[Event] Investigate Crann Mor [Closed]

[Maaren]

It was probably a good thing Maaren could no longer feel emotions such as humiliation, for being lifted up onto the shoulder of a big, muscular woman wielding a big old hammer would have been pretty humiliating to any other man. Logically Maaren knew he was weak, especially his arms, and that he needed help to get further up into the tree. As the Ropalo made its way into the tree, he and Daja were already making their way up the vine, until she threw him up to the higher floor that is, and went down to fend off the monsters. Thankfully Maaren was thrown high enough to latch onto the floor above through the opening, though his legs still hung through to the other side. His fingers, he could feel, were dug into some thick mosses, so he wasn't worried about slipping at least. A couple good kicks against the vine again and Maaren was able to shove himself up onto the second level without a scratch, but maybe a bit of plant in his hair. Well, that was a workout...

Maaren righted himself, and peered over the edge, getting ready to cast another spell at the bat creature. But, it seemed that he was too late to help, as the strong woman had already splattered the creature to bits, with help from all the others. Maaren let the essence flowing through his body dissipate, and he stood up to look around this new floor. Logically, it would be best to figure out as much as he could before the others made their way up, so they could all be prepared.

Above him he could see higher into the tree, and some ledges that could be used to climb higher. There were also some openings that looked like they lead to other areas. Currently there was no danger in the room, so moving to another room alone was likely to be a bad idea. Instead, Maaren opted to move to the second pedestal and see what mysteries this one held. If it was another magic riddle, it could prove useful in the other areas of the tree that were yet to be explored. Besides, smarts was more of Maaren's strong point than climbing and fighting. He could leave that to all the brawny (and not so brawny but still good at fighting) mages below.

(TL;DR: oh hay there pedestal ;D )

MADE BY MINNIE OF GANGNAM STYLE

[Daja]

To be completely fair, Daja really hadn't planned ahead to what would happen after she hit the bat.

Oh sure, she had it planned out very well. Shove Maaren up to the second floor, grab hammer, jump, hit bat. She had all of that planned out. It was just after the bat hitting that she hadn't planned on. She did manage a quick "Good job!" to Dakota as she passed by. Or rather fell.

There was a lot of falling involved in this stage in plan.

Fortunately, there was enough bat guts to break her fall. Unfortunately, this also meant that she was now covered in said bat guts. Standing on shaky legs, she attempting to scape some of the gore off her front with both hands. She glanced around and up at her companions, and laughed nervously. "If-ah-any of you could magic up a bubble bath, that'd be very appreciated." She shook a leg, trying to get all the blood off it. Daja knew the theory of combat (hit hard, and don't get hit), and wasn't a stranger to killing things (mostly animals, but she had fought against things that talked back before); however, this explosion of gore was very new to her. She'd have to remember the power of falling damage in the future.

Daja took an uneasy step forward. The only thing salvageable from the mess she was currently ankle deep in, was a fang and some scales. Daja herself had no idea what to do with them, but they came from magical creatures, so perhaps they'd have some uses (and be worth some money). If anyone were to ask her for one of the Chameleon's scales, she'd be happy to share. Adventurers shared their loot right?

Right.

Taking a breathe to steady herself, she turned to the elven man. She bowed slightly and gestured  to the vines. "Party on." Absentmindedly, she rubbed a bloody hand through her short hair. "Daja Algierz, at your service."

She'd wait for Eldak to make his assent before climbing up after him. Maaren hadn't yelled or screamed yet, so she took that to mean that he was safe on the second level.

[pantsgrey]

The pedestal on the second floor had four deep openings in the top of it. One of the openings was already filled with a dark red liquid. In between these openings was an eerie doll with a vaguely humanoid shape and no signifying features. Around the rim of the pedestal was another engraving: "A severe offering from four living shall nurture your reward." Beneath the doll was another message, yet this one seemed to have been made in some sort of ink: "Took care of one for you. Also this present should help in a sticky situation. One use, though, so be smart about it."

Maaren could notice a vial of black liquid at the base of the pedestal, half empty. Fortunately, the vial seemed to have a label on it, so he could at least figure out what it was, even if the answers to the questions of who left it and why seemed out of reach at the moment. Maaren also noticed that this part of the tree seemed a bit colder. And was it him, or did it get a bit dimmer up here too...?

Down below, as the group prepared to ascend the vine to rejoin Maaren, they could all hear a distinct, punctuated sound. It seemed something like a cough, but none of them had been coughing...

6 days until the End Challenge.

Maaren has received One Half Vial of Eternal Ink and a Mysterious Doll.

[Eldak]

I SEE FIRE

♛ 309 ♛ TAGGED

Well, removing splattered gore was quite difficult. He only stared helplessly, shrugging. "You could use my jacket if that helps?" That probably wouldn't help much. Rhosyn merely let out a squeak, nestling deeper into his hair.

He made his way upwards slowly, pacing himself with the rest. Half-way up, as the lights started to recede even more, the elf let go of the vine for the briefest of moments, clapping his hands together and allowing a small ball of greenish fire form in his right hand. His left clutched the vine, supporting his weight as the small flame flickered, changing into the shape of a small sparrow and hovering around him, bathing a small area in greenish light.

Eventually, he reached the top, slender digits clutching dense moss and hauling himself up, greeting the man who was already up there with a nod and a strained smile. At this point, curiousity overrode fear and any good manners, causing the elf to step forward, scrutinising the pedestal and its message.

Smarts was not his forte, though he was supposed to be a wise elf and all. Nope. Eyebrows raised in question, Eldak turned to the others, before turning back to eye the suspiciously dark red liquid.

At that time, his mind decided to go into its own little world, so the elf momentarily blanked out, brain replaying sounds he had heard a while ago and filtering through some unknown criteria. Almost as if stuck in his own little white space, a sharp, punctuated coughing sound reached his ears. Probably from while he was down there? The elf only shivered. No one was coughing before.

He turned back to the pedestal, stepping back a little and turning the question over in his mind. The blond wasn't very aware that he had repeated the question out loud, albeit in a soft undertone.

(OOC: That was his little spell "Ignis Spiritus" ^^)

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GANGNAM STYLE

[Maaren]

Maaren shivered as he gazed at the pedestal and the mysterious objects upon it. No, that wasn't from fright. Maaren knew that much. He burrowed his nose deeper into his scarf. It was colder in this higher section of the tree. That was nothing to be concerned about though, this puzzle was. The young warlock did not like what the doll and the message implied: someone else was here. From the look of the fresh blood in the pedestal, for it must have been fresh else it would have been dried up, that someone couldn't be too far ahead of them.

The warlock wanted nothing to do with the doll. He had seen plenty of witches dolls in his life, and he did not trust the thing. Taking the vial could do no harm though. Hopefully whoever was in this tree was an ally, perhaps another wizard from the village. Though Maaren doubted that. Perhaps he had become cynical now that his heart was chilled, but if it were a mage from the village, Maaren would think they would have the decency to not hide themselves.

"I would be careful," Maaren called to whoever was now behind him, for he had heard others finally make their way up the vines. "It appears we are not the only ones in Crann Mor this evening." Maaren reached into one of his satchels and pulled out a small knife. He kept it on his person for cutting woody stalks of herbs, or anything else he may need in the forest. Never did he think he would need the dull blade for this purpose. As his arms wouldn't be able to give the strength he needed, Maaren raised the hilt to his mouth. He bit down on the wooden hilt, and raised his hand up to his face, to the point of the blade that he held in his teeth. With a tilt of his head, he dug the blade into his hand and drew blood from his pale palm. He then squeezed his hand over one of the empty openings on the pedestal, letting his blood flow into the hole, filling it.

Taking the blade from his mouth, he wiped the blood from the metal on his pants, and stuck it back in his satchel. His bleeding hand he could not tend to himself, but he managed to find some spare cloth to hold against the wound until it stopped bleeding at least. "It will need two more offerings." The warlock then stepped away from the pedestal, wanting nothing more to do with it and its blood magic. He was more concerned about their visitor...

MADE BY MINNIE OF GANGNAM STYLE

[Daja]

Daja shook her head at Eldak's offering of his jacket. Best to isolate the mess to one area. Besides, nothing short of a waterfall was going to get all of the gore off of Daja now. Though it'd probably be in everybody's best interest to get this mission done before the dead things and Daja started stinking up the place.

Still, she couldn't help but smile as Eldak clapped his hand. Or reaching out when the little sparrow swooped past her. Not close enough to actually touch it or get burned, but just enough to feel the heat emanating from it. She shook her head, big grin still plastered on her face, "Wonder's never cease," she muttered to herself.

She'd just wrapped her hand around the vine when she heard the noise. Daja's eyes shifted to her companions on the lower levels, before leaning back trying to get an eye on Maaren. Nope, didn't seem like any of them had coughed. Feeling a little paranoid, she spun slowly, trying to see in the green light if there was anything on the lower level.

Assuming that nothing jumped out at her, Daja would continue up the vines. This time it was quite a bit easier without Maaren and the Chameleon shaking it like a leaf. Once at top, she stood up quickly and cocked her head at the two men standing by the pedestal.  She waited for the warlock to step away from it before stepping up. Daja knew her letters (though she was much better with her numbers--for obvious reasons), still she had to re-read the cryptic message over twice.

Her eyes darted to the two vials of blood, before sliding over to her companions. Eldak appeared to be mentally somewhere else, and Maaren's face was as unreadable as always. Though Daja didn't know much about magic, the thought of blood magic was... unsettling. There was something dangerous about blood sacrifice. Slippery slopes and all that.

She took a step back, and laughed nervously, gesturing to her spattered pants. "Think the bat will work?" Doubtful. Very, very doubtful. Still, maybe whoever was giving these riddles appreciated creative answers. Unless she got the confirmation from the rest of her companions, Daja would not add the Ropolo's blood. If they did tell her to add it, she happily would, before giving another look towards Maaren.

Well... he didn't seem to be suffering from any ill effects. Drawing out a small pocket knife, she'd made a long slice across her palm, before squeezing it into the vial. If she had not been instructed to add the bat's blood, she'd turn and look expectantly at her companions.

[Danyal Brights]

Good lord. This was an interesting day. Take a walk around Crann Mor. It'll be good for ya. Danny was wishing with all of his might that he had simply stayed home today. Maybe Onork would show up, and Danny could convince him to rewind time, and he would just stay in bed all day.

Ugh. Ah, well. He was here, now. Although the ringing in his ears and the fact that his vision was a bit blurry made it abundantly clear that he had taken a pretty severe blow to the head. Wait, what happened exactly? Daja had grabbed the Warlock, and Danny .. oh.

Right.

Danny had learned a very valuable lesson then. Crann Chameleons have really freaking thick scales, and normal daggers couldn't pierce them. Information that would have been useful earlier, but at least now he knew. He sat up, having apparently fallen down to the ground after his botched attack, and looked around. Dead chameleon. Scales everywhere - he took a moment to shove some of those into his pockets. The smell of burning flesh and hair, and the sight of the torched bat. Apparently he had missed out on a few minutes, and he wasn't exactly sure what had transpired. He did know one thing, though. He heard more voices, and he couldn't see Maaren.

There were too many people here for Danny's tastes. Too much could go wrong, too many people could get hurt. He thought about throwing in the towel, but he was invested now. He'd solved the first riddle. He couldn't just leave now.

And, so, Danny stood and dusted himself off a bit, finding and re-pocketing his daggers. He glanced up and took a deep breath, tilting his head side to side to pop his neck, then gracefully leaping up into the air. Just to make sure he made the jump, he teleported an additional five feet toward the vine, grabbing on to it tight. Up he went, and, just in case anybody else was on the vine and in his way, he'd teleport past them until he got to the landing that held Maaren, Daja, and, now, Eldak. He seemed a bit surprised, and he laughed a bit. "Holy heck, small world, huh? What's up, Eldak." He stepped up to the pedestal, read it, and looked to Eldak, then the warlock. "Glad to see you're safe, Maaren. Alright, ante up, ladies and gentlemen. This'll be the second time I've cut myself for this damn tree."

Danny couldn't help but chuckle as he pulled the same dagger he'd used to prick his palm before. He wrapped his left hand around the blade, took a deep breath, and made a deeper cut. He followed their actions, letting his blood flow appropriately, then grunted. "Damn, that hurt."

[pantsgrey]

With the final of four offerings, the blood in the four openings suddenly solidified. After a brief moment of pause, there was a bright flash, and many things happened at once. First, the area was suddenly brighter, with enough light to surpass what was on the first floor. In addition, the growing feeling of coldness suddenly went away, and though the area was only the same temperature as the floor below, it felt much warmer by comparison. Third, there was a loud screech that seemed to come from above and all around, the screech sounding similar to a dying scream. For some reason, those three changes seemed to go together, but the group couldn't quite put their finger on why.

The next surprising change was the sudden disappearance of the solidified "offering" that had been there when Maaren had arrived. Furthermore, there was another inked in message: "That was pretty easy. Be sure to take your own. It's useless if you take someone else's offering. Hope you remember which one is which! PS: I really suggest someone take this doll. I mean it, its useful. Come on guys, I talked you into blood offerings, why is a doll so bad? Last chance, I mean it."

With only a few seconds to take this all in, an opening appeared in the side of the pedestal. Within the new opening was a black orb with a white swirl than seemed to move around the inside of the orb. The rims of this new opening on the pedestal contained another engraving: "What belongs to the banished cold is yours to kill or to take. Its possession is a great reward to one prepared for the consequences; its destruction to one wishing to explore these grounds in peace."

Kill, take, leave? The choice is yours...

Maaren, Daja, and Danyal have each recieved One Crystallized Offering.

[Maaren]

It seemed Maaren's answer to the riddle was the right one. He couldn't take all the credit though. For one, Daja and Danyal had helped with the blood offerings. Secondly, there was that mysterious visitor, who was most certainly watching them from afar if he or she knew they had given the pedestal what it wanted. It could have just been some complex magic that would trigger when the pedestal was activated, but Maaren doubted that. It knew he didn't pick up the doll. Someone was most definitely watching them.

Unsure of what to do with the new objects, the crystallized bit of his blood, and this swirling orb, Maaren scooped up his solidified blood offering, and then moved to take a closer look at the orb. No matter what the writing from their visitor said, he was not taking that doll. The young warlock gazed at the orb, watched the white swirl around inside of it, as if it were alive. He felt a prickle run down his spine. Something about the orb made Maaren feel...odd. He didn't want to be near it. He couldn't explain why, nor did he understand the meaning of the words around the orb, but he felt more repulsed by this than by the doll. Maaren shook his head, and moved away from the pedestal.

"I suggest someone with able arms take that...though I have a bad feeling about it." Maaren's head motioned toward the pedestal, so it wasn't clear whether he meant the orb or the doll. No matter which it was, Maaren's feelings toward the objects were the same. "We should continue upwards." He gazed farther up into the tree, and noticed it wasn't quite as dark as before. The pedestal must have done that too. His feet took him to the way that led further up the tree. A scream had come from that way after the blood was offered, so Maaren assumed that would be the way to go. Besides, they could hardly be close to the top of this massive tree. Up sounded more reasonable than outwards, even if there was danger up above. Maaren's fingers rolled the crystallized blood around in the palm of his hand. If there was danger, hopefully his companions could help with that. Miss Daja had done quite a bit of damage to that bat creature, after all.

And so, Maaren continued upwards to whatever awaited him further up in Crann Mor...

MADE BY MINNIE OF GANGNAM STYLE

[Eldak]

I SEE FIRE

♛ WORDS ♛ TAGGED

When he finally focused on the present, he was struck with a tiny pang of guilt that he had not helped in this offering. Danyal had to cut himself twice. "I'll do it next time," he offered, though softly. 

He couldn't shake the chill than ran down his spine, or the nauseous feeling that settled in his gut as he observed the writings and the mysterious orb. The blond cast a doubtful look at Maaren, though he reached out anyway, slender digits wrapping around the cold surface of the orb.

"Upwards, huh." The elf tilted his head upwards, eyes narrowing in thought. That was where the scream had come from, wasn't it...

CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GANGNAM STYLE

[pantsgrey]

The Orb felt as cold as ice in Eldak's fingers, perhaps even colder. It was a heavy contrast to the new temperature of the room. As Eldak took the orb and Maaren began moving up, a distant scream gradually came back in. It started distant and quiet, but gradually got louder and louder until it sounded like the scream was coming from just above them. As the scream got closer, the area began to darken, and the feeling of coldness came back.

Suddenly, shadows seemed to mold together at the source of the scream, forming into the shape of a horrid creature. A humanoid torso emerged from a spider-like body with five wings (yes, asymmetrical), with four sharp talons extending from the torso and tentacles dangling from the spider body. Icy blue eyes were the only part of the creature not covered by darkness, and they lined its back and were clustered on its face.

The monster let out a familiar screech as its eyes fell on Eldak, and the orb in his possession.

Eldak has received an Ice Wraith Heart.

[Daja]

Daja happily stepped aside for Danny. She gave the man a weak, apologetic shrug of the shoulders, as if to say 'The things we do for the sake of the village.' Though the things Daja had been doing wound up getting her covered in blood, rather than donating it.

She watched the pedestal impassively as the changes occurred. Light she could deal with--she was a smith after all--and cold, well, given her previous habitat had been a desert, most everything felt cool to her now. The only thing that caught her attention was the screech. How the three events were connected was a mystery to Daja, but at least the screeching revealed that their was another monster running around. Still it wasn't close enough that they couldn't take a moment to read the script that had appeared.

After a long pause, she glance at Maaren and Eldak, staring at the orb in the elven man's hands. "Shouldn't we like... destroy that?" Daja was all for UNLIMITED POWER as the next man, but wasn't their goal to make the place safe for the village. She glanced around and shut her mouth. Okay, unlimited power it was.

She snatched up the doll before quickly shoving it into Maaren's pockets. It was his after all. He found it. Besides the mysterious writing said it was important so therefore it must be. Finally, she scooped up her crystallized offering. She really wanted to leave it behind, but it seemed important, and they went through the trouble already... Gripping it tightly in her hand, she raced after Maaren and Eldak, taking the stairs two at a time. When the screeching resumed, she looked up, and slipped the offering into a pocket, so that she could hold the hammer with both hands.

She only pulled into a stop when she saw the wraith. "Son of a--" Her eyes followed the wraith's glare towards Eldak and the orb. She still didn't understand the connection, but any five-winged spider thing should probably not get the things it wanted. Bad stuff might happened. "Keep the orb safe!" She yelled at Eldak, before darting in front of the elf and herbalist. She charged quickly crossing the distance between herself and the wraith. She curled, back straining and swung, aiming for the creature's eyes. If she connected a spark would form and errupt into a fire--similar to the spell she had used on the bat. If she missed, she'd duck and roll, trying to keep out of the reach of it's talons.

((quick post before I journey to the land of no-Internet for the night))

[Maaren]

Chilling indeed was the site of the Wraith before them, the inky black creature with such a monstrous, unnatural form. No living creature Maaren knew of could take such a form, that of a spider, a shadow, a five winged beast. The cold from before, the cold that had returned, its icy blue eyes... Maybe Daja's fire would be enough to banish this creature. Somehow, Maaren doubted that.

"What belongs to the banished cold is yours to kill or to take..." Maaren mused over the words from the pedestal down below. Surely this creature was what the words had warned them about. The warlock was right to have left the orb behind, but he could not tell his companion not to claim the treasure. If the orb "belonged to the banished cold," belonged to this creature, for it surely seemed to want it now... If destroying it was phrased as "kill," then perhaps destroying the orb was the only way to banish this creature.

As much as Maaren didn't want the orb, his scholarly curiosity thought it a waste to not take the thing and study it. Curse his curiosity! It would also be just plain rude to knock the orb out of his companion's hands, send it falling to the floor below. If the others were willing to fight this beast, Maaren had no place to object.

He peered around Daja, and raised his hand at the beast. He muttered a few words, let magic coarse through his fingertips, and willed the shadows beneath the creature to rise up and entangle it. The shadows answered his command, and flew up in an attempt to grasp the Wraith's tentacles and its body. Maaren feared for the worst though. If his power and this creature's came from the same source, perhaps he would be of no use after all...

(Note: Spell was Entangling Shadows bro ;D)

MADE BY MINNIE OF GANGNAM STYLE

[pantsgrey]

The Wraith lurched towards Eldak when Daja swung her hammer at its face. The beast recoiled from the blow letting out a terrible scream as flames covered it. However, unlike the Ropalo, the Wraith was sturdy and smart. Sustaining a significant amount of damage, the Wraith let out a burst of cold from its body, turning the flame to steam. It started to fling itself at Daja to counterattack, but was stopped short by Maaren's bindings. A frustrated growl came from the Wraith as it wrapped its tentacles around the bindings, slowly pulling them apart. As a being of shadow, it could interact freely and easily with these shadowy binds.

The Wraith roared with rage as a mouths appeared on its face and torso. These maws opened into a blank nothingness and ice daggers emerged from each mouth. It launched these weapons at the entire group, not sparing those who had not attacked or impeded it yet, knowing they would cause a hassle later. The Wraith was limited to these projectile attacks for now, but it wouldn't be long before it pried apart these bindings...

[Danyal Brights]

Danny reached down to take his own crystallized blood sample - such an odd time they were all having in this tree, even more odd than he had experienced before, and he was hating it as much as he was loving it. He read the pedestal's new riddle as well, contemplating it silently, letting the others do the talking for now. When they all heard that screech, he reached into his jacket and made sure he had one of his daggers in each hand, ready for whatever was about to happen.

Then that wraith came down, screeching up a storm, and Danyal was, admittedly, caught off guard. He expected a great many things; that damn wraith was not one of them. A few steps backward, he chewed on his lip, looking around, gauging his surroundings even as Daja intercepted the wraith and slammed her hammer into its face, causing it to burst into flames. The next few movements happened in a blur; Danny saw Warlock magic wrapping it, and he was curious, having a fascination for the warlock's abilities. Cold burst forth from the wraith, and he saw those mouths open, shooting forth their frozen daggers.

His wits came back to him just in time to duck down, rolling away from the attack, moving behind the now-bound Wraith. He wasn't quite fast enough; one of the ice blades sliced a small cut on Danny's shoulder, enough to make him wince in pain and for a bit of blood to spray on to the ground. That was going to have to be seen to later, but for now he'd survive. Safely behind the creature, he closed his eyes and concentrated on Dark magic flowing through himself, wrapping around the Wraith's ice-blue eyes, blinding him. It, too, was Dark magic, but it should hold - and to make sure, Danny put all of his effort into his, fists clenched tight.