Ash Empire

[Thorn_]

Levandi gave Zariah a smirk. "He's probably right," she replies, "You don't put something THAT powerful around these parts unless there's something REALLY exciting to find."

She stood back up, flipped the amulet in the air like a coin before snatching it out of mid-air and then stuffing it into her cleavage for safe-keeping. "Besides, I'm a Glutton," she adds, calling on some of her darkness magic to dim their immediate surroundings a little, "so maybe I'm into a little... puishment."

The work to move deeper into the tomb wasn't especially difficult. For the many, many faults that came with the boss, that intuition of his was very real. Keeping into low whispers of "Left" or "Watch the gap." and even just as a vague outline, with the floor pretty much invisible to him, he seemed to know exactly when to hug the wall and from the sounds of wires snapping, metal clanging it seemed like he was proven right. Of course, that wasn't the bigger concern.

As they made it through a few rooms, the sudden whisper to get down was delivered urgently as he ducked behind what Levandi could gather was a fallen stone. Just in time for him to duck out of the sight of a yellow glow, slowly moving across the piece of rubble, scanning it, then proceeding to search from left to right. The darkness of the room made the exact details hard to tell, but she could spot Eligor's eye above the ledge of this room, surveying the area as if it was a searchlight, not spotting anything before it began to retreat back. The two greed demons however remained static as they glanced to each other and reluctantly seemed to act together to use their abilities in tandem. With the only real light being from Eligor's eye, it was quickly blocked by a sudden eruption from the ground, a mass swarm of sand hazing it's vision, followed by loud thuds of stone crashing from above.

"Go!"

She heard the order as the sandstorm raged, but between the darkness and chaos of the roof coming down, Eligor wasn't the only one having trouble following what had happened. The sand was starting to gradually die down, that she could grasp this lower level had three open door passages, left, right and straight down the middle. Eligor seemed preoccupied trying to survey behind fallen rubble for signs, not realizing the other two had already fled....but which way did they take?

 

[Tjf]

"Then we should do well. Though hopefully, we won't be put in a position where direct engagement is necessary. But being prepared for the worst case scenario is a key to war." Charon made a gesture for the rest to start to march, and by turn his order to move being relayed to the captains of their squadrons. In a rush, servants arrived to deliver two black horses from the stables, intended for Raven and Charon's use. As they made they ride, the advantages to Charon's favored troops became more apparent.

The tiny thieves small size meant they had little trouble sharing horses with each other, three or four to one. One to ride, then at least two already knocking their bows in preparation. The desert area would be a lot of open space, so horse archers would be valuable and these guys didn't take up much space keeping them from crowding each other with too many horses with their riding. The wisps, simply could follow without any additional effort on their part. Barely any magic to them, but the little ghosts didn't need to spend any energy to float letting them simply fly over or through whatever is in the way. The lack of struggling that large formations usually suffered from when it came to mobilizing wasn't nearly much of an issue, cutting down on time by a ton.

A while after their wideout, the change from the city, had turned to woods, and after a good amount of time since they left by nightfall, the sunrise had shone while they were still making their way. Raven had already seen the desert region before. Fought on it more than once two. From the look on Charon's face, he was clearly having a thought process as he took a peek at his map. "...it's bizarre. Not like it's anything special for claimants to sprout up, and not as if anyone can remember every last thief in the demon realm, but...where did he even come from. From what I gather and for all my findings tell me....he never really existed. Ever. No matching name. No matching appearances. Nobody having that same stupid laugh to account for. It seems like he didn't exist until the day he tried to ambush brother." Charon's voice had an obvious hint for annoyance. Raven had remembered that. Dimitri had to crush that stupid revolt a while back. It wasn't even a serious thing. Barely anyone even remembers the name of whichever count it was trying to make their attempt and it ending badly. Nobody even felt like they needed to bother helping with Dimitri's campaign against someone so small. The only one who had went with him was Charon for tactical advice. Of course, he annihilated them. That was a given. But...the story comes when he was returning back home and then he got jumped by highwaymen. At the time, nobody would have seriously believed a few bandits would be an actual problem. It would have been hilarious at how stupid someone actually would have to be to try robbing the King....it was a lost less funny when they came back. Knowing how Charon worked, a foe that he had almost no information on who the hell this guy was exactly, was something that was probably driving him crazy.

Regardless, two blue flames began to fly by Raven and Charon's face before the conversation could delve in deeper, as they floated by the riders. "We're approaching!" From what Raven could tell, as she saw it on the horizon, the prison was in sight. Charon seeing it, starting to slow his horse. "Dismount here. There should be a sandstorm brewing here soon if the forecast is correct, we can use that to cover our approach in a bit. Set camp for now." He gave a glance at the wisp giving it a quick order to scout as he started to climb off his horse and quickly open some blank parchment as he began to scribble whatever he was already getting into work laying out.

Raven ponders silently over her brother's words. An unknown foe could be dangerous... No, that can be focused on later. Dismounting, she begins to give orders, seeing to it that the camp is laid out to her specific specifications.

 

[Thorn_]

Raven ponders silently over her brother's words. An unknown foe could be dangerous... No, that can be focused on later. Dismounting, she begins to give orders, seeing to it that the camp is laid out to her specific specifications.

The tiny thief creatures scramble quickly to meet her demands. The wisps not able to do any physical labor themselves seem more content to just play games of blasting each other with spectral magic. The only one among them who didn't join the games was Willow who remained discussing things with Charon and Rodeaux as they grouped together. The work by the Ikeali was surprisingly fast at setting up camp and while some paranoia might have set in, none of them seemed seriously stupid enough to risk pocketing any of the Pride Arch Demon's things, all of them exactly where they should be according to her demands as they set up.

Charon neglected to bother setting up a proper tent for himself, not even noticing one of them approach him trying to offer him an apple for him to eat, more engrossed in writing out his plan. As the camp began to fill up more, it still looked much smaller than a typical military camp, Raven's own tent probably taking up much more space than anyone else's, but nobody making any outloud complaints. With little to do other than allow preparations to be made and time to pass, it went by slow. When the floating flames of two wisps that Raven could sense where the earlier ones surveying the area started to speed into camp, the tiny gremlin like thieves looked like their hearts were about to stop as the spirits rushed by, nearly starting a couple of tents on fire as they made their rush to relay their message to the Archdemons and their vassals.

"Got it! Tar pits around the outer walls, two ballista's on the walls, a crew for each, about twenty archers, and about forty footsoldiers. I saw the big boss, guy. He looks really scary. Messy white hair, really tall and his axe is bigger than most demons and he treats it like it's nothing." It wasn't much of a description, but Raven had an inkling of who that was referring to.

It wasn't much to go off....but a tall demon with an axe that looked like he was compensating for something...Oz.

If there was one thing anyone could say about him, it was that he was...around. That didn't sound like too much of a feat, but there had to be something said about the guy who has been on the side of rebellions against the Kolarv's, twice already, and somehow lived to make a third attempt. Truth be told, he had nothing on an Arch Demon in a one on one fight, but having to deal with him while swarmed with enemy soldiers and ballistas firing at her at the same time could actually end up being fairly dangerous. Strong enough not to be taken lightly, but not so powerful he'd otherwise be a problem. Maybe a good soldier, but not exemplary. He was more widely known for the fact that nothing ever seemed to quite the do the job of finishing him off for good.

"That's...how is he not dead? It better not be who I think it is. I refuse to accept he isn't dead yet." Charon seemed to be getting the same sneaking suspicion at hearing the news. It was easy to see why. The last encounter they had with him, involved Brigid had lodging her sword into his neck, while he fell off of a bridge. The odds of another inexplicable recovery were...unlikely.

 

[Daylan]

The work to move deeper into the tomb wasn't especially difficult. For the many, many faults that came with the boss, that intuition of his was very real. Keeping into low whispers of "Left" or "Watch the gap." and even just as a vague outline, with the floor pretty much invisible to him, he seemed to know exactly when to hug the wall and from the sounds of wires snapping, metal clanging it seemed like he was proven right. Of course, that wasn't the bigger concern.

As they made it through a few rooms, the sudden whisper to get down was delivered urgently as he ducked behind what Levandi could gather was a fallen stone. Just in time for him to duck out of the sight of a yellow glow, slowly moving across the piece of rubble, scanning it, then proceeding to search from left to right. The darkness of the room made the exact details hard to tell, but she could spot Eligor's eye above the ledge of this room, surveying the area as if it was a searchlight, not spotting anything before it began to retreat back. The two greed demons however remained static as they glanced to each other and reluctantly seemed to act together to use their abilities in tandem. With the only real light being from Eligor's eye, it was quickly blocked by a sudden eruption from the ground, a mass swarm of sand hazing it's vision, followed by loud thuds of stone crashing from above.

"Go!"

She heard the order as the sandstorm raged, but between the darkness and chaos of the roof coming down, Eligor wasn't the only one having trouble following what had happened. The sand was starting to gradually die down, that she could grasp this lower level had three open door passages, left, right and straight down the middle. Eligor seemed preoccupied trying to survey behind fallen rubble for signs, not realizing the other two had already fled....but which way did they take?

CrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapCRAP! was the thought that echoed over and over in Levandi's head as chaos erupted around her, instinctively intensifying the darkness around herself as a way to give her more time to reorient herself from the unexpected confusion.

She had missed which way the others had gone, obviously, and given that the overly powerful monster would act fast if it did spot her, it would not do to waste time pondering that or thinking up any sneaky plans. Now was the time to run to the nearest exit full speed ahead... and since "ahead" meant going down the path straight down the middle, that was where she began to sprint.

 

[Tjf]

The tiny thief creatures scramble quickly to meet her demands. The wisps not able to do any physical labor themselves seem more content to just play games of blasting each other with spectral magic. The only one among them who didn't join the games was Willow who remained discussing things with Charon and Rodeaux as they grouped together. The work by the Ikeali was surprisingly fast at setting up camp and while some paranoia might have set in, none of them seemed seriously stupid enough to risk pocketing any of the Pride Arch Demon's things, all of them exactly where they should be according to her demands as they set up.

Charon neglected to bother setting up a proper tent for himself, not even noticing one of them approach him trying to offer him an apple for him to eat, more engrossed in writing out his plan. As the camp began to fill up more, it still looked much smaller than a typical military camp, Raven's own tent probably taking up much more space than anyone else's, but nobody making any outloud complaints. With little to do other than allow preparations to be made and time to pass, it went by slow. When the floating flames of two wisps that Raven could sense where the earlier ones surveying the area started to speed into camp, the tiny gremlin like thieves looked like their hearts were about to stop as the spirits rushed by, nearly starting a couple of tents on fire as they made their rush to relay their message to the Archdemons and their vassals.

"Got it! Tar pits around the outer walls, two ballista's on the walls, a crew for each, about twenty archers, and about forty footsoldiers. I saw the big boss, guy. He looks really scary. Messy white hair, really tall and his axe is bigger than most demons and he treats it like it's nothing." It wasn't much of a description, but Raven had an inkling of who that was referring to.

It wasn't much to go off....but a tall demon with an axe that looked like he was compensating for something...Oz.

If there was one thing anyone could say about him, it was that he was...around. That didn't sound like too much of a feat, but there had to be something said about the guy who has been on the side of rebellions against the Kolarv's, twice already, and somehow lived to make a third attempt. Truth be told, he had nothing on an Arch Demon in a one on one fight, but having to deal with him while swarmed with enemy soldiers and ballistas firing at her at the same time could actually end up being fairly dangerous. Strong enough not to be taken lightly, but not so powerful he'd otherwise be a problem. Maybe a good soldier, but not exemplary. He was more widely known for the fact that nothing ever seemed to quite the do the job of finishing him off for good.

"That's...how is he not dead? It better not be who I think it is. I refuse to accept he isn't dead yet." Charon seemed to be getting the same sneaking suspicion at hearing the news. It was easy to see why. The last encounter they had with him, involved Brigid had lodging her sword into his neck, while he fell off of a bridge. The odds of another inexplicable recovery were...unlikely.

Raven can't help but grin at the news of her foe's survival. "Good." She chuckles. "How right it feels that it will be me who finally ends his miserable existence." Raven stands. "Oz has seen me, of course, but only in my war form..." She ponders for a moment. "I will go in, alone, pretending to be a lost human or an exiled lesser demon. As I attract our enemy's attention, you will strike." She smirks wickedly. "I long to see the look on that brute's face as he sees me transform, and knows that his doom has arrived. Maybe he'll beg?"

 

[Thorn_]

CrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapCRAP! was the thought that echoed over and over in Levandi's head as chaos erupted around her, instinctively intensifying the darkness around herself as a way to give her more time to reorient herself from the unexpected confusion.

She had missed which way the others had gone, obviously, and given that the overly powerful monster would act fast if it did spot her, it would not do to waste time pondering that or thinking up any sneaky plans. Now was the time to run to the nearest exit full speed ahead... and since "ahead" meant going down the path straight down the middle, that was where she began to sprint.

With the sandstorm still obscuring it’s sight, it provided the demoness a chance to sprint tight to the doorway and underneath it, the sounds of her sprint at the last second drawing the attention and the spotlight darting to fixate on her as she ran right underneath it, the height difference from the platforms preventing it from snapping at her immediately.

Making her way into the dark passage, she could already hear the living weapon agitated and she didn’t need to look to feel it directly behind her and in full strike mode…but the second sound was an audible click, as her foot fell down deeper onto a pressure plate and with it, the sound of a massive grating of metal and stone, followed by a heavy shockwave just a few feet behind her.

The final product was a stone wall sealing the way she came, a few feet solid of rock. From the other side, there was a hard thud, enough for a light shake and some pebbles to fall. The angry hiss told her that hurt. It was short lived though, as the hissing escalated and more slams against the wall were heard, causing a bit of vibration, before dying down again. And then…complete silence.

Just her and dark corridor, possibly filled with more traps to keep people like her out.

 

[unisol_gr44]

Capris made his advancement to backtrack through the way they came. It was actually much easier than it was before, as the sight of the old rooms became increasingly less graphic, though still chaotic. Blades lodged in walls from traps that had already been sprung, gas valves tightened so they wouldn't release if anyone stepped on the plates, and the classic boulder trap already smashed, just as a few things. There was a lot of words people could describe that thief, but he definitely had some skills. It made the return trip, all that much easier without needing to worry about stepping on the wrong thing with all of them already done for them.

Occasionally, he could hear what sounded like footsteps in the side hall passages, but they faded quickly if he kept quiet. The more he made his way out to the upper levels that were further out and brighter with natural light, the less common the sounds were until he was no longer hearing them at all, finally reaching the mouth of the entrance to the crypt, the sight of daylight peering through a little intensely. Jia, seemed to be doing much the same as she started to sleep somewhat. Definitely alive against the odds and thanks to Capris's intervention, but losing the battle to stay conscious for so long with the adrenaline now fading. Setting her down for a rest, would be something of a relief. Even for only having half of her body....she wasn't exactly an easy load. As he rested though, for a good amount of time, it seemed like Yegen's assumption had been proven right that this area was relatively safe. At least while there was still some daylight left to burn.

Her eyes creaked open as she regained some consciousness to observe, looking around...then pausing to look over herself as if to confirm that actually happened before staring at Capris. "Uh...thanks for the lift."

'Think nothing of it,' Capris nodded to the heavily-wounded demon, 'Do you think we should stay here or head back to camp? I know you want revenge but that's not going to happen in your state.'

 

[Daylan]

With the sandstorm still obscuring it’s sight, it provided the demoness a chance to sprint tight to the doorway and underneath it, the sounds of her sprint at the last second drawing the attention and the spotlight darting to fixate on her as she ran right underneath it, the height difference from the platforms preventing it from snapping at her immediately.

Making her way into the dark passage, she could already hear the living weapon agitated and she didn’t need to look to feel it directly behind her and in full strike mode…but the second sound was an audible click, as her foot fell down deeper onto a pressure plate and with it, the sound of a massive grating of metal and stone, followed by a heavy shockwave just a few feet behind her.

The final product was a stone wall sealing the way she came, a few feet solid of rock. From the other side, there was a hard thud, enough for a light shake and some pebbles to fall. The angry hiss told her that hurt. It was short lived though, as the hissing escalated and more slams against the wall were heard, causing a bit of vibration, before dying down again. And then…complete silence.

Just her and dark corridor, possibly filled with more traps to keep people like her out.

After mentally running through every curse word in every language she had ever heard (and a few she might have invented on the spot), Levandi took a few deep breaths as quietly as she could. She was starting to wonder if perhaps she had some form of luck goddess way back in her bloodline somewhere after the trap she had stepped on was now a dam protecting her from the thing that had almost gotten a chance to rip her internal organs out.

Still, that left her... well... trapped. With only one direction to go.

So despite the very real possibility of more environmental hazards ahead, onward she went.

 

[Thorn_]

Raven can't help but grin at the news of her foe's survival. "Good." She chuckles. "How right it feels that it will be me who finally ends his miserable existence." Raven stands. "Oz has seen me, of course, but only in my war form..." She ponders for a moment. "I will go in, alone, pretending to be a lost human or an exiled lesser demon. As I attract our enemy's attention, you will strike." She smirks wickedly. "I long to see the look on that brute's face as he sees me transform, and knows that his doom has arrived. Maybe he'll beg?"

"It's a prison out in the desert. They probably won't buy someone finding it by accident. Possibly a messenger or a fleeing soldier perhaps. Still, I think that's the right idea." Charon evaluated the idea with some approval as he pondered for a moment. "He's proven to be annoyingly durable....take off the head, drop the body into the tar pits and from there, set them on fire. You'll roast his corpse to cinders for good measure, and the rising smoke will block the ballista's view, allowing us to advance. Prior to that, if you can convince them to send reinforcements as an emergency, we can ambush them out in the desert. The optimal route...would be..." Charon cracking open his book, the blank page began to singe with a red pentagram, before fading, and new markings taking shape in the form of a map, not in any language she knew. "Ovarya village. We can set a ambush along the road there, and use our horse archers to out maneuver the emergency detachment softening the fortress up in a skirmish before you kill the warden, and then we can press the assault and win relatively cleanly."

Having spoken of his plan, Rodeaux then stared at him looking a little skeptic. "That sounds like an idea, but I think there's a small issue....she's too clean. Nobody's going to buy they are a surviving soldier without any wounds and in that outfit."

 

[Thorn_]

'Think nothing of it,' Capris nodded to the heavily-wounded demon, 'Do you think we should stay here or head back to camp? I know you want revenge but that's not going to happen in your state.'

"Ugh..." Grunting, it was obvious she wasn't happy to think about it, before acknowledging how it would go. "It would be better to get to the hideout soon then. The faster I can regenerate, the sooner I can get right back at it. While Enyo is down for a nap, we should get some distance before she wakes up again. I AM going to be the one who finally takes her down, but not like this. They'll probably be fine anyway...there's a chance, she's still gonna kill them but then we'd just be joining them. It be better to make sure at least some of us make it back alive and wait for the report....or wait to see if nobody comes back."

 

[Thorn_]

After mentally running through every curse word in every language she had ever heard (and a few she might have invented on the spot), Levandi took a few deep breaths as quietly as she could. She was starting to wonder if perhaps she had some form of luck goddess way back in her bloodline somewhere after the trap she had stepped on was now a dam protecting her from the thing that had almost gotten a chance to rip her internal organs out.

Still, that left her... well... trapped. With only one direction to go.

So despite the very real possibility of more environmental hazards ahead, onward she went.

(Oh, no. Critical failure. This is why I shouldn't do rolls for people. On the other hand, Enyo's roll is also super low.)

The path in the darkness was long, cold and cramped. Not really able to see where she was going, as she tried to move forward, she heard another mechanical clicking sound. She didn't have time to react or even see where it came from before hearing the sound of sharpened steel, and then a sharp stinging sensation in her leg as it cut deep. The blade trap, died down and it avoided hitting anywhere important, but that was going to slow her down with such a heavy wound in her leg.

As the passage way of the hall began to brighten to becoming more visible, she could see the next room. This was one was much bigger. Cooler than the other rooms in the ruins..and more clean. The tiles and stone looked almost in pristine condition with very few cracks, and there was a distinct lack of sand or bugs to this open room. From the giant golden door at the other end, this must be the end goal.....and someone else knew it was too. Dead center, right on top of the steps just before the door, sat the green haired demon.

"Hewaauuurrrghhh....engh..sorry, Mr.Rabbit, the robot took your seat..." In a soft whisper, a lightly gargled sound came out of her mouth as she mumbled something, eyes remaining shut. The sloth demon remained relatively motionless, not reacting to Levandi entering the room, remaining seated directly in front of the steps. The gluttony demon could gather that Enyo probably aimed to cut off their approach to the heart of the crypt as a choke point.....but from the way her arms were slumped over her knees, head buried in her lap, it looked almost as if she had gotten bored of waiting in place of her own ambush. More importantly, was what was between her fingers. Something silvery, and jagged. A key. Undoubtedly, to open the door directly behind her.

"Haah!" A man's sudden yell from above was the next thing to the scene, forcing Levandi to spot the roof of the room which had an empty hole towards it as a man began to fall before planting his hand into the side of the trap hole, forcing the bricks to extend outward beneath him as a foot hold for him to land on. Dropping from that ledge, the white haired thief was quick about quickly catching it with his hand, then using his other arm to touch the roof off the wall again, resonating with the material to force the walls of stone and dirt to shift to make another ledge from him to grab and break his fall before he finally, dropped down, landing beside Levandi. Yegen gave a smile. "Made it all the way to the end? You're actually pretty good at this. What do you think about grave robbing these kinds of tombs more often?" He made the offer, before spotting Enyo planted on the staircase, his face tightening....looking a little panicked as he froze to keep still. But even for his efforts to stay still, his manipulation of the earth to shift the entire room had left a massive stone block to come crashing down directly above the sleeping demon. With a thunderous shattering noise that made the whole room shake...tiny stones falling from the ceiling more.

"Hooo." With a tiny escape of her breath, and her head tilting slightly with no more effort than adjusting to sleeping on a pillow, she simply fell back with her head landing on the pile of rubble, not even phased, or with the slightest concern of what was going on. Yegen's expression lightened up a lot as he saw the impact of a full force collision not even enough to alert her.

"She took the key, to have us come to her. Smarter than she looks.....but also somehow dumber than I thought."

Through the wall of the side, Zariah melded out of the wall again. It wasn't clear what route she had decided to take, but she looked no worse for wear as she joined the conversation, seeing Yegen not even bother to whisper in front of her. "Her arms are normal. I didn’t even know that thing came off.”

Yegen looked thoughtful for a moment, before grinning barely able to contain his excitement. “We’re on the last legs of the adventure...so...one of just needs to swipe that key and open the door....but if she took a boulder to the face and that didn't do anything, should be easy, right?"

 

[unisol_gr44]

"Ugh..." Grunting, it was obvious she wasn't happy to think about it, before acknowledging how it would go. "It would be better to get to the hideout soon then. The faster I can regenerate, the sooner I can get right back at it. While Enyo is down for a nap, we should get some distance before she wakes up again. I AM going to be the one who finally takes her down, but not like this. They'll probably be fine anyway...there's a chance, she's still gonna kill them but then we'd just be joining them. It be better to make sure at least some of us make it back alive and wait for the report....or wait to see if nobody comes back."

'Alright, we'll move out in a bit,' Capris nodded to Jia. Taking another moment to rest, Capris then decided to move on, lifting up Jia again and heading towards their camp.

 

[Daylan]

The path in the darkness was long, cold and cramped. Not really able to see where she was going, as she tried to move forward, she heard another mechanical clicking sound. She didn't have time to react or even see where it came from before hearing the sound of sharpened steel, and then a sharp stinging sensation in her leg as it cut deep. The blade trap, died down and it avoided hitting anywhere important, but that was going to slow her down with such a heavy wound in her leg.

Levandi bit back the scream of agony that wanted to escape her throat as her leg was sliced open. She dropped to one knee, reaching back with her hand to feel the cut and being slightly alarmed at just how sticky her fingers were getting so quickly. While not having time to seriously treat the wound, she could at least do something about the pain. Some poisons, in small doses, had a bit of a numbing effect to them and so she used her magic to summon some to drip it over the wound. That and ripping off a bit of her shirt sleeve to turn into a makeshift bandage were enough for her to keep going for now.

As the passage way of the hall began to brighten to becoming more visible, she could see the next room. This was one was much bigger. Cooler than the other rooms in the ruins..and more clean. The tiles and stone looked almost in pristine condition with very few cracks, and there was a distinct lack of sand or bugs to this open room. From the giant golden door at the other end, this must be the end goal.....and someone else knew it was too. Dead center, right on top of the steps just before the door, sat the green haired demon.

"Hewaauuurrrghhh....engh..sorry, Mr.Rabbit, the robot took your seat..." In a soft whisper, a lightly gargled sound came out of her mouth as she mumbled something, eyes remaining shut. The sloth demon remained relatively motionless, not reacting to Levandi entering the room, remaining seated directly in front of the steps. The gluttony demon could gather that Enyo probably aimed to cut off their approach to the heart of the crypt as a choke point.....but from the way her arms were slumped over her knees, head buried in her lap, it looked almost as if she had gotten bored of waiting in place of her own ambush. More importantly, was what was between her fingers. Something silvery, and jagged. A key. Undoubtedly, to open the door directly behind her.

"Haah!" A man's sudden yell from above was the next thing to the scene, forcing Levandi to spot the roof of the room which had an empty hole towards it as a man began to fall before planting his hand into the side of the trap hole, forcing the bricks to extend outward beneath him as a foot hold for him to land on. Dropping from that ledge, the white haired thief was quick about quickly catching it with his hand, then using his other arm to touch the roof off the wall again, resonating with the material to force the walls of stone and dirt to shift to make another ledge from him to grab and break his fall before he finally, dropped down, landing beside Levandi. Yegen gave a smile. "Made it all the way to the end? You're actually pretty good at this. What do you think about grave robbing these kinds of tombs more often?" He made the offer, before spotting Enyo planted on the staircase, his face tightening....looking a little panicked as he froze to keep still. But even for his efforts to stay still, his manipulation of the earth to shift the entire room had left a massive stone block to come crashing down directly above the sleeping demon. With a thunderous shattering noise that made the whole room shake...tiny stones falling from the ceiling more.

"Let's see how this job ends before I decide if I want to do more," Levandi replies to Yegen before a grim smile comes to her lips, "Though I'd be lying if I said this wasn't pretty thrilling."

She winced as the rocks fell down, bracing for the demon's awakening...

"Hooo." With a tiny escape of her breath, and her head tilting slightly with no more effort than adjusting to sleeping on a pillow, she simply fell back with her head landing on the pile of rubble, not even phased, or with the slightest concern of what was going on. Yegen's expression lightened up a lot as he saw the impact of a full force collision not even enough to alert her.

"She took the key, to have us come to her. Smarter than she looks.....but also somehow dumber than I thought."

... And just kind of stared as it did nothing, not even seemingly ruffling her hair. How tough WAS she?

"I'm not sure 'dumb' is the right word for it. Maybe very... simple?"

Through the wall of the side, Zariah melded out of the wall again. It wasn't clear what route she had decided to take, but she looked no worse for wear as she joined the conversation, seeing Yegen not even bother to whisper in front of her. "Her arms are normal. I didn’t even know that thing came off.”

Yegen looked thoughtful for a moment, before grinning barely able to contain his excitement. “We’re on the last legs of the adventure...so...one of just needs to swipe that key and open the door....but if she took a boulder to the face and that didn't do anything, should be easy, right?"

Nodding at Zariah, Levandi noted, "I think that thing's either trapped or looking for another way back here, since I... let's just say you're not the only one who dropped a wall today."

Returning her attention to the sleeping Enyo, Levandi bit her lower lip in thought and said, "I can give it a shot, unless one of you thinks they have a lighter touch."

 

[Thorn_]

'Alright, we'll move out in a bit,' Capris nodded to Jia. Taking another moment to rest, Capris then decided to move on, lifting up Jia again and heading towards their camp.

The way to the base of operations is no small distance. On top of the added weight, desert heat and raging sands, it serves it's purpose to keep away intruders and make any approaches to it difficult, but it also had the effect of not being a welcome trip for anyone returning to it either. Camels being the most effective way to transverse the desert and carry things efficiently, they weren't war animals by any means, but didn't need to be. Taking his mount to make the return trip, he was on his way. Even for someone who wasn't a stranger to the area, the vastness of the desert and shifting sands meant even a veteran traveller had trouble unless they knew exactly where they were going. But he found his way back, seeing the city over the horizon.

Tel-Adrim. Old, even by demon standards. So far out on the ridges of the empire, that it went largely unnoticed and unenforced by law that the thief king's rise to power to claim it with his men went largely unnoticed until it was almost completely occupied. It wasn't the only base of operations, but it was one of the most self sufficient, encompassing an oasis inside of itself and not to mention all the etchings on each building All were ordanied with charms of various sorts, silver, skulls, flowers, just about anything lined up on the doors and windows of almost every building. Some sort of elaborate network of eldritch magic to keep it off the maps and make people forget about it's existence, unless they've already been. It seemed to be the case, given that for all of the Kalarov kingdom's efforts to reclaim territory, they seemed to have continually failed to notice it in all of their pushes even if they went right past it.

For Capris, he rode right into the city and saw the men posted on the roofs take note of his arrival before retreating. Making his way to where he could dismount, there was already a number of the thief clan waiting to collect his things. "Sir Capris, you've returned. Is-Madam Jia!" The thief who greeted him was cut off at seeing the sight of the half cut demon, as he started to quickly usher orders to open up and ready the apothecary. They scattered quickly to be clearing the way and trying to rush to help support Jia, much to her annoyance before finally relenting. The destination, was still a bit of a hike, but not half the trouble it was to get here. The old palace like area overshadowing the city, carved into part of the mountain itself. As they made their way to the front and climbed the stares, Capris could see that the doors remained shut, a crowd of the bandits standing outside the front gate.

As he came closer, he could see what the problem is.

"It's impossible."

"But Madam Jia is-

"Can't be done. "Keep guard until I return. Watch out for anyone trying to get in." That's what he said." The dog earred woman stood in front of the gate with a straight face, looking overall disinterested in what she was doing, but also unwilling to abandon it.

"Cera..." The thief who had been making his plea, looked to Capris as if hoping he'd able to talk to her. Capris was already aware of the issue. Cera was....pretty well behaved to a fault. Without the other two heads to balance out loyalty, with logic and emotion, it just left her following orders without any thought to the actual idea behind any of them.

 

[unisol_gr44]

The way to the base of operations is no small distance. On top of the added weight, desert heat and raging sands, it serves it's purpose to keep away intruders and make any approaches to it difficult, but it also had the effect of not being a welcome trip for anyone returning to it either. Camels being the most effective way to transverse the desert and carry things efficiently, they weren't war animals by any means, but didn't need to be. Taking his mount to make the return trip, he was on his way. Even for someone who wasn't a stranger to the area, the vastness of the desert and shifting sands meant even a veteran traveller had trouble unless they knew exactly where they were going. But he found his way back, seeing the city over the horizon.

Tel-Adrim. Old, even by demon standards. So far out on the ridges of the empire, that it went largely unnoticed and unenforced by law that the thief king's rise to power to claim it with his men went largely unnoticed until it was almost completely occupied. It wasn't the only base of operations, but it was one of the most self sufficient, encompassing an oasis inside of itself and not to mention all the etchings on each building All were ordanied with charms of various sorts, silver, skulls, flowers, just about anything lined up on the doors and windows of almost every building. Some sort of elaborate network of eldritch magic to keep it off the maps and make people forget about it's existence, unless they've already been. It seemed to be the case, given that for all of the Kalarov kingdom's efforts to reclaim territory, they seemed to have continually failed to notice it in all of their pushes even if they went right past it.

For Capris, he rode right into the city and saw the men posted on the roofs take note of his arrival before retreating. Making his way to where he could dismount, there was already a number of the thief clan waiting to collect his things. "Sir Capris, you've returned. Is-Madam Jia!" The thief who greeted him was cut off at seeing the sight of the half cut demon, as he started to quickly usher orders to open up and ready the apothecary. They scattered quickly to be clearing the way and trying to rush to help support Jia, much to her annoyance before finally relenting. The destination, was still a bit of a hike, but not half the trouble it was to get here. The old palace like area overshadowing the city, carved into part of the mountain itself. As they made their way to the front and climbed the stares, Capris could see that the doors remained shut, a crowd of the bandits standing outside the front gate.

As he came closer, he could see what the problem is.

"It's impossible."

"But Madam Jia is-

"Can't be done. "Keep guard until I return. Watch out for anyone trying to get in." That's what he said." The dog earred woman stood in front of the gate with a straight face, looking overall disinterested in what she was doing, but also unwilling to abandon it.

"Cera..." The thief who had been making his plea, looked to Capris as if hoping he'd able to talk to her. Capris was already aware of the issue. Cera was....pretty well behaved to a fault. Without the other two heads to balance out loyalty, with logic and emotion, it just left her following orders without any thought to the actual idea behind any of them.

Capris did not feel proud of abandoning the others, but Jia was in more need. Reaching the palace, the demon looked at Cera. He approached the Cerberus girl, and petted her head, 'Aren't you a good girl guarding the gates for Master Yegen? Yes, you are.'

'Are your sisters around? Jia needs help urgently, as you can tell, Master Yegen never said to not let friends in the palace, right?' Capris tried to convince her, while petting her hair and scratching her ears.

[I'm assuming Cera is a Cerberus, and they are triplets or something, since you wrote the other "two heads" are not there.]

 

[Tjf]

"It's a prison out in the desert. They probably won't buy someone finding it by accident. Possibly a messenger or a fleeing soldier perhaps. Still, I think that's the right idea." Charon evaluated the idea with some approval as he pondered for a moment. "He's proven to be annoyingly durable....take off the head, drop the body into the tar pits and from there, set them on fire. You'll roast his corpse to cinders for good measure, and the rising smoke will block the ballista's view, allowing us to advance. Prior to that, if you can convince them to send reinforcements as an emergency, we can ambush them out in the desert. The optimal route...would be..." Charon cracking open his book, the blank page began to singe with a red pentagram, before fading, and new markings taking shape in the form of a map, not in any language she knew. "Ovarya village. We can set a ambush along the road there, and use our horse archers to out maneuver the emergency detachment softening the fortress up in a skirmish before you kill the warden, and then we can press the assault and win relatively cleanly."

Having spoken of his plan, Rodeaux then stared at him looking a little skeptic. "That sounds like an idea, but I think there's a small issue....she's too clean. Nobody's going to buy they are a surviving soldier without any wounds and in that outfit."

Raven is silent for a few moments, first in irritation at the fact that Charon dared to point out a flaw in her perfect plan, and then in contemplation. "I would prefer to lure the enemy into the ambush first. Dismembering and burning that lout while under attack seems like more trouble than it's worth." She turns to Rodeaux. "A fair point. I'd say then, instead of a soldier, I'll pose as a slave." She makes a face of distaste. "I'll act as the servant of one of the rebel demons, as though I were sent to get reinforcements when my 'master' was attacked. Tearing my dress and running some sand through my hair should make me look suitably desperate. Unless you have another idea, of course." She adds, narrowing her eyes.

 

[Thorn_]

Levandi bit back the scream of agony that wanted to escape her throat as her leg was sliced open. She dropped to one knee, reaching back with her hand to feel the cut and being slightly alarmed at just how sticky her fingers were getting so quickly. While not having time to seriously treat the wound, she could at least do something about the pain. Some poisons, in small doses, had a bit of a numbing effect to them and so she used her magic to summon some to drip it over the wound. That and ripping off a bit of her shirt sleeve to turn into a makeshift bandage were enough for her to keep going for now.



"Let's see how this job ends before I decide if I want to do more," Levandi replies to Yegen before a grim smile comes to her lips, "Though I'd be lying if I said this wasn't pretty thrilling."

She winced as the rocks fell down, bracing for the demon's awakening...



... And just kind of stared as it did nothing, not even seemingly ruffling her hair. How tough WAS she?

"I'm not sure 'dumb' is the right word for it. Maybe very... simple?"



Nodding at Zariah, Levandi noted, "I think that thing's either trapped or looking for another way back here, since I... let's just say you're not the only one who dropped a wall today."

Returning her attention to the sleeping Enyo, Levandi bit her lower lip in thought and said, "I can give it a shot, unless one of you thinks they have a lighter touch."

“I am a legendary thief. There’s a simple trick to this, really.” Yegen began to approach the sleeping Enyo, making a slow but steady pace light on his feet, as he made his way beside the opposite side of the arm holding the key, before crouching and reaching with his hand but not attempting to snag it just yet.

“The standard tactic is when you want to take something from someone’s pocket or hands, touch somewhere else first.” Placing his other hand and it’s palm on the floor, a small stone slab rose above Enyo’s shoulder pushing her upwards at a slow pace. This had the intended reaction of prompting her to roll over and leaving her key hand and palm facing up as he lightly snagged it, with Enyo not seeming even slightly phased by it.

Yegen began to approach the ancient door and now looking a little more cautious began to very slowly insert the key in and slowly turn it. The metallic grinding noise was a loud shriek that split the ears of just about everybody, and in immediate response he let go of the key, just as Enyo started to stir. Waiting a solid few minutes, he began to this time turn even gentler, reducing the noise quite a bi, but nit entirely killing it. Continually, checking over his shoulder to see the sleeping demon’s status, he took breaks frequently but began to progress more until the door began to finally creak open just ajar.

Turning sideways and sliding in through the crack of the opening in the door, he began to make his way in before stopping waiting for the other two to follow suit as he positioned himself ready to shut the door as soon as the other two made it in.

Enyo was starting to turn over a lot more in her sleep, increasingly restless, but it wasn’t the only issue. As she heard the sound and could see Zariah put her hand over her mouth to yawn, Levandi could feel that same kind of aura of her body starting to feel heavy. Even Yegen who was already the furtherest away, expression was starting to change. Closer than ever to his goal, but looking a weird mix of angry and bored as his body began to slump.

It was that effect from before. The reason why nobody was able to put up any real resistance. Physically powerful aside, it was this feeling that did the rest in where they fell unconscious just by standing too close to her. The fact that Levandi had the energy to stay conscious unlike the standard soldiers meant something, but the longer she stood in the same room, the more weight of it she felt.

“I’m…I can’t…I have a job to do.” Zariah seemed to be wearingly mentally reminding herself to make way for the door, with a noticeable stumble before correcting herself and trying to distance herself from the demon.

Levandi was in quite a bit better of a position. She was definitely starting to feel the exertion take it’s toll, but not to such a degree she felt ready to faint.

“This presence feels stronger than when she was awake. Some kind of defence mechanism…it…” Zariah had made her way to the mouth of the door before yawning again. “Ah…there’s no point in worrying about. Let’s just do what we came here for.”

Surprisingly, Yegen began to nod, as the shadow of the noticeable bags under his eyes became more apparent. “Eh, screw it. Let’s just find the way out already. It’s too much work.”

This was…definitely not right. The two despite being the most insist on coming here seemed to be losing any and all motivation entirely. The gluttony demon herself…didn’t feel the same kind of mental exhaustion. At least not for the same reasons. Physically, she could feel how her muscles ached, but she didn’t find herself suffering from the same kind of loss of mental energy the other two were being subjected too.

 

[Thorn_]

Capris did not feel proud of abandoning the others, but Jia was in more need. Reaching the palace, the demon looked at Cera. He approached the Cerberus girl, and petted her head, 'Aren't you a good girl guarding the gates for Master Yegen? Yes, you are.'

'Are your sisters around? Jia needs help urgently, as you can tell, Master Yegen never said to not let friends in the palace, right?' Capris tried to convince her, while petting her hair and scratching her ears.

[I'm assuming Cera is a Cerberus, and they are triplets or something, since you wrote the other "two heads" are not there.]

Cera froze stiff with surprise at Capris scratching at her ears, and while her face remained stiff and cold, she didn't stop him.

"They're still mad. They'll come back home once, they're over it." Cera spoke with certainty, though from the look on a few of the thief's faces as well as Jia going from continually pissed off to looking tense at the question, it was obvious everyone already knew the answer except her. Carpis recalled it as he spoke too. It's common knowledge that Cera and her sisters used to originally be one demon, and if what Cera had said before was true, she was old. So old that she was still here back when this was still the seat of power of the Kalarov dynasty. How much was actually true and just what Cera says was difficult to say, but apparently from the way she explained it before is that when she asked one of the ancient demon kings what to do after he died, he told her to protect whoever sat in the throne after him, next. That worked for a long time, until they finally relocated to a different capital. Cera still had the original order to guard THIS palace as her original owner told her to do and wouldn't go against it. Then who knows after how long, Yegen's bandit clan finally took over the forgotten city and he claimed the throne for himself. The three heads got into an argument of what to do, and even Cera wasn't exactly sure how, but they ended up separating into three demons, only Cera staying behind. Who knows where the other two were.

Cera stared at Capris, as if trying to think. "...well no. I guess that might be okay."

Jia who was still being carried by one of the bandits, grunted as she looked at the dog girl. "Hey squirt. He said to watch for anyone entering, right? Did he actually tell you to stop them though?"

"Mmmngh..." Cera's stoic expression slightly broke as it was obvious she actively strained to process that logic. "I guess not."

 

[Thorn_]

Raven is silent for a few moments, first in irritation at the fact that Charon dared to point out a flaw in her perfect plan, and then in contemplation. "I would prefer to lure the enemy into the ambush first. Dismembering and burning that lout while under attack seems like more trouble than it's worth." She turns to Rodeaux. "A fair point. I'd say then, instead of a soldier, I'll pose as a slave." She makes a face of distaste. "I'll act as the servant of one of the rebel demons, as though I were sent to get reinforcements when my 'master' was attacked. Tearing my dress and running some sand through my hair should make me look suitably desperate. Unless you have another idea, of course." She adds, narrowing her eyes.

"I think that will suffice." Charon held his book ready as he flipped to a blank page, singes of red letters starting to form on the following page. Scanning the new page for about half a second, the second page began to have an image form in what looked like an ink drawing of a dagger, followed by droplets and then text next to the emerging singed image of a scorpion. Frowning at the words and pictures, he scanned, he glanced to Raven. "It's common practice for the thieves here to poison their blades. However, that also corrodes the metal and a hard impact against another a properly forged weapon or wall will probably be easily break them. They are meant for stabbing deep into skin because most civilians they prey on wouldn't be typically suited up, but they are not prepared for clashes against hard material Be on the watch out for that." Charon gave his advice as he began to relay more orders, focusing on coordinating the tactical strike, leaving Raven with the two vassals.

Willow gave a nefarious grin. "Oh, naughty. The decision to pretend to be a slave is purely a tactical one. Right."

"If it works, it works. How cares how it looks in battle, if you win?" Rodeaux voice his own opinion as he took a look at Raven, with a dark grin.

"Now if I'm mistaken, it would only look convincing if someone else ripped your dress for you instead of doing it yourself, correct?"

 

[Tjf]

"I think that will suffice." Charon held his book ready as he flipped to a blank page, singes of red letters starting to form on the following page. Scanning the new page for about half a second, the second page began to have an image form in what looked like an ink drawing of a dagger, followed by droplets and then text next to the emerging singed image of a scorpion. Frowning at the words and pictures, he scanned, he glanced to Raven. "It's common practice for the thieves here to poison their blades. However, that also corrodes the metal and a hard impact against another a properly forged weapon or wall will probably be easily break them. They are meant for stabbing deep into skin because most civilians they prey on wouldn't be typically suited up, but they are not prepared for clashes against hard material Be on the watch out for that." Charon gave his advice as he began to relay more orders, focusing on coordinating the tactical strike, leaving Raven with the two vassals.

Willow gave a nefarious grin. "Oh, naughty. The decision to pretend to be a slave is purely a tactical one. Right."

"If it works, it works. How cares how it looks in battle, if you win?" Rodeaux voice his own opinion as he took a look at Raven, with a dark grin.

"Now if I'm mistaken, it would only look convincing if someone else ripped your dress for you instead of doing it yourself, correct?"

"I don't intend to be caught out by a poisoned blade." Raven huffs at Charon's advice.

Raven glares at Willow. "Not. One. More. Word." She casts a glance towards Rodeuax. "I suppose. But it had better look convincing, for your own sake."