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Post by Unter on Jun 3, 2018 8:35:52 GMT -8
The party followed a sinister path to the ruins. Salazar knew how to get there, and they managed to avoid any agressions between the Hamlet and the old buildings. They arrived at an old building, surprisingly well preserved. A massive door stopped Salazar in his quick march, and broken windows allowed the mercenaries to peer into the shadow ridden halls.
The house looked religious of some sort, maybe even belonging to an erudite scholar of faith. It was enormous, massive enough to need supporting pillars to its walls. Outside, the shadow of a garden remained. Weeds, rotting trees and not so surprisingly : Skeletons. Mountains of skeletons. They didn't seem to be animated by the will that marked the ruins' inhabitants, and every part of them was dissociated from the others. Fingers, crushed skulls, forearms, toes littered the ground by the thousands. It was an hellish dumping of human remains.
Next to the door, and where Salazar went the first, three graves laid. In the first, a sword was planted. In the other, a holy book was laid on the black dirt. In the last, a crossbow stood up. Salazar looked at it, and seemed melancholic. But he sniffed, and said.
"These are my former team mates. This is not the first time we come here, but last time, the pile of skeleton you see there was far less tall. We cleansed them all, at the price of three lives. Now, if we have luck, not many will have come back. Come, let us do what we came here to do. I know the place. There is gold to be have here, more so than the two thousand coins you were promised for coming here. You need to find the eye to find it. And keep it, I care not for earthly belongings."
He posted himself in front of the massive door.
"Now, if one of you with muscle would help me open this bloody door, we could get going."
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Post by rumsztyk on Jun 3, 2018 8:50:09 GMT -8
"Hmph." Jowita scouted the unpleasant environment. Her brow was frowned, her eyes - alert.
"Well. Let us get on with it." She gestured dismissively towards the door, expecting one of the men to do what they were supposed to. She kept to the rear while they did so, covering their backs.
"Find the eye? What do you mean by this?" She asked their 'leader'.
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Post by Kidney on Jun 3, 2018 10:04:56 GMT -8
Tod stared for a few moments at the pile of skeletons, an unnatural, growing urge to jump into them like autumn leaves filling his heart.
He looked away from them for a few moments and proceeded to approach the door. He looked towards his teammates and placed his left shoulder against the door. If he had scared off the boy who could carry casks on his shoulders, then he would have to replace him. He pushed against the door with all his might.
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Post by The Carrying Blade on Jun 3, 2018 14:42:54 GMT -8
Adonis walked forward, tentatively moving himself over to the graves, they were the first things that caught his eye. Listening to Salazar speak his attention was drawn to the pile of skeletons, happy that these 3 had brought many more enemies down with them in their mission, allowing the new group to move on without fear of an unrelentless hoard of monsters attacking them. It was quiet the feeling, exhilarating yet fearful, to finally move on and test himself against what horrors others have grown accustomed to.
He quietly spoke prayers, wishing for the 3 dead to find peace in death, for the light to rebirth them into a symbol of hope against the creatures of the dark. Finishing them he turned back to the door, where Tod was trying to push open with no small amount of force. His mind going back to the kid that fled the moment he arrived, making a mental note to find more about him, wanting to know if it was his affiliation to the light or him being a doctor. A curious fear, one he would want to dispel at least for his person, being feared not one he was truly accustomed to.
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Post by Unter on Jun 4, 2018 11:08:51 GMT -8
Salazar nodded to Adonis praying for the others. He wasn't religious, not after what he experienced, but he respected the respect for the dead. It was a precious thing, the transition between life and death made smooth by acknowledgement. But the only thing Salazar would acknowledge here is his mission. The massive door creaked in agony as tod helped push in a mighty swing of his shoulders.
"Find the eye ? This is one enigma you need to be solving alone. I found it in one of the books I tried to open in this house. It was peculiar, so it stayed in my mind. Keep your eyes sharp."
Air swept into the house, as if it wasn't entered in a long time ago. This felt wrong, for Salazar said they were here not long ago. A great room, unfortunately completely empty, laid before the Party's eyes. A scene of battle could be observed in the middle. If you could call a massive stain of blood a scene of battle. A sword or two lay on the ground, without any masters.
A great aura of silence dropped their weight on the party's shoulders. Nothing could be heard, or seen moving. Salazar entered in the building, his boots defiling the silence. Everything in there was empty. Two doors, each on the right side and the left side, were barricaded with wood and bones. Nothing good could come from here.
Only one option was left, and that was were Salazar was heading. It was a corridor with many doors, magnificent wooden doors that belonged to a rich noble. Each and every one of them was broken, destroyed by Salazar's old party.
"Let's not linger here. We already salvaged through everything last time. Let us go deeper."
And as Salazar advanced with the torch, a new perspective on the hall came. Bones were everywhere, shattered and whole. Salazar's old party must have put one hell of a fight. But, in the distance, a rattle of bone could be heard. It wasn't a good sign.
"Bone rabble ! This filth haunts the place where they can bring more dead to raise. They will be easy to dispatch. Do it so with timely fashion. I am not here to fight."
Saying this, he caressed his knife however. Even if he probably couldn't fight back very well, he could at least try to bring down the one who would kill him.
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Post by Kidney on Jun 4, 2018 11:21:16 GMT -8
Tod listened in for a few moments, grunting as the door creaked open, and shaking his head as he walked deeper in. He saw the scene in front of him and for a moment, he was drawn to it. The idea of learning how this happened, to understand, and to exorcise the forgotten spirits. His eyes searched the room, and as he did, he heard the rabble make noise. He cracked his neck to the side, arching his back for a moment, drawing forth an iron sphere and his crucifix as his coat fell from his shoulders.
His tunic was mostly open, buttons mostly were undone, his mid-forearm up completely written on, the words going up into the sleeve, and from what Salazar could see, neck-down, he was also tattooed. But also, he could see him shake just slightly. He spoke in an ancient tongue, comparable to Latin, then spoke in English, "May Kessiah grant these lost one's peaceful death."
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Post by The Carrying Blade on Jun 4, 2018 12:04:32 GMT -8
Adonis was truly amazed, these four had put up one hell of a fight, but they had gotten through only what seemed to be a small portion of what this place held. Then came the noise and Salazar’s cry, he would not die today, pulling out his knife Adonis moved onward, stopping to watch Tod. The boy seemed strong despite the shaking of fear in himself, admirable for sure to one such as the doctor who rarely saw this type of courage. It steeped himself for what he was about to see, after all walking bones were supernatural and no doubt worse on the mind than he thought they would be.
“I’m right behind you Tod, let’s do this quickly as he said.” Adonis spoke, breathing deeply as he moved forward, knowing to draw them out now would be the best course of action. He did wonder whether the woman would participate at all, hoping she would be helpful in dispatching the incoming dead or any other foul creature or almagamation of darkness they would find.
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Post by rumsztyk on Jun 5, 2018 8:01:41 GMT -8
So the stories were true, bones were alive. Jowita managed to maintain her composure, taking a careful step forward.
"Gentlemen." A sound of a blade coming out of the scabbard, and Jowita was next to Adonis and Salazar. "Your intent is to fight with toothpicks?" She brandished her sabre, moving to face the rabble of bones.
Against an unknown enemy, she decided to wait for their approach.
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Post by Unter on Jun 5, 2018 9:44:05 GMT -8
Salazar stayed behind the armed group. He was hurt internally last time he came here, and fighting would surely weaken him to the point of death. He didn't show his weakness though. It would get him nowhere. He beseeched his fellow armsman.
"Let them feel the pain of the death they can't be allowed to be given !"
They assumed their position. Jowita was in the front, leading the group's offensive while Tod and Adonis flanked her side by side. Slowly, but surely, the skeleton rabble approached. Creaking noises, bones creaking noises came from the corridor, and they creeped into the great room. It was a group of 7 monsters, dressed in clothes that were in very bad shapes. They were of ancient designs, the relics of another time and era. They were moving really slowly, the mercenaries would be given the initiative to start the fight. They should pick their targets, knowing that even though the rabble outnumbered them, they were surely flimsy and would die quickly. The skeletons group started to spread out. 3 headed towards Jowita, one group of two creeped near Tod and the other group of two challenged Adonis.
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Post by rumsztyk on Jun 5, 2018 10:12:29 GMT -8
Even though the mere fact of their existence frightened Jowita, they were without a doubt lousy combatants. With a scoff, she pulled out her flintlock pistol and fired at the frontmost skeleton. Then calmly put away the smoking firearm and prepared for the first enemy to approach closer. Once within five metres or so, she lunged at it with rakish audacity, aiming to decapitate.
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Post by Kidney on Jun 5, 2018 11:06:38 GMT -8
Tod stood tall for a few moments, his sphere and crucifix at the ready, but as the skeletons approached, he grew weary of that stance. He took a step back, and then another. He gulped and spoke, his voice rising, "Kampf, Kampf! Cogito ergo sum!" he yelled, aiming the face of the crucifix at Adonis.
The feelings of courage and self-confidence filled Adonis, as is the nature of the spell. Adonis nearly felt invincible, lithe, loosed up, ready to fight.
Tod then looked to his skeletons again, taking one look at the nearest one, and hurling his iron sphere at center mass before rushing the other with his crucifix, meaning to hit it on the head with the horizontal bar.
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Post by The Carrying Blade on Jun 10, 2018 9:36:40 GMT -8
Adonis’s face blanched for the moment, he had seen skeletons before, laid a lot of them to rest but that was with prayers and the skeleton wasn’t alive. But now he saw just a glimpse of what would be waiting for them inside, these slow, shambling rabble posed no true threat but damnit he was still terrified by them. Until he heard Tod and in quick succession felt himself filled with a type of energy he could only call fantastic. Steeling himself against the incoming bones he dashed forward with surprising speed, mainly thanks to the spell that boosted his body.
“Back to the grave I send you!” Adonis cried as he plunged his dagger into the closest skeleton’s eye hole, but he didn’t stop there. He pushed onward with his dash, driving the blade as far as it could go, while also aiming to push the skeleton directly into the one behind it. The ferocity in his eyes was astounding, the strength in his strike more than one could hope for in this predicament, only to further enhance his attack was the spell that granted him this confidence.
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Post by Unter on Jun 10, 2018 10:38:37 GMT -8
Salazar posted himself behind Jowita. The woman impressed the old occultist. Such powerful strikes ! The pistol, aimed at the center of the skeleton, bursted with the ignition of the powder. The bullet hit the bone that formed the chest cavity. The skeleton shattered in broken bones and bone dust, and ceased to move. Without even waiting for the dust to settle, the woman slashed with her sword in the neck of the Skeleton. The head came easily, and Jowita ended her blow by riping the blade toward the spine. The skeleton broke into pieces, dieing the final death. The fight was beautiful, and Salazar wanted to cheer for Jowita. If the fight was ended, of course, which is was obviously not. One final Skeleton
It wasn't that easy for Tod or Adonis. The priest took the time to chant a prayer -Salazar wanted to cover his ears, what nonsense !-, but it seemed effective on Adonis. Tod smashed his heavy ball of steel into the first skeleton that simply shattered under the sheer weight of the beastly blow. It was odd how efficient that simple weapon was. It was almost impressive. But then, Tod over extended and tried to thrust his heavy crucifix into the last skeleton that faced him. The steel rod broke a rib, but it was inneficient. Tod's Crucifix couldn't be thrust out of the skeleton however. The faith apparatus was stuck into the bones, and only a fierce yank on it would be efficient. Stumbling a little under the blow, the creature tried to slash at Tod's with his bony hands. It missed, and only managed to tear Tod's simple clothing in the chest area.
Adonis, bolstered by Tod's spell, used an easy but efficient solution. His dagger sliced the skull appart, the unholy light into fading into darkness. He then charged into the Skeleton, and the creature fell to the ground. It tried to slash at Adonis, but failed miserably.
Now, only three skeletons remained. One was in front of Tod, with his crucifix stuck inside of him, the other was on the ground, waiting to be finished by Adonis. The last one stumbled near Jowita. It was the most dangerous, in the sense that he had a stick instead of using his hands as a weapon. It struck at Jowita's left arm, successfully. The pain would be sharp, but nothing would be broken. The skeleton was only of a limited strenght.
Salazar was itching to help them, but he knew it was useless. He would just have the time to unsheath his dagger that the others would have finished the skeletons. And with such efficiency that only Jowita suffered a minor blow. He was happy to have hired them.
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Post by Kidney on Jun 10, 2018 10:45:16 GMT -8
Tod was terrified in every essence of the word. His strike had landed true, and as the skeleton tore a hole in his tunic, if anyone were to look upon him, they would find more writing and artistry tattoed upon his body.
He yelped, turning slightly before taking his foot and kicking at the skeleton's knee, while his elbow on his left came to crack the skeleton's face. Tod didn't seem to want to yank this thing closer with his crucifix stuck.
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Post by rumsztyk on Jun 10, 2018 11:59:14 GMT -8
Jowita grunted from the pain, but it only fueled her viciousness. As the struck arm fell to her side, slightly limp, she put her body weight into a right hook that knocked the skeleton back a few steps. A forward kick of her reinforced boots crushed the ribs and sent the creature to the ground, where Jowita could easily shatter its skull with one stomp of her heel.
"No man can best me. Alive, or dead." She assumed the air of haughty nobility again, reloading her flintlock.
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