Island's Heart (Completed)

Sekani had stayed by the entrance of the tomb so they could get a general idea of both the conversation happeing inside and outside the tomb. They entered after making sure the two outside recovered from their heat exhaustion and followed behind Aquila into the tomb, drawing their staff. Havint someone to follow helped Sekani resist the temptation to try setting off a few traps from afar by poking stones with their staff. Somehow, being marked by white flags made them seem more enticing.

Sekani arrived shortly Aquila arrived and was disappointed that it looked like the battle was over. They looked over the scorpians, hoping the exact opposite of Aquila, and gave the ends of their ribbon a small disappointed flap. Since there was nothing left to do, Sekani walked over to examine the walls, using their staff the crush the heads of a few scorpians that were still twitching on the ground. The pictures made no sense to them but were entertaining nonetheless and they were curious to see the rest. They turned to look at Bref and pointed down the hallway to indicate they direction they wanted to go. Then they used their staff to tap the stones in front of them carefully and looked back at Bref to see if he understood. Sekani could use their staff to test the stones ahead of them for traps from a safer distance.


@Nero Kunivas @Skyhunter
 
Although Rabbit may not have been the most socially inclined, he did seem to be familiar with the shapes on the wall, which meant Remy's job was to use his brain to try and help decipher what they meant. It took a few moments to transverse the traps, but he made his way to Rabbit, intent on helping the man interpret what had been written. Though if it was ancient poop jokes, he was going to be pissed. He could worry about Rabbit getting arrested later. Which he did warn Rabbit about, so that wasn't his problem anymore.

His smaller stature and nimble feet saved his life, as he managed to weave around the traps, heading back to Bref, Keone, Alfred, and Julius, as a swarm of scorpions seemed to erupt from the earth. The safest place for him was behind Bref- but he wouldn't sit there and do nothing- he would provide as much backup as he could to the man. Besides, he was squishy and small- two things not quite suited for frontline battle. He would have prefered to fly away and shoot from above, but death traps like these caves made that strategy impossible. His bow and a quiver full of arrows were slung on his back from the moment the Collians had mentioned there were monsters in the caves, making sure to be armed with his weapon of choice.


Remy's size was somewhat to his advantage in this fight- he could shoot his arrows from behind Bref and the others, using the gaps between them to fire on the scorpions- not rapid-fire, but carefully lining up his shots so no arrow would be wasted- killing as many as he could with what he had with him at the time while also avoiding traps. "Aquila, your help would be much appreciated right now!" Remy called back to the other man, seeing that he was taking his sweet ass time getting there. "Though fire seems like an excellent idea! Boric Acid kills scorpions, though we may not have enough time to watch them dehydrate! Vinegar is an excellent repellent as well! If you have ground-up fossils, throw it at them, it's Diatomaceous Earth, which burrows into their exoskeletons! Make sure to stab them! Crushing them won't kill them, they can flatten themselves!" Remy hollered at everyone, having lived with a person who had been infested with scorpions once before.

When the battle was done, he would try to salvage any arrows the fire didn't destroy, before heading back to solve the patterns on the walls with Rabbit, using what he had studied in the past as a guide to help out.
 
Belikov Kavinsky

Bell barely got the notes from Keone’s hand when a crisis emerged. A small quake and an endless wave of scorpions. Scorpions? In that number? How? Why? Everyone else was ready to fight them, kill them, blast them to smithereens. But most such creatures wouldn’t even try to kill something the size of a person unless they were cornered… Wait. They WERE cornered, weren’t they?

“THEY’RE NOT RUNNING AT US, THEY’RE TRYING TO RUN PAST US! TAKE TO HIGH GROUND OR MAKE COVER, THEN DON’T MOVE A MUSCLE!”

Bell wasn’t completely certain of his theory. But if these scorpions were mystically compelled, he was sure he’d have felt that on his sweep with the eye. Mostly sure. His shield slammed to the floor, handles down, and Bell stood on it as a surfer might, tilting it up so its underside faced the wave of Arachnids. His last move was to crouch and bring his knife to hand, just in case he was wrong. But he’d officially bet his life (or at least his limbs) on the idea that these were perfectly natural creatures, evacuating the largest hive on the island, if not on the planet. They probably wouldn’t carry him off or anything, but hopefully they’d part around him and leave him be, mostly.
 
Time: 4:10 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 @ItariChan @Grehstone @slifer @Skyhunter @Nero Kunivas
TooLongDidn'tRead: Everyone took damage as the tomb collapsed and the scorpions became agitated. The party must now proceed with the one route available to them and it's hazardous.

Note From The Author:
(The more your actions match what your character is equipped for or what the team works together on, the more likely they are to succeed.)
Post Listening:

Inside Tomb



SandstoneDungeonScreen4-1920x1080-6060b0e20a22c1821bc0a6520e2b34b4.jpg


*BOOM* *CRASH* *CRUMBLE* *FWOOSH*

Bref, Aquila, and Sekani's sudden entrance to the tunnel with the party engaging with scorpion horde was haralded by the collapsing of the one tunnel that would have allowed the party to escape. Running through the darkness can do that. Running through without paying attention to the possibility of traps can do that. Simply running through a tunnel known to have booby traps can do that. And did it, they did.

With escape cut off, the party was forced to contend with the flood of dangerous bugs. Everyone slicing, dicing, burning, stabbing, and shooting them aggitated them enough to garner the ire and aggression of the horde's members. While many of the bugs were killed, many of the party were swarmed also. The fireball that illuminated the tunnel was one of that last lights it would see. As the party moved around carelessly tripping more traps, coupled with the combat taking place, the tunnel collapsed.

The dust and debris would clear enough for the party to see and breath again. The one remaining light was a single torch in the middle of the floor. The party were scattered in disarray all around the torch. Some buried in rubble. Some merely knocked over and just needing to dust themselves off. Pillars of stone, chunks of wall, and waves of sand trapped the party in a single portion of the tunnel. While all party members suffered damage and had bumps, bruises, and/or scorpion induced injuries, everyone was alive and lucky to be so.

Climbing on the stone and sand that surrounded them would be their only means of escape. Towards the top of the climb would be a narrow space just big enough that bref could squeeze through, so smaller creatures would have an easier time assuming they could make the climb. The space was too tight to fly.

Passing through the narrow space at the top, the party would be able to come out on a ledge overlooking the vast expanse of what remained of the hallway. The floor had collapsed into oblivion with nothing but dark abyss between the ledge and a few platforms. The torch's light would not be enough to see to the end, but it was assumed the path forward was ahead. The platforms were too far for a human to jump, but those with superior jumping or flight could 'likely' make the trip and move from platform to platform. Some of the platforms looked more trustworthy than others, however. Those with the ability to climb might also find it possible to scale the walls which were full of pockets for hands and feet to hold onto, but it would rely more on the structural integrity of what they were holding onto as well as their own strength. Those without excellent abilities in any of the previously mentioned activities would have to get creative. Fortunately, all the traps appeared to be wiped out in this portion of the tomb and all the scorpions had either scurried on or disappeared in the crumble.

pit.jpg
 
Alfred looked around cautiously, not pleased with their current predicament. It would seem he was right about there being hidden traps the excavation crew didn’t catch. But there was no point in complaining about the past, only the present mattered now.

“Nobody panic, we are still alive and that’s what counts, it doesn’t matter who set off the traps so don’t point your fingers at on another.”

Now he was mad at himself for not preparing more for these types of scenarios. He should’ve done more to prevent this situation. The next time he visited a booby trapped tomb with a party of people, he would bring everything he can to defy the odds.
 
Julius.jpg
Mentions: @Ur Degaton

One thing led to another, and so Julius found himself partially buried under a layer of rubble. It all happened so fast: one moment, he was slashing away at scorpions, and now the whole tunnel had collapsed in on him. Though he couldn't see anything but the faint orange glow of a torch, he couldn't hear the scorpions either; an end to one of his problems, but the start of another. The collapse could've easily sealed him and the crew inside - or worse, buried them all underground. Julius sorely hoped it wasn't the latter, but he'd have no idea until he checked.

The only obstacle between him and his investigation was an annoying pile of rubble holding him down by the waist. Fortunately, it wasn't heavy enough to completely pin him down, so with a few slow wiggles of his legs, he managed to escape relatively easily. He noticed a few dents in certain places of his body, namely his shins and arms, but it was nothing too major. More or less could be said about the rest of the crew.

Sauntering over to the torch, Julius picked it up and studied all around him. The path they came from was completely sealed by rubble, but he could vaguely make out some ledge in the darkness above him. With no other way of progressing, he'd have to climb up and see what lay ahead. However, that would come second: Julius had to know if the others were okay.

Hearing Alfred's voice, Julius confirmed he was okay, though he couldn't say the same for the rest of the crew - not yet, at least. "I thought we had the traps mapped down!" Julius cried out, his voice carrying an obvious tone of irritation, "Forget it, we've got bigger problems, mates. Namely... that." He pointed over to where the exit once was, sighing as he returned his attention to the ledge above him, "But, we're not completely screwed. I saw a ledge all the way up there; we can make it if we climb it. Dunno where it leads, though."

He finally turned his attention back to the room and paced about, looking for the other treasure hunters. "But first, we've gotta have a little headcount. See if everyone's all in one piece."
 
@The Last Curse

Alfred picked up the now extinguished remains of his torch and walked over to Julius, he placed the torch over the other torch and waited for the stick to catch fire. After a few moments his torch reignited, bathing the chamber in two times the light.

“Hopefully no one perished, being buried alive in rubble is a very harrowing way to die.”

Walking over to the wall, he looked up at the ledge and then back at Julius.

“Once your done with the headcount, come over here and I’ll vault you up.”

As he said this, he got down on one knee and put his hands together in front of himself in a readying position. The goal was for someone to put their foot in his palms, where he would then push their body up onto the ledge, in a rapid motion. He’d seen many acrobats use the technique in the circus.
 
Keone Nagendra

Interactions: Julius @The Last Curse | Alfred @Ur Degaton

Keone's plan to trigger a trap in order to get rid of the scorpions worked, but the execution of it was neither a planned nor a flawless one. She ended up pulling her poor and bruised tail out from under a pile of rocks. Once that was done, she checked around to see if anyone else needed aid, whether that was to free them from rocks or to deal with scorpion stings. She noticed Alfred and Julius were already in motion. “Well... that's one way to start a mission...” She mumbled, as she slithered up to them.

Slithering up, around and in-between the rocks and sand to make it through the opening at the top wasn't the most difficult, but what awaited them there was a different story. She'd wait for Julius and Alfred to make it up there as well, or throw them a rope if they were taking too long. “I guess I could try to climb along those walls, but I don't like my chances on succeeding...” She clicked her tongue and turned to Alfred and Julius. “Did anyone else bring rope as well? Collectively we might have enough to span a rope across and have only one of us attempt the climb or platforms.”
 
Bref Heartwood

Without effort, Bref pushed a slab of rock off his person and let it slam down next to him as he groaned to get up, he could feel his body ache slightly, not what he wasn't used to at this point. He could feel a few scratches on his arms, sore spots which meant bruises all across his body. Hearing Alfred's sentence of not to panic, the Silvan snorted as he snot rocketed dusty mucus out his nose. " Don't panic he says... The only one panicking here would most likely be the chicken, pretty sure birds don't like enclosed spaces. " Bref insulted as he stood up and wiped dust off his body, seeing his cannon laying to the side, he picked up the weapon moved the strap over his shoulder as he walked on over to Julius, Alfred and Keone.

"
Glad to see you two are still alive. Remind me, Alfred, to make sure you create me a inferno blunderbuss. Something to wipe out pests like that in a couple of shots. " The would be captain grumbled, there was no turning back now. The darkness held only death around them if they stayed in this tomb of a coffin. Bref was worried about the researchers but for now they would have to focus on their own survival.

"
Whats the plan now? We get up to the top of this wall and figure out if there even is a way out? " Bref suggested as a question. " How about I toss you two up to the top, save you guys- er, guy and robot your own energy and time. " He pointed to Alfred and Julius. Then his head turned to Keone. " And, uh. Well you can coil around my arm while I climb on up or jump up there after I throw anyone else up to the top. " Would Bref have thrown Keone up to the top? A 8 foot Naga? Yes. Yes he would. Could it end badly? Maybe. " Or slither your way up, I'm sure snake people can make their up a wall like this. "

Mentions: @Elvario @The Last Curse @Ur Degaton
 
- Aquila Vitalis, the Elegant Tempest -

Whether it was because of the cannon or someone carelessly (Or meticulously) triggering a trap, Aquila couldn't say, but soon he and his crewmates found themselves without an escape route thanks to a cave-in, plunging them into near darkness surrounded only by each other and the many bugs that likely still vied for their blood. Emerging from his defensive position and dusting himself off, Aquila flourished his banner and flashed a brief smirk of excitement, for the stakes had just gotten higher.

Following the party ahead, they would come to a deep chasm that would spell certain death to any who fell into it. With ideas being thrown around, Aquila looked around, trying to find anything that could help them across this chasm, but the near all-encompassing shadow made that very tough.

"Don't worry, I'm still here." Aquila said in Julius's direction when he mentioned doing a headcount. "Hopefully, we all are..."

Mentions - @The Last Curse
 
Remy didn't know who the hell had set off all of those traps, because it wasn't him. Goddamn it, what was the point of being careful when everyone else would heavily disregard the fact that there were traps everywhere. Though what had prompted the scorpions to suddenly appear from the earth he had no idea. OR why the Collians and Aeronsans hadn't seen scorpions on their way in. This place was trapped and the Aernosans evidently had some secrets they desperately wanted to keep hidden.


Thankfully, he had used Bref to take some of the damage of the rocks so it didn't impede himself too much. He ached somewhat, but he could still move and fly around. He looked around, picking up any arrows he could salvage from the wreckage of the cave, before climbing up the rock with everyone else to peer over the edge.

On some level Bref was right- the enclosed space didn't inspire the most confidence in him, but he did have the advantage over everyone else here. They made fun of him for being able to turn into a goose, but he could fly his ass out of there and leave the rest of them behind. He decided to be the bigger person and actually help, as he probably couldn't commandeer the ship by himself. He reached out, patting the other man on the leg in an almost mocking manner.

"You don't have to hide your fear from us Bref. The cave is dark and scary, but it is not nice to project your feelings onto other people." He stopped clapping back at Bref for a moment to sigh, seeing the platforms- seeming to be made just for him. "I'll go across and see what the other side's like. If anyone can follow me, that would be great, but I would suggest using rope or a net or something to make a rope bridge. Otherwise Bref will have to take one person at a time with him and hop back and forth. Unless we have rope to weave together into a bridge, or even enough to sufficiently go across this chasm. There might even be some leftover supplies in the distance." Remy would stand at the edge of the rock, snap open his wings, and jump off the edge, gliding his way to the rocks. He would be as careful as possible, doing his best to avoid any weird Arenosan traps while also trying to conserve his energy- gliding his way to the platforms, slowly making his way across as safely as possible.
 
@Skyhunter
@Elvario


Alfred looked at Bref and then at Keone for a moment before nodding.

“We either have two options if we have no rope. We could have Bref toss Keone’s upper body across the chasm and use her lower body as a bridge, or Bref can just toss us all, given that he doesn’t wear himself out after the third toss.”

He wiped some sand off of his coat before crouching down and looking into the abyss with caution. He was tempted to throw his torch and see how deep it was, but they needed the extra light to navigate.

“Had I brought some tools, I could’ve used my Quantum Negaton Gravisphere to hover us across, but I could never have predicted the precarious situation we would find ourselves in. From now on, let’s just use a solar drill and brute force our way into dungeons, rather than play at the dungeon creator’s own games.”
 
Keone Nagendra

Interactions: Bref @Skyhunter | Remy @slifer | Alfred @Ur_Degaton

Keone yelled back at Bref; “Way ahead of you!” as she heard him suggest she'd be able to slither their way out of the collapsed scorpion-tunnel, which she had already done in the post before this which she'd already finished doing. Perhaps he hadn't seen her slither up in what little dim torch-light there had been.

Aquila was the first to make it up besides her, eventually followed by Remy, to whom she'd reply. “Having you go across would indeed be the best way to find out if we've got enough rope to span the entire thing...” She wasn't sure why he was talking as if Keone hadn't already suggested using the rope in the post before this, nor why he wanted to weave some sort of bridge out of it. “We don't need to weave a bridge, I'm confident most of us can at least climb along a rope, but we do need to make sure we can make it with the amount of rope we have. If we go from platform to platform, it means we'll have to rely on those platforms being capable of holding each of us and the last person to leave would have to swing their way towards the platform so we don't lose the rope, unless we can confirm we've got enough, but if we do, we might as well span it across the entirety rather than from platform to platform.” She sighed. “Long story short, good luck scouting.”

She then turned to Alfred with a look of utter confusion, which then turned into genuine concern, as she slithered up to him to check if he'd hit his head. “Hold still for a bit, I think you might have a concussion or something.” His plan was a creative way to wipe-out their party, that was a given, so he'd probably need some rest and water. “Here, drink this while Remy scouts ahead and checks if the rope we've brought is enough to span across this place.” She'd stacked up on a fair bit of rope from the Collians, but without any way of knowing how far this hallways stretched, she had no indication of whether it'd be long enough.
 
Remy didn't know who the hell had set off all of those traps, because it wasn't him. Goddamn it, what was the point of being careful when everyone else would heavily disregard the fact that there were traps everywhere. Though what had prompted the scorpions to suddenly appear from the earth he had no idea. OR why the Collians and Aeronsans hadn't seen scorpions on their way in. This place was trapped and the Aernosans evidently had some secrets they desperately wanted to keep hidden.


Thankfully, he had used Bref to take some of the damage of the rocks so it didn't impede himself too much. He ached somewhat, but he could still move and fly around. He looked around, picking up any arrows he could salvage from the wreckage of the cave, before climbing up the rock with everyone else to peer over the edge.

On some level Bref was right- the enclosed space didn't inspire the most confidence in him, but he did have the advantage over everyone else here. They made fun of him for being able to turn into a goose, but he could fly his ass out of there and leave the rest of them behind. He decided to be the bigger person and actually help, as he probably couldn't commandeer the ship by himself. He reached out, patting the other man on the leg in an almost mocking manner.

"You don't have to hide your fear from us Bref. The cave is dark and scary, but it is not nice to project your feelings onto other people." He stopped clapping back at Bref for a moment to sigh, seeing the platforms- seeming to be made just for him. "I'll go across and see what the other side's like. If anyone can follow me, that would be great, but I would suggest using rope or a net or something to make a rope bridge. Otherwise Bref will have to take one person at a time with him and hop back and forth. Unless we have rope to weave together into a bridge, or even enough to sufficiently go across this chasm. There might even be some leftover supplies in the distance." Remy would stand at the edge of the rock, snap open his wings, and jump off the edge, gliding his way to the rocks. He would be as careful as possible, doing his best to avoid any weird Arenosan traps while also trying to conserve his energy- gliding his way to the platforms, slowly making his way across as safely as possible.
Remy was able to safely glide to the remaining platforms in the ruined hall. Landing would reveal what remained was solid and free of traps. Looking at the other pillars, it was easy to pick out ruined trap mechanisms dangly from the stoney remains. The 50ft rope would likely span the gaps between remaining platforms.

Unfortunately, without a torch, the birdman couldnt see much into the gloom encroaching upon his platform. The torchlight back with his companions was too far away to help. However, he did here in the darkness a quiet plea,

"...help..."
 
Last edited:
@slifer

Alfred silently stared at the water Keone was offering before peering back into the darkness. Why Remy didn’t take one of their torches with him, he couldn’t say. Fiddling with a knob on the side of his helmet, he adjusts the volume before speaking. The helmet slightly amplifying his voice

“Remy, I do believe that you do not have any night vision, I’d recommend coming back over here and taking my torch so that you may see.”

He waved the torch through the air to emphasize his point. With Remy’s flight, measuring the rope distance with the flat form distance would be easy with his help, though that remained to be seen.
 
There was a mighty ringing and echoing voices. A sharp pain in the forehead, with a growing welt to accompany it. A tight squeeze at the waist. The distinct smells of dust and sweat. Bell came to, only vaguely recalling a brick flying at his head as he realized who was dragging him along.

“Keone?… how much did I miss?”

he asked, starting to stand on his own despite the constricting tail… Then noticing the drop on either side of him. One, a slope the others were climbing up. The other, a drop into the dark with a few platforms just visible at the edge of the torchlight. Bell didn’t move much as he wondered whether it was better to stand free or get coiled further and be more secure.

“Um. Okay I missed a lot. So…”

Bell paused to consider the situation. Dark pit. Platforms. Limited torchlight. But, they had plenty of rope. Rent could glide-… and already did without a rope to anchor or torch to see by.

“Okay, Remy? I need you to catch this.”

at that, bell didn’t bother to ask. He just took a spare torch, tied Keone’s rope to it, and swung it around before he cast the torch-end out to Remy.

“You do have a tinderbox, right? Or some flint? Light that torch and see if you can’t anchor the rope at the far end of the chasm!”
 
@Grehstone @slifer @Elvario

Bell was a male sedamon, lacking much of the strength of the female half of his species, so it was of little surprise that a normal sized torch with a length of rope tied to it flew a bit further than if a small child had thrown their toy. The torch and the length of rope tied to it disappeared into darkness below. Presumably Keone remained hold of her end of the rope. Eventually, she could feel the heft of the torch as it freely swung on the rope to presumably smack into whatever stony surfaces were just out of sight below them.
 
Julius.jpg
Mentions: @Skyhunter @Grehstone

As the group started to push forward, Julius subsequently ended his headcount and approached the wall. Though he couldn't see much through the darkness, his fingers found deep grooves in its surface; if the others had already found their way to the top, it hopefully wouldn't be too much of a hassle to climb. However, before he began his ascent, he heard Bref's offer and shifted his head to look at him. "I think I'll pass on that, mate." The thought of him soaring to the top was amusing, but flying face-first into whatever laid ahead wouldn't be very practical, "Maybe you can throw me the next time we get stuck underground? You can hold me to it." Julius chuckled before resuming his climb.

Eventually making his way to the top, Julius pulled himself onto the ledge and gazed at the platforms ahead of him. Just at a glance alone, he already knew that he couldn't make it unassisted. He didn't have the legs of an Arenosian to jump across, nor the wings of a Collian to fly through, and he couldn't climb the walls - especially with nothing but a torch to light the way. So it seemed his only option right now was to wait; perhaps they'd need his help later.


Waiting on the ledge, Julius saw Bell toss the torch over to Remy - only for it to fall in the darkness below. He moved slightly closer to the edge of the ledge and peeked over to see where the torched dropped, seeing nothing but darkness. He grumbled something and turned over to Bell, "Fumbled it, eh?" He laughed before returning to a more reassuring tone, "No worries, Bell. We've still got one more torch. Plus, it seems you lot got it all figured out."
 
Keone Nagendra

Interactions: Bell @Grehstone | Remy @slifer

Keone made sure Bell was standing stable enough on his own feet before letting go of him, fearing he'd just tumble down into the abyss otherwise. “You only missed climbing up a ledge and getting stuck here, after the collapse.” Bell clearly wasn't entirely with it, but he had the right ideas. Keone hoisted up the torch and rope, tying one end to her wrist and securing the other even firmer to the torch. With that done, she lasso'ed the torch to built up some momentum and then threw it towards Remy. “Incoming!” She alerted the birdman, although she also made sure not aim directly at him (or at the sound of him, were he already vanished into the dark) to make sure she wouldn't accidentally knock him out of the air. Ideally she'd make it all the way to the other side with her throw, so he'd just have to pick it up, second-best was to land it on a platform and have him pick it up from there, but any option was better than knocking down a companion.
 
@slifer @Elvario
The torch flew much better this time around. Extending a majority of the rope's length, the unlit torch would be retrievable by Remy, assuming he acted quickly, on the closest platform protruding out of the dark below. He would then have to decide what to do with the rope and unlit torch.