---

---

Sana turned and was about to let her arrow fly when the light hit. She stepped back quickly, not exactly sure what the hell was going on. As the light faded and the set of armor was taken care of she quirked a brow. "If it isn't dead it wishes it was," Sana said to Thomas without looking over to him. She was still staring at the remains as she brought her head down and buried her nose into her upper arm, taking another step back. "That stinks...." she said in a bit of a cough.

Turning she glanced over to Keystone and was about to make a comment when she spotted the bear tearing into another set of armor. Seemed her arrows were not needed right then. She could have taken a shot towards the remaining suit of armor but she wasn't going to risk it right then. Cyneberg seemed to have it under control and if she didn't Nor and Keystone were a lot closer than she was. Turning her attention back to the room she looked around. Kyra was standing over by Ash who had stopped pawing at the door to growl at what was going on, but only for a moment before turning his attention back to the door.

---

---

Location: Deymins Tower (2F)

Interacting With: A2 - and bringin' the pain!

---

---

The sudden advance of the undead minions within their metal casings did not come as a shock to the stalwart and experienced warrior. No, quite the opposite. He had been battling the likes of the Undead for what seemed an eternity, despite never having special training for the purpose nor originally any especial hatred of them, past what the common man had for things which went against the natural order of the world. He had begun to develop such a hatred, however. Be it the existence of these things or the Powers That Be which seemed to constantly throw the slab of martially trained anger and physical power known as Johnathon Illium Keystone, the big man had a deep, bubbling resentment for something. That or gas. One could never tell until something erupted, and every god in whatever pantheon you hold sacred help you if you were around for either.

It came as no surprise then, when Keystone launched himself at the remaining dead guy. Cynebear had already taken a massive swipe out of one, and the poor, dead bastard was still standing. Well, kudos on the reanimated lackey, but it would not be upright for very much longer. He covered the distance with an amazing feat of athleticism, his massive fist raised into a vicious overhand right, footwork... um... Ok, I've got this. <ahem> Footwork sliding into a, ah.... damnit. Ok, I had this.

So, the fist was up like so, and the other arm was pulled back into a fist-in-socket position, or not because an overhand right uses a different stance than most martial arts that uses a fist-in-socket position as a follow up. So, maybe Keystone's mastery of multiple styles of martial arts, both Oriental and Occidental, led him tumbling into the pugilistic equivalent of a brain fart, thusly locking him into an odd state of confusion. He glanced to his fist, looked to his feet, seemingly half-oblivious to the thing in front of him. No, no... I've got this. High front stance, move that fist over there, and... Ok, he's got nothing. Hopefully the next guy's got him, because Keystone has to get his head back in the game if he's going to continue today.

Nor

Location: Tower
Interacting with:A4

So this time there were only two of the tin can bastards to deal with, unless there were more hiding out of sight. Not an event that'd be all that likely considering their lack of any sort of grace or dexterity, but something like that couldn't be entirely ruled out. The boy actually did something useful for once and fried one of the undead on the spot. At first Nor was content with sitting back and letting the wild animal and the bear take care of the second undead, but then he noticed that the big guy was stuck in one place. Maybe he accidentally activated some hidden paralyzation trap. Mages were tricky like that.

Being the closest to the bag of bones, the task of putting the dead thing to rest fell to him. Twirling his knife into a reverse grip he took a large step forward and plunged the blade down into one of the newly widened gaps of the armor. The lack of any real resistance as the blade slid in to the base was a sign that he picked a good spot, free of any pesky bones to stop the weapon prematurely. And like that, the undead collapsed like an unstable tunnel.

Nor planted his foot on the collapsed body, and with a single, full body heave freed his knife from the cadaver, ready to stab once again. If he needed to of course.

Satilla Valen

Everything happened so fast! By the time they stepped on this floor and both armors were taken out. The witch barely had time to take in what had happened before it was all quiet once more. Quiet and sort of smelly, but ohh well. Thomas seemed affected by his spells like he warned, Satilla made sure to stay by him in case she had to pull him away to dodge something, but otherwise the place seemed rather calm for the moment.

“This was... too easy.” She finally commented noting that Ash was pawing at the door. There was naturally no way all the undead were just hiding in this tower there wasn't enough space in here... but the fact the defenses were so weak didn't change." If we could only sense possible magic sources here... Maybe detect traps."

---

---

Kyra turned her head in time to see Thomas actually pull something useful off. He downed one of the suits of armor quickly. She shielded her eyes for a moment but that was all. Seemed he wasn't as useless as she had once thought. Turning her head some more she wasn't surprised that Cyne had nearly dropped one quickly. A bear was nothing to be trifled with. Yet she had to bite her bottom lip as it seemed that Keystone had forgotten just how to throw a punch. Something must be amiss and hadn't it been that it wasn't everyday she spotted something as comical as that, she might have shown some concern. Yet there was none and Nor finished off the last suit of armor there was.

At least she hoped that was all that was on that floor but there were still two doors that had been yet to be checked and Ash seemed to determined to see what was on the other side of the one most center in the room. "Yeah, well if anyone can, now would be the time," Kyra said in answer to Satilla's remark. She would have loved to do so herself but she didn't have such a skill. She was able to move without being heard or seen when she so wished to but finding a trap was not in her vast skill set. Maybe it was something that she should train at a later date. That is if they survived this.

Satilla was right though, this was too easy. The fight in the forest had been much more difficult, many more to deal with. More than just simple undead. When looking back on it, what they had encountered in the tower had been nothing ore difficult that two of them couldn't handle alone. They didn't a need a full group for this. Hopefully it would stay that way but Kyra doubted it. It was like karma's twisted way... Soon as you thought it was easy or that it couldn't get any worse... You always ended up getting your ass handed to you.

Reaching out Kyra tried to open the door that Ash kept pawing at but it wasn't budging it. Huffing a little she glanced over towards Sana. "Will that one open?" she asked as she motioned to the one that was closest to Sana before checking her own door again. It still wouldn't move.

---

---

Location: Deymins Tower (2F)

Interacting With: Huh?

---

---

Keystone blinked away his momentary confusion, unsure as to exactly what had just happened. Now that the most immediate danger had passed, he tried to mentally go through the steps that he had messed up so badly, yet had done many, many times before. He took a step back, visualized the attacker, and began. "Right then... Ho! Ha Ha! Guard! Turn! Parry! Dodge! Spin! Ha! Thrust!" Yup, it all seemed to be in order. Still, it just didn't make sense.

Luckily, the Dwarf had stepped up to the challenge and picked up Keystone's momentary slack. Keystone probably owed him something, even if the issue could be resolved by nice, inexpensive words. He sidled up to Nor, and spoke quietly. "Oi, thanks for that. Got no bloody idea what 'appened back there. Went through it in m' brainbowl, still makes no bloody sense..." Keystone shook his head. "Sod-ups like that can get a bloke killed, y'see. Just wanted to tell ya thanks, finishin' up the job and whatnot."

That painful bit out of the way, he turned his attention back to the problem at hand. Doors. Not opening. He didn't want to get in the way of people with skills that did not involve blunt destruction, but stood at the ready were it necessary. "If'n other options ain't workin', lemme know. I'll take the direct approach." He smiled, patting a fist into his other hand. But before smashing the doors into kindling became the order of the day, he wanted to give the more subtle a chance to handle it. Keystone was then, as he often was anyway, the last resort option.

Was it the wooziness experienced after the spell, or was it reality? Thomas swore he saw Keystone dancing? Couldn't possibly be, that the fisticuffs resembled some form of ballet? Spinning and twirling with pirouettes and plies? A vision of the shadow boxing chef in a frilly pink tutu came to mind, which was in a way more frightening than amusing in itself. It took a moment there for Thomas to get back into the game, a few blinks of uncertainty at having watch Keystone's interpretive danse. Staring dumbfounded as his attention struggled to refocus against the intensity light which dazed his own eyes. Visions of realities fractured apart, sundered into the many folds written in the cosmos, the universe laying over itself and perhaps in this one Thomas found himself in Keystone was such a ballerina. Or maybe it was the sorcerer who spun around the world until eventually all possibilities collapsed into one and then the fog of the mind cleared.

"Ugh. I... I don't... I can try..." Groping with a hand the floor and walls, with a caution to slow his excitement, the vile reaction of last still fresh in the mind. Sensing out with such restrain, looking out for the leylines of a entrapping spell, something was definitely present, but there was no sign of traps of a magical nature to the best of Thomas' ability, recalling back the use of wards and barriers which would have suddenly sprung. No chalk lines or etchings felt at his fingertips, nothing out of the ordinary, per say, no engraved runes or Sigils. There was nothing he could find, as he approached the first door before him nearest Kyra. "I don't sense any sort of ward on this door," backing off slowly before approaching Sana's door, minding the direwolf, "Don't think there's one here either."

All those guardians for two locked doors? Thomas could only ponder the use of such feeble security guards. "Can't rule out anything on the other side, there's magic about nearby, I just can't quite... Well there's no Wards on the doors so it should be breakable. But uh, I can't quite say what's behind them. I mean it don't think it's magically trapped at least, but there could be some undead army waiting behind that door for us... It's possible you know that the doors are enchanted to open with a passcode or some sort of identifier to bypass them or something. Seems rather silly to me to have guards guarding two locked doors." Thomas gave his input and best efforts. He did his part, and turned over to Keystone or Sana or Kyra for direction next.

---

---

Sana stepped back and let Thomas examine to see if there was any magic on the door in front of her. Looking back at the knob she placed her hand on it and attempted to turn the knob. She hadn't had a chance to see if it was locked yet or not. Other things had kind of grabbed her attention. Taking a breath, the knob turned freely for her and she cocked a brow as she glanced over towards Thomas. "Stay back," she said as she pushed the door open just slightly and let go of the knob.

Nocking an arrow into place she braced herself as she took half aim and then kicked the door fully open. It swung open and she took aim into the darkness. Nothing happened. Tilting her head to the side she stepped forward carefully and peered around inside of the room. It wasn't a room so much as a closet. It smelled musky and stale, as if it hadn't been opened in a very long time. "Looks like just a bunch of junk and old clothes" she muttered before taking a step back and lowering her bow and arrow. She kept the arrow nocked in place, just in case, but it didn't seem like there was really anything to worry about in there. The room was narrow, had shelves along the sides and the back of the towers stone at the rear. Everything was junk, broken, covered in dust and cobwebs. Looked just like an abandoned closet should look.

"Well that was anti-climatic."

Satilla Valen

“That's... weird.” Satilla said quietly as the party attempted to explore the floor they were on. First there was the storeroom where there appeared to be only junk then there was the sealed door that refused to open as Kyra found out.” Hmm...” The witch made a questioning sound as she walked about, but not moving in front of the closed door just in case something blows it from the frame, she didn't want to get whacked by a flying door.

“Can't we put something underneath the edge and push it out of the hinges or something?” Satilla asked without moving close to the door to check if the way the door was made allowed for such situation. She had seen such doors, but it wasn't always possible. Weirdly they lacked a thief to deal with this.

Nor

Location: Tower
Interacting with:Door

"Uh. Er. Yer welcome." Nor looked at Keystone like he was nuts as he thanked him for stabbing the now (hopefully) deceased armor. He didn't do anything particularly noteworthy. Nobody was in mortal danger; if worst came to worst, the bear would have just swung its big paw again and killed the damned thing anyways. The tall folk were so weird.

There was a lot more standing around discussing what to do next and not enough doing. Clearly nobody was making any move to get that door open, so he marched ahead to the door.

"If this door be trapped, best if I be the one tae take it." Nor was rather confident in his stamina, and encased in armor as he was, he was the one best equipped to take a hit if there was such a thing rigged to the door. The dwarf planted his stout foot onto the door and shoved his weight into a solid push kick. It didn't quite give, but the door caved inward with a loud cracking noise. By his estimation, another big impact and it would probably be broken enough to stop being an obstacle.

---

---

Kyra looked over towards Nor and shrugged as she patted Ash on the back and directed him to get out of the way so that the dwarf could do his thing. Ash didn't like the idea of moving and it took a little bit of coaxing from the white haired ranger to get her traveling companion to do what he was told but she eventually got the dire wolf to pad along beside her and stay out of the way so that Nor could take a crack at the door. She had her bets on the door. Not because she didn't think the armored dwarf couldn't do it but just because things weren't always what they seemed to be in this tower.

She didn't win her bet to herself but then again she didn't lose either. The door didn't open or getting broken down but it did give way a bit. More than a bit, it was about 50/50 all things considered. One thing was good, beyond the half broken door, was that it didn't seem that any traps were set off in the wake of the damage. That was welcome. Now, just to finish off the door and see what lay behind it. There had better be something she thought to herself if it was this hard to take it down.

Looking over to Keystone she motioned to him. "You gonna finish this off or you forgotten how to break shit? I guess if we all went back downstairs you could fart at it," she said with a bit of a smirk on her face.

Cyne

Location: Tower
Interacting with:A2

The door had yet to be successfully broken down, and if there were anyone capable and willing to open the door with another method, they were out of luck now. She could probably wait for Keystone to do it, but why bother staying in a beefed up form if you weren't going to use the muscle it gave you?

Well she felt really comfortable, at ease as a bear, but that was beside the point. Making an audible grunt, the bear took a few steps back and aligned with the door. Nor quickly caught on and moved out of the way, lest he get knocked into the room as well. One quick gallop later and the door was no longer a barrier to entrance in the room, but the impact jarred Cyne enough so that she couldn't really get a grip on what was in the dimly lit room for a few seconds, and almost stumbled into a wall.

Once centered, the druid noted that there was a desk to one side, a drawer to the other and front and center was a bed. One person was underneath the covers and a robed individual who knelt there not even looking towards the group. Part of Cyne wanted to try talking to either of the individuals, but she didn't want to drop the Ursa shape while the chance of combat was still quite high.

Rip.

The tearing sound of fabric giving way to sheer force. In all the haste of interrupting what dark ritual may be taking place, the young sorcerer failed to notice two things. The first being the direwolf who had been pawing away with great concern over the doors. The second being the newly torn robes as the wolf managed to step on the trailing edge of his lunar finery as Thomas rushed into break a possible rite from summoning forth evils beyond the ability of the party. As the concerned lad dashed into the room, the wolf's claws had caught on the hem of the youth's robe and split them down the middle as two opposing forces met. Alas were it not for the boy's under linens he'd be short of mooning the party. However the damage was done and for the most part, Thomas had managed to ruin yet another robe of the three he had packed along his travels. The first lost to vomit, and now the second being sundered at a crucial seam beneath the intricate layering.

"Stop your ritual necromancer!"

Thus there was the boy, standing in his underwear with an accusation fingers pointing out of his robe's billowy sleeves. It may perhaps be a bit more authoritative if it were not for the lad's age, or hairless tanned skinny legs sticking out underneath the preserved robe uppers. It seemed Thomas hadn't quite realized what had happened and thus with the folly of wanton youth, rushed into the ritual headfirst the moment his eyes focused in on the dimly lit room. A be-robed Figure kneeling over a bed which contained perhaps another body did not make for a welcome sight given the nature of their expected foe. And yet, was the sight of Thomas' outlined derriere quite a welcome sight?

The hooded figure turned around slowly as the door was crushed open. He seemed to be dressed simple enough; black trousers, knee high brown riding boots, a cream colored button down tunic, and a dark green coat with a hood. Pulling the hood back he revealed a face that was middle aged and middle of the road as far as looks went. There was nothing spectacular about him but he did look vexed as he eyed them. Though the expression on his face changed slightly as Thomas came into the room and yelled out towards him. His dark brow arching deeply as he looked the man over.

"What nonsense is this that which you speak half clothed one?" he asked as he looked down at the revealed portion of Thomas' form. A spindle like finger pointing to the hard to miss flesh. Bringing the finger to his lips he pressed it there before he spoke again. "Quiet, my friend is terribly ill. He needs not this disturbance. Get out," he demanded before turning back around and looking back at the figure in the bed as he remained on his knees. Reaching out to the friend he tucked the covers higher. One could not see the figures face in the bed, the blankets pulled high and nothing but a matted form of blonde hair poking out from beneath them.

The friend in the bed moved slightly, a low groan coming from beneath the sheets. "Rest, it is nothing. Just rest," the hooded figure told the one in the bed, patting the friends shoulder area slightly before his head turned sharply and looked back at those that had come into the room. "Out before you are exposed and befall such as my friend here has. Out!" he said harshly but in a quiet voice.

Satilla Valen

Everything happened rather fast and the locked door was blown, allowing them to see and enter into the room. What she didn't expect though was Thomas rushing forward. There was a certain sound of cloth tearing as the younger man found himself inside the room, displaying a certain rather well tailored... underlinens.

“Ohhh my.” Satilla said rather calmly, but with hints of slight embarrassment and concern, placing a hand on her cheek. Almost like a big sister worried about a younger sibling who just fell after tripping and ripped his trousers.” Thomas...” She started to call him when the hooded figure spoke. It was different from what she imagined and expected. Now there was this other thing that he said and she made a little bit of mental reasoning.

“Thomas, come back here, right now!” She called him with rather stern voice, not taking her eyes off the hooded figure and the person in the bed. The witch couldn't see the one in the bed's state, but the way that man worded it, this was possible desease or curse? Any sort of malady was very dangerous.” What has befallen him?” She asked, half from healer obligation, half of trying to get more info to see if this was just a trap.

---

---

"What..." Kyra said as she stepped into the room, Ash trotting along beside her with a bunch of fabric in his jowls. He sat on his hind legs, looking as proud as a peacock as his tail thumped on the ground. "...the hell..." she was finally able to finish as she spotted the backside of Thomas. Taking a deep breath she nearly snapped at the man but it seemed that Satilla beat her to it. A little smile came to her lips. The girl was coming into her own and at least found some authority in her voice when it came to Thomas. She was growing up, even in the short time that Kyra had known her. It was nice to see, many others would have taken steps backwards but not Satilla.

Shaking her head she let Satilla deal with Thomas and looked over at the man. She wasn't buying it. "Yeah, what's wrong with you friend?" she asked as she stood there with her sword in hand. "Don't tell me those walking cesspools were for our protection against a plague," she added, her voice seething with sarcasm.

"Quite you fools! Get out!" the hooded man growled in a hushed voice.

"Oh yes of course," Kyra whispered but her voice was just as sarcastic as ever. "Not leaving, not yet until we get some damn answers."

Cyne

Location: Tower
Interacting with:Robed man

The bear stared on as Thomas impressively disrobed his nether region in an instant without using his hands. The young magician didn't seem to either know or cared that his braies were exposed for all to see, which could be considered admirable to a point. After a few seconds she looked back towards the robed man so as not to appear that she was trying to check out Thomas' "goods" so to speak. Besides, it seemed Satilla had that particular malfunction under control.

Ignoring the robed man's demands that everyone leave the ill man alone, the bear walked to the head of the bead, pushing aside the obstacle by virtue of the simple difference in sheer mass. Gingerly so as not to accidentally harm the person underneath, she put her paw down on the covers and pulled it back to find that the man's friend was actually just another one of the undead, still alive, but nude rather than encased in armor. If she had had a human face rather than the snout of a bear, a look of disgust would take over her features; however, a bear roar would have to suffice. Hopefully that would signal to those not in the room or that couldn't see the undead face that there was something not good going on.

Nor

Location: Tower
Interacting with:N/A

Nor wasn't sure what all was happening, what with the half-nude mage and the roaring bear and such, but he took it all as a sign that the tunnels were caving in, and when such events were occurring, those who acted first were least likely to get horribly murdered by undead. The bear was right next to whatever was on the bed, which left one free target, the robed man on the floor. He wasn't quite within striking range, but he'd make sure the poor sod wouldn't be able to change that easily.

Moving as fast as his short legs could move him, Nor booked it over as close as he could get to the robed man. Maybe some would find it distasteful that his first instinct would be to kill a man lying helpless on the floor in cold blood, but he saw it as removing complications before they could arise. Robed strangers in towers full of undead were almost certainly necromancers, the worst kind of mage. And he probably had all sorta of other tricks besides simply raising the dead. The sooner those problems could be eliminated, the easier a time everyone would have. And if he weren't actually an enemy (unlikely as that was)? Sometimes your guesses were wrong. Better safe than sorry.

---

---

Location: Deymins Tower (2F)

Interacting With: Huh?

---

---

The first inclination that Keystone had in this confusing time was vocalized with the sage advice of "Boy might ought put some pants on, if'n he wants t'keep fightin' evil with us today..." as he strode through the door to the room that was now revealed as a bedroom of sorts. A bedroom hidden by magic. And protected by undead soldiers.

Nope, nuh-uh, complete and utter negative. The kindly old guy tending to the ever so needy and despondant dead guy in the bed was a nice touch, too. Admittedly, that was a little strange. Not completely unprecedented to Keystone, but strange nonetheless. Whomever this person was, he was special to the peculiar, robed antagonist. The undead thing was here for a reason.

This was one of the times when Keystone wished that he brought more to the table than his ability to hit things. It was damned useful, granted, and everybody respects the living weapon; it was just that so much more was going on here than was obvious and he didn't even know what questions to ask. He did know that this was likely the person responsible for the death of so many townspeople (and orcs), and lacking other practical option, handled it thusly:

Striding into the room fully, Keystone held his hands at the ready. As he moved purposefully, coming to stand next to the Ranger lady with the platinum hair, he leaned back on his usual underclass sarcasm. "Allo then! Sodly Bintfist, at your service, m'Lord! Sellin' buttons, we are - how're ya stocked on fasteners, oi?"

---

---

Kyra eyes Nor, it looked like he was about to kill the man on the ground. What the hell was with people? Sure she knew there was probably 99% chance this guy was a necromancer, being in a tower and all with undead kind of was a red flag. Yet, if this guy was just that, and he was controlling everything going on rushing right up to him was just down right reckless. If he wasn't, then it was even worse. Either way they did need answers. Like how the hell he could be strong enough to control that many... From so far away, a weeks journey nearly.

Her eyes darted over towards Keystone and she didn't know if what he was doing was stupid or brilliant, either way it made her want to facepalm. Shaking her head a bit she stepped forward, Ash growling lowly as he padded next to the white haired ranger and the two moved to between the hood figure and the one in the bed. Now that she could actually see the figure in the bed her eyes narrowed. She knew Thomas, Keystone, Satilla, and Sana wouldn't be able to see the undead in the bed - There was a huge fucking bear in the way. It wasn't until Kyra got to the foot of the bed that she actually was able to lay eyes on it.

"That's not right..." she said but she didn't make a move on either the undead or the hooded figure. Just watching and waiting for now. (Holding action) - She wasn't about to get in between a swing from the heavy handed dwarf or the heavier pawed bear.