Take Back the Crown

Shifting over to Bo, she smiled and continued to stroke her little dog's ear, taking in his answer and letting it rattle in her head a little,"Adventure." she echoed quietly and looked down. Giving a small nod of understanding she looked up and smiled up towards him,"You sound like you have a really noble heart, Bo. I look forward to....to making the world a better place with you and the whole group." 


Looking around to the rest, her face softened as a soft blush darkened her already grey-blue face. She wasn't used to having so many people have interest in talking to her; everyone as the school had really kept to themselves and their studies, leaving her with little social experience that was...positive per say. 


Smiling softly she hung her head a little bit and touched her own cheek, rubbing it to try to stave off the tingles in the back of her throat as thoughts of bliss rushed through her emotions. / Oh goodness don't be a sap now; you just met them all. Some might not even like you yet don't get ahead of yourself./ 


Wiping at her misting eyes she gave a theatrical cough,"Sorry; woodsmokes got my eyes burning." she bluffed badly. She was a terrible liar. 


@soundofmind
 
"Ahh. Thanks. Um..." Noble? He didn't feel like that word desrcibed him so well, but he'd take it. Maybe. He noticed Aggie's eyes get shiny with tears, and honestly, her excuse made a lot of sense. That, and whatever really was going, she probably didn't want to talk about in front of a bunch of new aquaintences. Or at least, he knew he wouldn't want to if he were her. So instead he looked at the fire, staring just long enough that a puff of smoke floated his way and his eyes got watery too.


"Hah, no worries. It can irritate the eyes. Try not to look at it for too long." He smiled, wiping his eyes, which stung a little. "Not like I just did, wow. Ok yeah, definitely don't. It's a bad idea, haha." 


"Weirdly, lightning doesn't affect me at all, but fire and smoke still do. I guess all magic has its limits."


@Tater
 
Nick glanced briefly at the small blonde girl retreating from the group - she  had some very strange traces about her, but in this group, that was nothing unusual.  "Nicholas Wardenclyffe, at your service."  Nick took the bowl and bowed slightly.  "Thank you... I seem to have forgotten to eat today since breakfast."  He snickered a little and gave an apologetic smile.  "I'm probably not as young as you seem to think... I've been alive for over... Hmm... I think it's actually right around three centuries now.  I'm on my fourth body so far..."  He grinned nervously at the venerable lady as he scooped out some soup.  "I, uh, hope I don't have to worry about getting the old pitchfork and torches treatment from you lot, do I?  Some of the less... Progressive people don't take too kindly to things like that..."  He flicked his eyes toward the pair discussing crossbows and made a mental note to discuss designs with them before returning his focus to Svetlana, taking a sip from his bowl.  "Though, I have about as much experience as anyone who looks as young as I do when it comes to anything other than academic pursuits."


@Lo Alyssa
 
Watching him stare at the fire and get an eyeful of smoke, she gave a little smile as he reacted to it, giving a small laugh. "Your'e quite an interesting one, Mr.Bo. I look forward in traveling with you." she brushed some hair from her face and chuckled. 


Returning her gaze to the fire, Pippa had gotten up to make dirt before settling for the night, simply walking past the newcomer without a second glance and proceeded to walk his fluffy little butt around like nobody mattered. He did his business down farther the canyon. 


Aggie watched attentively as her corgi went and was swallowed by the darkness of the night, worry coming across her."I-I'm going to make sure he gets back okay." standing up, her cloak fell off her shoulders as she stepped around the fire and towards the direction that Pippa went. 


'Pippa you don't have to go that far to take a pee; its not that terrible smelling.'


Silence from the other end. 


"Pippa?"


@soundofmind @anyone 
 
Nick furrowed his brows at the small dog as it passed by, sipping his soup at leisure.  It wasn't until the owner had stood and called Pippa's name that he began to really pay attention.  The note of uncertainty and worry in her voice was what tipped him off.  The hair on the back of his neck stood on end as he peered into the darkness of the canyon before he hurriedly swirled his soup and gulped it down before dropping his goggles down and looking down the canyon.


"...Uh, lady, either your dog has some major bad juju hanging around it, or we have company."  He looked to Svetlana.  "Have there been any major crazy wizards or mad alchemists through this area recently?  Any abominations I need to know about besides those big insects?"  As he turned back toward where Pippa had disappeared to, Nick loosened the strap on his crossbow and swung it into a ready position, kneeling to steady his aim.


@Lo Alyssa @Tater
 
Oceana watched out of the corner of her eye as Pippa waddled into the dark.


At first she felt relieved at the distance made between her and the canine but it turned to worry when the dark elf followed.


The girl seemed so meek.


What if she was attacked out there all alone? 


I doubt that creature would help.


Listening close, the elf heard the strange man confirm what she had sensed. The dog was definitely not a normal dog.


Long, elegant fingers curled around the heavy handle of her hunting knife.


A gesture that was as much a comfort to her as a threat to enemies.


But all was still calm for the moment.


A hunter did not swing wildly at the shadows. One waited. One listened.


Blue-green eyes bore into the fire, watching the flames dance absently.


Waiting. Listening.
 
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Putting her hands up close to her chest, her eyes wandered the darkness as she searched for her companion,"Pip?"


A sudden noise of scuttling and bug like noises echoed from the dark along with loud snarls from her animal, making Aggie freeze slightly. 


Suddenly the corpse of a large bug like creature was thrown at her feet, making her yelp and avoid the splash of guts that bounced from it. Looking up back into the darkness, Aggie raised a hand and summoned a small whiff of fire in her palm before tossing it towards the dark, illuminating the canyon walls. 


The light caught the back of the animal's eyes and they flashed a ghastly green as the fire whipped past it's muzzle. It seemed...smokey in body. Quite larger than Aggie, it crept forward with it's ears back and eyes fixed on her. Aggie didn't move from her spot but simply raised her hands towards the beast...


@all
 
Foxrun had been just listening to the conversation going on around him. Leisurely allowing himself to simply glide along with the statements. It was less hectic than the train wreck of thoughts lined up on his mind. He found himself actually zoning out at one point however, and suddenly jerked up. Just in time to catch Ashlar coming back from a (failed) attempt at conversing with the raven-haired elf, preceding another attempt (also failed) at speaking to the younger thief, who happened to be of the same race. He tried to flag him down as he stood as well. If nobody else would make effort to chat with their guide...then he would. He wasn't sure why the others would avoid him? Would they not want to grasp at something to make them trust the man? After all, he would  be leading them through the dangers of the desert....so it was worth a wild shot. 


But just as suddenly as he managed to catch the man's attention, something drew his own attention back to the dark elf of the other new travelers, specifically, her dog... or......beast? He simply froze, honestly perplexed more than anything....before springing up and gesturing at the grotesque bug the large shadowy pip simply flung around like a feather. He tried to speak, but it only came out as a jumble of words. Then he sighed and tried again "first, the...er...dooog?" The last word was drawn out, cutting off at a higher note than it started at. He then just shook his head, not sure what to even say an out it actually "secondly, that thing, well the bug thing, not the....other," he jabbed a finger at the bug "do they come in numbers??" He directed the question at anybody who might know the answer, mostly towards the man he had originally aimed to talk to before the newest addition to their surprises...


@Lo Alyssa@Tater
 
Oceana drew her bow, notched an arrow and stood all in one smooth motion.


The polished redwood glinted in the firelight. An almost inaudible hiss of breath escaped tattooed lips. 


Aquamarine eyes were trained on the smoky figure just in front of the dark elf.


So that is the "dog"?, She thought. Her grip tightened, leather-clad hands creaking. Every instinct told her to run. To leave them behind to quite possibly be swallowed by that primal shadow.


But her pride and discipline as a hunter kept her legs steady, the dwarven-arrow point never wavering. 


Suddenly there was an awful clicking behind her and Oceana whipped around to face another giant insect-like creature, up on the nearby ledge, poised to pounce on her.


For once caught completely off guard, the elf fired haphazardly.


The bronzed arrow merely glanced off the crawler's mottled shell and it fell upon the hunter with a screech.


The elf instantly rolled to the side, it's pincer-like mandibles snapping just where her head had been.


There was no time to think. Flicking out her large belt knife, Oceana frantically slashed at the cage of spiny legs around her. The knife simply chimed, harmlessly bouncing off the monster's appendages.


She rolled back to dodge another clamp at her head. Her knife unintentionally nicked the underbelly of the creature as she rolled; it hissed in pain. The large beady eyes rolled and it snapped its dripping jaws with that ugly, staccato clicking.


Seeing her chance, the elf bared her teeth in a snarl and stabbed deep.


The flesh around the knife made a wet sucking sound and she yanked down along the crawler's belly.


The thing screamed; a chilling cacophony of shrieking and clacking. It shot away from the source of pain, segmented limbs twitching violently, leaking blackish-green ichor along the sand. The goo sizzled on the sand, hot and sticky. 


The Crawler's trembling death throes seemed to go on and on before finally it went limp.


Splashed in the stinking ooze of her fallen enemy, Oceana blinked a few times before standing up shakily. And falling back down.


"W-whhhhhh..." Was all she could manage to say. A sudden deep inhale before a wretched, gagging cough. That blood goop indeed smelled fowl.


Her tattooed face was scrunched in disgust as she all but crawled away from the puddle of congealing blood.


"Whhh... Wwelll then." She wheezed, adrenaline finally leaving her a bloody, shaken husk.


(@whoever?)
 
Nick fired three arrows from his crossbow in such quick succession that by the time the first arrow had glanced off the chitin armor of the Crawler, the third was already in the air.  Upon realizing his arrows were useless against the massive insects' exoskeletons unless he got a lucky shot, he flung the crossbow back and tightened the strap, holding the crossbow firmly against his back, and dropped into a low, stable, strong stance.  With a twist and a flick of his wrist, two razor-sharp blades extended from either side of his right forearm.  The moment they locked into place, a malicious-looking tendril of lightning arced between the blades, making an ominous *ZZZ-TAK, ZZZ-TAK* sound.


However, before he could take any further action, the elven huntress had already disembowled the Crawler, but was covered in its innards.


Elves have hypersensitive senses!  Nick retracted his Discharge Blade, reached into his cloak and took out a glass vial, quickly strode over to the huntress, and crushed the vial with his fist over her head, dumping the contents over her.


Almost immediately, several chemicals went to work, reacting vigorously with the disgusting goop, drawing away heat, making it form crystals or precipitates (drying it up), and neutralizing acidic and basic caustic components, all the while cutting the vile stench down to more maneagable levels.  As an added bonus, the contents of the vial smelled faintly of lavender.


Nick shook the last few drops onto the huntress before tossing the crushed glass away and wiped his gloved hands on his cloak.  He flicked through a few settings on his goggles, searching for any lingering effects, finding none he could detect.


"Are you alright?  I'm sorry if I acted rashly, but the digestive fluids of these creatures are extraordinarily foul."  Nick turned to Svetlana.  "Who here knows the area?  There must be a more defensible location than this.  I fear my explosion may have awoken a hive... Um... Again."  Nick looked around at the others.  "Eh... Just to be precise, last time, it was on purpose...  Anyway, we might not have much time before the rest arrive, if that is indeed what has happened..."


@OlKaJa77 @Lo Alyssa
 
      "Svetlana Koslov." She said, acknowledging Nick's name. "Oh, I can certainly promise you will not recieve such treatment from me, but I can not speak for the others." She chuckled, looking around at them. Most were friendly, but a fair few were suspicious and rough around the edges, "But you shan't worry, they would not hurt you if I say not to." She said reassuringly. "I must say, it is quite refreshing to speak to someone closer to my age, as I am five hundred or so years give or take a few." She gave the man a smile. She was about to continue when a sudden scuffle sounded behind her.


      "Crawlers." Ashlar said jogging over to Oceana who had already taken the beast down. It woke Yaroslav up, who had his axes at the ready, and Svetlana swiftly walked over, her robe pulling at the sand.


      At Foxrun's confused question, Ashlar was glad he could finally be put to good use, though a smile did not appear on his face. Crawlers were bad news, "Aye." He said slowly, looking at the creature the elf had taken down, and then his eyes gazed up the wall, scanning... assessing.


      "They nest... and they swarm..." He almost whispered through his concentration, "And it looks like Aggie's mutt just killed one of their babies." He said, drawing out a curved short sword from his side, "That can only mean trouble. Alright everyone!" He shouted to get their attention. Hjalmar gave a side glance at Dorian before returning to the campfire with him, having missed all the action, "Their armor can not be pierced by weapons, so don't waste your energy. Aim for their bellies, it's soft there. Better yet, aim for their eyes, that works just as well, easier to reach. They have a few too many anyway." He added with shrug, stepping toward the fire. He nimbly picked up a piece of wood, using it as a torch to search the cliff face.


      His face dropped as he began to notice the hidden nooks and crannies of the canyon walls. It was too dark to notice them before, but now he could see them everywhere. He squinted, peering in and trying to see. Ooze dripped from the holes, a clear sign crawlers were living there.


      "We're standing on top of a nest." He said realizingly, and threw the wood back into the fire so he could unsheathe his other sword, "Away from the walls!" He shouted behind him at the others.


      But Hjalmar heard a little too late.


      Almost as soon as Ashlar barked the order, the thief felt a sharp pang in his leg, and soon after, a sharp pang in his head as he was swept right off his feet and planted head first into the sand. He hardly had any time to process what had just happened, he turned his head to see four dripping pincers wrapped around his leg, and the ugly clicking body it belonged to. It was just in a manner of a few seconds, and the thing had already started dragging him back towards the hole it must have come out of. He tried to hold on to something, but there was nothing to hold on to. He scraped at the floor, sand being driven under his fingernails. Some scrambled to grab his hand, but he reached with no contact. He yelped as he was swallowed by darkness, and yanked down into the small slimy opening.


      He didn't know how far he had fallen. But through the blur of everything, he managed to look up and see the slight orange glow from the opening. It was a shallow drop, perhaps nine or ten feet. Now that the surface was rough, he could finally grab hold of a ledge to prevent being drug down even further. With a scream, he kicked the crawlers mouth with as much strength as he could muster. The move surprised it enough for it to let go, but the moment was brief. It screeched in pain, and charged again. But Hjalmar had managed to buy barely enough time to get up. In a swift movement, he slid to the right, and the crawler rammed right into the wall, causing pebbles and dust to fall from the ceiling. It trilled in anger, and swiped at him again. He jumped back, and tripped into the wall behind him. Before he could recover, the crawler leaped and pinned him against the wall. This time, it sunk it's hidden teeth into his shoulder.


      He let out a pained scream, instinctively clawing at the pincers in a poor attempt to dislodge them.


      Aim for their bellies, he remembered Ashlar saying. But the crawlers belly couldn't be reached from where he was pinned down. Then aim for their eyes.


     Fumbling at the sheathe strapped to his thigh in desperation, Hjalmar wrenched his long dagger out and slew the sharp blade into the crawlers red eye until the hilt prevented it from sinking any farther. The creature let go with a squeal, tearing itself away from the boy and toppling over, writhing in pain. A moment later, it's body went still except for the occasional twitch of the leg.


      Hjalmar sunk to the floor in heavy pants, his hand still clutched around his blade. But he couldn't stay there, he could only guess at the number of crawlers prowling those dark passages, and it wouldn't be too long before they realized there was prey to be hunted. Wounded prey at that. Hjalmar winced as he picked himself up off the damp floor, his hand reached for his wet shoulder. When he removed it, his hand was covered in red.


      That can't be a good sign. He thought to himself, silently hoping that they weren't venomous. His heart dropped as he realized this wasn't a minor injury, his whole right side was almost completely drenched in his blood. He needed a healer.


      Limping back towards the opening, he tried to climb back up the hole, hoping to be met halfway at the very least, as his torn arm and crushed leg screamed under the strain.


@ everyone
​
 
Still sputtering, Oceana was glad when the awful stench of the creature let up.


She looked up from her seat on the ground to find the stranger above her.


Curiously enough she found the strength to stand again. It seemed the foul liquid from her kill had been horrid enough to be incapacitating.


"Thanks." She mumbled to the odd human man.


It was all his fault anyway, an annoyed part of her growled but she somehow couldn't muster the ire to berate him. Not after freeing her from that terrible ichor smell.


Not even her trademark temper could flare with the damper of icky blood and sudden exhaustion.


Walking over to where her bow lay strewn in the sand she picked it up and slung it across her back before doing the same with her pack. Cool eyes swept the camp for any other injuries or intruders.


A sudden screaming echoed in the canyon and Oceana whipped around to see Hjalmar getting dragged into a hole in the craggy rock by another monstrous crawler. 


She leapt forward, grasping desperately at his hand but it slipped away as the crawler scuttled back into the shadowy crevice, it's mandibles firmly around his ankles.


"Aarhh! No!" She cried, darting in after him, peering down into the dark. Her keen eyes could see nothing of him but heard a scuffle and then ragged breathing. 


Human breathing.


The thief reached the bottom of the hole covered in blood, his shoulder a mess of gore.


Oceana thought of trying to hoist him up but she knew she was not strong enough. So she slipped into the hole gracefully, landing softly behind the man. 


"Tsk." She said in his ear "One wonders how you survived your mother's womb without help."


She called upward. "Yaro! Ashlar! Someone reach in and grab him on my count! One, two"


The elf then bent and hugged him just below the knees,


"Three!"


and lifted.


A great rumbling shout burst from her lips as her wiry muscles hefted him up at least eight feet up the hole. To her relief someone gripped him and hoisted him up. She then scrambled up the wall a bit and was also hoisted out.


@GlytchMeister @Lo Alyssa
 
'That's one ugly sonuvabitch.' Dorian and Garrett said to each other at the same time as they saw the crawler. When the warning resounded, they both reacted immediately, drawing weapons and stepping back, on guard.


Dorian almost bounded off to help Hjalmar, but he noticed Oceana run off to help out, and the more instinctive part of his mind that was bound to Garrett wad urging him to stay back to protect the mage. As if the soldier couldn't chop most foes into pieces.


'It's as if we didn't especially take a guide with us to help us not to get into situations like this.' Dorian said with as much sarcasm as he could muster as he took a running start and slid under the belly of a crawler, his knife leaving a long, deep cut down the middle of the beast, which soon started spilling guts everywhere.


'I don't think it's his fault. He couldn't have known.' Garrett replied as he chopped at a creature with a sword.


'His job is crossing this desert. I wold think he would have learnt to spot nests of dangerous creatures.' Dorian grumbled, knowing Garrett was rather right, but unwilling to give up the last word as he picked another target. 'Should have gone with Kitten. At least she makes fights fun.'
 
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Nick uttered a stream of curses, including several from ancient languages once the leather-clad young man was retrieved from the hole.  "You made camp on top of a hive?"  Nick growled and sprinted to his packhorse, pulling out more vials of various colored liquids andsatchels of powders and began distributing them.  Figures... Well, I guess I'll have to replenish my bag of tricks after this...  "These are flashers.  Throw them at the ground, the liquid inside will detonate with a very bright flash... What with all their eyes, Crawler brains can easily be overwhelmed by the flash.  It'll give you time to kill them."  He pointed at the satchels of powder.  "This is a powerful hallucinogenic.  The crystals in this powder can and will incapacitate whatever breathes it if it has a brain, sentient or not.  DO NOT BREATHE IT.  Throw the sack at a group of Crawlers and stay upwind... They're a little riskier, but the reward is greater."


Nick dug back into his saddlebag and pulled out a cylinder of arrows with glass bulbs at the tips.  Each glass bulb was lined on the inside with a thin layer of steel, then coated with a curious substance he had discovered only a few years ago made from charcoal and fluorine.  The bulbs had been made in a way that the glass would not break unless the arrow was hit right on the tip, so they were a little less likely to break open by accident.


Contained within each bulb was the single most voracious acid Nick had ever synthesized... Using Khol metal, fluorine, and one of the gases that come from broken-down water.


These don't have to pierce anything to do serious damage...  Nick spoke in a loud voice.  "If I shoot anything with these arrows, stay away.  The acid will not only kill you, it will hurt the whole time you are dying."  He loaded the cylinder of arrows into his crossbow.  "I hate using this stuff...  But of course, I get invited to dinner on top of a nest of vicious, slavering, man-eating, heavily armored insects the size of Clydesdales..."


As the others began to pick out their chosen chemical goodies, Nick went to the injured boy and once again crushed a neutralization vial over him.  Crawler fluids were not a good thing to mix with one's blood.  Once the neutralizer had taken effect, he pulled out another vial, this one metal, and popped the stopper off with his teeth before roughly dumping the contents down the boy's throat, not giving him a chance to object, and used his hand to clamp his mouth shut until he swallowed the vile liquid.  Finally, he drew out an earthenware pot from his saddlebag and scooped out healthy portions of a milky white goop, spreading it and rubbing it into the boy's wound.  Before anyone could object, he activated his discharge blade and used the spark to light the salve on fire.  It flamed up with a brilliant blue flame belching first bright green smoke, then white, before just as suddenly going out - the fire hadn't even existed long enough for the heat to reach the boy's flesh.  The salve had vanished, along with any dirt and gunk from the Crawler's disgusting bite.  "The medicine I just gave you will take the edge off the pain and help keep you from being infected.  The ointment cleaned your wounds out, but you still need a doctor or a healer."  Nick looked around expectantly.   "I'm not going to have to stitch the poor bastard up myself, am I?  I'm not the best at that sort of thing, but I can manage if I have to..."


@OlKaJa77 @Lo Alyssa and @anyone
 
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Bo stood up, first at the appearance of the giant dog - or rather, what appeared to be the real Pippa. But the intimidating presence of the now revaled, much larger beast, was stolen away by the sudden and unexpected appearance of the crawlers. As expected, they were giant, ugly looking bugs who apparently, ate people. He listened carefully as Ashlar began to bark orders to stay away from the walls, and the instructions on how to kill them. But then he heard Hjalmar scream, and he saw him disappear into one of the crawler's holes. Following moments behind Oceana, he reached her soon enough to carry both Hjalmar and her out of the deep tunnels. He knew he wasn't one of the people Oceana called for,  but that didn't matter. What mattered what that Hjalmar was taken care of, and, apparently the new guy was ready to help do just that, among other things.


He didn't hear much of what the guy was saying - he only knew that he had to grab a healer. Soon.   His eyes quickly scanned the area and he spotted Svetlana fighting a crawler. Momentarily leaving Hjalmar amd Oceana with the jabbering explosion guy, he sprinted over to the two, taking a deep breath before blasting a streak of lightning from his mouth and into the creature's eyes. Blood spattered from its face as it stumbled back, twitching and falling to the ground. But the bug wasn't what he wanted. He needed to get Svetlana. 


"We need a healer!" Was his only explanation as he grabbed her hand and pulled her over to Hjalmar, quickly.


He brought her up to Hjalmar, not explaining anything more, as he knew she knew what to do. His attentions immediately turned to the group, and he searched for anyone else in need of protection or help - besides the people he was already with.


Another crawler noisily came up from behind them, and he turned around, sending another bolt of lightning to its eyes, and he watched its head fizzle. He could feel his adrenaline pumping quickly, and his heart racing - throbbing. He knew he had to stay with it, but he felt the weariness of the repeated use of his magic over and over. He could feel the blood in his veins burning. But he convinced himself again and again that it was worth it. And even so, he had to keep fighting.


@Danika @OlKaJa77 @Lo Alyssa @GlytchMeister(I wrote this on my phone before bed i hope it sounds ok aha)
 
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Pippa veered his large head away from his Master's hands as she reached out and focused on the crawlers that were making their ways down the walls. Their mandibles clicking in mass unison made a terrible noise that made Agitha tense up slightly at the overload of noises coming to her sensitive ears.


The large smokey looking beast had made due with biting the creatures off the walls and rearing up on his hind legs to smash them against their kind with his massive forepaws and claws. He seemed to be enjoying the whole ordeal, making a laugh like noise from deep in his throat as he scraped off corpse after corpse from the wall. 


When Hjalmar screamed, Pippa turned his head and went to go grab him but was too late. Seeing that another was going after him, he left them be and continued to snap and smush the bugs that came down from the walls and towards the group.


Agitha stared out at the advancing bugs and held her palms out slightly.


Did the group have it handled? Dare she try to help? What if she failed?


Her fingertips glowed like dying cinders, stretching out to her palms as she wet her lips with her palms. 


Looking up as Bo released a bought of lightning from his mouth . 'So there is more casters here. I don't know why I didn't think that./


Turning on her heel, she swept her fingertips against the sand, sending up a plume of fire and sand, a wall of glass capturing a large crawler that tried to sneak up on the group that was tending to the wounded Hjalmar. Panting slightly, she curled her fingers to her palm and turned again, sending a plume of green fire up against the walls of the canyon. Bugs screeched as their eyes and antenna melted and burned at the heat and the rest tried to recede from the emerald tongues of flame. 


Pippa had taken post behind Agitha and watched her back as his master send up more plumes of dazzling light towards the creatures, occasionally turning to look towards the rest.
 
Once Hjalmar was taken care of Oceana raced for the bag of tricks the alchemist had provided and grabbed several small satchels of hallucination powder. 


There were several holes on the opposite side of the canyon that burst forth with scuttling, oozing crawlers.


One went down with a squeal, a borrowed dwarven arrow protruding from an eye. 


Already more foul insects were swarming out of the holes. The elf loaded three arrows at once onto her horizontal bow and fired. Three more went down but the rest were still coming.


The elf spotted a certain Mage nearby and ran up to her.


"Phaedra!" She said loudly over the din of magical blasts and crawler hunting calls. "We need to get this stuff down the holes! I need your air magic or they'll overrun us from behind!" 


Oceana locked eyes with a particularly fat crawler and ran backward just a smidge, screaming theatrically as if afraid.


It worked, the smaller creatures swarmed faster, frenzied, and got the larger one stuck in the tight crevice with its smaller brood mate.


The hunter killed them swiftly and the one hole was sealed temporarily. But the others still spewed forth clicking death upon them.


Running back up to the sylph, she drew her daggers. 


"That won't hold! We have to do it now!"


@TeeKay
 
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"I'll help you hold these crawlers back. Please don't shoot at me." Garrett told Oceana as he ran up to her, tossing a full quiver of arrows, which Dorian had left behind, to her. His arms were growing heavy with the constant swinging of his heavy sword and shield, and he knew he couldn't move and attack as swiftly as before.


Dorian laughed as he slew another creature, a thrown knife embedded deep in its eye.


Usually, killing had no effect of him, why would it? The previous fights with demons and imps were just grueling, with the foul magic the beasts had been imbued with almost making him retch. But this, fighting crawlers, was just amazing.


Bored, the instinctive beasts hiding behind the careful facade of the familiar had grown restless, longing to hunt. And crawlers were just perfect for it. They were animals, and animals were prey. What did it matter that they were almost twice Dorian’s size. They were threatening him and his mage, so it was only added initiative.


And, with all the loose magic flying around, the familiar was absorbing more power than he had use for, what with Garrett now using a sword and shield instead of a staff and magic.


The Dorian’s human mask was slowly unvinding.


As a crawler charged at him, the familiar waited until the last second and suddenly leapt up, landing on top of the charging creature. In a second a knife was buried in the tiny gap between the plates of its shell with more force than the man usually would have.


A pleased grin spread across his face as the monster fell and he sprung off to find another. Then another.


"Oh no. You don't touch those who are mine." He purred as he buried his knife in a crawler's eye which had been charging at Oceana, Phaedra and Garrett.


"Do you need any help?" He called out, his grin revealing pointed canines, his eyes glowing like two embers. He must have been a rather ghostly sighed, black clothes covered in guts and blood, as much crawlers' as his own. One of his arms seemed to be bleeding profusely but he paid it no attention.


 @TeeKay @OlKaJa77
 
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Nick ducked instinctively when he heard the crack of lightning and looked around.  A large man was actually breathing lightning from his maw.  I'm gonna have to have a chat with him about that at some point... Very interesting...  As the large man hauled Svetlana over to the boy, he took up a guard position.  More Crawlers emerged from the walls.  Carnage broke out as spell casters and warriors went to work.  A dark elf woman captured a crawler with a wave of molten sand.  "Thanks!"  Nick shouted before activating his discharge blade and stabbing the stuck Crawler in the eye.  Electricity coursed through the huge bug, making it convulse violently, shattering the glass as its tiny brain was overloaded with current.  Nick hopped away once it was dead, thankful for his durable cloak, and wheeled about, shooting another crawler with a caustic arrow.


Almost immediately, the creature's thick chitin armor was bubbling, smoking, and liquefying as the fluoroantimonic acid ate into it.  As the acid reacted with the bug's flesh, it broke down and ignited.  The sizzling hole belched a hot, violent flame that occasionally popped and cracked with small explosions.  Still twitching and shrieking, the bug collapsed, it's innards still being eaten away by the terrible acid.


Nick continued to fight the insects.  His blade didn't have to pierce any armor to fry his enemies, and his arrows ate through their flesh easily, though he used them sparingly... They were expensive and he liked to keep some on hand just in case.


With a growl, Nick threw open his cloak, revealing a leather bandolier across his chest containing several sturdy glass vials with thin steel linings.  He took one and threw it hard at a particularly large Crawler.  The glass shattered and the liquid immediately caught fire, engulfing the Crawler in hideous flames... The sand and rocks nearby also caught fire as the liquid reacted with them. Grinning and cackling madly, he threw several more vials as he shouted over the din of the battle.  "Fifty milliliters of chlorine trifluoride!  Cures what ails ya, guaranteed!"  Nick swapped out a new cylinder of caustic arrows.  As he reloaded, a Crawler pounced, clamping its mandibles around Nick's left forearm.  The enhanced spider silk and his sturdy buckler held and Nick scoffed.  "Gonna have to do better than that, beastie!"  With a flick of his wrist, the triangular buckler extended, suddenly turning into a circular shield... Inside the Crawler's head.  The powerful spring action of the shield ripped the crawler's head apart, spattering Nick with its disgusting inner flesh.  "Oh, man, I forgot how bad it smells up-close and personal!"  Nick spluttered and crushed a neutralizing vial against his hooded head before he went back to fighting.
 
(Oh boy, sorry for not replying earlier! I love fight scenes like this though! And it isn't my best either. I'm in a rush!!)


Lucasta and Lucas quickly ran to their things when the crawlers unexpectedly attacked. "Stay close, Lucas! If they grab you, I can't guarantee that I can save you." She rummaged through her satchel, and pulled out a very decorated silver dagger, that looked very similar to her sword and shield pairs. She handed the blade to Lucas quickly, then pulling her shield onto her arm and unsheathing her sword. "Don't try to fight them by yourself. Please!" She darted out of the tent, with a flustered Lucas following behind. 


Multiple loud screeches were heard from around them, about three had them cornered as soon as they exited their shelter. Lucasta pushed Lucas behind her as the crawlers inched closer, hissing and an unidentified liquid falling from their mouths, wetting the sand under them. Lucasta clenched her blade, and took a stance. It was very similar to what Yaroslav had showed her back in the dwarf training grounds. Her eyed darted between the three of them, trying to determine which one would pounce first. Before she could react a forth crawler jumped down behind them, and went for Lucas. Quickly, and swiftly Lucasta spun and tried to pull him away but Lucas was grabbed and was being pulled toward an opening. "No!" She screamed, as the other crawlers pounced to attack her. She slid underneath a bugger, raising her sword the slid the bottom side of it open, causing a disgusting smell to fill the air and the creature to flop onto the sands, lifeless. She didn't have time to kill the other two. She needed so desperately to get to her brother. She turned and ran towards the crawler that took Lucas, and jumped on top of it. The sudden leap, surprised the bug and let go of her brother. Lucasta grabbed the thing, tightly before stabbing it in the eyes. The crawler screeched and tried knocking her off, but before it could it fell to the floor. Lucasta jumped off, grabbing Lucas by the hand. "Aim for their eyes Lucas! Defend yourself!"


Lilith was surprised by the sudden appearance of the buggers. She took her staff in both hands, gripping it tightly as her cat came running. Jinx was being chased by a crawler. "Alright my friend." She muttered. "Show time." She winked at the black feline. The cat's green eyes gleamed. Lilith yelled out an incantation, and suddenly her cat began to change once more. She was now the size of a 1 story house, of course it was small to some beings, but to the bugs it instilled fear into their hearts.  Jinx roared at them, and now chased is the chaser. The feline caught a bug in her jaws, crushing it under her sharp teeth and strength. Lilith used magic blasts to push the crawlers into the walls of their own nest. Each magic blast would get stronger and stronger.


@anyone
 
There's too many...  Nick knew the horde of Crawlers they fought on the surface was tiny compared to the vast swarm beneath.  It would take us a month to kill them all at this pace...  Nick ran through a mental inventory of his supplies, trying to find a quick solution.  "Glycerine Number 48!"  He dug through his backpack and pulled out what appeared to be a small stone sphere inscribed with complicated runes - it was freezing to the touch, and frozen water vapor curled off of it ominously.  "EVERYONE GET BACK!"  With his discharge blade, he scratched a single mark into one of the runes, reversing the purpose of the spell.  Immediately, the stone began to heat up.  Nick hurriedly tossed it at the opening of a particularly large tunnel.  A Crawler looked at it curiously before dismissing it.


A moment later, the sphere exploded with a blast so violent it shattered the rock of the tunnel, collapsing it and crushing several Crawlers.  The explosion also blew apart the Crawler that had decided to ignore the stone in the first place.


Dammit that thing took me three days to make...


"WE NEED TO COLLAPSE THE TUNNELS!  I don't have enough explosives on hand to take care of it myself, I need anyone with explosive spells to start causing landslides!"
 
Oceana staggered back at Nick's warning, dragging Phaedra with her. She didnt have time to look back at Garrett and Dorian before the explosion rocked the canyon.


Where the holes had been was a shattered mess of crawler limbs, rock and flames.


The elf blinked.


Then she turned, looking for some way to help collapse the tunnels.


There!


Some ways up a cliff was a large boulder, enormous enough to send part of the wall of remaining holes into rocky oblivion.


The wood elf quickly darted up onto the rock face, dodging the crush of crawler mandibles. Swinging and leaping with inhuman grace, she soon reached the top where the boulder lay on one small side precariously. 


Oceana grinned and wedged herself  between the boulder and a column of rock behind her.


Wiry legs struck out in a fierce push.


The boulder barely wiggled.


Below she could hear the others still blasting magics and slashing with swords.


She kicked harder this time. The boulder seemed to move a fraction.


Snarling with primal effort, she repeatedly kicked out with both legs at once, jumping slightly for more force.


"Who"


Kick!


"Needs"


Kick!


"Bloody"


Kick!


"Magic"


She reared up, bare feet aching. And shoved.


"Anyway?!"


The boulder groaned for a timeless moment before it went tumbling, crushing the rock face and many crawlers with a thunderous crash of debris.


Her triumphant cry turned panicked when a crawler clamped it's fangs into her neck.


It had snuck up on her from behind, her keen senses dulled by effort and the sounds of battle below.


It threw her into a rocky edge, her head slammed into the red rock blood trickling down her brow from the impact. Her normally perfect vision swam with red; her own blood dripping down her front the last thing she saw before darkness claimed her.


(@someone help)
 
Agitha was barraging the bugs with well placed balls of fire, the guts of the ones she killed left a sticky looking mess on the walls of the canyon. Sweat was starting to bead up on her brow as the physical work on keeping the creatures at bay and the fire in her palms, she exhaled and lowered her hands slightly. 


Turning quickly at the sound of a boulder falling, she grinned slightly at the small victory before it fell into a look of sheer terror. Just as the bug clamped it's pinchers around the other elf's neck, she pointed up to her and shouted,"Pip!"


/On it./ he growled in reply as he bound up to the downed woman. Crushing a few straggling bugs on his way up the canyon wall, his massive head peered over this side, teeth bared as he peeled off the bug from Oceana, tossing its now limp body down into the canyon below. 


His massive maw opened up and he scooped the female up into his mouth, careful to avoid digging his teeth into her slender frame. Hopping back down, he trotted over to where the hurt Hjalmar was being tended to and placed her down delicately on her side.


Aggie  turned and looked to the others "Find the horses and get out of the canyon!" she barked. 


Looking towards Pippa, their minds spoke briefly before the massive animal reared up on his paws, sending up red sand in a wave against the wall. The battlemage followed up with a massive flame, melting the sand in suspension and creating a glass covering on the canyon walls. Bug screeches muffled by the sandglass was drowned out by more sand and fire being plastered to the walls. Looking to the others she got impatient ever so slightly. 


@all
 
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Like everyone else, Nameen had been taken in by the newcomer's dog had seemingly morphed into.  She squinted at the shrouded figure, thinking for a moment that the night's darkness was playing tricks on her sight.  She took a few tentative steps forward to get closer, before a hideous screech sounded from behind her. 


Whirling, Nameen caught sight of Oceana tackling one a humongous insect-like creature dripping venom.  She sprang forward into a run, drawing her sword to be of some help, but the elven warrior dispatched the Crawler a ways before she could reach.  


Nameen whipped her head in the direction of their guide, glaring angrily.  Wasn't it his job to warn us of something like this? 


The desert seemed to fall deathly silent in that moment, enough for her to hear a menacing clicking sound coming from her left.  


The crawler had so silently creeped up in her left eye's blind spot, being only feet from her by the time she finally spotted it.  Nameen reacted as fast as possible, lunging sideways to distance herself from the beast, but not before it caught her foot bringing her down for a hard impact.  Nameen grit her teeth at the pain that flooded through her ankle, feeling the rush of blood without looking at the injury.  Her drawn blade clattered to rocky floor.


Adrenaline rushing through her, Nameen yanked her foot out of the Crawler's grasp and scrambled to her feet, balancing gingerly on one foot while trying to avoid the sharp throbs coming from her other.  Her eye went immediately to her blade, the weapon having slid underneath the monster.  


Without giving her a lot of time to think, the Crawler pounced one again.  Nameen sidestepped, ignoring the pain in her foot, and then dropped to the ground.  The confused creature spun as she rolled underneath it, seizing the handle of her blade and plunging it into the fleshy underside.  The Crawler howled and collapsed, but not before Nameen had rolled out the other side.  


Out of danger for now, Nameen ground her jaws in pain as she tore off her bloody boot.  Fingers flying, she tore the cloth strips off one of her wrists and began to tightly bind her ankle.  She could here the beasts all around her now, as well as the battle cries of her companions.  She glanced up for just a second, gasping as she spotted another Crawler heading in her direction. 


Hastily Nameen finished wrapping her wound, hoping that none of the monster's venom had found its way into her bloodstream.  She shrugged the boot back on, grabbed her weapon and stood back up.  


This new Crawler was much closer now, smaller than the last but equally hideous.  Nameen allowed this one to come to her, sword at the ready to pierce one of its several eyes.  It's pincers clicked.  She focused on her target, staring into its eyes.


Nameen could see it ready to spring, the beast's back legs tensed in preparation.  But the moment that she expected it to strike, the Crawler halted. 


Nameen stayed ready wondering if this was an attempt to confuse her. But for a solid minute the albino human and the canyon creature stared into each other's odd number of eyes.   Frowing, Nameen cocked her her head to one side. 


The Crawler did the same, mirroring her movement.


A huge explosion snapped both her and the beast back to their senses. It hissed, and Nameen plunged her sword into its middle eye.  


Leaving the carcass behind, Nameen sprinted over in the direction where she had heard the explosion, disregarding the pain in her ankle each time she took a step.  


@ anyone (one super long post to make up for my lack of activity lately hehe) 
 
            Hjalmar breathed a sigh of relief as Oceana jumped down and helped heave him toward the surface. Despite all his efforts, his arm was simply, although momentarily, unable to properly function. He was pulled out by Bo, and then suddenly huddled by some of his companions. He managed a snicker through the pain, "Awe, I didn't know you all cared so much- ow!"


      He was quickly cut off as the newcomer poured a strange substance over his already pulsing wound, followed by an unpleasant taste in his mouth as he forced a liquid down his throat. The boy gagged in disgust after swallowing hard, and he barely noticed the brilliant dissipating fire on his shoulder. Despite all that effort, the wound was still open and bleeding, and it still hurt. But as quick as the newcomer came, he hurried off to assist in the battle.


            Svetlana didn't resist as Bo pulled her over to the boy. She tsked, "Oh, Hjalmar, what did you get yourself into this time?" She teased as she gently placed her palms over his wound, giving an acknowledging nod to Bo as a 'thank you' for grasping her attention. He winced with a smile at the comment, and the witch began her work. His eyes squeezed shut as his skin painfully stitched itself together. The pulsing magic in his skin faded, and he glanced down to see the wound was not fully healed.


            "A- are you alright?" He croaked the question out at the witch.


            "You were mauled alive by a crawler to the point your bone is showing, and you are asking if I am alright?" She laughed, wiping her bloody hands uselessly, "I am quite fine, young one. But I will not heal your wound any further. I did it enough that it scabbed over and stopped bleeding, but it can and will reopen if you strain it too much. I need to save the rest of my energy for the battle." She said as she jogged over toward the others. Without hesitation, she began flicking her wrists every which way, incinerating the bugs in a green furious fire. Mulling over how they should retreat in her head, seeing as how they could not continue fighting the endless crawlers forever, she heard Nick throw the idea out that the openings should be collapsed. She laughed, "Fast thinking, dearie!" She complimented over the deafening trills of the creatures. She put her hands out in front of her, and in a swift plunge movement, she brought her hands down and one of the openings with them, crushing all the crawlers in the rubble.


            Yaroslav and Ashlar had already jumped into action, in fact they were one of the first. Yaro hacked and slashed with his axes, each strike accompanied by small but powerful bursts of magic. He lost count of the crawlers he had slain by the time they had come up with the plan to take down the entrances. With one hand he brought down another in a similar way his grandmother had. But Ashlar was sidetracked, his attention was now focused on his injured kinsman, and he found himself running over with great haste.


           "Hjalmar!" He called with concern, "Looks like you got nabbed. At least it'll scar up real nice later on." He added positively while extending a hand to the boy. But the thief wasn't having it. He simply scowled and knocked the hand away, hoisting himself up off the ground without help. Perhaps Ashlar had well intentions, but there was something about the man that made Hjalmar suspicious. The fact he didn't know why only strengthened his disdain for him.


            He used his left arm to reach for his crossbow and pulled it over his shoulder, took aim, and shot a crawler right in the eye. Hjalmar was a sharp shooter, being injured wouldn't disable his skills, "Just watch my back." He said lowly, and Ashlar happily obliged, stabbing at the crawlers behind Hjalmar who saw him as easier prey. Within minutes, they had taken down at least a few dozen crawlers, but they just kept coming!


            "I don't know how long we can-" Hjalmar stopped. He started to notice the newcomer along with some of the mages, and even Oceana, take out the openings one by one. He gave out a triumphant shout as they gained the upper hand, but the moment of victory was cut short when the thief noticed Oceana fall. Though Aggie's dog- could you even call it that? pulled her to safety, Hjalmar felt compelled to be by her side. He turned to Ashlar, "I need to see Oceana. You go get the horses!" He commanded before limping over to the elf and the others with her. Ashlar simply nodded and jogged off in the opposite direction, grabbing Bo while he was at it, "I could use some assistance!" He explained quickly, hauling the man toward the spot they tied their horses, "Help me out here lightnin' man!"


            Hjalmar continued shooting as he slowly but surely made his way towards the elf. He plopped in the sand next to her. Though he wouldn't let go of his crossbow in the middle of battle, he used his injured hand to touch her tattooed cheek, jostling her slightly in an attempt to stir her, "C'mon, Oceana, wake up! Now's not a good time to sleep."





            Yaroslav took down another entrance, and then another, the number of crawlers on the surface was thinning as the group caved them in. The burly man fluctuated between destroying a crawler hole, to putting a hole in a crawler. It wasn't his preferred way of fighting, he was distracted by too many things at one time, and the more distracted you are, the more vulnerable you are. Before he knew it, he found himself farther away from the group then he should have been. He let out a curse as he realized his predicament, but just as he started to run back towards his companions, he was hammered in the side with a great force. He rolled over the sand a couple times, the wall of a canyon putting a halt to his tumble. He whipped his head up to see a crawler charging again, this time, it would pound him square in the chest.


            "Not going to happen." He growled before waiting until the last possible movement to scoot out of the way so the crawler would ram right into the wall behind him, conveniently taking down another entrance. "Hah!" Yaroslav laughed at the bugger, there was nothing funnier then something taking itself out against an enemy. He stood up again, only to be knocked down a second time by a crawler that had jumped off a ledge, pinning him down. He let out another, much louder, curse as its pincers clicked against the empty patch of sand next to him. When it realized it had missed, it reared its head up again for another lunge. Yaroslav whipped out his axe and with both his hands he put the handle between its rows of sharp teeth and his face, mere inches separating him from the foul jaws of the creature, slobber dripping from its maw onto his cheek. He let out a sound of both disgust and strain as he struggled with the crawlers weight. While the man was capably strong, his hands were tied, and he couldn't reach for the other axe it had knocked out of his hand. It was a waiting game; to see whose strength would hold out the longest. Yaro knew that he was sure to give out first should this game be allowed to continue. The crawler had the upperhand of being on top of him, while all he had to rely on were his already-trembling muscular arms. He growled through labored breaths and a vein popped on his reddening forehead as the snarling creature pressed down, getting closer and closer to his face.


@ anyone but (@L1d1ja maybe now you can FINALLY have Dorian rescue somebodY)
​
 
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