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[EraAtrum]

Venasia tried to use her wolfish instinct to decide which way to go, but it was completely silent. "Well guys, I got nothing." she said.

[Magus]

OOC: Fine, ruin my Dungeon Mastering, Zach

IC: The only scent that wafted into the powerful nostrils of Marcus was a crisp, chill breeze. It had no particular scent, but something within the werewolf told him that it was linked to something deep within the caverns.

Tixanhi took a slightly different approach than Marcus. He, like Kamish, was growing rather impatient with the setbacks and decided to do the only logical thing: take the first path his eyes fell upon. He went left and expected the others to follow him.

The five strode headfirst into the darkness, the only light shimmering from the heads of their respective weapons. The narrow, winding path was lined with similar rotting wooden planks, but the walls were growing gradually more reflective. It was as if they were coated with a strange substance that the wizard couldn't identify off-hand, but he paid no attention to it and strode forward: he had a job to do.

His carelessness nearly got him killed. Again. The path in front of the heroes opened up into a massive open room abruptly. The loose stones from underneath Tixanhi's feet shifted as he tried to catch himself from falling head-first into the massive opening before him. The stones were as helpful as, well, stones; with a manly yelp, the wizard's footing betrayed him and thrust him off the edge into the darkness below...

Marcus was stronger than he looked, and that was saying something. His large, strong hand surged through the darkness, grasped onto Tixanhi's forearm, and pulled him back to the ledge--nearly ripping his arm out of its socket in the process.

"I..." Tixanhi paused, embarrassed. "This usually doesn't happen to me," he said, clearing his throat awkwardly. After the adrenaline wore off, the heroes walked up to the edge and looked beyond. The pathway opened up into a massive room completely encased in darkness. A chill breeze blew up from the depths, indicating that there were more paths beyond it. The light from their magical torches was engulfed by the shadows, dwarfing it after twenty feet. Twenty feet, then, was nothing more than an inch compared to what looked like miles of darkness in the massive, sprawling opening.

Something slithered behind the party. Tixanhi turned around instantly, his staff and spells at the ready. Arcane light flooded back into the narrow hallway illuminating nothing but a cavernous path encrusted in a thicker layer of moisture. The evoker growled and shone his light around the pathway, convinced that there was something there, only to reveal more of the same bleak, writhing emptiness.

A small, cleanly-polished draconic skull fell from the ceiling with a crunch and, without missing a beat, a massive blob of gelatinous ooze surged downward on top of Tixanhi. The wizard was quick on the draw; he fell on his back, thrusting up his staff and roaring out a word of power. As he did, the cavern vibrated with energy as a convex shield of mana coalesced out before him. The sentient ooze splashed over the shield, the force of which would have snapped Tixanhi's flimsy arms if he hadn't had surged more energy into it at the last second. Veins bulged out from his arms and neck as he pulsed more energy into the shield allowing him to hurl the mass of goo into the hallway. It landed on the moist ground, then exploded into tiny pillars of ooze that lined the walls. A split second later, the goo was gone replaced only by a shimmering sheet of moisture on the walls. It was, essentially, invisible.

An acidic, sentient ooze before them and a massive drop behind them, the heroes prepared for the worst...

[SaberatStoor]

OOC: Awesome post, Chad! :D Another encounter, but far more dangerous than a small horde of kobolds! Ahh, it must be the infamous gelatinous cube! x3 Hoho, this won't be easy, but I think I speak for all of us when I say that a challenge like this has been a long time coming (and looked forward to)! ;) Mary and Zach, if I'm right about this creature and you're not sure what it's all about (I don't know if you guys have played D&D before ^^;), don't hesitate to look it up! :) It will do your character a lot of good. For instance - if I remember my monster lore as well as I'd like to think - it isn't a good idea to let your skin come in contact with a gelatinous cube, just as it would be very bad to allow your blades to come in contact with a rust monster (the result is much the same). :)



IC: Marcus rubbed his nose as if to ground out the same stark, void smell he had enountered before. As he was about to confess that he had turned up nothing, Tixanhi made the decision for the whole party and strode past him, pushing the journey down the path to the left. Marcus shrugged and followed after Tixanhi, closely followed by the others.

The tunnel ahead was all but pitch black, the only light emanating from the party's various staff heads and blades. As they continued on, Saber noted how the walls of the tunnel glittered with the muted echo of the magical light their weapons gave off. She couldn't quite discern the explanation for the strange sheen at the time, except that the walls were slathered in some kind of moisture.

The procession halted suddenly when Tixanhi nearly stepped off of a ledge, only to be yanked back onto solid rock by Marcus for the second time that night. As if in apology for the harsh wrenching of Tixanhi's arm and shoulder, Marcus patted Tix gently on the shoulder and smiled, "Don't worry about it. This place is dark and forbidden - it isn't supposed to be easy to navigate." He then stepped toward the rocky edge, followed closely by the others; as he gazed out upon the darkness, only word came to mind: void. The dark thoughts that sprang to mind as his brain struggled to pick out details or establish perspective were disturbing; the sheer imagined size compared to the possible maximum dimensions of the cavern was staggering. Marcus couldn't help but wonder what sort of creature might lurk in such a dismal place - no doubt, it would be accustomed to the lack of light. He shuddered at the thought.

Then, as if attracted by the fear in his heart, something slithered behind him. His head rotated on its spinal perch so quickly to pinpoint the source of the sound that his neck muscles hurt for a couple of seconds, but the dull ache was soon drowned out by the sound of his heart pounding in his ribcage. It took all of ten seconds for Marcus to swallow his fear and channel his energy into aggression and vigilance. A guard dog was no good with its tail tucked between its legs. Every faculty was alert and, fueled by the wolf's indignation, wanted to find the sneaking thing and rip it apart. That's when it revealed itself. First, it announced its presence by releasing a skull that looked to have belonged to a kobold and allowing it to plummet to the rock below, the skull's pearly planes polished clean by the creature as if it had sucked the meat off with ease - whatever it was, it was finished with the bones and it was ready to move on to a bigger meal than it could have hoped for. The moment the skull hit the ground and rolled to face the party, grinning brilliantly upon the companions, the carnivorous blob of ooze fell upon Tixanhi.

Saber had to hand it to Tix - he had reflexes that even the proudest of cats would nod to, and his quick spell casting had done nothing short of save his skin, literally. His mana shield prevented the acidic matter that made up the ooze's being from so much as peppering his nose. Without giving the ooze a moment to get its bearings, he channeled more energy into the shield and hurled the ooze into the hallway behind the party, where it exploded upon impact. The ooze was not defeated - far from it. The separate globules of the creature were absorbed by the strange moisture that covered the walls.

Saber gasped aloud - she had read about this strange, impossible creature and heard tales from adventurers. Its entire being was, quite simply, acid, and it was always hungry. She had trouble registering that the men were telling the truth when they told her that such a creature existed that could suck the flesh off of a man's bones if he was so unlucky as to come in contact with it. Now, she didn't have to witness such a horror - and hopefully would not tonight - to realize that this was doubtlessly the very same creature. Her mind raced with strategies to slay the creature, to put it out of commission, but they would have to find it first, before it found them. Marcus cast his gaze in various directions, suddenly afraid of every inch of the walls. The creature could have been hiding anywhere, but how could that be?

There the party stood, between a rock and a hard place - rather, between an absence of rock and an accumulation of sentient acid that wanted to suck the meat from their bones.

[BloodShadow]

Despising anything without blood Kamish was eager to kill the gel. Just as he was about to spill his blood and ignite his blade a thought crossed his mind. He stared at the reflective organic substance coating the walls, if it was flammable it was liable to burn the party to death, including himself. Even if it wasn't naturally flammable, neither was blood.

As he stood weighing his options gravity seemed to shift unnaturally rotating around him. While he focused on balancing he saw that it was only effecting him. Lingering after effects of Saber's mental attack, searing pain spiked through Kamish's mind accompanied by a deafening ringing in his ears blinding him to his surrounding in a white light. After what seemed like an eternity of pain and disorientation he saw the face of a woman with serene beauty. Unknown yet inexplicably familiar. What he felt for her told him unmistakably who she was.

Gradually his conciseness returned to the hell that is reality. The throbbing pain in his skull was completely numbed by the dagger of sorrow piercing his undead heart. The knowledge of what he had lost made it all the more unbearable. As he had done countless numbers of times before he gripped his wedding ring slowing rotating it on his finger. Studying the ring carefully as if the smooth unblemished surface concealed a secret inscription just outside the reach of his comprehension.

With his senses returning Kamish realized to his surprised he was still be standing. Wiping his strangely damp cheeks with his sleeve it didn't seem like he missed anything. Lost in thought uncaring about the threatening ooze his emotion increasingly turned into anger. Angry at whatever foul creature turned him into a logash and more angry at himself for being unable to recall his own wife's name. He sheathed he blade and walked forward shakily, not to be mistaken as fear, seeking an unfortunate victim on which to inflict his wrath.

[EraAtrum]

OOC: I have no idea how affective ray of frost will be against the gelatinous cube (I looked it up but couldn't seem to find anything about how to fight one), but Venasia needs to practice her spell anyways.

Venasia's mind was having a hard time comprehending that their next foe was, in fact, a cube of acid jello. And it seems to be fond of hide and seek, great.

She decided to take the time that it wasn't around to prepare herself to use ray of frost. It may or may not be very affective, but she might as well try. And you you really get a better target that a huge cube of jello, could you?

She walked a couple of feet away from the others and started preparing herself. In the dust on the floor she drew a circle around her, and then the astral pentagrams in the four directions. Then she crossed herself to conclude the banishment. Not that her mind was clear, she went through the prayer to the Almighty, and the chanting of the Keys. Finally she was finished, she could feel the energy flowing through her. She then walked back over to the others and stood by Marcus.

[Magus]

In spite of the rather grim situation--facing down a gelatinous cube with your backs to a pitch black crater wasn't something he had ever really considered a grand time--Tixanhi couldn't help but grin as Venasia began conjuring up the frigid energies of the ray of frost spell. The temperature of the cavern plummeted as her crackling, frozen ray danced passed Kamish, who happened to be walking forward with the wanton abandon of a hardened warrior.

The ray crashed into the right side of the cavernous hallway. As it did, the layer of glistening liquid that covered the wall solidified with the point of impact and blossoming outward for several feet. There was a shrill, crunching sound as the frozen wall began to shift; tiny fragments of ice fell to the ground trying in vain to slide together and recombine into the thing's original, amorphous form.

"Ice!" Tixanhi shouted the obvious. "If we can't burn it, then freeze it..." He shouted, only to be interrupted by the entire hallway shifting amidst itself. It convulsed and slithered around like the inside of some horrible creature's throat before the entire wall dripped into one amorphous blob that lunged towards Kamish...

[BloodShadow]

In an abstracted trance Kamish didn't even seem to acknowledge the shiver-inducing ray of frost that passed by him. Continuing to walk unabated until the slime puddled before him. The embodiment of rage Kamish raised his arms simultaneously with the blob's lunge. His wrists ruptured violently, the spewed blood formed into chainlike blades with an almost metallic luster in Tixanhi's arcane light.

The snaking links of blood dived into the semiliquid mass sending a visible ripple of force across the glossy surface. Rending apart ooze seemingly effortlessly the chains dispersed the majority of creature back onto the walls. Having drawn well beyond his safe threshold of blood in a probably futile attack Kamish collapsed face first onto the very solid floor. The bladed chains instantly liquefied upon contact with the ground, leaving two long trails of blood.

[Magus]

Tixanhi was taken aback by Kamish's display of blood magic; it was both graphic, yet graceful in its own right. The Magus of the Inner Order watched intently as the blood magus, an occult cousin of his, conjured up a bladed chain that tore through the amorphous surface of the ooze. The attack tore the fluid creature into chunks that splattered on the walls, but, like all any decent boss encounter, the attack wasn't enough to keep the beast down; as Kamish collapsed from sheer exhaustion, the splattered hunks of ooze began to bounce then, suddenly, recombined into a single entity once more--save for the frozen pieces, which twitched hauntingly but fuse with the creature.

Kamish's attack had completely unfazed the ooze; just as soon as it splashed against the walls, it recombined into a single form, then lunged towards the unconscious form of Kamish. If the thing engulfed Kamish, it would secrete an anesthetizing agent that would completely paralyze the logashi blood magus as its caustic gelatin dissolved the flood from his bones, integrating the substance into its own being in a horrid display of feasting.

Tixanhi wasn't about to let that happen. In an instant, the wizard appeared in front of Kamish in an flurry of magically-induced wind that howled through the caves, a somewhat-overzealous aftereffect of his blink talent. As the ooze lunged forward, the evoker thrust out his right hand--the hand associated with conjuration and calling forth of energies--and roared, "Tdim!; as the word of power echoed through the multiverse, the cavern's temperature plummeted tenfold. From the wizard's hand exploded forth a cone of pure, frozen energy that engulfed the ooze and hurled it backwards. The freezing energy permeated the gelatinous carapace, solidifying it midair. The frozen ooze-icle smashed against the left wall of the hallway, then began to crunch and shift as it tried freeing itself from the icy sheath.

The wizard, however, fell to a knee as his vision narrowed from exhaustion. His spell reservoir was depleting rapidly, and if he continued pushing himself beyond the brink, he'd end up like Kamish.

"Shatter...it," Tixanhi muttered under his breath.

[SaberatStoor]

As the ravenous ooze fell upon Kamish, Marcus, driven by the wolf's indignation, nearly stepped in to spare Kamish from the ooze's appetite - the wolf was resolute that if the Vampire were to die, it would be by his tooth and claw - but was stopped short when Tixanhi teleported into the ooze's path and, sticking to Venasia's initial attack, sent a powerful cone of frost crashing into the ooze, capturing it in its frigid grip mid-air. The force of the spell carried the frozen chunk of sentient gel backwards through the air, its airborne journey abruptly ending when it smacked into the wall and slid to the floor with a dull thud.

Incapacitated though it was, it still struggled against its icy bonds, driven by its insatiable appetite. "Shatter it," Tixanhi bid his companions - they didn't need to be told twice. Saber swung her gnarled staff over her head, then held it out and pointed the staff head dead-on target, her left arm parallel, palm facing the frozen gel. She stood like that for about a minute, her jaw muscle working as she pondered on how to rid herself and her companions of the creature. Throughout the brief conflict with the ravenous beast, she had concluded that direct attacks merely scattered the ooze, allowing it to collect itself with ease. Direct attacks were out, she concluded. She would have to think of something that would remove life from its sinuous being, yet how did one go about killing something that always put itself back together no matter how often or how violently its matter was scattered? She had to locate the life source, but where could it be within such a creature? It was all ooze. When the life could not be located within a creature that would normally be inanimate, one could only conclude that the creature had been given "life" by some outside source. She frowned. The gel would free itself, it was just a matter of time. She would have to think of something that would turn out to be more than just a minor inconvenience for the deadly creature, and fast.

Saber's thought process was interrupted when Marcus tore off his shirt and, bunching the material in his paws, picked up the massive hunk of ice, the material of the shirt preventing his warm flesh from sticking to the freezing ice. Knees bent, he carried the creature towards the chasm, grunting and huffing as he bore the weight of it on its last journey. Saber watched, speechless with awe of this testament to the strength capabilities of one cursed by the wolf's boundless vitality, rage, and hunger. When Marcus was within a foot of the cliff edge, he stopped and lifted his arms, swung the frozen creature to the left and, with unimaginable force, hurled the burden up and over the cliff; its weight, coupled with the momentum, dragged the doomed monster into the yawning maw of oblivion.

Marcus gazed out upon the chasm for a moment, then massaged his aching arms and turned to face the party, only to come face-to-face with Saber's dumbstruck expression; whether she was speechless with awe or indignation, he couldn't tell, but decided that it didn't matter and chuckled, relishing the moment. Finally, the muscles in the mage's slack jaw began working again, pulling her lower jaw up and closing her gaping mouth. It was a few moments before she could pull herself together and form the words, "Th-that works, too." Unable to think of more to say, she nodded in reverence towards Marcus, who nodded gratefully in return. Being in fear that a creature was going to eat her skin just by touching it if she didn't act quickly was quite something to recover from when, within just short of a minute, a swift act of sheer bravery and strength disposed of the acidic gelatinous creature. She heaved a sigh of relief and embraced Marcus, leaning in to his ear to whisper soothingly, "Thank you for being so strong-willed. It is not lightly that we ask you to use the curse to the advantage of the party. Thank you so much." Marcus snuffled into her neck, tickling her throat with the occasional jet of air from his nostrils, and nodded, "Of course, Fräulein. I understand and I promise to protect everyone as best I can." The wolf growled something in his ear about how he was only protecting the Vampire in order to ensure that nothing else ate him first, but Marcus ignored it. Saber smiled and broke the embrace. "Thank you." She then turned to the spent Tixanhi and Kamish.

Though Marcus did not personally despise the Vampire, the wolf would not allow him near the Vampire if he intended to lend a helping hand, so Marcus instead kneeled at Tixanhi's side and slipped a strong arm around the wizard's torso, then pulled him to his feet. "Are you going to be alright, Tixanhi?"

Meanwhile, Saber kneeled beside Kamish's still form, making a point to avoid kneeling in either of the two blood trails from Kamish's spell. Hesitantly, she leaned forward and spoke softly, "Rise, Kamish," then paused to consider her next words before continuing, "Are you going to be able to walk and defend yourself?"


OOC: Imagine how strange it sounded when I asked my parents to give me silence and time to think about how to kill a gelatinous cube. xD At least, it would have if my dad hadn't been playing Dungeons and Dragons since it was still called Chainmail, hehe.

[EraAtrum]

Venasia was surprised yet again at how Kamish was so willing to put his life in danger. She didn't understand him and wondered if she ever would. What exactly was the point of him doing that? She shook her head and was glad that he was not on his own like she had wished earlier. As for Tixanhi, she was being constantly astounded at how powerful his magic is. Having not been around it much, it filled her with awe. Now that Marcus had disposed of the cube, She wondered just how powerful werewolves were. And yet sadly almost impossible to control. She had been lucky because of her race, it didn't plague her like it did him. She snapped out of her thoughts and went around to make sure Tixanhi and Kamish were safe.

[BloodShadow]

The welcoming outstretched claws of death, peace so near and yet unreachable. This time Kamish was torn away from death by a single command "Rise, Kamish." Cursed to live he awoke, as if from a dream fairly disoriented. Puzzled by their misplaced concern, had they fallen in battle in place of him he would have easily left them for dead.

"I am fine." he replied to Saber's questions without looking at her. Masking his near defenseless state while every part of his body screamed with pain, he stood as though nothing had happened. Upon noticing his still bleeding wrists, they quickly clotted. Kamish pulled his sleeves slightly lower to conceal the gory wounds. He was unsure, however, how long he could maintain his Illusion of strength or suppress his now unrelenting hunger, as he doubted he could even lift his blade with only one arm.

[SaberatStoor]

Saber nodded, her gaze flicking to his slashed wrists. "Forgive me, but you appear to have over-extended yourself. Please, allow me." Without giving thought as to why she was helping him, she gently plucked up one of his wrists and pressed both thumbs on the wound. As she began to mutter softly, a soothing warmth emanated from her fingertips as the magic of a healing spell flowed easily through the contact, stitching the skin back together and stemming further blood flow. The wound was closed, but far from scarring. She then turned her attention to Kamish's other wrist and healed that wound in the same manner. When she had finished, she released his wrist and looked up to meet his eyes, "Are you fairly certain that you will be able to hold your own throughout the duration of this journey? I do not think that the inhabitants of this cavern system will allow a weakened Vampire to pass through unhindered, so it looks as though your only option is to accompany us until you can regain your strength, one way or another. Once that's done, you will most certainly decide your path from there. We are all of us using our energies sparingly as we do not know what dwells in this cavern system aside from the countless kobolds; if you fall, I do not think that we will be able to keep your company, much less keep it well." She fell silent, her jaw muscle working as she allowed him time to consider what she had said, though she was confident that she was only voicing his own thoughts.
 
Finally, she continued, "So, what is your plan of action, Kamish? Will you press on with us in your current state or fall back and do what you must to fend for yourself? Of course, you are not obligated to help us and I'm certain that you've no motive to hinder us. If you wish to follow us, be certain that that is what you want and that it is in your best interest. As I said, if you fall, consider yourself a casualty." Her gaze flickered to the trails of blood left behind by Kamish's spell and she continued, with a ghost of a smile tugging at the ends of her mouth, "In my opinion, it would be a damned pity." With that, the smile disappeared and her expression was all business, "If you're going to accompany us, you had better not fall." Her gaze flicked to Marcus and she lowered her voice to a whisper, making certain that only Kamish could hear, "That is to say, if you're going to accompany us, are you going to need blood to make yourself useful?"

[BloodShadow]

While Saber healed Kamish's wrists, he pondered the Impracticability of using magic to seal a clotted wound, as though using all of his blood on an ineffective spell was less wasteful. He chose not to remind her that his wounds are self-healing, as he was grateful for the gesture. Whether he liked it or not he was now indebted to Tixanhi, the remnants of ice, exhaustion of the mage, and absence of slime told him as much. Although he would not admit it, he certainly was obligated to aid them. "I will follow," he answered simply.
His demeanor changed slightly at the mention of blood. He turned away from Saber returning his gaze to the dark tunnel. "You shouldn't speak of blood to a thirsty vampire, the sooner we move the better." He spoke just as quietly.

[SaberatStoor]

She frowned, "I think to ignore it would make it more of a problem in eventual time. In due time, you may begin to feel the hunger that your kind is so well known for, if you are not already feeling its pangs, and become ravenous. Typically, a starved animal will seek to assuage any needs it may have by the most convenient means possible - in other words, most any starved animal would prefer to attack the first weakened creature that crosses its path rather than wait to establish a stealthy vantage point from which it could possibly obtain a more gratifying meal in due time." She paused, casting a guilt-ridden glance to Marcus, then back to Kamish. Though she felt some shame in comparing Kamish to an animal, she pressed on, driven by her concern for the party's welfare as a whole, "Can you rise above it, Vampire? If you intend to accompany us as well as aid us, I suggest that you acquire nourishment at least sufficient for you to continue. I don't want you spinning on your heel and attacking one of us out of bloodthirst."

OOC: Figured I may as well post since Chad's so busy atm. :P Hopefully, he'll post soon so we can find out if Tixanhi's alright and get things moving along. ^^; Until then, it looks like Blood and I will work out the concern of Kamish's extreme loss of blood. :P Feel free to get involved, Mary! ^^