Black Zenith [Adventure RPG / Chapter Four: Fires of Heaven]

"'Ey, see? There's some sort of... hatch thing here. Told you guys. One of you, Watson or... Nos? Nos, get up here. One of you help me out." Savannah examines the hatch-thing for locks and pushes against it. "Whole place probably would have crushed us if we blew it up..."

"I'll have a look." Watson tries opening the hatch and then pokes his head outside to see if there's anyone outside.

It turns out to be less of a hatch and more of a heavy rock. Watson struggles with it, but it is too heavy for him alone!

"Savannah, this does not seem like a hatch...hrrrg!" Watson makes a second failed attempt. "Nos, I am in need of your assistance."

"Well alright then." Savannah snaps her fingers, seemingly enjoying the semi-leadership position she was put in. "Nos, would you mind coming up here and helping us? You too Mayor. If that doesn't work, I might have an idea." She twirls her knife between her fingers.

"Not quite, we need you too. Besides, Mayor might break the stairs with all of us in the same spot. On 3, we should push with Nos."

"Oh? And what would you have me do miss? Take control of the party? Put you out of your misery like a beast? I would sooner lie down and take an arrow before I did either. Look at 'im in the corner. Almost every man he would call brother died to bring word of an aproaching doom. Look at me. I can't stay conscious enough to do my job as a hired hand. We all have our own demons; yours don't make you any less suited for carrying out a good will if your heart is into it. Or would you just let the hordes of shadows walk through and finish you off, just like they did Daryl?"

Thunderpaw expected Bohw to flare up at that comment. Who wouldn't? "So you lost a friend, as did all of us. Would you be showing his grave proper respect by pissing on it? Giving up the quest you started to better the world just because you feel committed to your own self-destruction? Well thats too bad. I was hired by a Miss Bohw to protect her party in realizing her dream to defeat a looming evil, and I do whatever I'm paid for."

At this point he walked to the other side of the room, close to where Bohw was sitting. Without warning, he grabbed her by the shirt, lifting her several inches off the ground. "Despite what you might think, I have never once thought less for any grieving you might have done, your age or condition. No, you earned my respect when you brought the cultist's sanctuary upon their heads with your will to bring their actions to light. If I have to bring THAT Bohw out, you best believe I will break this wall of self doubt she's constructed."

Thunderpaw let go of the garment, dropping Bohw a few inches onto the ground. Before she could react, he locked onto her eyes with a cold stare. "The only thing you have done that wounds me is give up on your ambition for some illusion of fate in your head. So let me be clear so even your whispers can hear."

"THIS HERO IS KNOWN AS BOHW! SHE FIGHTS AGAINST THE FATE OF THE WORLD ITSELF! NOT BECAUSE OF COMMITMENT! NOT BECAUSE IT IS HER JOB! NO, SHE DOES IT BECAUSE IT IS HER WILL TO SEE THE EFFORTS OF EVIL FALL TO PIECES! THERE IS NOT A FOE THAT CAN BREAK HER! THERE IS NOT AN EVIL THAT WILL TURN HER AWAY FROM THE PATH OF RIGHTEOUSNESS! THE WIND MAY SHIFT THE ARROW'S DIRECTION BUT THE SHOT REMAINS TRUE! SHE WILL SEE IT LANDS IN THE HEART OF VOID ITSELF!"

The warrior breathed heavily for a bit, dust scattering from the reverberations of his bellowing. He held a hand to his leader on the floor to take. "Get up. We shouldn't leave the others waiting."

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Spoiler(So would this count as using Charm or what? o-o)

Mayor starts to head up the stairs and help push, but stops half way up when he hears shouting. He freezes up on the staircase, trying to make out the words, but all himself can figure out that it is Thunderpaw, probably shouting at Bohw. He tentatively continues walking up the stairs, trying his best to ignore it, and helps push the boulder out of the way with the others.

Bohw, completely bewildered, sits there on the ground gritting her teeth and looking like a cornered rat, ready to defend herself at a moment's notice. For a good couple of seconds it's silent, but before too long the silence is broken, by a brief chuckle from Bohw. "Damnit man, you always know what to exactly say."

She grabs his hand, gets pulled up and wipes her eye before continuing. "Heheh, If only it were that easy to shut them up..."

Bohw tips her hat upright, revealing her face again, showing a smirk and cloudy eye, despite this she remains composed, continuing to act normal and folds her arms. "Tch, this ain't a burden I can carry alone, I'm afraid, I tried that and you received the sharp end of it all for your troubles, and it's very likely it might be worse next time. We all have our demons, and if we keep carrying our demons on our back, our backs are gonna break. But you made me think, we aren't alone, are we? Us, a misfit band of heroes, banded together, maybe by chance or destiny, I don't really care either way, but still, for a bunch of so called heroes we ain't very well tied together. United we stand, alone we fall, you know? And it's the leader's job to make that the case."

She begins tapping her foot impatiently, then shakes her head and walks over to Mael, conjuring a gooey green ball in her hand and lobbing it at him, a healing spell to recover his stamina and wounds.

"So seeing that I'm the leader, I need to get right on that. I can lead the party against those demons, I can strike them in the heart and push them back into whatever hole they crawled outta, but Thunderpaw, I'm not asking to you to lead us into the heart of darkness, I'm asking you to lead myself away from what curse threatens to destroy me. Can you promise me that?"

Thunderpaw nodded. "Aye. If you must descend into madness, then I myself must ascend to sanity. Then maybe we can both even each other out."

Bohw sniggers. "One way to look at it, I suppose. Now lets get stop wasting time here and get going before some more beasties figure out the source of all that shouting."

snickers*

yes feed me delicious words

Nos faintly hears Thunderpaw's shouting too, and gives Mayor an interested look before turning to the others asking for his assistance. He rolls up his sleeves and sighs. "Yes yes, leave it to me." Then a grin breaks out over his face and he tackles the obstruction, pushing with enthusiasm.

Nos faintly hears Thunderpaw's shouting too, and gives Mayor an interested look before turning to the others asking for his assistance. He rolls up his sleeves and sighs. "Yes yes, leave it to me." Then a grin breaks out over his face and he tackles the obstruction, pushing with enthusiasm.

With Watson and Nos pushing at the large ceiling brick together, they soon heave it out of the way. Tainted sunlight suddenly fills the cramped staircase as the party surveys their surroundings. They are outside the ruins, at a small hillside hidden from its surroundings by the nearby, larger hills. Remnants of ruined walls surround the place in which you emerged, and large square cobblestones, much like the one you just pushed out of the way, can be seen sticking haphazardly from the ground in places - in other places, only dirt and pebbles remain.

Not too far from where you emerged is a campfire with a small cookpot boiling on top. Next to the campfire sits what looks to be an old man of a very short height, wearing a puffy, circular hat. His skin looks strange, as if he were sick, or maybe it is just a condition of his age. A large backpack is resting against a nearby wall, and a short walking staff is propped up beside it.

"About time." he says, looking over. "I had to wait for several minutes! You really should work on your punctuality."

Wasting no time, Mayor heaves himself the last distance up from the stair beneath, and then he immediately rushes over, picking the peculiar small man up and embracing him in a steely hug!

Mayor holds on tight, keeping the man in a vice grip and not caring much for the odd looks or the man's temper. He seems incredibly delighted of the sight of this man, leaving everyone else completely in the dark about what in the hell they're seeing right now.

Savannah is about to say something snarky about being late when she's nearly bowled over by Mayor. She catches her knife with her thumb and index finger, twirling it back into her pocket. "Well then mister... dude. How would you have done it faster?"

The fellow lets out what sounds like a shrug, stretching to peer over Mayor's shoulder at the group, his long and extraordinarily thick beard hanging over Mayor's iron shoulder. All in all it looks terribly comical.

"Really, it doesnt matter much how i wouldve done things, because im not going back to that career if i can help it - and i can. No, i am here solely on business today. And, well, a bit because i might do some good without having to subject myself to having pointy objects poked at me. Now, put me down, you big oaf!" He days, the last bit directed at Mayor.

After a little while, with Mayor still hugging him tightly, he just sighs resignedly. "Right, cheers. Anyway, i am Shanterel, small-time sorceror, peddler of magical goods, extraordinary wares, and chef of the finest cuisine you're likely to find in this part of the world. I am here because i happened to know where you would be and, more importantly, because you are carrying way too much gold and not enough magical junk which may or may not save your lives. So, if somebody could convince this old pile of scrap to put me down, we can get to the good part already. Deal?"

The trio of lategoers return from the catacombs, bohw in the lead.

Thunderpaw, in the rear, looks blankly at the random giezer at the front of the party being tackled by the love of the group's walking wall.

"...did we miss something?"

Bohw stares in union with Thunderpaw, equally confused with the whole scenario.

"...Uhhh. Mayor, you gonna put that guy down?"

Mayor blinks, realizing that he might of given enough hugging for one day and gently lets the man down. He points at himself excitedly, nodding his head and hoping that the man hasn't forgotten his face, even though his face has been entirely rebuilt... along with the rest of his body.

((This is Levyse, by the way. Hello there. B] ))

"I'm just about as clueless as you are," an echo of a voice enters the scene through some sort of telepathy, "You all came straight out from under a boulder!"

At that moment, a raven dives down to take a perch on a nearby wall jutting out of the ground. With the dip of her head and a flutter of her pitch black wings, the Ravenfolk begins her rapid-fire interrogations, "I knew there would be something hidden within these ruins! Just look at you all! Where did you come from? Did you see any ghosts- OH, is there treasure through that hole!? I-I'm sorry if I'm intruding, but I was just about to check things out myself, and goodness, I can't help myself, I want to know!" The poor thing is just trembling with the excitement of this surprise.

Watson finally speaks up , "No, we're from outside the ruins actually."

Watson then realizes Nobody actually said anything.

"WHO SAID THAT?"

Watson receives no answer.

"Oh well."

He then goes up to the old man, clears his throat and says, "I wouldn't mind purchasing some of your wares! The cuisine sounds delectable and would go wonderfully with this wine I have. What is there in stock, exactly?"

"Hmph. Pay? Ugh." Nos scowls and turns away from the old man for a minute or so. He steals a glance back at the man after a few more seconds, then sighs emphatically and sidles over to the man. "Yes yes, what sort of toys do you sell? Also, are you aware that from my perspective your appearance here is utterly contrived?"

Savannah crosses her arms and turns to the raven, looking at the bird with a slight look of annoyance. "Telepathy. I don't like it. Makes my head ache." She frowns and picks at her nails. "We came from the other side of the ruins, no there were no ghosts, and if by treasure, you mean lots of dead bodies, then yeah. There's treasure." She knew she shouldn't be so abrasive with someone they just met, but she couldn't help herself.

Bohw's expression grows more and more confused as she looks around in complete disarray, trying to figure out what exactly is going on. With too much going on at once, she just resorts to shouting to get everyone's attention.

"Everyone! Everyone! Hold up just a second here! What the in the Gods' names is going on here? I leave you guys for only a couple minutes and I come back to this! Honestly!"

She properly puffs out her cheeks and puts her hands at her hips, going on to interrogate this Shanterel person. "Alright buddy, I demand a couple of answers. First off: Why was my best friend giving you the biggest damn hug I've ever seen? Secondly, how did you know we would be here? And thirdly, why do you have a... talking, pet... bird thing, of all damn things?"

"And fourthly, do you have any of this fine cousine prepared? I am getting sick of Watson's magic entrees."

The raven opened her mouth to reply to the girl with the crossed arms, until a shorter girl with a commanding air started shouting.

Feeling indignant after having her curiosities slightly put down, on top of being called a pet, she used Change Form as she lifted off the stone wall, jumping off as a bird, and landing as a young human woman, where she could speak with a normal voice.

"I am not a pet," she huffed, striding closer to the group, "in fact, I just met Shanterel today! I'm Myra of the Ravenfolk, and we have the natural ability to change between raven and human forms."

She leans towards the Bunni and muttered under her breath to him, "His food is absolutely divine, I would highly recommend it."

((Appearance of her human form is in the Arts section of the front page already, in case you want to get an idea of her looks. But basically, short-medium, dark grey hair. Purple eyes. Wears cloth and leather vests. ))