ORIGIN - [Quest] The Training Dungeon

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By the time Mai had completed her search, most of the others had already moved to the room beyond. She'd quickly grab a bag to stow away her loot without taking much time to examine it- she'd have time to do that later, whenever they reached another safe-ish room.

The stairwell is dark, only barely helped by her baubled rope 'headlamp' and ambient bioluminescence. Mai opts to take it slow, not wanting to trip on the ruined steps or get ambushed by something in the dark. And perhaps she had a knack for this- or just some extreme luck- because she glided down the steps near effortlessly, easily avoiding whatever dangers lurked in the dark.

Despite the minor trouble it'd been to arrive here, this room proved a rather convenient stop for the adventurers. Apart from the undeniable glint of riches, useful tools did also dwell within these walls, and Halcyon took full advantage of that which they determined most valuable of the assortment. The nondescript cloak, colors shifting to match the floor it was dragged over, they first examined for any damage due to the ravages of time. Finding no egregious rips and tears, next came unfolding and refolding the fabric in neat sections, as perfectly exact as they could eyeball it. Once satisfied with their work, an intact container was plucked from the amongst the scattered treasure and their acquisition slipped inside. While they could've simply slung the cloak over them, this at least allowed them the opportunity to obtain more storage for themselves. Silk was durable, but eventually it'd wear out; they'd rather have an alternative ready than spend hours sifting through the disorder and decay of certain tunnels for a worthy ammunition bag.

Preparations complete, only continuing forward remained. Instead of settling the staff they'd momentarily set aside on the floor back over their shoulder, Halcyon treated it more as a walking stick than a weapon this time. They prodded away at the stair steps in search of solidity and safety before ever setting foot on it. Maybe that would be enough of a precautionary measure to avoid triggering another of the pressure plates this dungeon seemed riddled with. Of course there was also the chance dangers yet to be encountered and predicted lay ahead, waiting for an unwary traveler to activate them.

Locating even a withered book cover is enough to appease the scribe. To think that it is so beautiful, even in this woeful state— Oh, goodness, he must find some way to restore it and find a manuscript worthy of gracing its bindings once again. Perhaps Miss Mimosa could lend a helping hand, or six...

A distant celebration over having found a knife, then some growling sounds and Menkheperre quickly stashes this finding into his satchel. This, he would truly be upset over having stolen by that menace; even if he's lingering with frustrated annoyance even thinking about him again and—

No, no. He's all right. This is a much more valuable get that was worth the incident.

The Valkhound secures the flap of his satchel, and moves on down the stairwell— wary of more rusty spike traps, this time— with a light held close to his chest, away from bully eyes.

Angel's hackles flared at sudden flame near them. Sabatons shuffled back and they nearly tripped, falling on their palm and nudging aside trinkets while they growled in shock. "Watch it." Their tail rattled in frustration. That's what they got for standing so close.

All they gave Audland was an unamused chuff while they made to start standing up properly, pausing at the glint of color by their hand. A pile of glittering coins... Settled underneath was something they'd never seen, something with such an interesting sheen that they couldn't stop themself from picking it up. It was shiny, latched-- Angel fiddled with it until it could slide open, only to stiffen at the dim sight reflected back at themself.

What..? They lifted their hand first to their face, prodding at their muzzle, then their ear, tugging at it and watching the cartilage stretch. That's them. Looking around like they'd just stolen something, Angel dipped down and took as much as they could, stuffing it into a bag before skipping forward to continue on. That's their mirror; nobody else is getting it.

They wanted to get away from the big... thing. The fire thing. Whoever they were, they didn't need to melt, thank you. Presented with steps, they didn't hesitate to delve deeper, scraping their hand along the wall to brace themself as they scaled the stairwell.

@Audland for minor interaction

Spark paced around the room, passing by chests and Gembound, attention sweeping and unfocused. No, no, no. These wouldn't do. Too many weapons, too much armour. All thoroughly unhelpful to Spark and their interests.

There! Sharp eyes caught on a set of tools, similar to the ones that Ember and The Blacksmith used for well - smithing. They felt a soft buzz as they held it aloft, recognising the feeling of magick around the belt. They stashed it, along with the few coins they'd found, in a bag that they now held in their teeth.

Onward down the dark, crooked steps. Their attention flicked from step to wall to ceiling, remembering now the sinister machinations that might be hidden around every dark corner.

Aw yeah. Now that's a gemstone.

"Hellooo." She cooed, approaching the sapphire fang in its nest of golden coins. Very blue. A good colour. Very large. Even better. Take that, random Gembound - Eleven's sharp object is so much better than yours.

PLEASE don't steal it, actually.

Like Spark, she stashed her findings in a pouch, figuring that she wouldn't have to bite anyone anytime soon. She'd show them off later to a safer crowd. She tried to refocus her attention to the path ahead.

Something poking out catches Yew's attention quickly. A nice little ring, perfectly sized to fit one of her clawed fingers. She slips it on carefully, trying to not scuff it. Naturally, she keeps to herself even if she wants to share her new find off with the others.

She also grabs a bag to loop around herself on the way, throwing the found coins into it. At least with his she'll be able to carry anything she finds! A convenient little thing.

Thalia sort of fell behind.

In part, it was her standing and turning the flute over in her hands with wide, awed eyes. But when she glanced up, everyone was moving on, and it seemed like they'd gone faster than should've been strictly possible. How-?!

"Wait! Wait for me!" she called, hurrying after them. She lifted the flute to her lips as she trotted after them, blowing tentatively to test it out. It was pretty, the sound, but--she was still going slow? No--everyone else was going fast. In fact, her voice sounded slowed down to those not close, and anyone she drew close to slowed down, too, and-

What WAS this?!

-Was it the FLUTE? She eyed it with surprise, distaste--what a shitty thing for a magic flute to do!

In any case, it was dark ahead, and the little length of baubled rope was not enough. She cast about among the few vines growing at the start of the stairs, but--nothing that could serve to guide her path. She'd been hoping for a stick she could use to check the ground ahead before setting foot down, but--oof.

No such luck.

Most of them would notice the danger before it hit: a soft grinding from above might tip them off. An instant later, huge chunks of the ceiling began to collapse. It was by design--a trap--and who know what had set it off; but whole bricks slid down, CRASHING into the stairs and tumbling downward, the rubble and dust filling the stairwell behind the Gembounds and rolling downward.

It suddenly, horrifyingly, became a race to avoid being crushed by stone. (Except Mai and Spark, who found time to stop and pick up a shining Gemcoin each. The shine was hard to miss.)

The bottom of the stairwell held a narrow door, one just large enough for the biggest of them to fit through. And beyond... ahh. Treasure.

Like the room before, this one was filled with glittering gold, this time brightly lit with light from gaps above. One massive, gold-bound, wooden treasure chest, stood at the room's center. It was filled with gold coins and gemstones, goblets and a crown, and a number of other tempting and gleaming objects. The sides of the room were filled with smaller chests, and with piles of gold, Coins, Gemcoins, and racks of weapons and armor. How glorious! How wonderful! What a fantastic reward.

All that remained was for the Gembounds to take whatever appealed to them.

Loot Round!

Gembounds should roll again for loot, or to take any other actions they wish. A GM will post the results of their search. Those who successfully avoided the falling stones may attempt to help Thalia and Yew; if not helped, these two will take minor injuries from the bricks hitting them with glancing blows.

Any characters who didn't post last round should double-post to catch up; failures from last round will be hit a glancing blow by the stone bricks, or take a more serious injury (but nothing fatal) on a critical fail.

Catch-Up Loot: Mai finds, amongst the treasures, a small, flat chest (sort of like a silver briefcase) with a handle. Upon opening it, she will discover a beautiful set of scribing tools; while the sheaf of ancient parchment is mostly decayed, the inkwell, silver-and-glass inkpens, silver scribing compass, and vials of dye are still in good condition. The vials--one each of every common color, and a few rarer--are neatly kept in place with leather bindings and can be removed and slid back into their spots with ease. Several small paintbrushes in different sizes (silver with white hairs), a flat piece of diamond (probably intended to serve as a ruler for making straight lines and such), and a sponge and folded cloth complete the set. Most important is the white leather wristband, with silver buckles for adjusting size, that comes with a loop into which a creature with hooves or paws could insert the brushes and so forth.

The next post will take place on July 5th in the afternoon/evening GMT.

@Genghis @Halcyon @Spark @V-Chaos-Eleven @Fleas @Callista @Angel @Yew @Menkheperre @Mai @Audland @Thalia @Zephiran

Zephiran made it through. Upon taking the gemstone and the small bag, he brushed his paws against the ground forward. The shield helped him make it through the ceiling that crackled upon.

Racing through the darkness, he met a narrow tunnel he slipped through. Between the dust and noise he could not tell if there was anyone who needed help. The silver wolf waited at the doorway for a bit. His mind going back and forth if he dared threatening to trigger another trap to save another.

The shield is what saved him, had he not prepared he might have been dust from one of the large ceiling bricks. A swift turn on his paws. He went to scavenge the room. This time he sought out something sharp. Something he could use to maybe grab someone out of danger? Maybe even a weapon? Who knew. His turquoise eyes panned to the loot around them. Or.. just maybe his luck would get him something he could use as a shield. That could be nice. But anything that caught his eyes would do well.

"Speaking"

( @ none noted )

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