ORIGIN - [Quest] The Training Dungeon

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Sergei stared at the beautiful flail he'd picked up.

Then he looked at his spear.

Then he gave the flail a good test-swing, and then another.

This was a hard choice; for awhile he tried to awkwardly carry them both. Maybe he'd have to put them down for combat, but for now, the Barbearian's travel consisted of him furrowing his brow as he concentrated on both walking and carrying a bunch of things at once.

The area ahead was dark, ruined, and he had no real light. So he shuffled, slowly, one foot edging forward and the other carefully following it. Hopefully he'd not step on any traps, or sharp things... He stared ahead, hands gripping too much stuff, and muttered to himself about dungeons needing better lighting.

As the Gembounds moved forward, there was a faint and distant thud from somewhere far behind them.

As they moved on, perhaps after a moment's pause, with faint trickles of dust falling from the ceiling... another THUD shook the dark, narrow tunnel.

And then... Thud. Thud. THUD. THUD-THUD-THUDTHUDTHUD-

The entire corridor shuddered with each hammer-like blow, dust and stones falling all around them. The terrifying thing? It was rapidly growing louder. No--closer. Something was SLAMMING faster and faster toward them from behind.

In the darkness, should anyone glance back, two glowing red dots became visible--and quickly got larger.

The solution was obvious: RUN.

Those who were wary, who blocked themselves in time or fled, would avoid the falling stones and the WHATEVER it was that was chasing them. Those who had failed would fall, or be hit by rock, but would not die--they'd all, in the end, making it to the end. And make it out.

Out, into a large and well-lit room: one with four huge pillars (one half-collapsed across the floor) toward the corners, and overgrown vines and leaves clinging to much of the room. The worrying thing was... the bones that filled this place. There was no sign of danger in this room, yet ancient skeletons and lost armor and weapons were strewn about.

And--oh. The THUDDING hadn't stopped.

The far wall was a huge, arched door, but held firmly shut by a thick steel grate--and above was a carving, like those in the first room. It depicted the statue from before, but now surrounded by enemies. Some, wielding blades, lay strewn about it dead. Others fired arrows for its eyes. Before they'd have time to investigate further or to try the door, something SLAMMED through the wall behind them, crashing through the stone edges of the door through which they had entered.

The very statue they had animated--its pillar-like limbs smashing with every step, its ruby eyes glowing red, and its hole-like maw GNASHING--raised its arms and advanced on them.

Boss Fight!

The Stone Statue has animated, and pursued the Gembound. It is attacking! They may roll to take any action they see fit.

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: Renasci found (in the previous rounds) a thin steel breastplate that would fit them: sturdy, shining once the grime was polished off, and crafted with obvious skill. The leather and buckles that held it in place desperately needed repair, but once it was fixed it would be a piece fit for a paladin. If paladins existed in the caves.

Conleth was at first unsuccessful--after all, very little would've been available for something so tiny. But! Some things could be repurposed, in particular the silver ring that seemed to be forged of woven vines. It was a very slender, enchanted ring, and would work well as a necklace for the jerboa. It was enchanted with Dreamwalk: touching it would give Conleth elaborate daydreams that might be prophecy, or might be misplaced magic.

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

@Howler @Flower @Rosary @Relic @Sergei @Naskarra @Plover @Khavur @Conleth @Hunter @Renasci @Attikias

Relic snapped backward at the first impact. It was nothing, maybe something had fallen from a shelf somewhere -

There it was again. And again. And again again again again

Adrenaline exploded through Relic's system, and before she could fully understand what she was running from, she had bolted forward. Her paws hammered the ground as debris fell from the ceiling, stones bouncing off her armour.

Dead end. She barely glanced at the mural on the back wall, whipping around to meet their - her - foe. She hadn't looked back until now, but she knew. She knew who was following them.

The gemstones. That must be what was animating it. If it was like Richard, it'd just... Shut off, right? Relic hoped it wasn't biological. That meant there'd be meat somewhere inside. That felt worse.

It didn't really matter. Relic launched herself upward as far as she could (anticipating that'd have to bend downward to reach any of them), hoping to snatch one of those rubies from their sockets. It was incredibly risky, barely possible - but hey, she was covered in steel, and there were others behind her to pick up her slack. She could tank the hit.

Maybe.

She gasped softly as she rushed forward, unsure what was behind her but trying desperately to scramble away, only to slip and fall face first onto the ground with a thud. Thankfully, the rocks falling didn't crush her and she was able to scramble onto her feet again with minimal damage, only a few scrapes and bruises from her fall and the small bits of rocks hitting her skin. Even more thankfully, Fernie was okay, uninjured though scared.

She turned towards the stone creature, her eyes wide and panting softly, though she knew she needed to remain calm. She didn't have any attacking abilities, never enjoyed the idea of getting into a fight, but she had no choice right now. And so, she picked up the new scythe that she had obtained and rushed past the creature, trying to get an attack off without getting caught herself. She had noticed another was going for the ruby eyes, likely thinking they could shut off the statue, and she was determined to keep the milky stone creature off of them.

Naskarra investigated the armor. It had the form of that same ratty creature from before emblazoned on it. It didn't take long for it to click in her head what to do with it. It looked wearable, and that was enough. Naskarra wriggled herself into the breastplate, and found it fit snugly on her chest and behind her scutes. It was...odd having something covering her, but it was hers, and she liked the way it felt. Sturdy and thick. Realizing she'd spent too long admiring the skrungler on the front, she headed into the dark tunnel, prepared to outrun whatever came her way.

Even with Plover in front of him, Attikias can't help but be on edge. Such a feeling paid off in utter panic setting in with the sensation of being hunted, corralled forward with everyone else. Oh shit, they have to "Move!"

He held his hands close to himself as he sprinted for the exit, out into the room and into more danger. So much laid around them. He could feel his pulse in this throat, especially as he wound around and faced the statue that came for them.

If he weren't panicked by venom, maybe he'd gather himself up and start directing the others. Here though, here he gasped, shot away like a startled prey animal, diving for a shield or armor or anything to put between himself and the statue. Like that'd really protect him, but he was uncharacteristically scared anyway. This thing could come for his kids, could come for everyone in the room..!

It took all his breath to scream out one single word: "Run!"

They lift the chestplate with a pleased trill, and start forward as carefully as they had been in the vines… until.

The first thud makes their wings twitch. Second, whole body, third, they whip around- and then they hunch forward and run, catching up to Attikias and snapping open their wings to usher the whole family forward while watching over their shoulder, neck pivoting as far as it can go as the whole group is ushered forward like rats chased into dens.

Note to self in the future. No more hunting rats like this, it’s horrible. Mean. Cruel. Only those snapping lizards in Leo with the frills deserve this-

Then they hit open space, with homes and weaponry and Attikias still visibly panicking, Renasci will grab any spear like weapon they see- yes they have their own, but something tells them stone verses stone won’t work here. Only using their wings to brush dust and rock bits away from them, and wincing at the impacts, they call out.

“When in doubt, aim for the eyes! Those who can throw, long thin and pointy is best!”

Deep inhale, gross coughing noise, a fervent hope that those won’t be their last words, and they try and aim their flaming spit at the statue’s face.

@Attikias

Hunter had fallen behind, distracted by disorientating visions from the venom in his veins. But it was alright, they were mostly... visual. He could hear the chatter of the others, and so once he realized that the heat under his fur and the things shifting in his vision were little more than figments, he hurried to catch up.

After all, Plover and Attikias had gotten a bit too far ahead for his liking. He hurried through the underbrush, ears out of danger and-- though the vines were snagging at him-- between two legged lopping and four legged scampering, he managed to return to the group...

Just in time for the whole cavern to start collapsing.

Hunter flinched out of the way of falling debris, feeling entirely too twitchy in the moment. He was having trouble processing everything in the narrow, darkened hallway guided by flickering torchlight. At his father's prompting, he scampered out into the next room, nearly tripping over the bones that littered the room.

He turned around to see what was chasing them, now realizing that the movement he had noticed before might not have been fever-induced hallucination. Judging from how everyone else was reacting, this was...

A real threat.

Plover-- his baby brother-- was in danger. Other gembound were in danger.

Teeth bared, Hunter lunged back the way they came, spear in his hands. He threw himself at the stone figure, and dove, swiping his spear with all his strength at the legs of the thing with his father's hand-made, worn spear. If he could make it even stumble, for a moment, the others could get to safety.

Naskarra found it easy to avoid the debris falling behind them. She heard the crash stomp of something chasing, and the thrill of it only spurred her further on, faster and faster. Naskarra laughed. As she skated through the gate, she drifted to a stop, panting heavily. Waiting, tensed, for the excitement to continue. She didnt not have to wait long, as it burst through the doorway, red eyes ablaze. Others may have seen it as a terror, but Naskarra saw a challenge. Now this was dangerous. Now this was fun! She charged at it, rapidly reaching full tilt. Hunter had thrown it off balance, and she'd take advantage of that. She saw it as slow and heavy, easy to dodge past. That was her mistake.

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