ORIGIN - [Quest] The Training Dungeon

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Ok, that was clearly a child attempting to patronise her for her unorthodox strategy. Did this lessen the blow? Not entirely. She huffed, now on the defense. "That's what it WANTS you to do." As if this statue was calculating, manipulating the party into solving such a trivial puzzle.

Put it in order? A baby could do that. To eat it was to prove them worthy.

But sure, she'd let the others pursue their own simple theories. It'd be their und- oh. They were right. The wall opened. Hmm.

Relic offered Sergei a sad little half-smile. Hey, we tried. But the loot didn't care who solved the puzzle or how - it just gleamed happily from where it lay scattered, welcoming the group in. Inviting them to indulge themselves as a treat.

Relic wasn't sure what she wanted, at all. This was typical. She snuffled the ground with a hollow nose for whatever caught her eye in the moment - lets let fate decide, because it'd been pretty damn kind to her so far.

Whatever puzzle-solving is occurring, Plover has no part in it. Xe's simply too occupied with trying to catch red mice in the least stealthy and subtle manner. They're just too small, too quick and they're scattering into dark, unreachable crevices that leave their pursuer pawing and grumbling annoyance at the edges of.

After a full minute of clawing and digging at and bruising xir nose against the largest-seeming of the crevices to no avail, Plover sighs a deeply-affected grumble of a sigh and deflates like a balloon. SO HUNGRY...

One ear perks up at the sound of stone grinding, then the other at shuffling feet. The latter noise, Plover scrambles to xir feet for, skipping to try and catch up with the group that's moving on— but, more importantly, with xir father.

... just so that xe can paw at his sleeve, then his bags, and then beg, "Can I have a snack?" WAIT. MANNERS. "Please?"

Whether or not that bid for a treat is successful, xe finds xemself distracted by the treasures ahead.

... distracted, and disappointed enough to grumble in annoyance. It's all useless, inedible things like golden coins and gemstones. Well, xe could chew on the coins until xe got bored, or maybe one of the handles on the flimsy-looking stick-things (swords), but— No, they wouldn't have any flavor...

Maybe something heavier? Xe's always wanted something sturdy enough to whack things with while bored... and to teethe on.

@Attikias (for snackies.)

Hunter was distracted from the idea of a puzzle by his baby brother bolting into the underbrush after the red mice. With a sputter and a chagrined smile spared for his father, Hunter took off after Plover. There could still be danger here among the brush, and he didn't want to be separated from the youngin' if that happened.

Thankfully, it seemed there wouldn't be any danger in this part of the dungeon. Hunter kept catching things moving in the corner of his vision, and that only made him stick closer to Plover's side, as exhausting as that was rushing back and forth through the brush for a solid minute. Plover, thankfully, returned to Attikias, hoping for a snack.

... Hunter could use a snack, too. His arm still throbbed, and he could feel a sweatiness to his palms that made his fur feel sticky. "A snack break would be good," he panted, lips drawing back into an open mouth grin.

The group would move on after that into the next room. This place seemed littered with all sorts of interesting objects and loot, and plenty of ancient coins to spare...

It was hard to know exactly what he was looking for. He had all he could ever want, really-- his father's handcrafted spear, his lovely scarf, his studded leather jacket...

Part of his mind wandered back to V-Onyx-Three. Maybe part of him wanted to find something for them, though he didn't know... He didn't know what they would like. He barely knew them, proud as he was of how well they had done with the Chaos Forge. His mind wrapped back to his own father-- not Attikias, this time, but the other one-- and the piece of diamond stone that hung around his neck.

That's what he was looking for, distracted by all these distant, heavy thoughts. A gift, or... Maybe something more.

Through fabulous effort and teamwork, they were able to find the optimum solution to solve the puzzle. And although Khavur had failed in his attempt to directly contribute, for all their collective effort they would be rewarded. A pool of knick-knacks and trinkets to plod through appeared before them. And, despite the fact that Khavur could not fathom what among them he would want, he still decided to plod.

Howler pauses for a moment when Rosary speaks to him again. He... Has no idea what she's talking about. Thinking back, was it those lessers? Howler doesn't know much about the lessers here, perhaps those little ones had venom?

"Just ignore them, they just want to rile you up." he whispers to her.

Hopefully that's enough to calm her down. Howler isn't sure it would be a good idea to tell Rosary that the things she's seeing are not really there. There's nothing he can do to help her.

At least now they can scrounge around for rewards.
@Rosary

Plover's presence was noticeable. It wasn't hard to miss xir plaintive pleading, though he was jumpy, blinking hard when he wheeled to face xem.

Both of them were hungry. "Alright..." Attikias drawled as he rolled his head in a fake show of giving in. He didn't bring enough for Plover, huh? He'd packed a leather bag of dried citrus, enough for the two of them but not himself. He'll just find a snack on the way back. It went to Hunter first; Plover would possibly devour it all then feel bad about it, and Hunter's stomach was smaller. That's how it worked. Definitely.

"Wait your turn," is what he instructed to Plover before glancing to Hunter, "and share."

Flicking his tail, Attikias offered to take Plover's hand while assessing the new room. No danger for now, but it could be under everything, waiting to strike— Attikias's hand squeezed Plover's in a brief shock of worry. 'It's fine. There's others around. Nothing bad will happen.' It was hard to soothe his beating heart.

That's what the treasure was good for: a distraction, if nothing else. And so, fully immersing himself in it, Attikias squatted down and pulled aside a broadsword, seeking, well... nothing really. 'Is there something to wear..?' He had his own bag, of course, but something new would be neat. No need for any swords or knives or anything like that.

Attikias is looking for jewelry!

Howler's whisper...did something for Rosary in the moment. She stared at them for a moment and then nodded a bit, but whether she truly believed them wasn't clear on the outside or the inside. Another soft sob and she turned from the shadows and followed forward towards the new room.

She seemed to wander aimlessly behind Howler, content to stick by their side for the moment, especially now that things kept watching her from the shadows. Whatever he picked up, she would grab something a moment later from close by.

Naskarra plodded along the edges of the treasure room. The chests spilling over with gold caught her eye--of course it did. Those didn't interest her--no, what she sought was something large. Something that looked like it could break things, something that looked...fun! She took care to readjust the eggs in her strange little vestigial arms as she trotted, not willing to deal with the mess of breaking them without teeth. She sniffed the treasure boxes, before settling on one whose scent caught her attention. She tore through the vines that had grown over this alcove, and after setting her teeth on it, ripped the treasure chest down and beneath her. She panted, tongue lolling out to the side.

"Mine! Mine! Mine!" Was her single possessive thought, given form. She bit the lid of it, clenching her jaws til the ancient wood gave way to what was certain to be nothing but very nice smelling dust.

Sergei's hand was clasped tightly around the haft of his makeshift spear, his eyes--baleful--regarding the far door with an almost reproving suspicion. He fully expected some monster to come plowing through from the hallway's end the moment everyone was distracted, and he murmured some warning to that effect, words lost to the shuffle and conversation.

Eventually he turned, casting about for... something, amongst the treasure. But what?

A better weapon? Maybe a new shield? Armor, of some kind, or a trinket that would help him to protect others? It wouldn't be the first; he already had a thing to help him against Order, and an adventurer's magic spyglass... Was there anything here worth adding to his Barbearian collection?

"When I speak"
When I think

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