MAIN STORY The Evrensel Conflict: Act I, Chapter 1.2 -- Le fogne della civiltà

The warlock nodded to X, in acknowledgement. "I know what it's like."

When the scream pierced everyone's ears, Katunich spun his sword in his hand, checking its weight. Deciding the heft was still right, Katunich began to walk into the forwardmost tunnel. "I recommend we split up our group into the three tunnels," he started, "But I won't stop you from following me. Either way, I'm going to spring this trap. Best of luck to those who don't come with." As Katunich ran, the orb of light in the main room flew down from the center of the chamber, and followed the warlock before shooting past him, illuminating his destination.
 
25511638aa35a7e5c4b395af233f27a52424a01b_2000x2000.webp

The main passage Katunich ran down would lead him to an even larger room, this one filled with cisterns. Moss and weeds grew out from the cracks of the walls and ground, while the statues that had been hidden away from the sun were slowly eroding away from all the running water from the ceiling. The biggest pool looked man-made, used by whoever lived down here previously, while the smaller ones were created by natural occurrences.

The other two passages would also lead to this room, but would also go around it and continue further on. The Warlock would be first to see the screamer. A young woman, dressed in faded red and light yellow gown, with dirt stains and torn holes along the edges of the skirt. She was breathing heavily, struggling to run in her attire and tripping over the uneven ground and rocks that littered it.

She was also looking over her shoulder, yet there was nothing following her. At least, that Katunich could see. Halfway across the room, she would miss a step as the ground suddenly moved down a step, and fall into one of the smaller cisterns; crashing her head against the jagged edge. She wasn't unconscious yet, but seemed close to it, as she was barely moving; a small, faint cloud of red water covering her head.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Apothecary Bruce
25511638aa35a7e5c4b395af233f27a52424a01b_2000x2000.webp

The main passage Katunich ran down would lead him to an even larger room, this one filled with cisterns. Moss and weeds grew out from the cracks of the walls and ground, while the statues that had been hidden away from the sun were slowly eroding away from all the running water from the ceiling. The biggest pool looked man-made, used by whoever lived down here previously, while the smaller ones were created by natural occurrences.

The other two passages would also lead to this room, but would also go around it and continue further on. The Warlock would be first to see the screamer. A young woman, dressed in faded red and light yellow gown, with dirt stains and torn holes along the edges of the skirt. She was breathing heavily, struggling to run in her attire and tripping over the uneven ground and rocks that littered it.

She was also looking over her shoulder, yet there was nothing following her. At least, that Katunich could see. Halfway across the room, she would miss a step as the ground suddenly moved down a step, and fall into one of the smaller cisterns; crashing her head against the jagged edge. She wasn't unconscious yet, but seemed close to it, as she was barely moving; a small, faint cloud of red water covering her head.
Katunich took in a breath, feeling the touch of the Void as he reached his hand forward towards the girl, not only in the obvious physical, but in the unseen second plane of reality, tugging at the space ahead as he drew his hand back. To any onlookers, this appeared to be a flash of purple-black light, trailed by wispy after-shadows of space-time. Katunich's boots came back down to the ground, and the warlock knelt beside the dying woman. Carefully he raised her head out of the water, before raising his free hand into the air.

More wispy energy massed around and through his clenched fist, focus being matched by gathered power. He threw his arm down in a swing, letting the Light form a circle around them underneath the water. Suddenly, the pool began to glow a brilliant white as the circle emanated power. Health returned to the woman from the rejuvenating spell, and the first thing she would see would be Katunich's visor. Which, of course, was a far more powerful sight than the somewhat taxed warlock - he was good with the Light, quite adept even, but he was nowhere near a candidate for Vanguard like the Hero of the Red War, or the other high-ranked servants of the Light. Three spells right after another had spent some of his mental strength, and while he had more to give if needed, he would have to slow down the cantrips if he intended to use the Light in an offensive manner.

"Greetings," he said, before wondering if dialect would be different. His running theory was that he was still in Earth's past. "Err, privyet? Namaste?" Katunich rattled his scholar's brain for more greetings. She wouldn't know any of the alien languages... "Witam? Salve?"
 
Kota Mizuhara [#ff8a8a]

He looked around in alarm, seeing nobody making a move. "I-er..." he stuttered, trying to think of what to do. He really wasn't prepared to split up. "Bye?" he said quickly, his face very clear that he did not want to leave and possibly die, but he also didn't want to be in the dark. He turned around and ran off after Katunich, heart pounding.
When he made it to the room, he stopped, breathing wildly before he finally calmed down and got a chance to look around. His eyes skimmed over the moss and the cisterns before settling on the girl and Katunich.

He walked over, jumping when he saw the other perform a spell. "Wow..." he said under his breath, processing it as he came over to them. "Hello...?" he said lightly, not wanting to surprise either of them by accident and get himself killed...or worse.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Apothecary Bruce
X Alter

A very small and brief smile was what X Alter answered Katunich with. It was then that a lady's scream reached her ears. It could either be a person in need, or some sort of trap. Katunich took the lead and propose to split up, and he took it upon himself to bite the potential bait. Once again, X Alter nodded and took the tunnel on the left. "I have your presences in my memory, I might be able to track you down with that... Maybe" X Alter still wasn't sure of the full scope of her mental powers.

With only the light of Necro-Calibur accompanying her, X Alter confidently moved around in near absolute darkness. Her "sixth sense" of sorts enabled her to feel her surroundings. She pondered where that part of her Saint Graph came from, it didn't resemble anything she remembers or feels related to it... But then again, she had no personal memories, so she wouldn't be able to tell.

With those thoughts circling her mind, X Alter took notice of an illuminated entrance to her right, while more darkness was ahead. She kept Necro-Calibur's glow out of sight and peeked through the entrance. It was Katunich and Kota... Along with a seemingly unconscious woman. "Interesting" is all she said, as she stepped into the room. Sevestre had still not arrived to this room, so the other tunnel might have been different. Closing her eyes, she tried using her sixth sense to feel for Sevestre, and while she was at it, she decided to practice. Attempting to sense for more beings nearby.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Apothecary Bruce
Sevestre

It seems that the plan to split up was both concieved and enacted in a single moment. It was understandable. Who here would abandon someone who clearly sounded like they were in danger? Sevestre actually knew a few individuals, but that was irrelevant. What was relevant was that the group had decided upon a course of action. X Alter left the heroics to Katunich and Kota, which left Sevestre to wander the final path on his own. A moment was all it took to produce an orb of light. He was no adventurer, but he had used his knoweledge out in the field during his younger days. He disliked moving about in caves and darkness, but it was nothing too special.

He began to make his way through right-most passage...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Apothecary Bruce
~~GM~~

As Katunich tried speaking to her in various languages, he would feel a pinch on the side of his neck. Like a needle suddenly being stabbed into one of his arteries. When he reached up to feel it, he would pull out a dart the size of his pinkie finger. It was made of human bone, sharpened down into a fine point, and hollowed for a liquid to seek through once it pierced through the skin and muscle and connected into the bloodstream.

Katunich was poisoned. X, Kota, Sevestre would not see where it came from. All Katunich would feel now was his body beginning to seize up, like every joint in his body was being dislocated, or the worst feeling of sleep paralyzes you could imagine. Whatever the poison was, his ghost could stop it from killing him, but couldn't reverse it.

The woman, still barely conscious, but at least not bleeding horribly from the forehead, began to speak again with panic in her voice, "Ahhh~... Lupi!.... I lupi mi stanno inseguendo!" She shouted to both Katunich and Kota, struggling to stand back up to keep running, only to see the dart enter Kat's neck. It made her panic even more, jolting away from the duo and staggering to the center tunnel they came from; thinking it was an escape.

Their attackers were now lurking in the shadows again, but this time waited in the dark. And Kota and Kat were now bait for the other two.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Apothecary Bruce
Katunich plucked the needle out of his neck, fashioned of bone, cocktail already delivered. "Accidenti," he said, feeling his body betray him. He was of course trying to push through the sudden fearsome fog, but even a guardian's willpower couldn't stop chemical reactions, and Katunich had no time to perform any meditations of purification. "Protect...the...others!" he exclaimed weakly, pushing air through a stiff neck. though few others were around to hear him. In his last, fleeting moment of control, he drew his hand cannon, but seized up before continuing his plan and fell into the pool, motionless.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Otomos
X Alter

It all took a turn for the worse as X entered the room with Kota, Katunich and a woman. Her panicked screams made her very likely to be the one the group heard before. She ran away while screaming in a language X didn't understand. That left her to deal with the poisoned Katunich, which she only realized as she started to move in closer. A bone dart, with poison. Without much more thought, X used her psionic abilities to lift him off the water and onto a dry surface. He was paralyzed, but at a glance, it would seem like something was preventing the lethality of the poison, he'd be dead by now if that wasn't the case.

"Kota. Do you think you can lift him? I'll keep both of you protected." X casually stated. "We are open for attacks in here, let's move." Whether Kota or X with her powers had Katunich on tow, she would place the hand cannon in it's holster... After a few seconds of deliberation, X added "Do you think we should go after that woman? She speaks another language, she is scared out of her mind... So reaching her might be tough... Huh. She did go from where we were, so she is bound to return here"

While she appeared to be just mulling her thoughts as this all occurred. X was feeling the environment for any trace of people around her, her eyes and mind prepared to swing Necro-Calibur like she had done before and to protect her two companions. A drag, but she may need the help at some point, so she'd rather be on friendly terms with this bunch of strangers.
 
Kota Mizuhara [#ff8a8a]​

"I-um-maybe?" Kota said panickedly, bouncing up and down on his heels. "What should I....do?" he asked X. He wasn't used to life-threatening situations...and to think that just a few days ago, his biggest worry was about going to Nationals...
He tried to lift Katunich, only barely managing it, considering how much older the other was.
"Considering how we are right now..." he said, motioning to Katunich, "we'd be slower, and she might think we're still a threat."
He bit his lip nervously, waiting for X's response.
 
Sevestre

Splitting up, it seems, was useless in the end. The group had reunited much too quickly for the act to be considered worth the effort. Still, what's done is done, and what is now happening is an annoyance. The attackers were hidden yet again, if they were there at all and the situation wasn't the end result of a trap being set off. Still, the scholar took caution as he approached the others yet again.

When he saw the unknown woman flee in a panic, Sevestre briefly considered using a spell known commonly as "Rescue" to drag her back. He decided against it. If she wished to run headlong into unknown dangers, then she will have to deal with the consequences should she be unfortunate. For now, he simply approached the now paralyzed Katunich. While X Alter and Kota were dealing with how best to approach the new situation with hidden enemies and panicked runaways, Sevestre placed his focus on the wounded. The man was being kept alive by his device, but it seemed that it was currently unable to heal him.

Sevestre had decided to take up the healer position. After all, he was the only one that seemed to be able to do it. It looked to be a poison that both paralyzed the body and slowly stop its functions with a toxin. Very basic effects for a poison, at least in comparison to the weakest Malboro's morning breath. A simple Esuna spell should be enough. Two casts at most of the paralysis and poison must be dealt with individually.

Esuna is a simple spell. One that any student of magic would at least know of. It dealt with many sorts of ill effects such as temporary blindness, abnormal sluggishness, and yes poison and paralysis as well. It needed less than a second to focus and cast. Sevestre's hand shone as the healing-aspected aether did away at the poison within Katunich. There was no need to perform Astrologian techniques just yet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Apothecary Bruce
X Alter

"Right, let's focus on..." X's blade turned to the presence that entered the room, quickly lowering it as her mental abilities noticed it was Sevestre before she even fully turned. His tunnel led here as well, which was somewhat of a shame. As they were still in the dark on how could they proceed.

Sevestre got to work on a purifying spell of sorts, while X Alter turned to the shadows again with a sigh, deeply focused on the shadows, once again trying to get a read on the path out of here and more of those fake werewolves. "Katunich, ready to move?" she asked, hoping that the spell had worked out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Apothecary Bruce
Katunich steadied himself, testing his balance. "...yes, I believe so. I'm lucky to have had a fireteam, all my life and it could've been ended with a single dart." The warlock plunged his hand into the depths of his coat, retrieving his hand cannon again. "That woman, where is she? When I saved her, she started babbling about the 'wolves' chasing her. Given our enemies' shtick, I think we're both dealing with the same people. That woman has to be important, some way, somehow."
 
~~GM~~

Well.... Not that important. Right before she vanished into the tunnel, a thrown knife would pierce her throat; slicing through the arteries and out the back of her neck to separate her spinal cord. As she gagged out blood and struggled to hold her wound tight with her hands, all three tunnels suddenly closed shut. Massive stone doors that hung above the entrances smashed down, each weighing more than any of them could lift.

Then, several holes began to open up along the sides of the northern walls. Nothing came out of them yet, but the group could hear something inside them. The sounds of running water. A minute later, torrents of it shot out into the room. The strength and speed of the water was fast like rapids of a river, and already it was filling the room up to the group's waists. It seems the trap was to drown them, and their only visible exits out were closed shut.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Apothecary Bruce
Sevestre

Of course. Of course it's a damned trap. He already had revealed his magic, yet it seems that fate wishes for him to give everything… very well, then. Sevestre refused to meet his end in the sewers of a world he did not even know of!

As the water rose, cards representing the Sharlayan Arcana flew about him and began to channel energy.

"The Morning Star riseth in the East, granting me strength! The malefic descendeth in the West, granting me knowledge! The benefic shineth in the South, granting me life! The pole shineth in the North, granting me Dominion!"

Though the water continued to rise, the cards shown ever brighter with every part of the incantation.

"Destiny lies in mine hands!"

With a burst of aether, time stood still for everything but Sevestre and his current allies.

"Quickly create a new exit before time resumes!"