Fantasy Help Wanted: Reward Upon Completion

[Dutchmann]

Dante sits in silent, listening to the others thoughts. As he listens, he starts to think about what the large man said. This adventure, seems similar to a one he had. Something mysterious appears out of nowhere and has to check it out. Those many adventures he took that he risked his life. However, he just got lucky on those adventures. He looks at the other adventures. Plus, even those adventures he survived, the coast of others were the price. Does he really want to risk these great adventurers lives? No... He'll make sure that these people will survive through, all of them. He will not make the same mistakes he did before. At the coast at his life if it means he has to do it.


He doesn't want to leave his memories darken, he wants to show that those sacrifices his allies made were for a good cause. He remember's his book where he keeps his logs.


"I'll do it." Dante said, "But only on one condition." He opens up his backpack and reaches in for a book.


"If I do not return, you will send this book to Wallowdale, in it's condition it is." He raises the book up to show the book to Tankard. It was a black and brown leather book with the symbol of the sun on the cover of it.


"Deal?" He said, raising his eyebrows.

 

[XxLuluxX]

Lawrence Wolfe


Looking around, his expression grew into a grin. A wild taint to his eyes, only added to by the blood which coated his features from battles previous to the engagement. "Well, I don't want to sound as if it'll be easy, for I've made the mistake before. Yet it does remind me of a few places I've frequented. I say we have a good chance." Lawrence, glanced around with a steely nod, then back at the map. "If I die in there, you'd better make sure I get at least a shoddy song. One of those really annoying ones, hangs around afterwards." The armour clad male chuckled. Alas, his eyes drew to the abyssal shadowed doorway that stood unto the end of the room. A feeling crept, fingering stealth as it clasped him in a freezing embrace. Yet Wolfe- Wolfe reminded himself of what he'd seen. What he'd done.


Who he was.


"Hope nobody's scared of the dark, eh?" He joked, but continued to clear his throat. Now commanding the rooms attention. "I know, I may be a latecomer- a newcomer at that. I may be a complete idiot, when it comes to sense... But this fine gentleman is right. We should continue together. Anyone whom is harmed, can be helped. Anyone whom finds difficulties or troubles can be aided. It's a safety in numbers situation, no doubt what lies beyond is stemmed from magic. And not your usual hocus pocus ladies and gents. This is some dark shit we're talkin' about. I've felt it before, although this is going years back. I say we take a vote." Lawrence shrugged, straightening his posture to cross arms over his chest in a fair manner. "You already know my own answer I suppose, yet lets think of it as our own motley crew."
​

 

[SimpleReading]

Anastasias pessimistic thoughts were now down the gutter. Her crave of a thrill now taking over her body completely, if someone asked her anything right now she would agree. She smiled politely at anyone who looked her way, even the very intimidating "Mister."


As the group made their way down the steps and into the dimley lit basement, her metaphorical tunnel vision disappeared, as she listens to what Tankard had to say. She sat down slowly, staring at the map tahat was splayed across the table.


Of course the thought of this being a much deadlier adventure that she intitally thought it would be, turned her off a bit. But, looking around at each of her counterparts, she agreed with the man that they at least held a decent chance at getting through this. She thought for a moment of leaving, but she cut her own negative thoughts off, saying.


"Ah fuck it, I'm going." She paused for a moment, before quickly adding "don't think I could forgive myself if I walked out at this point, anyways." The fact of the mater was, she didn't really care about the money, she could find other ways if doing it. She was in this whole mess purely for the thrill, and she didn't regret her decision at all. At least, not yet anyways.

 

[Valerie Masor]

Marcy Drunk from all the beer listens to the man and shows him her letter and drunkenly follows the rest of the men. I stop and pass out for a few minutes and wake up to see I'm a little late I quickly spot a priest and ask him"WHAT DID I MISS"


I frantically run around asking everyone what I miss, "I hope i didn't miss to much" I then decided to wait for the big man to shout further instructions on whats going to be done.

 

[Soviet Panda]

Buras banged the table in annoyance at the request. "You want us to play exterminator? I will do it, but only for that ale you promised." He did not fear dying, for he would not die. The vision he had received said he would have the world bow at his feet. That couldn't happen if he was dead, now could it?


Walking up to the massive door, he gives it a good glare before shoving his hands against it. And slowly it opens, the door proving to be much more resistant then what he had first expected. But eventually a gap large enough for most of them to fit through. Now all he needed was a steady light source, and a free hand to hold one of his axes. "I need a torch." he growled, looking around and trying to decide whether he should take one that flanked the door or if the man named Tankard had one especially for this.

 

[The Inkeeper]

Tankard gives the group a last once over, a smile on his face from ear to ear. Turning to Will, he drops a large pouch of coins onto the table. "That, my matey, is my fist's weight in gold and there's plenty more where that come from. If it's gold that you want, you could'a taken any job. The Stunk gets business from this homely-wreck of a village, and I could pay you your weight in gold; More than that, even, with the work I got for the lot of ya."


The meek priest says his peace to Tankard, before displaying the small book. He warmly accepts the book from the man, shaking his hand before turning his attention to Buras, who continues to demand his Bear-Killer Ale. "We got torches lining the walls in there, feel free to take what ya want. Anything past that door ain't The Stunk, so anything and everything is up for grabs just don't get to fightin' 'bout it." He gazes over his team again, before continuing, "I can't prepare all of ya for what you'll see down there, and I can't promise y'all that you'll come back. I can tell ya this: If ya came fer adventure, ya found the right place."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


As the adventurers file through the door, an icy breeze meanders from further inside the dungeon, heightening the foreboding sense of dread that had already been established. The dark walls, roughly cut from the earth itself, was wide enough to fit three men shoulder-to-shoulder. As the last of the group walked into the dimly lit hallway, the door quickly slams shut with a bang. Upon inspection (and slight aggression), the team is soon to find that the door is locked, and refuses to budge from its position. A soft blue glow emanates from the woodwork's inscriptions, causing the area of the door to sheen a light blue. The hallway, lit by the occasional torch mounted on the wall by a metal sconce. The hallway itself seems to stretch on into the Abyss, as the light of the farther torches cannot be seen by the group in the distance. As our group of companions begin to coordinate themselves, possibly strengthening their resolve, a malicious laugh could be heard echoing around them. The laugh itself, almost coming from the walls, could not be recognized by any of the present company...

 

[Tom-Pen]

Will looked at the bag of coins as he lifted them the up in his hands. "I had hoped for more, ya' know," he said displeasingly. After another moment of thought he tossed the coins back on the table "Sorry, but no dice." William then walked back out the way he had come and left them to their adventure... off to find his fortunes else where.


(Sorry, found out I'm going to be out of town this coming week and wouldn't be able to replay, so I figured I should just duck out now.)

 

[Dutchmann]

Dante walks down the dark, ominous hallway. But something felt off, wrong. However, it's not the adventure, it's the people. He felt that he should at lest propose a proper introduction if there going to be fighting together side by side.


"We should pro-" Dante stops as he hears an laugh that echos through the hallway. He doesn't even recognize anyone who can made that laugh. It wasn't even a laugh, it sounded more like a madman...


Dante reaches under his cloak and grabs onto his dagger. It's best to be prepared for the worst, and his unsettling feeling made him suspect such will occur.

 

[FireMaiden]

"Well...if that isn't creppy," Akima muttered, her hand wrapping around the leather cover handle of her sword. This wasn't the first thing she tight the would encounter.


Her eyes took in the surroundings, she felt as if she was being watched. Akima was use to creppy caves, ruins, and doungens, but this was something she wasn't really expecting.

 

[Valerie Masor]

Marcy looks down the hallway and gets unusual vibes" I don't much care for this place, but I'll chop down anything that gets in my way" I look closely at the structure of the hallway and no matter how much she looks at it, it's always unsettling to be good.


"I better be paid more money than that" she says to herself.


She looks at the priest and thinks that hes never seen action before of how scarred he seems. No matter how scary this place is, Marcy will never back down.

 

[SimpleReading]

Anastasia was giddy with excitement as she entered the doorway, the adventure she had dreamed of waiting ahead. As the door slammed shut, she walked forward with the rest of the small group, lost in her own excited thoughts.


As the mysterious sound of laughter reverberated off the caverns walls. "So soon?" She muttered. She knew she would have to fight, but they hadn't been in the cave for more than ten minutes! ...Any ideas of what the hell that could be?" She asked, slowly unsheathing the dual daggers kept by her waist.

 

[Accidental Tea]

Cilantro dug into his bag hoping to find something to light up the dungeon 'Damn,' he thought 'Shouldn't have sold all my nitor'. Just then, the laugh penetrated the gnome's eardrums and sent a chill down his spine. Sure, he'd faced various horrifying creatures before with not so much as goosebumps, but it was the human-like things that truly scared him. Cilantro took a position towards the rear of the party, outstretched his hands, and oriented his body into a defensive stance.

 

[Soviet Panda]

After a few minutes of banging and kicking at the door for it to open up, Buras gives up and turns around to begin the journey forward. The strange part was that when he hit the door, it didn't feel like a door. It felt like he was hitting a wall, which meant that no one on the other side heard him kick it. A bit of a worrying thought but there was nothing he could do about it. "Now way back, then we must go through." he said. An old saying in his tribe. When they had their backs against a wall, the only way was through the enemy. So, even with the laughter sending chills up his spine, he moved onward. He had an ax in each hand, and a great ax on his back. The reason he wasn't using the great ax was simply because there wouldn't be enough room to swing the thing.


"You, small elder. You know magics. I can smell it on you." That, and it was the only reason an aging gnome like him would even think about joining. Practically any weapon would be to heavy for him, and so would be the armor. Plus due to age his reaction times and dexterity would have lessened. It would only make sense that since he wouldn't stand a chance in the front of a battle, that this little man would sit somewhere near the back. He had fought magic users before, and saw first hand the kind of destruction the can wreak upon their enemies. "Keep up, I will carry you if you wish. I have a feeling we'll be needing your magics often down here." He showed some respect to the old gnome, it was tradition to respect one's elders.

 

[Accidental Tea]

Cilantro was terrified by the combination of the ominous laugh and the barbarian approaching him after beating on the sealed door. But he was put at ease when the barbarian showed respect towards him and gave the generous offer. "Thanks for the offer" he said, his voice still trembled slightly "but I can still keep up." Cilantro's voice was high but not shrill, he spoke very proper and educated. His hands started to shake less as he was comforted with the fact that this beast of a man was on his side.

 

[Dutchmann]

Introductions can be made later, right now he just wants to find the end of this hallway. Dante continues to walk down this darken hallway, he starts to wonder when will the hallway enter a room? Is he under a illusion spell? He looks at the group. Should he cast the spell that brigs light to the dark? No, there has to be something waiting for them at the end of the hallway, there has to. He doesn't want to risk his anything this early, but there could be a trap in the dark, so the light could be useful. However, it does allow the enemy to get a good shot at them. Whoever laughed must be waiting. That laugh must of been for them, isn't it?. It's how most dungeons go for Dante. This can't just be another one of those places of the fallen heroes. The brave that turned into the mad. Can it? No it must be... Dante continues to think on what they might be facing or what place this is. As he thinks, he'll look at the group members, wanting to speak, raise moral. Do something to show confidence, because fear is everyone's downfall. Dante wants to speak, but fears that he might distract others or loose his focus. He looks at the rather barbaric man who spoke to the elderly gnome, he looks like he wrestles dire bears every morning! At lest he brought some sort of comfort here. Dante lets go of his grip around his dagger, letting it rest in his holster. He feels like if there is trouble, he wouldn't need to use force, since there are many others who seem fit for physical combat. Instead, he grabs his golden symbol hanging from his neck. Mumbling words in celestial.


"Baeovib od emetgis iaiadix zacare..." If he's too worried that he'll distract his team with praises, at lest he's going to tell himself that he can do this.

 

[XxLuluxX]

Lawrence Wolfe

"Well, I suppose the only way is forwards." Lawrence shrugged, his armour making a slight clank in response. The somewhat burly male, drew a longsword that was almost his own height, and seeming as he was over six foot, with a powerful swing it was assured Wolfe could do a great deal of damage to his opponents. The once nobleman, fearlessly marched forward into the shadows and thick, heavy air which became easier to breathe continuing inwards of the depths. Whoever or whatever had laughed; hopefully would come meet him face to face. It was times like these, Wolfe had been trained to keep a dead expression. To keep calm and try to evaluate the situation. Lawrence made sure the group was still within leaping distance-if anything were to happen. "Isn't this a fun place to be?" He laughed, sarcasm dripping from his tone.


Lawrence had abandoned his family for the reason of adventure. He still kept with his statement, about being a man whom controlled his own fate. No lords could stop him, no Kings could force him. He was a Knight like those in fairytales, lost and wandering the lands for purpose. It seemed he'd found it again, here in the damp depths of this very dungeon. Yet still Mjölnir hung around his neck. He could never forget his gods, he could never forget the all-father Odin's eyes as they watched his battles from up on high. No matter the cost, his roots would stay. A dishonored soldier, a kind brother and loving son. Separated by petty choices.


Wolfe snapped from his thoughts, shaking his head with determination; glimmering now stronger than before. Orbs of green and blue hues dancing in a theatrical play of war. Blonde locks, tickling his rough chin. Every step causing a gentle chime of a his metal clad frame.
​

 

[The Inkeeper]

As our heroes venture further into the dim unknown corridors or the dungeon, they arrive to a doorway opening into a large chamber. Torches hang from the walls in several areas, lighting up the area profoundly. A few bedrolls lay on the ground by what looks like the burnt remnants of a fire. A small amount of supplies lays scattered across the floor of the chamber. A small table with four chairs sits by the side of the room, a few assorted tools of no interest lay on it.


The walls, the same color as the hallway, are finely carved with changing scenes of a great battle. The battle tells the tale of a great wizard, who was cast down from his seat of power by a malicious knight. Struck by a great blow, he cast a final spell, barely saving his life. The figures carefully carved into each wall, the fight scene looking almost real as torchlight makes the shadows dance along the carvings. The walls have been inscribed as well, but as it's in the same language as before, still our heroes are at a loss. Slowly, our adventurers enter the room..


Upon further inspection the supplies are, in actuality, bodies lacking life. Three bodies in total, two older men, and a young women - all being of relation. The cause of death is evident mauling to the chest and face, unfortunately the source of the attack can not be ascertained by the wounds. A door can now be seen at the other end of the room, barred by a plank of thick wood. A chest can be found by the table, almost out of sight, but can easily be identified as locked. The size of the chest is adequate, requiring two people to carry it comfortably. Though the lock is secure, the chest itself could be broken with some force. Other than the bodies, there are no visible signs of a fight.

 

[Accidental Tea]

Upon viewing the room, Cilantro's eyes were fixed to the inscriptions and carvings on the wall, as he was walking towards them, he nearly tripped over the supplies. Seeing as it was oddly shaped, he crouched down to investigate it. To Cilantro's surprise it was not supplies at all but instead dead adventurers. Cilantro had a moment of silence for the fallen adventurers, he'd encountered death many times before and was rather desensitized to it by now, but it still was depressing. He then decided that attempting to decipher the etchings could wait, right now he had to investigate the scene. Cilantro looked around the room for clues, no signs of a struggle or fight and the door was barred from the inside. He hypothesized that the bodies were either ambushed or transported here in some way, both scenarios were unsettling to the gnome. Leaning towards the latter hypothesis meant that the creature was clever and potentially drawing their attention away to formulate an ambush. Cilantro watched the entrance to the camp out of paranoia.

 

[Dutchmann]

Dante's first thing he notices were the writings on the wall. He tries to understand what the walls are trying to say, but for him, it looks like artwork made on stone of a battle. What battle? No clue, it could be some ancient myth or lore that he has no clue of. However, Dante didn't last long to be fixated on the writings and carvings, instead he sees Cilantro who tripped over to what seemed to be supplies, but upon further inspection, it was not supplies, but what is once the living. That's enough to make Dante's decision final. He walks over to the bodies and kneels down to inspect the corpse. He puts his left hand over the body and then focuses. His hand starts to shine, a bright shine. He gets a better image on the wounds. Now Dante has fought ogres, demons, trolls, hell, even a dragon once. All those battles, he seen the wounds on his allies from those monsters, but these wounds... He's never seen them before. He looks around at the rest of the group.


"Does anyone know what these wounds could be from?" he says softly, not wanting to create much sound, especially now, you never know if whatever caused this is next door, literally.

 

[FireMaiden]

"No idea, unless there's a god like beast somewhere down here," Akima said looking at the bodies, then to the walls. She though she recognized a few of the symbols as a language she's seen before, but couldn't read. "I've seen this language from somewhere," She ,uttered, running a finger over a few of the symbols.


She sighed, and looked around more of the cavern they were in. It seems far more damaged than it should be, but then again Tankard didn't mention anything about people coming back alive.

 

[Soviet Panda]

"A beast." Buras said, advancing to get a better view of the wounds. "Mauled with claws. No bite marks or sign of feeding. Few creatures kill and don't eat, unless we are in it's territory." The wolves of the mountains he called home had been known to kill whole patrols for trespassing on their territory, but he somehow doubted wolves did this.


The art on the walls caught his interest for only a second, it was the chest that truly interested him now. Walking over to it, he holsters his axes and run his hand over the lid. It felt like wood, and it looked locked. Now what needed to be locked inside? Putting his other ax away, he takes out the great ax that was on his back. Raising it high above his head, he aims for the lock and prepares to swing down.

 

[The Inkeeper]

The chest explodes in a flurry of wooden chips and metal bracing under the force of the great ax. As the dust from the chest settles, a small blue cloud inside the dust drifts through the air before evaporating into the air. A large pouch of gold sits in the corner of the chest, alongside several papers deciphering the inscriptions on the walls of the room. With any knowledge on the subject, it can be found the papers suggest that the inscriptions are magically linked to a spell in the cave, allowing whoever made them to have constant vision of the area. Plenty of food has been left in the chest, now exposed - some beaten and mushed by the blow. With close inspection, the remnants of several small glass vials can be found broken, dripping with a blue liquid. Fortunately, one managed to stay protected from the forceful entry, and is salvageable.


A strong wind blows, rocking the door in its hold and putting out a few torches. Vision could easily be halved in the dim lighting of the cave's chamber. The adventurers find themselves looking at the silhouette of one another as they think of a solution.


A chilling sensation crawls up the spin of anybody in the room. You are no longer alone..

 

[SimpleReading]

Upon entering the room, Anastasia was still very cautious, about being there. The two dead bodies on the floor, of course didn't ease her nerves, but the fact of there being a room full of people did. She kept her daggers out, she didn't know what would happen next, and a crucial part of adventuring, at least to her, was to always err on the side of caution. Even though she may look nervous, she was loving every aspect of this already. The sense of community, the adventure, the danger, she loved it.


With her daggers out, she watched as her peers wandered around the room, she wasn't paying much attention to them, she had never adventured with anyone other than herself, and didn't quite know how to actively be a part of one. Instead, she focused her energy on taking a closer look at the walls, trying to figure out of there could be another meaning to it. Her deciphering was quickly interrupted by a sudden smashing. She jumped backwards, and instinctively swung her dagger at the air where the sound was coming from, finding nothing but a blue cloud, slowly rising through the air. She was worried about this, afraid it might be some kind of poison, but decided she might as well ignore it, as even if it was, there wasn't much she could do about it.


Walking over, and inspecting the chest for a moment, she was about to make a comment about the chests holdings, but was once again cut off by a sudden darkness. Snapping her head around to see what had caused it, and what she saw made her stomach drop.


She jumped backwards, getting into a fighting position, and waited for the person, or animal, to attack. Or more favourably, identify themselves.

Spoiler

Sorry about not being active, school stuff has been kicking my ass. In the next week i'll be on more

 

[The Inkeeper]

In the dim golden light shed by the remaining torches, the adventurers gaze travels along a thickening pillar of black slime stretching from the ceiling. Thin curling tendrils flicked out of the main section of mass, licking at the air. The light just barely reflects off of sets of teeth appearing in and out of different places on the lengthening mass. The air in the room stills as this new knowledge soaks in with our group. The abomination slinks, finally reaching the floor, having its body follow along, it stands up in a snake-like position. Two large reptilian eyes emerge from the odd ooze that makes up the creature before it leaps towards the female barbarian in the room. The two quickly begin rolling around one another, attempting to pin one another to the floor. Though it is hard to tell in the darkness, the ooze quickly begins to scratch at the woman with its many mouths, attempting to consume her head and shoulders.

 

[Soviet Panda]

Buras quickly squares his stance, and adjusts his grip on his great ax when the wind started blowing. And as a response, he screamed back at it. The scream was feral, full of blood lust and want for battle. He was not scared of the sorcerer or whatever entity called this place home. He would rip it's skull out and show it to them before finally killing it.


Then out came the monster. Finally, something he could actually strike out at. He was starting to get frustrated with all the mind games the tunnels were trying to play. A battle would be the perfect time to relieve some of that frustration. Screaming his guttural scream once more, he charges towards the monster, ax raised above his head and ready to cleave it in half. And once he was close enough, that's exactly what he fully intended to do. Putting all his strength into the swing, it arcs towards the slime, reptile thing.