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[Lyon]

Hawk glimpsed the new mage and scowled. "What's this? Takeshi, is she one of your subjects? Because if she isn't, then she's a trespasser, and I have things that I do to trespassers. Unpleasant things, that involve a lot of fire, and possibly being thrown into the swamp. That's the best way to discourage trespassing, you know. Although it probably prevents other people from finding out about your trespassing rules." She shrugged philosophically. "Ah well, the many must be sacrificed for the good of the few, if I am among the few."

"Milady, perhaps you should consider the possible repercussions of this before you--ack!" Telchi shut up hurriedly as one of the vines reached down and slapped him across the face. His hand went immediately to the hilt of his sword, and just as quickly down as he responded to the reflex.

"Do not speak unless I wish it, peasant," said Hawk. "Although you are my loyal retainer, I cannot permit you to disobey me." She raised both hands, and vines snaked down towards the meddling trespasser who dared to interfere with her Royal Purpose.

[Vithar Megilaglar]

Takeshi frowned slightly.

"Do not interfere with my plans or my subjects, Queen. Or so help me, you'll regret it."

Takeshi, without releasing control of his other barrier, created one around the other mage. The vines would be deterred by the nigh invisible surface, the mage inside would be unaffected, perhaps even fail to notice it.

To Takeshi, the barriers acted like an orchestra, with him as the conductor. The easily and quickly obeyed his command. The control Takeshi commanded over the barriers implied much experience, although few would see the actual motions.

Invisibly, Takeshi felt himself stressing slightly. Without moving, he spoke to Hawk, still clearly. "Call off your vines, Queen."

:Of nothing. A pity she is still useful to me. This won't last much longer, though. One could hope.:

[King Calamity]

Nina paused for a moment and briefly faced the woman who was shouting at her.  She was covered in furs and camouflage, and was easily among of the most insane-looking people Nina had ever seen.  She was shouting... something about trespassing, punishment, and fire.  Nina wasn't quite sure, since she hadn't really been listening to her.  “Alright, you clearly deranged fool,” she yelled, “I'll take great pleasure in burning you, freezing you, and banishing you entirely from this plane of existence once we've gotten the hell out of here, but until then, I believe loathful cooperation would be best.”  In the name of all that is decent, please tell me they aren't all like that...

As she returned to the task of purgatively roasting wasps, Nina faintly noticed some sort of barrier.  It seemed to be there to protect her, and therefore  benevolent, but she couldn't tell much else.  It was a strange magic she'd heard of based on some sort of “Flow” or something, but she'd never bothered looking into it since it seemed rather limited in terms of destructiveness, and thus rather boring to her.  Everything was better when it was helping her, though.  Looking up a bit, she noticed some vines moving toward her before stopping, likely thanks to this barrier.  “Ah, so there are reasonable minds among you!” She said, “I suppose I ought to thank you for that.  Dealing with those things would've been rather troublesome.”

[Redcoat]

OOC: Post salvo, third round.
---------
Anikus, midway through firebolting the War Wasps and trying to find ways to, without attracting suspicion, find ways to redirect them towards Hawk, was glad to see Marketta spared from... well, whatever nastiness awaited her at the bottom of the trench. He was sure that he didn't want to know, which was an odd thing for him to think, but entirely rational nonetheless. This place was dangerous enough as it is.

"Keep it up!" the man in red yelled. His voice weakened as he realized another wave of wasps was incoming. "What is it... they're still..."

He'd had enough. Enough of Hawk, enough of this forest, enough of this quest. He strode towards the edge of the chasm and aimed past the path Marketta was taking. There, there was the Hive. It would have to go.

"Ta--Your Majesty!" Anikus asked, narrowly averting a facade messup. "Cover me, my liege!"

He'd need to burn it. He was burning lots of things lately, but that didn't matter. This time it wasn't just pyroprefential. If they set it alight, they'd shock the system enough to get them to back down. Or physically destroy it. Didn't matter at this point. He looked across the chasm, to the person they'd found. They were proficient in fire.

"Newcomer! Aim your fire at the Hive! On the count of three, let's roast them alive!" he shouted, not intending a rhyme. "Maximum temperature. SEAR IT."

[Durandal]

Whilst the others focused on the War Wasp nest, Marketta was able to calm herself enough to the point where she wasn't going to go sprawling for the next vine. Although this peace came with the unfortunate result of looping the same "Don't look down," long enough to drive anyone to the point of mild insanity (although obviously not to Hawk's point-of-no-return madness). As she tried her luck at the next vine, she made a mental note to thank this newcomer later for four things in particular - saving her life, threatening to wipe Hawk from existence altogether, (which most of them would agree to do anyways) acknowledging the majority of the group was insane, and possibly being a new found ticket out of this underground hellhole.

That settles it. If this person knew how to get to the surface, Hawk will be a prisoner. To be perfectly honest, Marketta would have preferred a bloody smear on the chasm's floor below, but she could not permit her simmering anger to cloud her judgement. She was insane and needed help - as much as she wanted to hurt her, it was not her fault really. However, this line of thought was better explored when she wasn't swinging from vines at least a kilometre in the air. So she elected to continue this thought later, finally making the jump to the next vine.

Gaining momentum, she hoped to be across soon.

Edited by Durandal, 28 August 2011 - 12:31 PM.

[Lyon]

Seeing that Marketta was unlikely to fall, be burnt, or be stung by giant wasps, Hawk quickly lost interest and began scanning her surroundings. She soon noticed something approaching, or rather several somethings. The Behemoths of the underworld were several hundred yards away, heading for the tree roots at the edge of the chasm to drink their fill of ichor. Hawk's face twisted into an irritated expression.

"What? No, that's not fair. I reserved this place today, so that means that you need to clear off." She strode over towards them, brandishing her sword and shouting. "Shoo! Go away! Be off with you!"

The Behemoth blinked one enormous eye and returned to chewing. Telchi, standing a respectful distance off, wondered that Hawk would dare stand up to them. A claw could easily slice the mad mage in half, yet she was yelling at it as if it were as small as a badger. Perhaps her depth perception was off, and she was mistaking it for a badger... it certainly looked like one. They were easily thrice her height at the shoulder, with legs as thick as tree trunks, with heavy claws on the feet to slice through the tree-bark and reach the ichor underneath. However, the resemblance to badgers ended there. They were armored in overlapping scales, ranging in color from black and brown to a muddy green. Their hide looked thick enough to deflect most weapons, and even resist magic.

Thank the fates that they're herbivores... wait! What in the frozen hells is she doing?

"Go on, get out of here!" said Hawk, waving her sword around. "I'm not afraid of you! See, this sword is made out of your bones! And this dagger, and this dagger, and this dagger! So go away unless you want to end up as silverware!" She waved her sword around in front of the lead Behemoth, and then smacked it smartly on the nose.

The Behemoth blinked again, then snorted and pawed the ground. Then it charged.

There was a screech as Hawk shapeshifted and flew out of the way. The Behemoth's claws pounded her robes into the dirt as it galloped towards the chasm with the rest of its herd, some ten or twelve beasts, after it. Hawk materialized next to Telchi, shaking her fist at the receding backs of the creatures. "You ruined my best robes!"

"Ha--Queen Hawk, they're headed for Ta--King Takeshi!" shouted Telchi. "We need to warn them!"

Hawk's eyes narrowed. "They would dare to threaten royalty? Then they are rebels! Come, minion, let us teach them a lesson they shan't soon forget!" She dashed over to the remnants of her robes and picked up her weapons, then sprinted off after the Behemoths. Telchi followed, wincing. If anyone had told me that when I headed to this place, I would be running alongside a naked woman to attack giant scaled badgers, I would have laughed in their face...

[King Calamity]

“Did he just... rhyme?”  Nina mumbled to herself, gagging a bit.  “Dammit, I get the feeling that the more time I spend with these people, the more I'll want to just leave them here to die.  Well, he wants to burn that nest, so his heart is in the right place, I suppose.”  Nina conjured a fireball about twice the normal size and turned to the man nice plan and irritating choice of words.  “Alright,” she yelled, “A-one, a-two, a-welcome to Hell!”  With that, Nina hurled the super-size fireball at the wasp nest, and proceeded to watch it burn gloriously, immolated wasps flying out and collapsing.

Sadly, Nina couldn't sit and admire the marvelous inferno for long.  It appeared that the woman who'd shouted at her earlier was determined to prove herself equal parts loud, insane, and mindbendingly stupid.  Upon being confronted by a horde of the more massive beasts that lurked down here, she proceeded to try and order them around, which proved about as effective as talking to a wall that can somehow also kill you.  She avoided the creatures attack by spontaneously shapeshifting into a giant bird, which also happened to leave her naked.  

“Hate... so... much...”  Nina growled to herself as she began conjuring a huge fireball, “I want to kill you in every conceivable way, but I'd have died by now if I didn't know how to keep my priorities straight.”  Once the huge spell was complete, Nina hurled it at the farthest beast she felt confident she could hit.  The ball exploded on impact,  the flames taking to the creature it hit as well as a few near it.  “That should at least slow them down a bit,” Nina sighed to herself as she dropped to her knees.  Those last two fireballs had taken a lot out of her, so she turned to watch the nest finish burning while she caught her breath.

[Vithar Megilaglar]

Takeshi focused, keeping the coiling of fire around Marketta while the others dealt with the wasp nest.

The ground started to shake right after the nest burst into glorious fire. Takeshi turned around, giving the Behemoths only a cursory glance.

"Sakura, blast me!"

Takeshi and Sakura let both barrier and fire flicker out as they faced each other. Takeshi generated a different barrier, one that looked more solid and glass-like. Sakura promptly hit it with a powerful blast of air.

The barrier exploded in a nigh-invisible blue wave. Despite the light show, it was oddly quiet. Both Takeshi and Sakura were thrown backwards like ragdolls in a windstorm.

Takeshi stood slowly as the Behemoths charged past. "Not the best way to protect oneself with a barrier, but it works." Takeshi dusted himself off, fatigue getting to him. "Well, that was certainly well orchestrated."

Several of the Behemoths slowed down slightly as they passed through the fire, but were otherwise unscathed.

Sakura followed up with an air spell. The existing fire only got bigger, possibly pissing the Behemoths off even more.

The Behemoths headed towards Anikus.

[Redcoat]

God dammit. Anikus' thoughts raced through his head far too quickly. God... dammit...

"Everyone get across the bloody chasm!" he said, pointing to the vine as Marketta made it across. "To not tarry!"

In the meantime, the Behemoths were, due to their incredible size and ability to crush the scholar in a single blow, distinctly outside of Anikus' comfort zone for your average bout of fisticuffs. He was tired; little of his magic would work on the Behemoths at the best of times. Even the fire that Takeshi and Sakura had set only served to incense them. No, if he seriously intended on vanquishing these things, he'd need serious backup or preparation, niether of which he actually had. So he defaulted to the next best thing.

He ran. Not away fromt he Behemoths, of course; that would mean diving into whatever deadly, sordid muck was at the bottom of this god-forsaken chasm. But not directly toward them, either; that was also suicide. Instead, he raised his shield hand and cast the only spell he could imagine in this situation: a variation of a standard, basic beacon spell.

There was a flash of light and a deep sound, designed to get people's attention. It was inexpensive in terms of mana and very effective for what he planned to do next. He couldn't defeat the Behemoths, but he could distract them, perhaps long enough for everyone to get across the chasm. He was reminded suddenly of the Otavian bullfighters. For the Gods' sakes, he was even wearing red.

Flailing his arms around and casting Beacon once every four seconds or so, he ran in a zigzag pattern towards the Behemoths, sure to avoid their massive feet. They caught on; suddenly, their rage was focused on this small, loud, annoyingly crimson object.

[Kamikaze_X]

If there was ever a moment in Thalmir's life where he felt like a burden to his comrades, this time had to be the epitome of moments. He stood helplessly on the side of the abyss with the ones who had yet to cross the swamp. He could not truly move, and unless the swamp was surprisingly shallow, he could not merely walk across. Every fiber of his being was screaming to aid his friends, but helpless as he was at the moment, he could do nothing.

He only wished he had the will, or the power, to break his bindings. He could at least grab his claymore. Or even better, he could launch a spell that could destroy the Behemoth - or severely wound at the very least. Lukily for him (or un-luckily) in his time being bound, most of his energy had been restored. Since the Lake's Keeper, all he had done was sit or walk around after all...

"Dammit all..." Thalmir swore angrily.

His anger was no longer toward Hawk. He didn't know what he was enraged at anymore.

[Vithar Megilaglar]

Takeshi closed his eyes and groaned quietly.

"So...Anikus is risking his life. Again. One mark for him." He turned towards Thalmir. "You'll go next."

The barrier-ropes around Thalmir dissipated quickly. "Hawk, you next. Sakura you--" Takeshi grinned as a thought hit him. "Stay with me. I've got a plan."

"Oh? It doesn't involve us dying, does it?"

"No. Can you vine-swing and toss weak but bright fireballs at once?"

"Not easily. But I can do it." Sakura turned and ran for the nearest vine, tossing a fireball high. It exploded loudly, noise and light but little else.

Takeshi hollered loudly shortly after, getting the beasts' attention.

Takeshi stood as the charged. "Huh. It worked. Oh! It worked!" Takeshi turned and ran, leaping for the nearest vine, easily grabbing the vine.

"Worst. Idea. Ever. But it worked."

The behemoths kept charging. towards the edge, apparently ignorant of the steep drop. Sakura's fireballs didn't help to warn the Behemoths of the edge, almost blinding them. Takeshi looked down.

"Huh...Let's hope this works."

[Redcoat]

Suddenly, Anikus' world consisted of trampling noises, the screams and roars of the Behemoths, and the not-entirely-unfounded notion that he might just perish. Him. Alone, as his comrades ran away, crushed by the foot of these accursed clods, no power to aid him. He wasn't even praying at this point. It hadn't done any good at all.

As he zigged and zagged down the field, some explosions were heard in the distance. Just as he dodged another footfall, the Behemoths seemed to turn around. Just as he thought that the Gods had finally taken interest in his plight, he recognized the nature of the spells. As predicted, there was no Divine power in his midst. It was his comrades, come to save his life. He certainly wasn't going to complain.

He joined the stampede now, his feet racing beside the Behemoths. He had to make his way to the vine, take it immediately, and swing immediately after. But this would require making his way across the field--under the feet of the stampeding Behemoths.

"Why does it always have to be me!?" he breathed as he stumbled his way forward. "It's like I'm one of the main characters in a sadist's mad attempt at a coherent narrative!"

The Behemoth's foot lifted, and so he made his way past. He was just about to get past the next when it came down right in front of him; he dodged and made his way to the vine. Running like a madman, panting wildly, his lungs burning, he leaped into open space. He saw no vine.

He came upon it on his way down. He had jumped from an awkward angle; the end of the vine fast approached. He reached out and grabbed it. Down here, it was slippery; he almost gave way. But as the relative safety of his new situation struck him, he realized that there was still a herd of Behemoths behind him. He would climb. He would climb, swing to the next vine, then to the safety of land across the chasm. Or he would die. Suddenly, the blackness of oblivion struck him.

Something inside him began to burn. He clamoured up the vine with newfound strength. It was him; the last smouldering embers of his spirit. From within his being, it sprung; the world seemed to heat up. It was him versus his circumstances. No Gods, no Crown, no entity had any part to play in this struggle--this small struggle, to the top of the next chasm--but him. Growling, he began to ascend.

He was closer now. He could swing from here. But there was no time to swing. He looked behind him to see the first Behemoths closing the gap with the chasm very rapidly--if they fell while he was here, he was sure to be swept into the doom below. In circumstances like this, there was no substitute for a well-made explosion. He reached behind himself. His magical power was weak. His head was throbbing. But he had reserves; this new flame welled up inside of him, burning ever brighter.

Suddenly, behind him, the air pressure increased drastically. The resulting POP!--an explosion--propelled him at entirely uncomfortable speeds towards the next vine. His flailing arms caught it; he began to slide again but stopped himself, looking back for a moment to see the first Behemoth's next footstep approaching the empty chasm. It was time to move. He was ten or fifteen feet below the chasm wall, and a fair distance away.
But he had to try.

He reloaded his spell. This time, bigger, and this time, aimed somewhere vaguely below him and behind. He was going to lob himself over to the ledge; whatever the landing, it was better than the swamp. And for a moment he realized that any failure on his own part was preferable to inaction, for it would be by his own hand, of his own volition. He fired once more--this time, harder. His head was a flash of pain; there was little he could do as, like a rag doll, he flailed into the air in the vague direction of the party, taking a parabolic arc.

The ground was soft, for ground. Which meant, of course, that it was not soft. His nose took the brunt of the hit; he bounced into the air again, finally resting in a heap near the edge of the chasm. He was breathing; he was alive.

Being alive hurt so much.

[Lyon]

Kaethe and Telchi had made it across at roughly the same time as Anikus. Telchi tossed Hawk's weapons down on the ground, wondering why he had bothered to pick them up in the first place. It had certainly made moving across the chasm much more difficult. Still, he knew high quality when he saw it, and he was loath to leave behind such a formidable weapon.

Hawk landed next to the panting Anikus and rematerialized in a sitting position, watching the world burn across the chasm. "What a view. I could sit here forever," she remarked to the exhausted adventurer.

"I'm going to kill that woman," said Kaethe, taking a step towards them. Telchi grabbed her by the arm before she could take another.

"Think about where you are, who you are, what she is, and what she'll do to you," said Telchi, listing each point in an even tone. "You're exhausted, she's a match for ten of you, and I don't believe that anyone here cares to take the time to fish you out of that swamp down there. So just... calm down, will you?"

[Kamikaze_X]

Thalmir was finally unbound; but for how long, he did not know. Every part of his body strained to get back that sense of movement he had prior to his outburst at the crazed witch they now followed as a guide. He wondered just how long it would take until someone threw a fit and attacked the woman - one thing was for sure, it wouldn't be him. As much as he wished her an ill fate, he knew the consequences that he, and his comrades might face if he were to be thrown into a rage again (as just of a rage it might be). The situation they all found themselves in at that point didn't exactly help to quell his anger however.

The swamp lay before them, vines precariously dangling like wriggling snakes - slippery and wet. He wondered if they would support him well enough to get him across. But then, there was no time to ask questions - it was either a long sink to the bottom of the abyss, or a short but painful death at the hands of the encroaching behemoths that lay just behind them. As soon as the one in front of him lept for the first vine, he readied himself for his own plight.

Jumping, he grasped the vine and within his motion made for the second. He dared not look down - not for fright of heights, but for what might rear its ugly head within the murky depths. Swinging, he made for the second and found his grip leave him. He started to fall, his stomach lurching with the sudden descent. However, by some miracle, he found his grip once more. One last vine lay ahead, further away than the others.

Struggling to ascend back up the vine, once he made it to the top, he tried to swing for the next vine. He touched it, closing his hand around the slippery thing, however once again he lost the grip. Sliding all the way down the vine, he realized now there was no time for trying to regain his lost position upon the vine. He had to think quickly, feet below, the bubbling, marred darkness of the swamp welcomed him...

Bellowing, he focused his palms downward, both pointing to the swamp but slightly behind him as well. With a last ditch burst of the magic he had regained whilst bound by his comrade, he pressurized the air around his hands and fired downward like a propelling rocket burst. The released air pushed him high into the air at such a speed. He found himself heading straight for the other side of the swamp - the side where his comrades were gathering. A road behind him made him turn his head - the behemoths raged close by. But thankfully, by the grace of the gods, he made it alive.

Slamming down into the grimy earth at the other side of the swamp, he tried as best he could to land on his back. He wasn't sure that his mending ribs could take another brutal blow. As he lay there motionless, he looked to those who made it across, and for the first time in that dismal place laughed. Laughed over the ridiculousness of their situation. Everything he had been feeling that entire trip welled up inside the Ranger - his stoic demeanor left him for that while while he just felt glad he was alive with friends.

[Redcoat]

OOC: THIS POST RESERVED FOR LYON.

[Redcoat]

They walked, after that. They walked long, and far, and in many directions, never faltering from their purpose of removing themselves from this accursed forest. And few things of much import happened, which would be why this narrator is choosing to condense so much into so little. Suffice to say, at the end of the week-long trek, they were in the city of Tyrael once again, and this is all that is important.

What, you thought things were that easy? Oh, you poor thing. This was Anikus' party, after all. You should know better.

There were pits. There were vines. There were bugs, and parasites, and predators, and prey--them--surrounded by all the trappings of an insatiable, wild place as the Jungle was. They didn't see any more of the Urrites. Perhaps they had simply disappeared from the area, despite Marketta's love for them. Or perhaps they scared away everything in a ten mile radius that didn't want to eat them. The journey home, regardless, was one full of sorrow, pain, suffering, and, most importantly, Hawk.

But they made it. And that was all that mattered.