Rain pounded on the deck of the S.S Rumbelly as harsh winds blew the water sideways into the crew. Harsh gusts flapped at the jolly-roger canopy flag, drowning the already-loud storm in harsh cracks of noise. Matthew Rogers tied a heavy rope around an ornate-looking wooden trunk. "Make sure the knot's tight enough, lad, wouldn't want our gold blowing around everywhere in the storm now would we?" Nodding, Matthew tied the knot tighter and cast it over the side of the ship. Using the friction against the railings to slow its descent, the once-living pirate carefully guided its descent down into waiting hands. "Is it going good down there?" He asked, wondering if that meant he could go back into his cabin and finally get some rest. This storm had taken a lot out of him if he was honest, to the point that he just needed to lay down and do nothing for the rest of the night, preferably well into the next day as well. A voice in the dark called out to him with enough volume to overpower the blustering gale-force winds. "Yup, we still need ya down 'ere skipper, c'mon and let us show you how real pirates bury they treasure." With a sigh, the young pirate did as he was told and made his way towards the climbing rope hanging off the side. Docking at this part of the bay meant there was nothing for a gang-plank to attach to. Unfortunately, that meant he'd have to make his way down the rope ladder and hopefully not fall to his great injury. While he couldn't tell because of the dark, he knew he'd probably break a leg or hip or something. Such an injury probably didn't sound like a big deal with the existence of magical healers, but that wasn't the case when you were an outlaw on a pirate ship. Fearfully, the novice pirate descended with white knuckles and baited breath. Landing on the gritty sand with a thump, the novice greeted his crewmates through the flickering flames of oil lamps and vintage lacrimas. "What we're doing here, right, is creating a stash so that if our ship gets seized, we won't have lost all of our money. We're hiding it in this cave her, c'mon." Nervously, the young lad followed his crewmates out of the moon-light storm and into the even darker cave. Their luminary devices did little to cut the inky soup of darkness. Barely able to see more than a few meters in front of himself, the junior moved at a snail's pace to avoid injury. Twisting his ankle and landing on sharp rocks was the last thing that he wanted right now, and he knew that from his own track record, such a clumsy act was definitely within his repetoire.
The Paladin and the Skeleton turned a corner as his magical ball of light illuminated their new surroundings. It was almost like a chamber, but he knew that to be false. This was natural cave, and there had been no signs of explosive detonation anywhere on the walls. But to be completely honest, it was not as if he was professional enough to be even able to detect such things anyway. From what he could tell though, the room was natural-looking enough for Arthur not to doubt the fact that it wasn't supposed to be a specific room in a building or what have you. Instead, Arthur saw more of those creepy-looking coffins and shrouds lining the walls of the place. Not wanting to fight more of the wretches, the paladin tip-toed (as much as he really could in heavy-plate armor) towards the tunnel leading to the next room. The skeleton tapped Arthur on the wrist, who in turn, reeled his hand back in fright. "They can't hear you y'know, they're dead I hope you realize." Arthur blanked at the incredibly annoying skeleton. He knew they were not dead, he had been the one to put down a room of them not even a few minutes ago before the skeleton went into detail describing his history like a flashback. The skeleton hadn't even told Arthur his name yet, a crucial detail the knight was keeping in the back of his mind. He wouldn't pressure the creature about it yet, knowing he was probably hiding his name for a reason. "I do realize that they are, in fact, not actually dead since they attacked me in the previous chamber. I had to free their souls, in fact." The skeleton stopped, staring at Arthur in a way that made the paladin pause. If skeletons could have furrowed brows, he was sure the undead form before him would have them. "Sorry, I've forgotten to introduce my name, It's Matthew Rogers. Dunno why I didn't remember to tell ya, 'been so long since talking to another person, y'know. And is what you said true, about delivering our souls or whatever?" Arthur wholeheartedly nodded, brandishing his sword to the man, the blade glowing in a calming gold light. He wasn't intended to brag, but he wanted to explain himself around the common misconception people had about him. "I don't want to kill every undead because I hate them, but most undead are tortured souls bound and trapped in the world of the living. Necromancy, for example, is pretty much torture of people who have already found peace in the afterlife. It rips them from paradise and forces them back into the world of the living. It's such a cruel and mind-rendering experience which is why most undead and mindless zombies. My magic doesn't destroy their souls like most others would, instead, my connection with the sun god Helios allows me to help them cross the river, or cross over, whatever you call it in your culture. It's mercy, to be honest, I let the souls return to whatever they were taken from. Arthur's blade stopped glowing, and he sheathed it in the hilt attached to his armor's belt. That show of magic, though, was enough to wake the dead resting around them, nestled in their fabric cots of final rest. Looks like he'd be fighting once again.
Matthew Rogers couldn't tell whether outside in the storm or here in the cave was colder. He thought the cave would be warm and humid, but it was nothing like that, it was nothing of the sort at all. Shivering in his own skin, nobody paid him any mind when he began audibly shivering. "Shoulda packed ya coat, son." A gruff-sounding man scolded him. Knowing that his senior was right, Matthew kept his mouth shut. This was his own fault, what kind of idiot didn't wear his own coat when it was literally storming out? Had he truly believed he'd be able to get some rest and so counted on being able to return inside when they had called him out? Mentally kicking himself, all he could do was trudge along in the darkness in the middle of the pack of their pirate crew ship. The cave was a lot deeper and more expansive than he had thought when he first initially heard of the plan. And while Matthew was technically a grown adult by law, being in a deep and dark cave such as this really made him feel like a small child afraid of the dark. He wasn't even sure what exact part of the cave they were looking for. They didn't fill him in on these things, because he wasn't important enough. What he did know, though, was that they were looking for a spot to bury some treasure. It made him wonder though, why the entire crew was being shown where the gold was buried. It seemed counterintuitive the more he thought about it. While he was thinking about the current situation, the young pirate failed to heed his attention as a small rock shifted under his boot. All of a sudden, the young man found himself falling into complete darkness with a harsh yelp. Fire whooshed as a few dozen torches swooped around to face him. With more than a dozen pair of eyes trained on his embarrassed body braced against the floor, the pirate couldn't help but just blush at himself and his current predicament. "Watch your step there, boy." Nobody came to offer him a hand, but it's not as if he expected any of them to. He wasn't a child, and so they only treated him like one when it was used against him for ridicule or other playful banters. Not when he actually needed help or something. Taking the hint, Matthew got himself up to his feet and brushed off his now-stinging knees. Tears stung at his eyes from the pain but it was nothing that would heal with time. Just a minor wound, that's all, nothing to be concerned about if he was honest. Now that the rest of his crew as certain they weren't leaving little Matthew behind, they laughed to themselves about him and turned around to continue their advance into the deep and dank depths. How much further could the caverns go? On the bright side, it seemed as if the space was getting a little bit warmer, more humid too. Maybe that meant they were far from the storm and deep into the tropical mountainside.
The barebones skeleton got into a fighting stance, readying its fleshless fists as if he was squaring up to take on all of the other undead himself. Arthur wouldn't let that happen of course, he couldn't probably take out this room of lesser undead in the snap of his fingers. Although, this time he had company with him, the company of once-dead pirate junior Matthew Rogers. The situation in its entirety was taxing to Arthur's mind, and so he'd do his best to just put it out of conscious thought by keeping himself moving and pushing through the depths of this cave. "So I shouldn't be mad about you potentially killing all of my friends, then?" The skeleton asked this question rhetorically, sarcasm dripped out of the skeleton's tone but so did sounds of relief. And that's what Arthur was here to do, relieve these spirits from their hellish limbo in the world of the living. They had no claim to this realm, the only thing that awaited them in the land of the living was suffering. Groans of pain and confusion echoed out into the cave as the zombies and undead rose from their resting spots. "You said the zombies couldn't hear me because they were dead. Care to explain this part, then?" The skeleton chuckled and hung its jawbone loose. Arthur readied himself to cast another instance of reflection to clear the first wave. "They don't sense sound of course. As the undead are tethered to the living through the magic in their souls, they react to the use of magic that disturbs the natural miasma of mana. So technically, you just being here is enough to wake them up, but someone like me wouldn't be able to even wake them if I tried, and trust me, I tried. It really does get lonely down here all by yourself, you know." That was not the type of information the paladin really wanted to know. Nor was it the type of information that he'd be able to scrub from his mind at a later date. He was stuck with that one forever, it would unfortunately seem. Approached him from waves at every direction, Arthur sent forth the beam of iridescent golden-white light and watched it reflect and bounce off of every zombie in the area. The sound of undeath and groaning filled the cavern alongside the heavy stench of dry decay and must. It wasn't particularly awful, just generally unpleasant on an off note. As the zombies fell to the ground, charred holes formed in their fragile bodies, Arthur could feel the dark miasma dispersing and clearing somewhat. It was as if with each undead he killed, the dark aura surrounding the cave and its explorers was diluted noticeably. Continuing to bounce around between targets, the room felt as if a massive gravitational force had been lifted. Arthur stood up straight, stretching his muscles and yawning somewhat. It wasn't as if he was magically that powerful in general, just that these hordes of zombies were exceptionally vulnerable to his type of magic. They also weren't magically reinforced through necromancy, so that always helped in general. The skeleton looked around nervously at the beam. "That's not going to hit me, is it?" Arthur shook his head and continued walking through the room. The last zombie fell to the floor and the beam finally came to disperse into the air in a bust of golden sparkles. "No, it only targets those who harbor hostile intent towards me. If you don't intend on killing me at this moment, it wouldn't hurt you. That's all I really know about it to be honest though, I learned it from my mentor a long while back. I was never really that good at it until a few months ago when I started doing active guild work and general jobs. Arthur's skeleton partner put his boned hands on his hips as he followed the paladin further into the depths of the cave. "I think we're getting close, I don't usually come this far down as it's hard with all the memories of course." Arthur nodded, he could understand that.
Matthew knew that this cave was a lot deeper than anything natural. There was something off about it, things that made him think twice or comment or just generally put him at ease. It had been two hours of walking since he had fallen down and skinned his knee. None of his teammates were responding to his words anymore, none of them even commenting on his concerned statements or requests for clarification. The ground, now, was slick with moisture, soft in a way that must have been due to mineral deposits or something of that nature. Water must have softened the rock in order to create such an almost-slimy texture. It was very hot in the cave now, no longer cold in the slightest. Things were starting to get just a little weird, as there had been a rotten stench of sulfur just clinging to the air and everything around him. Matthew would smell awful by the time he exited the cave with his crewmates, but that time couldn't come soon enough. It was strange because none of even what he considered to be his friend group was answering him or even cogniscent of his presence. There was nothing he could do to grab their attention, nothing in the slightest. He had tried touching them on the shoulder, face, arms, anything, but to no response. Even if prompted with a light hit or a hard pinch, they just kept following the group of people marching on forward. Their expressions were stony, uncaring, and generally just cold. Tears welled up in his eyes, Matthew shivered in fear as he had no sweet clue what was happening anymore. He just wanted to get back on the ship, back to his home. Matthew began sobbing as he followed them deeper. He couldn't separate from them and end up lost in the darkness forever, that was the last thing he wanted to do.
WC: 2573 TWC: 2573
The Paladin and the Skeleton turned a corner as his magical ball of light illuminated their new surroundings. It was almost like a chamber, but he knew that to be false. This was natural cave, and there had been no signs of explosive detonation anywhere on the walls. But to be completely honest, it was not as if he was professional enough to be even able to detect such things anyway. From what he could tell though, the room was natural-looking enough for Arthur not to doubt the fact that it wasn't supposed to be a specific room in a building or what have you. Instead, Arthur saw more of those creepy-looking coffins and shrouds lining the walls of the place. Not wanting to fight more of the wretches, the paladin tip-toed (as much as he really could in heavy-plate armor) towards the tunnel leading to the next room. The skeleton tapped Arthur on the wrist, who in turn, reeled his hand back in fright. "They can't hear you y'know, they're dead I hope you realize." Arthur blanked at the incredibly annoying skeleton. He knew they were not dead, he had been the one to put down a room of them not even a few minutes ago before the skeleton went into detail describing his history like a flashback. The skeleton hadn't even told Arthur his name yet, a crucial detail the knight was keeping in the back of his mind. He wouldn't pressure the creature about it yet, knowing he was probably hiding his name for a reason. "I do realize that they are, in fact, not actually dead since they attacked me in the previous chamber. I had to free their souls, in fact." The skeleton stopped, staring at Arthur in a way that made the paladin pause. If skeletons could have furrowed brows, he was sure the undead form before him would have them. "Sorry, I've forgotten to introduce my name, It's Matthew Rogers. Dunno why I didn't remember to tell ya, 'been so long since talking to another person, y'know. And is what you said true, about delivering our souls or whatever?" Arthur wholeheartedly nodded, brandishing his sword to the man, the blade glowing in a calming gold light. He wasn't intended to brag, but he wanted to explain himself around the common misconception people had about him. "I don't want to kill every undead because I hate them, but most undead are tortured souls bound and trapped in the world of the living. Necromancy, for example, is pretty much torture of people who have already found peace in the afterlife. It rips them from paradise and forces them back into the world of the living. It's such a cruel and mind-rendering experience which is why most undead and mindless zombies. My magic doesn't destroy their souls like most others would, instead, my connection with the sun god Helios allows me to help them cross the river, or cross over, whatever you call it in your culture. It's mercy, to be honest, I let the souls return to whatever they were taken from. Arthur's blade stopped glowing, and he sheathed it in the hilt attached to his armor's belt. That show of magic, though, was enough to wake the dead resting around them, nestled in their fabric cots of final rest. Looks like he'd be fighting once again.
Matthew Rogers couldn't tell whether outside in the storm or here in the cave was colder. He thought the cave would be warm and humid, but it was nothing like that, it was nothing of the sort at all. Shivering in his own skin, nobody paid him any mind when he began audibly shivering. "Shoulda packed ya coat, son." A gruff-sounding man scolded him. Knowing that his senior was right, Matthew kept his mouth shut. This was his own fault, what kind of idiot didn't wear his own coat when it was literally storming out? Had he truly believed he'd be able to get some rest and so counted on being able to return inside when they had called him out? Mentally kicking himself, all he could do was trudge along in the darkness in the middle of the pack of their pirate crew ship. The cave was a lot deeper and more expansive than he had thought when he first initially heard of the plan. And while Matthew was technically a grown adult by law, being in a deep and dark cave such as this really made him feel like a small child afraid of the dark. He wasn't even sure what exact part of the cave they were looking for. They didn't fill him in on these things, because he wasn't important enough. What he did know, though, was that they were looking for a spot to bury some treasure. It made him wonder though, why the entire crew was being shown where the gold was buried. It seemed counterintuitive the more he thought about it. While he was thinking about the current situation, the young pirate failed to heed his attention as a small rock shifted under his boot. All of a sudden, the young man found himself falling into complete darkness with a harsh yelp. Fire whooshed as a few dozen torches swooped around to face him. With more than a dozen pair of eyes trained on his embarrassed body braced against the floor, the pirate couldn't help but just blush at himself and his current predicament. "Watch your step there, boy." Nobody came to offer him a hand, but it's not as if he expected any of them to. He wasn't a child, and so they only treated him like one when it was used against him for ridicule or other playful banters. Not when he actually needed help or something. Taking the hint, Matthew got himself up to his feet and brushed off his now-stinging knees. Tears stung at his eyes from the pain but it was nothing that would heal with time. Just a minor wound, that's all, nothing to be concerned about if he was honest. Now that the rest of his crew as certain they weren't leaving little Matthew behind, they laughed to themselves about him and turned around to continue their advance into the deep and dank depths. How much further could the caverns go? On the bright side, it seemed as if the space was getting a little bit warmer, more humid too. Maybe that meant they were far from the storm and deep into the tropical mountainside.
The barebones skeleton got into a fighting stance, readying its fleshless fists as if he was squaring up to take on all of the other undead himself. Arthur wouldn't let that happen of course, he couldn't probably take out this room of lesser undead in the snap of his fingers. Although, this time he had company with him, the company of once-dead pirate junior Matthew Rogers. The situation in its entirety was taxing to Arthur's mind, and so he'd do his best to just put it out of conscious thought by keeping himself moving and pushing through the depths of this cave. "So I shouldn't be mad about you potentially killing all of my friends, then?" The skeleton asked this question rhetorically, sarcasm dripped out of the skeleton's tone but so did sounds of relief. And that's what Arthur was here to do, relieve these spirits from their hellish limbo in the world of the living. They had no claim to this realm, the only thing that awaited them in the land of the living was suffering. Groans of pain and confusion echoed out into the cave as the zombies and undead rose from their resting spots. "You said the zombies couldn't hear me because they were dead. Care to explain this part, then?" The skeleton chuckled and hung its jawbone loose. Arthur readied himself to cast another instance of reflection to clear the first wave. "They don't sense sound of course. As the undead are tethered to the living through the magic in their souls, they react to the use of magic that disturbs the natural miasma of mana. So technically, you just being here is enough to wake them up, but someone like me wouldn't be able to even wake them if I tried, and trust me, I tried. It really does get lonely down here all by yourself, you know." That was not the type of information the paladin really wanted to know. Nor was it the type of information that he'd be able to scrub from his mind at a later date. He was stuck with that one forever, it would unfortunately seem. Approached him from waves at every direction, Arthur sent forth the beam of iridescent golden-white light and watched it reflect and bounce off of every zombie in the area. The sound of undeath and groaning filled the cavern alongside the heavy stench of dry decay and must. It wasn't particularly awful, just generally unpleasant on an off note. As the zombies fell to the ground, charred holes formed in their fragile bodies, Arthur could feel the dark miasma dispersing and clearing somewhat. It was as if with each undead he killed, the dark aura surrounding the cave and its explorers was diluted noticeably. Continuing to bounce around between targets, the room felt as if a massive gravitational force had been lifted. Arthur stood up straight, stretching his muscles and yawning somewhat. It wasn't as if he was magically that powerful in general, just that these hordes of zombies were exceptionally vulnerable to his type of magic. They also weren't magically reinforced through necromancy, so that always helped in general. The skeleton looked around nervously at the beam. "That's not going to hit me, is it?" Arthur shook his head and continued walking through the room. The last zombie fell to the floor and the beam finally came to disperse into the air in a bust of golden sparkles. "No, it only targets those who harbor hostile intent towards me. If you don't intend on killing me at this moment, it wouldn't hurt you. That's all I really know about it to be honest though, I learned it from my mentor a long while back. I was never really that good at it until a few months ago when I started doing active guild work and general jobs. Arthur's skeleton partner put his boned hands on his hips as he followed the paladin further into the depths of the cave. "I think we're getting close, I don't usually come this far down as it's hard with all the memories of course." Arthur nodded, he could understand that.
Matthew knew that this cave was a lot deeper than anything natural. There was something off about it, things that made him think twice or comment or just generally put him at ease. It had been two hours of walking since he had fallen down and skinned his knee. None of his teammates were responding to his words anymore, none of them even commenting on his concerned statements or requests for clarification. The ground, now, was slick with moisture, soft in a way that must have been due to mineral deposits or something of that nature. Water must have softened the rock in order to create such an almost-slimy texture. It was very hot in the cave now, no longer cold in the slightest. Things were starting to get just a little weird, as there had been a rotten stench of sulfur just clinging to the air and everything around him. Matthew would smell awful by the time he exited the cave with his crewmates, but that time couldn't come soon enough. It was strange because none of even what he considered to be his friend group was answering him or even cogniscent of his presence. There was nothing he could do to grab their attention, nothing in the slightest. He had tried touching them on the shoulder, face, arms, anything, but to no response. Even if prompted with a light hit or a hard pinch, they just kept following the group of people marching on forward. Their expressions were stony, uncaring, and generally just cold. Tears welled up in his eyes, Matthew shivered in fear as he had no sweet clue what was happening anymore. He just wanted to get back on the ship, back to his home. Matthew began sobbing as he followed them deeper. He couldn't separate from them and end up lost in the darkness forever, that was the last thing he wanted to do.
WC: 2573 TWC: 2573
