Southbound: Relics of the Past

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y7h65
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Re: Southbound: Relics of the Past

#31 Post by y7h65 »

Spirit Side
Grinning, Ashley took up her massive sword in a defensive position before walking in front of Issak. Looking back at him, she flashed him a quick confident smile as she spoke.

"Don't worry, I got this. Pretty sure a shield is better than a bow and arrow for keeping away doom dungeon dangers anyways~"

Walking slowly she kept the shield in front of her while taking constant peeks around. As the group approached the massive doors, the cause of the damage to the door became more evident. The crack on the door was a straight line and clean, more like a fracture in the door than from damage. Originating from roughly the same level, it seems that the door simply lacked support to be reopened and fractured when someone attempted to. Of course, it would have taken a being of quite some strength to even move the doors an inch, let along push them open until they could fit a person through with ease.

The next room over was as cavernous as the first yet it seemed smaller. As Valentine and Allison lit up the room several features were revealed. In the center of the room was some sort of empty stone basin, perhaps a pool of sorts. The room was square with four towering pillars set into each corner of the room. Above, below, and all around were the crystal inlays that snaked from floor to the walls before winding up the pillars and onto the vaulted ceiling.

As the group looked around, the faintest sound of metal on metal could be heard. A regular clanking, it seemed to emanate from the walls for a moment before halting and moving deeper into the complex.

Halberd Side

The voice laughed, a booming laugh that filled the edges of Ir's mind. It continued for several seconds before dying slowly, falling into a quiet chuckle before stopping entirely.

"No," The voice said, mirth still in it's voice. "I am only a weapon. I have no self locomotion, no way to move myself. Another sharpened piece of metal did the job."

Falling silent, the voice remained absent for a few minutes before it spoke again. It's voice was softer and slightly distant, as if it was mumbling to itself.

"You know, it might be possible to reclaim the main fortress of my time..."

It muttered to itself a few more moments before sighing.

"No, it's better that the knowledge within remained lost."
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Re: Southbound: Relics of the Past

#32 Post by MrFlyingAmoeba »

Valentine and Co.

Naoko tugged on her summoner's leather gauntlet, meeting his eyes. He nodded his acknowledgement, a thin line of mixed anticipation and tension coiling in his gut. "A trap?" His voice was a hushed whisper, glancing at the others. Despite his serious tone, he managed to seem rather unconcerned with the possibility, rubbing his forehead to quell the faint ache of keeping the orb of oceanic light aloft. "I didn't sense an illusion, but that could have easily been one. Heavy armor?"

"Mm." Allison hummed a thoughtful assent. Definitely not chain or thinner metal plating. The fireballs circling the group split up, a pair exploring the end of the room. Giant stone doors identical to the ones they had just pass through were set into the walls, cracked like their previous brothers by their immense age giving way to a reluctant opening.

Valentine clicked his tongue as a thought occurred to him. He should have summoned one of his elementals before entering the cave to act as a messenger for the spirit. Nyen would have likely been amenable to such a task. Now it was too risky heading back. He needed to stay with the others, and such a summoning would probably alert the being inside, if it already didn't know they were here.

"I don't know about the lot of you, but I don't find myself eager to touch that basin." He tried for another stab at humor to dispel the tense atmosphere, raising his light tenor a few notches. "With my luck, it would fill with flaming acid."

Allison snorted, the sound contrasting with her mildly curious expression. "Around it we go, then. Lead on, Isaak and Ashley. My lights can double as an initial attack if the need arises."
Red Mage Statscoski wrote:That is not how we do things around here, buddy. First we have to argue incessantly over semantics.

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Re: Southbound: Relics of the Past

#33 Post by isstmich »

Ir had been so focused on his work remaking the reed shoe that was eaten the other day that he was beginning to tune out of the voice in his head. while he worked on it he cast a mental image of himself sitting on the rocking chair into the room he was in the process of building for Angra, and decided to take another crack at what the man looked like. he made him less heroic looking, shortened his height removed the facial scar, gave him a bit of a beard it was peppered but not gray just yet, his hair was tied up in a top knot and the mans arms was less bulky then before.

He tied off the last knot on the foot piece and examined it, it looked definitely less worn in then his current one but they would change. But Ir worked on his sandal in relative silence, he wasnt used to Angra making noise and not hearing it so the strange mutterings perked his attention up. "what? did you just say something Angra? What knowledge, why should it remain lost?"the mention of losing knowledge held Irs attention like a vice.


"Nothing, really." The voice replied quickly. "I was just thinking that if an artifact of my time remains, it might be possible to salvage some knowledge of my world. It's just that it's unlikely anyone will ever be able to properly use the magical theories and other esoteric knowledge that it has. At best, they might harm themselves. At worst, they might destroy a small island chain. Of course, the knowledge seems to be fairly unique when compared to those in your world."

The very mention of salvaging ancient knowledge stole Ir's complete attention. "where exactly is this Artifact? i wish to unearth and study it. After all no harm can come from Study"

The sound of a palm meeting someone's face resonated in Ir's head at his statement.

"The man, Seth?" The voice started, tone dull. "He was carrying an artifact of my time. I was thinking, if the preservation charms managed to keep that item intact, it might have done so for a few of the places of my kingdom. Places such as the Grand Magi Library."

At the mention of the library, images flashed through Ir's mind. Images of a towering building of alabaster stone with soaring halls and archways, filled from top to bottom with various scrolls and tomes. The sound of lightning and images of fireballs.

"It was kinda like that. Hard to show what with me being a piece of metal."

The idea of such a place as "The Grand Magi Library" made Ir moan a little out loud. "Do you know where this place is?" his voice held a plea in it. "i mean i would absolutly love to go there and study all the magical theories of the ancient times. to my people Angra the information you know of is worth its weight a thousand times over in gold. PLEASE tell me and i will lead us there."

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Re: Southbound: Relics of the Past

#34 Post by y7h65 »

Spirit Side
Taking up defensive positions once more, the group moved around the fountain. As they passed Nanoko tossed a copper into the basin, the sound of the small metal object striking and clattering around the bottom of the stone basin echoing through out the room. As the group passed the basin, quick magical checks revealed nothing out of the ordinary. For all intents and purposes, this room was magically empty.

Approaching the next set of doors, some minute differences could be noticed between it and the one prior. First of all, there were several slashes in the ground and the door around the opening that were definitely from some type of attack; the stone being cut cleanly through without splinter or cracks on the door or ground. Next, several steel spikes were stuck into the ground, each spike almost three feet in length and edged to a point on the end not embedded into the ground. How they got there could not be easily apparent but their angle suggested that they were fired from whatever was on the other side of the door.

Halberd Side
Another chuckle and laugh from the voice and the creak of a wood being reclined into could be heard in Ir's mind.

"If only it were so easy!" The voice exclaimed, full of mirth.

"The fact of the matter is," The voice began, tone slowly returning to a more normal and less energetic one. "I have no idea how the world has changed since my interment. I'm not even sure this library exists any more nor am I sure of it's exact location from us. I can tell you it's a far ways travel from where we are though. Knowing that, do you still wish to seek it?"
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Re: Southbound: Relics of the Past

#35 Post by MrFlyingAmoeba »

Valentine halted, left hand tapping a slow beat against his thigh. The quiet clap of leather and cloth punctuated his thoughts. Moving in would be dangerous, but what if they were meant to be distracted? No, he couldn't lock himself into that sort of mental loop. Thrawn was probably laughing at him right now, the enigmatic elemental tightwad. The rods looked new, but-hold on. If they were new, they were either recently fired or had their origins in some non-mundane source. Speaking of which, those cuts in the door were very strange. The separations were clean. It must have been a truly unusual attack to split the rock without cracking the area around the slashes. More magic? There was no sign of it.

He sniffed, reflexively bringing a hand to his face to stifle a sneeze. A sneeze which never came. Dust! There was no dust in the entire place!

"Allison, Isaak, Ashley. This place has no dust. It's too clean. Could it have been created recently?"

"Maybe. It could have easily been cleaned before we arrived. A fairly simple cantrip." Allison hadn't detected anything either but turning back now was contrary to how she lived her life. Cowardice, even disguised as supposed common sense, did not sway her decisions. "We should move on, even if so. The spirit had faith in us to do this."

Assuming she hasn't misled us for her own purposes. Valentine reflected, spreading out one of his hands parallel to the ground. With a brief burst of concentration, he pressed upon the ground around the door as if their number had stepped on the area around it. The magical effort yielded no results, the spotless ground remaining pristine.

Absently stroking one of Naoko's tails, the red-hatted mage yawned, rubbing the reflexive tears out of his eyes. He had picked up the habit of yawning when his nerves were on edge years ago in an attempt to look nonchalant in the face of danger, but over time it had become just as much a nervous habit as any other, although he thought himself to be unconcerned. "Ashley, I think you should lead us again."

His ball of light vanished, as he focused on creating a series of thin ethereal lines to attach to the steel door-wielding girl's back and legs. It was an interesting trick he had developed from watching Cyll manipulate a few random objects some time ago. Allison sent one of her fireballs to float nearby Ashley to light up her way.

"Hold still while I put some puppet strings on you. It won't do much more than let me pull you backwards once if something happens, but it's better than letting you get pierced by some more of those javelins if I can pull you back first. Lead the way when you're ready, I'll follow you."
Red Mage Statscoski wrote:That is not how we do things around here, buddy. First we have to argue incessantly over semantics.

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Re: Southbound: Relics of the Past

#36 Post by y7h65 »

Spirit Side
Nodding, Ashley braced her sword against her body like a shield once more. As she did, she turned to the group and flashed them a bright smil and a thumbs up.

"Yep! Ol' Iron Arm and I'll be fine! Pretty sure the theoretical giant skeleton crossbowman shouldn't be that strong!"

As soon as the etheric lines were completely attached to her, Ashley let out a loud shout of "Hoo-ah!" and rushed through the door, disappearing from view. For several seconds, the sound of someone dashing into a hall could be heard before that too faded into silence. As the seconds stretched into minutes neither sound nor sight of the short blade wielder could be detected. The only sign that she was even still moving was the tugging and moving of the etheric strings. Finally, just as it was nearing worrying, Ashley stuck her head back into the entrance, amused look on her face.

"Yep, looks clear. Pretty big hall so I kinda had to run around a bit to make sure but, uh, you should take a look at the hall itself! We definitely missed a big party."

Just past the door laid a hallway in similar size and scale as the previous one. However, this one was almost three times as long as the one that had greeted them and was heavily marred. The immaculately and beautifully arranged tiles and crystals veins were marred and melted. Gouges and valleys were cut into the walls and floor of the hallway. In the ceiling, several tiles were missing, revealing several badly melted contraptions, possibly a sort of metal crossbow at one point. Oddly, the width of all the gouges were uniform, though not the length or depth.
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Re: Southbound: Relics of the Past

#37 Post by MrFlyingAmoeba »

Valentine leaned through the doorway, his oversized crimson hat defiantly ignoring the call of gravity and remaining firmly in place atop his head. Cautious eyes glanced over the room.

"Unless those javelins were removed here, those furrows shouldn't be this way." He mused, stroking his chin. "And they stop several feet above the floor. Not claws, they're too random for that. Swords? Enchanted ones, maybe magic-based slashes? But-hey!" His thoughts were cut short by a firm shove to the back of both of his knees, sending the summoner stumbling into the newest chamber.

"Won't get anything done in the doorway, V!" Naoko pushed him forward, huffing with the effort.

"I was getting being safe done there!"

"And now you're here. Wasn't very safe, was it?"

Nearly tripping over his own feet, Valentine managed to keep from tugging on the ethereal strings still attached to Ashley's back. Allison walked past the grumbling summoner, increasing the number of flaming lights swirling about the far larger hall.

"Progress keeps one from stagnating into uselessness." She commented, a smile twitching at the corner of her mouth. "These gouges could be new or old. Be wary."

Careful to stay away from the gouges, the group continued on, periodically checking for any unusual magic or physical signs of imminent danger.
Red Mage Statscoski wrote:That is not how we do things around here, buddy. First we have to argue incessantly over semantics.

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Re: Southbound: Relics of the Past

#38 Post by isstmich »

"Well, i suppose that is the greatest benefit of my kind then. should it take a thousand years i will track this place down, all i need is a heading. North West South East give me a direction and we can wander the world in search of lost treasures. i Once crossed continents on sheer boredom looking for something fun, i traveled the world looking for one answer to a question i did not know. this is something i can focus on a point to move towards." Ir had stored his belongings in his bag and stood up long ago, hoisting the Halberd into the air like a man giving a cheer "ONWARDS Angra!"

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Re: Southbound: Relics of the Past

#39 Post by Ketzal »

Isaak couldn't hide the look of surprise on his face as he walked in and saw the damaged hall before them. The room was positively gigantic, much bigger than he had expected to find in a cave, of all things. Despite the grandeur of the room, however, it was the ruined parts that Isaak was really paying attention to.

Melted weapons, gouges in the stone...what the hell happened here?

It was obvious that there was a fight, and he could guess that magic was involved by the melted parts scattered about. He briefly considered wether it was the residents or some sort of intruder that caused such destruction, though chances were the one responsible wouldn't be very friendly anyway.

He furrowed his brow in thought, suddenly wondering something.

"Does anyone else notice the lack of any bodies?" Isaak looked around once more, just to make sure he wasn't blind. "I mean, chances are this hall had a defense system, using those crossbows," He motioned to the melted devices. "But there are no bodies, not even any blood. Whoever was able to cause this kind of destruction and not get a scratch is definitely dangerous..."

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Re: Southbound: Relics of the Past

#40 Post by y7h65 »

Spirit Side
Answering Isaak with a shrug, Ashley turned to face the swordsman while continuing to walk ahead.

"I dunno," The short blonde said, shrugging slightly as she spoke. "maybe whoever did this was like us? I mean if we ran into giant crossbows of death, at least one of use would be trying to melt them. Or blow them up. Or cut them up. Or try to convince them to kill themselves. Or turn them to our side. Or build giant robots out of them. You know, stuff. "

Turning to focus on the road ahead of her, the short blonde remained silent though she was clearly distracted by the various signs of destruction. The further down the hallway they went, the damage became more readily apparent and clustered together. Where as there was some spacing in between the various gouges and burn marks before, they became increasingly grouped together near the middle of the hallway. About six tengths of the way down, the various melted gouges and scorch marks were joined by more traditional cracks and craters. However, whatever caused them was nowhere to be seen.

At around the same time, a pulse of magic could be felt coming from the walls. For a moment, it felt as if the energy stopped right next to them. Then, it vanished again.

Halberd Side

Chuckling, the sound of wood creaking could once more be heard.

"That's what I though, kiddo." A chuckle and then a sigh filled Ir's mind. "Well, I suppose the first thing you should look about is acquiring some form of transportation. Preferably a boat of sorts. We have to acquire a few artifacts to access this library first. Of course, I can't help you in this field so it'll fall to you to do something."
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Re: Southbound: Relics of the Past

#41 Post by MrFlyingAmoeba »

Naoko had perked up at Isaak's question-the small kitsune loved being able to seem as important as possible, and then beyond. "There's lots of stuff that doesn't leave behind stuff if it gets hurt or dies." She ticked off several possibilities on her fingers. "Really good living armor, lots of spirits, some kinds of undead, weird golems, summons like me."

Valentine smiled at his familiar's recovered mood. It was rare for her to be even a little unsettled, and it was such a sharp departure from her usual attitude that he always tried to remedy it as soon as possible. He started to add on to her explanation, before the pulse of magic drew his immediate attention. Valentine cast out for any sign of the brief pulse. Nothing, and Allison's confused expression said the same about her attempts.

"Detection system?" Realizing that his words probably made no sense to Isaak and potentially Ashley, he gestured to clarify. "There was a small pulse of magic that stopped right where we are, then vanished."

"When Kitsune do that, they want you to notice. So..." The twin light grey tails of Valentine's familiar waved about as if searching for an answer. "They didn't do it right, or they don't care if you noticed?"

"Or it could be broken, or something else entirely." Allison added, sending a fireball to float behind the group. None of them were at eye level, so as to avoid blinding any of them who would happen to glance around.
"Regardless, we must keep moving. The longer we wait, the more time the intruder has uninterrupted."

"I think we should go through the ruined parts of the floor." Valentine mused. "It seems safer than stepping on a place where there could be more traps buried underneath. If there were traps in the scarred areas, they would have been set off already-nobody makes useless traps that only work after your enemy is inside. Lead on, Isaak and Ashley."
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Re: Southbound: Relics of the Past

#42 Post by isstmich »

Ir was practically jumping for joy at the idea of finding ancient artifacts and unlocking a libary that may have been lost to time."so these artifacts wher....NO!" he shouted "BOAT WE NEED A BOAT."What kind of boat exactly do we need, and do i need to OWN the boat or can we just ride along with them?""

"Well, I don't really have much of a preference," The voice said, tone flat. "I mean, if you accidentally fall off and drown or if the ship breaks apart, I'll still be fine. I would suggest that you acquire something ocean worthy. I suppose buying, owning, and crewing your own vessel would be optimal but I have my doubts you could afford it. Your best bet would be to hire a vessel."

Ir nodded" i see well i affording it should not pose that great a problem, i would just have to contact my family and request it from my father. then all we need to do is wait for him to send me some money or better yet he might just buy the boat himself give it a crew and send it to pick us up. Ir scratched he head "im not sure which he would do though he is a bit of an eccentric my father is." Ir gulped "i hope he doesnt show up on the boat if he does buy one for me"

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Re: Southbound: Relics of the Past

#43 Post by y7h65 »

Spirit Side
Walking through the ruined hallway Ashley paused and looked about, lips pursed together. She hefted the sword onto her shoulder, scratching the back of her head. Clicking her tongue and cocking her head slightly to the side, she seemed to zone out for a few seconds before she turned to face Valentine and Allison.

"Hey, what's the name of that song you're humming?"

The second the words left Ashley's mouth, the familiar sensation of magic filled the air. The sound of heavy stone slamming into stone filled the hall as tiles in the ceiling behind them fell down and a large group of golems. They floated in the air, still as a statue for a minute, before charging at the group with razor sharp claw like blades gleaming in the light produced by the mages. In front of them a group of about half the size of the first dropped from similar openings in the ceiling and charged at Ashley and Issak, the blades aiming for kills. Through the hall, the hum of music filled the air.

"I knew it! We have to have at least one fight before the boss! That's how these stories work, yeah?"

Her voice partially full of excitement, partially full of glee, Ashley spun around as she let the sword leave her shoulder and arc forward. Slamming into the first golem with the noise of metal parting through sheer voice, the metal blade tore through the first golem with relative ease.

"Come on~! This should be a breeze!"
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Re: Southbound: Relics of the Past

#44 Post by MrFlyingAmoeba »

Valentine was not a very skilled magic user. If one asked him to weave a ritualistic runic sphere, he would guffaw for minutes on end at the notion of even thinking about attempting such a complex feat. His talents laid in summoning, and as that was supposedly a very time-consuming and lifelong affair, he could not rely on his familiar or summons to do the bulk of any sort of work for him. And despite possessing excellent potential for many disciplines of magic, due to multiple mistakes made in his past he was incapable of pursuing any single path for very long at all.

It is fortunate, then, that a massive tile flung at high speeds takes about as much delicacy as grunting when asked for one's opinion. It is even more fortunate that sending several at once in a swarm of deadly masonry is rather simple, if a bit taxing magically.

Naoko was young, almost a child amongst her race. Lacking both experience and power, she did not have the elusive trickery of her elders which could form an entire reality out of shadows and whispers. Still, she could at least muddle those outside of her group. They appeared to be wavering in an intangible wind to outsiders, outlines blurred and presences undefined.

"Forward, foward!" Valentine shouted, wishing his other summons cared to assist him in times of need. Some of the remaining tiles were erected into a crude barrier several feet high, along with part of the floor to block the golems advancing from behind. "Secrecy's overdone, time to run! They might come back, so show them ours!"

Allison's fireballs roared to greater life before following Valentine's attack. The damage was minimal, driving her to agree with Valentine's assessment by running forwards, conjuring additional fireballs against those still ahead.
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Re: Southbound: Relics of the Past

#45 Post by Ketzal »

Oh, this is just freaking great!

Isaak couldn't be in a worse situation, given his specialties. He was already worried that they would be dealing with some magic-slinging warlock, but metal golems? He hardly thought that his swords or his bow could even dent the creatures, and they had a small squad of them to deal with. Ashley was quickly dispatching one of the first ones in front of them, and Isaak couldn't help but eye her with a little envy. Where the hell does she get that kind of strength?

He saw a trio of blades aimed at his head and ducked into a roll, trying to create distance between him and the metal assailant. Dammit, I need to think of something! He tried to study the build of the creature while dodging its attacks, looking for any kind of weaknesses it might have. The creatures seemed as if they were all torn in half, with parts hanging out of an opening in their middle, yet they could still move and fight. He couldn't see any way that his blades might be able to penetrate its metal hide, and his arrows wouldn't do any good either. He looked at the glowing eye...or what he thought was an eye, anyway, and got an idea.

I hope it's made of something that can break! He quickly sheathed his blades and drew his bow. Taking a breath, he jumped back and knocked an arrow, quickly taking aim and letting an arrow fly towards the golem's "eye". Hope it does something...

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