Island's Heart (Completed)

Remy looked at Bref's trembling lips for a moment, until it dawned on him what exactly the man had been laughing at. Disgust filled him, and for the first time since he knew Bref Heartwood, his opinion of the man dropped quite a bit, that he had the urge to laugh at someone in need like that.
"Actually help him Heartwood. Lift the rock with Keone so I can drag him out, while the others stand guard so we're not ambushed. If the strongest of us can hold the rocks even for a moment, I can get him out. Even if he's bleeding heavily, we can't treat him if he's stuck in there. The glyphs and pictures can be dealt with later, as this Collian is DYING." Remy called to the Silvan, his voice flat and without mirth.
Remy using Bref's last name with such disdain in his voice was a clear sign of what he thought of this man. When he called him Bref, it was a sign of respect and closeness, but the cold use of his last name spoke of a need to distance himself from a man who thought that a being who was hurt and trapped was funny to look at. He then crouched next to the rocks to try and get at the Collian inside, knowing if they gave him a little hole, he had the best chance of getting through it.
 
@Elvario @slifer

The collian weakly reached a small hand, dirty and bloodied, to take the supplies given to him. He did not have the strength or the coordination to properly bandage himself, but he started chomping weakly on the bitter herbs. His face winced from the taste and then faded with the effort making him more weary. He stopped speaking and moaned quietly as he waited for his fate.

Remy did not yet have a hole large enough to squeeze into to get at the fellow collian. The space the collian resided in was barely big enough for him, much less Remy. Perhaps if he had some help creating space, he would better reach in and assist the Collian as they worked out a way to fully free him.
 
Bref Heartwood

The Silvan heard Keone ask to lend a hand, sheathing his weapons he nodded as he moved on over to the rubble. " Aye, I can do that. " Bref then pulled a small knapsack from his coat. Tossing it on the ground in front of Remy, taking his equipment off including his cannon and shield. " Here. There's medicine and other things that should help the Collian. " Bref knelt down all four of his hands slid under rocks, using his strength and four arms, he lifted rock by rock, tossing them to the side, mineral by mineral. Eventually enough rocks were lifted off the Collian and they were able to pull him out.

Bref stared at Remy upon hearing his comment, when the Collian was pulled out, Bref picked up his equipment, reloading his cannon and placing it on his shoulder then his shield on the other. He knelt down beside the Collian as Remy began to work on the Collian, making sure he was okay with the medicine he provided. He could care less what Remy thought of him. " Aye, Collian. " Bref started. " What happened here, were is the rest of your team at? " Bref asked. They were sitting ducks out here, Bref pulled out one of his pistols in case they were attacked. Those ape like beasts could be back, they could be stalking them right now for all they knew.

Mentions: @Elvario @slifer
 
@The Last Curse

Alfred takes in a deep breath at Keone's words before nodding and moving down the corridor. His torch in one hand and sword in the other, he took measured and cautious steps as he squinted into the darkness. He looked back at Julius with a frown beneath his mask.

"Wanna see if there's any monsters down here? If there are we should be more than enough to take them, what with our durable armor and experienced fighting skills."
 

Before taking a glance at the injured Collian, Julius exchanged a quick nod to Keone. "Sure, We'll go and have a look. Maybe we'll find the rest of the Collians down there." Then he turned over to Alfred and flashed a thumbs-up in his direction, "Ya damn right, we can mate!" Julius exclaimed with a brief chuckle, "But let's not get too rowdy. If those monsters left that poor lad as bait, we might be headin' head-first into an ambush." Using a free hand, Julius pointed over to Aquila, "If it's too much for us to handle, I'm gonna need you to run back and get the others. Alfred and I can hold em off until the others arrive."

With that, Julius took a step back and gave Alfred enough space to take the lead. As he did so, he also noticed a small brown pack attached to the side of his hip, the bottom of it appearing to be somewhat soggy. Curious, and slightly disgusted, Julius pried the bag open to discover a large wad of meat. Its color showed it was long past human consumption, and if Julius had a nose, it'd probably smell like it too. However, it hadn't begun to rot, and it seemed no insect larva managed to get into it. While no sane man would eat it in thousand years, an animal would gladly chow down on the smelly steak.

Julius was about to question the sudden appearance of the bag before a distant memory started to set in. He remembered earlier in the tomb when Remy distributed salt and meat to the scouting party: the salt used to unveil traps and the meat to tame or quell the hunger of whatever lay in the tomb. Julius was as skeptical then as he was now, but it wouldn't hurt to utilize the meat for something.

"One more thing," Julius added, gesturing to the pouch on his side, "I've got some meat right here. If we find one of those monsters, I want to try something. Maybe I can sway one of em in our favor, or at least get it out of our way. What do you think, Alfred?"
 
@The Last Curse
Alfred looked back at Julius and almost gagged at the smell, which somehow got through his mask's filters. He waved his torch like a fan in an attempt to get rid of the horrid stench.

"I suppose we could try, but I doubt a subterranean species that hasn't had contact with people for over a thousand years, would be so easily domesticated by rotting meat. Though I'm no animal expert and I've been privy to crazier plans in the past,"

looking back into the darkness, he could've swore he heard something skittering around. If his mind wasn't playing tricks on him, then hopefully it was just a scorpion or scarab.
 
Keone Nagendra
​

Interactions: Bref @Skyhunter | Remy @slifer

With Remy pitching in to drag out the Collian, Keone could focus more on the rocks that were piled atop of the bird. He was too weak to bandage himself, which was far from ideal. She went over the formation, in all its crumbly glory, trying to figure out a somewhat logical way to tackle this problem. "Bref, hold up, I think if we just move these rocks here, Remy should be able to drag him out before then entire formation crumbles down on him." She pointed at the rocks that needed moving for Remy to get in-and-out with the birdman, after which she'd time her attempts at creating an opening without causing the rest of the rocks to collapse with Bref. "Let's lift them on three. One. Two. Three." With their combined effort, they'd hopefully be able to let Remy pass through and drag the Collian out alive.
 
Time: 5:50 PM
Day: Tuesday
Weather: Sunny and very hot. extended unprotected exposure to the elements will result in character unwellness
Tomb Conditions: Stifling, cooler than outside, dusty air, no breeze
Those Involved: @TheEccentric @The Last Curse @Elvario @Ur Degaton @slifer @Skyhunter @Nero Kunivas
TooLongDidn'tRead: The Collian is narrowly saved. The challenge before them reveals itself.

Note From The Author: (Pretty sure doing precisely what I cautioned against is recipe for bad times, but whatevs XD I'm leaning towards body parts going flying soon.)
Post Listening:

Inside Tomb


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As Bref suddenly started moving rocks that trapped the Collian, the rest of the rocks immediately fell in on themslves. The space previously occupied by the Collian immediately vanished in a cloud of dust and debris. Bref's feet, Keone, and Remy were all at risk of getting crushed by rocks as they crumbled. After the dust settled, the trapped Collian and Remy were safe, Remy having pulled the trapped collian out hard enough that both went flying once enough room was given.

The Collian was still in need of medical treatment, but were out of the immediate danger and able to get aid. It would just be a matter of time before they woke again. Down the hall Alfred's light shed a bit of light revealing another wide coridor. In the brief look back at Scott, Alfred thought he saw a flicker of movement down the hall. There was something there, moving along the walls. It seemed to look directly at Alfred a moment before ducking into the wall somehow. The distance was too far for details, but the eyes blazed with the reflection of his light.

Suddenly, the hall echoed with the sound of heavy objects shifting overhead and around. What was once a wide hall peeled away to reveal a narrower one only about 10 feet wide compared to the +15ft it was before. Additionally, massive pendulum blades that swing from the ceiling moved back and forth through the space and disappeared into the walls on either side. Drop offs into darkness were on either side of the path between the walkway and the walls. The swinging blades moved at unnatural intervals without a steady rhythm. The number of them that swang at the same time varied and were at different speeds which changed. Spaces between blades seemed to vary between 5' and 15' feet. Larger and longer creatures would need to take special care. Those with greater intellect would note the blades also seemed a bit too massive to stop by brute force means.

With no good way back, a hazardous path before them, and an unconscious collian in need of rest with them, how would they proceed.
 
Keone Nagendra
​

Interactions: Alfred @Ur Degaton | Remy @slifer

They got out the Collian, who was mostly alive, which allowed Keone to take better care of the birdman's wounds (unless Remy would volunteer for the job). Her poor tail, which she'd been trying to use to cover for the birdman and Remy, was getting more bruised with every advance they made through-out this mission. She at least hope the pay-off would end up being good enough to make up for it. After the birdman was taken care of, she took it upon herself to carry him along, as leaving him here was likely not the safest option.

She was a fair bit confused by the scene they arrived at. "How does this work? There is no rhythm or anything to them, so there must be something that manually makes them swing each and every single time they move..." The only thing indicating what might be moving it, was the sound of heavy stone is shifting and echoing from above. Considering there was a mechanical engineer in their group, there might be a chance to figure this one out. She turned to Alfred. "Can you spot who or what is moving them? Surely they can't be swinging naturally if it's as irregular as this."

She'd spent some time observing the blades from a distance, wondering if there was a pattern to them at all, even if it was a less obvious one. However, she did notice that the drop-offs on either side of the walkway and the walls were deeper than the blades were passing through, so she turned to Remy. "Do you think you could fly into the drop-offs alongside the walkway and go underneath the range of these blades, or perhaps fly higher and only pass the non-bladed parts? It's pretty likely for there to be a way to turn these off on the other side, if that sound of moving stone is anything to go by. In a worst case scenario, you can bring some gunpowder with you to see if there's a spot where you try blowing up a part the mechanism without making the entire building crash down on us."
 
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@Elvario

Alfred stopped in his tracks as his eyes met the creature within the darkness. Despite their brief staring match, he could already tell that the thing was trouble.

Looking up at the perpetual motion traps, he responded to Keone's inquiry.

"Perhaps they rely on a perpetual motion type cradle, utilizing magnetic anchors to repel the blades on both sides. Solar tech didn't exist back then so that's all I've got to go on. Unless they are magical, and if that's the case then you're asking the wrong person."

As he explained his theory, he got extremely close to the first blade. Despite the chaos that the traps presented, each blade flew at its own speed.

"they shouldn't be that hard to cross, just time it the best you can and jump, and if you people don't want to take that risk, then we can try and blow up the pendulum mechanism itself, if that's even possible."
 
Bref Heartwood

The wannabe captain grunted with pain as rocks began to crush his feet, he could feel the stone push against the steel in his boots, he growled as he wanted to shoot the rocks with his cannon but when Remy managed to pull the unconscious Collian from the rubble, Bref stepped back letting the rocks fall. Bref growled as the steel stopped pushing against his feet and returned to their original state. The unconscious collian laid on the ground as Keone began to mend its wounds with the bag of medicine Bref had brought along.

When Keone decided to take the small Colian into her arms, Bref plucked the small injured fella from her and carried the unconscious being himself. " You don't need to carry this one, Keone. Especially with what's up ahead. It'll slow you down. " Bref explained as they came up to the scene in front of them. " Wonderful. Blades. " He sighed of frustration, they had lost half their crew and only remained as five, who would now die? Was he next? No way, he'd rather die in a fight, at least be little more honorable.

He walked up to the first blade and watched its movements. Unpredictable, different each time. It was never easy, was it? Bref looked to his cannon, hell. He could fire the blades down but not all of them. Then he turned his head to the unconscious Collian he was carrying in one arm... No. He couldn't risk firing the cannon, the Collian could get hurt or not be able to hear again with how small it is and near the cannon it was.

The silvan sighed as he turned around to face the remaining group. What were they to do. He wasn't smart but he sure as well was strong.
 
Time: 6:00 PM
Day: Tuesday
Weather: Sunny and very hot. extended unprotected exposure to the elements will result in character unwellness
Tomb Conditions: Stifling, cooler than outside, dusty air, no breeze
Those Involved: @TheEccentric @The Last Curse @Elvario @Ur Degaton @slifer @Skyhunter @Nero Kunivas
TooLongDidn'tRead: Bladed hallway before the party, as few revelations are revealed, how would they pass

Note From The Author: (The party dwindles. Who will be left alive at the end of this rp turned horror survival.)
Post Listening:

Inside Tomb


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Those considerably intelligent and taking the time to examine the sway of the massive blades would come to two additional theories:
1. the blades were on a predictable loop of behavior but the loop was long enough to make it seem random.
2. the blades may be manually controlled from above.

Regardless of the truth, the party would need to bypass this challenge to the far end of the hall if they wished to proceed. What's more, they had a wounded survivor to carry and fewer party members than when they last looked. Their group was dwindling and their means of proceeding were also waning. Fully in the hall, their ears would be filled with the echoing thud of stone against stone repeated.

A destructive force may slow or disable some of the swinging blades. Close inspection show the tell tale signs of time. Rust here. Missing pieces there. However, depending on how the contraption was assembled, careless destruction of the tomb may cause a repeat of the previous hall. The ground here felt considerably more solid than the previous one though.
 
Remy's head swam, trying to clear his head for a few moments. He had managed to drag the Collian out of the way, but a falling piece of rock had got him in the head, leading a small trail of blood that stained his neck and his shirt.

He was glad for his extensive practice in healing people, because it took all of his energy to go through his first aid kid to treat the Collian to make sure he didn't freaking die, and himself as well. The magical ice pack against his head helped him focus up, providing cooling relief to his head through the bandages he had wrapped around his head. It took a few minutes, but he was somewhat back up to snuff- the injury looked worse than it seemed, as head injuries often tended to bleed.

Remy turned his attention to the trap, studying the swinging blades, trying his best to memorize the pattern- until he saw a lever on top of the looping trap.
"Get ready to run with everyone else. I'm going to try to stop the trap. I see a mechanism above the trap, and it looks like I'm the only one who can get up there to shut it off." He could see small holes on the side of the wall, where a figure could climb up to hang directly next to the mechanism. The others wouldn't be able to fit in the small space between the trap, but a Collian could.
Remy breathed for a moment, stretched a bit, careful to keep his head up, and started to climb, the traps missing him by inches as he climbed his way to the top, making his way towards the mechanism controlling the trap.
 
- Aquila Vitalis, The Elegant Tempest -

Mentions: Remy - @slifer

Having narrowly freed a wounded Collian from their fate and losing some few of their number to the tomb's whims, Aquila and the part had come upon the tried and true obstacle of any tomb: The Swinging Blades of Doom. At first, they seemed to swing in an irregular pattern, but further observation from the learned Aquila saw that it was indeed a predictable loop, just long enough to confuse the initial observer.

As he pondered how he would dash through the pendulum blades to safety, Remy spoke up, stating his plans to stop the trap altogether and started to climb toward the mechanisms. "In that case, we'll wait here. Don't lose your footing now, comrade!" Aquila called out to Remy, though he wouldn't just sit there as he cast his eyes across to the far edge of the pendulum blades' path and all around the room, looking around for any additional obstacles or things of intrigue before they crossed.
 
Julius.jpg​

Hearing the shifting and groaning of sandstone ahead of him, Julius shoved the reeking wad of meat back into its pouch and went to investigate. Julius saw the giant pendulum blades swing to and fro upon arriving at the scene, but he could only make out the first few blades through the faint torchlight. From what he could see, it seemed the blades swung at an uneven rhythm. Julius grumbled something as his hand found his chin; all these elaborate traps made him wonder, what exactly were the Arenosians hiding down here? It was clear they wanted no one in these tombs, but they went to such great lengths to keep people out. Other than those monsters, there had to be something else down there.

With Remy's quick departure to disarm the trap, and the group patiently awaiting his success, Julius thought now would be the best time to strike up a conversation. "Oi, Everyone," Julius called out to everyone around, "While we wait for Remy, let's have a lil' chit-chat, shall we?" He made a sound akin to clearing his throat and crossed his arms across this chest, "We've been down here for a while now, and just now am I wonderin': What the hell's down here? I mean, it's a tomb, we know that much, but from all these traps, I'm startin' to think there's somethin' else going on here." Julius shrugged and diverted his gaze to the crumbling sandstone around him, "The Arenosians could just be wary of their dead, or maybe there's some 'ancient artifact' down here, but don't you all think something else is up?"
 
Keone Nagendra
​

Interactions: Julius @The Last Curse

Keone tried to follow along with Alfred's explanation. She'd gotten to somewhat similar conclusions, but it was nice to hear the expert back them up. Eventually though, she was even able to confirm they were on a loop. Remy was the first to attempt passing the blades to reach (and hopefully turn off) the mechanism. As they were waiting though, Julius spoke up.

"You know how Arenosians are. In a worst-case scenario, they build this entire structure just to torture whomever is foolish enough to enter it, which the Collians were and which means they're now laughing their assess off that they even got a bonus rescue party into this mess thanks to what their ancestors left them." She pondered about a best-case scenario for a bit. "I did recall hearing they were cursed to be what they are. Perhaps whatever is in here is linked to that? It might even explain what made those monsters. I'm neither a historian nor a culture expert, but that'd be something of insane value both monetary and history wise."
 
Time: 6:10 PM
Day: Tuesday
Weather: Sunny and very hot. extended unprotected exposure to the elements will result in character unwellness
Tomb Conditions: Stifling, cooler than outside, dusty air, no breeze
Those Involved: @TheEccentric @The Last Curse @Elvario @Ur Degaton @slifer @Skyhunter @Nero Kunivas
TooLongDidn'tRead: While the rest 'safely' have a chat, Remy flies to an opening in the wall and peeks inside

Note From The Author:
Post Listening:

Inside Tomb


SandstoneDungeonScreen4-1920x1080-6060b0e20a22c1821bc0a6520e2b34b4.jpg


While the rest carefully kept their distance from the hazard, Remy was able to climb up to what may be a means of disarming the trap. Although safely away from the blades, the poles by which the blades swung would occasionally smack the Collian around. The mechanism was big compared to a regular person, much more so a Collian. Using the wall and ceiling for leverage, he'd be able to pull the mechanism free with great effort.

The floor near the rest of the party shifted and stone and dust moved. While the floor disappeared into darkness, the swinging blades became more evenly spaced and swang with a consistent easier to follow rhythm. The only issue now was the swinging blades were the only means forward. Carelessly leaping for them would potentially severely injure someone or cause them to fall into unknown depths. At least it was somewhat easier and more stable than the previous hall they had to cross.

With sufficient timing and strength, i'll could reasonably get across (assuming they didn't fall into the pit when the floor retracted. Only one person could fit on a swinging pendulum at a time without stepping or grabbing somewhere they would regret.
 
Alfred scratched the top of his helmet as he watched the entire scene unfold like some kind of circus act.

"Well…. Shit."

From his perspective, the situation was only made worse. Their injured acquaintance would not be able to cross without some kind of bridge. The best thing to do is just toss the poor sod into the abyss, but the engineer was better than that. They would devise a way to escape, even if it cost a leg or two. Besides, he could always build another leg if he really needed to.

"Any of you guys still have that rope? We could probably tie it around one of our waists and try to make the jump. If we fall, the rope will act as a safety net. If we succeed, we could untie the rope and give it to the next person in line."
 
Keone Nagendra
​

Interactions: Alfred @Ur Degaton | Bref @Skyhunter

Keone sighed as whatever Remy did merely made the floor vanish. That was not ideal. She sighed deeply, as she wasn't even sure what to do anymore. Until an earlier suggestion from one of her companions came to mind. "It might be the lack of oxygen that's getting to me, but I think I have a plan..."

She'd first reply to Alfred. "Good thinking." Taking out her last bit of rope, she'd offer it to Alfred and the others to tie it around themselves and the unconscious Collian. However, simply trying to jump across wasn't what Keone had in mind, so she turned to Bref. "I want you to throw me across. I should be able to slither around the shafts above the blades, from where I can use my tail or the rope to help you guys swing across to the next ones. You've got some arms to spare, so if you bring the Collian, I think we'd be able to make it all the way to the other side if we keep up moment and avoid hanging from the same swinging blade for long enough to make them fall and crumble under our weight."
 
Bref Heartwood

The wannabe captain stared at the blades quietly, how was this going to work? What would he do? He could fire his cannon and bring down the blades but that could spell trouble. Then Keone, the longest member of the crew and one that Bref respected suggested something to the four armed Silvan. Bref smirked hearing out the Naga. " Sure. Why not. We may be doomed already, might as well commit some nonsense while we are at it. " Bref prepared himself, dropping his shield and his cannon the ground.

The Silvan moved to Keone where he proceeded to pick her up, easily with his strength of two arms. He made sure to aim across to the next blade. " If I end up killing you on accident, I'll see you in hell. " He made sure to line up his aim. Waiting for the blade to swing by and Bref threw Keone like she was a javelin. The Silvan chuckled. " I love this job. " He commented, wasn't everyday he could throw a companion across a chasm.

Mentions: @Elvario
 
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