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Haynuus, slowly, approaches the door and tries to listen with his ragged ear. He does it with the utmost care so as to not to make any noise.

Should he hear nothing he'd be happy to just move over to Ameena, and bend his knees to silently slide down the wall and sit next to her.

OOC - Perception check, ear against the door. (1d20=18)

It was a little worrying to see Haynuus moving towards the door, Falkor wondered if he would listen or open the door - either way they would have to go through the door at some point through their own choice or by force. Looking around in the darkness he could also hear Ammena quitly muttering to herself, he wasn't sure if she was about to cast a spell or simply in a state of shock but Falkor decided some light might help - at least for now. With this he cunjured up a spark, re-lit the torch and slowly looked around the room.

Count? What did she mean by count? Maybe she simply meant to wait until the thing went away? Certainly Westian could not really feel the presence intruding on the sense of calm in the room, maybe it could not enter?

Since he was short of other options Westian moved to the side of the room, closed his eyes and waited.

Ameena had started counting in the corner, adding an odd note to the proceedings.

"One...two..."

Westian seemed to agree, and moved to the side. Perhaps it was a message from the High Lords, or perhaps it was confidence in his own abilities, but Westian felt the assumptions he had made give him a greater calm in answer, as if he were connected to the room. He felt safe.

"...three....four..."

Haynuus moved quietly to the door, the darkness of the room no issue to his movements. Ameena's voice was soft and recognisable, he could easily tune it out.

"...five..."

Rat-tat-tat-tat. Rat-tat-tat-tat.

"...six..."

Rat-tat-tat-tat. Rat-tat-tat-tat.

Haynuus alone could hear the odd drumming, as if someone wrapping the fingers on a desk. Except instead of a desk, it would have needed to have been one of the tombs. How strong would someone have to be to create a drumming noise on stone?

I can feel you, girl. You cannot hide from me.

Haynuus did not hear the words through the door, he felt them. As if the door quivered to the deep vibrato of the words barely at the edge of hearing. They sounded human, as if a human male. He sounded arrogant. He sounded mocking. And also sounded angry.

"...seven..."

Rat-tat-tat-tat. Rat-tat-tat-tat.

"...eight..."

Silence.

Westian felt the pressure relieved slightly, the deep evil slowly release its push against the room's calm.

Falkor had not felt the calm of the room. However, as soon as the evil had come close, he had felt prickles - the hairs on his arms raised. It felt like something was in the air, something he knew. It felt like deep magic.

Falkor focused his will on the torch in his hand, re-igniting it easily.

"...nine..."

Westian felt a pressure in his chest. Suddenly the calm in the room that had infused him turned to an immense tension. The evil beyond the door was coming close. It was focusing on them...

Rat-tat-tat-tat. Rat-tat-tat-tat.

'Interesting' said a quiet, deep voice. All four not only heard it in the ears, but felt it resonate in their chests. It sounded like a man who had found an unusually shaped cockroach.

BOOM!

The temple doors were blown open, slamming hard against their respective walls. There was no wind, Falkor's torch remained lit. And yet each person in the room felt a chill run through them as if a gale howled around them.

There was nothing visible on the other side. Nothing was illuminated by the flickering torchlight except the empty hall.

Yet all could feel something evil looking directly at them. The darkness had eyes. It stared straight at and through each one of them.



And there we go, welcome back after the break!

For no good reason, can everyone roll me a d20 please?

Also for no good reason, can everyone check the gridded map of the temple below and tell me if I have your positions right? I think Falkor should be close to the door, and not sure where Westian actually wandered to to get the ring from Haynuus, etc.

Haynuus and Westian can see deep into the previous room thanks to darksight/low light vision, and can see nothing that was not there before. The lighting shown on the map is for Ameena and Falkor's benefit.

Good luck...for no reason. Next update tomorrow as normal!

Quickly Falkor retrived the cloak from his pack and slipped it on, he wasn't sure if it would help or hinder - but it was something else to do... this place seemed magical and given that the cloak had been left here it may help (or hinder)... Then, with no prompt or reason he shouted out in a deep booming voice.... "BEWARE"

OOC: 1d20 for no good reason! (1d20 = 12)

Haynuus was delicately pressing his ear against the door when they flew outwards with a boom. He fell a step forward in a comical fashion into... The void. There was nothing. His senses could detect noone yet he felt an evil presence. He was in no hurry to step out of this temple towards the unknown and waited for movement either from within the sacred place... Or from without.

OOC: For no good reason, can everyone roll me a d20 please? (1d20=18)

Ameena remains crouched against the wall, feeling the stone against her side as she keeps her paws over her eyes and continues to count, slowly, focusing on each number as she says it, remembering the order in which each word falls. When she hears the strange voice speaking, she feels terrified, knowing that this must be what the woman-shape feared. But she continues to count. Because that was what the woman-shape said to do. She almost jumps out of her fur when the doors suddenly bang open, but keeps her forepaws pressed firmly over her eyes, refusing to look at whatever it is. She almost loses count, but not quite. She hunkers down a little more, almost cowering, refusing to think of anything but to focus on counting, knowing that she'll likely panic and try to run if her concentration is broken.


OOC - Damn, you like scaring the murafu with sudden noises, don't you? With regards to the map, I'd pictured her being on the other side. Since she didn't really get too far into the room, I'd say put her in the square just to the right of Falkor. She's huddled agsinst the wall. And for the roll...14 . I'm guessing this is some kind of save-vs.-shitting-yourself or something .

Westian stayed where he was. Sensing that Haynuus was too close to the doorway he hissed "Come back! Stay inside the room!"

OOC: 1d20 = 15

Answering Westian's question, yet directing it to another - "I'm not going anywhere..." Haynuus growled into the darkness.

As the evil seemed to fill the empty space in front of them, perhaps not daring to enter inside the temple, Haynuus wondered why he knew the SAR rune? That was the branch of magick that was the most feared and powerful. Why did he, as a lowly fighter, carry the rune inside of his mind and none other? It's weighty knowledge had a heavy effect on his soul dragging his thoughts to darkness if not to the edge of despair. Sadness turned to anger then as he realised that the corporeal voice of evil outside would know.

Ameena held on to her faith in the spirit's words, keeping her eyes and counting despite the activity around with light and noise. Westian, too, held on to his faith in the power and goodness of the room.

In both cases, this was a course of action that led to no consequences for them.

Haynuus, even on Westian's warning, held on to his faith in himself and stood firm against the darkness. And the darkness looked back with what felt like a burning gaze.

Ian, PM sent.

Falkor took faith in the powers of magic ... or perhaps his curiosity drove him on. Either way, he put on the cloak he had removed earlier. For a moment he was visible. And then, in a blink, his torchlight disappeared. That was because Falkor, too, had disappeared.

Money, PM sent.

Westian did not have long to react to the after images as the darkness blinded him. For a moment the pressure of evil was even more intense. Coming as it did with the darkness it felt like the evil had won, and entered the room to crush all inside.

However, the calm of the room still existed. The darkness in the room was simple the absence of light. Westian had but a moment to appreciate this when he felt the pressure of evil lift. The calm of the room returned to its unmolested state at the same time as the light of Falkor's torch returned. The dark beyond the doorway at the edges of the torchlight no longer felt malevolent. The darkness beyond now seemed...dark. Ameena's count finally reached ten. The evil presence was gone.

However, the light of the torch was in the wrong place. The torch lay on the floor, slowly rolling back and forth where it had been dropped. Falkor lay on the ground, unmoving.


So, who's got a good heal skill score? Oh right, that would be Falkor Don't worry guys, if you want to check on Falkor, a heal check can be done as an untrained wisdom check too. Just not as good of one!

Anyway, the dice rolls and battle grid were just to scare you that there might have been a fight, the evil has - for whatever reason - gone now. Honest.

No harm, no foul, right? Oh, well, except for the Falkor thing.

Sorry to Ameena for not having more description for your character's actions, but I think you can narrate them better than I. Just know your faith, and Westian's, have earned you both of you a +2 bonus to any will checks resisting fear against this opponent in future.

Ian and money, I'm going to compose your PMs now telling you what your further personal experiences are. Feel free to elaborate your reaction to them in this thread, PM me your character's reactions, or retro-actively share your experiences with the party.

Assuming your character is still alive if you are money.

Reaching a count of ten, Ameena is spared getting any higher as she feels a change in the feel of the room. She remains rigidly motionless for a few moments, tense and attentive, all her senses (except sight, of course) straining to detect any further unpleasant feelings. But it seems the...whatever it is...has gone. Him. Yes, that was it - He has gone. She still has no clue as to who He is, but she knows that for now, He has decided to leave them alone.
Slowly, cautiously, she brings her paws down and opens her eyes, careful not to open them too fast lest the sudden brightness end up dazzling her. But her eyesight adjusts quickly and she immediately looks around. Haynuus and Westian are both standing nearby, but Falkor is lying on the ground, apparently unconscious. She has no idea exactly what has transpired, having been focusing so firmly on forcing back her own panic, but suddenly she feels horribly guilty at not paying enough attention to her companions. However, though her murafu instincts tell her she should have huddled up with them, her mind once again reminds her that none of them think like her, and that they therefore most likely would have chosen their own courses of action even if she'd said something.
She realises she's starting to feel more and more insecure, coupled with a steadily growing tiredness after so many exertions and so little rest, but pushes it all away for now in exchange for concern over her...friend? She wishes it were so, but she doesn't quite feel as though she can call them that yet. Companion, then. Yes, she decides wearily. For now, they still remain her companions. If only they'd met under better circumstances - she could have done all this properly, got to know them better, had more conversations, found out about them...
She shakes her head and move quickly over to the prone halfling. Standing on all-fours, she nudges him with her nose, sniffing around his face, neck, and chest. Her whiskers detect a definite pulse. He is alive then. But what's wrong with him?
"Falkor?" she calls, hesitantly, her whiskers brushing all over his face as she does so.
She looks up at the other two.
"What happened?" she asks, anxiously.


OOC - Just sort of figuring he's not dead here . It's also not been stated whether he's lying on his back or side or whatever. If he was lying face-down, just say that Ameena rolled him over first - he's not that much bigger than her, fortunately, so I think she could manage that . I also have no healing-type skills so I can't really help him much mechanically here. Not that we have any clue what's wrong with him...

And the heart stopping despair came.

It was like a fall into fathomless pit.

A feeling of being an insignificant ant, observed by a malicious Giant.

HE communed to Haynuus. Without words the evil had attempted to infuse doubt and even treachery into his mind. Thinking about the consequences of such actions weakened the half-orc and he fell to his knees... Yet he resisted. Haynuus knew what he was, where he came from, more or less. He didn't understand all that went on around him yet he possessed the presence of mind to resist the easy offerings that many others offered him, the vices and the thievery which so many of the humans assumed he would be open to. They all feared, hated or just misunderstood him yet he never knew why. Haynuus had never looked in a mirror. Unaware that his outward appearance unbalanced those who met him.

"It tried to talk to me. Deceive me." Haynuus said with his eyes still yet unfocussed. "It thinks it knows me, yet it's tricks with your head don't work on a brain that has been so battered and broken... Like mine." with that he smiled. The feeling of emptyness and terror lifted.

He weeped, just a little, staring into the darkness ahead.

Relief at the disappearance of the evil quickly gave way to concern at the state of Falkor. Running over Westian examined him as well as he could, pulling open his eyelids and examining his pupils. "Damn it, why is there no flask around" Westian shouted to no one in particular. Even though he had remembered the basis of magical healing he still did not have a suitable vessel to use for a potion. He pulled out the mirror he had found earlier and held it over the halfling's mouth, looking for the tell-tale condensation that would indicate respiration.

OOC: Wisdom check for healing was 10 + 2 = 12. Invisible Castle down again, had to roll elsewhere.

When Westian's voiced his frustration it caused Haynuus to jolt from his stupor.

"Wha?... Oh Falkor is..." He was going to say sleeping but just having experienced the evil presence first hand he immediately understood that minds more profound than his would truly comprehended what evil that thing was capable of. Haynuus moved across the room to help. A little water from his bota was splashed on poor Falkor's face, and our half-orc tried a few tricks he had learnt from other orcs when trying to wake up drunken family members... Poor Falkor.

OOC - Got a 12 off the d20+2 to help the halfling. Hope I didn't break anything

Falkor still felt warm when Ameena snuffled into the halfling, although he did not realy react to the ticklish whiskers.

Westian's training again showed its holes, relying as it did on magic to cure any ill, instead of diagnosing the illness and treating it. However, even basic knowledge came to the fore - breath appeared on the mirror, and so Westian knew it wasn't his imagination that the halfling's chest appeared to move.

Falkor merely slept - the splash of water that provoked a moan showed it was only unconscious and not a coma, nor something worse. Indeed, Falkor had started to snore after being repositioned by Ameena.

Even Westian's and Haynuus's combined knowledge could not discern how deep the seep was, nor how natural. It certainly reminded the party how fatigued they were - even though not much time had passed since they had awoke in this place. That was unusual, certainly they had experienced a few stressful events, but should it have tired them out so much.

If only he party...

- SMACK-

...knew how long Falkor would stay....

- SMACK-

...asleep, they could plan....

- SMACK-

Falkor came back into consciousness very quickly, if not a little distressed from the treatment of Haynuus.


Heh, and so the value of role playing versus rolling rears its head. Your heal checks only reveal common sense knowledge, not enough to reveal the type of sleep nor how deep it was nor how to wake Falkor. However, one cannot see a description of using methods of rousing drunken orcs and not assume Falkor would come awake again pretty quickly

Just got to sneak in a PM to money, and then you guys can talk decide on your next course of action. Plough on while the coast is clear, despite the onset of tiredness (poor Aeena especially) or take advantage of the apparent quiet and safety to cat-nap?

Acting on instinct, Ameena backs away a little as the others approach, allowing them to attempt to wake the halfling. She moves closer again, however (again, as per her natural instinct), when Falkor is finally...encouraged...into wakefulness.
"Are you alright?" she asks with concern, her face (and therefore her whiskers) rather close to the side of his head.

"He's baaaack!" Haynuus gave the halfling a big (half-strength) hug with delight. If anyone would survive this subterranean ordeal it would be Falkor.

"You okay little fella? If you like we can rest here a while..." Then the half-orc turned serious, his face colour changed slightly to a darker palette. "...What happened?"

Seeing Falkor roused so easily Westian felt a bit foolish for making such a big fuss. He quietly slipped the mirror back in his bag and hoped nobody would notice. But how could the halfling fall asleep in the middle of a supernatural encounter?

"Glad to see you are comfortable Falkor. Sorry to wake you."

In answer to Haynuus's question Westian felt he should be the group expert on other-worldly occurrences, and so tried to sound confident in his explanations. "Well the first spirit was what is known as a trapped soul. Something, or more likely someone, on this plane is unwilling to let them go and so they cannot find the peace of death. Maybe it is related to the note we found."

Reading the note aloud for the group he said "Could the spirit be the Veyla mentioned? If so then it would seem like whoever wrote this letter loved her, and will not let her move on. And if the author of this letter is Theron - the Grey Lord's apprentice - then it is especially worrying. Someone of his power should have greater control. If he has lost it then we could have a great deal to worry about....he is an Archmaster in all the arts, probably his power is only eclipsed by that of the Grey Lord himself."

"As for the second occurrence, well that I don't know. Clearly pure evil, but what exactly? If Theron has become twisted by the pain mentioned in the note then could it be him? Otherwise it could be...." No, it cannot be Lord Chaos...it cannot be...

Ameena listens carefully to the ensuing discussion. The mentions of words such as "spirit" and "death" come as something of a surprise to her - she hadn't thought that the woman-shape was dead. After all, dead things are...well, dead. But she supposes that a spirit, having departed from its body, might become trapped and for one of many possible reasons be unable to go to wherever it's supposed to go.
She also pays close attention to the wording of the note as Westian reads it out. To her, one thing, at least, seems obvious.
"It sounds like Veyla was due to have cubs." she says, then corrects herself. "I mean...whatever word her species would use for describing their young. If that...shape...was her, then I suppose she is...was...human. But...I don't know. It just sounds as though whomever wrote that is being distracted by their own thoughts whilst trying to prepare for the arrival of new cubs...I mean, young ones."
She remains instinctively crouched next to Falkor, in case he should need some kind of comfort or support, and tries not to feel quite so tired during such an important-sounding discussion. Now that everything seems to be calming down somewhat, however, she finds this increasingly difficult. Her ears and whiskers are starting to droop, and she finds thinking seems just a little more complicated than before. She knows that if something happens to startle her, as seems to be happening a lot in this dark and horrible place, that will serve to wake her up properly for a while. But not for too long. She would normally have found somewhere comfortable to rest by now, or had other murafu with her to keep an eye, an ear, a nose, and a whisker on things for the duration of her sleep. But not here. Here, nothing seems simple. Not even getting some sleep.

Falkor came to, there was a lot of commotion and people, it seemed, talking all at once, like excited children wishing to be picked for the sports team... before he could take anything in he also noticed that he felt decidely sore - he was sure that the monster he had just witnessed could not have physically harmed him - perhaps something had happened in this world? Perhaps the others had turned on him thinking he had left them, perhaps he had been re-incarnated... it was all a blur, and he was going to have to get questions. For now though only one thing was important, one name that played round and round in his head, one word that he feared more than anything else....

"Gholst"

And with this outburst he huddled over and quitly fell back against the wall...

So yeah, go ahead and make of that what you will the rest of you!

"Gholst?"... Hurmurred Haynuus thinking of a brand of goblin beer. "Ghost perhaps?... Well, I think we could all do with a rest, casting a glance for a second at Ameena whose whiskers were definately pointing in the downwards direction." They didn't have much in the way of rations, but the halfling did look green with fatigue.

And with that he made Falkor comfortable, removed his backpack, and then made himself a comfy spot on the cold flag-stone floor. "Wake me up when you've finished your watch Westian" the half-orc said cheekily.

Ameena notices that Falkor clearly isn't feeling too good. Any thoughts of strange floating woman-shapes and notes about newborn cubs are pushed from her mind by concern for the halfling. She doesn't know what the word means...or perhaps it's a name. She doesn't know. Whatever it is, she decides, it can wait. At least for a while.
She snuggles close to Falkor, curling up against him so that each knows the other is there, as murafu would normally do for each other when one was weak or sick, or anything else which meant they'd want constant close company. Then she has an afterthought, remembering something obvious that she'd probably missed through tiredness. She uncurls and removes her cloak, draping it over both of them before curling back up again. The cloak doesn't fully cover them both, but that doesn't matter to her.
She knows she's falling asleep, and knows that maybe she shouldn't be doing so, what with everything that seems to be happening in this place, but since tiredness seems to drive instinct to overcome reason, at least partly, Ameena decides that she's better off getting some sleep now so that she's not so tired later, when they continue onward and...well, whatever's going to happen, happens. She hopes the others won't decide to move on and leave her behind. But she'd notice if they did - she'd feel Falkor moving to get up. At least she's comfortable enough like this, finally able to curl up with someone. She doesn't quite get as far as thinking that maybe he doesn't like it, instead slowly drifting down further into sleep, furry body curled up against the halfling on the grey stone floor.

Seeing the others collapsing into dormant little heaps on the ground Westian realised that it must be their nap-time. "Okay, I will take first watch, shall I?" he muttered.

He left the door open just a crack, enough for him to maintain a close eye on any danger approaching from the main chamber, and stayed vigilant.

After an uneventful watch Westian was feeling incredibly tired and decided that it must be time to wake someone else up. Keen to avoid angry reprisals from a tired half-orc he decided to wake him from a distance. Standing a few inches from Haynuus's feet he reached out with the club and poked his exposed ankles. "Haynuus, first watch is over" he whispered, eager not to disturb the sleep of the others. "Haynuus? Haynuus?! Time to get up!" He poked him again with the club for good measure.

Haynuus was a heavy sleeper at times, yet a club across the ankles usually worked a treat to change that.

At first dreaming about events. "Gholst?..." And then, "Ohh, ok!" back to reality. A yawn and Haynuus would sit cross-legged at times, stretching and standing at other times during his watch. Yet always towards the slightly ajar door.

His makeshift tarpaulin cum bedding was left for Westian if he dared to share the same body lice as the half-orc.

He would probably not need to wake up Ameena by the end of his shift.