Scene #3913: Fort Strong

Owner	Pose
Steve	The work had been troublesome. Far beneath the base camp in the middle of a swamp, with wooden logs placed as walls around the perimeter, it continued nonetheless. Cutting through several cave systems had done Steve, and any that joined him in the task of actually digging the tunnel down, no favors. Moreover, work would have been frequently halted as the squeaking and scratching from inside the rock turned out to be everyone's favorite Flat Earth distraction: Silverfish. They are not a particularly dangerous enemy, looking not unlike spined worms with large, pitch black eyes, no doubt for vision in their natural habitats. When digging through the rock and dirt, they are frequently disturbed, causing a swarm of them to come biting, before they retreat into yet more minute cracks and fissures. Nonetheless, after two weeks to the multiverse at large's reckoning, the work is finally done! A covered stairwell leads down into the Earth itself, via stone steps, lit by periodic torches placed on the rough walls, and with no safety railing if one were to fall from near the top. So, watch that first step! Steve, top side, is preparing for the trip. For today, he's decided to be his more typical miner self, though with a few wrinkles still kept in his inventory. He rummages through a few wooden chests, completely tuning out the splattering and sputtering racket the slimes still trying, without success, to get through the walls make. Other Elites would have far easier access to the compound, via a warp gate set up within it; from this side, a rectangular, obsidian portal, with a swirling purple mass inside of it, from which they emerge. "Hmmm...oh yes," he muses, scooping out a stack of spherical objects a bit larger than billiard balls, which have what looks like a slitted pupil staring from within their depths. "Can't forget these, they're the key to this whole trip." Pork chops, too. Just in case. After that, he withdraws his trusted, iron pickaxe, hefting it across one shoulder, while visible at his hip, the contraption he calls a thaumometer, and a sword with a blade fashioned of a curious, purple metal. Turning to any that gather, he adds them to a mental head tally, likely to be satisfied after a point. "Alright. Some of you know why we're here. Anyone else, you've probably heard through the grapevine, but just in case it isn't clear. There's treasure, and monsters, and traps, and who knows what else. My memory is honestly kind of hazy, and no Stronghold's layout is the same as the last, so it wouldn't matter, anyway. It's going to be cold, and dark. If you ain't got no way to make light yourself, I've got some torches you can take in the chests." He glances back to that stairwell downward, "Depending on how this goes, we might have to split up, or we might get lucky. No way to know until we crack it open. Any last questions before we head down?"
Alexis Maaka	Maaka hopes her turrets have been doing well since she was here last. Since the expedition had begun she's been here every so often to reload and maintain the turrets. Obviously they can't last forever, despite what video games may imply, and require to be serviced now and again. She's come for tonight's mission, and she's come prepared. Her main weapon tonight is a heavily customized AKM, fitted with a shortened barrel, modernized furniture, optics and other attachments, and even some mods to the safety and charging handle as well as a four-piece flash suppressor. All this means is she's a very thorough gunsmith, or knows some very good gunsmiths anyways, if she's got one of these babies. It even seems to change color cue to some light-bending trickery along with her STALKER armor. "Afternoon, Steve." She greets, her helmet opening up to reveal her face and gold-tinted optics. The cyborg seems like she knows the score already, and she slings her rifle on her back while she speaks, "Remind me again what kind of resistance is gonna be down there? Endermen and what else?" She doesn't seem to consider the silverfish worth engaging at all, to be honest.
Lezard Valeth	Lezard arrives through the portal. He wasn't there to do the main digging, but he would have just proposed detonating tunnels instead of dealing with the annoyances of the constant threat of Silverfish. His Catalyst in hand, he is already prepared for murder. He doesn't seem to put out at the situation, simply bowing with a flourish to Steve. "Greetings, Magus Steve. We're almost upon our goal." He smirks at that. "I quite look forward to witnessing the nature of this... place." He sayd, likely alluding to the portal hiding in the depths of the Stronghold. "It seems straightforward enough to me. Breach the fortress, kill anything in our way, take what we wish, and seek out the secrets within."
Mihk Lihzeh	Mihk has been checking in on occasion, assisting with the Silverfish by sicing her Carbuncle on the annoying vermin. The golden little fox-like creature seems pleased with itself, as it sits on Mihk's shoulder. She's helping secure the last few supplies, filling a travel satchel with some torches, some spare food and making sure her 'Quick pouches' are properly stocked with healing potions and a couple of Ethers. "Once everyone has arrived, I believe we will be prepared to go. I shall take a supporting role should combat be joined. My Carbuncle should be able to hold an enemy at bay while we deal with its friends.
Dorian Pavus	Dorian? Dig through the ground like a commoner? Perish the thought. He's actually just shown up, being one of those who had heard about this endeavor through the grapevine. Not being part of either of the superfactions, Dorian has to find his own source of income in the Multiverse. Taking Syndicate jobs is one. Adventuring is another. As long as there's the possibility of treasure, one's likely to see Dorian. Which is why the mage has shown up today, because he's heard there's going to be a major expedition. He's dressed for adventure, in his leather armor and white cloak. A straightforward mission? He can only hope.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa had found the magic lessons interestingto be sure, she was a bit wary. Though it was due to her self using magic in general. Sbut tht's not the focus of today they amaking ready to go for another mission today that doesn't quite involve that. She's here loadd up as she is when she expects trouble stealth suit, several visable weapons, nd the matter maniplator while it's inferior to what the core fleet's own? It still can carry quite a bit really so Kotone's able to travel much lighter than she might otherwise. She seems ready, to trouble at the veyr least. She's also looking at Steve and his near gear with a grin. "Steve, ready to go." <<Hey Alexis it's good to see you, we should you know go clubbing or something. We should hang out in a way that isn't as likely to involve violence.>>
Count Kord	Kord is one of the last to step through the portal. He steps through with a certain grace and finds himself in a somewhat dark environment, smelling like ancient ruins ought to smell like. Despite his Yveltal-themed armor, he hasn't brought any Pokemon of his own. True to form, he seems equipped to deal with any threats he runs into down here on his own. And, naturally, he's tactiturn in the presence of people he doesn't know very well. Observant, you could say. That hawk-like helmet turns to regard individuals one at a time as they speak or move around. Any questions? "No. You have explained all I need to know and more." Confidence pouring off the man, he moves to retrieve some of the local brand of torches and turns to step down the stairway at a slow pace. He doesn't want to take off and abandon the group, but he's eager to get started. Mostly he's just, apparently, checking for any creepy crawlies or pathways that may be readily apparent. It wouldn't do to take off on his own. Even dark demigods like him have trouble with monsters in large numbers if they're alone.
Steve	Detonations, while normally Steve would be all for it, are refused for much the same reason he'd strongly urged Sarracenia against them last time: While the ultimate goal is essentially indestructible, Steve himself doesn't know that, and using such crude measures might damage it! "That's about the sum of it, Lezard," he grins. "You have a way of compacting things to be simple to understand." Though, that seems to be the summary for a lot of his particular operations. "The path ways will be winding, but the puzzle never lasts long. Well, you'll see what I mean soon enough." It's Maaka that he regards next, another quite familiar face, and one that he seems pleased to have along. "Actually, Endermen will probably be a bit rare, if at all," he notes, following with the reasoning, "They don't like cramped places, much." That does cause him to scratch lightly at his beard, as he thinks more deeply on it. "Your garden variety skeletons and zombies, possibly some spiders or creepers. Since we're in the swamp...uh." He gets a bit of a faraway look, as though something suddenly comes back to him, "Witches. They are the worst of the bunch." Mihk is one that he's getting to know personally, instead of just via the radio. She gets a nod of the head, especially with how helpful she and her Carbuncle have been with the ever-annoying Silverfish menace. "Thanks for your work up until now," he says, with appreciation. "Hopefully the reward will be worth it, huh?" He can't really make guarantees on what they'll find -- whomever built places like this can have an odd concept of what is treasure or not. As for Dorian, a light scratch of Steve's beard stubble is his initial response as he gives a glance over. Checks out, and he's certainly made use of Syndicate contacts before. The appraisal gives way to a friendly grin not long after. Next up is Kotone; another seeming stalwart on his various works, and one that he's noted works well with Maaka, in particular. Perhaps that will come into play here? "Good to have you, Kotone. We'll be heading down in just a sec. ...oh yeah, a fall wouldn't feel great, so don't slip on any bug guts." And Kord is another with which he has a growing familiarity. Both with helping him with some local issues, and the brief lesson in thamaturgy, which unfortunately didn't reach its full conclusion for him, through some manner of feedback. "Hmm," he simply responds, a combination of 'if you're certain', and approving agreement. "Judging with how you handled the Hollowed of your world, I'll believe you." Without further delay, the miner steps over to that stairwell, and begins making his way down into the Earth. Those with enhanced senses of some sort would be able to detect 'them'. While Steve had the good sense to place cobblestone around the breached caverns, that hasn't stopped creatures, both natural and otherwise, from gathering just on the other side. While they pose no imminent danger, their growling, rattling and chattering can easily be heard just on the other side. It almost seems as though, while they should not be able to directly detect the living, themselves, they gather at the suspect, artificial barrier all the same, scenting Steve's presence on it. As for him, he does not seem bothered by it in the least, perhaps having become desensitized.
Steve	At the bottom, should it be reached by the others without incident, the relatively narrow tunnel down opens into a slightly wider area at the bottom, set up as an emergency rest station, with another chest stocked with some of Steve's few, scavenged healing potions, and food, water and torches. All the necessities. The walls here are all roughly hewn from the earth itself, except for one. Facing directly before where one leaves the steps to level ground, a very obviously man-made wall of chiseled, smooth stone brick forms one side of the room. "This is it," Steve announces. "The Stronghold." He moves to step ahead of the rest of the group, giving his pickaxe a few test swings, and then gets to work on loosening an exactly two meter high, one meter wide hole into the blocks. It is almost an unnerving precision, to those that hadn't seen his handiwork before. On the other side, as he'd promised, almost complete darkness. Though there are faint traces of torches, not placed by his hands, further along deep corridors. "And here we go," he grins, eagerly, as he collects those two brick blocks and steps on within. "Keep careful watch for interesting things." He places torches along the wall as he goes, and every so often, seems to be scattering a shimmering red dust on the floor, perhaps marking where he's been. He remembers well enough to do that.
Mihk Lihzeh	Mihk keeps her eyes open. The darkness is where a Keeper of the Moon is best suited, so despite keeping torches with her, she doesn't light them and proceeds near the front of the group. "My eyes see best in darkness... only light torches should you need them yourself... I will help scout ahead." she says to the group, dropping her Carbuncle to the ground and creeping forwards, book brought from her belt and set to the ready, a small charge of Aether dwelling within the pages for a quick 'snap cast' should she need it. "Heel. Obey." she states to the small fox-creature, which chirrups and stays close to the Miqo'te's feet, its beady red eyes peering into the dimness.
Steve	Within, a branching corridor, lined with the same manner of stone bricks as the wall Steve had just breached. Though that scratching can be heard, as Silverfish lurk within the seams even here, they don't seem to emerge unless one of them is actively disturbed, and they probably don't much care for the torch light, anyway. Though there are no visible signs of hostile life, or unlife, to Kord's unique sense, this place is thick with the stench of abominations. Those with advanced radars, and magical equivalents, might note movement from further within the twisting passages, and several low, grumbling groans from one branch to the left, up ahead. Other than that, it is quite purposeful stone work, clearly valuing function over all else. And, while some of the stone appears pitted and cracked with age, that it holds up after apparent eons of abandonment is a testament to how well-built it is. Scouting ahead, Mihk and her Carbuncle would note that several of the side passages are actually quite short, dead ends. Only a path ahead, with a turn in it, and one to the left, seem legitimate ways forward. Of note, that one to the left seems built suspiciously like it was a prison, with several iron doors and grill-like fencing over several 'cells'. From a door further along that area, Kord would also smell that stench quite strongly, considering a group of green-fleshed zombies crowd around it and begin pounding on it, quite loudly, to try and gain access to the living. Their growls are hungry.
Count Kord	When Mihk volunteers to scout ahead in the darkness, it seems like the perfect opportunity for Kord to step up to help her out. He draws the foldable scythe out from its holster behind his back, under that cape of his, creating a brief spray of sparks. After that, he moves a couple steps ahead of her, keeping pace without getting in her way in the dark, making sure to keep his steps quiet. This means he's ready when they get close enough to wake up a bunch of shambling undead, prompting the armored Count to approach the door before the undead get a chance to break through. He gives the door one good kick to open it and steps back, using the narrow width of the doorway to act as a funnel and control the numbers coming through. He slices fairly rapidly at the undead as they come through, and kicks or shoves at any should they start to filter out faster than he can properly cut them down. He's a lethal combatant, measuring each blow so that he doesn't waste energy or miss his target if they're moving quickly enough, and he's got a light step so he's probably pretty good at avoiding a few zombies.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa has taken note of everyone whose gathering up they have a good enough crew. Kotone wasn't too worried about loot to be perfectly honest it was an adventure, right? That ws enough for her really and she wanted to see where this went. She grins back at Steve and nods. "Right we can't wait around all day now can we?" She'll mvoe to get going with the rest as they head on down. She gets down with out any real trouble. She notices Steve has a supply dump down here which is a good idea too. "Deploying drones." Kotone lets the drones out and they fly off to start trying to map things ahead for the party. " Lets keep frosty shall we?" <<You okay Alexis??>>
Dorian Pavus	The friendly smile from Steve is returned with a nod from Dorian. Though the almost bweildered, possibly considering look he gets. "Not to worry," Dorian assures Steve half-teasingly, "I'm at least not enough of a bastard to stab you in the back until AFTER we get where we're going." It's clear he's kidding. It's the tone of someone who's used to being distrusted and assumes the look is one that's considering whether he can be trusted or not. Dorian, thankfully, has a way to see. Between the three serpentine dragon heads on his staff, a small spark fire ignites. It's just enough to see by, not enough to cause any issue. He only has human eyesight, after all. He pauses at the monster sounds on the other sides of the cobblestone walls. "That's a wonderfully cheerful sound," he intones, voice clearly sarcastic. "Just like a mother's lullaby, isn't it?" A look at the wall, as if he's not quite trusting the cobblestone to keep the monsters back. When the corridor to the new area is opened, Dorian holds that staff at the ready to fling fire from it at the first thing that looks like it's going to try eating his face. His magical sense is less 'what's up ahead?' and more 'what's around that's magical?', so he probably can't sense the presence of the zombies. But it's a sure bet he can sense there's a whole lot of stuff around here that's completely not right!
Lezard Valeth	Lezard seems to be generally unconcerned with his situation, turning his attention to the other mages present. Mihk he is familiar with, but Pavus and the Count... They are slightly different. The local fauna are of no real concern to the Necromancer of Midgard. Sure, they might harm him, but nothing... permanent is likely from enemies of this expected scale. Lezard seems to be taking this situation fairly casually, casting a light spell with a wave of his catalyst. A pale, unnatural blue-white light forms over his head, casting rays of illumination for a small distance. He remains near Steve as they progress, seemingly willing to be methodical about this situation.
Steve	The zombies are not exactly the best tacticians. Rather than draw back once Count Kord kicks the door in, in an attempt to invite him and any stragglers into their numeric advantage, they are driven purely by hunger and violence. Lacking reasoning, they all attempt to crowd through, which might almost be funny if they weren't walking corpses aiming to kill, and possibly consume, anyone they can overpower. As they get close, they swipe with their surprisingly stout and limber arms, considering their non-living status. They are not an enormous challenge, especially with the strategy employed, Kord's blade mowing down with relative ease what Dorian's flames do not immediately engulf. In fact, being set alight makes them far easier targets to see in the dimly lit area. They are quite dogged and resilient, despite that, not stopping from what would be a fatal blow to a living thing, only effectively perishing when they lose enough structual integrity. Several bits of ROTTEN FLESH avail themselves, if for some reason you like to collect such a thing. Steve is a bit preoccupied, but he'd given a light laugh as Dorian had passed him by. "Well, if you did, I'd follow you to the ends of the multiverse, you know." That might be a bit less of a joke, but no cause, no effect, it's all good. He's busy tracking, keeping well apace with Lezard and Maaka while pausing a moment to admire the handiwork of Kord and Dorian on those zombies, though as Kotone releases scout drones, a light bulb goes off. "Oh, damn. I hadn't even thought of that. That'll speed this up a lot." The mapping commences, but they would reveal little rhyme or reason, especially at first. Whomever built this place had little function in mind, except for a possibly inescapeable maze. However, one of the drones would spot something interesting. What seemed to be a bi-level room filled from floor to ceiling with bookshelves; the drone might encounter trouble with cobwebs, and then a spider suddenly leaps at it, perhaps mistaking it for something edible. ...to a Flat Earth spider, it might well be. You just never know. Otherwise, from around that corner, there is a brief warning of movement, that the drones had not immediately seen, though short range doppler scanners would detect. It is the right height and profile for a humanoid, yet they move silently, save for some faint footsteps across the stone floor. In fact, there are two sets of steps. As they round the corner, wispy particles rise up from the forms of what almost resembles two humans, if it weren't for the elongated head, deep brow and enormous nose. On their heads, a peaked hat, marks them as the local variety of witch, and they move with surprising agility. Sensing intruders, they had already consumed speed potions, and are already hurling bottles of shimmering liquid in the vicinity of Mihk, Maaka, Lezard and Steve. For the alchemically inclined, splash potions of a potent poison!
Mihk Lihzeh	Movement, close. Miqo'te ears pan and track to the source, as the Witches round the corner. She gathers the Aether from her book, and with a flick of her wrist, throws a pair of silvery orbs of light at the approaching humanoids. The Ruin spells are low power, but have a blinding element to them, should they strike true. "Sic." she intones to her companion, who darts forwards, snarling viciously as it leaps right at the closest one, attempting to claw and bite and generally be a big, angry distraction. The Miqo'te Arcanist then turns to see if those splash potions hit anyone, reaching into her satchel and rumaging around for a few moments, before she finds what she's looking for, Antidotes. They may not work as well on the local poisons as the ones on her homeworld, but they should help buy some time for it to wear off. "Kill the one not distracted by my familiar. We can deal with that one once we are secure." she orders firmly, turning back on the Witches with a renewed Aether charge, building it up this time to a more offensive level.
Dorian Pavus	Dorian chuckles at the response from Steve to his joke. "Careful if you do, I do find myself in some very interesting places," he quips back. Only half-kidding this time, though he's also referring to where he's found himself NOW. If any of the zombies happen to get past those ahead to Dorian, they're likely going to be turned into flambé in short order. He's trying not to randomly throw fireballs around, since he doesn't want to hit any of his allies. As for the witches? Dorian aims a magical circle at where the witches are standing, and an orb of electricity forms in the air, in their general area. It's a Lightning Cage; he's trying to restrict their movement to make it so the others can make better use of strategic positioning. If the witches didn't manage to get out of the area, when they leave they might get an unpleasant shock! Then again... teleportation might defeat it.
Lezard Valeth	Lezard is still very casual about all of this. He moves along with Steve, watching Count Kord and Dorian specifically in how they handle the trials facing them, more or less ignoring the minor undead unless they reach melee range... In which case he turns and strikes them with his Catalyst, the weapon striking with unusual force and imparting a burst of a strange, clinging Darkness that begins consuming the zombie's body like acid. He doesn't bother picking up the rotten flesh. The other responses are... interesting. But there's the matter of the witches, who hurl flasks of poison. He grunts, getting splattered by the poison and actually clutching at his body for a moment as it begins absorbing the potent poison. "Accursed beings!" He spits, but the antidote from the Arcanist staves off the worst of it. He nods to Mihk in thanks, and then turns his attention to the Witches. The others use tactics. They set things up nicely. Lezard stretches the Manus Catalyst forward. "FIRE STORM!" He calls, a massive surge of magical power rolling through that Catalyst as he casts his spell... And then the pair of witches are engulfed in a large explosion. And so is most of the hallway, blowing out the walls, albeit leaving his allies of the moment unharmed. Yeah, he's doign this oldschool.
Count Kord	Kord doesn't bother getting close to the witches after he witnesses them get trapped by that lightning spell. He is, thankfully, not eager to become collateral damage or even risk it, and seems happy to see what his allies can do. Which is why he lets out hearty laughter at the sheer amount of fire thrown around. It was an impressive sight, and the explosion from Lezard's spell just picks up the volume of that laughter, coupled with him shielding his eyes with one of his arms to guard against the sudden flash of light. Seems like he's having fun. His voice is deep and rich, especially that laughter. It kind of helps that the witches didn't target him directly thanks to his distance from them. He's not so distracted as to take his eyes off the dark cooridors around him, though, advancing to the room the zombies poured out of to investigate it for treasure and other interesting finds.
Steve	Steve is struck; the area of the bottles crashing is actually quite annoyingly wide, especially as he'd purposefully interposed himself in front of Kotone, their drone-carrier-explorer-mapper-type. He had instinctively raised one meaty arm to shield them both from the worst of it, but with it being a contact venom that's absorbed from the skin, it doesn't take him long to begin showing some of the symptoms from it. That is, his skin looks a bit paler, and his posture hunches forward, as his muscles visibly and involuntarily tremble. But, he's been poisoned before, and after taking a deep breath, he moves to close the distance. For the dreaded Witches, this would be the time to draw out the next trip up their sleeves; potions of slowness, to keep any they caught in their first salvo at a manageable distance, so that they can finish them off at their cruel leisure. Yet, as those enlarged noses twitch faintly, they don't seem to cope well with other ranged attackers, especially those using coordinated attacks. It unfolds somewhat like this: While he had no hope of catching up to them while poisoned, Steve's approach nonetheless had one witch instinctively backing away before readying a splash potion of slowness. What she doesn't see in time is Dorian readying his Lightning Cage, and she trips right over the barrier edge of it. It isn't enough to outright kill her, but she does freeze in place for a moment, in figurative and literal shock that there are those that can use this kind of magic. Confusion turns into anger...which then turns into desperate self-preservation, as Witch #1 replaces the potion she was going to use with one of a duration-based healing one, lifting up her nose to raise it to her lips and begin drinking of it. What electrical burns were on her begin to slowly heal... Witch #2 also switches potions, though both of them are in for quite a surprise that lightning prisons aren't the worst things the magic-users of the multiverse can pull off. Because they are basically sitting ducks for the kind of spells that Lezard can sling, even with a last-ditch and desperate attempt to move out of the radius using their potion-granted speed boosts. Witch #1 doggedly continues trying to potion-tank it, even as she's blasted into a pile of dislodged blocks of what was once a stone brick wall. Witch #2 actually manages to stray to the very edge of the area of effect, moving through the lightning barrier in the process for even more damage, and has now switched to that same pathetic and frantic healing. Valuing only continued existence above all else, tsk. It's about now that Steve, having finally recovered from the toxin thanks to Mihk's intervention, steps up through the blast rubble and just smacks the potion right out of her hand, scooping it up with the same fluid motion and gulping it down, himself. "Mmmm--heh, thanks, that feels a lot better." Still weakened, Steve shanks the now potion-less witch to finish her off, and immediately pockets the POTION INGREDIENTS that spill out of what was likely her reagents bag. SUGAR, SPIDER EYES, GLOWSTONE (dust), if it's useful in a Flat Earth apothecary, they likely just dropped a sample. As for Kord, after a time, the zombies do thin out, but curiously, they continue coming. A sight that he would be familiar with beckons from further down the corridor that was beyond the door: A metallic gate of some sort, that glimmers with fire, picking up intensity before a new zombie grows into detestable being, heading forward in their aimless death march. As he gets even closer, he would be able to see a smaller representation of the same foul creature within the contraption. This is exactly like the one Steve had used during his 'demonstration' before. Putting two and two together, placing enough torch light around the area would likely stem the release of new undead. Elsewhere in the corridor, there is indeed a CHEST, containing 2 DIAMONDS as large as a fist, 4 MELON SEEDS (whoa!), and 3 ingots of IRON. There is also, for whatever rea
Steve	As for Kord, after a time, the zombies do thin out, but curiously, they continue coming. A sight that he would be familiar with beckons from further down the corridor that was beyond the door: A metallic gate of some sort, that glimmers with fire, picking up intensity before a new zombie grows into detestable being, heading forward in their aimless death march. As he gets even closer, he would be able to see a smaller representation of the same foul creature within the contraption. This is exactly like the one Steve had used during his 'demonstration' before. Putting two and two together, placing enough torch light around the area would likely stem the release of new undead. Elsewhere in the corridor, there is indeed a CHEST, containing 2 DIAMONDS as large as a fist, 4 MELON SEEDS (whoa!), and 3 ingots of IRON. There is also, for whatever reason, a thauminomicon there, just like the one he had been able to draw out of the bookshelves during the demonstration. Beyond there, the corridor seems to stretch onward, though it is unknown at a glance if it leads to more interesting finds, or simply more of the same. In short order, though, provided he has a way to receive such information, Kotone's drones would have mapped enough of the Stronghold to tell that the paths would eventually converge, anyway, in another, wider hallway, on the next level above. The main group's path leads through that 'library', and once rejoined, a chasm has somewhat breached the area. Beyond that it is still uncertain, but that seems to be the 'obvious' direction.
Steve	Of more immediate concern, to the non-Kord brigade, however, is that Lezard's flashy use of magic did not go undetected. As the blast had loosened several blocks from the walls, so did it disturb the goings on of the resident Silverfish! The scraping and scratching grows louder, as easily twenty of the little demons come crawling out of seemingly the floor, walls and ceiling, all to converge on poor Lezard. For his part, Steve does stomp on a few that pass by him, but there's no way he can get them all! "Ugh, these damn things! This is another reason I didn't use explosives."
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is not too worried about zombies she does have her weapony right her and she'll be quick enough to not hopefully get tagged if they get up close, she does have hewr SGM out and she'll open fire the moment. She will snipe any more that pop up but she leaves the flesh behind it's too damn creepy to her. The drones however are doing their thing and she's working to mal thing as best she can. "One of my drones has foune a Library of some sort there's a whole lot of books but there's a lot of .... there's spiders in there I just lost the drone." Kotone does have it's last locationa ns is going to go for it ev en if no one else comes along who knows what she could find there. Though that doesn't seem to be needed as she arrives at the Libary she's going to one start using her knife to deal with the webs and keep an eye out for the spider that took out her drone.
Steve	Steve is struck; the area of the bottles crashing is actually quite annoyingly wide. He had instinctively raised one meaty arm to shield himself from the worst of it, but with it being a contact venom that's absorbed from the skin, it doesn't take him long to begin showing some of the symptoms from it. That is, his skin looks a bit paler, and his posture hunches forward, as his muscles visibly and involuntarily tremble. But, he's been poisoned before, and after taking a deep breath, he moves to close the distance. For the dreaded Witches, this would be the time to draw out the next trip up their sleeves; potions of slowness, to keep any they caught in their first salvo at a manageable distance, so that they can finish them off at their cruel leisure. Yet, as those enlarged noses twitch faintly, they don't seem to cope well with other ranged attackers, especially those using coordinated attacks. It unfolds somewhat like this: While he had no hope of catching up to them while poisoned, Steve's approach nonetheless had one witch instinctively backing away before readying a splash potion of slowness. The Carbuncle is another unfamiliar input to her normal decision-making process. It almost looks like a monster, the kind she would normally ignore, but with its aggressive posture, she backs up even further. What she doesn't see in time is Dorian readying his Lightning Cage, and she trips right over the barrier edge of it from all that backtracking. It isn't enough to outright kill her, but she does freeze in place for a moment, in figurative and literal shock that there are those that can use this kind of magic. Confusion turns into anger...which then turns into desperate self-preservation, as Witch #1 replaces the potion she was going to use with one of a duration-based healing one, lifting up her nose to raise it to her lips and begin drinking of it. What electrical burns were on her begin to slowly heal... Witch #2 also switches potions, though both of them are in for quite a surprise that lightning prisons aren't the worst things the magic-users of the multiverse can pull off. Because they are basically sitting ducks for the kind of spells that Lezard can sling, even with a last-ditch and desperate attempt to move out of the radius using their potion-granted speed boosts. Witch #1 doggedly continues trying to potion-tank it, even as she's blasted into a pile of dislodged blocks of what was once a stone brick wall. The potion can only do so much with this much injury, and eventually she succumbs completely, despite being mid-regeneration. Witch #2 actually manages to stray to the very edge of the area of effect, moving through the lightning barrier in the process for even more damage, and has now switched to that same pathetic and frantic healing. Valuing only continued existence above all else, tsk. It's about now that Steve, having finally recovered from the toxin thanks to Mihk's intervention, steps up through the blast rubble and just smacks the potion right out of her hand, scooping it up with the same fluid motion and gulping it down, himself. "Mmmm--heh, thanks, that feels a lot better." Still weakened, Steve shanks the now potion-less witch to finish her off, and immediately pockets the POTION INGREDIENTS that spill out of what was likely her reagents bag. SUGAR, SPIDER EYES, GLOWSTONE (dust), if it's useful in a Flat Earth apothecary, they likely just dropped a sample.
Dorian Pavus	Witches, zombies, and now BUGS. Ugh. This is a little easier, though. Small puffs of flame aimed at the ground as the little beasties appear should be sufficient to at least discourage them from getting near him. As he's torching any bugs that get near him, Dorian remarks, "Why are there so many vermin in evil lairs? You'd think evil creatures with enough intelligence to use potions would go out the money to hire an exterminator. Or at least push the task of killing these horrid things on low-ranking underlings. I mean... they LIVE down here. Who wants these nasty things in their home?"
Mihk Lihzeh	Mihk swigs one of her own potions, staving off the poison that splashed onto her. She grumbles a little, then hears that familiar scratching. "Great... lets do this, then." she turns to a new page, and with a short cantrip, manifests a spell that normally would come from a Thaumaturge. She 'pulls' the Geometry from the page, and flings it into the chokepoints where the Silverfish are climbing over one another to get at Lezard... and the entire corridor erupts in ice crystals, stabbing and freezing the Silverfish, but pointedly leaving her allies in peace. Any of the little buggers that got through before that, though, will still need to be dealt with. As for Carbuncle, it's not doing too well, as it got caught in that blast from Lezard, and thus, flung into the wall along with Witch #1. It crawls back out of the rubble, limping and dulled, but still intact. A testament to Earth Aether's durability and stubbornness.
Lezard Valeth	As satisfying as the explosion was, the Silverfish are a pain in the metaphorical ass. More speicifcally, they're a pain in Lezard's shins. He can casually punk zombies, but silverfish make 'swarm' take on a whole new meaning. Several of them gash at his legs, causing him to dance backwards as he grimaces. "Annoying /creatures/!" He calls, and levels his Catalyst once more. "Shadow Servant!" He calls... An a fuzzy, wavering wash of Dark seethes upwards from the ground, engulfing and consuming the Silverfish as it passes.... But this time it doesn't break walls so it doesn't just keep making more. "I suppose I shall have to be more... restrained." He mutters.
Count Kord	Unfortunately Kord really doesn't have any way to receive the information the drones are receiving besides through verbal radio messages or a written map, so he makes his way back from his investigation, leaving the resources he found in the chest because none of it really seemed very useful for his purposes. Well. He swipes the two diamonds, actually, because those seem extra valuable. He could at least sell them! He makes it back to the rest of the group when they are dealing with the silverfish, and makes sure to group back up to help deal with any that the others might've missed, probably in any nooks and crannies caused by the explosion Lezard created. In the case of the bugs, he just viciously slams the counterweighted end of the scythe down at them to crush them, whenever he feels like his boot won't be able to hit with enough force. Best to help them deal with the little ones so the witch over there doesn't keep hitting them with potion volleys.
Steve	"I don't know," Steve shrugs, having to admit that he'd never considered the psychology of a witch. "I mean...who knows how long they've been down here? Maybe they started out as sane as us, but after a few hundred years, they stopped caring about that kind of thing." Plus, just look at this place. This is the kind of place where the bugs eat the exterminator, rather than the other way around. Still, at least the Silverfishes are little more than a nuisance compared to something like a witch, or even a zombie, the bites amounting to painful stings, as do their spines, against the average Elite. There are a lot of them, though! The floor could momentarily be mistaken for a sea of crawly bugs. It's the death by a thousand paper-cuts. Luckily, their numbers are also fairly easy to cut down. Besides Steve's frantic stomping, and wincing as some of the Silverfish closest to him turn to focus on him instead... Dorian's fire toasts them quite readily. They seem to possess little constitution, basically lighting on fire and attempting to escape back into cracks and crevices in the stonework, though very few affected seem to. The wave next confronts the unfamiliar sensation of jagged shards of ice; it is cold down here in the depths, but never quite so much as to freeze. They struggle, as several are impaled, and yet more slow down and curl up as their bodies begin to harden and freeze. Another batch of lucky few crawl back into the relative safety of some gaps between stone blocks. That leaves the rest nettling and stinging and biting whatever they can get at, still mostly pissed off at Lezard, before his Shadow Servant all but consumes the majority still swarming. As Kord makes his way back, he would still find those stragglers, however; with the basic instincts of self-preservation, they were attempting to flee back into the masonry of the hallways. His scythe smashing will put an able stop to many such pests. "Ah, Kord," Steve laughs, wincing from a still tingling ankle. "Find anything cool over that way? Something that doesn't crawl out of the walls, I hope." It's about then that Steve notices something, and further realizes, "Kotone must have gone ahead, she mentioned a library. I...remember something like that, from before." There doesn't seem to be anything moving or otherwise in the hallway up ahead, besides that ever-present, low-level scratching in the walls. So he'll begin moving forward, and eventually reach that library. It is a fairly large room, with an overhanging balcony fringing the upper floor. And true to its name, it is absolutely stuffed with books. Tomes, very ancient stuff, as one might imagine from all the cobwebs everywhere. These aren't the sort one simply brushes aside, either: They seem...fresh, and extremely resilient. That spider that took out the drone is indeed still around, as well, clambering over one bookshelf to descend and strike at Kotone, with a chattering of its jaws! "Aw, hell -- Kotone, look out!" Steve would try to get to her, but there are more of those damn webs in the way, so he'll have to take the long way around. If their eyes are trained the right way, there are actually two CHESTS in here, nestled among the innumerable bookshelves. The contents are an EMERALD, two GOLD BARS, an enchanted STONE SWORD (Bane of Arthropods III...well that would have been nice to have at the start of all this.), and fittingly, several blank BOOKs and sheets of PAPER.
Mihk Lihzeh	Mihk follows the group, after scooping up her Familiar. She soothes it as it pitifully chirps at her, channeling Aether into it through her hand as she strokes along its body. The structural integrity of the Familiar begins to restore, slowly piecing itself back together, the leg morphing back to normal, and the mangled twist of its back realigning until it's fully capable again. She spots the spider dropping down to attack Kotone, and fires off a Ruin spell at it, aiming to blind so others can finish it. She has her progressive damage spells, but they would not work quickly enough to intervene in time.
Dorian Pavus	Books! Now THIS is a treasure. Dorian does indeed have a thing for books, being a mage and all. In fact, he keeps a couple strapped to his person for whatever reason. Anyway. The problem is, it's not JUST books in here. There's spiders in here. Obviously these aren't cobwebs, but more living spiderwebs! The problem is, he can't use fire, because it would damage the books. Also those webs are in the way of him getting over there. He can, however, cast at pretty much whatever he can see. So to avoid damaging any of the books, he does the same thing he did before. He attempts to trap the spider in a Lightning Cage until his allies can get closer to it.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is far more confident than she was several years ago and it's starting to show. Though she's also taking more risks than she used to. She gets the warning however about the spider. IT's trying to come down on ehr and she shifts moving up with her knife. She'll attempt to when the thing gets closer to use her cybors boy speed and strenth to drive it into the thing's face. She may be forgetting that Steve does tend to ant the eye stalks. This happens just as Mihk's spell goes off and hopefully between them, but as Dorian spell come Kotone is going to try to get the heck back not wanting to get caught up in that. She doesn't have enoguh surge protectors in her shell to get off scott free from that!
Count Kord	Kord follows the rest of the party after mopping the silverfish up, noting how many of the dang things seem to be infesting the stone, and just lets out a little grunt of displeasure at the thought of there being tons of little stone bug monsters all over the Stronghold. He didn't want to make a swarm of them pop out like Lezard did, he just didn't like dealing with tons of bugs at all, grimacing behind his mask and looking around with some paranoia at the walls. Getting to the library meant dealing with a spider, and that was an entirely different problem. Kord doesn't attack the spider first, instead using all the little shadows in this library to his advantage. A cramped, dark space doesn't stop him from using the shadows like blades, moving through with a casual ease while he gets the right angle and distance on the spider, looking up at it. When he does, a curious thing happens... a metallic SHHHING happens as if a blade had swiped, the shadows elongating into a sword like blade under the spider to try to slice it, without worrying about having to angle his rather cumbersome weapon in the cramped space. He just controlled the shadows themselves to perform Night Slash.
Steve	The spider is a creature with sub-human intelligence. And yet, even if can process certain fundamental facts. The first fact is that, all of a sudden, its array of four glowing, red eyes dims to where anything more than an inch or two in front of them is an imprecise blur. It can still sense movement, though, through the distinct interaction of light and shadow, so while it takes it a bit longer, it does manage to eventually frame Kotone within its compromised field of vision. Mission still ultimately accomplished, however, as that moment gave Kotone enough time to react on her own, lashing out with a knife as the spider aimed to clamber over a book shelf directly onto her. The gash causes it to screech and recoil in pain, just in time to be caught in a lightning cage to further contain it. It at first attempts to move, but soon learns that is an error; its screeching growing louder and more frustrated. All it wanted was to eat! You know how hard it is to find a good meal down here? And that last one left a tangy, sort of metallic after-taste. The spider cannot linger too long on its predicament, however. Kord quickly ends what remains of its would-be predator's life, with ruthless efficiency. Having even less room than usual to maneuver, it basically gets cut into two. Being a spider, it still wriggles a bit; though that could also just be the electrical magic of the cage containing it, hard to say. Steve likes keeping reagents, that is definitely true. But, even he knows well enough that a valuable ally is worth more to him alive than as spider food, so he won't lament the lsos too much. "You okay, Kotone?" Even in the time that he's known her, himself, he's noted, "Heh, getting pretty handy with these kinds of situations. You probably didn't even need us, at this rate." Not that it hurt. While he'd normally be all about combing through these books for any possible tidbits they could have, that can wait. There's something in his eyes, and he says as much, as he pushes through some more of those fresh webs. "We're close. I remember...I've been through these kinds of places before. Maybe hundreds of times." He isn't certain how that is possible, since this should have been his first time, but it's clarifying in his mind now. There's no mistake. A cold sweat suddenly breaks out on his forehead, and he moves to wipe it off with his forearm. Inside his head, a sudden pounding accompanied a clouding of his vision. Like his heartbeat, but much more rapid. After the moment is over, he seems to shake off whatever it was, with a light jerk of his head. "It's nothing," he preemptively dismisses to anyone that noticed his little moment there. "Scour for anything you like in here. I'm heading on." The corridor up ahead is a long one, and has been cut through by an underground rift, that runs practically right through it, diving to even more extreme depths, practically straight to the bedrock of the Flat Earth. Down here, magma pools and lava falls are visible, amidst exotic glowing shards embedded in the rock, at various points. Those attuned to mystic forces would find them practically radiating elemental magical power. But Steve isnt interested in those, not right now. Those dislodged bricks from before come in handy, as he constructs, on the spot, a narrow bridge across the chasm. It doesn't make much physical sense, since the bricks are laid out in such a way that there is no way in hell this should be self-supporting, but he's marching across it as he goes, single-mindedly advancing. On the other side, the corridor ends in a chamber, that looks unlike any of the others in side passages. Acting on instinct and recovered memories, at this point, Steve rushes once he's close enough, hefting his pickaxe and smashing a spawner that would have spewed even more of those Silverfish, had it been allowed to remain. Then, amidst the splintered wreckage of it, he finally stops to catch his breath on the cold stone of a short staircase. It leads up to a set of 12 block
Steve	Acting on instinct and recovered memories, at this point, Steve rushes once he's close enough, hefting his pickaxe and smashing a spawner that would have spewed even more of those Silverfish, had it been allowed to remain. Then, amidst the splintered wreckage of it, he finally stops to catch his breath on the cold stone of a short staircase. It leads up to a set of 12 blocks, fixed with sockets to receive...something. The not so subtle hint of what that something is, is that two of them are already fixed with those Eyes of the Ender, which Steve had used to locate this Stronghold in the first place. "Haha...hahaha. We made it," Steve laughs, turning over to lay on his back, as opposed to face down. "The portal." Portal? Steve hadn't really mentioned that kind of thing -- at least, to most people here. But there is really no sense in hiding what is in sight of them. "This is what I was searching for. Oh...make no mistake, we'll clear out the rest of this place, and take all that is suitable to be claimed, but this is the real prize. A portal to another world. I remember it all clearly now: The End."
Mihk Lihzeh	"The End... that sounds rather. Final." mentions Mihk. She had wanted to stay with the books, and comb them for knowledge. The scholar within her screaming to get a taste of arcane information from an alien world... but she was here to escort Steve to the prize of this place, and so, she follows him across the chasm, ears twitching as her glasses mark out the magic stones below. Fonts of power not so unlike Aether. The Miqo'te scans the room, and finally lets her Carbuncle down. It immediately bounds up and peeks down into the center of the portal ring, squeaking at the bubbling magma pool at the base of the shaft.
Dorian Pavus	Dispatching the spider prompts a sigh of relief from Dorian. The electricity will fade once it realizes there's nothing unfriendly inside it to contain, so nothing to worry about on that score. And there will be time to sort through the books later. Particularly because Steve suddenly seems to be having trouble. Dorian frowns, taking a few steps nearer, to see for himself what's going on. Steve's dismissing of whatever it was gets a skeptical look, but Dorian knows better than to pry about something like that. "Let one of us know if there's something wrong," Dorian offers. "It's all well and good to play it strong, but don't push it too much." There's actual concern in his voice though. Passing by the elemental glowing rocks? Those will get Dorian's attention too. They might fetch a decent price if he was to sell a few of them. But he'd have to extract them first and he doesn't have the stuff to do that right now. So he follows Steve on father yet. Mind you he is going to stop in his tracks when that bridge starts being built. He's not going across it until it's fully built; the physics in this place confuse him enough, he's not going to take the chance that a half-built bridge will only support so much weight until it's completed. He'll get across eventually though. Mind you, that's exactly WHY he's following Steve, the sheer single-mindedness of that movement, how he's moving so unerringly towards wherever he's going smacks of being called. That's how the Gray Wardens disappear, after all. So once they do get to this... portal, Steve calls it, Dorian frowns a little. He seems to share Mihk's opinion, and comments, "That sounds ominous. Is it safe?" Pause. "Well. No more dangerous than the rest of this place, I mean. No one entering is going to spontaneously explode into bits, I hope."
Count Kord	Kord can't help but squint through the holes in his helmet at Steve when he starts experiencing some sort of feverish state upon remembering, perhaps, past lives. He watches the miner suspiciously after that, and spares a thoughtful glance to the others, showing his concern in his eyes, even though his face is not really visible. But he keeps on trucking, ignoring the rest of the library in favor of following Steve and making sure he doesn't get blindsided in this state of his. Thankfully, the death-aligned Count is fairly unobtrusive when he wants to be, so he's unlikely to even be noticed while keeping an eye on Steve on the way across the ravine. He looks down into the dark into the glow of flowing lava and the sparkle of arcane energy. He would only go back to deal with the rest of the stronghold after they have this mission of Steve's explained. "I will take a guess. You want to see what is in there. Maybe you already know." He steps up to the portal to stand at the top of the steps, staring down at it once up there down at it. He reaches up to take off his helmet, holding it under his arm while he properly appreciates this bizarre and potentially eldritch doorway into another world. Something different than the Warp Gates, from how Steve spoke of it. His face is young, handsome, vaguely Romanian, though marked with branching black tattoos. He doesn't appear as old as his comments have suggested. His facial expressions are mild but pleasant enough. "I doubt it is safe. The question remains is: What would we have to slay when we venture in there?" As if having to slay something and actually going in there were both inevitable, that's the grave tone he takes. He looks at Steve after he asks this, raising both brows as if expecting him to know the answer.
Steve	"It can be an end, or a beginning," Steve says, quizzically, almost as though he were quoting from some half-remembered source from a few iterations of himself ago. However, realizing that he's taking himself too seriously, all of a sudden, he laughs it off good-naturedly. He also reaches down a hand to pat the Carbuncle, if it isn't averse to the gesture; it's in gratitude! "Thanks for your help as well...saw you get a bit roughed up back there, for our sakes." He glances down into that magma puddle, which is pooled at the bottom of the frame. Is this really intended for transportation? "Don't worry, little guy. If I remember right, this isn't quite as dangerous as it looks. ...but." That's when he moves off to one side of the chamber, and withdraws an empty chest from his inventory. He begins piling things into it, right down to the barest of essentials. His pickaxe, a thaumometer, and just the amount of Eyes of Ender he'll need. As he sets to work filling the empty sockets, he fields more questions, having to reach around a bit awkwardly to do this work safely. To Dorian Pavus, for example, he actually withdraws an extra pickaxe, and offers it over to him, with a grin, "No need to worry none about me. Just had one of my 'fits' is all. You don't scrape the underbelly of what you weren't meant to know, without having a few scars, visible or otherwise, right? Heh..." As for the pickaxe, he notes, "Saw you eyeing the shards on the way here. Help yourself to those, and anything in that library. You've proven yourself in my eyes, so we're square." If Dorian does help himself, as it were, he would find those shards are basically pure, crystalline forms of elemental power. While they are of the thaumaturgical field, they could likely be converted to other mystical pursuits. The books...they are a bit harder to decipher, but perhaps in time might yield interesting secrets. With all of the sockets filled, the portal comes to life. While the lava remains, there is now, indeed, what seems to be another world shimmering beyond it. Lezard would recall seeming something vaguely like this before -- it is eerily reminiscent of the endless, swirling, starry abyss that was seemingly framed by the Obelisk that the Crimson Cultists were worshipping, all those months ago. "No worries about that, either. I'm going to be the first one in, so you guys won't be risking your necks." He then states quite simply, while sorting through the stack of blocks he's also taking along, "Now...you all might not hear back from me for a few days. But don't sweat it. This is all part of the process." Since some are already on edge about it, he'll leave out the part where he's probably going to 'die' on this first trip in. To be honest, he's not certain whether his old tricks will still work, post-Unification Ritual, but if not...he's still got contingencies. Kord, though, that guy. It's like he can see right through him. Lezard is the same way, usually. In fact, it's likely Lezard is already in on what Steve's planning for this time around. Since they've come this far, and been of immense help, there's no sense in keeping that secret either. "A dragon," Steve states, quite simply, in response to the Count. "All of this nasty stuff we faced today, it's nothing compared to this guy. All of us going in right now, as it likely is on that side, I'm not going to lie -- we'd probably all be killed. I'm going to set things up, and then I promise that when it's done, you all can join me for all the glory of it. I couldn't take that thing out alone if I wanted to." His mind makes him keenly aware of how many times he'd failed at just that. "...anyhow, don't try to follow me. I'll send word by Izumi if I can." And then, without further hesitation, he performs an ungraceful, backward flop into the starry field. His body seems to vanish into it, mere inches above that lava. Cripes.
Mihk Lihzeh	The Carbuncle seems to be quite receptive of such pettings. Arching up into them like a cat would. Mihk herself watches as he sets things up... and then swan dives into the abyss... "STEVE!" she starts running to catch him... but her own Carbuncle interposes itself to stop her, chirruping defiantly.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa has no idea how smart the SPider is she just know it's dangerous, it seem to be able to fight an urive she's not going to move in to finish it off from the looks of it, she didn't have any hate but she had no plan to be dinner for it. She takes a moment to look over the libary now for a moment. "I'm all right, thanks to the warning. Those things are way faster than any insect even a 8th it size back home could be....Funny how things go isn't it Steve? I really changed haven't I?" 5R She's now starting to look over the books while Steve goes for the spawner and gets everything set up. She'll attempt to grab some of the book cases with her matter maniplator to give to Steve when this is all over. "Wait we found it?" She's pretty excited about that but then the excitment fades a little bit. "All right so this is what you needed right and don't worry about it, it's why we came to help, right?" She fades back a little bit as Steve knwos abotu this, and likely other people like Lezard would be more use. That's when something else happens when Steve just leaps into wait manga? She stares stunned as Steve seems to Die in magma?! "STEVE?!"