Thankfully, the thick fabric had kept the impact from being any worse than an uncomfortable surprise. Luciel did his best to keep the noise from his equipment down, he had assumed the group had either lost track of him or had their own issues to deal with as another individual emerged from the passageway leading outside. So many people converging on a single location was worrisome for the chimera who had been betting on the floating creature being less than friendly.

Sighing softly out of relief that the newcomer was keen on drawing attention, Luciel resumed his search, though it wasn't long before noticing the glint of steel from the shortsword which could be considered arguably smaller than standard version of its make. Before he could make to reach for it, a small figure had it in their hands and approached him.

Luciel froze where he knelt, ears folding back at the moment Gish offered the sword back to him. Confusion worked its way onto his worried expression while he eyed up the small woman, hesitantly lifting a hand to retrieve the blade. A sinister notion worked its way into his thoughts, the hand pausing with a small shake to it as he imagined the ease of planting the sword into the strange woman's chest on a whim.

And then I thought to myself...why am I thinking this?

Retrieving the sword, he lifted the tapestry enough to return it to his sheath before tossing the fabric back over his head. "Ey..." Luciel whispered, a small rustle coming from the hood as his ears fluttered in response to Gish's attempt to offer a compliment. Trying to begin his own greeting, the mutual awkwardness was palpable "Ah...I-" the words came, though not much else. Though he'd been taught to speak, no one ever addressed him in a way that would invite a greeting in response, and the small woman's disposition was contagious. "Iz fair to be your acquaintance, miss Gish" Luciel softly said in a way that made it sound rehearsed, faking sincerity, though their tone lacked the depth of sarcasm. The syllables given as much credit as the effort to speak them required, his eyebrows twitched while he looked down to the design of the tapestry. "I am Luciel...ehn zeis iz my cloak, yes?" he asked in a similar manner, standing and taking an uneasy step back from Gish while tilting their head. Cautiously, curiously, he inspected the woman from his distance with eyes which she could almost make out her reflection in. The darkness of the slit pupils seemed expressive in a bleak sense, as the lack of expression hinted to the dull indecision and vague inquisitiveness of a soul with little experience. Apprehensiveness defined by an instinctual distrust rather than skepticism or repulsions by Gish's appearance, he'd simply never seen anything like her and didn't know what to expect.

"A... 'the' hat you wear-" Luciel began after a moment, undoing a glove under the cloak and reaching towards Gish white taking a few steps which echoed light clicks. "...iz nice, iz it?" he asked, gently touching a finger to the woven reeds before quickly retreating a step while blankly watching the woman for a response to his act, gauging her reaction. Admittedly, he was a fan of the hat since it seemed like a good amount of effort went into making it, though Luciel was well aware of his inability to wear such an intriguing article of clothing. "It looks nice, yes..." he offered in the way of a compliment, their tone holding a slightly sheepish timidness to it as if trying to appeal to Gish's own opinion of their hat. The phrasing and tone made it all seem blankly insincere.

Victor was furious... well to be fair Victor was always furious to some extent, it was sort of his resting emotion. Cut down amidst the muck of a peat bog and skewerered by peasants?! That was how the Blood Knight Victor Guttman met his end?! Oh no, somehow he was still breathing... well vampires didn't really breather per-say but he was still up and walking around. His armour even seemed mended and his weapons had been at his side when he awoke. The dark red armor was shrouded by the darkness of these caverns, his lance was slung over his shoulder and held rather nonchalantly by the Vampiric Knight. The Darkness was not a problem for him ans he grumbled and growled to himself as the heavy footfalls of his plate armour marked his forward momentum. Why couldn't his horse, which had sunk into the bog first be here waiting for him? That skeletal Nightmare would really have sped things up... though he supposed he didn't really know where was going anyways so speed hardly helped.

Victor decided ambling about in an ancient cavern with no apparent path that he knew nothing about was not the best idea. So, he set a goal for himself, attain food. All he needed to do was find a human, or at least human like entity, he thought he could overpower and drain it dry... of course as he thought about this the idea of being alone in this winding cavern and with no way to replenish the blood he needed was a recipe for disaster. So, he decided he would not attempt to drain who or whatever he first met in these caverns. Besides, how much time did he have before the lack of blood would start to affect him? Days? Weeks? Months? Years even? Honestly he had no idea, above ground it wasn't hard to drink in the midst of battle, or pick up some peasant on ones way through a town or any number of other things... it was actually rather easy. The longest he'd ever gone without slaking his thirst was about two weeks above ground during a siege. It had made him extremely irritable, and he had just begun feeling 'sick' for lack of a better word.

Unfourtanetly he had no idea how long he may have been unconcious before he woke up in this cave system... though he was certainly irritable... he would have to find someone to drink from soon... he lamented his current situation, until he caugth sight of a fireglow in the distance. In spite of his heavy armor the Vampire could maintain a relative amount of stealth if he tried hard enough, and his superior Night vision spotted the small fire burning a fair distance away. At the very edge he spotted two rather small being, one appeared to be a squat female of... some kind of creature, and the other seemed to be an amalgamation of man and animal, lither and small with antlers on their head and large ears. Perhaps this was the answer... if he could find a small, weak creature he could turn them into a renewable blood producer, assuming he could overpower one of them... but that would come later. First he needed to engratiate himself to these new 'allies'.

Stealthily he approached the two figures, before finally clanking up behind them in his armour, all but his eyes obscured by the great bat winnged helm he wore. He looked down at the two smaller being, and introduced himself as smoothly as he could, "Hello, little ones. I am... Victor, a fellow traveler. Might wither of you be able to tell me where I am? I fell asleep elsewhere in the world and woke up here... a very strange occurrence no?", he eyed them the way a predator would prey, sizing them up, comparing them to himself and eachother, attempting to pick out an Alpha and beta and gauge their possible strengths... if they had been able to see his expression they would witness his truly terrible predatory smile.

"I really hope it's nice." She replied, unsure. "I made it." She had gently gripped the edges of the hat as Luciel had approached to touch it. She'd half expected him the snath it or knock it off. Only half because, from the way he was acting, she had no clue whether or not he was making fun of her. "I just came over to see if you were okay." She not-quite lied. "The leech thing can do weird things if it touches you. Brain things."

She glanced back over her shoulder toward the fire to check the witch woman hadn't done anything yet, and was surprised when her attention was draw by the clanking of armor. A figure emerged from the shadows near them and introduced himself. Another knight, by the look of it, although she was again disappointed in the lack of shine to his armor. She took a few cautious hops back, and shook her head no to his question. "No, no, I don't know either. I just got here. I don't know where it is. You could try by the fire, maybe ask mask guy. Mask guy is really helpful. Or the knight. Or, you know, her." She said, pointing this new knight in the direction of Rose. "Yeah, she seems smart. Go ask her."

"Iz made vell...envious..." Luciel mused while trying to offer a friendly smile, lifting a hand to their antlers which were curiously and crudely pointed as if whittled into shape, motioning that his head was crowded as it was and he had no interest in taking the hat from her. Realizing he was staring, he took another step back as the woman seemed put off by his behavior. As interesting as he found the 'leech thing' after getting a better look at it from a distance, Gish's comment of warning tamed his curiosity. Making a small 'mph' sound in acknowledgement, he blindly bumped into the figure who had introduced themselves in the process of turning around to find the source of the approaching sound.

Luciel was never a fan of metal armor; on top of its clunky difficulty to use, many sets possessed aesthetic arrangements and imposing connotations not unlike the winged helmet which looked down at the two. There was something else besides the humanoid stature and dull crimson armor that made his hair stand up. With a shrug, he retreated into the fabric of the tapestry, lifting it up over his nose while looking over the knight. Clutching the heavy cloth with one hand, his other rested on the sheathed shortsword obscured within as the strange instinctual sensations compelled him to be cautious. Luciel was thankful that Gish had spoken up, lending him the resolve to back up her redirection.

"Yeh. Wandered in..." He softly explained to discredit his ability to help the man by half admitting to being lost, "...zehy ver here first ehn vould know more."
As tempted as he was to continue on about how he expected the cave to be abandoned and not intending on staying for long, let alone introducing himself to others, Luciel figured it would come off as rambling.
The figure he now knew as 'Gish' seemed to know what they were talking about and didn't appear to be afraid to say it. On a whim, he trusted her experience through his hesitance to doubt her in favor of learning about the human-looking figured first hand.

Echo was eager to find the Bright Road and began to wander off from the circus of knights, witches, and all else that was making it's presence known. He wasn't sure which hall really led to the road, but this particular road felt really good. He decided to just check it out a bit. Several meters later he found he was already in the Bright Road. He looked back to see the hall, but the path felt different. He couldn't have been that close to the road. He wondered how everyone else was doing, but it didn't feel like he could go back now. As odd as the halls were, he could probably find a hallway back nearby.

He began walking down the road in search of another hall when a strange light seemed to be approaching around the corner. The lights of the road were impressive and put his little lantern to shame, but they were very spread apart, so his lantern was still useful. That was until he noticed this new light that seemed even brighter than the halls stagnant lights. The light was moving towards him as well. What sort of magnificent lantern was coming towards him. He began to notice a shadow accompanying the light on the wall. It looked massive and the crude shape was quite intimidating. Whatever carried this grand light was certainly grand themselves, and nothing in the halls was guaranteed to be friendly. He pulled out his door and set it on the ground in front of him, preparing himself for what was to come.

He wasn't to shocked when he saw the grand person emerge from around the bend. He was a little shocked to see that the light came from a warhammer. It was grand as well in fact everything seemed grand about this woman. She carried herself with a confident aura that seemed like it could conquer the halls itself. One swing from her blinding hammer would smash him like a bug. She was rather pretty in her own way. She did have a few scars and seemed very tough, but her complexion appealed to his own. He liked her pointy ears too. She was certainly an exotic being that had grasped his attention in several ways. Echo stood up straight behind the door that was lying sideways to shield him. Letting the door rest against his leg, he brought his lantern over the door and attempted to write in the floor, but the stone was to clean and hard to make any real marks. A little frustrated at his failure, he tried to brainstorm for another means to communicate. He noticed that a streak of light had formed around his head. It confused him, but as he moved his lantern again another streak appeared where the lantern had moved. With little hesitation, he began to wave his lantern through the air leaving light streaks in the pattern of words. "I'm Echo" He wanted to give a quick introduction and he didn't have time to gawk over his new power before the new person noticed him.

@Gisk

Victor observed both of his new companions closely, noting remarks, fidgets, movements, weapons and any hints at their abilities. Immediately several things were obvious about both individuals, the squat woman was the more outspoken of the two, and she answered his questions quite clearly and concisely, wasting no time. The other seemed more... timid, timid and on edge. He had a hand on his small blade from the moment he saw Victor, but seemed unsure of himself and his ability to fight the heavily armored man... good. As for potential prey? The woman was confident, quick and he was not... certain of her species and what effect it may have on her blood, or what effect her blood may have on him. The one with antlers though was more obviously close to his normal prey, in addition to being the meeker of the two, making him far easier to manage. Of course he could not simply grab the boy and begin drinking, no the others around may not even tolerate Victor if they knew what he was... he would have to seperate from them and isolate to feed... which he figred he could do just fine.

He would start by being friendly with the antlered boy, by helping to introduce the more timid boy to their new allies. "Why, thank you little woman, it is good to know we are not all so... uninformed.", he then locked eyes with the antlered one and smiled beneath his helmet, his red-tinted eyes gleaming, "What say me and you go meet our more informed companions hmmm boy?", before any resistance could be voiced Victor had his hand on the boys back and was gently pushing him forward along with him to the fire with the others. An interesting bunch, one appeared to be a knight like him but... far more... well 'broken certainly came to mind. Another was a rather attractive young woman, pale with a fair number of freckles, and most interestingly appeared to be a witch... hopefully she would not sniff out his true undead nature, if such knowledge became known things could get troublesome indeed. Another was amasked being... an enigma to Victor.

As he entered the view of these others he cleared his throat for attention, one hand was on the small antlered boys shoulder and the other sill held his lance over his shoulder. His dark blood red armor was highlighted by the flames of the fire as he spoke, "Greeting my fellow wanderers, I am Ser Victor Guttman, and this is a small friend I have made at the edge of your fire here. I am seeking to know just where I am, the last thing I remember is falling asleep and then I woke up here. Could any of you enlighten us on our current location? What is this place?"

Cyrano watched as the first of his new friends decided to start exploring. Cyrano considered for a while. He couldn't help but notice that both of the little creatures seemed uneasy at the world in general, and he was having difficulty in deciding whether to give them some encouragement or to follow the fellow with the mask. His ears twitched back and forth and finally he decided that the little creatures might represent one of those instances where he presence was more un-nerving rather than helpful, and decided to follow the man with the mask. (@rechonq) He needed to find a place to put his treasures anyway.
He carefully made his way around and through the other occupants of the room of the room, hopefully without bumping or... crushing anyone.
He had fallen somewhat behind the other fellow by the time he had started down the chosen hallway, but quickly caught up where the man with the mask had stopped.
There was another person here, the reason presumably that the man with the mask had stopped. Cyrano took in the... new comers appearance without any particular emotion, and watched as the man with the mask waved his light around at the new comer.
Cyrano set down his possessions again, and flicked his tail about. "That is a beautiful weapon." He said to no one in particular.

Rose's greeting received a lukewarm response, only one returning her courtesy. That was Echo, the strange armored creature who instead of verbally greeting her wrote on the ground. A mute, hmmmm? The creature subsequently disappeared, evidently eager to go wherever the group had been heading. The fish creature had a different reaction- she seemed to be visibly scared upon Rose's greeting, quickly retreating under the pretense of helping the chimera. How very interesting... Before the others had a chance to respond another had joined their group. The figure was clad in armor and introduced himself as 'Ser Victor Guttman'. Rose's eyes narrowed at his approach. He asked about their situation, evidently holding no memory of how he arrived in the cave, just as Rose had. But Rose felt a sense of unease at his presence. There was something off about him. Rose's nose noticeably scrunched.

Sniff, sniff, sniff.

"Does anyone else smell that? Just me?"

Sniff, sniff, sniff.

"Oh. I see." She gave the armored man a slight smile and an exaggerated wink for no reason that was apparent to the rest of the group. Rose likely looked stranger to the group with every passing second. But she was quite interested in seeing how this development would turn out. What that development was she had no interest in sharing. She spoke aloud to the group, smile widening. "Well... anyways, I believe the place where we are is none other than the Endless Halls! But some of you have already figured that out. I suspect since you don't know then you have lost some of your memories. Well, you're in good company because I have as well. I'm sure we are not the only ones that have," She said, glancing around the group, "It's hard to believe both of us losing them could be coincidence, it's like the plot to a novel or a play. A group of adventurers who've lost their memories, assembled in a mysterious place with no recollection of how they've gotten there... yep, it's like we're in a story." She said with a small nod. Rose was prone to rambling. "Anyways, if you've never heard of the Endless Halls it's quite an interesting place. Legend says it goes on forever, hence the name, filled with all sorts of mysteries and treasure. I believe that if we're here it can only mean that we must..." Rose pointed her staff down the hall, "Explore the halls!" Her staff dropped to the side quickly, "Er, by the way Mr. Victor, you have the pleasure of meeting Rose Red, wi-" She cleared her throat, "Mage extraordinaire." She gave a deep bow.

Rose obviously had a penchant for exaggerated showmanship. She cleared her throat, "But before we get going," She pointed towards the fish girl, giving her a wide grin, her pointed teeth making her look more then a little scary, "I want to know your name!" She pointed to the knight, "And yours!" The chimera, "And yours!" And then the Abberation, "And definitely yours! Has no one taught any of you manners?! If someone introduces themselves you must introduce yourself in turn! I will forgive you this one time because we were interrupted by Mr. Victor." Of course she did not really give them a chance to introduce themselves, but Rose cared not. She opened her mouth, as if she was about to speak again, then closed it, shaking her head. It looked like she was finally done talking.

Without the clocks at Sungrave, Fazra wasn't entirely sure how long she had been traveling the Road when she rounded a bend to encounter the first living thing since she'd set out. She stopped when she saw him, and shifted the grip on her hammer, but the creature did nothing immediately.

When it saw her, it started waving the lantern it carried, leaving unnaturally long lasting trails in the air. Fazra saw this as a sign of magic and shifted to a fighting stance, her left foot forward as her hammer came off her shoulder to be held at the ready. With her free hand, she pulled down a pair of goggles that had been resting on her head. They were formed from clay, with thin horizontal slits that allowed her to see out with narrowed vision. They were to keep Lightbringer from dazzling her when she wielded it.

She tilted her head to see the light that the creature cast, and saw that it was writing in the air, in the same language that she had learned at Sungrave. She had already been an adult when she learned, and her tutor had told her that that was the reason she read so slowly. Other knights insinuated that it was because she was an Orc, or even because she was a woman. These knights found themselves needing new helmets in short order.

“Im eh-cho,” she read haltingly. “Is that a spell? Speak, creature!”

She marked the approach of another’s footsteps, and something else spoke from behind the masked being.

“That is a beautiful weapon.”

“It is,” she agreed, stepping forward. “It is fine to look at, but pray you never feel its beauty. Why does your friend not speak?”

Luciel's ears tilted to a side, unable to keep from finding the strange man's strange behavior strange. Though the chimera couldn't make out the face of the man from behind their helmet, a feature most disingenuous to their apparent disposition, the slight glint of the man's crimson eyes could be felt across his skin which crawled. The idea of what a human could be thinking with such composure and tact after having simply walked up on strangers put Luciel at odds. Having dealt with nobles and their foul tact, the man who called himself 'Victor' struck him as being akin to the aristocratic beasts who had him in chains not even a week ago. Wearing masks of smiles or addressing those they depended on with turned backs...the man's helmet was no different.

Then I ask myself...what does a stranger want from another stranger?

Victor's comment about those 'so uninformed' with the pointed look was met with a skeptical glare from behind sharpening pupils. Apparently, conveying his lack of impress and overt distrust with the knight wasn't enough to save Luciel from being wheeled off. Caught off guard, the hand on his back caught the chimera strangely enough to frenzy him at the idea of approaching the others. Heels of boots dug into the mossy ground, peeling up the foliage as Luciel stiffly objected, "I-I vill do no such thing!" with a hiss as his ears folded back. Their tone was kept soft as to avoid drawing attention to themselves outside of voicing his discontent with Victor. He soon stumbled over the two building mounds and was forced to walk with the knight, much to his chagrin.

Luciel stood with a disinterested frown, eyes narrowing as he was announced to be Victor's friend. One of their folded back ears fluttered in irritation while he begrudgingly surveyed the rest of the group, shaking lightly as the anxiety of being outnumbered and dragged into the light sank in.
Honestly, the last thing he expected was to be called out by the other human in her funny hat for being among a group who didn't introduce themselves. The thought made Luciel look back to Gish, curious if she was also some kind of human for having an equally funny, albeit more intriguing, hat. That was it, all he had to base this assumption on, this callous notion was largely based on the inhumans' usual inability to wear hats. The Mindskitter confounded him as to where its head ended and body began, the man in the mask who had mysteriously disappeared in the mix didn't have a hat but rather a hood like Luciel's tapestry cloak. Meanwhile, the humans were wreathed in extraordinary headwear...at the very least, it was something to distract himself with.
The look he offered Gish came out more as a small plea for help rather than an opinionated stare.

Ears perked up at the directed inquiry of introductions on his part. Glancing between those that she pointed to, Luciel sighed and dropped an elbow to knock Victor's hand away while taking a step to the side though still within arm's reach. He hoped he made it apparent that he despised being touched, made clear by a brief annoyed glance in his direction and a small huff.
"Pardons, Madam Rose..." he began, the rehearsed formal tone returning as Luciel simply looked through her, though lifting a hand from the tapestry cloak to place the palm over his heart. A step back with one foot, bent at the knee, he offered an unexpectedly noble bow before continuing while lifting himself to stand once more. "...I am Luciel" he simply said without any fancy title or even the conviction of pride to his tone.

Introductions for those who asked, it wasn't my job to impress guests with flowery arrogant claims, only serve them and offer something other than 'you there' or 'boy' to call me by. Still, I found the confidence in her introduction admirable. It truly made me wish there was something I could title myself with.

"...Z-zeh Lost, I suppose" Luciel tried to joke, chuckling grimly for a moment before making a small 'hrm' noise and looking away as his ears folded back down in a small splay of awkward self-perceived embarrassment. It was intended on being a joke on peoples' memories as well as his current state which he supposed was still his business that he wasn't keen on sharing. He withdrew his arm into the folds of the cloak, resuming resting on the handle of his sword while he continued to lightly shake.

Mathias felt lost. Worse yet, he couldn't quite remember how he got in here in the first place. He groaned in annoyance and spoke to himself to fill in the emptiness of his locale. "You go looking for a cursebreaker following rumors and get yourself stuck in this predicament.. ugh.. where in the abyss am I?" He pondered.

A draft of wind whistled between the stalactites and stalagmites. This cave tunnel was particularly dark. The only light available was from the torch that Mathias outstretched to reveal anything hidden above him. A shadow like a bed of nails cast across the wall from the natural structure of the cave. Two forks opened up in his path and neither looked promising. After a moment of contemplation he noticed the weak sound of running water and followed it down the left fork.

There a small and steady stream opened up from a mouth of rock in the wall, formed from years of water-weathering. He stuck the torch in a natural cropping of rocks against the wall and pulled out his waterskin. He proceeded to mutter. "At least I won't be thirsty." As the waterskin filled he began humming a cheerful tune and smiling to himself. Truly it wasn't all that bad. Here he wasn't surrounded by the needy or the downtrodden. He could catch up with the past days, figure a way to put this whole "spell" behind him.
Finishing his task of collecting water, Mathias sat back against the wall and slipped the shoulder satchel off for a quick break. It felt like he'd been down here for more than a day already. He rubbed his bleary eyes. Rummaging through his satchel he withdrew a hard biscuit and started munching away while muttering again. "Poor sod. Here you are running away from responsibility to chase a fable." He swallowed a salty chunk of biscuit and sighed. "Go below the ground they said. They call it the Endless Halls. Sounds like fate is stacked against me now more than ever before." Mathias leaned his head back against the cold wall and shut his eyes. "No other options now. I test fate for a chance to go home. A chance to avoid becoming a monster or a burden."

Echo was feeling quite uneasy right now. He was certainly caught between a rock and a hard place at the moment. The approach of the being from behind, startled him a bit, but with this other person unnamused with his writing he wasn't sure who to confront first. The creature from behind was quite large, but didn't appear to have any ill intent, whereas this person seemed to want answers or she would get answers by beating them out of him. Even with the blinding hammer coming from around him, he squinted his eyes and held his door close.

He quickly waved his hand through the light streaks and they dimmed into nothingness. He began waving his lantern again with the intent to write. "I'm Mute." He quickly wrote in an attempt to appease her nature. Realizing his door would probably do little to stop these two, he quickly put it onto his back. He kept the lantern straight up with one hand and with the other he held it out with the palm up, trying to show he meant no harm.

He hoped the creature coming from behind him was peaceful. He barely noticed it in the other room, and it didn't seem aggressive there. Echo wasn't small, but these two had a way of making him feel that way. Although neither of them did look that terribly fast. If worst came to worst then he could possibly outrun them.

The trip down the underground river was frightening at first. Staying above water was nearly impossible as the tunnel twisted and turned. While buoyant the broken surface of the water left little opportunity to breath. As Lila began to realize her peril she could feel the onset of sleep coming. She shared the natural defense of drowning that her kindred spiders possessed. Even should the possibility of climbing out of the water came there was good chance she would miss is. Her legs curled up and the spider woman felt clammy. Her heart was slowing rapidly and staying conscious was impossible. Falling into a coma like state the current swept her further down, tossing her like it would any other debris it should swallow.

How long she remained like this not even she could say. By now the river had branched and leveled into numerous streams. Down one she drifted with her face down in the water. To any she would appear as a corpse drifting in the water with her body faced downward. Likewise her pale skin and lack of a pulse would likely lead to the belief that she was indeed dead. Being at the surface she was just starting to come out of her sleep, but it would be some time before she was actually awake again if she stayed in the water.

Cyrano cocked his head down at the man with the mask and twitched his ears thoughtfully, then looked back up at the large grey fellow with mild interest.
@Gisk "I have not heard him speak" Cyrano said in answer to her question. "But I think he is trying to speak by means of the light"
He could tell that there was some tension to the situation,and so put down his treasures and settles back on his haunches with his tail wrapped around his foreclaws in a docile manner.
"It seems that the little creatures may have been the better choice." He said aloud, assuming that his presence was part of the problem, and giving no regard to the fact that the others had no context to make sense of this voiced thought.
Cyrano paused for a time, thinking again.
"I am cyrano"
He said, hoping to alleviate things somewhat.

Something bumped and scraped gently along the wall by the stream. Mathias stirred, his eyes opening quickly and darting to the water. A young pale girl was floating in it. It was impossible to tell from the lighting whether or not she was actually alive. His mind was already made up. He clenched his teeth to ready himself for the incoming shock, dipped over the stream and scooped his arms under hers. There was something off about her form as he threw his weight back to get her out of the water current quickly.

Though he had hauled her all the way from the water he had to scramble back, startled by what he saw. Beneath the innocent features of her torso was the abdomen and legs of a spider. Black carapace, prickly limbs and all. He was really quite shocked. "What mad god made this creature?"

There wasn't much time. He could already feel the curse reacting to his choice. Mathias moved his hand to draw his sword. It felt like every muscle in his body clenched tight. With right hand yet locked to his sword the pain hit. "Not yet! Hhrrgh!" He cursed through clenched teeth, collapsing to his knees. He couldn't keep steady, there was no composure left. It felt like lightning coursed through his veins! He rolled to his side and writhed in agony.

That Velka had a sour humor. Instead of just striking him dead as her revenge she thought better to make him suffer. What was the point? Malignant witch! The more good his actions did the worse things were. It wasn't surprising this would nearly cripple him. His only hope was that it would fade before this creature recovered. This lord didn't want to be easy prey.

Mathias' actions freed Lila from an uncertain end. No longer submerged and on dry land her metabolic processes began to awake. While her chest didn't rise and fall like one might expect her breathing had returned. Slowly her body began to loosen and her legs relaxed, twitching occasionally. Yes it seemed that the creature that appeared dead was coming back to life and could very soon be up and about.

The man's fears were soon realized after several minutes. Groaning slightly the spider woman regained some level of consciousness and opened her eyes. Groggy and confused she turned her head in a lethargic manner to scan the environment around her. Rolling her head and eyes her gaze eventually fell on the Lord that had pulled her from the water. There was no way for her to know this though and instead saw a threat from the drawn sword. Realizing how vulnerable she was in this weakened state she attempted to rise and back away but her legs refused to cooperate and made little headway. Left little option the struggling stopped and she kept a trained eye on the human.

It was a short time before she realized that the man before her was incapacitated by some unknown injury. It seemed that they were both forced to wait for one or the other to regain control first. Several minutes passed before her ability to speak returned. Her voice was smooth but weak as a whisper. The hard floor beneath them allowed the sound to reach Mathias though. "Are you going to try and kill me?"

The prone lord glanced up at the twitching spider-thing. With labored breathing he rolled back onto hands and knees. "There is no trying." Mathias welcomed the wall as a place to lie back against, finally letting the sword he gripped so tightly rest in his lap. He drew in a deep breath, tense muscles easing a little more.

Mathias' eyes did not leave her for a moment. He looked determined but not bloodthirsty. "It looks like your movements are shot. If I wanted to kill you I could do so before you recover. You have appealed to me with speech so I will do so in kind. This sword does more than kill. You clearly noticed it before anything else. Threat of retaliation. That is partly why it's there. If you are no threat to me, I will not kill you."

The soft light of the torch kept the chamber illuminated. Stillness conquered the air around the two all except for distant echoes and the sound of passing water. "Now it's my turn. Do you want to kill me?" If this creature had a benevolent purpose then perhaps she could help him out of this abyssal maze.

Watching closely as the lord repositioned himself against a wall Lila clearly was listening. Not really needing to be reminded of her position she assumed it was the human attempt to reassure himself. He however was not wrong, the spider was in a poor position. If it really came to it she could probably move, but not in a very controlled manner. While the spider half of her body seemed to be having trouble she displayed that the more humanoid part was working. Bracing her hands against the floor she pushed herself up to have an easier time conversing. The motion did seem to ne a somewhat pained one. Who knows how many times she'd been bashed against a rock on the journey here.

Wincing slightly she did finally respond to the question that was posed to her. "I do not." Having a better viewpoint and having seen the man move she noticed that he was wet. Turning her head toward the stream she could see the signs of her being dragged from the water even in the poorly lit cavern. Had he saved her from drowning? Surely he did so by mistake given his defensive behavior. Looking back at the man she tried to form some kind of thanks. "You pulled me from the water. I most definitely will not harm you. I owe you a debt I cannot repay." This was an unusual position for Lila. She'd never been helped like this before, much less by a human.

"Do you now?" Mathias replied. It was the kind of short answer that invited suspicion. He grinned weakly and sheathed his sword.

Mathias' satchel was sprawled on the floor. He scooted over to it and rummaged for a biscuit. "I'm sure half-drowning to death has made you hungry. Now's not the time to be picky." Mathias looked at the article of food, though he didn't seem hesitant the impression was clear he didn't have much more. He underhand tossed the biscuit to her. It was salty, hard and was not about to get any staler than it already had, but hey, it was something.

"My name is Mathias. Right now my trial sees me with enough food left to juggle. We're in a damp cave with no visible way out." He continued to smile. The way he repostured himself made it evident he was suddenly uncomfortable. "And I don't juggle."

Best possible plan that came to mind would be to rest a bit and hope the next circle around the maze wouldn't bring him back to the fork. Again.

"Hey." She said, exasperated Victor put his hand on Luciel's back and directed him away toward the group. She had seen stubborn mules be dragged off with less resistance, and as the little guy glanced back she wasn't sure what he expected from her. She hopped from one food to another anxiously and looked back at Rose. The whole point had been to get away from that witch woman and now her only pretexts was gone. Reluctantly, Gish made her way forward.

Rose said a bunch of stuff about the Endless Halls that she didn't even know what to make of. There were as many stories about the halls as there were fish in the sea, but only the bravest of all adventurers came down here seek the countless treasures and court the countless dangers. She hadn't ever heard of anyone being brought here without seeking it, but then again that's isn't the sort of person equipped to make it back. Someone exactly like her, come to think of it.

Then again, maybe she had been seeking the Halls. She couldn't remember. How would she know? Her head hurt.

"Gish." She quickly answered when Rose asked, then quickly slapped her hands over her mouth. She'd gotten so distracted thinking she'd just gone a given her name to a witch just because she'd been pointed at. Not her real name, thankfully, but one you used so much it's how you think of yourself in your head surely had some power, didn't it?