Author: Vajra, Posted: Mon Sep 3, 2018 1:36 PM, Post Subject: Deep dank caves [event][open]

When the old dwarf tried to take the orb, she pulled it back, frowning and puffing her cheeks. The shaking and rumbling made the girl freeze up, something that she hadn't done before towards anything. She grew apprehensive, and at the sight of the great yellow eye she hugged her orb tighter. "¡Lagarto! ¡Lagarto grande!" She cried as she felt a very strong urge to run! Something in her memory told her that she had to get away from the big fire-lizard or else she would never be able to leave. Flying quickly, she doubled back to grab the back of Old Cletus' collar the best she could. "¡Correr, abuelo!" Tugging, she mustered the strength to drag the dwarf with success thanks to the slick floor and began to pick up speed. Barreling down the tunnel, the girl strained as she pulled Cletus along. She had a scared look on her face, glancing behind to see if the big lizard was still coming. 

Rapidly approaching the older mine shafts, the tunnels here were less webbed and deserted. Dragging the dwarf became more difficult when the ice wasn't covering the ground, forcing the girl to pull with both arms. The orb was sandwiched between her forearms as she was not willing to let go of either. The stuffiness in the air was easing but the dragon's bellows made it seem they hadn't gone very far. She had no idea if they were taking the best path out of the dragon's reach. The girl was running down any tunnel that took them farther from the dragon. They could've gone in a zigzag or S-shape for that matter. Her grip on the orb was slipping, and she put her chin on top to keep it from falling just a little longer. Where were they going? How much further until they were safe? The girl completely forgot about the spider and the smaller lizard. 

Author: Mammonn, Posted: Sun Sep 2, 2018 4:18 AM, Post Subject: Deep dank caves [event][open]

The tunnels were changing. As Girshu chased the spider, previously flat and impenetrable walls turned to webs and gaps in the tunnels became visible. There were humanoid forms in the silk here and there, and other imperfections in the previously perfectly square tunnels. The illusions of scent and sound began to fade before the sight did, already making Girshu feel as if there was something wrong. The spider silk's scent became more prevalent, as did the stench of rot and blood. The quiet moaning and pleading from the few unlucky victims that were still alive became audible. And after less than a minute, the whole illusion crumbled away.

Girshu didn't care. The spider was his target, and he'd see it dead. His frost was no illusion, so he could continue to slide after it. He could continue to throw frost balls after it, and hopefully take it down. Girshu was no longer letting the creature go. The fading of the illusions only meant that it was too hurt and too scared to properly focus on maintaining them, and that weakness was everything that Girshu had to know. It could be harmed, and it could be killed.

But he had to hurry. This spider was slowed down a bit by the frozen terrain, and Girshu had the advantage. But it was quickly encroaching on tunnels beyond that frost, where it would once again have the much greater speed and agility over Girshu. Girshu would have to cripple it before it could…

The spider runs into a large room with a pile of debris in the middle where the ceiling caved in not too long ago, and an abandoned mining cart along with some forgotten mining equipment. The frost stopped just outside of the room's entrance, and the inside was once again just rock and dirt. Urgh, awful. Girshu stops just at the frost's border and begins to throw frost attacks at the spider. The spider nimbly dodges them, now that it was no longer inconvenienced by slipping on ice. It could jump back and sideways however it wanted, without slipping and sliding.

The spider picks up some mining equipment and throws it at Girshu. Girshu counters a few with frost, sending the items clashing against the walls and just dodges some other items. The spider does the same with his frost spells, using the pile of debris as a useful tool. It had plenty of rocks to throw, was just large enough to take cover behind if Girshu would attack with something with a large area of effect, and the spider could jump around on the terrain in two dimensions rather than just dodging either left or right. And directly above it was the cave-in, an easy way for it to retreat into a direction that Girshu couldn't follow, just in case it would be defeated again. A large gap that led into a big room with a tall ceiling, plenty of exits and those man-sized talons.

Girshu tenses up as he sees the sudden shadow loom above them. The spider smiles and uses this opportunity to strike at the distracted and paralysed lizard, but then shrieks as one of its limbs is torn off completely by a mere graze. As it bleeds and wails in agony, still scuttling away in a cowardly manner after a reflexive dodge saved it from being slashed in half completely, it looks up to the ceiling in a complete panic.

***

Ole Cletus walks after his employer, only to realise that the strangely cold guy was going too quick. Welp, he'd have to catch up with the guy later, he guessed. He couldn't run that fast, certainly not after the tunnels suddenly gotten all icy and frozen over. He wondered what that was all about.

With his one good nostril, Ole Cletus sniffs the air. New and strange smells were suddenly appearing out of nowhere, in a most unnatural manner. They weren't being carried in by a breeze or getting closer themselves, rather than that they were already close. Yet unnoticeable before. How strange. It would be a useful trick if he'd know how to do that, because his palls would never complain about his body odor again. Or the scent of alcohol on his breath and clothes. Or the stench of his feet. Or…

And the dragon's treasures, of course. If this magic mumbo-jumbo could mask the smell of treasure that only dragons seemed to be able to smell, it would be a lot easier to sneak out of the dragon's hoard without being detected. That sure would be mighty useful, not to have an angry dragon on your tail while trying to navigate the tunnels…

Something pokes Ole Cletus, and he turns around to it. He didn't see anything, of course, but…

Nope, he didn't hear or smell anything either. Weird. There was just that weird mumbling in some unknown language, the same they had heard when they found the-

"Oh right, of course!" Cletus says in his perfectly pronounced common with an illiteration and grace that elves were envious of. Certainly it was still umblemished and perfect, despite his hearing being so bad that he could barely even hear himself speak. "The loot! Girs would be quite nettled if I were to forget it."

Ole Cletus feels around for the orb with the intend to take it and stroll after his employer. Girs sure was a swell fellow, for already entrusting Cletus with the magical loot all by himself despite how briefly they had known each other. Cletus finds the orb, conveniently perched up on some kind of pedestral. A pedestral about the height of a human child sitting down. Hm, that was a weird comparison. A human bench-height pedestral. Yes, that made more sense.

A rumbling runs through the floor, through all of the tunnels walls around them. Ole Cletus freezes up. "Oh dear, I know that rumble. How I wish I didn't know that rumble. Girs and I should get the hell out of here before Cordath-"

***

The two massive fingers reach through the hole in the ceiling, trying to grab at the wounded spider. It crawls back and presses itself against the wall. Girshu slowly slithers back into the frozen tunnels, not at all interested in facing this massive red-scaled behemoth.

The fingers retract back into the ceiling and are replaced by one big yellow eye. The red dragon's head was so large that it covered the cave-in hole completely, blocking out what little light came from the room above. "Give me back my treasure, you filthy thieves! Damned dwarves, always taking what isn't yours! I ought to burn your whole city down to the ground! One day I will, but for now I'll settle on you!"

"Oh, crap." Girshu whispers, already knowing what was coming next. He slowly turns around, ready to glide away.

The eye withdraws from the hole, the head rearing to face it directly.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap!" Girshu says, as he quickly starts to pull himself forwards and begins to glide away from this place as fast as he can. Behind him, the spider quickly phases into the spirit realm.

The cave behind Girshu lights up brightly as the fire in the back of Gordath the Firestarter's throat illuminates the place as if it was basking in the early morning's sun.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!"

***

Ole Cletus sniffs the orb he was holding. It had some strange kind of pull to it, almost as if someone was trying to hold on to it or trying to pull it away from him. How odd. But he didn't smell anything. He wondered if this orb smelled like Cordath's treasure to the old dragon? And if so, to how far away could Cordath smell it, now that the illusion of no scents had faded?

"Oh, there comes Girs. He must've defeaten the beast already. That was quick. Hey Girs-!"

Author: Vajra, Posted: Sat Sep 1, 2018 12:45 PM, Post Subject: Deep dank caves [event][open]

A blast of cold enveloped the area, hitting the spider in a flash freeze. The girl was close enough to be caught in the blast, the force of the rushing cold pushing her and the spider together. When the spider 'escaped', she was left behind in the ice. The orb was partially stuck, and began to struggle until the ice about it cracked. Freed, it began bashing itself against the ice slab until the girl was out. Dropping to the ground, she wrapped her arms about herself and shivered. As the six-limbed lizard gave chase in anger, she sneezed and tried to warm herself up. The spider spirit slipped into one of the myriad tunnels it had created within the disguised cavern. As Girshu was in hot pursuit, the illusions woven onto the tunnel began to thin out with the presence of the tsuchigumo leaving. Webbed-over holes, vaguely humanoid-sized cocoons, other things left behind. The trail of miasma was a step ahead of the frost lizard. 

Left behind, the girl and the old dwarf were beside themselves. The orb glowed again to illuminate, and she moved it around to get a better view of where they were now. Noticing something reddish dripping down the old beardy dwarf, the girl floated over and raised her crystal sphere. Shaking it, it emitted a soft warm glow which started healing any injuries both of them had. "¿Donde está araña?" She asked him. Moving about in front of Old Cletus, she was still wondering why he had those things on his eyes. "¿Lagartija?" She asked aloud, searching for the big lizard. No sign of either, and she balanced the orb on her head while somewhat confused. She decided to sit next to the dwarf until he decided to move. Newly-brought into the world, she was still learning and curious about who these new beings were. Carefully, she poked the dwarf in the arm with her hand to see if he would turn to look.

Author: Mammonn, Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2018 4:16 AM, Post Subject: Deep dank caves [event][open]

Girshu chases after the spider thing and throws more frost balls at it, hoping that it wouldn't figure out that corners weren't Girshu's friend right now. It didn't, at least not yet. Instead it dodged the ice attacks, occassionally taking a hit or using the girl as a shield. Girshu sneered, he was wearing the creature down but it would probably lose him in these tunnels before he'd fully take it down. Damn coward.

"Oy! The monster got me, Girs! Com'n tru!"

Girshu swerves to the right and breaks when the voice suddenly appears from behind him. Just in time too, as the blue orb flies by his head with enough speed to crack his skull, and Ole Cletus hanging from it like a tail. Not too occupied with the ball for now or even considering the thought that Cletus's warning had saved him, Girshu focusses his attention on the spider again. Now that he had been forced to break, he only had one more shot before the spider could get away. But if any of the barrage of ice spikes would hit it, the blood might create a trail to follow while the wound would slow the creature down.

The orb rams itself into the spider's skull, sending it sprawling. Ole Cletus's grip on the orb slips away and the old dwarf flies through the air for a brief moment, before ramming into the wall head-first. Not concerned with that nuisance, Girshu looks at the girl. She was floating again and summoned the orb back into her arms, using it as an animated item that could float and move unnaturally. The spider seemed somewhat bothered by her throws and headbutts, though not as much as the first attack. These attacks lacked power and momentum, being just the strength that a little girl could muster. But, they kept the spider distracted.

Girshu takes a kamehameha pose and prepares his frost magic to strike the spider hard. Not concerned about the girl being in the area of effect, he shoots his ice and encases the spider completely in ice. The somewhat dazed spider's expression is frozen in surprise and panic, and their eight limbs are in the process of crawling away when they're rendered completely immobilised. Completely caught in the ice, the spider is effectively detained and/or dead. Whichever one came first.

"T'is t me, or does this cave taste like copp'r?" Ole Cletus suddenly asks, standing next to Girshu without warning and giving the frost salamanders a scare. A trail of blood runs down his face without him noticing, but otherwise he seems fine. Girshu rolls his eyes and returns his attention to the spider in the ice.

In the ice.

The spider that was supposedly encased in the ice.

Right there. 

In that spider-shaped gap in the ice.

"What? What kind of bullsshit iss thiss!? He wass right there!" Girshu shouts angrily. He looks at the ice, which lacked the spider he caught despite there being no cracks or gaps for it to escape out of. "Hacks! I call hacks!"

A purple miasma up the tunnel draws his eye, and as Girshu looks up he sees some strange shapeless figure turn into the spider monster. He somewhat recognises the effect of planar shifting in the effect, though he doesn't know or understand any way that a completely immobilised and muted creature could travel between this plane and any other. Yet here it was, seemingly hopping between the two realms with little issue. As if it was a phase spider.

"Damn dimensional bullshit! If I can't capture you, I'll just kill you completely this time!"  Girshu shouts, quickly picking up pace to chase after the now completely fleeing and frightened spider monster. 

Author: Vajra, Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2018 9:16 PM, Post Subject: Deep dank caves [event][open]

The girl was flailing her arms, beating at the giant spider to let her go. She was very upset that she had dropped her precious orb, so much that she wasn't crying over potentially being the monster spider's next meal. Her cheeks were red from the angry words huffing and puffing from her mouth, probably insults and threats that a child her age could muster. When Girshu was catching up thanks to the slick frost layer's reduced friction, she gasped in surprise. Meanwhile by old Cletus, the orb's light was dimming. Suddenly the orb itself began to quiver, flying after its owner with breakneck speed. As if it had a mind of its own, it zigzagged in the air to dodge low hanging stalactites all while keep its momentum. Soon it caught up with, and passed Girshu. When Girshu's ice blast forced the tsuchigumo to quickly change course, that split second of preoccupation was long enough for the crystal sphere to smack into its skull.

With the force and strength of a flying brick, whatever that crystal orb was made of was hard enough to make the tsuchigumo see stars. Its grip on the girl slackened, and she eagerly wriggled free to reunite with her treasured item. Levitating off the ground, she held her arms out as the orb flew into them. Turning to face her rude kidnapper, her face puffed up as she raised the orb high and hurled it at the spider with gusto. The tsuchigumo instinctively dodged, but what it didn't expect was the orb flying back and beating it senseless like a possessed boomerang. While the spider was distracted, the girl floated herself towards the tunnel wall to have a flat surface for her feet to push off of. Letting out a high-pitched battle cry, she rammed into the giant arachnid with a rocket-powered headbutt. The force of it flipped the spider over proper, more stunned from the shock than sustaining any serious damage. This little girl had a feisty temper, and she wasn't going to let her thwarted kidnapping slide by. With the orb flying back to her hands, she was smacking the spider's abdomen with fury.  

Author: Mammonn, Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2018 3:57 AM, Post Subject: Deep dank caves [event][open]

"Nou, da's fijn. Ze spreekt een of andere gekke taal, of misschien is het slechts geraaskal." Girshu says in Auran, before switching back to common. "Ssay Cletuss, can you undersstand her? We are in ssome dwarven mountain, iss it some weird dwarven dialect? You know, weirder than that awful accsent that you lot already sspeak?"

"Wha? I don't haf the daft'st idea what she's say'n." Ole Cletus replies.

"Jusst great. They're trying to lead uss asstray, but forget to give the ghosst a transslator." Girshu sighs. He taps one of his talon'd fingers against the crystal orb. "Maybe that'ss what thiss thing iss for, but they forgot to activate it?"

Girshu examines the orb, but cannot figure out it's purpose. It seemed magical, with the light and all. But what it did exactly, who knows? Maybe it just gave the wielder levitation, as they were seeing right now? It seemed as if the girl was tilting to the side really slowly from Cletus's poking, suggesting she was new or unaccustomed to levitation. Girshu smiles, imagining the airheaded human girl eventually tilting all the way upside down without being able to stop it. Or perhaps, without even noticing. She did seem a bit broken in the head, and Girshu hadn't rejected the idea yet that she was gibbering utter nonsense.

She looked just like any human Girshu had seen before, maybe with her purple eyes a bit bigger than most. But that was normal for human kids, or so Girshu thought. She was clearly from a family that couldn't afford shoes, which means that her return wouldn't come with a decent reward. If she wasn't the monster or one of his minions, that was. Girshu was still 95% sure that she was a trap or deception of some sort, some monster that would-

The girl screams when some figure rushes from the dark tunnel ahead and crawls over the ceiling with breakneck speed, grabbing her and quickly runs back from whence it came from.

Okay, Girshu was 85% sure that she was a trap of some sort. Maybe 87%.

He'd still thought that the girl was some kind of minion, this was the trick as old as time to make the heroes rush after a hostage directly into a trap. But she dropped the loot. And that was strange. Why would the monster give the bait a magical item, and then allow that magical item to end up in the adventurers hands? Unless it was a trap of some sort, but Girshu couldn't find anything of such ill intend in the orb's makeup.

Either way, it was simple what he had to do next. With great frigid power, Girshu throws a cone of cold at the figure and the girl hostage before they disappeared into the darkness again. The frost struck everything in the tunnel, turning to sharp pointy ice shards after a few meters to greatly increase the range of the attack. Some ice shards bounched off against the wall or dug into it, but most disappeared into the darkness. At least one seems to hit something living, but Girshu can't tell which one of the two strangers he had hit.

"Damn, too sslow. But thiss won't be." Girshu says, digging his lowest claws' talons into the frozen floor and prepares to pull himself forward. "Cletuss! Grab the loot and follow behind! I'll go after thiss monsster and itss probably-minion, and kill at leasst one of them! Don't you dare end up dead, or worsse, lose the loot!"

With a mighty heave, Girshu pulls himself forwards. The monster thought that it had the upper hand in these tunnels? Well, they were ice tunnels now, and ice was Girshu's territory. With his tail well-able to keep him upright and steer his direction to a certain degree and his claws made to have a grip on ice by digging into it, Girshu quickly slided into high gear after the creature, gaining speed by moving his lowest arms as if he was pulling the wheels of a wheelchair. The 90 degree angles might be an issue, but other than that the ground was perfect for ice-gliding.

With just a few strides he catches up with the dark figure and the girl, easily tracked due to her shouting and screaming. They only had a few seconds of a headstart, so it was more a matter of gaining speed and readjusting one's eyes to the darkness outside of the orb's illumination. The shadow looked to be a spider of some sort. Well, Girshu knew how to kill those. He would just have to be careful of spider webs.

Author: Vajra, Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2018 6:04 PM, Post Subject: Deep dank caves [event][open]

A strange walking lizard and an old short man crossed paths with her. With the light from the orb lighting up the area around her, they had a better view of her features. She had long, dark curly hair reaching down her back and a deeply tanned complexion. She was quite small, approximately like a child of five. Her large, purplish eyes stared back at the strange people. The walking lizard pushed the beardy old dwarf towards her, and he slipped and slid like she had done so earlier. He had two things covering his eyes and didn't even see her at all. Then, he poked her in the ankle. Feeling ticklish, she giggled and wiggled in the air. The lizard was a very weird one, it had four arms instead of two. It came closer, and started talking to her.

It was making hissing noises, with some words. She replied by pointing at Girshu with one arm, holding fast to her orb with the other. "¡Lagartija!" The word she said was clearly not Adelunian Common, which was very unusual. Her behavior did match that of a child's, at least. "¿Estás perdido?" She asked the lizard. Well this was quite a pickle–a language barrier. Lies or no lies, unless one of them understood what language she was using, they'd have no idea if she understood what they were saying either. The girl was in a white dress with blue patterns by the hems, short sleeves over her shoulders. It had plenty of dirt smudges and there was dirt between her toes. She was still floating, another interesting detail. Aside from her orb she had no other possessions as far as one could see.

Deeper in the tunnels, something had been watching this verbal exchange with calculated composure. Girshu had been right to be suspicious, but his suspicions were on the wrong target. A powerful illusion had been woven on the mine shaft, masking the tunnels it used. While the frost reached the walls, the change in its strings alerted it. Little did they know, the entire shaft itself was littered with nooks and crannies obscured by thick webbing disguised as dirt. They not only hid potential escape routes for fleeing prey, they also changed the direction of air flow. And so while the three were preoccupied with determining what was real and what was not, it approached with silent steps, creeping along the ceiling. The shining light from the girl's orb revealed their location, and with the child floating–she was hard to miss.

Suddenly, something grabbed her, yanking her roughly! Pulled backwards, she let out a cry as the orb fell out of her hands and rolled along the slick floor. Briefly the large shape of an enormous dirt-camouflaged spider showed itself before it raced back down the shaft with its prize. As she was being taken away, the girl kept yelling something in that foreign tongue, still trying to get her precious crystal sphere back.

Author: Mammonn, Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2018 3:18 PM, Post Subject: Deep dank caves [event][open]

"It's got'n a bit chilly in 'ere, haf je notic'd?"

Girshu ignores the dwarf as they continue walking the now frozen tunnels. The lure was moving around, seemingly behind them at times and sometimes from the sides. Girshu had been wandering and looking for it for a while now, finding out that he had been going in circles once he came upon a frozen tunnel of his making. And then they had wandered some more.

A sound of a child slipping and falling in the distance, which Girshu ignored. He had already figured out that it was not a lure of ambush but one of being led astray. The old will-o-wisp trick where the alluring source would always be just in reach to be perceived but never reached. A creature that would lead him in circles and have him end dying from starvation in these tunnels, if Girshu were to play along. And perhaps he'd run into a sudden dead drop down some chasm if he wasn't careful.

A little girl's sneeze came from up ahead. Girshu doesn't change course, assuming that this creature had since figured out that he had figured out its trickery and thus reacted to Girshu's reaction to their action. Yes, obviously. Too bad that Girshu wasn't that easily deceived. He'd head in the direction of the lure for now, until the monster would once again try to lure him by leading him to them. And then Girshu would not follow the sound once more, thus assuring that their plans would fail once again. Yes, and Girshu would win that game. They were only double-level deceiving right now, things wouldn't get complicated until there were five layers.

The lure begins to hum a tune, intentionally creepy in that children-singing-a-song-in-a-slow-manner-in-a-creepy-situation way. It was definately trying to deceive Girshu to start avoiding the path that led to the voice. Which meant that there was something important down this path. Seems like they'd never even get to a five-layered deceit at all, the smuck. He was but a mere amateur playing against the mastermind that was Girshu Garashson.

A dim light appears from around the corner, some blue light as if there was sunlight shining through water up ahead. The humming was getting louder, and then turned to a call. A ghost-like voice calls to them, as if to greet them in the creepiest way possible. It walked in the air, as if floating creatures needed to do something that silly, and held a large orb in her hands. Girshu smiled again, as if he was going to fall for such a cheap trick like this illusion. No, he knew exactly what to do. He would just have to touch the illusion, and it would fall apart. Or it wouldn't be an illusion, in which case he'd blast it in the face with a frost cone. But first, getting closer.

With a quick slap of his tail against Ole Cletus's back, the dwarf begins to slide towards the ghost-girl holding the radiant orb. Girshu wasn't sure which one was the monster, but the orb was his first bet. Well, second. The monster being neither one was his first choice, and also the reason for the ghost girl not yet being encased in ice yet.

"Oy! I'm feel'n a breez! We be close to an exit!" Ole Cletus says as he slides towards the girl without even moving, instead standing there was if waiting for Girshu to pick a direction. He slowly comes to a halt a mere foot away from the girl.

"Poke the ghosst girl!" Girshu shouts to Ole Cletus. "No, poke! More to the left. The left! Yes, now poke! No, LEFT!"

Ole Cletus pokes the ghost girl's ankle and then frowns as he touches not ice or rock but something more squishy. "Oy Girs, I found some'n real weird over 'ere!"

Girshu rolls his eyes and slithers in closer. It seems like the girl wasn't an illusion, nor incorporeal. How strange. But she didn't seem hostile, so she might not be the monster he was hunting for. But, she was probably still related somehow. Which meant that Girshu could use her to catch and/or kill the monster. Maybe. Whichever one came first.

"Sso, little girl. Why are you here, in thesse dark, dangerouss cavess?" Girshu asks. He wouldn't buy a single one of the lies she'd speak, but he might as well make her believe that he did so that she and the monster would be deceived into thinking that he had been deceived while in reality he was deceiving them into believing that he was being further and further ensnared into their trap. Which he wouldn't be, because he knew that everything that she'd say would be lies except for the bits of truth that she'd speak to gain their trust. And Girshu would only believe the latter. Definately.

Five layers, baby. This wouldn't get serious until they got to five layers, and Girshu wasn't even on the third yet. Bring it on.

Author: Vajra, Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2018 1:24 PM, Post Subject: Deep dank caves [event][open]

A little light shone in the distance from the orb nestled in the child's arms. Being barefoot, when the frost from the arctic lizard began coating the walls she slipped and lost her footing. With a short exclamation, she fell on her backside and slid about. Hugging the large luminous sphere, her surprise changed to giggling as she was spinning around while sitting. When she tried to stand up, her smiles turned to frowns. The ground was too slippery, and each time she tried to stand she fell back down. Pouting, she was stuck in place. The weight of the orb made balancing more difficult, so she'd have to scoot around in a sitting position to go anywhere. Like a crab, she was shuffling along using her legs to propel her down the icy tunnel. The chill finally got to her, and she sneezed. The sound echoed down the tunnel, clear as day.

Making the best of her situation, she sang a slow rambling song in some language. The tune was familiar, an old children's nursery rhyme about a rowboat going down a stream lazily. She was completely unaware of the two approaching her position. There was some skittering from behind, which this time she did notice. Her singing stopped, and she looked behind. There was nothing, just the darkness of the tunnel where she had been. "¿Qué?" When it was quiet, the noise stopped. Tilting her head to the side, she puffed her cheeks, puzzled. Struggling to stand again, the girl decided not to let herself be discouraged. Gathering all the willpower she could muster, she tried and tried–until suddenly she began to float off the ground.

Delighted, she slowly rose up into the air. Now levitating, she resumed her 'walk' in search of a way out or something else. The soft light from the orb was able to illuminate more with her new floating position, and the light was cast further into the tunnel. Thinking she saw something moving, she called out to it. The girl's voice and her general appearance was reminiscent of a ghost thanks to the sound distortion of the closed space. Anyone with less mettle might have balked and bolted at the sight, but the only two beings on foot was a geriatric dwarf and a cold-blooded reptile.

Author: Mammonn, Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2018 5:51 PM, Post Subject: Deep dank caves [event][open]

"Well issn't thiss a good sstart? I'm possitively brimming with optimissm right now." Girshu says in the most sarcastic tone that he can muster. He looks at Ole Cletus, who seems to have completely missed Girshu's words.

"Huh? Wha's da? I think I'm hear'n whispers in the dist'nce!"

Girshu rolls his eyes. The old coot was so deaf that he couldn't even properly hear and comperehend any conversation with the echoes of these tunnels. Blind, deaf and probably intoxicated to a point where he'd perform poorly on both regardless. And yet he was the last one left of Girshu's party.

"Ssixteen. We sstarted with ssixteen. And by ssome cursse of faith and luck, only thiss buffoon ssurvivess." Girshu whispers. He had been so relieved when the other party had shown up and 'agreed to' let him join them. He had considered it a stroke of luck that they'd appeared, a sign of the gods that they were with him for once. But apparently, the gods of the earth and underground loathed him. One little cave-in and half the party died. At least three others were caught on the other side of the rubble, and four more had dissappeared suddenly before or after the cave-in. The monster, probably. This old geezer on the other hand had just pulled himself out from under the rocks that should've crushed him whole and merrily continued his way. He barely even seemed to realise that the humans and dwarves that had travelled with them were already all dead.

"I sswear, thiss reward better be everything that it promisses to be."

"Ja, I'm cer'nly hear'n some'n up ahead."

Girshu rolls his eyes again. To his surprise however, he hears something too. And it wasn't his voice echoing.

No, this voice was the exact opposite. It sounded like a young human woman. A very young one. Playing some kind of make-believe game, from the sound of it.

Girshu smiles. This was a trap. This was a lure so obvious, it wasn't even funny. There was no way that a child would be all alone in these caves, and certainly not in any state but pure panic and despair. If she was crying and calling out for help, then she might've deceived a few weak-hearted adventurers. But this, this was too obviously some other creature trying to deceive its prey.

Which meant that they had not only found it, but that it was planning to hunt them next. Not like the previous encounters they had with it, where the one in the back disappeared without anyone noticing it for a while. No, this time it was coming for Girshu. And Girshu wasn't going to be as easy as those newbie adventurers. 

The absolute ease of the lure was perplexing though. Clearly no one would fall for such a deception. Which means that they'd carefully approach with the knowledge that it was a trap. How could a predator take advantage from that? The prey would move slower, certainly, and with a predictable route. That made an ambush more effective, under the right circumstances. If it would happen earlier than expected, or if the predator was certain that the prey couldn't perceive them in time. A very well-hidden hiding spot perhaps, or…

The walls. A being that could phase through earth like it was incorporeal. Of course. That would clear up a lot of things, such as its ability to strike quickly without warning and disappear just as fast. But it was probably only capable of phasing through earth, nothing else.

Girshu places his upper hands on the walls to his left and right. Frost grows from his touch and spreads out over the walls and soon enough also over the floor and ceiling. Girshu slithered forwards, slow and careful to make sure that the tunnel around him was completely covered with a decent layer of ice. The creature would have to break through the ice first before it could reach for Girshu, which cancelled out a lot of their advantages.

Slowly, freezing the tunnel on his way there, Girshu heads to the girl's voice. And once he'd see his quarry, he'd show the monster who's the real predator around here.

Author: Vajra, Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2018 1:26 PM, Post Subject: Deep dank caves [event][open]

Deep in the tunnels, near the abandoned tunnels closest to the Dragon's Hoard, there was something stirring. When the barrier that separated the spirit realm from the realm of the living waned, aberrant energies escaped and affected Parvpora. Areas with high concentrations of magic or special conditions created the manifestations of monsters that harassed mortals in its wake. To a lesser extent, these energies caused new magical beings great and small to come into existence. The most common of these were tsukumogami. Old tools, baubles, keepsakes, and household items were touched by the spark of enchantment. And for a dragon's hoard, that meant the birth of a small child. She opened her eyes in the dark. Confused and alone, the newly-awakened girl picked her way through the piles of treasures and gold. Searching through the coins, she finally found what she was looking for. Digging out a large crystalline orb, her little face lit up with a smile. "¡Encontré!" Hugging it to her chest, she walked barefoot out into the tunnels.

Tripping, she fell to her knees almost dropping the jewel orb in her hands. Standing up again, she held the sphere tight until it began to glow. Looking around to see if any other beings were nearby, she gently set the orb down when she felt it was safe. Dusting off her knees and dress with her hands, there were still smudges on the back of skirt. With no serious injuries, she picked up the glowing crystal ball and continued walking again leaving small footprints behind. She had no idea where she was going or how long she had been walking around. All the tunnels looked very similar to her, but when she saw her own tracks again her face pulled into a pout. "Soy perdido…"

Not a single soul in sight, not even cave bats. As her little feet plodded along, there was a faint scratching coming from somewhere. The little girl paid no heed, unaware if she was being followed. Moving slowly outwards from the deep tunnels, suddenly the ground gave way beneath her feet, sending her tumbling down! Holding onto the orb like her life depended on it, she curled herself up into a ball until the cave-in stopped. Miraculously, she wasn't buried. Her clothes and legs were all dusty again, but she was unhurt. Checking the crystal sphere wasn't damaged, she took a corner of her dress to wipe the dirt off. Where was she now? 

The landslide had brought her to one of the abandoned mining tunnels newly dug before the disappearances began. There were tools left behind, still in good condition. Lamps with the wicks burnt out, some old metal dishes for sifting smaller ore fragments, sieves. There were wooden supports that held the tunnel up, forming stable entrances for the miners to pass through. A mine cart left behind in the dwarves' haste fascinated the girl, and she climbed in. She made sounds pretending that the cart was moving, and spent some time playing. It was too quiet and lonesome by herself, so she climbed back out and began following the path of the tunnel. Maybe she would run into others like her, or things that could move soon.

Author: Mammonn, Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2018 8:01 AM, Post Subject: Deep dank caves [event][open]

The dark caves before him were ominous and pitch black. The wind seemed to turn into whispers and warnings, telling everyone to stay away. The darkness seemed almost pallable, not as great as the Ancense ruins yet more physically impenetrable than regular darkness. And in these strange times, it even hid some kind of unknown danger that even the dwarves feared.

Girshu peers through the darkness as if to look for the monster that lurks in it. He knew that it wasn't going to come out into the light and give up all its advantages, not when its prey would come to them instead. Not when some of those people, like Girshu, would be nigh blind in the absolute darkness. But Girshu would go in there regardless. He had to, because this event and its rewards could be over any day now. He would slay whatever this monster was, and gain the boon that was promised to him. He would have to get it, and obtain the location of fire salamanders so that he could finally hunt his true quarry.

"There better be a real enemy in there ssomewhere, dwarf." Girshu says to the guide. "I'd hate for thiss threat to be another flub, a mere rumour of ssomething ssinisster that no one can actually find."

Girshu bitterly remembers the five days he wasted patrolling the city of Jayou at night, without finding this alleged serial killer that prowled there. Five nights of arguing and fighting other mercenaries who thought that he was the killer, just because he looked outlandish. Five nights where he never even caught a whiff of the murderer, just more humans. The other bounty hunters weren't even the worst. They were idiots and impeding his hunting, travelling in packs and probably scaring away the murderer by not hunting alone. But they were but a nuisance, as long as they didn't attack him. 

No, that strange woman with the long black hair had been the most annoying by far. Girshu ran into her almost every night, sometimes multiple times. She would always smile at him in that creepy way of hers, and even follow him a few blocks before she took the hint to buzz off. It wasn't bad enough that she'd keep smiling at him, apparently not knowing that baring one's teeth at others was a sign of aggression to literally any species other than humans and related knew. No, she just kept showing up around the new murder scenes and thus scaring the murderer away before Girshu could get a good look at them. And every time she'd turn to Girshu when he arrived to smile at him. Urgh, humans who tried to be nice and make friends were the worst.

But there shouldn't be any such annoying humans wandering around in these tunnels. No, there should only be monsters and fellow hunters. And he intended to kill anything that would approach them, regardless of which group they belonged to. Plenty of time to see if he killed the right prey while they were defrosting. If they'd ever would, that is. For as dark and cramped as the tunnels might be, they were ice cold. And if there was anything that Girshu loved, it was a frigid environment.

"Hold ye stupid remarks to yerself, ye beardless bas'rd!" Ole Ye Cletus says. The ancient dwarf spits to the side and takes a swig of his flacon. "These be dwarves who be 'fraid to go 'ere, not humies! And if 'ey don't wanna go in there, ye can bet yer grammy's panties that there be some'ng real fierce lurking about. Oh, it sure will be! And if Ol' Cletus kills it, I'll get free drinks for the rest of me life!"

The dwarf puts the flacon back and laughs in an air-deprived manner that almost sounds like he's dying. Girshu doesn't even consider the old dwarf combat-worthy enough to contribute to the fight, not with the way his arteritis-riddled fingers could barely hold on to his hammer. The dwarf's beard was white as snow, he had an eye patch on both eyes, he was hard of hearing, and he was missing a lot of parts. Two fingers, half an ear, several teeth, a chunk of his nose. No, this guy looked liked a strong gust of wind might defeat him, let alone a real foe.

But, Girshu didn't hire him for his combat prowess. He hired the dwarf because he was assured by both Ole Cletus and several other dwarves that this blind old-timer knew the tunnels like the back of his hand. He was Girshu's guide to this new mineshaft that the dwarves had tunneled into, and much more importantly he was their guide back to the surface once the mission was over. Girshu didn't even want to think about getting lost in this complex maze of deep darkness. [He's a flavour NPC for guidance and nothing else. Not combat, certainly.] And Ole Cletus wasn't just willing and cheap to be that tour guide, he was one step closer towards the first obstacle. 

Girshu sneers at the two dwarves standing at either side of the tunnels. Damn dwarven cowardise, passing a law that only groups were allowed in the tunnels right now. If it weren't for that stupid concern, Girshu would've began searching an hour ago. But no, apparently two people were a couple, not a group. They'd need at least one more person before the were allowed to enter. Psk.

"Anyone! Doess anyone have the gutss to come with uss and face whatever lurkss in thesse tunnelss?" Girshu shouts through the hall.

"Aye, ye stoneless youths! Are ye goin' to let Ole Cletus 'ere take care of the probl'm cause none of y'all bedwetters is man enough to leave yer mother's skirts?"