RoL Test Party 1

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Ok guys, so, by popular demand, I'm starting a new RoL Party, anyone who wants to join, please, assure me that you can post at least once a day, that's all that's really needed.

I'm gonna use this party to test and develop the new RoL rules, some of it, particularly regarding races, classes and skills, is mostly done, you can give it a read here - http://realmsoflemire.wikispaces.com/

Setting - Pre War of Corruption. The characters are a group of freelancers, traveling around the continent as they do whatever odd jobs they can to make ends meet.

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Khanidi is the northernmost province of the region known as the Droia coast. A rich, fertile land that has been kept separated from the squabbles of the great nations of Ki'afisal by the large mountain ranges of Ki'afisal and Asfeltas. Bordered north by the rock formations known as the Fangs and south by the Dah'kin Kingdom of Skarrad, the Droia coastline is composed by over a dozen city states permanently struggling for control and influnce. They are locked in their little world and have become a melting pot of all cultures and races of Lemire. The perfect place for mercenaries and higher swords to make a quick buck and always be sure a small conflict or war will be right around the corner. Here in Droia, there is always someone willing to pay for a skilled mercenary.

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RoL - Khanidi, Arrival
RoL - Khanidi, Joining the Freelancers
RoL - Khanidi, Exhorian Extermination
RoL - Khanidi, Exploration
RoL - Khanidi, Rendezvous
RoL - Khanidi, Return
RoL - Khanidi, Shopping Trip
RoL - Kussul, The Sentries

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After a quick, but dangerous battle with a pair of exhorian sentries, the group finds itself staring down at the foul smelling darkness of the insect's hive. Just between the roots of the massive dead tree at the forest clearing was the entrance to these tunnels, and even though the night outside is cool and smelling of the ocean, the air wafting up from underground is damp and cold. Inside lies a small exhorian nest, many enemies covered in chitinous armour, as well as the promise of a friend in need and the possible rewards given by the grateful community of Kussul Farms.

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Entering the tunnel systems first, and knowing that with the little light that was supplied by the torch would serve him little use at seeing into the darkness, Virgil lent an attentive ear towards the darkness in front of the party, hoping to try to stay one step ahead of whatever may be in the tunnels. (Listen)

Torch in hand, Padma followed after Virgil, knowing the man would not be able to see anything in the dark without torchlight. Suddenly, he stopped and seemed to be listening to something, so the young girl tried to stay as quiet as she could while she turned to the others behind her. After a few seconds, she whispered, "Something smells..." almost absent mindedly.

Chese followed Padma closely and quietly and stopped when she did. "Smells? What is it?" she whispered.

Purposefully trying not to look into the flickering aura of light that the torch provided, Je'retiel instead peered beyond, into the surrounding darkness, hoping to verify that the group was not in imminent danger (spot). He kept at a distance of a mere couple of steps behind Chese, pausing in his forward progression as the other before him did. The dah'kin wished that Padma and Chese could have made their observations silently, no matter how whispered they were; saying there was an odor in this place was like saying that it was cold underground.

The glaring light of the torches caused Az'rim to grimace, her dark vision suddenly lessened as the humans added light into the cave. She remained behind her brother and stayed close to his heels, using his larger frame to blot the garish light from her cold, black eyes. As Padma babbled and Chese questioned, the smallest of the party let out a sharp exhale of irritated breath. Since Padma was turned and could see her, Az'rim reminded her to be silent by putting a single finger against her lips. "Finneun," she whispered softly, knowing the Catfolk could hear her with his naturally receptive ears. "What do you smell?" She herself had the same mind as her brother and kept her eyes forward, trying to look beyond the orange glow of the torchlight to see into the pungent darkness beyond. (Spot)

"It smells damp.. like.. moldy.." replied Padma to Chese in a whisper, her nose crinkling noticeably as she felt slightly disgusted by the smell, being used instead to the sunny deserts of Caerham. "..can't you tell?" she added with a glance at the Rysallean woman when she noticed Az'rim shushed her with a simple hand motion. "Ah! sorry." she whispered again and decided to keep her mouth shut, hoping someone would give the order to move on soon.

Chese smiled at Padma and waited until the others had had time to listen and sniff around. "Of course. You just sounded like you were referring to something else," she said quietly. She then looked questioningly at Virgil, expecting him to say whether he heard anything, so they could keep moving.

Finneun followed them into the cave. He didn't want to tell them what all he smelled, but he would answer Az's question. "Death," he said quietly. "About a dozen or so Exhorians, smaller than the guards." He looked ahead at the others. "There is a lot of death, though." He didn't want to say it. Their friend was probably among that death.

Az'rim took a deep breath, appreciating in a way the humans and panther could not the way the damp smell reminded her of home. Blinking a few times to dispel the irritating firelight, she made out a fork in the tunnel, peering into the darkness as easily as a human would onto a sunlit path. With only two options available to them, Az'rim informed the party in a voice only slightly above a whisper "ahead the tunnel splits in two." She then looked over her shoulder at Finneun as he announced what his nose told him. Death. She expected that, since exhorians were notorious for dragging their prey back to feast in the hive. "Nothing stands out to me about either tunnel," she explained, wishing they didn't have to do so much talking. "Pick the path that stinks less and let us be on our way."

Virgil raised his blade ad pointed down the North tunnel. Keeping his voice as low as he could so that it would sill be audible, he spoke unerringly, "We want to go this way, I can hear movement at the end, and possibly even metal scraping. That other tunnel is dead quiet." His tone carried a bit of blunt force with it, wanting no more than to go down that tunnel in case it was Lilee at the end, fighting against her captors.

Not sure if he could completely trust Virgil's assessment, Finneun attempted to moved past the two in front of him to be in the cave proper. He wanted to at least try to sense what was in there with more clarity, to see if he could pinpoint where the exhorians were mostly located. (scent)

Trusting mostly in Az'rim's sensibilities over Finneun's nose, Je'retiel, despite Virgil's opinion of the tunnel they should choose, nonetheless turned his focus upon the panther man when his sister requested use of his fine-tuned faculty, and stepped out of his way as he proceeded to the front of the group. He awaited the newest member's judgment with practiced patience, though his ardent wish was for them to carry on as soon as possible.

Chese was ready to move and looked questioningly at Finneun as he broke their formation and went past.

"That way is their food stores," Finneun said with a frown. He looked over at the group. "The other ways smells strongly of exhorian." The other way was the smell of death, and he sincerely hoped that at least one of them understood what he meant by food stores. If not, they would be in for a very unpleasant surprise.

"Food stores, you mean bodies," Az'rim said flatly, knowing full well that exhorians did not store bushels of turnips in their dark, cold cellars. "I say we do as Virgil suggested and and investigate the scraping metal. Where there is noise, there the fight will be."

"B..bodies?" whispered Padma with a slight shudder, which she'd attribute the the cold dampness of the tunnel should anyone ask. Holding the torch a bit farther away to try and provide more light, the caerhamian girl called out to the others. "If there's people in there we should hurry, we might be able to help." whispering as quietly as she could. The girl then moved forward past Finneun, torch in hand to light the way and walked several feet ahead of the others until she spotted yet another fork in the tunnels. Her vision limited and sense of smell deficient, she turned to the others behind her. "Guys!" she let out in a hushed voice. "Where to now?"

Finneun ground his teeth together in frustration as Padma moved past him. "Wait!" he hissed under his breath at her. Making his way forward, Finneun completely disregarded the earlier decision that he should be at the back. It was obvious that other than the hunter, he was the best tracker in the group. Putting the armor clad one in front had been a clear mistake. He stopped next to Padma and took a deep breath, trying to pick up which direction the smell was coming from. (scent)

"Look, it's obvious that we need to hurry to the North. If someone is in danger there, we may be able to save them, just as Padma said," Virgil said, looking to the Panther with a case of obvious logic, not happy that he was still trying to determine direction after they had already figured out a direction.

Looking back at Virgil, Finnuen made a face about his 'decision'. "If you want to walk into an exhorian feast, be my guest." He gestured towards the north branch, taking a step back to give the rest room to move by. Maybe one of them would realize the importance of checking before rushing in, but it was obviously not this metal clad idiot.

"Yes, bodies. Exhorians devour their prey inside their tunnels so there is no telling what carnage we will find," Az'rim replied, such a cavalier answer to a grim question. She watched the Caerhamian woman push into the front with her torch and immediately wanted to beckon her back but Finneun, it seemed, was on the job. The panther pushed his way to the front as well and then, the marching orders that they had settled upon were ruined. With a sigh, Az'rim stepped into the tunnels now that she was bringing up the rear, and moved beyond Chese, Jer'etiel and Virgil to stand close behind Padma, peering around the girl's form to see into the dark down the tunnel they had chosen. (Spot)

Je'retiel trailed behind Az'rim as she navigated her way onward, just as she had advised above ground, and he agreed to, to remain close by; unless, of course, circumstance dictated they split ways. He stared dutifully onward, though there was the hard touch of criticism in his eyes at the back-and-forth of banter and air of indecision regarding the direction the group should head. His position at fourth in line in the narrow tunnel put him at a pretty poor spot to try and see anything, so he kept his ears attuned to any sounds that might forewarn danger (listen).

With the Party's whole order thrown out of whack by the over-zealous Panther, Virgil held back, slightly steaming at the cat's actions. Being as armored as he was, he figured he would just take up the rear of the group now that Finneun had decided to take point. He urged back to Chese, hoping to get her in before him.

Chese shook her head as the others kept on talking and messing up their formation. She patted Virgil's shoulder reassuringly and moved carefully toward the front of the group, attempting to position herself just behind Finneun. (Move silently) "If we can surprise them, go ahead and scout, since you can see," she whispered to him. Since she didn't know where to go from the second fork, she too tried to discern where the scraping was coming from. (Listen)

Getting a bit claustrophobic now, Padma looked around as the others did their thing around her. It seems everyone was trying to discern which path to take. Finally, Chese suggested Finneun scouted ahead, and the idea seemed good to Padma, the panther WAS faster han most, had a keen nose and eyes and could defend himself. Still, something didn't sit well with the Caerhamian about sending someone from their group alone. "Maybe someone can go with Finneun?" she whispered, trying to be as quiet as possible. "We could split up... Az'rim, Chese and Finneun are the more.. dexterous ones. The rest of us could tail behind, trying not to make noise."

Finneun turned and crouched, looking back at the group with his back to one of the walls. "One of the dark seers should come with me. Preferably the hunter." His voice was little more than a whisper. "If there is nothing down that cave other than bodies, we will know shortly if this was a fruitless endeavor." He gave a nod to Az for her to join him.

Chese gave Padma a thumbs-up. "We shouldn't split too far though," she said quietly. She stood to the side to let Az'rim go through and was prepared to follow her and Finneun so she could run past the dah'kin if they did run into exhorians.

After having a good listen to the sounds of the caves, and after the group seemed to have settled, once again, into some sort of formation, Je'retiel reached forward and extended his arm carefully over his shorter sibling's left shoulder. 'There is no discernible activity,' he simply but scarcely stated in his already muted voice as the tilt of his gloved hand indicated the southern passage. 'Significant activity,' he likewise stated, directing with a gentle tilt of his hand anyone's attention who cared to pay heed to the more northern side of the fork. If they could keep from splitting, he'd rather communicate that now, rather than send the group on wild goose chases down questionably inhabited tunnels.

Looking past Padma and Finneun, Az'rim's Dah'kin eyes cut through the darkness to see what lay beyond in the right-hand tunnel that would wind them north. There was nothing, it seemed, though she did softly inform the rest that "it bends a little ways in and I can see no further." Then looking to the other tunnel, she saw a large open chamber, and aligned herself more towards that path. "This way leads to an antechamber," she explained softly, looking to the whole group as she spoke to make sure they heard her. When the talk of splitting up came about, she listened carefully and immediately threw her coal black gaze to Padma as she essentially spoke to sever Je'retiel from her side. There was a slightly, discernable resistance to such an idea, but the overall picture was indeed in favor of the smaller and more lithe to go first. "Very well," she said, nodding primly to Finneun as he expressed his desire to track with her instead. "Je'retiel, hand me a phial of oil, please."

Unable to do much else, Virgil kept his blade lazily at his side. He turned towards where the group had just come from, and kept an eye out, trying to make sure that nothing came up from behind them, but he knew that even with the flicker of light coming fro the torches, he'd probably be better off hearing the insects before they came. (Listen/Spot)

Though he wasn't about to dwell on it now, it was probably an oversight that Je'retiel had purchased only one ampule of oil. As he hesitantly slid it from his robes to hand to Az'rim, his greatest concern, though his consternation didn't register on his face other than a furrowing of his brow, was that his delicate sibling was going to venture off into questionable circumstances on her own, save for Finneun. However, he understood the suggested agenda and cast the panther a cautioning look, though he remained, as usual, quiet.

Az'rim extended her hand to receive the flammable oil, unaware that she was indeed robbing her brother of the only phial he'd purchased. Her fingers purposely slid over his in the briefest of lingers before she pulled free the glass phial and slipped it into her pack. She looked up at her tall and willowy brother, her lips immobile while her eyes did the talking. Despite their outward dysfunction, Az'rim, though she'd bleed to death before she'd admit it aloud, was rather uncomfortable without the steady presence of her loyal brother. "The panther and I go ahead, then," she said, mostly for Je'retiel's sake, speaking first to him and then turning around to swish her way to the front of the line, where Finneun was waiting. "To the antechamber, then?" she asked softly, using the faintest of voices since she knew the Catfolk's ears were impeccably tuned.

Watching and listening to everyone's reactions and concerns, Finneun waited patiently. He nodded at Az'rim as she joined him at the front of the line. "We go in, look, then get back here if there is nothing to report." He looked over at Padma and Chese, the two closest to him. "If anything happens, I will be listening here, so we will be back quickly. If we run into trouble there, then we will also be back quickly." He looked at Az and nodded. "Let us go." Turning, he took a deep breath and headed into the direction of the antechamber, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness and relying on his nose. (scent)

Chese looked curiously toward Finneun, but was fine with staying put as he implied. Therefore, she just stood still and after Finneun and Az'rim would have gone, she would keep listening for sounds other than them. (listen)

Padma moved ahead with the torch as the Chese waited on the crossroads and Finneun and Az'rim disappeared into the dark antechamber. Holding her breath, as if half expecting a scream to come out from the darkness any moment now, the silence was deafening instead, if indeed such thing could be said. The girl could feel herself breathing loudly, and the flame of the torch flickered back and forth as fresh wind came in through the entrance to the tunnels. "Chese... do you hear anything?" she asked quietly.

The group's movements revealed two things. On one hand, Az'rim and Finneun moved down into the antechamber, away from the smell of rotting flesh the Panther had detected earlier, and as they got to the very edge they quickly found that this small chamber led to a much, much larger one. Their eyes, now turned away from the faint torchlight, quickly grew used to the darkness once more and peering into the large chamber they could see some sort of slime coating the walls, floor and ceiling. On the ground, there were hundreds of small, light bits of what seemed to be rock, almost glistening. This entire chamber seemed to have been bore out of some tough, igneous rock by Exhorian claws.

In the meantime, as Padma moved to the crossroads, of sorts, the light from the torch revealed yet another fork in the tunnels farther ahead, but it might be best to deal with the current one first.

Chese looked at Padma and shook her head. She kept her eyes and ears on the tunnels other than the entrance one.

Standing stock still in the center of the triangle of Virgil, Chese and Padma's bodies, Je'retiel watched until Az'rim and Finneun disappeared down the branch that lead to the antechamber, staring into the wall of darkness until he could no longer see them. With a small but sudden jerk of his head, the dah'kin ever-so-slightly turned his attention to Padma and then to Chese as the former asked a question of the latter. Altogether ignoring his present company, Je'retiel then held a hand to his eyes to shield them from the worst of the flickering torchlight to try and scrutinize the subsequent split in the tunnels.

While the panther was left with his nose and his eyes, the small Dah'kin huntress slunk quietly on her soft boots, keeping a hand outstretched so that she could tap Finneun on the shoulder and alert him to any danger she might detect. The glistening walls immediately caught Az'rim's attention and she paused to gaze at the soupy filth before she nudged the Panther with her elbow and led his eyes upward with her own. "Excretions?" she asked, her guess clearly as good as the next. Her silver brows knit together as she held a hand a few inches away from the wall, not daring yet to touch the slime until she had a few more answers. "Can you hear or smell anything?" she asked, her voice almost as silent as her footsteps. (Move Silently/Knowledge on Exhorians).

Finneun paused and glanced back at Az. "Strong smell of exhorian excretions coming from that direction," he said, pointing towards the cave in front of them. "Very strong. I am not sure how wise it would be to continue if we are going to talk." He moved forward, silent once more. He wanted to see around the cave, not being able to see just yet. Sneaking up to where the chamber and tunnel met, he peeked around the corner. (move silently/spot)

Finneun and Az'rim advanced towards the larger chamber to try to peer into it, however, before they could do so they heard a long, piercing screech coming from the following chamber. The small bits covering the floor, upon closer inspection, were remnants of dozens of eggshells that had been laid along the ground. Suddenly, the floor seemed to move and the two noticed dozens of large, armored worms, the size of a man's leg crawling around on, leaving behind them trails of corrosive slime like the ones that covered the floor. The screeches of the creatures echoed in the cave, calling for help as they slimed their way to the edges of the larger tunnel chamber, away from the intruders. If the group was to keep their stealth, they needed to deal with the larvae quickly.

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Battle has started!

Turns and positions are as following!
Round 7 -
Az'rim (G8)(6/10 HP, 12/12 MP)
Je'retiel (G9)(15/15 HP, 14/20 MP)
Finneun (E9)(21/22 HP, 8/8 MP)
Padma (H8)(10/10 HP, 4/18 MP)
Virgil (H7)(27/30 HP, 8/8 MP)

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Round 7!
Az'rim's turn! -

As Chese went down and stayed down, Az'rim glanced at the floor where the rest of the Rysallean's blood was spent. Instead of feeling sorrow for the loss of a party member, she was irritated at having one less person to help them fight and immediately dashed back to L9, keeping herself away from the line of fire! Once she was good and away, she fired her final flaming arrow at W1. "I am now spent of flammable arrows!" she called matter-of-factly.

Az'rim quickly lit an arrow and let it fly towards the Exhorian across the room from her, the projectile kept true and finally pierced the side of the Exhorian's head! Dealing 11 damage! Somehow still alive, the creature struggled a bit as it's chitinous armor and blood began to catch on fire, taking 4 more damage, it crumbled into a smoldering pile!

Je'retiel's turn! -

After Chese was dispatched with under the indiscriminate feet of the exhorians and his sister expertly terminated another one of the workers, Je'retiel wasted no time in his attack. He shifted his position slightly (G9), and with all the might in his thin arm, he lashed his whip at the closest beastie, the remaining young soldier.

As Je'retiel swung his chain at the Exhorian soldier, the bladed links hooked on the creature's arm. With one powerful yank, the Dah'kin then pulled the chain back to himself and the barbed edges of it made a gash on the creature's chitinous shell, dealing 2 damage!

Finneun's turn! -

Taking advantage of Je'retiel's attack, Finn followed the movement with his own attack on the soldier. He swung both swords, aiming for that already injured area. Even if he missed, he would direct the Exhorian's attention onto himself. He was angry, not only because the Exhorians had lasted so long, but they had trampled one of his allies right in front of him and there had been nothing Finn could do about it.

Finneun spun around to face the Exhorian and brought both of his blades to bear, hacking at the creature in quick succession. Unfortunately, only the last of these blows managed to connect with the weakened arm, making a deep cut on the Exhorian's flesh and dealing 6 damage!

Padma's turn! -

"Chese!" cried out Padma as she extended her hand towards Chese, trying to heal her only to realize the girl was too far gone. Rather enraged, the young caerhamian tried to keep her cool, figuring Az'rim was the one that had caused the enemy the most damage, she closed her eyes and called for a blessing of Nesha upon the archer.

Az'rim now has 10 dexterity!

The sixth exhorian worker, seeing his fellow creature felled in front of him, rushed forward against Virgil with a screech, flailing it's claws!

Hearing what he could of Chese being trampled, Virgil gave a knowing smirk to the exhorian that now rushed him. Chese was the last that he had known from his time back in Decima. While greatly saddened by this loss, it was, in a way, liberating to have lost the last major link he had to the City. The knight raised his shield to stave off the wildly flailing insect.

Virgil braced himself once more, placing his shield before himself and the exhorian and letting the blow bounce harmlessly off the wood!

Virgil's turn! -

The thought of Chese still in his mind, Virgil lashed out once more, this time, aiming once more for the head, trying to take the head off one more exhorian.

Vigil hacked once more at the creature, attempting to sever its head. However, the blow missed by a few inches, striking instead the Exhorian's shoulder and dealt 6 damage!

In the meantime, the remaining Exhorian soldier, angered by Finneun's blow, replied with slashes from it's own blades, trying to hack the panther into pieces!

Right away, Finneun braced himself for impact, crossing both his blades in front of him to deflect the incoming slashes.

Luckily for Finneun, both his blades provided a good defense against the blows of the exhorian, fending them off with little to no damage to himself!

Round 8!

Az'rim's turn! -

Unaccustomed to white magic after 26 years in the darkness of Skarrad with her black mage brethren, Az'rim immediately felt the invasive presence of the white magic blessing that Padma cast upon her. The tingle started in her toes, almost like a sting that soon faded into a thrumming, as if she were suddenly filled with further energy. Dashing to G8, directly beside her tall, willowy brother, the small Dah'kin beauty readied an arrow in transit. The cave floor fell rapidly beneath her feet and she hastily aimed and then sent it sailing with the twang of the string towards S1.

Az'rim quickly stepped forward and readied her bow, aiming carefully, she felt her motions quicker and more precise than before, coming to her effortlessly as she let the arrow fly. The projectile passed right over Je'retiel and passed cleanly through the giant insect's head, dealing a critical hit and killing it instantly!

Je'retiel's turn! -

Staying his ground for the moment, Je'retiel lashed his whip out at what appeared to be the final worker inhabiting the tunnel. In conjunction with his attack, he dealt a lightning strike, hoping to inflict as much damage as possible.

With a swift motion, Je'retiel tossed the chain forward, the hooks on the heavier links piercing the chitin of the exhorian's arms as the Dah'kin man pulled the chain towards him once more! Ripping through the insect's flesh, the chain dealt 8 damage just as an electrick shock ran down the weapon, zapping the insect and dealing an extra 6 damage! The creature fell to the ground almost immediately, dead.

Finneun's turn! -

The creatures in front of Finn were brought down, so Finn took a heavily defensive stance in front of Je'retiel, moving so he would be in the direct line of fire for anything that might come down the tunnel. (Move to E9)

After Finneun had moved out of the way, the remaining Exhorian, seemingly driven by a murderous rage even though all it's kin had already fallen, kept attacking Virgil, swiping at the knight with both it's claws!

Still frustrated at the insect's bloodlust and its attempts, Virgil raised his shield to the claw swipes once more.

Once more, the exhorian failed to deal any damage to the knight, both of his blows bouncing off the wooden shield harmlessly as the timber creaked menacingly from the strikes, but still held true!

Virgil's turn! -

Once more, Virgil took his sword and slashed at the insect, hoping to remove its head.

With a final, definitive blow, the knight drove the side of his blade against the Exhorian's neck, letting some of it's viscous clear blood spray out the side while dealing 8 damage. Then the knight pushed forward and then back with his whole body, hearing the chitin crack and noticing more translucent good pour out of the exhorian's neck as he dislodged his blade from it, letting the beast fall dead on the ground!

Battle has ended!
Everyone gains 986 XP!
Az'rim is now level 5!
Padma is now level 4!
Virgil is now level 4!
Finneun is now level 4!
Je'retiel is now level 4!

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After Virgil dispatched neatly with the final exhorian, Je'retiel allowed a wisp of air to escape between the lips of his mutilated mouth. 'We should leave,' he stated, and as he took a step forward, something bumped against his foot. He almost ignored it, except that when he glanced down, he saw that it was Chese's corpse. He showed little reverance or decorum as he took the same foot and rolled her over with a forceful nudge. Stooping,and seemingly oblivious to the transgression of his actions and the amount gore from her bloody death, the young man started going through her pack. He was there in the same shop when she bought potions, so he could, perhaps, at least salvage something useful.

On Chese's body, Je'retiel found;
1 Iron Warfan
1 Leather Cap
1 set of Steel Bracers
1 Cloth Cloak
1 Lesser Healing Potion
4 Bronze Shurikens
1 Torch
1 Set of Thief Tools
1 Piece of Exhorian Shell
Cheese's Freelancer's Guild Badge
184 Gold Pieces.

Finn took a few steps forward, his eyes on the tunnel ahead of him, his nose trying to get past the stink of dead Exhorian. His blades remained in his hands, just in case they were needed.

With a sigh, Virgil wiped the remains of the final exhorian from his blade. Hearing Jer's declaration, the knight turned to his direction, only to see the excessive force used to move the corpse of his friend, "Hey now, stop that! Chese deserves more respect than that! She's not some piece of meat that you can just toss around!" The Knight was livid at the blatent disrespect of his friend's corpse, rushing to her side as he nearly yelled at the Dah'kin that was kicking the girl. Virgil, being the towering male that he was, stood solidly over Jer, looking down at the smaller man with venom and anger.

As soon as battle ended, Az'rim's arm dropped slowly from the perfect position she'd held it in in case she needed to fire another arrow. With no emotion on her face whatsoever, the Dah'kin woman replaced her bow on her back, in easy reach in case any more of the critters came to play, but out of the way for further travel. She nodded in agreement with her brother's words and stepped forward towards the body of their fallen comrade, in the middle of saying, "we should search her for anything of value," right as her younger brother kicked the girl over to do exactly that. She smiled softly, the smile of someone pleased with his behavior, like a mistress who's dog had sat all on his own. Folding her arms over her chest, she tilted one hip out and stood, waiting to see what Jer'etiel could find on the slain woman. The scene suited her well - slain beasts all around and the dark closeness of a cave reminded her of home, before she'd been forced to the surface by the foul Esdras... Her brief bout of nostalgia was punctured as Virgil, the lumbering knight, got his feathers ruffled by the sheer logical action of not leaving wares with a corpse. Stepping over to the knight, who was hovering too close to her brother for comfort, the Dah'kin woman slipped her arm through his, gently patting him in a soothing way. "Easy, Virgil. It's to help the group, nothing sinister," she said, her voice softer and less harsh than usual as she displayed a rare moment of compassion, however contrived it might or might not have been. Just as smoothly as her touch had begun, she let go of his arm and walked towards the tunnel where Finneun, the silent panther, was stationed. "We can mourn her elsewhere. We should be moving."

Chese's death and the looting of her body by the Dah'kin pained Padma, for a second, she opened her mouth ready to protest, but words didn't seem to come out. She'd seen death before in her travels, caravans crossing Caerham were often plagued by rogue dah'kin raiders and larger, more dangerous exhorians, but she'd never seen it up close like now. "Don't worry, Virgil." she said to the knight with a sigh. "We'll burry Chese and find Lilee, but we should go further in." she added, her voice cracking for a second. "T..there can't be many more exhorians... otherwise they would've come already... we did promise to clear the nest." continued the young woman. "If we don't see it through then Chese died for nothing."

Even though he knew that at least someone would protest to what he was doing, Je'retiel set his jaw in frustration when Virgil approached. He paused in his rummaging and looked up at the much, much larger individual, but initially said nothing. He nodded curtly to his sister as she came to the knight's side, and was surprised, though he didn't indicate it, at Padma's even-keeled reaction. He still worked quickly, but allowed his deft fingers to work a little more gingerly, as not to further upset Chese's grieving friend. 'Should we make it out of this place alive, we shall all have a drink in her memory,' he said, though his speech impediment made it difficult to discern if he was being sincere or not. He deliberately slid Chese's coin pouch into his robes as he spoke, then selected the healing potion, the bracers, cloak, Freelancer's badge and thief tools. 'A memento,' the dah'kin said as he stood to his full height and met Virgil's gaze, wordlessly indicating that he wasn't going to allow the man to intimidate him. Before Je'retiel followed after Az'rim and Finneun, he shoved the thief tools and Freelancer's badge at Virgil's armored chest. 'The guild might want that badge back,' he commented flatly as he turned away.

Virgil was still fuming at the sight of the disrespect of the poor girl's corpse. Padma's words struck him though, enough to let his anger pass for a moment. He looked down to Jer, and sighed, "I'm sorry, too many of my friends have passed already." The anger had not subsided, but he was at least complacent at the moment. He reached out and took the items from the Dah'kin, before looking up and down the halls that lead from in front of them, "Yes, we should go forth. However, I will not leave Chese's body down here to sit."

Inwardly annoyed by the displays of sentimentality, Az'rim kept her face passive and pensive, looking no more or less distressed than she should. People died in Skarrad more than on the surface, it seemed. With such a hive mentality, one death was part of the cycle, and with so many necromancers, death was just another tool for the Spire. She lifted a brow as Jer'etiel gave Virgil the useless items, but said nothing. "Carry her then," she said simply, the softness of her voice disappearing as suddenly as it had arrive. Looking over to Virgil from her position at the mouth of the tunnel she added, "But do it quickly and quietly. I intend to put this place behind me."

"We need to keep moving," Finneun said as quietly as he could. "Carrying the dead will weigh us down." He wasn't going to die protecting a body. Finn hadn't had time to really become acquainted or close to any of the people, so he barely cared one way or the other.  But if Virgil insisted on carrying Chese, Finneun was not going to wait up for him.

"Uhm.. Virgil.." said simply Padma putting her hand on the knight's shoulder as he looked over to Chese's body. "We can take her on the way out... it won't do anyone any good to carry her further into the cave." added the young woman, seeking to prevent any rifts that might occur in the group in these difficult times.

Virgil huffed a hard sigh, listening to Padma's words. He was infuriated at the lack of any sense of remorse from the rest of the group. He knew that Chese's body would slow him up, no matter how light the girl was in life. Oh well, at least the Dah'kin weren't trying to cut her body up into smaller, more easily carry-able pieces. He went and picked up up body, carefully repositioning it against the wall so that it was more out of the way. "Let's go." The knight bluntly scoffed out the statement, not caring to look at anyone before heading slowly down the cavern system, back towards where they came.

Je'retiel pointedly ignored everyone for the moment, including his sister, as he also made his way back up the narrow earthen corridor and toward the antechamber, buckling the bracers into place as he walked along. He flexed his rather dainty wrists, or at least tried to, causing the black leather of his fingerless gloves to squeak very slightly. The dak'hin's face didn't betray his distaste for the new accessory-- at least he could sell them later on.

Az'rim was growing tired of the delay. She glanced over as Padma made her sage but soft suggestion to Virgil, but otherwise kept her eyes deadset on the tunnels ahead, away from the caustic smell and the wall of fire that they'd blocked the exit of the large chamber. Remembering that this direction had brought the strange sounds of scraping metal and the smell of rotting flesh, the small Dah'kin woman peered into the darkness (Spot/Look Ahead/Whatever it is). "What do you smell?" she asked, obviously directing her question to the Panther beside her.

Walking forward carefully, Az'rim's dah'kin senses let her peer into the darkness of the cave with unparallel accuracy, almost as if he had a prescience of what was to come. From the echoes bouncing off the walls and the small dents on her ears, she could immediately sense a labyrinth of tunnels ahead, dotted with three chambers, a large one heading south which seemed to be completely empty, tracks on the floors indicated this was the place from which the Exhorian reinforcements had come. Then on the fartherst end of the cave there was a smaller chamber, she could barely hear a rustling movement coming from it. Further north was one more large chambers, sensing vibrations, the chamber seemed to be full of things, but nothing that moved or breathed.

Finneun moved further away from the dead Exhorians, trying to clear his senses of the acrid smell of the dead. Once he deemed he was far enough away and far enough up the chamber, he took a deep breath, attempting to sense anything else further ahead. (Smell, Listen, Spot)

Once Finneun got away from the chamber that stunk of the exhorian dead and burnt flesh, he could quickly pick up other smells on the tunnels. The pervasive stench of the insects wafted towards him from all tunnels except the northernmost area. From it, he could sense the scent of iron and rotting meat.

Giving Virgil an understanding look and patting him on the back once more, Padma secured her weapon and marched after Az'rim and Finneun, careful not to walk up front in case they ran into an exhorian. She was sure there couldn't be many bugs left, since they would have come to aid in the battle, but she didn't want to take risks. As she moved away from the wall of fire dying out in the large chamber where the battle had taken place, however, she noticed she could barely see any more. "Crap..." she whispered as she walked right into Az'rim. "So-sorry!" chirped the girl apologetically, trying to keep as quiet as she could.

Keeping pace with everyone else, Je'retiel fell into his routine silence near the back of the group. While he glanced apathetically at Finneun, the dah'kin did await what the panther could ascertain upon Az'rim's asking. He wasn't about to jostle in the narrow passageway for a better vantage point, though it appeared that some in their band might.

Finneun pointed in the direction of the rotting meat and iron. "That way," he said simply, keeping his eyes open for any random Exhorians they might come across. He was finding it hard to ignore their scent, but he at least wanted some semblance of sticking to the original objective. He took another deep breath, keeping his senses tunes to their immediate surroundings so they wouldn't get ambushed.

Had Az'rim not been mostly certain that the tunnels were free of Exhorian monsters, she would not have so boldly stepped forward. Her footsteps were all but silent, as if she were gliding over the surface of the cave floor as she allowed the dark familiarity to engulf her tingling senses. Tilting her head forward, Az'rim paused for a moment as she absorbed the information her keen nocked ears were gathering. "There is quite a maze ahead," she informed in a whisper, speaking mostly to herself and Finneun since she knew his ears to be the best. The sounds of movement came bouncing down the tunnels to her and she took another careful step forward to see if she could detect anything else. Upon detecting the furthest chamber full of large things, Az'rim relaxed, figuring this was the chamber where the Exhorian treasures were stored. Once she'd gotten all the information she needed, the slim, silver-haired woman stepped back to allow Finneun the first to go. "There is something rustling up ahead and beyond that is where I believe the treasure stores to be." Here, she looked to Virgil, and then to the carcasses that littered the ground about them. Now her question was whether or not they should take the chitin exoskeleton now, or if they should wait until later. (Knowledge on Exhorian tunnels and whether or not they'd have more than one exit/entrance)

A few seconds of walking up the tunnels in the direction where Finneun had pointed led the group to yet another large chamber, yet not as large as the egg room where they had been prior. Unfortunately for Padma and Virgil, their lack of dark or night vision meant they could barely see anything in the room, only a few glints of metal and bone. The floor of this area was covered, almost ankle deep, in a sort of organic mulch, fragments of bone coming out of the substance every couple of feet. This was probably a feeding area and the mulch and bone, all that was left of the Exhorians' prey. Piled up against a corner was some gear and other treasures, along with anything that the Exhorians were unable to eat and digest. There seemed to be no sign of any survivors in the feeding room.

"Oh god... it smells so bad." whispered Padma, walking into the room as she held her shirt up to her nose to try and cover the smell. "Ew.. and the floor is sticky too!" she gasped, her slippers almost sticking to the mulch as she walked. "What the hell is this place?!" she asked whoever was closest, unable to really see much of anything, keeping one of her hands on on the wall to keep from falling on her face.

"Go out to the hall," Finn told Padma and Virgil. "Keep watch." He moved over to the pile of inedible objects and knelt down, quickly and quietly going through it. He kept his senses open for any smell of Exhorians getting closer. He had asked the humans to do so, but that had been to get then out of the feeding room since they had both shown signs of weakness at the sight of the dead. Going through the dead's belongings would be easier without their indignation.

Much of the loot Finneun found on the ground was little more than garbage, traces of leather or metal armor, some pots and pans, broken handles of weapons and tools, however, he could find some salvageable stuff. An iron, inch thick chain that could be used either in combat or to secure something, a slime covered wooden crossbow with a strange seal on the butt of the weapon, it was damaged and chewed all over, but it could be repaired by someone who knew how to smith. Additionally there was a bronze short-spear, probably a regular spear at one point but the metal shaft had been broken and a high quality steel mace with a seal similar to that of the crossbow. Finally, underneath everything were assorted gold and silver coins, about 35 of them.

Padma's blind stumbling earned her an unseen glare from Az'rim, who was jostled to the side by the girl's clumsiness. She let out an irritated noise shortly before surging to the front of the tunnel, confident that threats were no longer on the rise. Entering the chamber she'd heard from the distance, Az'rim's eyes swept around the place, looking upon the wares slowly, as if taking inventory. Stepping on the mulch of the Exhorians latest kills, she glanced over to Padma as she picked up her feet and braced the wall. "Treasure room," she answered as she walked over and picked up the crossbow, examining the seal. She held it aloft to get a better look, frowning at the way it had been chewed up but curious as to whether or not it was salvageable. Ignoring the coins, the Dah'kin woman ran her fingers over the seal, wondering if she'd seen it before. (Knowledge) Taking note of the chain, she found her brother's gaze and then nodded her head as an invitation for him to come investigate the goods as well.

While the odor that hung in the air did not agree with Je'retiel, he kept his opinions regarding the state of their surroundings to himself, though his nose did wrinkle to momentarily betray his feelings. Like his sister before him, he took a cursory survey of the room, his gaze lingering briefly on Finneun after the panther directed Padma and Virgil to keep watch, then knelt and started to sift through the debris. During his perusal, the dah'kin's dark eyes connected with Az'rim's, and without any further indication of assent, he made his way into the chamber, carefully so, but otherwise undaunted by the detritus underfoot. He wondered passingly if they were walking upon Lilee's remains, but he kept his question to himself, not wanting a confrontation with a certain overly emotional knight.

Virgil sat back, clearly unable to see in the dark of the cave, despite Finneun's warning towards the same. With little to do at his point in the caverns, the knight stood guard near the entrance of the chamber, keeping an ear out for more scrabbling claws. (listen)

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Characters
[Ms. Steel] - RoL - Je'retiel Avreh
[Roma] - RoL - Az'rim Avreh
[Sturmi] - RoL - Padma Fatih
[Lepellier] - RoL - Virgil Argentus
[Flisky] - RoL - Finneun Bydran

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