Once at the bottom of the rope Catarina tool out her sword. It may have surprised others in the dark, but Catarina had no problems lens letting Domina out and shin I in g her light around the knight. The light pierced through the darkness at about twenty to thirty paces, giving Catarina more than enough light see around her.

She followed behind everyone else and listened for anything out of the ordinary. She also kept watch for those tiles Alyssa warmed her about and made sure to avoid them. Catarina didn't really go look at the dead orc. She never really liked her anyways, so no skin off her nose. That being said, since this is a temple to a death god, Catarina was a bit concerned if the orc would be risen as a zombie later. Catarina more worried if she herself would become a zombie if she died here.

Seeing that she's the only one with a light source, Catarina stayed near the front. She had both her sword and shield out, ready for trouble. She went down the long hall slowly, watching carefully until she reached a door. She opened the door carefully and looked around inside. It looked to just be a big empty room with another door in the other side, but this place screamed trap to her. That or at least there was something nasty on the other side.

Catarina also noticed the stalagmites on the ceiling, which seemed really odd for a temple to have. She wasn't no stone cutter, but this room seemed manmade, so natural stalagmites seemed off to her. So either they were going to fall and kill someone, or there was some nasties hidden up there. Probably spiders.

“Big empty room here, with spikes on the ceiling. There's a door on the other side.” Catarina did not step inside the room, but she did stand away from the door to let someone else search the room for traps or other things Catarina may have missed. She was ready to protect whoever if something comes out to attack or hurt them.

Malkai entered the room, disregarding Catarina's own caution. Not because he didn't believe that there was no threat here; on the contrary. He completely expects something to happen. But he let himself seem like he had his guard down, simply entering the room without a concern, so that if there was anything here to attack it would reveal itself and Malkai can get this over with. he did keep a careful eye on the ground for any potential triggers for traps, pressure plates, wires, and what not. "Do not let your paranoia stall this quest longer. This is a temple, not a dungeon. Not every inch of the place is trapped, and not every room an ambush." Of course Malkai was still ready for either, hence why he was now wielding his battle axe.

One by one the group entered this chamber. It was empty of traps and objects in particular. To anyone's best guess it was safe to cross. However, it wasn't void of life. A few of the stalagmites where not like the others. One such creature, a darkmantle, to be exact. Waited for each member to enter the chamber before it released it's spell.

Down came the darkness globe and cast all light from the room. All that was left was a magical darkness. The darkmantle, one for each member, released themselves from the ceiling to drop down upon their prey.

The dwarf saw the darkness and when his eyes couldn't adjust like they were supposed to he figured it was a spell. He rose up his hammer in attempt to dispell the darkness but before he could something heavy slammed him to the ground. He wedged his shield between it and him so it couldn't suck the life out of him. He then rose his hammer once more. "Dispell!" He shouted and the darkness magic vanished.
He was welcomed by the visage of a blind predator. He frowned and aimed his hammer. "Inflict minor wound!" The creature made a cry of pain. He then swung his hammer around dislodging it.

Vivian felt the hit and unlike some of the members she did not really carry enough muscles to withstand the impact. To make it worse the light going out and back on didn't help either. She groaned as she laid there. The thing wrapping its tentacles around her. She reached out squinting until she felt it. She then released a spell. It was called flame touch. This quickly burned the creature causing it to slide off and struggle to recover. She rose back up hoisting up her scythe. She saw it and glared at it as she swung it. The blade cutting through like it was butter.

"Atch, wait!" Catarina walked into the room as everyone else did, not letting her guard down for a second. There could be anything here: pikes from the floor, poisoned darts from the walls, the roof collapsing on them, or even just a charm that would turn them all mad. Instead of any of those however, an orb of darkness fell and covered everyone. It was so dark that not even Domina's light could cut through it, so it was certainly a magic spell. Catarina immediately brought her shield up and above her. She knew that something may fall on her, and she was proven correct when she felt something land against her shield spike. Jarvis dispelled the darkness, allowing Catarina to see what was attacking her. She didn't know what the monster was, only that it looked like a squid (Which she has seen and eaten smaller, much more harmless versions of). She swung her shield forcefully, causing it to fly away as if it was going to try to make a second attack. "Oh no you don't!"

Catarina's opponent flew towards Javris, perhaps unwittingly, but Catarina wasn't going to let it slip away no matter what. She charged forward with her sword to her side, and with a mighty swing she cleaved straight through the flying squid in one blow, with the force of her blade so mighty that it was carried through into Jarvis's opponent as well. Immediately Catarina turned to see if there was any other monsters that she needed to slay, or any other members of her party who needed help.

When darkness engulfed them Malkai used the opportunity to use a spell. 「Bull's Strength」 He barked out in Druidic, empowering his body with the might of a bull. And just as Jorvis dispelled the darkness, both Malkai and Falchion saw the Darkmantles coming at them. Falchion flew off Malkai's head to engaged in aerial combat with his own foe, while Malkai readied to attack the darkmantle flying at him. He swung at it as it flew towards his head, but at the last second it backed away, narrowly avoiding Malkai's axe. He was able to control his swing well enough that he didn't bury his axe into the ground however as he glared at the monster through the slits of his mask. it flew back up and out of Malkai's axe range, seeking to attack Falchion.

Falchion was clawing at the darkmantle flying around him. Or rather, Falchion was flying around the darkmantle. It flew so slowly and sluggishly that Falchion could easily fly circles around the creature, but it's many tentacles kept Falchion's claws at bay. 「Falchion, dagger below!」 Malkai shouted towards his partner in druidic as he took his dagger out of it's sheath and hurled it at the darkmantle who fled from him. With his increased strength his dagger landed into the beak of the flying squid monster, causing ti to plummet to the ground. Falchion, who had heard Malkai's warning, made sure to avoid the dagger so Malkai could get a clear shot. He then proceeded to fly straight towards the darkmantle so that it would try to go all out against him. All of the tentacles of the beast lashed forward to slam into Falchion, but at the last second the mighty bird dodged and managed to get underneath the beast. Clamping it's talons into the creature's flesh Falchion was able to sink it's talon's deep into it's skin. Tearing at the monster Falchion finished off the creature by flying down and slamming the darkmantle into the ground, crushing whatever brains it had between Falchion's talons and the cold, unforgiving floor beneath it.

With the monster slain Falchion flow towards Malkai, who held his axe out for Falchion to sit upon. He turned towards the others to see how they were faring and if anyone was left to loot.

Jarvis huffed a little as he saw his opponent collapse to the ground lifeless after being cut by Catarina's sword. Usually he would have made a uproar, had he been a bit younger. As for now he was thankful for it. He looked to Catarina and nodded. "Thanks,.. I owe ye one." He said. He looked around and saw that there was one going for the sorcerer. He rushed for it know the mages tricks might not work on these ones. He swung his hammer around it's giant pummel slamming into it's side sending it to fall to the ground to his right. He then proceeded to finish it off by walking over to it and stomping down on it with his foot. He looked to the drow and saw she had done a good job on her own and nodded. Everyone was doing a great job at the most. He glanced to the ceiling to see if he could see anymore. He saw nothing at the moment and sighed. He did not expect those things here. It must have been Nerul himself who put them here. Or his priests. Which he is guessing were at the places entrance or something. There were no signs of priests anywhere. He expected they would run into them up the road sooner or later.

Vivian watched as the group handled their own. Preparing to step in if she needed too,

A sudden pitch black darkness surrounded Xavio. Knowing that it had to be some kind of spell set up as a trap in preparation for them or casted by a creature he prepared for what was to come next. As the darkness dispelled he saw his comrades being attacked by these dark creatures with many tentacles resembling a nightmarish squid with a "mouth" made of razor sharp teeth. He readied a spell to hurl at the creature rushing for Jarvis but just as he was about to electrocute the thing to pieces Cat intervened slicing it in half, ending its hideous existence. Jarvis then made a charge towards the sorcerer which made Xavio look up towards another monstrosity leaping at him from the ceiling and just as he was about to blast the horror to pieces he was yet again denied the kill by Jarvis's "rescue".
-"Where would I be without you..."- he said to the dwarf in a mocking tone. Turning to the others he added:"Everything dead?

Jarvis looked to Malkai and then to Catarina and nodded. "Damned Priests probably put those suckers in here as a defense against any intruders." He figured it had to be that. He then moved to the door and was about to turn the nob and then stopped. He turned to see where their rogue had gone but she was just that... gone. No body nothing... she must have seen the darkness spells and decided the quest was too much. He sighed,... I was starting to like her. The dwarf thought and shrugged. He then looked to the others and sighed once more. He moved his hand to the door and turned the knob. "Again step back. If there is a trap it might miss me. Unless they had dwarves in mind for these things as well." He added. What where the chances they had traps specifically for dwarves? These Nerul worshipers can't be that clever... right? He turned it and as he did so he rose up his shield as he opened the door just in case. Luckily, Malkai was right. Not every inch of the place would be filled with traps. What they would find is stairs going up. At the top of it was a arch way leading into the domed room you could see from the outside. The stairs only connected to more stairs spiraling against the antechambers walls. Statues adorned the way, they where not of the skeletal variety but of stone. They looked demonic as well.

As he moved up the stairs and saw the room he decided to take a look over the side and saw the Chalice sitting on top of its resting place. Surrounding it was a pool of water and steps. If there was another booby trap it would be connected to that thing for sure. There were more statues there as well and he had a bad feeling about this. He looked to Malkai. "How good can your bird catch?..." He asked him. He then rose his head. "I don't care,.. just be ready for when I toss that thing your way." He said. He then with his hammer smashed the railing and then leaped off the side. He braced against the fall which wasn't that far down. He skipped the whole going up and down the stairs because... well this room gave him the creeps. When he recovered from his landing he made for the chalice. He placed his hammer down and walked right up to it. He reached up and grabbed it. Sure enough as he did so the pillar it rested on began to lower itself into the floor. The statues that surrounded him began to come to life including the ones on the stairs. "Damn... Gargoyles!" He yelled. He looked towards Malkai and tossed the chalice as hard as he could.

He then ran to his hammer and lifted it up to ready the gargoyles attack. However, they looked away from him and towards the chalice. What?... One then took flight with it's stone wings and flew towards the chalice and caught it. The gargoyle then flew back down to the same level Jarvis stood and their eyes locked. Jarvis sighed and he could feel the floor begin to give way and when it did he fell through a dark hole. The party probably wouldn't care but the gargoyle followed suit with the chalice. New stairs also began to form going downwards but not following down the same hole.

The gargoyles left numbered at eight. Two for each member,... it was weird how that number seemed to double what was left. Two to one, the odds were against the group. Would they defy such odds and fight off the gargoyles and chase downwards hoping to come across Jarvis and the Chalice. Or would they follow the rogue and leave now. Problem was... the chalice's pedestal didn't only activate the gargoyles or the hole. It also closed the door behind them. Well not closed, the wall itself moved to block their path. The wall had the symbol of the chalice. Meaning there was only one way it would open again and that was when the chalice was in their hands.

-----------------

Vivian wondered where Alyssa had gone to but perhaps her faith in the woman was misplaced. She looked to Catarina and made a silent prayer that this one wouldn't abandon them either. She then waited for what surprises were beyond the next door. She was still some what recovering from the shaking the dark mantle's caused. They were lucky those where only small ones. The larger ones in the underdark were far much more dangerous. Known to eat even bigger prey then themselves. She followed after the door leaving room for someone to stand behind her. Luckily there were know traps for the moment. None in need of the rogue. Then their path came to a large antechamber. It looked like they were inside the domed section that they could spot from the outside. The best part was there was the chalice. Sadly,.. their small friend decided to take the initiative and be the bait for any trap. She watched as she readied a fireball. Not knowing what she would be going up against. Jarvis started by busting down the railing and leaping down. She would have followed but that would have defeated the purpose of him being the bait.

She noticed the statues and began to study them with her eyes watching them and then every so often looking back to Jarvis they were so close now. He was reaching for it. What happened next was so fast she couldn't believe what was happening. The gargoyles came to life and floor collapsed beneath Jarvis's weight and he was gone. What was worse is his plan to toss the chalice to Malkai was ruined by one of the said Gargoyles catching it. It then proceeded to tumble or fly right down the same hole. Then her ears twitched as the way behind them closed. When she turned to look in the direction she saw the wall closing their path. It was sealed by a spell that would only lift with the touch of the chalice. She bit her lip as she looked to see two gargoyles coming right at her. She aimed her hand and launched the fireball. It hit and she found she misjudged how close the gargoyle was as she had to raise her arms up to brace from the impact. The first one was down but the second one came at her forcing her to raise up her scythe. It's long clawed hands wrapping around the scythe. She pushed back as much as she could keeping it far enough away so it couldn't bite her face off.

“No you fool!”

Malkai entered shortly after Jarvis did. The temple was relatively easy to navigate and there weren't any traps beyond those at the beginning. But even Malkai knew it wouldn't be so simple once they found the chalice. Malkus was trying to formulate a plan to get the chalice when the dwarf just jumped down and grabbed it. Yes, not every part of this temple was going to be trapped or rigged for ambush. But here where the chalice was kept? It certainly would be.

Sure enough when Jarvis went to grab the cup, the statues around them came to life. “Gargoyles!” Of what he knew of the creatures, gargoyles are evil magical constructs. Capable of staying motionless for essentially forever, since they need no food or drink, and only sleep to heal their wounds. Because they were creatures made of stone, regular weapons wouldn't harm them as easily as it would flesh. And worse of all, the nature of a their creation made them resistant, if mother outright immune, to the effects of magic. Evocation, Illusion, Enchantment, just a few of the things a gargoyle could be immune to. Malkai knew only a few spells which could possibly affect them, but they would hardly do any damage. Truly, these gargoyles made the perfect sentinels of this ancient tomb.

Malkai would run away like Alyssa did. He would need an adamantine weapon if he wanted to do reliable damage to these creatures. Of course, it's not as if Malkai had the money for that. And with the entrance behind them sealed, there was no turning back. So it was any fight to the death. “Tch… So be it!”

Malkai still has the effects of his bull strength active granting him strength. He went over to Catarina and put a hand on her shoulder. “Time for you to show us what you can do. Bull’s Strength!” A surge of power would go through Catarina as if she was fighting at her best. Her strength increased greatly so that maybe, just maybe, her blows would be strong enough time cleave through stone.

As for Malkai, he needed to change into something more suitable. Stepping away from Catarina Malkai moved towards the front lines, his axe ready. Falchion grabbed a snap leaf token off Malkai’s backpack and turned invisible, allowing the bird to safely remain out of the fight. Grunting in Druidic, Malkai called out to his partner.

「Get the chalice. That's all that matters.」

Catarina watched Alyssa run away after the darkmantles were dealt with. Clenching her fist to her heart Catarina let out a breath. "At least she's safe..." She had to put Alyssa outside her thoughts for now. Her job wasn't finished yet and there was still plenty more of this temple to be explored. That being said, she quickly regret Alyssa leaving when Jordis and Malkai decided to throw caution to the wind and just went headlong into the temple. This got Catarina rubbing her head through her helmet. "Ugh. Men..."

Letting the meatheads take point Catarina watched the rear with Vivian. She made sure to stand between the dark elf and any potential threat, mostly from the front since they had some people willing to trigger any and all traps for the sake of progress. Fortunately there wasn't any traps and they found the chalice in a large room. It was sitting on a pedestal at the center, just begging to be grabbed. "This looks like a trap if I've ever seen one. Someone should try to detect magic on it and see if it's the real-" As Catarina was making orders, the dwarf just went in and grabbed it. This got another dejected sigh from her, but at this point Catarina was no longer surprised. She just took out Domina and got ready for the next fight.

Sure enough, the statues they passed along the way came alive and they were now attacked by Gargoyles. About eight total, a few going after Jarvis, but most where standing between the dwarf and the rest of the party. Just as she was getting ready to fight, Malkai walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. She was tempted to push him away at first, still not trusting the stranger. Instead however he simply stated that it was time for her to prove her worth, and more surprisingly, buffed her with a magic spell. She knew what Bull Strength did and she could feel her body get stronger. However she was still surprised that Malkai was some sort of mage. Was he also a sorcerer? Was everyone in this party but her capable of magic?

It ultimately didn't matter. Two Gargoyles came straight at Vivian. One looked to be killed, but another was grappling with the sorcerer. Fortunately Catarina was close and charged right at the monster. She could feel herself getting stronger by the second, so instead of her usual sword-and-shield style, she quickly put her shield away and two-handed her bastard sword, increasing the strength of her blow. Domina also began to glow with an awesome power, a tell-tale sign that her enemies were evil. Confident in her ability, Catarina put the full momentum of her charge, combined with with surge of strength, and chopped Domina down with all her power at the gargoyle from head to toe.

Seeing 2 gargoyles approaching him from opposite sides he quickly sidestepped to dodge a vertical slash made by the right hand of the gargoyle attack from the left all the while preparing a lightning charged roundhouse kick to greet the gargoyle charging from the right which deviated his charging path enough to make it crash with the other one. They both slammed into the wall with one gargoyle **down**, the one who took the full impact of the charge and bashed into the wall, and the other getting a few cracks. He turned around ready for another assault while Xavio waited to see it's next move and hopefully counter it. The gargoyle charged forth while the sorcerer prepared another lightning charged attack which missed as the gargoyle performed a feinting attack and backed off at the last second choosing to perform a low attack with his tail which Xavio dodged by jump. As he was in mid air the tail abruptly changed direction upward then horizontally towards the sorcerer which had enough time to block with his hands as defensive measure against the blow which flew him towards the open area in the middle where the relic had been. Xavio slide/rolled in the ground but quickly recovered intercepting the momentum attained from the attack by "holding" into the ground. The moment he looked up the gargoyle's claw was mere inches away from his face which he managed to dodge in time but not without the left side of his hood getting shredded. Right after the evasion he quickly countered with a charged lightning fist **which pierced through the gargoyle's chest, withdrawing but only for a moment as he leaped towards the gargoyle covering it's face with his palm and releasing a powerful torrent of lightning disintegrating its head to dust.**

The gargoyle locked in battle with Vivian didn't even know Catarina was charging at him with her sword poised and ready. He was to pre occupied with wanting to bite her face off. Vivian did see it however. She could see the bright light of the knights holy sword lowering as she charged aiming to cut the gargoyle in half right up the middle. This would be good for it would leave them one less abomination to deal with. However, he wasn't exactly in position yet and she wanted to make sure the sword did what it was intending to do. She shifted so that the things back was to catarina and made sure it was in a damn good position. Sure enough all she saw was the red glowing eyes of the fiendish creature go out as this bright weapon went from it's groin section all the way up past it's head. Normal weapons would have broken but with Catarina's sword not only being holy but her getting the buff from Malkai's bull strength. She had all she needed.

Vivian stepped just to make sure she didn't get clipped and then shook the gargoyle away as it fell to the ground crumbling. She looked to Catarina and nodded. She smiled at her, she turned to see one of the other gargoyles and readied another spell. Then the dust from her fireball cleared and she saw that the gargoyle she hit with it wasn't dead at all. It had chunks taken out like it's tail and it's right arm and left wing but it was still deadly. It glared at the drow elf and growled. It was not happy at all. It charged with it's on arm lowering it's head for a gore attack. Vivian waited for it to get close and then side stepped. It hit the wall hard but it wasn't done. It was far from it and ready from more. It was a little dazed from it's miss but that wouldn't last long. To make matters worse another Gargoyle was entering the fight.

"Catarina you take that thing down while I handle this one... Looks like I should have listened to my mother and became a cleric. Maybe then my magic would actually do something. Not even a fireball took it down...." To be honest she felt like she was slowing the group down and would get Catarina killed. The knight was so concerned with her safety that she did not know what to do. Then it hit her... a spell she could cast that would even the odds for her. "Well stone man... two can play at this game." She said as she hit the bottom of her scythe to the ground. A wave of green smoke swirled around her as her soft dark skin turned to stone. "Stone skin..." She called out. With her being made of the same materials she might be able to last as long. She also needed to figure out a spell that can do some more damage to it. Right now, she doubt she could cast another fireball.. well she could but they were so close and another point blank range attack might just do more harm to her and Catarina then good.

She needed some help... so other worldly help. She smiled at the gargoyle as it approached. It suddenly stopped and tilted its head. Concerned by her smile. It was likely wondering what she was thinking. She looked around and started to judge the size of the area and when she got a good measurement she held out her hand. "I hope you have a fobia of spiders...." She said and then concentrated as she cast her next spell. A summoning circle popped up and what emerged from it was from another realm a large monsterous spider with a hour glass symbol at the bottom began to take shape. The gargoyle went to flap it wings to take a flying attack approach to the new opponent only to be reminded it had only one wing. When the spider charged it didn't bother with using it's stinger do to the stone sentinel being immune to it. It was planning to just crush it with it's jaws and feet. It slammed into the gargoyle with all it's strength pinning it to the wall behind it snapping at it. The gargoyle was resistant to the attacks but it wouldn't last for long. This bought Vivian time to prepare a spell of other sorts.

-----------------

The other Gargoyle looked at Vivian her back facing it. However, it did witness what the knight did. If he tried she would likely cut him down like the other. It wasn't going to make that mistake... well at least not try to. It took flight and landed cutting off what help Catarina could do for Vivian by seperating the two. If it's ally did not win this fight he would have to give aid. They outnumbered this group a good deal so it shouldn't take long before the others join them on the level.

One such gargoyle was in the process looking to the masked being that is Malkai. It did not know what to make of this one. Nor did it have the intelligence to really think heavily on the matter. It swung its tail around and flapped it's wings and screamed at Malkai in a attempt to intimidate Malkai. If this did not work it would take a physical approach. If it does work it would still take a physical approach, only it would have a advantage. It waited for Malkai's reaction and once it got it, it would charge with it's claws and teeth. Perhaps even it's tail.

In the chaos of battle, it was hard for Catarina to argue. She didn't want to leave Vivian alone for obvious reasons: while she was no doubt a mighty spellcaster, if these things got too close to her then Vivian was dead. While Catarina's fears were slightly alleviated when Vivian turned her skin into stone, she was still uncertain. But uncertainty created hesitation, and hesitation would lead to death. While she found many of her party members to be very stupid for various reasons, Vivian seemed to have her head on straight. At the very least, she knew what it took to survive, which was more than could be said of the others. "Right. If you need help, just shout!" Catarina took out her shield and charged at the other gargoyle, hoping to kill it quickly.

Catarina knew her weapon could kill these things, even if she had to put more strength into it. But with all of the converging onto her Catarina couldn't afford to be careless about her defenses either. So when she charged the gargoyle she charged with her shield forward to deflect any of it's attacks it would try to do. She would try to impale it on the spike on her shield, though it was only made of regular steel and didn't have any magic. If that attack didn't work she would follow up with stabbing with Domina, which should work better.

The knight did see another Gargoyle get ready to attack Vivian, which made her want to go protect her. But until she killed this gargoyle her hands were rather full. She needed help. They needed to work together. She didn't want to do this, but her pride would have to be set aside for now. There were lives on the line. "Malkai! Help us!"

Malkai stood alone, as he often did. It was a force of habit really; even when he was hired to do guard work he often just did things himself. He lacked the... Discipline to handle cooperation. It made him a funny druid in a way; you'd expect these nature types to be better at harmonizing. But Malkai was different. His aspect of nature represented the more... Wild side. The parts that didn't make sense. Things that were barely understood. For the longest times, intellectuals would consider animals to be one of the least intelligent types of creatures. And it had some merit; you don't see wolves make their own homes, or birds farm. But just because they lacked a human or elf's higher intelligence, doesn't mean they were stupid or predictable. Wolves have adapted to humanity and worked alongside them; that is why they have become dogs. Even birds have learned that civilization has more food for them than the forest would. A bear knows they aren't the king of the forest, and those who are aware of this live longer. Being part of nature doesn't mean one has to live in harmony with it. It means to adapt to your surroundings.

And in this instance, Malkai had to adapt to the team. A Gargoyle came and shouted at him, but he was unimpressed. perhaps if the creature had surprised him in the dark he may have jumped, but seeing them come to life and knowing what their intentions were, he had already willed himself against their fearful effects. It charged at Malkai and he slashed his axe at it in interception. His blow was solid, but he could see his axe barely make a scratch in it's stone skin. The gargoyle then knocked Malkai away with a heavy blow of his claw, slashing into his chest. It was painful and deep, but nothing that would kill Malkai immediately. He snorted in resentment, regretting that he didn't put on his armor prior to entering these halls.

Standing up at the ready Malkai knew that just slashing at the stone beast wouldn't work. While he was certainly strong, he wasn't as strong as Catarina and didn't have a magical weapon to boot. His battleaxe, while well made, was entirely mundane. He needed something... Heavier. That's when Catarina called out for his help. It seemed that while Catarina herself wasn't in too much trouble, Vivian was cut off from the group and had two gargoyles approach her. Sighing, Malkai sheathed his axe. "Then there is no need for me to hold back any longer. Witness me!"

Malkai's body glowed with green energy. In a blinding light, faster than anyone could stop, Malkai's body grew from his imposing humanoid form into that of a mastodon, otherwise known as an elephant. However unlike your usual elephant, a mastodon's tusks were larger, more numerous, and much deadly. They were akin to scythe blades, tearing apart any foe that was unfortunate enough to be in his path. His massive form utterly dwarfed the gargoyles, who themselves were larger than either Vivian or Catarina. Additionally, Malkai's own mask had changed it's shape, yet maintained it's general appearance, to fit the face of his new form. His monstrous wooden mask was now bigger and covered the eyes and part of the trunk, with the previous jawline now wooden ornaments around his new and more mighty tusks.

In this form Malkai charged through the gargoyles in his path, trampling them underfoot if they didn't dodge. His charge was furious, and thanks to his tusks granting him great reach the gargoyles could not intercept him without risking impalement. And while his tusks weren't any more magical than his axe, Malkai was far, far stronger in this form. He could quite easily pierce the stone skin of the gargoyles through force alone, and indeed, that was his intentions as he attempted to gore the gargoyle that separated Catarina and Vivian.

---

All the while Falchion went to find the chalice. He was still invisible thanks to the snap leaf token, and as long as he didn't take any offensive actions he could remain invisible for a few minutes. During this time Falchion had one job to do, and one job only: Get the chalice. He was strong enough that he could pick it up and carry it away, but he had to find it first. And hopefully it wasn't in the hands of a gargoyle. Falchion's eyes pierced through the darkness to find the Chalice of Silence, and perhaps what became of Jarvis. It's not as if the bird could help, but it may be worth telling Malkai when they meet up.

What Falchion would find as the bird flew deeper and deeper into the darkness of the hole was the now dead dwarf Jarvis. His body was broken but something was odd. The body was adjusted with it's hands resting on it's chest with his hammer in his hands and his shield beneath him. As if someone put him to rest. The chalice was no where to be seen either. The only thing that could be spotted was the gargoyle that fell with him. Problem was it was cut by some type of sword. Something more to let the others know about. That they were not the only ones in this temple. Someone else was here and who it was was uncertain. However, it did have some respect for the dead however.

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Up above where the fighting was Vivian had climbed on top of the monsterous spider she had summoned. It had bitten down on the gargoyles head and continued to put pressure on the bite. Vivian rose up a hand and pressed it down on the spider. "Magic Fang!!." Which blessed the spiders fangs giving it more strength until finally the gargoyles head crushed under the weight. With that she turned to see Malkai charging at the gargoyle that cut her off from Catarina. The gargoyle wasn't the only one that found itself impale by him but one other gargoyle tried to intercept despite it being futile. It was crushed under the weight of the mastodon as if it hadn't been there at all. Malkai likely didn't even feel it.

Surprising they had actually won this fight.... Catarina's opponent had tried to swipe at her. Twice to be exact but her shield deflected the blows and it's point sent the creature back a couple of steps. This process caused it to stumble a little giving her the opening to cut it down with Domina. With that being the last Gargoyle the room was once more quiet. With the remains of the gargoyles strone about. Parts of the interior had also taken damage from the event. Cracks within the wall where the spider had slammed it's opponent into it. A few of the inanimate statues were destroyed caught in the blast of Vivian's fireball. Then there was the path Malkai took to get here.

Vivian did not care at all about the temples condition. This was a temple of evil after all. She knew her spider would go back to the dimension where it came soon so she slid from atop it and moved to the railing and looked into the hole. She had sighed and wondered if there was a chance the dwarf had survived the fall. She decided not to think about it. Doing so standing here would do no good. She proceeded down the stairs to the lower level where the chalice had been. She noticed that new stairs had formed downward. Meaning there was more to this temple then what was seen from the surface. "How big is this place....."

Two strikes bounced off Catarina's shield, giving the fighter an opening to impale the beast through the chest with a stab of her sword. The creature came to a halt, possibly dead as she pierced it's heart. But then again, Catarina didn't know if these stony monsters had hearts. Or any organs for that matter. Did they even bleed? She was about to find out. Yanking her sword out forcefully, Catarina spun on her heel and chopped off the Gargoyle's head in a single swing. Sure enough, no blood, just stones. Catarina learned something new today.

Looking back she noticed that Malkai had somehow turned into an elephant. Catarina didn't know much about magic of magecraft, but she was fairly certain that turning into animals were classic druid magic. Malkai didn't strike her as a druid of all things. She'd expect Vivian to be one, what with being an elf, but as Catarina mulled on it for a few more seconds she supposed it should have been obvious. The lack of metal armor, the big bird, the wooden mask. She just dismissed him as a regular barbarian. Granted, she didn't exactly think better of him just because he was a druid. He was still an off-putting man, and now Catarina wondered what other secrets he was holding back. Why couldn't people just be honest with each other?

Regardless, the last of the gargoyles were quickly dispatched with the combined efforts of Vivian's magic spider and Malkai being an elephant. Catarina followed Vivian down the stairs, noticing a new path leading downwards. Catarina would have made a quip insulting the dwarf if she didn't see his body laid up near a corner. It would appear that he had died, and Catarina wasn't one for speaking ill of the dead. Though she was curious: She had imagined that the dwarf would have gone out fighting, weapon in hand and blood all over him, possibly torn to pieces. But right now the dwarf looked rather peaceful, almost as if someone had laid him to rest. It couldn't have been one of them; they were too busy fighting the gargoyles. Was someone else here?

Without the dwarf dismissing her paranoia, Catarina made her thoughts known. "Don't you think it's a bit odd for the dwarf to be laid out like that? I could understand it if one of us had done him those honors, but we were fighting the gargoyles. And those things don't seem to be the type to give much respect to the fallen. You don't... Perhaps someone else is here? Would they also be looking for the chalice?" The fact that the chalice wasn't here made Catarina even more paranoid. Trapping the cup made sense; classic dungeon design right there. Rigging it in such a way that it would be further away once the trap was sprung was also something she expected. But last she checked, they were the only ones here.

Unless... There was another group that had come here before. Catarina tried to wrack of mind to remember if another group had come here by the request of the mage's guild. But Catarina couldn't remember. She was almost certain that the temple had only recently revealed itself, so surely the mage guild wouldn't have already sent people inside before them. And surely they couldn't have come afterwards; the doors had closed on them the moment the chalice was disturbed. but then Catarina remembered that orcish warrior from before. What if she wasn't alone? That would explain why she left the group at night. It wasn't because she was so arrogant that she'd go in alone. But that she already had others waiting for her. So Catarina came to the conclusion that the orc's other party came in here first. That would explain why the orc was found dead, because she triggered a trap that the others would avoid. They likely also avoided the darkmantles by coming in when they were probably asleep or something. Or maybe they were eaten, and now there was only one or two survivors left. They knew they couldn't take the chalice without a trap triggering, and thus they waited for Catarina and the others to activate the trap first, then take the chalice during the confusion.

"We have to hurry! Someone must have taken the chalice!" Jumping to conclusions, Catarina quickly sped herself up ahead of Vivian, though still careful to avoid any more traps in the form of long hallways, trip wires, and pressure plates on the stairs.

With the last gargoyle down Malkai changed out of his elephant form. He landed on the ground with a thud, but on his feet. Thankfully his wild shape healed his previous wounds, but getting out of wild shape always left him rather breathless. Notably, his formly dark skin tone turned into a pale green. One thing that his wild shape had a habit of doing: returning him to his true form instead of whatever disguise he had before. Malkai didn't notice it himself, and his mask at least kept his more orcish features hidden. But to anyone who could see the color of his arms, Malkai was looking green.

All body parts accounted for Malkai was ready to continue on, hopefully getting the chalice soon. Unfortunately things weren't so simple. Where the chalice once was, a set of stairs took it's place. Jarvis was dead but for some reason laid to rest. He was pretty sure Falchion didn't have the strength to do that, nor did he know how to do that. The bird did return to Malkai with the dwarf's coin pouch however, which he pocketed quietly. And while some of the others might not want to disturb the dead, Malkai had no issues doing so. Jarvis was dead; he wouldn't need his things anymore.

That being said, the only thing Malkai took was his hammer. Not for any sentimental reasons: he intends to sell the weapon or at least make some use of it while he's here. He was tempted to get the dwarf's mythril chain mail, but that would mean he'd have to waste time stripping it off the dwarf's body. Not really something Malkai wanted to do simply because he didn't want to feel up the dwarf. After looting what he could grab easily, Malkai also took the time to don his hide armor. Masterfully crafted from the skins of a various wild animals he's hunted in the past, adorn with harden bones to extra protection, Malkai's barbarian looking armor was deceptively effective. The only issue was that it was better for cold weather instead of hot climates like the desert. But inside this temple, it was actually fairly chilly as there was very little sunlight here. The air was cold and dry.

Once equipped Malkai followed the girls down the stairs, figuring that the chalice somehow managed to get down there. Catarina's paranoia began to sprout, but Malkai was inclined to believe, partially anyways. True, none of the three were there to give Jarvis an honorable burial (Not that leaving him to rot is very honorable by any extent, but then again they didn't even do that much). But the idea that someone else was here before them seemed rather ridiculous. Because why would they be here? If they were after the chalice, then they should have already gotten it yesterday while the rest slept. Even if they knew the chalice was trapped and touching it would trigger the gargoyles, why would they want to run further into the temple where they no doubt will be killed by the mysterious things below, instead of simply stealing it, hiding, and waiting for the party to go past them before bolting for the door? No, Malkai didn't believe Catarina's worries about someone else being here.

That's not to say he didn't think no one took it. If there were gargoyles here, there are likely other immortal servants who knew that when the entrance was opened, the chalice had been found. They must have taken it during the fight, and fled down stairs. Malkai didn't really care for Catarina's stupidity, but after the lost of Alyssa and Jarvis, their party was dwindling dangerously. So Malkai had to catch up to Catarina and stop her before she went too far.

"Calm down you fool. You will end up like the dwarf if you continue to act so brazenly. It's likely that the further below is where a greater power then the gargoyles we faced lay. Something directly related to the chalice, likely some sort of demon of this temple's god. You will die if you face it alone, and you certainly will if you run into every trap between here and the chalice. Without Alyssa we have no way to reliably find and disarm traps, so stay. With. The party." Malkai let Catarina go to make the choice herself. She can either do as he says and stay with the group, or continue to act on her paranoia and run off ahead. Malkai said his piece, and thus it was now Catarina's choice.

Vivian climbed down the stairs going further and further down until she reached the bottom. At it's bottom was the dark chamber in which held their dwarven friend. His body broken but at peace. This did not help her troubled mind at all. The dwarf had fallen from such a height and they were too busy with the gargoyles to have put his body in such a position. The stairs formed after the touching of the chalice so who else could be down here but undead? However, why would the undead give such respect to a intruder like the dwarf. The dwarf wasn't just some regular warrior he was a cleric of his god. Meaning he would be their enemy. She also watched as Malkai looted the body of their fallen friend. The room was much too dark for her to see if his skin had changed. Her dark vision made able to see in the dark yes but not color. It would almost be like seeing through a night vision goggles or something similar. She smirked and rolled her eyes, barbarians. They are all the same looting from the corpses of the dead without a care. Not that she did either. Was the dwarf a ally, yes he was but not close enough that she would care if his body got looted if he died. She highly doubted the dwarf would enjoy the idea of some of his belongings just collecting rust down here. It would be better if they were put to good use. Such as the hammer,... she had no use for it nor did she think it would work for her. Malkai seemed magically capable with his whole elephant thing ,but whether or not it was divine or not is a different question. Sorceror's can change their shape as well,.. well polymorph which works kind of like what he used. Then again.. maybe not. Maybe the mask is imbued with some magical ability that allows him to change shape at will.

She shrugged and then took note of Catarina freaking out and having a text book panic attack. Malkai tried his best to calm her and tell that it was not best for her to go it alone. This was true... "First the orc goes in alone and gets killed by a trap, then the dwarf takes it upon himself to foolishly try and get the chalice himself..."She gestured to his body. "The results... as you can tell this place is a doom for those who are too impatient and go head on into trouble alone. We are with you Catarina... but we can not help you if you get caught up in a fight that we can not aid in." She looked about the room and saw only one exit. There was light down at the end of it but she wondered if it was natural. She then looked back to Catarina. "Besides.. we are dealing with the undead... your holy weapon is the only weapon we got against infernal creatures that normal weapons couldn't effect. We lose you to a stupid trap and we can kiss the chalice good bye and whatever hopes of getting out of here alive. We need you just as much as you need us." She then held out her hand and from it a gold orb of light floated up and the it split into four and took on the shape of chandaliers, small but they did light up the area. They then maneuvered themselves in positions to provide a decent amount of light. Enough for her to see and not be blinded by it.

She looked down the hall with the light and raised a brow... unless there were other entrances to this temple,.. they were the only living things left in this dungeon. With it being a temple of a undead god, she could only imagine what was in store for them. Wraiths, spirits, skeletal guardians, perhaps even a flesh golem or ghouls. Anything could be waiting for them. She gulped and began to head down the pathway. For now her elven eyes would have to pick out any traps. They would be easier seen now with the light she provided. A detect spell might help as well. She leaned her scythe against the wall only for a second. She then held up her hands and prepared to cast detect magic and poison. If anything came up she could tell if there was a trap and where it would be. Not that she could do anything to disarm it but they could at least know where not to step. Instantly as she cast it a block of stone to the right glowed in her vision. She could tell from the block itself that it was out of place. The edges where carved a little more deeply. Perhaps if you put preasure on it activated a trap. She then cast another spell. "Mark...." She called out and a rune marked the stone. "Do not touch that stone..." She said. With that she proceeded along until she reached the end. It was a opened arch way and she found the source of the light to the room. It was a decent sized room and as she looked up she could see the source of the light. Giant crystal like structured poked out from the ceiling providing a blue light.

When she looked back down to their level she saw steps rising up to a platform. A sacrificial table on top with two large statues in the shape of reapers. The table had a sculpture attached to the farthest side close to where the head would go. This sculpture was large and shaped it's to over hang on the table. A object dangled from it's hands. A chain with a large star shaped spike. It was likely dropped to impale the sacrifice in some dark ritual. As she looked more around the room she could see no other doors but two pedestals on each side of them on the lower floor. One to her right and one to her left. Each one had a dark substance pouring from it. The liquid would pour into crevices and then would empty out into pressurized tube that would just shoot it back up to the surface in which it had been. She could only assume that they were blood fountains. She did not like this one bit at all. As she looked for the chalice she could see it resting on yet a new pedestal on top of the stairs. This spoke trap... a giant one. Object's don't move themselves... "Okay no one behave like the dwarf this time and try and grab it.." She pleaded.

Then something occurred... a dark mist began to form and collect above the steps. The mist formed into the form of a being. It took the shape of a cloaked man. "You have defeated the tests put in place it would seem.... that sands made the first test easy for some. Then there was the dark mantles,... my fellow priests had a fun time setting that one up. Then came the stone golems you people call gargoyles and the trap with the pedestal. Again most of you passed. Three tests for the chalice of silence... a item my fellow kinsmen protected for so many years. I brought it here after the fool fell,... I put his body in such a position to by chance frighten you. It worked on one of you of course...." His figure seemed to smile. He then looked about the room and then back to them. "Seeing as you passed the tests,.. I give you your reward. The Chalice itself... This is no rare item to be sold to the highest bidder mind you. It is a item that when activated will render all magic useless. Pretty clever creation by our masters. It makes the undead pretty much unstoppable. Making someone have to use a holy weapon to defeat them for magic would not be able to be used against them." He commented. He then gestured towards it and then bowed. His form then vanished.

Vivian was still hesitant in walking up and taking it. Mostly because of the dwarf and the fact that the spirit before them could just be pulling one over on them and something will activate... or worse be released. Then again... if her knowledge of Nerul was correct. He is a deity of neutral evil. Which made him unpredictable. Sure enough this thing could be telling the truth and be giving them the chalice. She did not know what to do at this point. She casually moved towards the chalice on the second level up the steps. Every so often she stopped and scanned her surrounds with her eyes. Once she reached the chalice and it's pedestal she began to examine the pedestal itself. She was not touching this thing until she knew it was safe. She gestured towards one of her dancing lights and it moved closer to reveal the resting spot much clearer. "Wish that damn Alyssa hadn't left us here... I maybe a sorcerer but I am limited to so much." She spoke to particularly no one. She rose up to full height and stroked her chin. She sighed and then blew air up through her bangs. "Fuck it... stand back fellas." She said and reached out and grabbed it. Just touched it though... not yet picking it up and pulling it towards her. Just wrapping her hands around it while she stood there. Her body using her scythe as leverage. She waited a few seconds... nothing happened. She then lifted it up and pulled it close to her body. Again nothing happened. She let out a sigh of relief and then began to head towards Malkai and Catarina. That was when something fell from the roof and hit the stone floor below her. It was a good shaped stone that made her look up to notice the roof was beginning to cave in on itself.

Her eyes went wide and she looked down towards them and began to run. Chalice in one hand and her scythe in the other. "Time to go!" She yelled.

Thankfully Vivian came by to talk some sense into the fighter before she inevitably got herself killed. Taking it upon herself to lead the party through for any more traps, Malkus made sure Catarina didn't panic and run off by standing in front of her. It was a long walk to the end of the stairs and eventually they did indeed find the chalice... And someone else. Some sort of ghostly creature in this sacrificial chamber. This ghost told them what this chalice did and admittedly it did sound rather powerful, even if Malkai already had an idea of what it could do by it's name alone. The spectre said that they could take it, but he doubt things would be that easy.

Sure enough when Vivian took the chalice, the room began to collapse. "Shit." Malkus said sharply. The first thing he did was touch Catarina and gave her a spell. "Long Strider!" This spell would increase Catarina's movement speed, which she'd likely need in that heavy armor. Malkus could run just fine even in his hide armor, and he had no doubts that Vivian was fleet of foot. Still Malkai waited for Vivian to pass him so that he could cover their backs, knowing that they'd need some extra help getting out of the ruined temple.

At this time, Falchion knew to leave when he heard the rumbling. He had stayed up where Jarvis was and picked at his body, nabbing a few more baubles from his corpse. When it was time to leave the falcon had no trouble flying through the halls and rooms and leaving through the entrance the party first used to get in.

Vivian had to speed things up. There was still a path blocking their way. It would be there until she touched the chalice to it. She knew what she had to do and she could already feel a little tired from casting some of the spells she had. However, she wasn't that exhausted,... or at least she hoped she wasn't. She closed her eyes as she ran trying to visualize the room that the chalice was originally in. Down to the last detail. Well not last just the place closest to the sealed door. Once she felt she had seen it well enough, she moved her hand and cast a spell on her and then in a blink of an eye she was gone. She had cast a spell called teleport and where she ended up next was right beside the door in question. It was more of a wall to be exact but that didn't matter. She placed the chalice against the door and sure enough it began to open. Rather then exit while the door did so she remained to make sure it stayed open for the others. Once they passed by her she would follow suit.

...............The moment the two last members of her party passed her by she followed after them. Watching bit by bit the temple fall apart as she showed her back to the chalice's first resting spot. Once she was far enough from the wall it began to close again. Despite it's thick stone even it began to crumble as well. After this point it would not take long for the party to move past the chamber with still dead dark mantles and then into the room they had started in. Bernard was there to greet her and did so by landing in place on her shoulder. She continued to follow Malkai and Catarina out into the light of the desert but she did not stop there. She continued to run giving the temple and her a good distance away. Afterwards she then turned around to see the temple itself as it crumbled. She sighed as the temple began to sink beneath the sands in which it came.