[Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

[happyturtle]

Azurelle's Room

Brand gasps at Waterstrider's unexpected angry action and scurries over near him, knives ready, with no idea of what's on the other side of the door.

[Morty]

[Hermitage]

Any traps? Wenomir asks, narrowing his eyes as he tenses up awaiting an attack.

[Shadowcaller]

Outside The Hermitage

The Cessie elemental is moving along with the others as well, keeping close to Harnel to protect him. The fire elemental doesn't actually weight much while it's unable to fly so if they happen upon the traps, it might not trigger them.

"Yes, any defenses which aren't plainly visible for the naked eye right now?" She asks.

[Earl of Purple]

Hermitage- Azurelle's Room

Inside the box are two spears. One is six feet long and glows with a slight red light. It has a worn oakwood haft and a shiny silver-plated steel leaf-shaped blade. The other is about half a foot shorter and made of a single piece of black chitin with a barbed head.

The door doesn't resist Waterstrider knocking it in. Beyond is a small chamber with two manacles bolted to the wall; one has a smaller manacle locked into it enabling a total of three different limbs be restrained. The floor has a thin layer of straw covering it, and there's a bucket in one corner. It is currently inhabited by two young human women, neither of them wearing anything beyond the manacles about their wrists. They might have bruises, but no cuts or anything of that nature- Azurelle heals those with her special potions.

Hermitage- Opposite The Gate

"Fliersz usze path too. Top hatch locked till beesz wake up. No trapsz. Trap door szpidersz sztop thosze not uszingk the path. Want me szhow you one?" The ettercap doesn't wait for an answer, turning around and chittering like Mr. Squiggles. A disc of earth raises itself up as a ten-foot-wide spider climbs out of its hole and chitters back.

What the ettercap doesn't know, and therefore can't inform people about, is that the large gates are heavily warded. There's a smaller gate set into the larger which is locked, barred, and which doesn't affect the spell on the larger gate, but it's night time, which means a ward has been placed on it as well. The walls are similarly defended.

Underside Temple

"You didn't see out of the caravan, did you? These tunnels go on for miles. Some do reach the surface, but the only route I knew outside this Temple was blocked last year by a cave in, although I never used it myself. A svirfneblin told me it was a rough journey of about eighteen days, featuring a narrow rock bridge over a magma pool and a leaky aquifer." The Temple is located about ten to fifteen miles below ground. Also, Sylvia might note use of the phrase 'outside this Temple'.

[happyturtle]

Hermitage - Azurelle's Room

Brand sees the captives in the other room, and rushes in. He's the one with the charm ring, after all. "Please don't be afraid. We're enemies of the cult, and we're here to free you," he says. The ring should help make him sound more convincing. "Justin, get some clothes, and the keys."

[Shadowcaller]

[Outside the Dalachrech temple in Inside]

An invisible presence curiously approaches the temple and starts to wait right next to the door for it to open so it may quickly sneak inside. Of course, if this don't happen after a while it will get the muchies and sneak away again.

[The Alexandrian]

[Underside Temple]

Yep! That phrase is quite the giveaway that attached to this temple is an obscured passage leading up to the surface world and the sunlight. It is very peculiar, though, that one would opportunely happen to exist, seeing as Charynrae never has visited topside even once before, or so she claims.

"Why not take that path, then? The one that doesssn't lead over the magma pool and leaky aqui-aqui- thingy. The one that isssn't outssside thisss temple?"

'Tis a very appropriate question, I think.

-------
[Hermitage - Azurelle's Chamber]

Eek! Light! Upon Waterstrider forcing the door from its hinges with vast amounts of his unearthly strength, the one of the occupants of the chamber averts her eyes from the flood of light. Being in the dark for hours, perhaps a day or so, on end makes one's eyes rather light-sensitive, and the overwhelming brightness is too much for her to bear directly.

She's the conscious one. The other is passed out cold, from nothing less than complete exhaustion by the look of her. At least she's still breathing, I think. Both of their wrists are discolored thanks to contusions from being bound within the manacles for so long without even a merciful minute's reprieve.

The two fair skinned girls appear to be terribly young, not yet matured out of their teenage years and in hideously poor shape to boot. Both are skinny with matching golden locks which descend down to their necks and sapphire blue eyes that presumably match as well. At a glance, the heroes should be able to identify the pair as two of a set, twins or perhaps triplets as their uncanny resemblance would lead one to infer.

Neither of the two vocally respond to Brand's persuasive speech, one for reasons that need not be spoken and the other for her temporary blindness and wincing, as though bracing herself to be struck.

That may be nothing more than a reflex, given the lifetime of suffering these two have endured.

-------
[Hermitage - Percival's Quarters]

"Ahhh!"

Eericka shrieks as the pokemon tastes her hand, frantically attempting to wrench it out of its grasp with as much celerity and dexterity as she can muster, and nearly throwing herself from her stool in the process. There is the look of sheer terror inscribed upon her face as she bolts off of her seat and attempts to take shelter behind her kind-hearted master and stares down at her hand, only to find that it...

It wasn't bitten.

Now Eericka feels really bad about misjudging the pokemon's intentions. She's just... She's never even seen a normal animal before, apart from the mount pulling Percival's carriage when he purchased her.

"It..."

"It didn't actually bite me."

Eericka sighs sheepishly, more relieved and apologetic than anything else.

[OrchestraHc]

Azurelle's room

Justin doesn't need to be told twice. First he'll grab some of the dresses from the wardrobe, then try the keys on their shackles. If that doesn't work, he'll pick the locks himself if he has to. "We'll get you out of here," he adds to be reassuring. "I've got experience with this sort of thing." Said experience does not include giant bugs, dark gods, or magic, but he did say sort of.

[Murkus]

[Hermitage - Percival's Quarters]

Percival looks about ready to reprimand the creature, gift from Dalachrech or not. Eericka needs her fingers! Still, he can't help but laugh a little as she scrambles to hide from the pocket monster.

"Oh, no?" Percy looks at her very intact hand. He straightens before peering down at Durant. If he didn't know better, Percy would say the little insect looks amused. "It still seems to like the taste of you. I would be careful." Eericka may or may not be able to tell that's a joke. Are jokes one of things she happens to understand?

[Morty]

[Hermitage- Opposite The Gate]

Wenomir narrows his eyes. Quite the security they have here...
Alright. Lead us through here so that the spiders don't attack us.

[UncleWolf]

Azurelle's Chamber

Waterstrider moves out of Justin's way and looks for something solid and heavy that he could possibly lift with one paw. If Justin couldn't get any of the locks open, he'd gladly smash them apart.

[Earl of Purple]

Hermitage- Azurelle's Room

Some of the cheaper-looking (though still expensive) dresses were designed for the triplets to wear. Justin may be surprised at how chaste they are, too- very little is exposed between neck and knees. The ones Azurelle wears are much more revealing. The key which didn't fit the spear-case does fit the manacles, so that's easy to do.

Waterstrider might note the two spears from under Azurelle's bed. One is made of a single piece of chitin with a barbed end, the other glows red but is made of wood and silver-plated steel. Both are magical. Alternately, there's several whips and knives on the chest at the foot of the bed, although those, whilst designed to be used on people, weren't designed for weapons. Also the bed's a four-poster, should Waterstrider want to pull a post off and use that as a club. And I seem to recall Justin giving him a gun.

Underside Temple

"It's an escape passage, should ever I need one. It goes through solid rock in a spiral about thirty miles long, connecting to the other Temples of Dalachrech. I've only used it the once, and that was to remove somebody whom I had bought as a slave but whose connections were... Dangerous. It was dug by giant rock worms, and I don't know where they went so they may still be up there." But they might have moved on! Besides, they're rock worms, so surely they eat rock like earthworms eat earth.

Inside Temple

The door is opened as two men exit. One human, one gnome. The gnome is wearing very vibrant colours, whilst the human is dressed in chainmail and a tabard. The invisible observer might want to use that opportunity to enter the Temple. Oh, and the human has a pouch and a magic club at his side, and the gnome has many pockets.

[happyturtle]

Hermitage - Azurelle's Room

Brand will help with undoing the manacles and putting clothing on the twins, including the unconscious one, and then will take some food and water out of his pack for them. "We need to move quickly. Is your sister injured or just exhausted?" he asks the conscious one.

[The Alexandrian]

[Hermitage of Dalachrech - Percival's Quarters]

It would seem not. Eericka is immune to the unpredictable effects of such subtle witticisms, puns, and hilarity in general. Humor was not a field she was trained in and few slaves had the cheer or courage to circulate rumors and jests among the others. Eericka wasn't bred for jokes, and her voice quivers as she answers her master.

"You think it wants to eat me?"

Eericka stares up at Percival, her glassy eyes filled with pure terror and despair. She genuinely feels as though her life has been endangered by Percival's words. It isn't that she fears the adorable little creature before her, she fears her master's response to what she believes is his fallacious observation.

She hopes he wouldn't so much as entertain the notion of testing Durant to determine whether he does enjoy the flavor of Eericka's flesh!

-------
[Hermitage - Azurelle's Room]

Dressing the slaves won't be much of a problem at all. Object is far too shocked to protest or resist, not that she would (or would be able to) anyway after her manacles are unlocked. Slave hasn't awoken naturally yet, and more drastic means may be required to rouse her.

"My...my sister will be fine. We haven't slept in days for fear of Mistress Azurelle...and what she has done to our other sister."

Object whispers in a weak voice, made slightly raspy from minor dehydration.

"Th-thank you for your mercy, master."

Object speaks. She's having a bit of a problem walking at first, dizzy from standing so quickly. If Waterstrider is within arm's length, she'll attempt to hug him for a moment to steady herself.

Wait, master?

-------
[Underside Temple]

Sylvia is more than simply puzzled. How could anyone fear slimy, feeble worms? And then there's the question of why should she steer clear of them if she is truly one of Dalachrech's chosen? Isn't he the god of Pokemon! insects and whatnot? Sylvia doesn't comprehend...

"And thessse creaturesss would deter you how? They are thingsss normally ssstepped on, yesss? Wormsss are usssed to catch fisssh as I know them. Are they ssspecial to Dalachrech in sssome way?"

Oh god. These are Penumbra style worms, aren't they?

[Murkus]

Percival's Room

"Well, we could always find out. I'd need a piece of you, though," Percival looms over her with a smile, looking rather terrifying. Percival doesn't seem to understand how dire Eericka's fear of this possibility is, given that he's attempting to frighten her further for his own amusement.

[OrchestraHc]

Azurelle's Room

Then the shackles come off easily enough. Justin can faintly be heard muttering something about the "exploding kind."

"Brand, you tell her something about the master, thing." He then checks on the down girl. He's no medical expert but he can check if she's breathing and has a pulse. "Hey, uh, sweetie. Wakey wakey," he says to her softly, "We've got food."

[UncleWolf]

Azurelle's Room

Waterstrider finds the spears, but he avoids them. Like most animals, Wolfen are able to vaguely "sense" magic or anything that's unnatural. Instead, he breaks off a corner of the bed and returns to the closet just in time to get hugged. He's startled by it, but he wraps an arm around the slave to comfort her as he grips the bedpost tightly in his other paw. Those in the room will see a translucent blue "phantom" paw at the end of his wrist, where he lost his left paw.

Brand will know that it means he's likely close to raging at the moment, especially when tied together with his fallen ears and raised fur.

[Earl of Purple]

Hermitage- Azurelle's Room

The centipede's left from outside the room, if anybody was wondering.

Underside Temple

"I suppose you could step on a rock worm, but if it notices it'll make it angry. If we see them I'll be able to convince them not to eat us, but they prefer to hide beneath the floor of a cavern and ambushing anybody that walks over where they lurk." I'm not familiar with Penumbra, but if the worms within it are twenty to thirty feet long, covered in an exoskeleton of granite and eat rock supplemented by flesh, then yes.

[happyturtle]

Azurelle's Room

Brand thinks of saying that it would be a lot easier just to let the girls think of them as masters to be obeyed, but then he sees Waterstrider close to losing it. If they call him 'Master' again...

"You aren't slaves any more. As soon as we get you out of here, you'll be free," He says to Object. "Please don't call any of us 'Master.'" he begs, as he hands her his waterskin.

"We have more to rescue," he reminds Waterstrider.

[iElf]

Mel will endure the torture...barely . she looks blank and passive though, as if she was merely ignoring the pain for now. it would most definitely present it's bill later....

[The Alexandrian]

[Percival's Quarters]

How cruel! Frightening a poor, abused slave-child for one's own entertainment! That's a heartless thing to do, Percival! So heartless that Eericka snaps out of her despair and a chastising glow manifests behind her fear-filled eyes.

Most people have a fight or flight mechanism built into them when they face an assailant they believe is willing to take their life at the drop of a hat. Eericka is backed into a corner here. There's no place to run or hide. She's bound to fight like a wild animal if provoked much more.

As is, she takes a step back, her gaze no longer focused on Percival's eyes, drifting down to evaluate the patches of clothing right around where his solar plexus would be were he wholly human. Looks like Eericka might know something about the pressure points of the human body.

"Let's not be so hasty now, master. There's no point in spilling blood on a wild goose chase that has more of a chance leading to nothing than something."

Percy might also note that she didn't use the phrase "my blood" as might've been expected.

-------
[Azurelle's Chamber]

Justin will be able to tell right off that the downed girl is breathing lightly, but not light enough to cause any problems with the buffers in the bloodstream which would lead to hypercapnia or hypoventilation. Her pulse is strong and regular, right on par with that of an unhealthy teenager of her same age. She doesn't respond to his quiet and gentle voice. Something more will be required to wake her.

Object on the other hand appears to be increasingly confused as time goes by after the word "free" is uttered in the conversation. She's never heard the word before and the concept is completely foreign to her. The group might start to get the notion that this slave was born in captivity.

"Then what am I to call you, and what am I to be called?"

Object questions. Her new masters surely have names and titles that they want to be known by if they do not appreciate the word "master."

Object will attempt to take a deep draught of water from Brand's waterskin before trying to hand it back to him with a soft and servile,

"Thank you."

She barely stops herself from letting the word "master" slip into her conversation again.

She also might no longer be hugging Waterstrider at this point.

-------
[Underside Temple]

Woah! Those worms sound way worse than the Penumbra worms of doom, death, disgusting, and oh god!

Hmm... Getting through that cave might be a major problem if that is indeed the case.

Well, it would be a serious problem if it weren't for something along the lines of exactly what Sylvia was waiting for to let Charynrae in on a well-hidden secret.

"Thessse wormsss mussst caussse vibrationsss as they move through rock formationsss, right? We can ussse that to ssspot where they are before they sssee usss!"

[Earl of Purple]

Riverside Temple

Azurelle will chain Despair/Wussy's hands above her head, kicking her clothes to one side. As she does so, she's looking at Mel'ara. "I want you to be aware, Mel'ara, that Toy has never done this before. She shows talent, though. I'll heal you in a minute and torture you myself. Kail, your training will include lessons with the spear, sword, dagger, and a fourth weapon you choose, how to brew and apply poisons, riding lessons and lessons on both torture techniques and resisting torture and coping with pain. At the moment, the only things I'm prepared to teach you are torture techniques, poison brewing and applying and, if you feel up to it, the weapons. Now, I'd like to see these runes of yours. Though, first, I'd like to know if they can be healed." As she speaks, Azurelle starts stroking Despair/Wussy's wings, testing their tenderness.

Underside Temple

"If they aren't resting, yes. If they are resting, they'll sense our footfalls and we won't know where they are till they start attacking." Charynrae will run her hand down Sylvia's back, and possibly squeeze when it reaches its destination.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Riverside Temple]

Despair's wings are surprisingly resilient and not terribly sensitive, the bare skin at the edge more so than the central portions, though she does seem to enjoy having them stroked. Of course, the fairly complex half-real portion of Despair's body might not be the best place for Azurelle to test those runes, assuming she wants to be able to repair her new slave...

[OrchestraHc]

Azurelle's room

Justin is too busy to notice a ghost paw. Or Waterstrider's emotional state, unless he says something. Brand can handle introductions too, he supposes.
Okay, not working. "Brand, can I borrow your water?" If he gets the waterskin, he'll poor a little on her forehead and eyes. If she wakes up, the waterskin will be waiting for her.

[UncleWolf]

Azurelle's Room

Waterstrider grits his fangs before forcing himself to settle down. He gives Brand a short nod as the slave lets go of him. He doesn't have anything to add, so goes to the door and listens for outsiders.

[happyturtle]

Hermitage - Azurelle's Room

Brand hands over his water bottle. He hesitates a moment before giving out names, but Elizebethele already knew Justin's. "My name is Brand. The human is Justin, and the Wolfen is Waterstrider. What are your names?"

[The Alexandrian]

[Riverside Temple]

And by that you mean when Mel decides to beat Toy up?

Toy quits torturing Mel for now, instead heading back over to the weapons rack and stowing the dull knife she found upon it. It would appear as though she is studying the design, specifically the edge, of the majority of the other unpleasant blades stored here. She's ever so slowly figuring out what supplies it would take to form her own.

Once that's done, she turns to watch the spectacular experiment that she finds revolting and abhorrent to her every sense. Out of the corner of her eye, she surveys or at least tries to survey Kail, memorizing her every feature down to the letter if she can.

-------
[Underside Temple]

That's not what I would call an easy problem to fix. The infested passage is the only route leading up to the surface that they are aware of, though, and trusting strangers down here would be a mistake like no other. There must be a way. Where there's a will, there is always a way. The solution to this problem must lie somewhere, but where?

Charynrae's pinch earns a yip from Sylvia, who didn't expect that action to be taken at all. In response, she attempts to rub the side of her head against Charynrae's torso.

"Can you cassst any ssspellsss that could heat rock up? We could make the rock uncomfortably warm and force them to beat a hasssty retreat!"

Or kill them outright so they don't constantly need to check for dozens of rock worms whenever they make use of the connecting passages.

It might also be worth a shot extracting all of one of the monster's glands to learn how to exert some measure of control over them.

-------
[Azurelle's Chamber]

Slave jolts upwards as the cool, refreshing water is applied to her face! Looks like that plan proceeded without a hitch!

She's obviously terrified at first, finding herself surrounded by weird people she's never espied before in her entire lifetime. In a panic, her head twists from side to side until she she recognizes her sister among these newcomers. Observing that her sister is dressed, she takes inventory of herself only to discover that she is dressed as well.

Hesitantly, she accepts the water Justin offers her and takes a swig. Her sister seems to trust them, but can she?

Object, on the other hand, meekly turns to stare at the ground as she answers Brand.

"My name is whatever my owners want. My last, Mistress Azurelle, called me Object and my sister Slave."

Object glances over her shoulder, as though she were craning her head over to read fine print directly behind her.

Everyone who helped dress the slaves might have noticed that these words, "Object" and "Slave" were carved into the flesh around the shoulders of the bearer of the name. A revolting practice, but effectual in setting them apart from one another.

And I forgot to mention that earlier. >.> Sorry.

[Earl of Purple]

Hermitage- Azurelle's Room

There is no centipedes outside the room, nor does it sound as though one is approaching.

Underside Temple

"Yes, but they are pretty impervious to heat, and the Temple is very flammable. What I can do, though, is send a quasit up to scout the tunnels; it's possible that they've left and burrowed to somewhere with richer pickings." Or she could use One or Two for the same purpose, but they won't be coming back afterwards.

[OrchestraHc]

Azurelle's room

"Note to self, kill Azurelle. Painfully," he says, angrily. "Ill bet Mine is the same as them." That was his name, so he didn't even think of it. It was so friggin obvious too! He has to force himself to calm down. "Well then girls, you don't have masters anymore, so come up with some cute names then tell us." He tried to help Slave stand. "We have to go to the rest of the slaves so can you sneak quietly with us?"

[Murkus]

Percival's Quarters

Percival takes note of much more than that. This girl, for a poor abused slave child, has a fair bit of backbone. Rather than looming, the demonazi straightens to his full height and regards Eericka curiously, head cocked to one side. He folds his hands behind his back and smirks at the slave. "I was joking, Eericka." He arches an eyebrow at her. "You talk like a soldier."