josh900

Not wanting to continue the argument, Azuris simply grumbled and walked away to sit in a corner, while Tannin took a seat near the wall and started to chip away at it with Blackrazor which was now shaped as (what else?) a small pickax. Lucas meanwhile sat with his arms wrapped around his knees in fetal position, slightly rocking back and forth, his eyes bulged out wide and his breathing erratic. "We have a way out though right?" He asked, panic evident in his voice. "We're not... not going to be trapped in here right?" "Nnnooope." Responded Tannin. "Don't you worry, we'll be out of here in no time." He said in a casual manner. "How do you know?" Lucas asked. "Done this before." Tannin shrugged. "How do we know? You could be lying about that, you lie a lot anyways, why's this any different?" Lucas said, his voice rising higher and higher as his state of unease grew. "Well look at it this way..... You really really don't want me to be lying right now. So do yourself a favor and don't assume I am." He said before getting back to work. "I can't help it." Lucas said, tightening his hold on his legs. "Usually I'm good with closed spaces but... but not here. We're buried too deep, we don't have a way out, Tak'we's.... dead...And no one's looking for us. I just wanted.. to at least do something good with my life before I died." He said hopelessly, trying to wipe away the tears streaking down his face. "And this is why I don't work with amateurs, they aaaalllways think things will go wrong." Tannin half spoke to himself.

Tannin sat and pondered their current predicament. The loss of Tak'we was unfortunate and he would miss the childlike insectoid. "Rocks fall, party dies." He said in a disappointed tone. "No wonder it's a damn in-joke." He muttered angrily as he got up to his feet. "Soooo we diiiiig forward. Maaaybe unsettle some of the rocks that way, cause more to fall, keep Arg buffed so he can bear the weight, or we can dig down and hook round while hoping we can get out and that the tunnel we dig doesn't collapse on us. Either way." He clapped his hands together. "Who's got the picks and shovels? We need a little tunnel, and some good old fashion rock to mud and disintegration spells spells." He said in a cheerful manner. Azuris meanwhile, let out a sigh sighed. "Not a Doomguide anymore. Thinking I should have found another god to follow before coming here though." He said with a weak chuckle. With Tannin seemingly unfazed by the whole thing, Azuris's temper flared. "Would you.. for once in your damn life, not act like everything is fine?!" He yelled at the half-drow. "Iii don't recall saying everything was fine." Tannin said with a cocked head, not bothering to turn around to face his accuser. "You're acting like it." Azuris spat. "Hells it doesn't even seem like you care that we just lost someone!" "Never said I didn't, it's jut important that we focus on more important matters." Tannin said in a mater of fact way. "More important? MORE IMPORTANT?!? We all just lost a good friend and you don't think that's important? You don't think that he was important? " He yelled storming up to Tannin. "I don't know why I'm surprised, you never gave a damn about him, or anyone else in this group for that matter I'm betting. Hells have you ever giving a s*** about anyone before? YOU EVER LOST ANYONE YOU CARED ABOUT?" The look that he saw on Tannin's face when he turned around, nearly cause his heart to jump out of his chest in fright, he took a quick step back away before fighting down the instinct to run. Focusing, Azuris could no longer see what had scared him so, it was only there for a fraction of a second, but he was sure that he saw it, instead Tannin merely starred into his eyes a moment before speaking. "Damn near all of them." He said quietly before turning back to the rocks. "I've become something of an expert on the subject. So it is not out of callousness that I don't seem to care, simply professionalism. "Now if you'll excuse me." He said before walking away, as far as he could anyways.

Tannin quickly ran over to where Nawen was laying on the floor. He dropped to his knees and slid a few feet over to her. "Hello lovely, that's doesn't look healthy." He said looking down at her blood soaked leg. "Well that could cause problems for you, let me fix this up for you." He said before he began the incantation to a cure moderate wounds spell, healing the damage done to her and putting a stop to the bleeding. "So not to sound too cocky here but... I'd say I'm in top form today. Just killed two psionic Elans, one of which was supposed to be really really powerful!" He said with a grin. "She wasn't really, though I think the beating she took kind of wore her out, but still! That was actually something.... semi dangerous...was fun!" He said excitedly, seeming to be completely oblivious to the situation around him.

With one Elan down, Tannin could focus on the last. With her focus taken by her spell casting, Tannin had the perfect opportunity. He lashed out with the dagger in his left hand, it's blade extending into a long chain that stabbed itself into the ground past Saris, and then retracted it, quickly pulling himself towards her all the while he was once again yelling out "MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE!" When he neared her a second after she cast her spell, the blade in his right extended and shifted to form a blunt head like a hammer's inches before it crashed into her left knee. The chain stopped pulling him and instead shot back to it's hilt as a blade, causing him to slide along the ground with the momentum. As he did he spun himself around and sliced at Saris, Blade cutting in her jaw before she dropped to her shattered knee. From there he cut and sliced at her everywhere he could at such a speed that sprays of blood streaked out in every which direction. When finally finished he took a step back and looked at her bloody form, nearly every inch of her was covered in deep gashes and cuts, the ground between then a puddle of her blood, and his front dripped with what wasn't on the ground. He shook his head and chuckled. "Always did enjoy slicing up you psionic types." He said before reaching out and pushing her head back so that her body fell with it, completely unaware that a tiny sliver of his soul devouring sword was embedded in her chest. Though small, it was still connected to the sword as a whole, and through it, Saris's very soul was swallowed up by the beast that dwelled inside. There all that she was would be stripped away, her power, memories, personality, everything would be used to fuel the monstrous hunger. In the darkness would a tiny portion of her soul stay, being drained and fed upon like the countless others that now suffered in the dark with her, all hoping, wishing, and praying to any gods they could remember that one day, they would be free from the dark being's clutches. ----------- ----------- Azuris watched as the Dracolich battled with Argyros, a rather stupid idea forming in his mind. He looked over to Lucas and shared it. "If we could break it's foot that might help Arg." He said in a tone that showed that he was not at all happy with what he was about to do. Catching the tone in his voice Lucas audibly gulped. "Is that a smart idea?" He asked. "Nope." Azuris grunted before charging, soon after followed by Lucas. He dropped his claymore to the ground and picked up a large warhammer which was dropped by a skeletal warrior before reaching the Dracolich's foot. He reared back and delivered a powerful blow to one of the dracolich's foot bones, hoping to break it or at least crack it enough to weaken his footing. When Lucas caught up he jumped on the dracholich's foot to avoid being stepped on and began to strike at the bones as well, his mace not having the stopping power of Azuris's hammer, but it was better than just standing around watching.

Tannin sucked in a breath. Soulknife in front of him, an oncoming Clenched Fist behind him, Nawen slumped against a pillar, Valthanarax and a dragon formed Argyros fighting, undead everywhere, Tannin smirked. Things escalated pretty quickly. The Elan rolled to his left, Tan would have to get creative. He could spin into Tar, grabbing an arm and face, kick his leg out and push him into the oncoming clenched fist. He could lash out with BlackRazor and hook into his legs then fling him into the Fist. He could parry the strike, then roll out of the way at the last moment, so that the fist hit him instead. He could dodge the strike while arcing BlackRazor into the Elan, cutting through to sever the arm. Block the strike with one blade, hook into the ground with the other and pull himself out of danger and closer to Nawen, would take a little longer though, risked getting hit with the Fist. Parry the strike with his left, follow through with a stab between the legs with his right, guiding the blade to it's target, turn, jam his right shoulder into him, lift and flip over into the Fist. Again, ran the risk of taking the spell, or so he thought before remembering he was hasted. All of these thoughts ran through his head in an instant, the Instinct forming the options in his head, giving him the best options to kill, and it was rarely ever wrong. He grinned, picked the right option, and followed through. --------------- Lucas ran to Rhaine, his spear was dropped and he now held his newly purchased mace as he dashed to her, knocking aside any undead that got in his way. He stopped dead in his tracks as Valthanarax made his appearance. He wanted to run, this was so far beyond what he was ready for he wanted to run and hide behind something until it was all over. But he couldn't do that, he wouldn't abandon Rhaine like that. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if they failed because of his cowardice. Taking a deep breath, and continued his charge, he knew her Blade Barrier would keep her safe, but if it ran out at the wrong time... He drew near to her as she go back on her feet, but still he stayed near, trying his best to protect her however he could.

After the introductions were over Blackrazor snapped apart in Tannin's hands, turning into two long, curved daggers. "Great! Lets get this over with then!" He yelled out, then immediately casting haste on himself and charging for Saris, all the while screaming "Mine, Mine, Mine, Mine!" He leaped up in the air in an attempt to pounce onto Saris, but her force field protected her. Tannin hit the shield and did his bet to scramble up it as he slid down the bubble, cursing and swearing all the while. As he hit the floor he quickly spotted something he could attack. The other Elan, Tor something or other. Tannin hadn't payed attention to their names. He dashed in the Elan's direction, striking at him with Blackrazor, which was now a long bladed-whip. ---------------- ---------------- Raising up his shield, though scared, Lucas was ready to defend Rhaine and the others with his life, he would charge with them, and slay any of the monsters that stood before them... or at least he hoped he would. --------------- --------------- Azuris took a deep breath and charged, he wasn't going to even attempt at fighting any of the Elans, their psionic abilities would tear him to pieces in an instant, instead he would deal with what he specialized in, the undead.

"Watch-!" Lucas shrieked as Rhaine's foot went over the edge, but shut himself up as she jumped back. "Who puts a dead end in their hideout?" Azuris grumbled. "I swear these things never make any sense." With a roll of the eyes Tannin stepped forward. "It's not a dead end, there's either another passageway orr." He took a hold of Blackrazor and stepped towards the ledge, he then swung the blade down and as he did, it extended out enough to touch the other ledge. It then drug down along the invisible bridge, scattering sparks out as it did until it retracted back to Tannin. "Well that's good, ran across one of these some time ago, was more like a maze than a bridge, one wrong step and... well, lets just say the remaining hired help got a bit of a raise when we got out of there." He said with an odd look on his face. "Anyways... who first?" He said with a cheery smile.

Tannin was now actually a bit excited. Down in a danger filled dungeon he was practically at home, his senses all working at their peak efficiency. Discovering Theia's fate he felt a twinge of anger well up inside of him. Something that unique and special didn't deserve that, he was angry at himself that he hadn't tried to be more friendly with her, maybe she could have at least had a friend before she died. "Welp... Rhaine I have some unpleasantness in mind for whoever did this to her, so if you would be so kind as to shove any thoughts of him getting an honorable, clean death... It would makes things a little easier for you to stomach." He said in a matter of fact tone. Lucas stayed near Rhaine as they ventured in. He would lay down his life for her if need be, but he hoped that it wouldn't come to that, though their discovery made him wonder if maybe he wouldn't make it out of this place alive.

Knowing that he mostly likely wasn't needed for the battle, Tannin sat back and watched as it unfolded. Azuris and Lucas on the other hand, rushed forward with the other melee fighters to push the horde back. Now armed with a spear, Lucas was much more capable on the field, his skill and reach gave him the edge he needed to dispatch several of the kobolds, and even a gnoll or two. Azuris meanwhile was doing considerably more damage to the horde, cleaving through kobolds with his claymore left and right, not at all happy with this distraction.

Tannin turned to get a good look at her and was happy with what he saw. He started to give his opinion but he was cut off by her sudden kiss, not that he minded. It certainly answered his question of how she thought it was. "Well that's good." He smiled. "Here's something you're not going to like." He said as he handed her the vial of putrid liquid. "Word of advice, don't stop swallowing, just.. down it all at once. It kicks like a horse but does the job, also got you this." He said inclining to the mug of milk in his other hand. "Milk helps best with the after taste, drink all of that, then count to five, then take a swig of this." He told her.

Lucas and Azuris eventually came down stairs, equipment packed and ready to move out. Seeing Nawen come downstairs, Tannin approached her with it bundled up in his arms. "Well somebody didn't get a good night's rest." He commented when he noticed her tired eyes and expression. "Here." He said, pushing the armor to her. "Go try that on, let me know how it fits, and I'll whip you up some vomit in a vial to get you back in top shape."

Knowing full well that he would be too nervous to sleep, Lucas went out and purchased a potion of sleep, and it worked wonders. He was passed out within seconds of drinking it when he went to bed. Azuris meanwhile didn't follow Lucas's example, and instead spent much of the night tossing and turning. Tannin however was rather relaxed, spending the night finishing Nawen's armor and mingling with the late night drinkers. With his signature potion he kept himself awake and alert throughout the whole night and in the early morning he could be seen in the corner of the tavern sharpening his blades and patching up his outfit. The moment Nawen came downstairs he was ready to finally gift her the armor he had been working on for the past week or so.

Lucas shuddered a bit as Rhaine described their foes. "Sounds like my first battle with you all will be my last." He said fearfully. "It won't be easy." Azuris said grimly. "But we've gotten lucky before, hopefully we will again." "You don't sound too sure we can win this." Said Lucas. "I'm not." "What do you think Tannin?" Lucas asked, turning to see the half-drow fiddling with what looked to be a suit of dark green leather armor. "I've killed tougher." Tannin said nonchalantly. "You always say that." Azuris snapped. "Tell us then, oh powerful hero, what sort of monsters you've brought down that are more powerful?" Tannin paused a moment before going back to work. "A lot." "Such as?" "Powerful demons and devils for one." "Sure you have." Azuris said sarcastically. "You're good in a fight, I'll give you that. But I doubt you're half as good as you say you are." "I'm not." Tannin said, much to Azuris's surprise. "What? Caught in a lie and feel like fessing up now?" "Indeed, I'm not as good as my stories may have led you to believe." Tannin said honestly. "Damn right you're not." Azuris growled. Tannin set his tools down and looked to Azuris with a pointed look. "I'm better." Azuris could only scoff and shake his head. "You're unbelievable you know that? Guess we'll find out soon enough if your ego's enough to keep you alive then." He said before walking out of the Inn doors. "Well that was strangely confrontational of him." Tannin remarked in a curious tone before going back to work on the armor.

"Oh wonderful." Tannin said to Rhaine's announcement. "Time for us to all risk our lives for someone we hardly know or will most likely not be of any use to us by now. Were we not rushing to save our dear friend Kablen, who knows how many more we could have saved along the way." "Kalin." Lucas corrected. "Whatever. Either way we're charging into the lair of a powerful psionic... willingly." Tannin said grimly. "Are you... scared?" Lucas asked. "Nope, befuddled. A, this probably a trap, and B, either way it's a dumb move." He said irritably. "Didn't think you were one to walk away from a fight." Lucas smirked. "I walk away from every fight, well... sometimes I have to limp or crawl." "That's not what I meant." "I know, I try and avoid any fight that isn't worth it, too dangerous for everyone involved, and ones this thing..." He said putting a hand on the hilt of BlackRazor. "Reeeeaaallllyyy wants." "And what sort of fight is this then?" "All the above." Tannin said with a sigh. "So no one else is concerned at all that we just... Left Hexol back there?" Azuris chimed in. "Are you complaining about the quiet?" Tannin chuckled. "No, I'm complaining about the future headache we're in for." Azuris grumbled. "Which one? The one from our next fight? The one from the incredibly long ride east, or the one from our little friend's return and he tells us all about the adventure he's had in great detail?" Tannin asked with a laugh. "All the above." Azuris grumbled.

"Oh..." Lucas suddenly felt bad about his remark now. He stared up at the ceiling for a bit before speaking again. "My uhh... well... heh... When I was little I used to worry about things all the time, would make myself sick. Everyone kept saying not to worry, not to worry. That that just made things worse so I would try.... and then I would worry about worrying and that just made things worse." He chuckled. "So.. one day my mother told me to umm... that anytime I started worrying about the worst that could happen, to just.. think about the best thing that could happen. That if... you focus on the good, and hope and try your best to make it happen, that it will. I.. I uhh.. I know it sounds cheesy... and yeah it does, but.... I, I did it. Kept thinking about the best thing that could happen, and.... well I'm, traveling wi, with you so... Iiii'd say that it worked pretty well." He said turning bright red. "And you can't say it's luck because.... I'm... the unluckiest person in the world at times." He added with a laugh.

Lucas let out a soft chuckle. "No, it's uhh.... It's something else keeping me up." He said, thinking for a moment before he spoke again. "So umm.... was I right about the armor making it hard to sleep?" He asked, turning over to look at her with a smile. He knew he shouldn't be making fun of her or anything, but this was too good of an opportunity to pass up, thought that might have simply been his own exhaustion talking.

Lucas was too nervous to sleep, just a few feet away lay the woman that he had idolized for the past few years. Hearing her toss and turn for hours he finally spoke up. "Glad I'm not the only one who can't sleep. I keep half expecting to hear a door get kicked in or something." -------------- -------------- Tannin smiled at Nawen as he walked over to her and knelt down in front of where she was sitting. He took a hold of her hand as he looked up at her. "I'm not gonna run off with any woman that shows interest you know." He said to her. "Honestly it's more of a defense against the monotony and the same old same old day to day... boredom that eventually sinks in after a while. Trust me, after a while you'll get sick and tired of me and will actually want me to go find some other woman to bother." He laughed. "And if you don't want me fooling around with some other woman, just tell me. I certainly don't want to upset you over something as stupid as a that. You say stop, and I'll stop. Okay?"

Lucas smiled at Rhaine's words. He had always been told that reading was a waste of time. "Wish others shared that mindset." He chuckled. When she lay down to rest in her armor Lucas had to question that. "Umm... isn't that uncomfortable? Staying in the armor I mean. Can't imagine you'd get a good night's sleep in it." He said as he stripped down to his small clothes. The presence of Rhaine suddenly made him more embarrassed than he should have been so he quickly ducked under the blanket. -------------- -------------- Tannin followed Nawen to the room and shut the door behind him. "Everything alright?" He asked her in a concerned tone. "I don't think our friend from earlier will attack again. It would be smart too, buuuut his method and execution was terribly sloppy, soooo I don't think we're dealing with someone worth the price of their weapons." He said with a smirk.

"Oh." Lucas said awkwardly, looking down at the floor and feeling like an utter fool. "Iiii seeee.... That's umm.. that's a shame. I uhh.. I read.. a lot. Got made fun of for it but.. it's fine." He shrugged. "I know, I'm supposed to be training to be a warrior, no spending my hours with my nose in a book. You uhh.. you know?" He laughed uncomfortably. The entire situation was making him want to run out of the room, but that would be even more embarrassing he figured.

Lucas stared at her for a moment, just enjoying the sight of seeing her with a book in her hands. He suddenly shook himself back to his senses and tried to speak. "Oh, right yes... I would.. like to st- I mean..." He swallowed rather hard and took a slow breath. "Everyone else has probably already picked their rooms so... I'll.. stay.. here, yeah.." He said awkwardly moving across the room to sit at the foot of the empty cot. "Soooo good book?" He asked, hoping to be rid of some of the awkwardness.

Caught completely off guard, Lucas stood there, bright red after receiving the hug. He stuttered for a moment before giving her a bashful thanks as she went up to her room. Some time later he went up to the room that he had put his belongings, only to find that Rhaine had decided to stay in that particular room as well. "Uh.. oh... pp p Pardon me." He stuttered. "Didn't know you wanted this one. I'll umm.. I'll just get my stuff out of here and leave you to it then." He said in an embarrassed tone.

As Tannin entered the Inn and saw the confrontation between Arland and some elf woman. "Sooo what did I just walk into?" "That woman caused the storm back at Westgate." Azuris answered as he sat down in a chair. "Oh... what was she doing here?" "Wanting to join the group." "Oh... Did we let her?" "Don't know yet." Azuris shrugged. "I see.... So what are we doing now?" Tannin asked in a casual way, like the events of the past few minutes hadn't phased him at all.

Azuris and Lucas immediately went to work, carrying the unconscious members of their group up the stairs and into the room set aside for them. "Whoever's after us must be very skilled." Said Lucas after the deed was done. "Black Lotus isn't supposed to be an easy poison to make." "Nope." Azuris said as he wiped his brow. "Do you think... that we're safe here?" Lucas asked in a worried tone. "Nope." "Nope?" "We'd be safer camping out of the city. Would be easier to defend ourselves." Azuris said as he left the room. "Well... maybe whoever's behind this won't attack again? Maybe they'll give up?" Lucas said hopefully as he followed Azuri out of the room and back down to the common room. "Doubt it, we're probably in this for the long haul unfortunately." Azuris said with a shrug. Lucas stopped half way down the stairs and sighed. "Well crap..." --------------- --------------- "Try not to get attacked again while I'm gone." Tannin smirked before he left the building.

In the chaos left after the attack, Tannin stood in the crowd, looking at the body of the assassin and listened to the people around him. They knew this man, a merchant. For him to do something like this was unthinkable apparently. The poison and blade he had were obviously rather powerful to drop Xallstine and Conall like they did. The supplies it seemed were top notch, but the execution was amateur at best. Something smelled wrong here. He approached the body and cast a spell, Detect Magic. As often as he used charming spells he figured it couldn't hurt to check. And after a few minutes he was glad he checked, what he found was very interesting. He walked back to the inn where the other had taken refuge. "Bad news." He said when he entered. "That man back there was not under his own control. We've got ourselves something nasty after us. Magically forced an innocent man into a suicide mission. Raatheeer clever. Good way to beef up the paranoia and keep himself safe. Whoever we're facing, is preeetty good at the job." He said in an impressed tone. "So what'd he hit them with?" "Black Lotus." Answered Azuris. Tannin let out a whistle. "Well we certainly aren't cheap. I'm guessing we've angered someone with a lot of coin that they can just throw it away on suicide charges like that."

What Toky said, Too many characters get lost in the background with this many in it. I think 3 or 4 for the main group, then a villain on a top of that. And close it off to new members, or give them a trail period of a few weeks or a certain number of post to see if they'll fit our skill level and the group as a whole. Sounds elitist, but at this point I think we kinda need it.