A Venture into the Dark

[Sarrus]

The figure seems to twitch slightly, then suddenly spins round to face them. It appears to be a mink with brightly glowing green eyes. as soon as it meets the group's gaze it lets out an ear-splitting scream which sounds like nothing anyone has heard before. As it screams it charges, straight for Angder. Raising its claws above its head it makes to slash at him, it seems to have grown a pair of unnaturally large fangs.

[Oedipus Rex]

Karthus notices the figure charge at Angder and charges into action, his instinct snapping to attention. He sprints forward and knocks Angder over and out of the way as he lunges his forelegs at the figure, attempting to defend himself.

[Sarrus]

The mink seems completely undeterred by its forced change of target. It looks up into Karthus' eyes with its glowing green ones, instantly the mantis can feel his energy being drained. Weakness fills his body as the creature absorbs the light from him. As he begins to loose balance, the creature makes a dart for his neck, his fangs bared.

[Niphi]

Thaese lunges forward with a growl, jabbing the mink in the side of the head with the heavy steel tip of his hammer, knocking it sideways and breaking its eye contact with Karthus, before swinging his weapon, spike side first at the mink.

[Sarrus]

The creature tumbles to the ground with an angry screech. When the second blow hits there is a gut wrenching cracking sound and then silence for a moment broken when the creature lets out a sort of sighing sound and the light fades from its eyes.

Sarrus steps up to it, pointing the tip of his sword at it and carefully waves his hand over it. "I don't know what that was but, its gone now..."

He sheaths his sword and rolls the creature onto its back, carefully he begins examining the body, occasionally stopping to utter experimental incantations. Trying to work out what it was. Slowly he gets back to his feet and steps back towards the group.

"Is everyone ok?" He asks.

[Suzumibachii]

Jade had been quiet for most of the first part of the adventure not saying a word as she slipped to collar around her neck and felt the magic embed into her skin. She knew something was wrong but couldn't really place her finer on what it was and the darkness seemed darker than usual. She watched the escape attempt with mild enjoyment only to keep listening to  Sarrus. When he presented the chest she quite quickly grabbed the short metal rod that was there, it seemed he did keep his word. Spinning it around in her palm for a moment she slipped it into a small holster on her hips before continuing on with the group.

As the ventured further into the darkness it became more apparent that it wasnt natural ever her steps sounded loud in the silence around her. "Something is wrong." she whispered only to gaze at the form in front of her during the attack she didn't move or react knowing that any action would possibly just cause more confusion as they all tried to go for the same target. As the creature got put down she walked over to Sarrus and looked at him examining the body "Can I help?" she asked "I know magic to but probably not to the same level as you."

[Sarrus]

"There's certainly no helping this one." Sarrus says, looking down at the body. "Can you bring up the rear of the group? It would be good if you could create some light and keep watch behind us, in case anything tries to sneak up."

[Suzumibachii]

Jade nodded before drawing out the metal rod from its holster once more spinning it in her hand she exhaled softly as the metal started to glow slightly as she sent small pulses of her magic through it exciting the atoms in the metal to allow it to glow. "Not as effective as flame but it works, I will keep an eye on the rear." she stated with a nod before heading to the rear of the party.

[Sarrus]

"Thanks" Sarrus smiles before walking over to Angder and helping him to his feet. "Anything broken?"

[Angder]

Angder gets to his feet with Sarrus's help, he had fired his crossbow at the thing, but his aim was knocked by Karthus slamming into him, and the bolt had completely missed

Angder reloads the crossbow, suddenly he was glad his escape attempt had failed. "I think I'm OK actually..." Angder says quietly, he had grazed his elbow, but it will heal. He turns to Karthus "Can you warn me before knocking me flat next time, I feel like I'm spending more time on my back than on my feet." he turns back to Sarrus, "How much further do we need to go?"

[Sarrus]

"We are nearly there now. Perhaps another 20 minuets or so to go, shall we?"

Sarrus begins to walk along the path once again. It is not long before the eerie silence begins to once again fill the minds of the group.

After a short while, they approach what looks like the entrance to the town, as they get near, Sarrus draws his sword and crouches down low, spinning it to point out the back of his grip and holding it out in front, as he flips it a good portion of the blade vanishes and it shortens into a sharp looking dagger. Slowly he steps up towards the city itself. Past the city walls there is some degree of illumination in that same eerie green light. Giving just enough visibility, Sarrus extinguishes his fireball and motions to Jade to do the same. Quietly he leads the group up to the archway leading inside.

"We need to split up and look around" he whispers as quietly as he can "You can pair up if you like but no more than two together. look for anything out of the ordinary."

[Oedipus Rex]

Karthus nods at the motion of splitting up into pairs and looks around. He could either pair up with the thief, the sorceress, the guard dog, or Sarrus. Sarrus, had granted him his freedom, even if at a price, and he respected him for that, but he knew not of the others. Him putting his life on the line for the thief had been nothing but pure instinct lashing out. Or, so he told himself.


After a quick survey of his options, he turned around and marched into the town alone. He could use some quiet time anyway.

[Niphi]

Thaese watches the mantis leave before turning back to the group and surveying his options. He looks over the dragon with distaste, being constantly reminded of the power he has over the group as he becomes aware of the runes around his neck, feeling them burning into his skin.
He looks over the iguana, glancing at the staff in her hand, the thought of magic making his fur stand on end. His views on the arrogance and self righteousness of mages making him disregard their usefulness in a combat situation.
Finally his eyes fall upon the thief and he sighs, he had no love of criminals having spent many years in the city watch dealing with their likes but out of his options he felt Angder was the only one he could rely on to some extent, besides, they both had thoughts of escape in mind.
Thaese steps forward and places a firm paw on Angder's shoulder, "If you try any funny business, know that I won't hesitate to embed this in your skull," he brandishes his war hammer at him with a threatening look, "Let's go."

[Angder]

Angder Nods slowly, and starts to follow Thaese.

[Sarrus]

The route Karthus chooses leads down an alleyway to the center of the town, outlined by the eery green light he can see tall terraced buildings on either side.

The route Thaese and Angder choose takes them around the edge of the city, going clockwise inside the city wall.

The route Sarrus and Jade choose is the same but goes anticlockwise.


The city is barren, there are the clear signs of where life once bustled through the streets but now the whole place seems empty. Some of the buildings have their doors unlocked or left open.

As Karthus travels through the center of the city he can occasionally see the possessions of the inhabitants dropped in the street, mislaid in the rush. Some of them look quite valuable. As he continues he spots two figures in the street in-front of him, both of them are standing with their backs to the buildings on either side of the street. They aren't leaning but are instead standing, almost touching the walls. Like the mink before they are completely unmoving, staring blankly at each other. He can see the green glow in their eyes.

As Thaese and Angder travel around the town they see little until they come upon signs of a struggle. A trail of blood can be seen on the floor leading off the street and down a narrow alleyway going deeper into the town, the blood is smeared on the ground as if by a body that has been dragged away.

As Sarrus and Jade travel the opposite way around the town they are both aware of the dark presence surrounding them, the two lizards sensitized to such things by their training. Jade, also having an extra awareness towards metal, suddenly feels a large metal disk shift down an alleyway that they have just passed. Something disturbed in an otherwise still world.