[Quest] The Training Dungeon - Jungle Overgrowth

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.

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.

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!"