[Nexus] Temples of Dalachrech I

[Murkus]

Hermitage - Corridors

The heat required to kill Percival would most likely turn any other living thing in the immediate vicinity to ashes. Including Wenomir. So for now, let us say he is unharmed.

The elemental makes the right choice, using physical damage rather than heat. It spears a pair of the creatures on its talons, their blood beginning to boil from inside out. However, this does little to stem the small tide of horrors that has consumed Percival's body. Wenomir kills one after another, but the large dog-like thing leaps backwards, waiting for it's lesser brothers to attack the warrior and bring him down. They likely drive him back toward the wall, sneaking in between swings, leaping for his hands, his eyes, his neck.

In the heat of the fight, one creature - hardly a creature at all, some sort of walking hand - begins to scurry off down the hallway. Unless stopped, it will quickly disappear.

[Morty]

Wenomir decides not to allow himself to be driven up the wall and tries to press the offensive. He spins in a pirouette, momentarily disengaging himself from the swarm of little monsters, snatches a dagger from his belt and throws it at the dog-like monster. The dagger is made of adamantine and he uses his glove's function to multiply the force behind the throw.

[Shadowcaller]

Hermitage - Corridors

Deciding to try a new tactic the elemental simply puts itself above Percivals body as the big mass of fire it is while it's countless arms still reach out to free the demon hunters from the smaller demons.

The part which sneaks away is missed by it however.

[Earl of Purple]

Hermitage- Escape 16 centipedes

Justin is successful in killing the centipede, and the blaster wasn't loud enough to alert anything. Unless there's another centipede around the next corner.... Which there isn't. I'm not that cruel (mostly).

The slaves are quite willing to be herded, passively trying not to anger the people around them to avoid punishment.

Hermitage- Chaos!

The altar room is quite large, and the long walls are carved with ornate murals depicting various invertebrates. The short walls are the one behind them with two doors in it (one into a side chamber, one back into the main hallway) and the wall behind the altar. The altar itself is a two-metre-long slab of solid-looking stone with two arching scorpion tail-shaped protrusions on each end. One has gleaming silver manacles built into it, and the other is worn from where chained wrists have been looped over it many times. Next to the end with the manacles sits a glass vivarium with two centimetres of sediment in the bottom and home to countless beetle grubs. Along each side are rows of pews, each column happily able to seat one hundred. The ends of the pews have been carved to resemble rearing snails, with the snails facing down the centre aisle. Speaking of the centre aisle, a red mosaic is worked into the floor showing a large centipede that appears to move towards the altar should one walk towards it.

A metre or so down the centre aisle rests the intangible, invisible, magical trigger for an inaudible alarm that will awaken Elezibethele.

Hermitage- Elezibethele's Room

Elezibethele has yet to awaken.

Underside Temple

"Yes, I am a bit peckish. Go to the kitchen and grab a can of... Well, it doesn't matter too much what you choose, but take two. And something for yourself, of course. Oh, and the tin-opener. It should be opposite the knife cupboard. Quickly, now." Charynrae sounds calm, but urgent. She's also trying her hardest not to look at Sylvia.

Oh, dear.

[Murkus]

Hermitage - Corridors

The hand escapes, then! And the demons are not so easily defeated - some simply avoid the elemental's arms, while others are unharmed. I assume the Elemental has a limited amount of fire and energy to call upon. Spreading itself so thin, the arms kill fewer of the remaining host. However, that isn't to say her attack is entirely ineffective. A few of the lesser beasts are killed instantly.

Speaking of killed instantly, Wenomir's dagger strikes true, burying itself in the creature's chest and sending it careening down the stone stairs. But the dagger-throw leaves Wenomir wide open - and that pirouette gave him little breathing room. The warrior may find himself surrounded, and once again, the horrors of Hell throw themselves upon him. Anything to get that horrid sword out of his hand, or take those demon's eyes. Such things shouldn't belong to a mortal man.

Elezibethele's Room

The high priestess may be woken by a heavy banging upon her door. Desperate and swift.

"Lady, we must go! The hermitage is under attack!"

[Morty]

[Hermitage - Corridors]

It's not the first time by far Wenomir is surrounded with a large group of small, ferocious monsters. The demons of his homeland often used such methods, if only because a blind attack was the only tactics they ever used. And the longer he fights and the more he concentrates, the quicker and more predise he gets - even though he's bleeding from quite a few wounds, he recalls the battle-trance he used to fall into in the old days.
The demonunter begins a routine of wide, fast slashes all around him, intending to keep the demons at bay. As he does so, he steps forward, trying to force the demons on the defensive for a change, instead of letting them swarm him. He helps himself by using his legs, trying to kick the monters off him as well as slashing them with his blade.

[Shadowcaller]

Hermitage - Corridors

While there is a limit to how thin the elemental can spread itself fire is by far Cessie's strongest element so the being can at least have twenty strong arms which without spreading itself too thinly.

We should probably speed this up a bit as it feels like my latest posts have been saying pretty much the same thing. <.<

[Murkus]

Hermitage - Corridors

Same for mine. They seemed to have no effect, as I hadn't been aware Wenomir was being wounded, so I kept up the same action. Otherwise something might've changed. This would've been the last either way.

Wenomir destroys demon upon demon, having regained his repose. Several fall by his blade, shortly before he'll watch Cessie's elemental impale the final few on its claws. Twenty arms is far too many to handle.

The hallway stinks of bile and blood and worse things. Nearly every surface around the Watchmen has been painted an inky black. Wenomir, as usual, will likely find his armor in the same condition.

[Morty]

[Hermitage - Corridors]

Goddammit, Wenomir growls. I hope this **** won't eat through the metal. Anyway, we need to keep going and find the high priestess' room, and it would be good to meet up with the inside party too.

[OrchestraHc]

Hermitage- Escape 16 centipedes

Justin is successful in killing the centipede, and the blaster wasn't loud enough to alert anything. Unless there's another centipede around the next corner.... Which there isn't. I'm not that cruel (mostly).

The slaves are quite willing to be herded, passively trying not to anger the people around them to avoid punishment.

Hermitage - Escape

Nice as that is, Justin doesn't quite know that. He believed it to be an acceptable risk at the time, sneaking behind the bug with such a large crowd being a stupid plan and waiting only putting them at risk of further discovery, but the blast that wasn't "too loud" sounded like a bomb in the silence that fell afterward. When he starts the party moving again he picks up the pace a bit, still trying to keep quiet.

He continues to hold his blaster, unwilling to put it away now that it's been drawn.

[happyturtle]

Hermitage Escape

Brand and Waterstrider continue slave herding. How many posts (or centipedes) until they pass Elizabethele's door?

[Shadowcaller]

[Hermitage - Corridors]

"Not sure we even killed it, but yeah. Let's continue and hope we don't meet more of it's kind on the way there." The elemental replies once it have returned to it's humanoid Cessie-shape.

Watch to blondie, we meet some resistance in the form of a spirit but we managed to defeat it. Are you still heading towards Elizabeth's room?

[Morty]

[Hermitage - Corridors]

Wenomir resumes heading for the high priestess' room.

[The Alexandrian]

[Underside Temple]

Uh-oh! This is not good! Not good at all! There is nothing redeemable about this situation! There is no solace to be had in it!

But it is dubious at best that Sylvia fully understands Charynrae's drider mentality, cravings, or urges. It is equally likely that even that were not true, Sylvia would be of the persuasion that the benefits of curtains plainly outweigh the risks.

As things stand, Sylvia isn't sure what to make of Charynrae's reaction to her proposition to procure some snacks for the both of them. It is...utterly unforeseen, to say the least.

Well, Sylvia supposes that Charynrae is simply really, really hungry today and isn't looking at her because there's something more interesting in the other direction. Perhaps an apparition of a backstabbed family member has caught her eye and has signaled that is desires a private conversation with her?

Might as well do what she says without delay and scamper out of earshot, then.

"Okay, Charynrae."

Sylvia replies before slithering out of the room to grab some canned rations.

She'll return to Charynrae's cocoon in around two minutes bearing three open cans of foodstuff. She'll have selected whatever was in the pantry that sounded like it'd be high in protein content because she's discovered that the metal which was labeled with shapes similar to those contained something yummy more often than not.

[Earl of Purple]

Hermitage- Elezibethele's Room

Elezibethele hears the banging on her door and wakes up, jumping out of bed. She'll wake Mine as quickly as she can- this is urgent, so she can't afford to be gentle but nor does she have time enough to be too cruel. "Mine, wake up. We're under attack, and I need your help." She'll go to the wardrobe and take out a suit of chainmail and padded under-armour and start pulling the under-armour on as she directs Mine to help her put it on.

Underside Temple

It's mostly canned fruit, but there's some tins of ravioli as well. The fruit's likely tastier cold, as ravioli should be cooked. It's sealed, so it's fine to eat, but far nicer when it's been prepared properly.

When Sylvia returns, Charynrae will smile and dive in to whatever tinned food Sylvia chose for her, uncaring as to what it is nor how it should be prepared.

[Earl of Purple]

Hermitage- Outside Elezibethele's Room

This is where Wenomir, Cessie, Justin, Waterstrider and Brand meet within the Hermitage, arriving from opposite directions at approximately the same time.

Elezibethele's door is large, thick and made of several wooden layers bolted together with large, iron studs. A plaque depicts the two-tailed scorpion of Dalachrech above a winged elf-rune for E- Elezibethele's personal mark. Outside is one of Percy's hands, and the wall around it is thick stone. Opposite is a large tapestry showing Dalachrech's personal chamber- a vast room of earth filled with giant termites, ants, wasps and bees. In the middle is a great plinth with a four-armed insect-person and an ant-like centauroid creature flanking it. On the plinth is a massive centipede-like creature with three scorpion tails at one end and the head of a beetle with great mandibles flanked by a pair of forelimbs resembling those of a praying mantis at the other. Surrounding the plinth are statues of humanoids in identical suits of armour- one is identifiable as Terrowin, but behind it is a larger statue of an elf-lady in the armour suit of the High Priest.

There is no sign of a guard outside, though the walls have been magically strengthened and the door is warded.

[happyturtle]

Hermitage- Outside Elezibethele's Room

"Praise Yavanna," Brand breathes when he sees Cessie and Wenomir. They will see Justin, Brand holding two cooking knives, Waterstrider, and 6(?) slaves, mostly naked. The two women are dressed at least, having been rescued from Azurelle's quarters. "There is one slave in this room and two unaccounted for. They haven't been seen by the other slaves recently, so we don't even know if they're still alive."

[The Alexandrian]

[Hermitage - Elezibethele's Room]

Mine isn't all that challenging to rouse from his slumber. He's a light sleeper under normal conditions. He's a bit disoriented when he comes to. It takes him but a moment to recognize his surroundings.

Mine would be quite glad to awaken to these conditions, were he not being urged to assist Elezibethele in preparing for lethal combat and all.

Mine hops to his feet and works diligently to help Elezibethele effectively, efficiently, and rapidly!

-------
[Underside Temple]

Sylvia tilts her head to the side as she silently gazes at Charynrae, pondering her newfound dininng habits. She's never seen Charynrae quite so ravenous as this before. She considers something for a moment before quietly taking a bite of her own meal.

Sylvia suspects that something is off here. Something is strange, more likely than not. She intends to bring the cause of Charynrae's behavior to light.

After Charynrae quits feeding, that is.

[OrchestraHc]

Hermitage- Outside Elezibethele's Room

Closer than I thought apparently, Justin thinks through the link. "I don't suppose after we get this last one you can just magic us out-Hand." Nothing escapes his discerning eye, does it? He points his blaster directly at the disembodied hand. "Can somebody kill that please?" he says backing away carefully. He's only not firing immediately to not risk shooting through the hand and hitting the Watchmen.

[Morty]

[Hermitage- Outside Elezibethele's Room]

Wenomir tries to run the hand through with his sword as he speaks. It should be noted he's covered in black blood.
Good. We need to get in there, find the slave, find out where the others are, and take the high priestess with us. She needs to answer for what they've been doing here. Harnel and DC are making a huge mess downstairs.

[UncleWolf]

Hermitage - Outside Elezibethele's Room

"We still need to get these slaves out first." Waterstrider tells them. "Is the way behind you clear?" He asks.

[Shadowcaller]

Hermitage- Outside Elezibethele's Room

"Sadly I can't do much 'magic' in this form." The elemental replies. "This is just me assuming direct control over an elemental I summoned." She explains. "The way behind us should be clear, but there might still be cultists running around. Should I escort you out?"

[Earl of Purple]

Hermitage of Dalachrech- Inside Elezibethele's Room

"Take a box out from under my bed and fetch it here. Quickly, now." Elezibethele is quite urgent.

Hermitage of Dalachrech- Outside Elezibethele's Room

I made a mistake here, sorry! But the hand is Murkus's, so I can't decide what it does next.

Underside Temple

"That was perfect, thank you Sylvia." Charynrae turns and smiles at Sylvia, looking at her and running her eyes over her body lovingly.

[Halae]

Hermitage- Chaos!

The altar room is quite large, and the long walls are carved with ornate murals depicting various invertebrates. The short walls are the one behind them with two doors in it (one into a side chamber, one back into the main hallway) and the wall behind the altar. The altar itself is a two-metre-long slab of solid-looking stone with two arching scorpion tail-shaped protrusions on each end. One has gleaming silver manacles built into it, and the other is worn from where chained wrists have been looped over it many times. Next to the end with the manacles sits a glass vivarium with two centimetres of sediment in the bottom and home to countless beetle grubs. Along each side are rows of pews, each column happily able to seat one hundred. The ends of the pews have been carved to resemble rearing snails, with the snails facing down the centre aisle. Speaking of the centre aisle, a red mosaic is worked into the floor showing a large centipede that appears to move towards the altar should one walk towards it.

A metre or so down the centre aisle rests the intangible, invisible, magical trigger for an inaudible alarm that will awaken Elezibethele.

[Hermitage - Chaos]

Elezibethele will likely be awakened then, as Harnel steps forward, starting to set fire to the pews with his breath. If he makes it all the way across the chamber without anything stopping him, he'll even cut the altar in two with his sword. Straight through the statue of the two-tailed scorpion as well.

[Darkcomet]

[Hermitage-Chaos]

DC, for his part, is watching the door while Harnel wrecks everything. Getting ambushed just wouldn't do.

[Earl of Purple]

Hermitage- Chaos!

Harnel burns the pews and smashes the altar! Though, there's no statue of a two-tailed scorpion- it's the altar that has the tails as protrusions which anchor sentient sacrifices.

As the altar is smashed, the beetle grubs in the vivarium start to come out, half of them heading towards DC, the other half towards Harnel. They aren't going as a swarm; they're going as individuals, each on its own, unique path to prevent them making a large target which is both easy to hit and notice. The ones that head towards Harnel reach him first, and attempt to crawl over his scales, looking for a weak point where they can burrow into his flesh.

Unless DC is floating again, when they reach him next post in this location, they'll try to do the same.

[Halae]

[Hermitage - Chaos]

Unless the grubs can start climbing, they won't find any place to start digging in on Harnel. Whether or not they do, he inhales deeply and breathes fire over a wide area, likely catching a large amount of the grubs in his breath. Bunched up or not, they have targets, and Harnel is working with that.

[Darkcomet]

[Hermitage-Chaos]

DC glances back as Harnel starts burning things and immediately sees why. The psychic floats up a bit to avoid the grubs, raising a hand in their direction and attempting to psychokinetically push more of them into Harnel's flame attack.

[Morty]

((Since it turns out the hand isn't there...))

[Hermitage of Dalachrech- Outside Elezibethele's Room]

The way behind us should be clear, yes, Wenomir says. DC and Harnel should have most of the enemy attention, too.

[OrchestraHc]

Hermitage- Outside Elezibethele's Room

"Sadly I can't do much 'magic' in this form." The elemental replies. "This is just me assuming direct control over an elemental I summoned." She explains. "The way behind us should be clear, but there might still be cultists running around. Should I escort you out?"

Hermitage- Outside Elezibethele's Room

"Yes," Justin says rather quickly. Having a party member immune to bug bites was too good to pass up. Of course, it's inconvenient to the sword guy. "If you can handle going it alone," he tells Wenomir. "Either way, we should move. Waiting in front of the bosses bedroom is a stupid idea." Justin moves past the Watchtower duo, signalling the slaves to move.