---

Jehan seemed pleased enough by Dixon’s answer as he let the matter drop. But as Silas stepped back to let Dixon speak again Jehan raised a hand towards Dixon to halt him for a moment, “‘Most Lances…’” Jehan began quoting, before anyone changed the subject and let his hand drop as he continued. “‘…are just a noble knight surrounded by his lackeys’” Jehan finished quoting, letting the statement stand for a moment. Jehan snorted, “Because, of course, lances are not military units with a Man-At-Arms surrounded by professional soldiery.” Jehan said, throwing up a hand, palm out. He chuckled, “No, no. It is not like many of said Man-at-Arms are not even Knights but simple professional soldiery, surrounded, not by some courtiers, but by professional soldiery once again.”

Jehan smirked, but paused for a moment. “But of course. You wish to form a family. Not an actual efficient company of mercenaries. If that is not so, then I ask again, in clearer language; How many men are we looking at?”

Before Silas could spout off another smart ass comment Dixon stepped in again, "25... My estate can accommodate 25 full members and their guests." He started "Now as much as I like this little bicker fest, the main army didn't stop moving so we have to get the camp packed up and move soon so lets end this. For those of you whom Silas hasn't scared off and are still interested in joining, I have Contracts and Signing Bonuses ready" Dixon said while holding up one of the contracts. Of the 11 who had originally been invited only a hand full of them remained to sign the contracts. After the contracts were signed Dixon started to send out the members to help out around the camp. within the next two hours the camp had been packed up and ready to move.

From there it took the small 100 man group about half a day to catch up to the Third Legion but even then they were just added into the ranks and continued with the march. It wasn't until that night when the army stopped to rest that Silas was called to the commander's tent to give a report on the battle. Dixon was supposed to come with Silas in order to explain the situation and possibly stop Silas from receiving a Court Martial, But something came up and Dixon sent Odessa in his stead newly named as the Blood Rose's Lieutenant. The two went to meet the commander, Rexar. Meeting with Rexar was nerve racking, the Commander had a very long list of accomplishments under his belt and Silas had decked the man he had put in charge of that little battle.

The meeting with Rexar went a lot better than Silas had expected. After reading the reports and talking with a few of the Militia Rexar agreed that Leroy had been out of place and would of lead to the death of the entire 100 man squad. On top of that Rexar decided to Hire the Blood Rose Irregulars in particular to act as a small specialized force under his direct control. And even above that he said he would help with the part of keeping the fact that Silas was a slave at one time if only for Morals sake. Overall the meeting went a lot better than originally expected and the irregulars even got a nice bonus to their pay for the current job out of it.

The next few days went by without any real incident for the Irregulars, Scouts had found a few more small Orc attacks and more small detachments were sent off to deal with them, this time under better leadership. Silas had worked it out so during the days the Irregulars were able to sleep on Dixon's caravan while the army marched while taking turns on watch at night spending the rest of the night training and building team work. Silas took some of this time to teach Odessa tactics and strategy as she would need to be versed in those aspects to make a good Lieutenant. And this would continue for about a week until the Third Legion made its way to the base of the mountain pass in which Blackstone Fortress stood. Above an Old Gate stands before them. The Orcs stand at the ramparts of the massive Wooden gate gloating and taunting the humans below. With the Third Legion being the first force to arrive there was another two days of waiting. Reports came in that two of the legions were held fighting massive orc attacks and would not be able to join the attack on Blackstone Fortress.

With there only being three Armies ready to attack the fortress preparations began immediately, and with those preparations came a new mission. The Blood Rose Irregulars were by Rexar for an important mission. The Small strike force was to use an old hidden passage to sneak into the fortress and open the old gate from the inside. Rexar gave the group three days to complete their mission, just long enough for the other two armies to rest and be ready to storm the fortress as soon as the gates opened.

Silas gave the Irregulars a few hours to prepare before they would set out to a cave on the mountainside. The small group was quickly able to make their way to the cave's entrance. And now Silas stood before mouth of the cave with his team. "Alright, this is it. The entire attack will rest on our shoulders. The key here will be stealth, once inside the fortress we will need to be extremely careful in order to not alert the Orcs before the gate is open. Each and every one of us is skilled, but even we can't take on this whole army alone." He started off, "With that said I trust you all to be able to pull this off. Once we take this gate I'll be buying you all drinks alright, so lets get started." He continued lifting a war-hammer up to his shoulder and lifting a shield that he had taken from his weapons stash for this little operation. He didn't wait long for the others to say anything before entering the cave expecting the others to follow.

Aimée Bellerose

The rest of the days passed by pretty quickly for Aimée. Eating, dancing, telling and listening tales and stories... But things wouldn't be easy as that. After all, she was amongst mercenaries. War, battles & etc. would be unavoidable.

"With that said I trust you all to be able to pull this off. Once we take this gate I'll be buying you all drinks alright, so lets get started." Silas said, as they approached the cave.

The plan was simple, at least in theory. They would use the passage to make a sneak attack and take the gate. It sounded way easier than it really was. The gate was full of orcs, and stealth would be their only option.
The biggest problem for Aimée was that her unique weapon and fighting style made it impossible for her to be sneaky. She was a dancer, her graceful movements were made to be seen, and not the contrary.

"Are you sure this will work?" She asked them. A little unsure.
"I don't know if you guys noticed... but I'm a dancer... My movements were made to be seen." she said, sticking her tongue out of her mouth in a playful grimace.
"Also... A war-hammer and a shield, Silas? They look as improper for a stealth mission as my ring blade!" she said, laughing to him.

To make things worse, for what she understood, that victory was absolutely necessary for them. That attack alone would decide if they would be able to push back the orcs or if the orcs would be able to repel them.

---

Jehan had come to accept the contract for various reasons, even though he still saw some fairly large, possibly disastrous problems with the ‘company’. But improvements could always be made down the line if things went as planned. Jehan’s lance was well equipped and had made sure to offer pieces of armour, especially helmets, and weapons to anyone to might be lacking in such a regard. Most of the lance’s time not spent marching, was spent maintaining equipment or sparring. Not only did he have a new squire to teach, but sparring was always a useful thing.

His preparations for the mission were simple, rest and prepare equipment. He had the valets and Amare help him with his armour. Though he did make a few different choices in comparison to what he would do for a normal battle. Normally, he would have had a gambeson, a mail hauberk, and lastly his pieces of plate armour. A layered defence, even in the gaps. However, mail tended to make a fair amount of noise when you moved quickly; hardly a good idea for a stealth mission. So, the obvious solution was to drop the mail, but keep the gambeson and plate. Then, he decided that instead of sabatons, a pair of solid boots would have to do. After all, the clink of metal on stone would be far too obvious. Lastly, he made sure to use strips of cloth to tie around any metal pieces that might strike against each other to lessen any noise made. His weapons were the usual though with a longsword and a rondel dagger hanging of his plaque belt, and his poleaxe in hand as he met up with the rest of the company.

As they were finally on their way, Jehan was focused on their path ahead. Focused on their mission. He nodded to Silas words, “Once we open the gate, they’ll come for us, they’ll attempt to close the gate. We’ll have to find a defensible spot we can hold until the rest of the army can arrive.”

“Quiet down.” Jehan said in a hushed tone as Aimée laughed, the laugh echoing about them. “Noise can carry far too easy.”

Glancing to Sonya, she went ahead and signed the contract, which didn't seem all that involved outside of splitting up rewards for the most people - and of course to follow Silas' command or else risk being expelled, which seemed normal. Before she knew it though, they were packing up and heading out - it felt like a flash and the day went by quickly.

About midday, she was quickly told to follow Silas, quickly telling her that she was going to be the lieutenant - to which she had little time to truly absorbed. Still, she listened to Commander Rexar and Silas converse and everything went smoothly before the commander right out hired the group. Though Odessa cared very little that Silas was once a slave, she was glad the commander would keep it a secret, if anything for the man's sake. As the days went by, she got more used to being a lieutenant, though the days were filled with study, learning, and practice scenarios with Silas. He was fairly serious about teaching her and she picked up the basics decently, though didn't have the chance to really catch Sonya sadly. In fact, she was a bit surprised that the mage hadn't been promoted, but Odessa could only guess Silas and Dixon saw something in her - something Ashley saw in her before.

The day finally came though and the company was told of the plan and given time to prepare. Odessa spent most of it next to Silas as he gave a few more, basic, tips and let her get ready. Though she didn't have much to do, which was the advantage of her fighting style - no need for armor or weapons, making her an ideal warrior for stealth, which she spent the last hour practicing.

Before she knew it, they were at the cave's mouth. Silas explained for the last time what they were focusing on, sneak in unnoticed and raise the gate, then probably defend the lever or wheel that controlled the gate so the main army could charge in. She glanced to Sonya with a soft smile, hoping their time apart didn't put strain on anything, but quickly followed after the man. Quickly behind was the dancer and then the knight.

She paused as the Dancer started exclaiming her lack of stealth, to which the knight tried to hush her. She pulled back a little and tapped the dancer's shoulder and put a finger to her lips. "Quiet.. limit your movements.. stay to the shadows - time for dances will come later. They'll never know we're here." She tried to be as forward and serious while still accounting for the woman's emotions, since she was likely nervous. Taking a quick moment to make sure Aimée understood, she nodded encouragingly and quickly caught up with Silas, following his lead into the depths of the keep.

Sonya

’A man that can separate the intention of a collective from that of the individual, no that such a trait is what helps make Silas such a talented leader’ Sonya concluded to herself as Silas offered his answer to her question. In contrast to her question of intent, Odessa’s question was more focused, providing insight into the daily routine they could expect. Most notable of Silas’s answer to her question was the extra details he provided in regards to his reasoning, helping Sonya solidify her mental image of his thoughts. Though she still had some questions, she held her tongue ’There will be a more appropriate time for further questions later, and for now I have the answers I need. From what I have seen so far, his intentions match his actions and I can...trust him Sonya concluded to herself, satisfied with the information provided to make the decision required.

She listened to Aimée and Jehan as they took the floor as well, though there was a good deal of sense in Jehan’s question given the individuals Silas and even Dixon did not strike her as the sinister kind out for their own ends (Despite Dixon’s best attempts to convince the group otherwise). Still as she looked over the contract, she glanced up and caught Odessa’s gaze, Sonya taking a moment of reassurance as Odessa signed the contract before she did so herself. ’If we both reached the same decision then it can’t possible be a bad one. No sooner had the ink dried on the paper though was the group rushed back into a flurry of activity - there was still much to do as Dixon pointed out.

Over the next few days, time seemed to fly as events happened rapidly - perhaps as fatigue from the previous day continued to take its toll on her. As an individual who had not used their abilities for combat, the experience had been surprisingly draining. Part of Sonya had looked forward to the opportunity to spend more time with Odessa given they would both be in the Blood Rose Irregulars yet it seemed Silas had noticed a potential in her, perhaps the same that Sonya had seen, and had brought her under his wing as her Lieutenant. Though she was happy for Odessa given the situation and what she knew of her goals based on their talks so far, a part of her was pained at the absence, starting to have developed a dependence on the other woman after their first battle together. Though the group was filled with a number of extraordinary individuals, Sonya had found the last few days too busy to really find the time to mingle with them before they were thrusted into another mission

Arriving at the entrance to the cave Sonya listened carefully to SIlas’s warning. Despite how well the battle on the field had gone he was correct ’An entire army would simply overwhelm us no matter what tactics we employ, there isn’t even a point in thinking of any magics to slow them down if such a situation occurred’ she thought grimly. Retrieving her dagger she breathed in deeply, most of her usual combat spells would be too noisy for such an encounter but there was one she had that was silent though she was loathed to use it. Glancing at Aimée as she made a playful comment Sonya replied softly so as not to get scolded by Jehan “Well, there is a difference between being seen and being spotted. Kind of like an interpretive dance where the spectators have trouble making out all the dances, even if an Orc see’s you they might not realize what they’re looking at”. Despite how perilous the situation was with both Silas and Odessa leading, Sonya believed they had the skills to do this

Silas grinned at Aimée's comment. "As for us being able to do this I'll say nothing is guaranteed, but I trust our skills and do believe we will pull this off" he said with a confident tone. "As for our weapons, there will be a time when we won't have to be quiet, and you never know when you'll need a door smashed in with this kind of Operation." he added knowing all to well how useful a hammer could be if a door stood in their path. Silas let the others scold the dancer for making to much noise before moving to Jehan's comment "If we're lucky the old design won't be to much different than our newer kinds and we will have a nice reinforced room to barricade. If not then at least a staircase because we will have to defend the gatehouse, can't let the orcs close the gate again leaving a part of our army stuck inside." Silas stated, he knew this would be a tough mission with such few people, but this mission had to be a small group and it just seemed to be his luck that it was his group chosen.

After the little talk to calm the teams nerves the group entered the cave. As they walked it got darker and darker, and just before Silas stopped to light a torch it seemed as if the walls themselves began to glow. Thin streaks of blue ran up and down the walls dimly illuminating the cave. "Well this is interesting, makes a nice escape route when you don't have to have a torch lit to give off your position leaving the cave. Or in our case entering." Silas commented taking a moment to ponder just what was giving off the light. The trek into the cave took quite a while and after a few hours of following the path the group came into an open area. Silas had remembered this from the map, "Looks like this is where we make camp for the night. Its far enough in that the fire won't be seen from the outside but close enough to our exit where we can make it there in less than an hour. This spot was was made so a fleeing force could hide for a few days if none of their enemies had seen them enter the secret path." He explained not knowing if any of the others really cared, but Silas was willing to share what information he had. The cave seemed a bit creepy, being so removed from the world that it was just quiet it was almost unnatural. Silas turned to look at his team then suddenly pulled and threw one of his knives striking a dog sized spider in its head dropping just behind Sonya. "Everyone heads up we are not alone!" Silas exclaimed looking up. And almost as in reaction to Silas the cavern almost lit up as Spiders above began to hiss and glow green. "Why does there always have to be Giant Spiders in caves?" Silas asked not really expecting or wanting an answer.



Selva had been thrown into the Dungeon two weeks ago after her and her battalion of Knights had returned to the Fortress from a scouting mission into the Dread Desert. The Orcs hadn't been expecting an attack from the rear and the battalion had made decent progress before being cut down. For reasons unknown at the time the Orcs had kept 8 members of the battalion alive and drug them here to the dungeon.

Since then there has been no signs of the Orcs, only men wearing black robes with a moon shaped brand on their face have come into the dark dungeon taking one prisoner at a time. Now only Selva remains in the dungeon and it is only a matter of time until the robed men return for her. Despite her immense strength she has not been able to escape due to the dungeon being made to hold all sorts of sentient life and even after so long still holding to an ancient enchantment making the bars near impregnable.

She hears footsteps coming down the hall. One of the Robed Men approached her cell. "Hopefully you will have the information we need. For your own sake at least." the man said as he stopped just outside the Cell.

Selva "Mjolnir" Bladecross
Interactions: @Arthanus

Piercing brown eyes stared down the robed figure from out of the darkness of the cell, similar to a wild animal caged and reviewing its prey being held away from him. The tall woman stomped a metal clad foot onto the ground, lifting herself slowly from the cross legged position she had been sitting in previously on the cold ground. Selva approached the bars, fury evident in her darkened expression, one that is said to make grown men shiver. She was usually quite a cheerful and even playful person, despite her frightening appearance, but now she was angry.

In one arm, she held her helmet and the other shot out to grip the cell bars. Selva was still dressed in her full armor, since she had been abducted just after a fight. Selva bristled as she glared into the hood, attempting to see the robed man's entire face.

"Who are you people? I have demanded this every day since my being here! The orcs are nowhere to be seen, and my comrades are gone as well! My team is my family, if you've hurt them you will experience a world of pain!" She threatened with a fierce shout, taking a step back from the cell bars, eyebrows pinched. If only she had God's Fist...

"Do what you want, I shall never betray those who trust me." She stated, standing tall with shoulders broad in courageous pride. "I'd like to see you try and make me talk."

Aimée Bellerose

Sure, Aimée knew that they would need to be silent, but come on! They were still in the cave! It was far from their actual target! They were all too serious, everyone was so silent, anxious because of their mission. It was indeed a hard mission, but they could use a little joke to lighten the mood and help them to keep calm, right? If they simply went there, thinking about too many things, they would only make even more mistakes. Mistakes that could prove to be fatal in such a dangerous mission. Or at least that was what Aimée thought.

“Quiet down.” Jehan said, scolding her.

"B-But-"

“Noise can carry far too easy.” He continued, before she could say anything.

"I know that! Its only th-" Aimée tried to say, stepping on the ground with her hands on her hips, looking to Jehan with an annoyed expression, before being interrupted by Odessa.

"Quiet.. limit your movements.. stay to the shadows - time for dances will come later. They'll never know we're here." she said, putting her finger over Aimée's mouth.

"Urgh! Fine then! I'm not a baby, could you all please stop treating me like one? I may be only 19, but I'm as skilled as anyone here. I was only trying to lighten the mood a little bit! Make you guys relax a bit, so you can fight with your head clean... But if you want to be all serious, nervous and anxious, fine by me! I know I wont make any mistakes." Aimée said in a low voice, crossing her arms. Although she was basically whispering, you could still feel the annoyed tone on her voice.

And that's why people called her "Lala". She was indeed a very fiery and complicated woman to deal with. The way they spoke, like she didn't know what she was doing, almost like she was a baby that needed to be guided. She never got nervous about almost anything. Be it a dancing in front of a large crowd, be them peasants or kings, or even when defending herself against bandits & etc. Why would she even get nervous over that? After all, if things started to go bad, she could easily run away.

“Well, there is a difference between being seen and being spotted. Kind of like an interpretive dance where the spectators have trouble making out all the dances, even if an Orc see’s you they might not realize what they’re looking at”.

"Thanks! At least someone understands me! Those dumb, barbaric and rude orcs lack the intelligence to even understand my dances, let alone follow my agile and graceful steps. An orc? Dancing? Please... They don't even understand the meaning of the words 'grace' and 'finesse'. They will see me. Of course, I am a dancer. Being seen is my job. But I doubt that they will even understand what is happening. Let alone catch me... Comparing me to those barbaric beasts is the same of comparing a beautiful sculpture to a simple lump of rock..." she said, grumbling in a visibly bad mood.

She knew very well how their numbers alone could easily overwhelm them if they weren't careful. But she was also fully confident on her own abilities. She would do her part without fail. If things started to go bad, well, no one could say that she ran away without doing anything...

"... and you never know when you'll need a door smashed in with this kind of Operation." she heard Silas saying as she turned to him.

"Sure... Good luck trying to be silent when destroying a door with your hammer..." Aimée said, grumbling.

She continued walking in absolute silence as they kept walking, but Aimée's bad mood went away as soon as Silas lit up the torch. The beautiful streaks of blue illuminating the cave were simply stunning.
"Wow... I've never saw anything this beautiful before!" she whispered, looking at the walls, amazed. Although Silas didn't seem to be that impressed by that scene, Aimée was simply amazed. She kept following the group blindly, without even looking at them, she was so distracted with the walls that when Silas stopped, she bumped on his back.

But before she could even say anything Silas turned back, throwing a dagger over her shoulder, hitting a ridiculously big spider that was on the ceiling of the cave.

"Everyone heads up we are not alone!" Silas said, getting ready to fight.

"Ewww! Spiders... I hate those things..." she said, getting away from the one Silas had just killed.
"If their blood falls on my dress, it will be a nightmare to wash it off! Its so gross..." She said, taking her ring blade and getting ready to fight.
"Will we really have to spend the night here? With all those... things? I'm not that picky to where I sleep, but come on!"

---

Jehan gave a shrug in response to Silas’ last comment. For in the end, they’d have to wait and see, for there was not enough information to plan ahead. If they knew the exact route and where there would be guards or large gatherings of orcs, they could have made plans. But with little information, plans would get them nowhere. Not that Jehan was convinced nothing could go wrong, even if they had information and plans, for it probably would.

Jehan found the thin veins of blue glowing rock to be rather unsettling, something akin to ghostly. But, it quickly became just another feature of the cave. Boring and uninteresting, if a useful source of light in what would otherwise be a very dark place.
As they stopped for the day, not that Jehan could tell what time it possibly was outside, he dropped his rather small pack on the floor of the cave as Silas spoke. “What’s our watch schedule?” Jehan asked once Silas was done, “I’d prefer firs-“

“Everyone heads up, we are not alone!” Silas exclaimed, cutting Jehan short and letting a dagger fly. The spider behind Sonya dropped. Spiders all around them hissed and began to glow an eerie green. “Why does there always have to be giant spiders in caves?”

Jehan cut a curse short and raised his poleaxe, spinning it to use the hammer to simply crush the soft bodies of the little monsters. “They’re not always in caves…” Jehan muttered and stepped out to the side, aiming to draw their attention, armoured as he was. He swung his poleaxe at the closest spider that had been sneaking up on their flank, crushing its legs and caving in the side of its body. Jehan fell back ever so slightly, ready to defend or crush another.

Glancing back to Aimee, she couldn't help but sigh slightly. 'That's not what I meant to happen..' Again, she wasn't completely sure she was the right pick, but pressed on regardless of her doubts, choosing not to say anything back to the dancer for now. Before long though, she realized that the path into the keep was a long one and perhaps her warning was a bit unwarranted in the first place. No orcs visited these caverns, though certainly the walls lit up with an eerie glow to them, though Silas made a good point on the function of them.

Just as their leader mentioned camp, Odessa seemed to relax just a smudge, perhaps able to find some small talk with Sonya once more. However as she smiled lightly to the masked mage, a knife sang right past her head and into a spider. She looked up to see the cave practically turn into day as the spiders lit up, scuttling echoing from some a distance - though she would've sworn she heard something.. bigger.. down towards the keep.

None-the-less, she propelled herself upwards to the ceiling and flipped in mid-air, trying to position her legs upwards. Doing the best she could, she spun and arcane energy erupted from her kicks, squishing several of the spiders at once. Though many of them were able to scurry away, making their way down the walls as Odessa landed squarely on her feet. "Hate spiders.." she muttered.

Sonya

Sonya glanced from Aimée to the rest of the group behind her mask, the tension among the members was readily apparent and given the situation and stakes involved in this mission it was also understandable. Thankfully despite some mild grumbling Aimée seemed unaffected from the brunt of the chiding, Silas giving the group a few moments to calm themselves before pushing onwards into the cave. As the group made their way into the passageway, the slim rays of light giving way to the creeping shadows of the stone, the stretching darkness only serving to make the path seem even more treacherous.

Thankfully they only forged ahead in the darkness for a few minutes before Silas made to light a torch, the shadows had almost obscured the ground completely making each step a potentially dangerous one. Before he could light his torch though, Sonya noticed the wall begin to glow blue behind him...no not just behind him, all around the group. Turning on the spot, she marvelled at the strange illumination, the entire cave taking on a blue hue as the walls seemed to softly pulse with light. Silas comment on the light was the most logical consideration of how it could be, and while Sonya did nod in agreement to Aimée judgement of its beauty something about the situation nagged at her mind.

”Could it be something in the environment reacting to our presence, such as some type of Flora?” Sonya suggested as a possible cause for the strange sight as she briefly examined one of the veins of light ”...hopefully it doesn’t trigger any wildlife in these caves” she muttered softly to herself as she thought of all the strange ecosystems an isolated cave like this could have. In the end though, both the cause and the reason for the strange light did not impact the goal of their mission - if anything the light helped them make good time as they followed the path deeper into the earth. Perhaps hours had passed before they Silas seemed to be happy with their current location, Sonya was struggling to keep a good track of time without the sun, the ebbing light from the walls was a poor substitute in that regard.

Listening as Silas gave the rundown of the situation and plans for camping, Sonya made a mental note of the historical tibdit of information. If it was important enough to be mentioned, then it would be important enough for her to attempt to remember. Turning to face Odessa Sonya felt herself relax and smile beneath the mask as she happily though ’Given how busy we have both been I haven’t had a proper chance to catch up with Odessa - perhaps these quiet few hours before we have to strike will finally give us a chance’. The whole group was just about to relax, Silas turning to face the group before his entire demeanor changed. Quicker than Sonya could blink he had drawn a knife and had already thrown it vaguely in Sonya’s direction.

Freezing, her mind raced with ideas but settled on the thought that she had been willing to trust Silas this far and that point still stand. The knife flashed past her vision to the side of her head and made a sickly squishing sound as it embedded itself in the body of the spider that had been sneaking up on her. Silas’s warning was perhaps unnecessary but it served to quickly rouse the group into action, Jehan and Odessa reacting the quickest and striking out at the closest spiders. Snapping out of her shock, Sonya glanced up to see what Odessa had been attacking and gasped at sight. The green glow of the spiders began to rapidly spread across the ceiling, the silence of the cave being replaced with the unsettling hissing and skittering of the spiders. As the group gave their assessments of how much they hated spiders, a most unhelpful part of Sonya’s mind decided to recall her readings of how various species of spiders could have any number of delightfully painful or crippling venom. ”Take care of any venom they might have!” She warned the group before quickly silencing that part of the mind - she did not need to be thinking about that at the moment!

Taking a second of consideration Sonya decided to rely on her water magic for this fight, in such a confined tunnel any wind magic had the unfortunate chance of carrying itself through the twisting stone caverns and could be a potential warning to the orcs that something was amiss in the cave. Gathering a small bolt of frost that around her arm towards her fingertips, she pointed at one of the cluster of spiders before the bolt launched itself towards the target. Even with their quick speed not all the spiders could escape the point of impact, one unfortunate critter taking the brunt of the blast and collapsing to the ground in a twitching mess. Those that had been close to it were covered in small shards of frost, slowing their movements for the moment

@SimpleD@Lyla@KaiserFranz@13org@Blubaron45

As the group fought the horde of spiders more pored out from deeper within the cavern. Silas looked at the situation while burring the pick end of his Hammer into one of the spider's bodies and throwing it back into the oncoming Spiders. "Alright everyone, Fight or flight time. We need to go down that corridor over there we can make a run for it and see if these guys will follow us, or fight it out here not really knowing when or if they will stop. At least that corridor is narrower and it will limit how many can come at us. Although that is assuming that they can't move around and flank us." he said giving a bit of his thoughts before smashing another spider beneath his hammer. "Personally I am all for running right now.
but if anyone feels they can't run I am not leaving anyone behind. He continued throwing out his shield to knock back a Spider that had been leaping forward at one of his team.

Almost as if on que the sounds from the cavern where the spiders were coming from got louder and soon enough a massive leg came into view followed by a hidiously large body as the Spider Queen herself came into view giving off the same greenish glow from her legs. "How dare you harm my children!?" the queen hissed before spitting a web at Odessa which Silas blocked with his shield nearly knocking it from his hand. "Alright never mind about the vote everyone lets move, that thing wont be able to follow us down our path. Jehan help me cover the rear, Odessa you lead the way!" he ordered while giving Odessa a little push forward keeping his attention focused on the big queen as he retreated back.


@Cherrywitch

The Robed man just grinned under his mask as Selva reached out at him. "How about we make a trade then. I'll answer your questions then you answer mine. Not as if it will matter as you will be dead by the end of this exchange." The man says back calmly. "We are the Knights of Xul, The Orc peons avoid this part of the Fort leaving us to our work, And your "Family" has either joined us or died as you will." The man said back to her surprisingly answering her questions before asking his own. "And my only question for you is Where is "The Vault" We know it is somewhere in this part of the fort, all we need is a location then you will live and become one of us." he asked his voice annoyingly confident.

---

During the course of this mission, the newly squired Amare was quiet and said not a word. It was best to keep a cool head during these sort of situations, or at least pretend to. His experience as a subordinate in his more youthful years had certainly benefited him and since he was now Jehan's squire - he followed the same rules he usually would: just watch, listen, and do. At the age of 21, he could say that he wished for a higher position but in the end, just assumed everyone started from somewhere and although he was a bit old to be a squire, Amare was at the least grateful he had become a squire at all. And like most squires would do, he stood by Jehan's side into the dark cave. All the while his thin ashen hairs on his skin rose and his breath drew deeper as they entered.

This sure is a small place... Amare thought to himself almost sheepishly. His breathing became all the more slower, his heart faintly beating against his chest as he grew all the more anxious the further he and his company delve into the darkness of the barren cave. Each step to him felt slower than the last the deeper they went. From outside, Amare could hear the sounds of the lush forest behind them fade away, echoing hauntingly and becoming all the more faint as the band progressed onward. Silas then lit a torch though not until afterwards did the cave itself begin to emit a mesmerizing blue glow.

It's almost as if this place were enchanted. He thought, almost completely awestruck at the peaceful and intriguing lights of the inner cave and as they walked, the cave became colder. There was however something eerily upsetting about the silence, how the darkness crept into his mind despite the light, and the cold lingering onto his fragile pale skin. In his small experience as a mercenary, trenches were quite often colder than surface temperature but he couldn't imagine what it would feel like in a cave! Amare was not disappointed though yet not definitely something he wanted either.

Still nonetheless, he stayed by Jehan's side as he swore he would to the knight and buttoned up his light leather vest to combat the lowering temperatures. For the meanwhile, Amare let his sense of adventure trump any doubt. Intrepidness must overcome fear when confronted with anything, and if he is to prove to Jehan that he is indeed the squire he needs, he must certainly show the nobleman the former. As they walked further into the cave however, Amare stepped into a goo that he could not make out due to the dimness of the cave and from what he assumed was dung before brushing it against the cold and hard floor. Perhaps they weren't the only ones who went through his cave.

I couldn't imagine my day getting any worse.. He complained to himself though just when that very thought had entered his mind, Silas warned that the band indeed not alone in this wretched place. From the very corners of the cave sparked a plethora of the ugliest creatures Amare had ever laid his eyes on. They were spiders, growling green the closer they approached the group. Without hesitation, Amare unsheathed his bastard sword Daeniel and readied himself once again for yet another fight. Killing a few overgrown spiders? That won't be so bad I hope. The ashen haired squire lied to himself. His second optimistic thought seemingly unwavering but only to be squashed by what was about to come next. A large, mother spider then emerged from deeper in the cave, her body glowing seemingly almost as bright as the sun in the dimly lit cave and spoke to the company menacingly. A spider that can talk? Nope. He told himself, sheathing his bastard sword back into his boiled leather scabbard. That was when Silas gave the order to run.

"By all means, let's mate like a rabbit and get the fuck out of here!" Amare yelled, standing behind Jehan and readied himself to run while covering the nobleman should he ever come into trouble. From his light leather vest, he pulled one of the throwing knives he had always kept for situations such as this one and kept a dagger in the other hand. I never had to use these and I hope if I never will, but I'd be damned if I miss. He told himself.

Selva "Mjolnir" Bladecross
Interactions: @Arthanus

Her head bent down, the emotional pain evident on her features. Selva was a soldier, she was supposed to be able to distance herself from her comrades enough to not be so distraught with their deaths. The life of a soldier, after all, was one filled with encounters such as this. But still...

She remembered Thomas, who she drank under the table more than enough times making him reluctantly doll her out her winnings on the bet.
Or Mary, who was small but powerful and looked up to her as a big sister.
There was Peter, the cold intellectual that only Selva could manage to force a smile out of.
All the others individually different in all their own ways.

They all had their own lives, their own families. They all had dreams and aspirations, personalities, memories... how could all of that be crushed in such a short instant? They were so alive. So full of energy, ready to face tomorrow...

"Selva, can you train with me?"
"Ms. Bladecross, fancy a game?"
"Oh no, I'm not losing again! Cmon, another round Mjolnir!"

Selva remembered their smiling faces greeting her joyfully every time she entered. Now, those happy faces were smothered in death.

Slowly, Selva lifted her face just enough to glare daggers into the robed man, her features ready to kill on their own, only offset by the smears of makeup from tears rolling down her face. "Not one joined you, I guarantee it. They're all dead, and you stole their lives from them! We know nothing of a vault! How dare you play god?! They were innocent!" The giant of a woman stood tall, towering over the robed figure as she clutched the bars with such power that if they weren't magically enhanced they would snap like faulty twigs. "When I am released, I shall not live amongst you. I will make you regret the day you were born!!"

Aimée Bellerose

As the spiders continued swarming them, Aimée had no choice but to kill the ones who got nearby her.
"Ewww!!! That's so gross!" Aimée cried, jumping back, after she slashed a spider with her ring blade and its blood almost fell on her dress.

"I can't stand all this... These things are soo gross... Can't we simply run away? I mean, they wont follow us... right?" she asked again, walking back as the spiders started to swarm them more and more.
I mean, Aimée was relatively fine with orc and human blood, but spiders and insects were an entirely different thing... And to make things worse, they didn't stop coming. Soon enough they might overwhelm the group. And killing those spiders was not their mission, so they couldn't spend their energy trying to kill them all.

"Ok... I don't want to sound whiny, but can we please go? They're starting to overwhelm us... I HATE those disgusting things, and our mission is not exterminating them, it would be better to save our strength..." Aimée said, walking behind Silas and the others, trying to distance herself from the spiders.

Before Aimée could do anything else, a massive spider leg came down from the ceiling, together with a hideous aberration, a hybrid of human and spider, her legs glowing with a terrifying greenish hue.

"How dare you harm my children!?" The spider queen said, spitting her web, which was blocked by Silas' shield.

"W-What is t-that thing?!" Aimée asked, terrified, hiding behind the group.
"Please... Can we run now?" she asked, already turning herself to run.

"Alright never mind about the vote everyone lets move, that thing wont be able to follow us down our path. Jehan help me cover the rear, Odessa you lead the way!" Silas said after seeing the monstrous spider queen.

"Finally! Someone understands me! I don't want to spend another second near these things..." Aimée said, already running.
"Please don't follow me, please don't follow me, please don't follow me..." She repeated to herself, flying past Odessa.

@Arthanus@Lyla

---

Jehan had quickly settled into a simple chain of swings and jabs, in combination with a kick or stomp for any spiders that got too close. The spiders were not smart enough to recognise the easy pattern, as they one by one were crushed by the hammer end of Jehan’s poleaxe, impaled by the tip, sent flying by a kick or stomped into a pool of goo and legs. Efficient was a good word to describe the slaughter of spiders that took place, even though there were many more. “Your choice.” Jehan said in response to Silas, crushing another spider as he spoke.

Upon seeing the spider queen, Jehan swore. Things like that were not normal, and had to be killed, but the very process of killing them were dangerous enough if you did not have another mission afterwards to infiltrate a fortress filled with orcs. Silas spoke quickly, and Jehan found himself agreeing with the sentiment. “Aye.” He said, starting to move back, crushing any spider that dared to get too close. Once everyone passed him, he turned, retreating quickly. Finding Amare behind him, Jehan pushed him, “Run”. Reaching the passage-way he turned, killing a spider that had gotten far too close. He backed off further down the passage, ready to smash anything that followed them.

Sonya

The skittering of the spider’s movements as the horde poured out from the dark corners of the cavern seemed to only grow louder for each one of the spiders the group struck down - each one that fell replaced by two more. Launching another blast of frost against another clustered group of spiders Sonya heard Silas call for a vote over the sounds of combat. The first thought that came to her mind was the wastefulness of the situation ’Even if we can hold this swarm off, we don’t want to be wasting all our energy and resources before we even get to the fort. Before she could voice her opinion to the group though, a larger rumbling broke through the constant skittering of the spiders legs following by the horrifying emergence of the Spider Queen.

Sonya took a moment of terror to take in the Spiders Queen monstrous appearance before her mind took a moment to consider its statements ’These are her..children? But how? And with what?!. She was moved out of the moment of stupor as everyone threw in their agreement to fall back, and added her own ”Let us go quickly - the less we see of that thing the better!. Turning to run down the passage that Silas had pointed out, she found herself following behind Aimée who had surged past her. Gathering some magic for a spell, she took a moment to turn-around as she reached the passage-way and unleashed the magic. The magic flowed beneath the ground to a spot Inbetween where Silas and Jehan were holding off the spiders and the grotesque Queen that was approaching, before erupting upwards as icy shards, obstructing the Queen’s and her children’s movements

@Cherrywitch

The Robed man gave a bit of a laugh at Selva's comment, "You do have the utmost faith in your in your friends don't you?" he taunted. "Ohh if only they were as strong as you think they were isn't that right Char?" The man said as footsteps could once again be heard coming from the darkness. "Miss Bladecross, I must apologize. But you gave me to much credit." Char says as he enters the light, a fresh half moon brand on the left side of his face. "Now Miss Bladecross again I must apologize" Char said as he held out his hand before blowing a strange powder into Selva's face. After a few moments of haziness she would be rendered unconscious.

Some time later Selva would awake bound to a chair stripped of her armor. As she regained consciousness she would find herself in what would of been the Warden's quarters of the Old Dungeon, her armor and weapon in the back corner along with the Equipment of all the other knights of her squad. Char, two Robed cultists and a Third Cultist stand in the room. This cultist has a much more intimidating presence than the others and more so than that, instead of having a half moon brand his left eye's pupil is in the shape of a half moon. As Selva regained consciousness the Cultist smiled. "Well look who finally decided to join us." The man said slyly. "Now to save you some trouble we have brought you here, I know the Vault is somewhere linked to this room. Char told me each of you had a piece to the puzzle and yours is the last I need. Now you just need to tell me what I need to know." The cultist continued but before he could even get an answer there was a dull crashing sound that could be heard behind one of the walls.


@SimpleD@KaiserFranz@13org@Blubaron45@Lyla

With the general consensus being to flee the group made their way to the exit. Luckily Sonya's ice wall gave the group a bit of room to start but it wasn't long before Silas and Jehan were forced to fight while they moved back through the passage. Although this did slow the progress a bit it took the group about 45 minutes to traverse the cavern leading to a sturdy door with a large metal lock. After Odessa tries to fiddle with the lock for a bit before letting Silas know about the lock. Silas quickly orders Amare to take his place on the front to move back and deal with the lock. After a few good hits with his hammer Silas was able to break the lock and push open the door. "How Improper is the War-hammer now?" He asked as he let the others in. As soon as the entire team was through the door Silas slammed it shut holding the door closed. "Someone find me something to hold this door I don't want to be here all night" Silas hissed as he continued to hold the door as the sounds of the spiders slamming into it could be heard from the other side.

After a few moments of scrambling someone finally pushed over a bookcase to bar the door making a good crashing sound as it fell, allowing Silas and everyone a moment of rest. Given a moment to examine their surroundings the group seemed to be in a room that hadn't been touched in years even though they were still somewhere underground there seemed to be light coming in from a few places on the roof. The room seemed to be filled with treasures from the old days, racks of weaponry, and shelves of books. As Silas looked around the room an old podium with a book on it seemed to catch his eye and he went to examine it. The book was covered with dust, Silas started to remove the dust from the cover reveling a symbol of a half moon. But before Silas could open the book to see what was inside what almost seemed like a lightning strike was heard on the other side of one of the vaults walls.


@Cherrywitch

The crashing sound drew the attention of the Cultists and the leader gave a grin as he looked to the wall. Char suddenly makes a move taking out a hidden dagger while rushing towards Selva. He quickly cuts the ropes binding her, "I'm sorry Ms. Bladecross, I couldn't help the oth...." He starts to say, but is cut off at a lightning bolt hits him in the chest sending him flying away. "We have what we want now kill them and we can return to collect Xul's Grimoire at our leisure." the cultist leader commands as he makes his way for the exit. The remaining two cultists both draw a long Kris preparing to fight Selva.

Selva "Mjolnir" Bladecross
Interactions: @Arthanus

"Char...?" Saying his name, Selva almost felt her voice crack. No... he wouldn't have, he was the most loyal of any of them. But her thoughts were sidetracked in disbelief as the white haired man left the shadows, tinged with the evil mark marring his skin. This was like a nightmare that Selva just couldn't bring herself to believe. She stared out at her ex-comrade, the betrayal sharpening her features.

"Don't apologize. Its me who should be sorry for ever thinking you had any morals or loyalty." The poisoned words left her mouth in quiet daggers, eyes a blistering charcoal.

Before Selva could protect her nose and mouth from the powder, it was too late. Her vision grew blurred as the huge woman fell to a knee, and eventually onto her side, the last image of Char and the cultist burning her sight before she blacked out.

Waking up with a throbbing headache, Selva began an attempt to lift her hand to her head in a robotic jerky way, but was cut short by the tight rope binding her. The soldier woman glanced around her frantically, similar to a cornered wild animal trying to assess its surroundings. Selva blinked away the fog over her vision, glaring pointedly at the three before her. If anything, it was more surprising they were able to drag the woman of pure muscle all the way here, never mind tie her up in a chair. The other point of interest was her equipment, Selva making sure to keep an eye on God's Fist warily. If I could just untie myself...

"Now to save you some trouble we have brought you here, I know the Vault is somewhere linked to this room. Char told me each of you had a piece to the puzzle and yours is the last I need. Now you just need to tell me what I need to know."

Her hazel eyes shot to Char hatefully, rolling slowly back to the third cultist. A defiant smirk twitched the corners of her lips, eyes narrowing as she gave her curt response: "Drop. Dead."

Then, everything seemed to happen in a flash. Crashing noises stirred the cultists' attention and drew it away from Selva, the woman already getting ready to pounce. Even without full range of motion or her hands, she figured she could still take on scrawny little punks like this... it was Char she was more hesitant on fighting barehanded- or, rather, barefooted.

Her eyes widened as the flash of silver reflected to her. A blade. So, this was how she died? At least she would never share the secret. Selva closed her eyes, preparing for impact. But, instead, she felt the ropes fall to her ankles. The blonde woman opened her eyes, raising her hands to glance at them in disbelief.

"I'm sorry Ms. Bladecross, I couldn't help the oth...."

Suddenly, the voice stopped. Selva leaped her to feet, knocking over the chair carelessly to kneel by her bleeding comrade, tears pricking her eyes. "I knew you would never... Dammit, Char, don't you dare die on me! Just hold on, I'll get you out of here soon. I can't... lose everyone..." Her fists clenched as she stood, glaring out of the part in her blonde hair. "YoU... YoU bOtH wIlL pAy FoR tHiS."

Selva snatched up God's Fist in fury, the jewels seeming to reflect her passion with their glow brightening. "YoU sCuM!" The hammer fell down on the earth like a quake, the entire cave seeming to shake from the force of the blow and a large crater left in its wake. The hammer lifted again, a ferocious yell leaving the pained woman as the weapon's head swung at the sides of the cultists. If it hit, it would send one flying into the other with inhuman strength, only to end up comically smashed into the wall. Selva readied another hit with the mighty weapon, eyes blazing with hatred.