Derick
Soldier
A deserter from Bern, struggles to reign himself in.
Posts: 170
Profession: Amateurish Mercenary
Affinity: Anima
OoC Alias: Derick
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Post by Derick on Feb 20, 2012 10:38:15 GMT -6
Derick was once again grateful for his boots as he worked his way down the slope of mud. He was able to descend step by step, his feet stuck firmly in the mud. However, the descent was longer than anticipated, so he changed tactics. He laid down on his right side and slid down on his right hip plate while using his boots to brake every once in awhile. Curiously, as he and Cefia descended deeper, the cavern seem to become better lit. He glanced behind him at Cefia and her torch, "Is it just me?...Or is it getting light--Agh!"
Derick's sentence was interupted as the mud disappeared from beneath him. The slope dropped off, dumping him at least 10 feet. He slammed facedown into some marshy substance. He scrambled up, sputtering at first, but then gagging as the smell of whatever he landed in hit him. He weakly called out in warning to Cefia, but was unable to get any specific words out.
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Post by Cefia on Feb 21, 2012 13:53:40 GMT -6
(OOC: Action coming up! Got the details on enemies we are going to face!)
Cefia dug her boots into the sand hoping to find solid land to traverse through the descent. It seemed to be useless though as she began to slide as the surface seem to become smoother and slicker at the same time. As Derick's sudden fall surprised her, she tried to reach forward to catch him. This in turn caused her to lose her balance and she fell as well.
"Ouch, you 'kay?" she asked with a grunt. She slid down on her bottom and luckily not face first. The young man is alive and that was something at least.
She patted herself off, pieces of mud falling all over the place. The torch managed to stay lit even through the rough ride. Her eyes however became more concerned as she noticed something. She walked over to where tiny holes lined the ground. As she looked down onto them, even she could tell that it was made relatively soon. It looked like someone walking on stilts but... This was beginning to trouble her.
"I don't think we're alone down here," she warned and as if on cue she heard the sound of scuttling...a lot of scuttling.
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Derick
Soldier
A deserter from Bern, struggles to reign himself in.
Posts: 170
Profession: Amateurish Mercenary
Affinity: Anima
OoC Alias: Derick
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Post by Derick on Feb 21, 2012 15:13:54 GMT -6
"Ouch, you 'kay?" The gagging had subsided, and Derick's wits returned to him. "I think so--ugh." Derick wretched as some of the mud found its way into his mouth. He spat violently, and then wiped the mud off of his face. "I'm fine," Derick finished a tad weakly after that whole tirade.
*Click* "...What was?--" The was a flurry of sound, a skittering noise, "I don't think we're alone down here," Cefia said. As if on cue, the sound multiplied and intensified. Derick gripped his lance tightly and gritted his teeth as his combat reflex poured adrenaline into his bloodstream.
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Post by Cefia on Feb 21, 2012 15:31:00 GMT -6
Cefia flinched a bit as she got up from her spot. Whatever was lurking down here was getting too close for comfort. Just as Derick drew his lance, she took out her steel axe. Being in the situation as they were, she had held onto the torch with her left hand and was prepared to fight with her right.
The first enemy that popped out from the darkness was cautious enough. It didn't take long for her to discern the shape. It was a scorpion, she had seen plenty out in the desert. The only difference was they were huge. In terms of size they were as tall as they were from the bottom to the top of their stingers.
"Be careful, don't get stung, a small scorpion is bad enough but I can't imagine how bad a big one like these will be," she warned back towards Derick. It might be advisable that they run, the scales on the scorpions gave her a feeling that her axe wasn't going to be much use. However a well placed strike or piercing from Derick's lance would teach them a thing or two.
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Derick
Soldier
A deserter from Bern, struggles to reign himself in.
Posts: 170
Profession: Amateurish Mercenary
Affinity: Anima
OoC Alias: Derick
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Post by Derick on Feb 21, 2012 20:16:39 GMT -6
Derick was already off before Cefia could say, "be careful". The sinister figure had a long, whiplike tail that was leaking a greenish fluid at the tip. Its malevolent form, the thing Cefia called a "scorpion", was covered in sparkling black plates that seemed to meld with the shadows.
Uncertainty was cast aside as Derick's instincts took over. He rushed the scorpion, sprinting through the mud and taking a mighty leap. As he sailed through the hair, the scorpion faced him and it's tail rocketed forward as Derick thrust out with his lance.
A brittle crack and a harsh metallic clank resonated off of the stone walls, Derick stumbled away from the scorpion, stunned.
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Post by Cefia on Feb 21, 2012 20:26:12 GMT -6
Cefia grimaced as another scorpion came out from within the shadows. She gripped her axe even tighter, her knuckles now obviously white even in the dim light. She charged forward, swinging her axe down on the creature. When she slammed her axe down, it felt that she was smashing into a solid shield.
"Gah!" she responded as she was flung backwards. From her experience she managed to regain her footing but only barely. The scorpion charged forward and snapped at her with its pincers. She managed to dodge the first strike but the second one managed to scratch her arm.
"Retreat," she shouted towards Derick, looking for somewhere to go. There was bound to be more but there was space to move around. They should find somewhere with better footing, the scorpions were fine as they had settled their weight across all their legs.
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Derick
Soldier
A deserter from Bern, struggles to reign himself in.
Posts: 170
Profession: Amateurish Mercenary
Affinity: Anima
OoC Alias: Derick
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Post by Derick on Feb 21, 2012 20:44:07 GMT -6
Derick groaned and brushed the back of his hand against the point of impact. The scorpion's tale had driven into his chest plate, leaving a dent. It was a lucky save, but the scorpion had the same luck, his lance had done little more than crack the beast's shell. "Gah!" It was Cefia's voice..."Cefia!?" Derick turned towards the voice but was immediately distracted by skittering behind him. It was the beast he had charged, looking considerably angrier.
The tail lashed out again, but this time Derick was ready. He leapt back, allowing the tail to slash through the hair right in front of him. As it reeled back for another strike, Derick darted forward, extending his lance to its maximum reach. His spear tip found it's mark on the beast's head. There was a severe crunch as Derick's lance buried itself in the beast's body. The beast screamed shrilly and writhed in death throes. The lethal tail clacked harmlessly against Derick's lance, then with a final cry, the best lay still.
"Retreat!" Cefia's cry pierced the ecstasy of a fresh kill. He ran to her side and lightly pushed her away from the scorpions. "Lead the way, I'll watch our backs!" His blood buzzed as he selected a target, he would use his lance to shepherd off any sudden advances by the creatures.
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Post by Cefia on Feb 21, 2012 20:54:34 GMT -6
Cefia was glad that Derick had her back. As she made her way through the cave however, her hopes seem to plummet. Each second she ran she could hear the scuttling of those bugs echo through the caverns. It made her uneasy, the thought of being prey would be unsettling for anyone.
She noticed something that caught her eye. A small entrance way, small enough for them to crawl through but it might be aggravating for the scorpions as it was only barely wide enough for them.
"In here," she ordered, getting down on her knees. On the other side, the cave was wide and open again. There appeared to be more entrances and she could hear the scuttling through them. Another disturbing aspect she found was the remnants of an old camp site. As she approached, she noticed the skeletons of a human... This was not promising.
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Derick
Soldier
A deserter from Bern, struggles to reign himself in.
Posts: 170
Profession: Amateurish Mercenary
Affinity: Anima
OoC Alias: Derick
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Post by Derick on Feb 22, 2012 21:26:02 GMT -6
Derick hop-skipped back a pace, pulling his lance out of the reach of a particularly fierce scorpion's crushing pincers. He was outnumbered 7 to 1, and those odds were only going to get worse, there was no way Cefia and himself would be able to battle these scorpions without some sort of advantage...
"In here," Cefia's voice called from behind him. Despite their present circumstance, she was remarkably calm. He glanced back at her, she was crawling into a crack in the stone wall, presumably it lead some--"WHOA!" Derick's lance seemed to move on its own as he swept the point down and around, sending the scorpion that had grabbed a hold of his leg flying. As Derick braced himself for further combat, he noticed that his cry had caused the scorpions to flinch back. An opportunity presented itself.
Derick backed against the wall Cefia had crawled into and started to lower himself in. As the scorpions cautiously drew in closer, Derick waited until the last possible moment and then screamed as high as his vocal chords would allow. The cry ripped through his throat and blasted off of the cave walls. The scorpions were caught completely off guard, they froze instinctively, their most innate reactions controlling their behavior.
Derick seized the opportunity and slid backwards into the tunnel just as the scorpions regained control. They rushed the opening with such ferocity that the scorpion in the lead actually impaled itself on Derick's lance. The scorpion's brethren quickly dragged its corpse out of the way and a new scorpion attempted to wedge itself into the crevice. Derick relaxed a little and continued to shimmy through the tight gap as the scorpion's armor caught on the rocks. Peace was shattered when the scorpion seemed to rip off its own armor and suddenly rocket forward. Derick's combat reflex took over, the rock and the scorpion were stained red as his lance launched forward.
Derick's breathing was ragged and heavy as he lay in the fluid leaking from the scorpion. The smell of blood and venom intertwined with his thoughts as almost every bit of conscious thought desired to muscle past the corpse and kill more. Finally, with a slow, deep breath, Derick regained control and began shuffling back again.
Derick emerged from the tunnel and wiped the blood from his face as he turned to find Cefia examining a skeleton. "I left a body in the crevice, that should buy us a little time..." Derick could already hear the next scorpion trying to lodge itself in the crevice. Derick found the skeleton disturbing, but uninteresting, he cast his eyes for a route when something lying about 15 feet away caught his interest. "Hang on..." He crossed over to the object lying on the cavern floor.
It was a small, black book with no markings on either cover. When he tried to thumb through the pages, the first page crumbled. Derick bit his lip and opened the cover carefully. To his surprise, the writing inside was very intricate. Whoever wrote this almost certainly been a well-educated man. Derick peered in vain at the text and huffed impatiently. "Cefia...come check this out."
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Post by Cefia on Feb 23, 2012 10:17:24 GMT -6
Cefia examined the bones carefully. There was a broken a arm but she hardly believed that was the cause of death. Infection? Starvation? Dehydration? Those were all possibilities, at the thought of starvation she couldn't help but shiver. As Derick came in, she couldn't help but notice the blood.
"It's not your blood is it?" she asked, her voice full of concern. She hoped that the young man wasn't stung by one of those beasts. That would be far more trouble than its worth. She had no form of anti-toxin on her, they had to be extremely careful facing those scorpions.
"Cefia...come check this out."
At the mention of her name, she moved out of her spot and towards where Derick indicated. It was a nice woven journal in ages long past it seemed. It was truly delicate as she took it into her hands. She carefully turned through the pages and the first part was laced with what she come to expect.
"Complaints, complaints, whining, complaints, whining, whining," she said, skipping through a number of pages. All she gathered was important was the fact that this was a trading caravan that wandered into the cave.
"Oh?" she finally found something useful. It detailed their dissent and encounter of the scorpions. One of them were indeed stung by the creature and it seemed to be a flesh devouring venom. This caused her to shiver at the thought.
"Careful not to get stung," she warned towards Derick, hoping he didn't take a direct hit from the scorpions. All of it wasn't simply warnings though, it listed some key weaknesses they could use. Slashing them with blades hardly worked, their scales were too tough. One of the mercenary had a weapon that could though but he wondered off to look for a way out.
This was far too troublesome to her liking but she did encourage them to go through this death trap. It seemed that if they could flip the scorpions over, their underbelly was a way to beat them. It began to list the routes they had tried to get out. Looks like they were taking the left passage, where the mercenary went.
"Alright, I guess we have to go there," she said, making her way to left corridor.
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Derick
Soldier
A deserter from Bern, struggles to reign himself in.
Posts: 170
Profession: Amateurish Mercenary
Affinity: Anima
OoC Alias: Derick
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Post by Derick on Feb 23, 2012 16:06:41 GMT -6
Derick opened his mouth, seeking to allay Cefia's fears, but he promptly shut his mouth again as she took the text from him and began pouring over it. He watched her for a few moments, she didn't even squint at the text, she perused it casually and began reading almost immediately.
Derick's attention was diverted by a raspy scraping noise that eminated from the crevice. Derick rushed to the opening, dropped down, and peered in. The corpse was being dragged back through the crevice, presumably by the other scorpions. The edges of the corpse's armor were ragged now, as if something had been chewing on it...Not good. Furthermore, it's underskin, the part touching its pool of venom, was sloughing off rapidly. It appeared the venom had mild corrosive properties...Really not good. "Careful not to get stung," Cefia called out. Evidently the book had the same observations inscribed in it.
The body cleared the tunnel, and Derick found himself staring into the maddened eyes of a new scorpion. Before Derick could blink, it dashed forward, with another right behind it. Derick's pulse skyrocketed and his lance shot forward. There was a moist puncture sound, the scorpions had shed their armor, leaving their soft underbodies exposed. That was a plus for combat, but a big problem if their were more scorpions waiting. Derick suddenly gasped for air, he had been holding his breath, he stilled himself and held on to his lance intently.
He had a plan, but it wouldn't buy them much time. He lay down on the ground and began to pull the lance out of the crack in the wall. He straightened his legs so that his boots made contact with the pulpy bodies of the scorpions. He jerked up on his lance, freeing it from the scorpions bodies. A flurry of movement erupted from the tunnel, Derick kicked out hard, forcing the corpses, and whatever scorpions were in the tunnel, back through.
"Alright, I guess we have to go there," Cefia pointed down one of the intersections in the cave. "Great, we need to go fast," Derick raced past Cefia in that direction, grabbing her arm and dragging her along as he passed. "We've got company on our heels!" Derick had to shout over the angry shrieks of the scorpions as they at last emerged from the crevice.
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Post by Cefia on Feb 23, 2012 16:24:30 GMT -6
Cefia was still finishing the journal when Derick dragged her off. As she was being guided, she looked back over her shoulder. Sure enough, scorpions began to file close behind them. It would be nice to find a way to disable them from getting any closer. Than again, their priority should be to get out as soon as possible.
The tunnel stretched out for an unbelievable amount of distance. At least it was leading them somewhere but the question was where. As if to suddenly answer ll her questions the corridor opened up to a even larger area within the caves. The center of the room was a large hole in the ground. There were two ways to go as it opened to two more tunnels on the other side. They would have to shimmy along the walls but she doubted the scorpions would be able to follow, hopefully.
"Your move," she said, still loss for words. She looked down the hole to see only darkness. Anywhere but down was fine by her.
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Derick
Soldier
A deserter from Bern, struggles to reign himself in.
Posts: 170
Profession: Amateurish Mercenary
Affinity: Anima
OoC Alias: Derick
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Post by Derick on Feb 23, 2012 19:08:55 GMT -6
Derick stopped at Cefia's side, awestuck by the hole himself. The hole entraced him, the darkness within it was revolting in a way, Derick didn't like the sight of it one bit. But...something about it piqued his curiosity..."Your move," Cefia said flatly, snapping Derick out of his reverie. He glanced over at her, she seemed a little lost herself...Movement over her shoulder caught his eyes--The scorpions were gaining!
Derick stared down both sides of the chasm before closing his eyes. "Left," he grunted, reopening his eyes. He held out his arm towards the side, communicating that Cefia should lead the way. By taking the left side, his lance would be free to parry and block the scorpions should they try to follow. "See if the book mentions anything about this hole."
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Post by Cefia on Feb 23, 2012 19:27:39 GMT -6
Cefia sighed as she began to make her way around the hole. People said that reading and walking was highly hazardous but this was just ridiculous. She gently turned the pages with her free hand but it was getting difficult to multitask. The newer pages were full of woes and soon it did mention the hole.
"I think we should probably...go through that tunnel?" she guessed. The scuttling of the scorpions was troubling her. As she turned, it appeared that one of them was managed to crawl alongside the wall. What were these bugs? She began to move faster to the point she almost fell over. It didn't matter in the end as she burst into the tunnel she guessed was not the dead end mentioned in the journal.
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Derick
Soldier
A deserter from Bern, struggles to reign himself in.
Posts: 170
Profession: Amateurish Mercenary
Affinity: Anima
OoC Alias: Derick
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Post by Derick on Feb 23, 2012 20:04:12 GMT -6
Derick nodded distractedly as they sidled along the sides. The scorpions were pressing hard, and Derick was going to have to confront them sooner rather than later. A small, agile scorpion darted forward with its pincers raised, but Derick was prepared for it. He jabbed his lance under the scorpion and flicked it deftly, sending the little beastie soaring into the abyss.
Derick smiled wickedly as he realized the advantage he was in. Two larger scorpions with full plating charged in. Rather than feint and go for a skewer, Derick brought his spear against the wall, waited until they were in striking distance, and then swept his lance towards the abyss as hard as he could. These scorpions were weightier, but they fell clumsily into the abyss, just as the small one had. The scorpions hesitated and seemed afraid as they huddled together.
Derick debated going after them, but then heard Cefia pick up her pace. The scorpions had wised up and were now crawling along the lip of the hole to avoid Derick's lance...that didn't bode well. Derick turned and began sidling as quickly as he could, his attention fixed on the terrain where Cefia now stood. The clicks of the scorpions scampering legs did not draw nearer. But a menancing click joined the myriad of insect-like noises.
Derick reached the clearing and turned just in time to see a much larger scorpion emerge from the herd. It was at least three times as large as the other scorpions in the pack. A constant trickle of green venom discharged from its rope-like tail, and it's armor appeared twice as thick as the others. Far worse than that, however, it was more agile than the others too...Derick seriously doubted they could outrun this thing for too long. "Cefia...I'm gonna need your help!..." The scorpion charged Derick, its massive tail snapping out and clipping Derick's shoulder plate as he tried to get out of the way. Derick stumbled to the side but regained balance quickly...The scorpion's tail was too long for Derick to directly attack it with his lance...They needed a plan.
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