slip. "Shit," he says.
Trevor slides his pack off, and removes his rifle, leaving it on this side. Less weight, hopefully.
Meridith is swift to assist, lifting Calista with telekinetic force, enough, hopefully, to help others aid her before it wears off.
Calling out to Abby as he holds tight on the rope, Magnus keeps it taught as he plants his feet into the ground. "We're coming to help you, honey!"
Calista has finished unhooking herself from the rope and making space for the others when Abby slips. "Abby!" she calls out loudly, reflexively. A very distraught look is cast across the chasm to Trevor and Magnus there on the other side.
Abby flounders as she dangles over the chasm, peering in the dark abyss as her face pales, "Shit shit shit!"
"Abby! Hey, hey. Look up at us. They've got you," Sara says, waving to get her attention off of the darkness below her.
Meridith of course meant Abby
"Abby, you're going to be okay," Autumn tells Abby with a concerned look. "We'll help you. Just keep calm."
"Eyes up here Abby!" Calista calls out sternly but with a forced cheerfulness, just being a source of comfort on the safe side of things.
With his pack and rifle removed, and safely on the other side, Trevor unhooks himself from his other rope, and then attaches himself to a carabiner to the new rope that Abby is hanging off. And then he begins to slowly, carefully, work his way across the rope towards her. "I'm coming," he calls.
Trevor is able to quickly climb, upside down, along the rope out to the middle where Abby has been lifted by Meridith. Thankfully, that lift takes the extra load off of the rope long enough for Trevor to get Abby moving again, and if Meridith does a pull, it should get Abby to the other side safely. Trevor may as well finish his crawl without a harness, so he gets to the other side in a slightly different fashion. That just leaves the big man, Magnus, to try to get across on his own now.
Taking the end of the rope and securing it with multiple pitons, wraps, and knots, Magnus tests the rope for his significant weight, and then attaches his harnass to belay himself across the secured rope to the other side without issue, his strength and deterity granted from his supernatural shifting powers allowing him the athetic prowess as he gets to the other side and settles his feet down on the ground, unhooking and checking on Abby, "You okay, honey?"
When Abby is safely across, Calista is trying to help her get up along with Meridith's telekinesis help. She gives the woman space after a quick hug and then when Trevor reaches the small group on the other side, Calista is instantly by his side. No dramatics, just an arm linked through his briefly.
Sara smiles softly at Meridith.
Meridith doesn't react strongly. For a moment, a brief tension passed her expression, but she is otherwise wordless throughout the ordeal. She returns the soft smile to Sara once Abby is safely across. She gives a nod to the assembled, then focuses as Magnus is to cross. Certain she may need to take action.
Abby once her feet hit solid ground once more, she lets out a relieved sigh and gives a grateful smile to the others.
Magnus reaches down after he gets across and gives Abby a big hug before he checks his gear, ready for the next challenge.
And once the team is reassembled, they can continue down the path, secure in the knowledge that most attempts to find this treasure probably did not make it this far. Of the six groups that most assuredly did not reach this point, they have some advantages still in their favor. Whatever the next obstacle, surely they will be able to surmount it, right? They eventually come to a legit hole. While the tunnel would have continued past, shortly after, the tunnel is collapsed. That just leaves the hole as the next possible way forward for the team. Thankfully, light reaches the floor of this particular pit, so the team can make out a floor perhaps two hundred feet down. That means the chamber below has to be quite large. It also means leaving that chamber will involve some pretty intense climbing.
[OOC: Feel free to post how the team will overcome this particular hurdle, but also feel free to take a 10 minute break here. Everyone be back by 8:05pm, please]
Meridith strides forward, accompanied by the party, staying on point, a hand offered to Sara as she goes, diligent and wary of every step within this hole in the earth, eager to be done with it. A deep pit, she muses. "A two hundred foot drop. I might be able to manage it, but, I doubt I could help others. A climb may be wise. Anchor to the top here?" She offers. "I can go first to test. I am least likely to suffer griveous injury should I fall..." She notes. "But," She offers to Magnus, Trevor, Calista and Abby. "I am open to other solutions."
Sara clasps her hand in Meridith's, peering downward. "You could technically lift us, can you set us down?"
Gazing down to the floor of this pit, Calista makes a humming thoughtful noise from her throat. "Well, we can't have expected paved multi user paths and wayfinding," she notes wryly. "Real glad we took that climbing gear..." She nods to Meridith then. "I don't think it's all that hard to get down per se, but... to get back up might be another issue. We should try to leave an rope anchored here for the return trip."
Meridith says "I cannot for the duration of the full drop."
Meridith says "A last minute rescue, sure, but even that has a chance of failure"
Calista says "Provided the rope holds."
Sara says "Down yes. The up will be the worst, but perhaps we should ....hrm."
Meridith nods to Calista. "That is my feeling as well, but. Mistakes can happen, let us be sure to set up contingency. A broken leg here could be a death sentence..."
Sara says "Maybe leave more than one bit anchored just in case."
Meridith nods to Calista.
Nodding as he glances down the hole, Magnus rubs his hands together again, looking in the supplies for some climber's chalk as he looks through the equipment for more rope. "I can lower each of you all down, perhaps in groups of two or three easily. I can climb it myself I think. if we are needing someone to have to free climb using handholds.:"
Sara raises her eyebrows. "Support giants come in handy," she grins.
Meridith says "Having Magnus simply sit with a rope around him could suffice..."
Calista says "This sounds like the Princess Bride now."
"I am quite the large giant, and I can carry most of the rest of your weights easily." Magnus says with a chuckle.
"The cliffs of insanity!" Calista says with a wry grin. "Anyone?"
Meridith nods to Calista.
Calista clears her throat and nods to Magnus then.
"True, perhaps," Autumn speaks with a look at Magnus and looks down.
Magnus chuckles to Calista as he says, "Not all giants throw rocks."
Sara places her face in her palm.
Trevor glances down the hole, a curious expression across his face. Everyone else seems to have a solid plan, so Trevor is going to defer to the others, letting them decide the best course of action here.
"Yeah," he says after a moment of contemplative silence, "Seems like a solution."
But there's now talks of movies and large women and Trevor trails off, closing his mouth to whatever he was going to say next and listens.
Magnus motions to Abby, "Abby is quite the statuesque lady. Absolutely, my dreams are of her."
"The pit of despair and rodents of unusual size." Abby adds on to Calista's quote belatedly before smile brightly at Magnus with a blush, "Oh, you."
Meridith says "I prefer it...I don't wish Sara to fall without me there..."
Calista stifles a small giggle behind a hand, casting a playful look at Trevor now, since he is so quiet.
Sara kisses Meridith's cheek.
Sara says "I say we let Magnus be our anchor."
Magnus laughs along with Abby and Calista's quotes as he leans over to kiss the top of Abby's head. "We will keep everyone safe. I will anchor you all."
Meridith nods. "I'm nott an expert climber, so, if someone here is, by all means go ahead and set the points to clip to"
Does anybody want a peanut? While the team gets situated to prepare for their descent, a tremor works its way through the ground. Those with some form of acute hearing or sensitivity might realize that the tremor began down in the chamber below, or somewhere really close to it. While Magnus could indeed raise or lower people by rope relatively easily, that would require him to stay stationed up there or be the first one back to it. Just a thing to consider if anything goes awry in the chamber below, as almost seems destined to happen with that tremor now. Rappelling down would actually be fairly easy, in fact, it's mostly just falling with a stop at the end without hitting the ground in this case. Regardless, that tremor certainly seems like a sign to either hurry up or pack it in and flee...
Trevor looks over at Calista, catching her look.
That smile fades at the tremor, and it turns into a frown.
"I think we need to go," Sara nods.
Meridith says "I know what it is, it won't be our first meeting."
Meridith says "Those who wish to flee, do so, but I am descending."
Calista says "I do think we should be rappeling down. Like I said, the down is the easy part... it's the up we'll need a bit more finesse. Should we anchor off and see to it then?"
Calista nods to Meridith. "I'm not going to watch Meri go alone, so..."
Sara says "Same. "
Magnus nods, "We can rappel down and we can have some of you tie to me in case of any issues. I can carry you down."
Sara is already back to gearing up, looking for a place to anchor in a rope.
Meridith nods, preparing herself to descend. Probably a tied rope to a harness, and then being lowered down, while anchored with Magnus on tthe rope?
Trevor is all practically now, moving to secure himself an anchor point somewhere along the edge of the hole, attaching a rope to his harness and securing it tightly. He looks around, waiting for the rest to get themself into position.
Magnus makes ready as he uses Pitons and various climbing tools to get plenty of anchors in the ground, helping everyone set up their own ropes, while also putting a loose rope tied to himself in case anyone falls so he can slow their descent.
Sara knots a rope to her harness, check to make sure it's secure, and then secures to an anchor near Magnus. "I'm ready," she says, feet at the edge.
"I will descend as well," Autumn says, ready to climb down and hooking her harness once she gets a chance.
Abby's mouth goes dry as she feels the tremor but nods to Meridith, "I already made it this far so definitely descending." she secures herself to the rope and makes ready to climb down.
"Alright, Magnus is our belayer so to speak," Calista says more to herself than anyone else. "Let's do this." She, like everyone else gets hooked up and between harness, ropes and friction hitches... hopefully they're all covered here.
Helpfully, the hole is definitely big enough for everyone to descend at once if they trust their anchoring and can be careful not to bump into each other on the way down. Barring that, it is really easy to get down. It is the back up part that will be put to a test later.
It takes a little bit for everyone to reach the bottom, and that's when they realize: bones are scattered everywhere down here. Covering the floor almost entirely. The lanterns and flashlights help illuminate the chamber, and to one end, there seems to be a new tunnel going deeper into the Earth still. That also seems to be the only direction that continues from here. Every step crunches on bones of previous adventurers that managed to make it this far. Adventurers that did not make it back out. There are thousands of remains in this place. And a terrible roar sounds from the depths of the new cave entrance they have found.
Sara turns to Meridith. "You said this is not your first meeting. Does it..like you?"
"He's here," Autumn speaks in a hushed voice once she makes it down. "He wants to stop us from getting the Heart. But we will not let him."
As Trevor's boots meet the ground - or well, the scattered bones of adventurers, he looks up to where they just left - looking at the ropes dangling. Then he blinks, looking towards the sound of that.. roar.
Calista keeps in tight formation with the others in their group, always an eye on her perimeter now - though the roar gives a pretty good idea of where the danger lies.
Meridith smiles warmly, gazing towards that roar. Her expression shows contentment, ease, confidence. She steps forward slowly, swishing her blade through the air. She gazes at Sara and replies finally, "Everybody likes me," she insists.
As he gets down to the ground, Magnus unhooks himself from the climbing harness as he checks over his sword and bow, running a hand over his armor to make sure it is steady and secure. As he hears the loud roars, he takes in a deep breath, his brow furrowing down sternly as he absently raises his broadsword in front of him, his other hand reaching over to pat Abby's back, checking to make sure she is there as his eyes keep forward, looking down the hole. "Onward. We will do battle and we will conquer, for Shemra."
Trevor steps up close to Calista, leaning slightly to whisper something.
"No turning back now," Sara smiles. "Onward it is."
"For Shemra," Calista repeats softly in chorus with Magnus.
"For Shemra," Trevor says softly, after pulling away from his whispered conversation.
Calista whispers back to Trevor with a small, playful wink given.
Sara traces her fingers over a rose gold and emerald necklace with vines and flowers as she turns her head to the sound of the roars.
Abby steps lightly around the bones scattered on the floor and looks on towards the source of the roar that ring throughout the cave, smiling over at Magnus and idly fiddling with her someone.
Magnus has a few moments to take a few deep breaths, recalling a memory as he breathes in the bones of his countrymen, the salty tinge of crunched bone and dusty stench of the bowels of the earth. His hand grips the broadsword tighter as he grits his teeth, steeling his nerves as he gives a nod to Meridith, following with her, at the vanguard of the team. "We are ready for whatever happens. Shemra bless us."
Meridith nods. "Then, no more wasting time, let us proceed." She declares and begins to stride ttoward the sound of the roar, tiptoeing past the bones.
Sara follows swiftly behind Meridith, keeping light on her feet.
Calista keeps up with the others, though prudently is not leading the charge at the front.
Trevor follows along, somewhere in the middle - his rifle is still slung across his chest, but there's one hand on it, almost protectively. He's somewhere in the middle, next to Calista, and his eyes dart around, scanning for any possible tricks or ambushes that could be lingering.
Nodding her head, Autumn turns to follow Meridith and Sara. One hand is lifted to grip the handle of her blade, while she tries to move her feet around the skeletal remains.
Abby follows the others hurriedly sticking somewhere towards the back as trudges on
Pointing at the cave entrance, Magnus peers closely at it. "There is a spirit there, draconic. A red dragon impaled on iron spikes, and it is thrashing and spewing fire all around it."
Sara says "Well no wonder. It's hurt."
Meridith says "I suspect it is his heart we claim."
Calista frowns at this recreation of an image from Magnus. "That's awful sounding..."
"Just like the dragon spirits at the mountain temple," Autumn tells Magnus as she looks up at the entrance. "All trapped."
Sara says softly, "I can slow the heart, but I cannot make it stop completely."
Abby peers to the entrance to the cave with a look of concern, "The poor thing, it's in pain."
"This is perhaps Shemra's rival, the red dragon we seek to destroy...or an aspect of him." Magnus murmurs quietly as he raises the point of his broadsword and points at where the spirit is, "We should put it out of it's horrendous misery and carve out it's heart for our patron."
"I agree we need to end its pain," Calista murmurs back in pitying tones.
Meridith takes a deep slow breath. Recalling what it is she knows.
Meridith closes her eyes and places her hands together, fingers twining one another
Trevor was about to ask something, but stops, when it seems like Meridith is about to give information. He stands tall, shoulders squared - hand resting on the barrel of his rifle as he listens.
Meridith nods. "This is not Gonthorian, but one of his victims..."
Sara says "So perhaps....we free them."
Furrowing his brow, Magnus listens beyond the veil, watching the spirit and nodding, "It is...cursing Gonthorian's name. It vows to claw his eyes out if the dragon gets free. It is perhaps...an ally to our cause."
Abby looks back and forth between the spirit and the group, "It seems like we have common enemies, he could likely convince him we mean no harm and set him free, he could help us out."
Another thunderous roar causes a tremor through the caverns as whatever is in the cave continues to thrash and writhe against its bindings. Most of the people present cannot see the spiritual manifestation of the cause, but everyone can see a blackness where the spikes have been driven through. While they are spiritual, they are also semi-tangible. Those that can see and hear the spirit may need to approach and help him settle before the others can safely engage further with the spirit.
Meridith steps forth, slipping into the nightmare realm without hesitation.
Looking over at Meridith, Magnus nods as he also steps forth, runed broadsword in hand as he strides to meet his fate head on.
Sara glances after Meridith, a worried expression on her face.
Calista holds her ground, watching those with a connection to the spirit make their moves. She stares out to that dark blackness, a small frown taking over her expression there.
"I wonder how long he's been suffering," Calista murmurs quietly outloud.
Sara says "From the description, I'd wager quite some time."
Trevor frowns as both Magnus and Meridith depart, and Abby, Autumn, Calista, Sara, and Trevor are left in the cavern. It's not the most helpful of suggestions, but, "Anyone want water? It's been a journey," there doesn't seem to be any danger at the moment, and Trevor sets his rucksack down, rifling through it and pulling out a bottle of water for himself.
Uncapping it, and taking a sip, he looks over to Calista and Sara, offering up a solemn nod in return.
Sara shakes her head. "Not a way for anything to be." A weak smile is given to Trevor. "Thanks Trevor. I'm okay for now."
Abby steps towards the spirit in step with Magnus and looks over the pillars binding it
Calista takes Trevor's offer of water, allowing that moment for self-care and to busy their hands.
Trevor water doled out to whoever wants it, Trevor recaps the bottle, placing it back inside and stands, re-shouldering his ruck.
Meridith just vanishes as far as everyone is concerned. Was she even really here before? Or is this just deja vu? Those that remain outside the nightmare can still see inky black things in the cave. There are dozens of them, but maybe just loosening or pulling out a few will work enough to let the spirit free itself, if that is what people are inclined to do. The dragon is still very much thrashing and writhing, trying to spray fire everywhere, for those that can see that.
"Does.. anyone know what those inky black things are?" Calista puts out there, looking towards the source of the roaring.
"I suppose this dragon and us both have common enemy," Autumn says before she lifts her left hand. "I cannot hear it, but I can see it." After that, she also vanishes into the nightmare.
steps carefully about, running her hands along the walls of the cave. "I don't know," Sara says, moving towards one.
As Autumn leaves, Trevor glances around. "Fuck, shit," he says, cursing under his breath. "Do we follow?"
And then there were just Trevor, Sara and Calista left behind. "No, you cannot see it Trevor- or... can you?"
Sara steps carefully about, running her hands along the walls of the cave. "I don't know," she says, moving towards one. (fix)
Sara says "Hey you two. Help me?"
Calista moves behind Sara. "Yeah, I've got you Sara," she says, deciding on action.
Trevor wrinkles his brow, but follows after Sara, "Yeah, what's up?"
Sara points to some of the inky black images lining the cave. "See if you can pull some of those?" she says.
Calista says "Or just... grab and pull?"
Sara grasps one of the objects, twisting back and forth, and pulling hard.
Sara says "I would say perhaps we cut them, but that may hurt it worse."
"Unless....." Sara ponders, narrowing her eyes. "What if we can loosen what we can, and maybe cut the tips off the others? That may allow it to pull itself free."
Walking closer to the dragon spirit cautiously, Magnus calls out to it, "Beast, I am Magnus Kron, Jotun from afar coming back to my homeland. Blooded of Shemra, she the enemy of Gonthorian. We are here to help, we seek a heart."
Rallying herself, Calista just decides to approach one of these black objects and hope that her hands find purchase and strength to pull.
Trevor listens to Sara, who seems to have a better handle on what's going on. He steps forward, strong, gloved hands grasping at one of the black objects and - tries to pull at it, trying to dislodge, or loosen it.
Sara suddenly screams. "NO!" digging her fingers in and yanking desperately on the inky object in her hands.
"NNGH!" Calista lets out the sound of intense pain as she pulls hard.
Narrowing his eyes, Magnus growls as he leaps forward, broadsword in hand as he slices at the inky object that Sara is pulling, "Something is wrong, these are hurting something!"
Trevor grits his teeth, and sets his jaw, pulling twisting, despite the burning searing up his hands and arms.
Sara grits her teeth, whirling at Calista and Trevor. "We need to move away from each other further," she states, an intense look of anger in her eyes. Her nails are nearly splitting with the effort of pulling the object.
Sara, Trevor, and Calista all manage to rip one of the inky black spikes out of the draconic spirit nailed to the floor. As soon as the spikes are wrenched free from their hold, they vanish in flickering black flames and are gone entirely. That's three spikes down. Four of five more might be enough to set it free...
Sara hits the floor a moment with shaking hands, glancing to the others. "We have to keep going," she says, eyes blazing. She immediately springs up and heads for another, wasting no time in taking hold and yanking with all her strength.
Calista pants with the physical and mental effort of what that spike took from her, shaking out her arms with a gutteral growl of pain to work it off. But her jaw is set stubbornly as she looks for another. "Another!" She announces, already moving to one.
Magnus moves to the other side, slicing through one of the inky spikes if he can, then pulling on it with his strength if the sword does not work.
Abby looks on as the others as they tear the pillars free and rushes over to rip one out as well.
Meridith ahs. "Our friend here killed them, I was afraid of that." She lets out a wearied sigh. "Well they were bound to act, let us keep them busy here, so they do not bother our allies on the other side?" She tells Autumn, blade raising up.
Trevor finds something in him, and he turns, facing Calista and Sara momentarily. A flicker of something in him.
He walks away from the wall - towards them?
Something else comes up, and he turns on his heel, ripping at one one of the other spikes.
Meridith err...meant that subtlety
Sara closes her eyes, focusing everything on the task at hand as she continues to yank at the inky black spike, fingers tearing at it without ceasing.
Sara falls to her knees, head down. Shaking in sheer determination, she seems to recall something buried in her mind. She forces herself back up, yanking harder despite the pain.
Alighting in his eyes, Magnus steps back from the beast, hands releasing the inky tendril as he says, "No...no..." he looks down at his arms and holds them tight against his body, the massive giant dropping to his knees as he fights against something within, teeth chattering as he looks down at his hands, his eyes in a panic as he makes to run but is frozen in place, then instinct takes over and the cracking of bones is heard, the tearing of flesh, as Magnus starts to shift into a more animalistic form...
Abby lets out a shakey breath and close her eyes as a cold sweat washes over her entire being. She wraps her arms around the base of the pillar, crouches down and lifts up the black spike from it's perch, whispering to herself to try to calm herself down.
Roaring out into the cavern, Magnus(Bear) lets the animal instincts taking over as he furiously begins to swipe and maul the inky tendrils, the objects of his abject feral hatred, as he reverts to a primal state.
Calista sags against the spike, like her body won't move - but she holds steady, her face contorted in concentration and conflict.
Through pain and clenched teeth, Sara calls out, "Steady! It wants you to feel like this. Remember who you are!" followed by another cry of pain from the effort of pulling.
Sara's cry is heard through Calista's gritted teeth grunts of effort.
Trevor lets out a groan, his body battling against his mind. Which one is stronger?
Trevor grinds his teeth - holding onto the tendril he's tugging out. This is *his* focus, determined. Sara's words seem to have an impact, and he pulls stronger, tighter.
Like he's trying to pull the entire earth with him.
Sara, Calista, Abby, and Trevor manage to pull out an inky spike, which once more dissipates in a dark flash of black flame. Magnus(Bear) has gone full bear, which has him mauling and swiping at the spike with feral determination, but he is no longer pulling it that way. He has given in to whatever it was he felt. And while it might ordinarily drive him to great heights, today, it drives him to turn, toward Abby.
Sara whirls around to see the bear moving toward Abby. "Oh, shit."
"MAGNUS!" Calista cries out loudly when the stars have dissipated from her vision.
Sara says "Magnus! That's Abby. You don't want to hurt her. You're here for Shemra, remember?"
"We're doing this! Your brethren! Your beloved! We're here for Shemra!" Calista tries desperately to appeal to the bear.
"Magnus, my Battle Brother," Trevor calls out, voice joined the fray. "MAGNUS. LISTEN. THIS ISN'T YOU."
And with a ripple of nightmare energy, someone is ripped out of the physical space and into the nightmare space! Thankfully, before he can bring any harm to Abby. But the group outside the Nightmare still needs to find at least one more spike to remove before the dragon will be freed.
Sara moves a hand to her necklace. "I really don't want to have to do anything that hurts him," she whispers.
And with a ripple of nightmare energy, Magnus(Bear) is ripped out of the physical space and into the nightmare space! Thankfully, before he can bring any harm to Abby. But the group outside the Nightmare still needs to find at least one more spike to remove before the dragon will be freed.
Calista pants a little bit, the urgency fueling the adrenaline in her veins as she looks for another spike.
Sara looks to Abby and Trevor. "Yes?"
Calista nods to Sara with conviction. "Yes. For Shemra."
Sara says "For Shemra."
Abby struggles to stay on her feet as she rips the pillar free and turns towards the Magnus(Bear) and blinks as he is ripped into the nightmare. she grips her necklace and nods, "For shemra."
Sara turns and squints her eyes. "There," she points, not too far in the distance. "We all go, and we all pull."
Calista tracks her gaze to where Sara points and then she's already moving.
With the bear situation resolved, Trevor glances around at the remaining women.
There's a look.. about him. And it seems to be some battle deep inside him.
Why shouldn't he? His to choose. His to..
The words of everyone else snaps him out of that. And he's quiet, eyes scanning to where Sara points off, and he too moves, following closely behind Calista.
Sara wastes no time sprinting to the inky darkness, and in a moment has palms around it and is yanking with all her might.
Calista joins Sara, united in purpose and pulls hard.
Sara nods to Trevor and Abby. "Here!" she calls.
"Trev," Calista implores through gritted teeth. "Help us.."
Abby dashes towards the remaining spike and tackles it, pulling on with every muscle in her body.
Trevor reaches out, gripping at the object, pulling with everything he has.
Surrounded by skeletal warriors, Magnus(Bear) immediately goes into a rampage and begins to swipe at them, slamming them to the ground as his large paws maul everything around him, his large maw opening to bite down and tear the limbs and heads from anything he can get his teeth on the boney warriors.
Sara screams, a sound of both terror and hysteria. "I...said...NO!" she states, tears streaming down her cheeks. Looking to the others, she implores, "Remember....please. We have to keep going."
Sara bites her bottom lip and through her tears, shaking arms and fingers insist on pulling the object, refusing to let go.
Abby's knees threaten to buckle underneath her as she grips, a cry of anguish tears it's way form her throat as she struggles to push on.
Calista makes a cry of emotional pain - like heartbreak - sounding defeated and angry all at once. She fights off shuddering sobs while her arms shake from the effort to hold on.
A roar escapes Trevor's lips as he pulls on the tendril. Whatever battle he faces, whatever his struggle, he doesn't cry.
He shifts to a better posture, gripping at the thing - pulling, tugging, twisting. Trying to get rid of it, but not letting go. No. He can't, they *have* to pull together.
"All together.." Sara calls in a shaky voice. "On three. Ready?"
"Ready," Trevor grunts out, through gritted teeth. "Count it."
Calista focuses on the sound of Sara's voice, her blue-grey eyes looking to the woman with some clarity as she joins the pull.
"One, two...THREE!" Sara yells, pulling as hard as she possibly can at the word three. "For Shemra!"
Abby lets out a deep shake breath, "Ready."
Calista doesn't waste any more strength on talking. She make a gutteral sound, a productive growl as women of the ages in labour would call it. Pulling though, in this instance.
The presumed final spike puts up one hell of a fight, hitting all four people trying to pull it with a hell of a whammy. But in the end, Shemra's faithful are, at their core, bold and resilient and determined! The spike starts to loosen, then there is crying out. And then a roar from Trevor. And the spike starts to slide free. It balks, and Sara calls for the team to pull together. And the combined efforts are juuuust enough to tear it free, and it fades in a flickering of black flames. The spirit roars once more, sending a tremor through the cavern, likely felt outside.
At Sara's count, Trevor pulls, if he was shirtless, or sleeveless there would most likely be a rippling of his muscles. Every part of him pulled tight in his attempt to remove this thing.
Sara falls to the floor in a heap.
Calista drops to the floor as well, a bit of an emotional sob leaving her as some emotions go whooshing out with the fading of the black flames. She looks to Trevor then, somewhere closeby her.
Sara picks herself up, looking about her. "Are you all alright?" she asks with concern.
Feeling rough from the emotional battery and all of the fighting, Magnus(Bear) slumps onto the bone piles in the Nightmare, the massive bear lazily holding it's head as he nuzzles around in the nightmare looking for a way out as he huffs out some deep breaths, calming down.
Abby's knees gives way underneath her as the spike dislodges itself. Drenched in sweat as tears run down her face as she sobs to herself.
Trevor slumps down, collapsing onto his rear and looks to Calista. "Yeah," he says to Sara. "I'm good, you?" It's an ask to everyone else, not specifically Sara.
Sara tilts her head to Abby. "Hey, Abby," she says, kneeling beside her. "It's okay, you did it. We made it."
Still watching Trevor, Calista takes some heaving breaths and gives a little nod of confirmation to the question. Though, eventually she breaks that stare to look at her fellows near her, Abby and Sara. "You guys are amazing," she finally breathes out in quiet encouragement.
After the roar, the dragon becomes ethereally visible and tears itself loose of the final spikes, and they all flicker into dark flames and disappear. It is panting heavily and still looks quite angry. It swings its head about and then focuses on the four people it can see. "What are you pathetic beings doing down here?" it growls at the group.
While there is no mirror visible nearby, there does seem to be one that has fallen out of someone's extra supplies. It is currently on the floor near Trevor. It will be a tight fit to get out of the nightmare through it though.
Battered and exhausted, after Magnus calms down, he takes deep breaths as he shifts back, the sickening sound of bones and muscles reknitting themselves as he crawls around naked, getting up to a kneeling position.
"Freeing you," Calista states perhaps a little bravely to the question of the spirit that is now visible - moving to stand back up on her no longer shaky legs.
Sara glances around her, noting several of them are still missing. "We were attempting to help you," she says, palms up as though to show they mean no harm.
Trevor finds a surge of strength, standing up alongside Calista - nodding at the two women in total agreement.
Crawling out from the mirror, fully naked, bruised, and battered, the massive man Magnus grunts as he moves to the pile of clothes that he tore off in the change, looking through them form salvagable wear.
Meridith steps back through looking wearied, but only physically. Outfit torn, any cuts have mended or been reduced to minor nuisances, her blade is away and her eyes lock on to Sara, showing immense relief and pride, and that gaze is soon shared with the rest of the covenant, from Abby, to Calista, to Trevor. She nods softly.
Abby sniffs and nods to Sara, wiping her eyes. She looks up to the dragon and rises to her feet, calling out, "We come here seeking the dragon's heart ruby. We are enemies with the one who trapped you here. May we ask for your aid in our journey?"
Sara glances at Meridith, visibly relieved.
Magnus finds that his jeans weren't torn as he puts them on to hide his naughty bits, slowly standing to his full seven feet of height to strap on his weapons and armor alongside a shirt and shoes.
Leaving the nightmare while she recovers, Autumn appears near the mirror and turns to look at the spirit. "Gonthorian has trapped dragons before like you have been," she speaks to the dragon. "And he wants to ascend first so he can burn the world. We want to stop him from achieving that, so we ask for your help."
As he pulls on his clothes and armor, Magnus reaches out to give Abby's hand a squeeze for comfort and support for the both of them, leaning over to kiss the top of her head as he steels his jaw, standing up straighter as he looks at the dragon. "The House of Odin is with you, can you give us your name, Dragon?"
"You are treasure hunters like all the rest then!" the dragon booms, rearing back as if he wants to bathe the lot of you in fire. Only, he is a spirit now, so it will do no good. He considers each person present and then growls. "But you did undo that upstart Gonthorian's bindings," the dragon says, moving its great head back and forth inside the cave as if waffling back and forth about whether or not to give the adventurers anything for their troubles with him. "Fine, but when you confront Gonthorian, as I know you wish to do, you tell him the Great Red Dragon sends his regards," he finally says to the group. He shakes his head at Magnus and says, "In my time, dragons needed no names." He steps aside and motions toward the back of the cave. "Take only what you can safely carry out," he suggests as a warning against greed [OOC: And the adventure xp to money conversion rate!].
Meridith nods to the dragon gently, content to let the others take center stage. She has no desire for the treasures or baubles, but encourages anyone who wishes to take a trinket to do so.
Sara moves to Meridith, gently entwining fingers with hers for a moment.
"We have only come for Heart Ruby, if you will allow us to take," Autumn says, glancing at the treasures at the back but she does not move to take. "We will also be glad to have new ally to our cause."
Nope. Trevor isn't greedy, even though treasure was offered up - but instead, he sticks with his allies, regarding the dragon.
Sara also makes no move for any treasure or trinkets, content where she is for the moment.
Abby gives a wan smile up at Magnus for his comforting gestures and looks torwards the back of the caves for their objective.
Magnus nods as he stands stoically next to Abby, "Yes, the heart. We will perhaps appreciate your allyship in the days to come."
"I did not say ally. But if you can use the Ruby to thwart his plans, I'm all for it," the dragon tells Autumn simply. And then, much like a certain other silver dragon spirit, he just vanishes. Ghosts run out of steam eventually, and given the amount of roaring and quaking he caused, he was probably on his last legs for the day before the team showed up anyways.
At this point, the team can venture into the back of the cave and find a dragon's hoard. Gold coins, armor, weapons, amulets, capes, and all manner of magical items. But in the center, on a pedestal, there is a heart shaped ruby, as big as Magnus's fist, balanced precariously on a stand that should have fallen over during the quakes, but did not. The dragon has given permission to take whatever someone might want to carry, but they do have a 200 foot rope climb, another 25 foot rope shimmy, and a couple miles worth of hike just to get back to the entrance.
Meridith humms, and fetches herself a cloak none the less.
Calista clears her throat. "I'm not here for the treasure, and I think what we've achieved is amazing but..." She steps forward to the horde. "I promised Shemra, when I was very new here... that I would bring her a shiny some day."
Meridith says "We are bringing her a delightful Shiny, Calista. Please, consider a token, how often can you say you'll have the opportunity to take a trinket from a dragon?"
"So I'll just... be taking a little something," Calista says with a small, impish smile. "For the horde."
Meridith says "Your kids will hear this story one day, and you'll have something tangible to share."
"I see," Autumn replies and turns to browse the treasures. Her hazel gaze glances at the armor and bows, then she looks at her bow and the kevlar vest under her cloak.
Calista nods softly to Meridith, eyes scanning the treasures around them now.
[OOC: For purposes of moving forward, consider whatever you take here as part of your rewards at the end of the plot. There is still more to go. The egress! Presumably, someone takes the Ruby, yes?]
Magnus nods as he looks over the hoard as he picks up a magical bow, a replacement for the modern bow he has, and a more fitting weapon to match his old broadsword with runes on the blade. "Hmm...this is very nice." he also glances to Meridith as he takes the ruby if she does not.""
Sara lingers her eyes over a cloak, which she picks up with a nod. "I could use one of these."
Meridith nods to Magnus, allowing him to claim the ruby.
Taking the ruby in hand, Magnus carries the large weight with him as they depart.
Abby strides to the back of the cave and picks up a magical trinket small enough to fit in the palm of her hand.
Trevor wanders carefully into the back of the cave, looking around the shinies, the treasure and the weapons. Trevor seems to be much like Autumn in this case, and regards the weapons. No. He's already got weapons - and it's a tough climb back, so, he plucks up some gold coins, tucking them into a pocket - and then strides back to the group.
Sara tucks the cloak into her backpack, slipping it easily inside for the journey ahead.
"Hmm... I don't mind new bow," Autumn murmurs to herself as she also gets a bow. "I can get better armor next time." She then turns to head back to the group.
Sara stands beside Meridith, glancing back towards the way they came.
Maybe it's the old cliche, but Calista appears to be eyeing the jewelry - the amulets to be exact. She stoops to retrieve one, enjoying its intricacies before she stows it in her backpack.
And then one more, and a trio of gold coins, and it would seem Calista is satisfied.
Meridith nods and once everyone is ready, with the ruby safely stowed, she begins to depart with a polite bow
With all the treasure looted, as the team begins to leave, the ground starts to shake, and a cave in seals off the rest of the treasure, keeping it safe from further incursions by outsiders. Possibly at least. Treasure Hunters are tenacious. Thankfully, the dragon spirit that caused said cave in managed to localize it enough to not mess up the team's departure route. And now, they have a 200 foot climb to contend with in order to leave...
Meridith nods. "Strongest climber, can carve hand holds for the ones to follow, pitons and then, we can follow. I'll go last and catch those who fall?" She notes.
Magnus nods as he takes his things and looks up, checking for any ropes that survived as he says, "I'll go first." and then starts to climb, clipping himself into the rope if it is still there.
"I don't think I'm the best climber," Trevor points out, glancing up at the large, two hundred foot climb. Then Trevor pauses again, "We've been through a lot, I'll ask again, anyone want some water before?" Oh and Magnus goes, already starting to climb.
Calista sucks in a deep breath. "Just take it slow, yeah? We can clip and go slowly but confidently!"
Calista nods to Trevor then, grateful for his reminders for self care. "I'll have some, Trev," she replies softly with an appreciative, small smile.
Sara says "I'd think perhaps if we clip onto a rope and hang on, once he's up there he could just pull us up?"
Grunting as he climbs, Magnus nods down to Trevor as he says, "I'll take some water after we get all the way up here. The rest isn't bad to get back."
Meridith passes on the water
Magnus makes relatively short and easy work of scaling back up the rope and leaving behind a way to help everyone up after. Between hoisting and holds, everyone is reeled up one after the other with only a couple of minor snags, like lost grips or wobbly slips. Before long, everyone is back at the pit, shimmying their way across. And soon thereafter, they are nearing the entrance. [OOC: Everyone just showstat Perception and/or Demolitions for me if they are above 0.]
Meridith is pretty sure it was higher than that hmmm
Magnus frowns as he holds up his hand to try and signal to stop, "Something here." he says quietly, don't go further.""
"I knew it," Sara whispers.
Meridith hesitates a moment. "The ruby. Hand it here, I can path us out. It'll be slow going but..."
Calista halts immediately at Magnus's signal. She wasn't rushing anywhere in any hurry as it was.
Trevor stops, hand reaching down to fidget at the rifle strapped to his front - holding onto the stock.
Magnus nods to Meridith, handing her the ruby as he raises up his bow.
Glancing at the walls of the cave, Autumn was about to move before she stops. "They want to trap us here inside," she whispers as she moves closer to the group.
"I didn't trust them from the beginning," Sara whispers in a huff.
Meridith shrugs gently. "We don't know who or what yet. Let's not leap to conclusions."
Sara brings her fingers down from her necklace, but her eyes are narrowed.
Abby peers around the cavern, standing stock still as she awaits further information.
"We know you're close. Come out and give us the Ruby, and we will let you live!" calls the Odin Leader from the entrance to the cave the team has spent the last several hours in. "We don't want to blow up the cavern. Still more treasure down there, we wager, but we can clear it out if need be," he calls down, just like a cliche villain, monologuing and telling his plan. There is a beep from the equipment, which has a GPS tracker that they could have been keeping track of the entire time. Or just waiting for it to come back into signal range. While Meridith can likely build a Path for everyone to get out, it takes time to build. Enough time that the Odin team might come storming down shooting during.
Meridith says "Better idea..."
Sara smiles wryly.
Sara whispers, "Can I?" with a flutter of eyelashes to Meridith.
Meridith hands the ruby to Sara and feels the muscles in her body begin to tense. Her eyes shift, focused, predatory. Fury. A promise made earlier she intends to keep. She in the direction of the odin leader, eyes closing focusing.
Meridith glances at Sara, curious.
Sara grabs Trevor to whisper something to him.
Trevor leans down, offering up an ear to Sara.
Sara tucks the Ruby into her pack, inside the cloak.
Sara whispers, "Alternate idea. We still have a mirror?"
"I don't have all day! ... Oh wait, we do," the Odin Leader says with a bit of a sneer. Someone pushes a button, and an explosion occurs further back in the cave, behind the Covenant team. "No going backwards now. Always forward, even if we have to walk you out one corpse at a time," the Odin Leader calls, and another button is pressed, and another explosion happens closer to the team. It might be that Demigods from the House of Odin are familiar with the tricks to get out of such a predicament.
Trevor tilts his head curiously, but nods at the whispered words. "Hey!" Trevor calls out, shifting somewhere into the middle of the crowd of Scalebound. "There's something we can probably work out, and probably something you should know before we make our exit."
Trevor isn't much of a negotiator, that part is obvious, but, he seems to be trying *something*.
Calista jumps, startled at the explosions happening behind them. She stays close to the cave wall, out of sight but looks imploringly to the others to get this show on the road, whatever the plan may be - since it seems there is one already in planning.
Sara looks to Calista and gives a small smile.
Autumn pulls out the bow, the one she found at the horde, and draws an arrow, ready to shoot as she gazes at the entrance. "Time to summon Ifrit again," she mutters quietly while she chants under her breath, flinching a bit from the explosions. "That bastard's soul will be damned to deepest parts of Hell."
Magnus frowns as he calls out to them, "Brothers, do not do this. I am Magnus Kron, and I will not tolerate this betrayal. I will destroy each and every one of you, your kin, and the traces you have left in this world. Do you wish to see your legacy erased? I will have your bones crushed in my hands, for I am Jotun."
Sara whispers, "Mirror. Can we use it?"
Sara whispers, "It was by you!"
Magnus raises up his rune etched broadsword and bellows, "I fear not death, and I will show you my strength!" he finds a loose boulder and picks it up, throwing it at full speed and full strength out of the tunnel.
Sara turns to Meridith. "Your thoughts?" she says in a low voice.
Sara says "Or, there's that, too."
Meridith nods. "Of course, the mirror works too, but nightmare or no we must climb."
Sara says "Climb, path, run, whatever."
Sara says "As long as it gets us out of this cave."
"Jotun are not Gods! You are unworthy!" the Odin Leader calls back down, just before the boulder comes up. It misses him entirely, but goes flying further down the mountain. "Suit yourself," he calls back, and someone starts pushing all of the buttons, one by one, getting closer to the Covenant team with each teeth-rattling detonation as it gets closer. Two more, and the team will likely be crushed under the mountain.
At this point, staying still is literally a death sentence. They planned this trap specifically to get the Ruby from your team if you returned with it.
Sara flinches. "We need to move now."
Well, Magnus is throwing boulders, so Trevor steps back, letting Magnus take control of the situation, though, he has a feeling that there might be shooting. And he shifts his rifle, hand gripping around the barrel of the gun, finger splayed out in proper trigger discipline.
With a sense of urgency, and impending cave-in, "Whatever the fuck we're doing, we need to go NOW."
Calista looks to Meridith then, poised to move, strung in nervous anticipation. "We can't let them get that Ruby."
Meridith nods and once she manages to build the path toward them, she vanishes. Such a hasty combat pathing doesn't typically allow bringing people but if she can she will
Sara follows with Meridith, grabbing her hand at the last moment and extending hers outward for another.
Meridith gives Sara a gentle shake of her head
Sara sniffles and looks about herself sadly.
Sara says "Well, that leaves one other option."
Meridith vanishes in a flicker of shadow, egressing the cave and appearing by the Odin Leader. He does not seem surprised by this and has his own axe out to start fighting with her, relatively equal in terms of strength and such. The other members of Odin Team start shooting rifles into the cave, perhaps not entirely all demigods. Another explosion happens behind the group, close enough for them to feel the heat from it.
Sara says "Alright, we have to get out of here."
"FOrward then!" Magnus says as Meridith paths, charging out of the tunnel with his broadsword held high, leading the charge to fight the House of Odin.
Sara stays low and to the walls, attempting to get herself within range without being detected.
Calista also keeps low and at an angle from the shots coming in, but trying to get away from the progressively closer explosions.
Meridith shows no hestiation when she steps free of the shadows. She launches forward, swift steps, her blade flashing out at the man, and keeping close to him. She uses her telekinetic powers to yank the detonator to her. Or whoever has it. Her primary focus is buying the team time.
"And you are unworthy of Heart Ruby!" Autumn snaps at the Leader and turns to run towards the entrance. "Only thing you will be worthy of is scorching wrath. Ifrit, come one more and show them power of Hell!" A puff of black smoke appears as the dusky demoness narrows her eyes.
Abby draw her gun and a fires off a shot, ducking low to avoid return fire, and charges towards the mouth of the cave.
Eyes darting from the entrance, to the explosions behind him. Grimacing, Trevor positions himself, in the most defensive posture he can. He moves with the group, reaching out to tap Calista, make sure she's there - and rattles shots off towards Odin team. He's gotten better, as anyone who's fought with him may notice.
Sara manages to make it near the entrance, and chants quickly. The runes on her necklace glow dark red, and suddenly some members of the Odin clan find themselves struggling to see as the vessels in their eyes burst.
"Now would be a good time," Sara calls to the others.
Sara takes aim with a bow, loosing arrows outside the entrance with ease.
Calista pulls out darts from her utility belt, loading her tranq pistol and stepping out from the wall, she aims at the leader that Meridith engages with and shoots. Following this, she grabs the back of Trevor's vest as requested, ready to move as a unit with him.
Buying time for the team is an excellent idea, and Meridith pulls that member of Team Odin over to her and delivering a vicious cut to remove him from the fight. He falls and loses his grip on the detonator, so at least there may not be any more explosions in the cave.
Magnus takes the brunt of the fire from the enemies around the mouth of the cave, but the Covenant team has some occasional points of cover along the way and seems inclined to use them. Once Magnus has reached the top, he gets beset by three Odin members.
Sara manages to blind one of the Odin people just in time for Trevor to shoot one. Ifrit lights someone on fire with a fireball. And Autumn manages to get almost to the entrance of the cave.
Abby and Sara end up shooting another one and he goes down.
Odin Leader rolls past Meridith and picks up the detonator. He flicks a switch on it, perhaps hoping to bury the half of the team that is still in the cave, but he sets off the back set, not the front set. And then he gets hit with a tranq dart from Calista and drops the detonator again!
Meridith takes the man down with a snarl, her eyes are full of hatred, and she holds nothing back. "Greedy." She hisses. "Unworthy." She pulls her blade back turning to the Leader as he rolls past her and tries to detonate, she lets out a scream. "YOU DARE!" She bellows and thrusts a hand trying to throw the man off the edge of the precipice to his death, whirling about with her bow to fire an arrow at him.
"Move," Trevor shouts, "Get out of the cave," and he double-times it out, hopefully not dragging Calista behind him. Once outside, he drops to a knee, taking aim at whoever seems to be a threat, providing cover fire for Meridith and Magnus, as they hack and slash their way through the traitors.
Sara scrambles out of the cave, where she directs her attention to the leader Meridith holds. Her necklace glows the same deep red, and his heart begins to slow.
Abby dashes to the entrance of the cave and fires off shot after shot at the Odin members, ducking in and out of cover as she tries to keep her cool amid the fire.
Once she's at the entrance and out, Autumn takes cover as she fires arrows with the new bow. While Ifrit fires off fireballs, she moves her left hand towards one of the Odin members and, with a snap of her fingers, her bracelet's runes glow red-orange as their armor smothers and blackens.
Sara nods and equips her bow, firing off several shots and whipping herself back and forth in an attempt to dodge several more.
And move Calista does. She's small but she's quick and she hustles it out of that danger cave in zone with Trevor. Keeping her distance still, she takes aim at the next closest target with her tranq pistol, to render them an easier target for her fellows.
Reaching out one of his hands, Magnus grabs one of the House of Odin members and attempts to pull him in the line of fire of the other ones, his sword lashing out with his free arm to slash at another one, trying to leave the third one to need to work through the one he's manhandling as he roars out a challenge, "Is this the best you can do, House of Odin? We are Scalebound, and our hearts or of a dragon!"
Magnus are, even.
Meridith manages to throw Odin Leader off the edge of a small cliff. But if she can survive it, no doubt he can too. The Odin team is shattered by the forceful response from the Covenant team, either already fallen or falling back. The ground is shaking, and the detonator has not been flipped to set off the last set of explosives. As everyone scrambles to get out of the cave, an avalanche starts to fall from further up the mountain. The Odin members remaining turn and just outright flee, knowing the area is about to be under a deluge of rock and maybe some snow. The Covenant has to come up with a plan, or they will be buried too!
Sara turns terrified eyes to Meridith.
Meridith closes her eyes, a slow deep breath, she extends her hand to Sara to take it and clutch it tight
Sara nods.
"Shit," Trevor lets out, standing from his kneel, he whips around, head on a swivel. Can they take shelter in the cave? Has it been completely closed off?
From the corner of his eye he catches whatever it is Sara and Meridith are doing, or.. planning, something he might not be aware of, but steps towards them.
Sara glances towards Meridith and closes her eyes, realizing what is happening.
Stepping out of her cover, Autumn moves towards Meridith and Sara and takes the latter's hand. Strapping her bow, she frees her other hand and holds it out while a poof of smoke signals her familiar's departure.
Abby pales at the coming avalanche with the wide eyes and turns her gaze to Meridith for guidance to see how they'll get out of this mess. She steps closer to them to see what they're doing.
Meridith speaks softly. "Allies, please, join me. A prayer, to the one whom we fight for, for the reason we are here. It is our faith that will show us the way home."
Sara grasps the hands of Meridith and Autumn, closing her eyes.
Luckily, Trevor never undid the strap. He clicks the safety on his rifle, and steps closer, taking Autumn's hand and extending his out for whoever is next to grab his.
Calista is right there, of course, taking Trevor's hand and Abby's.
Magnus reaches out and holds hands with Abby as he joins the chain, raising his voice in prayer in his native tongue as he bellows out to Shemra.
Faithful cultists looking to their Eidolon in times of trouble and need. There is no better faith, and no better fuel for their Ascension. And when the chosen of an Eidolon gives such fervent and heartfelt prayers in moments of crisis and danger, those that can answer do. While Shemra is nowhere and everywhere, she usually maintains herself in Haven. Which is a long ways away. But she has been known to walk and move about and be in other places. She has gone sightseeing around the world. But for this instance, she needs to stay where she calls home: Her mountain, in Haven, and pull everyone to her. First is Meridith, her chosen. Then Sara, her chosen's lover. Then Magnus, her support giant from the beginning. Then Abby, his lover. Autumn is tugged next, a late addition to Shemra's ranks, but valued nonetheless. Then Calista, the one that gave Shemra a place to play and hear people laugh and have fun. Finally, Trevor, the late soldier to the party, but welcome nonetheless. All of them appear, in that order, in the pulsing heart of Shemra's mountain. They can feel her smile. And then she has to rest for a bit, having strained herself in pulling them back.
[OOC: And that brings The Dragon's Heart Ruby to a close. Thank you all for coming, and I hope you enjoyed. It was a blast to run. And gimme a few minutes to do some administrative things, and then we can do some rewards if people like!]
Magnus wooooo!
Abby cheers