(Log of live play with minor alterations with permission from all players involved)
Where else do the bad men lurk but away from civilization' Sira had been certain that Val had spent most of his time in the city, but her sense was likely skewed when he had intentionally left his energy in places like a psionic dog peeing on trees to mark his territory. There had been times where she didn't know where the spike had gone, her connection to it so dull that she could barely feel it. At other times she had the blinding pain behind her head to guide her. It had moved several times before she and Godfry had found the opportunity to go hunting in earnest.
Their first attempt had been halted by the spike's sudden disappearance. She hadn't known what gear to bring. What does one bring when hunting monsters" Godfry had offered armor more than once, and she declined, but underneath her sweatshirt was the telltale soft jangle of chain mail. She had accepted a piece from a friend whom threatened to tie her chair if she hadn't left wearing it. Other than her knives she brought a gun. Your run of the mill, police issue pistol, nothing fancy. Another gift and one that had brought her good luck in the past when dealing with Val.
Sira lead the way north and slightly east, skirting through the foothills and then abruptly turned them due north into the woods. There were earmarks of humanoid life here, they weren't so far off the beaten path that they were treking blindly through the wood, not at first. Someone had cleared a path this way and they passed at least one area where someone had marked off their territory. As for people, they saw not a soul aside from the usual woodland creatures that would be awake through the winter.
The trees and underbrush became more dense and she could feel a sense of dread beginning in the pit of her stomach. It wasn't anxiety, no, there was a cold determination about her.
"We're close," she said in a quiet voice, pitched low as to not carry. Her eyes darted about and she crouched down suddenly with her hand up. "The birds are gone. This is like something out of a bad horror movie."
It was only going to get more cliche.
The man Val had been as a thorn in Godfry's side for some time far too long. The settlement of the end of the story left a foul taste in his mouth. He disliked endings that were not a true ending and this one rode that board " much harder than a Rhydin Whore on main street. As far as his own gear well, Godfry was a very arrogant man. The only thing he wore was leather armor which would allow him to move easier. She had seen his hulking construction and what it had done but had yet to know the different creations he had made. Leather was more than enough for him to deal with most people. Weapons, on the other hand, were different. His creation beside him was carrying a few. The two, very large ones that grew when his spells were active. Godfry had one much in the same as this along with a psionic gun that feed through his own magical energy. Paired with it, he wore something rarely seen, a pair of dark blue sun shades. It might seem odd but these shades in a way were a form of weapon. They helped his perception and thus help to aid him in some way. Sira glanced aside at Godfry, thinking - and not for the first times- that he was one hell of an odd duck. Not that she was a bastion of normalcy herself, but he made her look pretty damn good. For his comments, she grunted quietly.
"Birds are very good at sensing disruptions," she noted as they crept forward. There was a barrier of sorts they crossed, a warding meant to keep the casual wanderer out by making them feel disoriented and a sudden urge to turn around and go away. If she'd encountered it on her own, without knowing her purpose, she might have been susceptible to such a trick. But it wasn't very strong, definitely not strong enough to do more lest it be more easily detectable, and so she shuddered and kept moving forward.
The trees began to take on a twisted appearance, the brush diseased, everything that was once alive dying as if the energy was being sucked out of them. It was worse as they advanced on a clearing, with the innermost ring of trees withered husks. Sira was a city girl and wasn't particularly attached to green things, but the sight was disturbing. She nearly knocked into Godfry when she spotted a body on the ground directly in her path, what looked like a mummified deer frozen in a horizontal state of flight.
She grunted again and managed some artful dodging to avoid both Godfry and carcass. "Gross..." The death didn't bother her, it was the pitiful state. Her eyes remained locked on the deer as they passed and then they broke free of the trees.
Ahead was a cave. A pit in the ground, really, marked in no way other than the sweet scent of rot and a littering of animal bones outside. There was the faint sound of scraping metal inside, in a regular enough pattern to suggest footsteps.
Godfry would be able to feel perhaps a....familiarity. Inside that cave there was someone harvesting energy.
He was rather hard to take in and the man knew it. It was part of the reason he pushed people away. His way of thinking was different than most and he found it rather enjoyable. "Even if they can sense disturbances" ". In the Force! " "they are still dirty creatures." As they went on the hull of trees caught his attention. A moment was taken to observe it try to piece together how it died, how long ago, and if there was a reason the tree still stood and was not pushed down. Markings or part of a spell perhaps" When he was satisfied with his observations he moved on only to find a body to study. Same steps taken to try to get a hint of what was to come. "I have to wonder if he is collecting these for a reason." Was perhaps he a necromancer and this was somehow a part of his army" Following still was a pit with more death and description to it. "Part of the reasons I hate Goblins," said as they neared it but kept a touch of a distance as not to draw attention to the two of them, "they behave in a similar way. Like children with a new toy. Making noise, screaming, and the like with no regards to the world around them." Bitterness sunk in his vocals it could be assumed that he had taken a personal vendetta against them. "Shhh, listen to that." Twang of magic could be felt from perhaps a little further than anticipated by whatever was moving inside. Lids closed as he allowed the flicks of sound to pierce his eardrums. A soothing rhythm which alerted him to the others presence. "There is someone in the hole. Surprise or stealth attack" Either way, we'll need to handle them first."
There was one thing Sira had been practicing that would make a certain psion Godfry thankfully hadn't met (yet) would be mildly pleased she'd picked up just from watching him. It was how she had learned most of her skills as she'd never had a teacher. And thus she let Godfry range ahead to take the lead while she worked on a web of thought that she sent reaching into the pit.
She felt for the knives in the tops of her boots to ease them in their sheaths. They were the largest and sturdiest she carried, though there were certainly more she kept out of sight. Her eyes narrowed and she let the web go, the unseen tendrils dissipating.
"Not a someone, a something." She hadn't felt a mind, but she hadn't expected to. "I think it's one of those metal things that attacked us before....Hadn't there been three of them?"
Surprise was on them! The other two had been hiding in wait, triggered into action by their close proximity. They came crashing through the trees, knowing no such thing as stealth.
Ungainly beasts of twisted metal, swinging arms fashioned into blades. They were not there to distract this time. They were all business and went straight for the attack.
"I tend to think of constructs more and more as people due to a certain one I met years ago." Godfry informed her as he brought his own hand towards his construct. Now it might be a little odd to see but the fact was Godfry could use weapons to encase his magic ability. The one he was plucking from his construct was to give an extra energy bolt to his lightning attack. A bow, slung with a delicate mage thread, that came from a certain spider he knew. "She was a young girl around sixteen. She had been constructed then given a soul by her parents who couldn't have children. They took half of their life to give her one." Voice was back to it's calm and soothing normal tones. "I helped do a few tune ups on her here and there. Despite it all she is constructed and needs them." His head rolled around on his shoulders the eyes peering down to what was below them. Frame pushed forward and jumped towards the hole. The wing of his arms pressing out and expanding some as he gathered his magic juice. As the man landed the arrow of electricity was flown forward towards the back of the first construct he was seen. Following behind him was his own construct, loud, clanging, and diving head first into that hole. Hope to god he didn't crush Godfry.
Another time Sira'd have to pick his brain about that! Maybe debate what makes a being living and all of that philosophical, metaphysical implications. Sira was little good as she was against these constructs that didn't have minds her abilities could penetrate. She hadn't gotten to the point where she could craft her Will into a physical weapon yet if she ever would.
They were going into the pit, it seemed! The way it was angled didn't allow enough light in to see how deep it went, but the metal scraping further in didn't cease and it didn't get any closer, and the construct causing it was out of sight in the darkness.
The two approaching were more fragile than they had been in the alley, at least the one Godfry had struck had been. The electricity utterly dismantled it, causing it to crumble and break apart into the scraps that had been used to form it. The other was too ungainly to fit through the now narrowed opening with his companion a lovely metal heap. Not that it wasn't struggling and swiping at them as well as causing all sorts of noise.
It too seemed to be breaking apart with the force of it's attempts.
"That's strange, right?" Sira wasn't complaining! But she was suspicious as she tried to find a middle ground between getting far enough into the cave to be out of harm's reach and not so far in that she couldn't see what she was running into. She hadn't thought to bring a flashlight.
Yes they were going into the pit. Even if Godfry thought his actions through they were still needing to head forward and thus a bit of taking the lead for him. Ladies first only applied when you knew the location was safe. The span of the wings came forth again as the pulse of magic came to find it giving what would classicly be known as a 'double tap" to the creature. Construct ran before him to push the creature aside as it fell emptying the hall for them in the process so they could go through. Her words did get his attention causing him to smile in her direction. It seemed he was rather enjoying the thought of a challenge. "That is strange." He agreed as the constructs seemed to fall a bit too quick. This meant only one thing. "We're heading into a trap. I want you to be aware of that." A trap. It wasn't the first time he'd been inside of a trap before. Another war, another battle, long ago he used himself and his squad as bait. They were successful on their march but it was still a trap with them as the bait. "Unless he has tons of these pits lightly guarded for his escape routes." Which could be but somehow he doubted that. With bow at the ready, he began his voyage deeper into the confines of that hole. His own eyesight didn't fault too much but he did offer a light in a way, changing the focus of his energy which turned the arrow manifested by his arrow into a near blue flame swirling in a physical form.
The second construct fell as easily as the first one had, crumbling into pieces. They hadn't lingered long enough to see that the metal that had been shining and gleaming even the moments before they were destroyed began to rust shortly after they were destroyed. The very metal they were made from had become brittle and sooner rather than later they would crumble away as if eons had passed. But that would be well after they were out of sight within the pit.
"I was pretty sure it was a trap to begin with," Sira admitted, with a slight note of surprise in her voice that Godfry might not have suspected the same. Of course it was a trap.
The pit seemed to have been tunneled out by something large, the walls were smoothly crafted by what could have been a mechanical tool or perhaps magic. Much like a mine there were beams placed to prevent the walls from collapsing. It was a well constructed trap, it seemed! Perhaps one that had not been intended to be such. The detritus of bone and bits found outside did not disappear as they ventured deeper. Most seemed to be animal, however there was the odd skull here and there.
Sira eyed the glowing arrow and realized she had something that might work as a light. She dug out of a pocket a small red-orange rock. "Be a light?" She asked it. Yes, she's talking to a stone like she expected it might listen. And look at that, it did! It flared to life, about as bright as the average torch and just as flickering. She made a pleased noise.
The first twenty yards or so were straight and then began to veer, enough of a corner that as they moved around it, the mouth of the pit disappeared from view.
Up ahead they found the third construct locked in it's restless pace across the width of the cave. Ten steps one way. A pause. A turn. Ten steps back.
It did not appear to notice their approach.
And probably too much to hope that would not change.
Where else do the bad men lurk but away from civilization' Sira had been certain that Val had spent most of his time in the city, but her sense was likely skewed when he had intentionally left his energy in places like a psionic dog peeing on trees to mark his territory. There had been times where she didn't know where the spike had gone, her connection to it so dull that she could barely feel it. At other times she had the blinding pain behind her head to guide her. It had moved several times before she and Godfry had found the opportunity to go hunting in earnest.
Their first attempt had been halted by the spike's sudden disappearance. She hadn't known what gear to bring. What does one bring when hunting monsters" Godfry had offered armor more than once, and she declined, but underneath her sweatshirt was the telltale soft jangle of chain mail. She had accepted a piece from a friend whom threatened to tie her chair if she hadn't left wearing it. Other than her knives she brought a gun. Your run of the mill, police issue pistol, nothing fancy. Another gift and one that had brought her good luck in the past when dealing with Val.
Sira lead the way north and slightly east, skirting through the foothills and then abruptly turned them due north into the woods. There were earmarks of humanoid life here, they weren't so far off the beaten path that they were treking blindly through the wood, not at first. Someone had cleared a path this way and they passed at least one area where someone had marked off their territory. As for people, they saw not a soul aside from the usual woodland creatures that would be awake through the winter.
The trees and underbrush became more dense and she could feel a sense of dread beginning in the pit of her stomach. It wasn't anxiety, no, there was a cold determination about her.
"We're close," she said in a quiet voice, pitched low as to not carry. Her eyes darted about and she crouched down suddenly with her hand up. "The birds are gone. This is like something out of a bad horror movie."
It was only going to get more cliche.
The man Val had been as a thorn in Godfry's side for some time far too long. The settlement of the end of the story left a foul taste in his mouth. He disliked endings that were not a true ending and this one rode that board " much harder than a Rhydin Whore on main street. As far as his own gear well, Godfry was a very arrogant man. The only thing he wore was leather armor which would allow him to move easier. She had seen his hulking construction and what it had done but had yet to know the different creations he had made. Leather was more than enough for him to deal with most people. Weapons, on the other hand, were different. His creation beside him was carrying a few. The two, very large ones that grew when his spells were active. Godfry had one much in the same as this along with a psionic gun that feed through his own magical energy. Paired with it, he wore something rarely seen, a pair of dark blue sun shades. It might seem odd but these shades in a way were a form of weapon. They helped his perception and thus help to aid him in some way. Sira glanced aside at Godfry, thinking - and not for the first times- that he was one hell of an odd duck. Not that she was a bastion of normalcy herself, but he made her look pretty damn good. For his comments, she grunted quietly.
"Birds are very good at sensing disruptions," she noted as they crept forward. There was a barrier of sorts they crossed, a warding meant to keep the casual wanderer out by making them feel disoriented and a sudden urge to turn around and go away. If she'd encountered it on her own, without knowing her purpose, she might have been susceptible to such a trick. But it wasn't very strong, definitely not strong enough to do more lest it be more easily detectable, and so she shuddered and kept moving forward.
The trees began to take on a twisted appearance, the brush diseased, everything that was once alive dying as if the energy was being sucked out of them. It was worse as they advanced on a clearing, with the innermost ring of trees withered husks. Sira was a city girl and wasn't particularly attached to green things, but the sight was disturbing. She nearly knocked into Godfry when she spotted a body on the ground directly in her path, what looked like a mummified deer frozen in a horizontal state of flight.
She grunted again and managed some artful dodging to avoid both Godfry and carcass. "Gross..." The death didn't bother her, it was the pitiful state. Her eyes remained locked on the deer as they passed and then they broke free of the trees.
Ahead was a cave. A pit in the ground, really, marked in no way other than the sweet scent of rot and a littering of animal bones outside. There was the faint sound of scraping metal inside, in a regular enough pattern to suggest footsteps.
Godfry would be able to feel perhaps a....familiarity. Inside that cave there was someone harvesting energy.
He was rather hard to take in and the man knew it. It was part of the reason he pushed people away. His way of thinking was different than most and he found it rather enjoyable. "Even if they can sense disturbances" ". In the Force! " "they are still dirty creatures." As they went on the hull of trees caught his attention. A moment was taken to observe it try to piece together how it died, how long ago, and if there was a reason the tree still stood and was not pushed down. Markings or part of a spell perhaps" When he was satisfied with his observations he moved on only to find a body to study. Same steps taken to try to get a hint of what was to come. "I have to wonder if he is collecting these for a reason." Was perhaps he a necromancer and this was somehow a part of his army" Following still was a pit with more death and description to it. "Part of the reasons I hate Goblins," said as they neared it but kept a touch of a distance as not to draw attention to the two of them, "they behave in a similar way. Like children with a new toy. Making noise, screaming, and the like with no regards to the world around them." Bitterness sunk in his vocals it could be assumed that he had taken a personal vendetta against them. "Shhh, listen to that." Twang of magic could be felt from perhaps a little further than anticipated by whatever was moving inside. Lids closed as he allowed the flicks of sound to pierce his eardrums. A soothing rhythm which alerted him to the others presence. "There is someone in the hole. Surprise or stealth attack" Either way, we'll need to handle them first."
There was one thing Sira had been practicing that would make a certain psion Godfry thankfully hadn't met (yet) would be mildly pleased she'd picked up just from watching him. It was how she had learned most of her skills as she'd never had a teacher. And thus she let Godfry range ahead to take the lead while she worked on a web of thought that she sent reaching into the pit.
She felt for the knives in the tops of her boots to ease them in their sheaths. They were the largest and sturdiest she carried, though there were certainly more she kept out of sight. Her eyes narrowed and she let the web go, the unseen tendrils dissipating.
"Not a someone, a something." She hadn't felt a mind, but she hadn't expected to. "I think it's one of those metal things that attacked us before....Hadn't there been three of them?"
Surprise was on them! The other two had been hiding in wait, triggered into action by their close proximity. They came crashing through the trees, knowing no such thing as stealth.
Ungainly beasts of twisted metal, swinging arms fashioned into blades. They were not there to distract this time. They were all business and went straight for the attack.
"I tend to think of constructs more and more as people due to a certain one I met years ago." Godfry informed her as he brought his own hand towards his construct. Now it might be a little odd to see but the fact was Godfry could use weapons to encase his magic ability. The one he was plucking from his construct was to give an extra energy bolt to his lightning attack. A bow, slung with a delicate mage thread, that came from a certain spider he knew. "She was a young girl around sixteen. She had been constructed then given a soul by her parents who couldn't have children. They took half of their life to give her one." Voice was back to it's calm and soothing normal tones. "I helped do a few tune ups on her here and there. Despite it all she is constructed and needs them." His head rolled around on his shoulders the eyes peering down to what was below them. Frame pushed forward and jumped towards the hole. The wing of his arms pressing out and expanding some as he gathered his magic juice. As the man landed the arrow of electricity was flown forward towards the back of the first construct he was seen. Following behind him was his own construct, loud, clanging, and diving head first into that hole. Hope to god he didn't crush Godfry.
Another time Sira'd have to pick his brain about that! Maybe debate what makes a being living and all of that philosophical, metaphysical implications. Sira was little good as she was against these constructs that didn't have minds her abilities could penetrate. She hadn't gotten to the point where she could craft her Will into a physical weapon yet if she ever would.
They were going into the pit, it seemed! The way it was angled didn't allow enough light in to see how deep it went, but the metal scraping further in didn't cease and it didn't get any closer, and the construct causing it was out of sight in the darkness.
The two approaching were more fragile than they had been in the alley, at least the one Godfry had struck had been. The electricity utterly dismantled it, causing it to crumble and break apart into the scraps that had been used to form it. The other was too ungainly to fit through the now narrowed opening with his companion a lovely metal heap. Not that it wasn't struggling and swiping at them as well as causing all sorts of noise.
It too seemed to be breaking apart with the force of it's attempts.
"That's strange, right?" Sira wasn't complaining! But she was suspicious as she tried to find a middle ground between getting far enough into the cave to be out of harm's reach and not so far in that she couldn't see what she was running into. She hadn't thought to bring a flashlight.
Yes they were going into the pit. Even if Godfry thought his actions through they were still needing to head forward and thus a bit of taking the lead for him. Ladies first only applied when you knew the location was safe. The span of the wings came forth again as the pulse of magic came to find it giving what would classicly be known as a 'double tap" to the creature. Construct ran before him to push the creature aside as it fell emptying the hall for them in the process so they could go through. Her words did get his attention causing him to smile in her direction. It seemed he was rather enjoying the thought of a challenge. "That is strange." He agreed as the constructs seemed to fall a bit too quick. This meant only one thing. "We're heading into a trap. I want you to be aware of that." A trap. It wasn't the first time he'd been inside of a trap before. Another war, another battle, long ago he used himself and his squad as bait. They were successful on their march but it was still a trap with them as the bait. "Unless he has tons of these pits lightly guarded for his escape routes." Which could be but somehow he doubted that. With bow at the ready, he began his voyage deeper into the confines of that hole. His own eyesight didn't fault too much but he did offer a light in a way, changing the focus of his energy which turned the arrow manifested by his arrow into a near blue flame swirling in a physical form.
The second construct fell as easily as the first one had, crumbling into pieces. They hadn't lingered long enough to see that the metal that had been shining and gleaming even the moments before they were destroyed began to rust shortly after they were destroyed. The very metal they were made from had become brittle and sooner rather than later they would crumble away as if eons had passed. But that would be well after they were out of sight within the pit.
"I was pretty sure it was a trap to begin with," Sira admitted, with a slight note of surprise in her voice that Godfry might not have suspected the same. Of course it was a trap.
The pit seemed to have been tunneled out by something large, the walls were smoothly crafted by what could have been a mechanical tool or perhaps magic. Much like a mine there were beams placed to prevent the walls from collapsing. It was a well constructed trap, it seemed! Perhaps one that had not been intended to be such. The detritus of bone and bits found outside did not disappear as they ventured deeper. Most seemed to be animal, however there was the odd skull here and there.
Sira eyed the glowing arrow and realized she had something that might work as a light. She dug out of a pocket a small red-orange rock. "Be a light?" She asked it. Yes, she's talking to a stone like she expected it might listen. And look at that, it did! It flared to life, about as bright as the average torch and just as flickering. She made a pleased noise.
The first twenty yards or so were straight and then began to veer, enough of a corner that as they moved around it, the mouth of the pit disappeared from view.
Up ahead they found the third construct locked in it's restless pace across the width of the cave. Ten steps one way. A pause. A turn. Ten steps back.
It did not appear to notice their approach.
And probably too much to hope that would not change.