[IC] || The Endless Halls | A Dark Fantasy World | Accepting Characters||

[Polybius]

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Welcome to the Endless Halls...

_Soundtrack

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Where once dark, now a pale streak of light cascades into the room. Far below this cave you can here the melodic reverberations of what may be a machine or a slumbering giant. You step lightly into the chamber, crunching soft moss beneath your feet. The cave is damp and mired in shadows, but a warmth radiates from all around. You feel safe and as you gain your bearings you notice others entering the subterranean glen in flashes of ethereal light. You have purpose here-that much is clear. Where you have come from is not immediately apparent, your mind clouded with uncertainty. But you feel a sense of reassurance that your path will manifest itself, if only by taking that first step. Tread lightly.

[Polybius]

The Story Thus Far...

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A young sorrowful knight named Amheurst is attacked by an abberation known as a Mindskitter. Rushing to his aid, the young leech-kin named Gish and the strange lantern man named Echo attack the thing. The Mindskitter flees into some vines as Amheurst recovers his senses...

Old Thread

"Am I dead...?

Mired in shadow, a young knight leans heavily against a moss covered rock. His armor is worn and beaten and he carries the weight of sorrows several lifetimes long. The sword he holds in his hands-shorn clean off in the middle was once his fathers, and before that, his grandfathers. He ignores the flashes of light, the imposing darkness, all consumed by his grief.

"How did I come to this place..?"

Amheurst looked around the weary cavern. Travelers were congregating near a bonfire in the basin of the cave. The smoke unfurled and disappeared into the gathering mists above. The warm light from the flames fought the seemingly endless darkness of that place, save for the strange shafts of light that occasionally appeared and disappeared. Amheursts thoughts turned from his past and he began trudging towards the bonfire, broken sword still in hand.

"What use is this thing to me now...? All is lost...father would be...if he could be...I don't know what." The image of his father flashed through his mind. It was not of a man in full glorious plate armor atop his steed, axe at the ready as most men might remember the Lord of Guilliam Keep, but rather the simple work tunic he often wore when Amheurst would join him in the stables, late at night when the servants were asleep in the loft or drunk at the local tavern.

Boarding the horses together was one of the few times that Amheurst felt an equal with his father. He became more personable or...less Lord of Guilliam Keep and more Bran, father of six. Amheurst was the youngest and his thoughts continued to spin from memory as he approached the bonfire. Others had gathered at the place of warmth and were talking. The light played strange tricks in this place concealing the other travelers faces. Amheurst clutched the remains of his families broken sword to his chest and and waited for the others to step into the light.

@Polybius

She was deposited in the dark.

That wasn't so bad. Gish quite enjoyed the dark. Squatting in the dark was something of a hobby of hers. She could linger wherever she wanted, however long she wanted, and there was no risk that people would throw things unless they had the misfortune of stumbling over her. Even then, she could usually be gone by the time they turned to look. No, the dark wasn't the reason she as confused. It was more that she couldn't understand how she'd got here.

"Bad." She croaked lowly to herself, then slapped her hands over her mouth as the chamber seemed to carry the barely-a-whisper off to the far corners of it. Around her the calm shadows were interrupted with bright flashes, the outlines of other figures briefly visible before merging with the dark. The only consistent portion of light in the chamber was a roaring bonfire. She took it as a sign, and advanced slowly toward it.

As she got closer, she listened. Under the crackle of the fire and the rumble that permeated the entire chamber she could hear others around the fire, breathing. She didn't care to step into the light, instead trying to enjoy the nostalgic atmosphere, but as longer went without anyone speaking she could feel a strange tension building up in her. A nervous shiver forced its was into her throat, and seemed to force her jaw open against her will.

"We've suffered a bizarre fate, haven't we?" She asked the other dark figures at the edge of the firelight.

@Gentlemanvaultboy

It floated effortlessly, the suddenly erupted bonfire having caught it's attention. It identified and acknowledged it's luck of the situation, being in the presence of such strange and alien creatures... At least, that's what they appeared like to the Mindskitter. They survived in packs, most definently, yet he could not pinpoint the pack's exact number as more came into view. Perhaps the mental confrontation of one of it's members would unveil hidden meaning behind this, these, species. A simple glide and he was hiding behind a peculiarly lack-luster specimen hurrying to the bonfire. He held a broken piece of metal, and was even adorned metal, perhaps this was simply a cultural tradition? No matter, it would know momentarily.

Syncing with the creature, (it was quite easy, they were very simple-minded). The Mindskitter began to drink the juices of his cerebral-

"Oh goodness this is glorious.", it thought.

A whole royal feast and banquet lay on the beast's mindful tongue as he gorged thoughts of stables and knightly modesty. This delicious coarse was to be savored, indeed. The body of the mythic creature dissolved into the low lying vines and moss pads as he continued his pyschely bonded serving. These creatures, if they did not differ from this male, would be a godsend.

@GodOfWar

Amheurst barely heard the girls query, engrossed as he was in his own thoughts. Besides, the warmth of the fire was so welcome after lingering in the cave for...

"How long have I been here...?

The questions were unending. But here, in the light of the fire surrounded by others-nameless though they be, Amheurst felt a new sensation. It was a tingling, at the back of his neck. He clenched his family's sword tighter still. The tingling sensation continued and the knight supposed he was simply exhausted.

"No...something is wrong here...

"We've suffered a bizarre fate, haven't we?" She asked the other dark figures at the edge of the firelight.

"Fate is shaped by the actions of our forebears. I am Amheurst, of House Guilliam," said the knight, turning to face the short, non-descript girl. Amheurst gave the girl a second look. Perhaps it was the distorting light of the fire, but Amheurst felt unsettled looking at the girl...

"I am a knight in the service...of..of.." Amheurst faltered. He could not remember whom he had been fighting for before arriving in the cavern. He rubbed his neck as it continued to tingle. Amheurst felt phantom tendrils drill into his neck. Where there should have been pain instead he found pleasure.

"What...is happening...to...me?

@Polybius

Fate. Yes, fate was in the hands of the forebears, that was what she had been taught. That this was the first response she received was like a message from the Great Sea Mother herself, telling her that this was all part of the plan. She was here for a reason. Believing that paradoxically both calmed and excited her, though not as much as revelation of Amheurst's identity.

"A real knight?" She asked breathless, almost hopping forward despite herself. Nobody in the small hamlet that sat near the edge of the swamp was anywhere near that incredible. She'd spent many a night sitting by some lighted window, listening to a parent recount tales of daring do to a wide eyed child. "With a horse and everything? Fighting monsters, saving damsels, righting wrongs? Jousting men over honor? Are you on a quest?"

@Gentlemanvaultboy

Echo came into a new room to this massive cavern. It was certainly seemingly endless. It's wonders seemed innumerable as well. Every room held new wonders. Some rooms being large enough to hold battles between the grandest of armies and navies, while others could barely fit a couple if they embraced. This room itself was large in most comparisons, but mediocre for this particular dungeon.

Echo is seemingly everywhere in the dungeon. He doesn't remember where or when he began his quest to map the cave system, but since it's start, he has scouted a very large portion of it. He doesn't keep any scrolls or maps, but merely memorizes the passages he's wandered. Even to say he's memorized it is a stretch. He really just has hunches that somehow tend to be helpful in the long run.

He put out his lantern as he emerged from the dark tunnel into the awkwardly lit room. Beams of light came and went as the only stagnant source of light was a fire towards the middle of the room. It seemed like some other folk were gathering around it. He had known most people in the system to be rather complacent if not friendly. There certainly were there dangers though. Too may times had he felt his life on a thread as he slipped away from various creatures. As rare as the rooms themselves were the creatures here. He'd begun to feel like seeing two of a kind was an unnatural occurance anymore.

As he approached the group he noticed one such creature. It appeared to be connected to the back of an armored man. He seemed slightly perturbed, but not by the presence of the thing. Unless he didn't know it was there. Time spent in the dungeon had given him a sense of these things. He quietly approached the fire closer to the girl. His presence wasn't really known until the fire's glow lit up his features. He instantly began to use his lantern's staff to write in some dirt next to the girl. For the sake of time and speed this was all he wrote.

'Does he know it's there?'

@rechonq

She instinctively shrank back at the sudden approach of the strange white figure, but as the thing drew in the dirt curiosity got the best of her and she inched back forward to read.

Did he know what was there? She looked at the white figure, then back at Amheurst, then back at the message again. "What do you mean?" She asked, but at the same time was making her way around the edge of the fire to get a closer look at the knight. Her eyes widened as it came into view, an odd, abominable shape hiding in the shadow of the knight. Lord Mother, it was as big as her, and it was attached to the poor man.

She dashed to the bonfire and grabbed the very edge of a piece of wood that was sticking out. Popping sparks flew into the air as she wrenched it from the pile and whirled the still burning end toward Amheurst. "Don't move Sir." she said, slowly approaching the man from the side so that she could see the thing. "Just stay calm. You got nothing to worry about. You just got a leech. It ain't that big. I deal with this all the time. Hold still."

Then she hopped forward and jabbed at the thing with the hot end.

@Gentlemanvaultboy

The Mindskitter had not feasted like this in days. The savory taste of steak to potroast, finally transforming into the bitter taste of dark chocolate. This man had experienced his father's shadow for years, his sorrow a sad treat offered up to the abomination. Oh, how the mental parasite could not contain itself, what a life tale! It shed it's momentary cover in the bushes to hide, instead, in the shadow of the knight, nearly latching onto him. The potency of the consumed knowledge grew with such increased proximity. It's gluttony became foolishness, as it dismissed the shadows facing him near the bonfire.

The hot board cut into it nicely. The Mindskitter did not shriek in any form except mentally, leaving his armored host with the ringing of agony as it dismissed it's mental synchronization with him. It saw the girl, a midget fish spawn if anything, and the sticky substance the abomination's wound had sprayed on her arms. The burnt wood was soon broken out of the invaded skin and flung at the girl, splintering, and the Mindskitter's cerebral plane opened up to the assailant;

The shift was invisible to all but the Mindskitter and "Gish", her name unveiled through a newly synced knowledge consumption. The Mindskitter could now easily tap into the swampbreed's memories and ideals, using them against her. Yet, the thoughts of the bayou-born were much more religiously zealous then it had previously expected (the legend hadn't really expected those results at all, honestly). This did give it a start, at least. Digging further, the beast found a memory of a lost mother. Abandonment and condemnation, a perfect retaliation. infiltrating the visual stimuli of her cerebral, it brung upon her a vision of her mother's departure complete with vivid sensations of religious faltering. Ah, the revenge was sweet. It closed the plane, leaving a message of nuetral tone reprimanding the fish and asking for the silence of any other endeavors.

The Mindskitter quickly weaved into the curtain of vines that clothed the bonfire area, finding refuge in a round of bushes (all of which resembled tied together branches of a palm tree). It was a simple retreat from others that might have found it's body a butcher's meat. It still possessed great sight of the situation, as well as a mental, consuming sync with this Gish. It was utterly curious of these creatures' reactions to the aberration's abilities, especially the receiving end of that aquatic humanoid.

@GodOfWar

Noticing the odd girls reaction to the thing, it seemed she knew it to be a bad creature of sorts. He moved with her to back her up, but didn't attack at first. He had been reprimanded before when he jumped in on a fight without permission.

As the creature threw the board back, Echo assumed it meant her harm as well now. Even if it was only self defense, he was going to side with the girl until the violence settled. It's next actions were unusual, but then it retreated into some bushes before Echo could act on it as well. He did notice it keeping a tentacle to her now though and that was certainly unacceptable. A white wisp appeared in his lantern and glowed rather oddly. At least maybe the minds litter would see its oddity. The light spanned several realms in a fiery fit. As he came down on the tentacle it was smashed and began to burn.

The whole ordeal seemed to take less than three seconds. The girl seemed a little shocked and he was worried of her care. He didn't what this creature did to her. He couldn't ask her how she was, so he merely rubbed her back to try and console her. That is unless the creature still decided to reach out. Then he would certainly react with hostile intentions.

@rechonq

She was surprised as the board cut into the creature, coating her arms in what could only be the creatures blood. No leach back how was that fragile. She didn't have long to think as the thing wrenched the wood about and hurled it at her. The impact knock her off her feet, he hat flying in the air and landing in the moss behind her. She tried to pull herself up as the thing turned, saw some quick movement, and then@!^&$^@!#%!^!&U^%&!$#

Her mother had always been beautiful. Fair skinned, with not a wrinkle to be found on her face. A laughing smile that could sooth a whole room of its worries. Deep black hair that flowed in the wind like the waves of the sea. It was incredible to think that a woman like that hat given birth to a...thing like her. Throughout her life Gish had always been convinced that this woman, despite the love she was showered with, could not possibly be her mother. She'd been found abandoned in some hollow log, or had grown from some tree deep in the swamp, or fairies had stolen the woman's rightful child and left her in its place. She didn't believe these things anymore. There was never a doubt that she was her mothers child, not after what had happened.

It had been a new moon when they heard the call from their modest little shack in the swamp. A deep, reverberating cry that felt like it should have shook the settings from the table. A mournful, beautiful thing. She tried to go and see, but Mother had grabbed her and pulled her into her arms, soused the lights, and carried her under the covers of the bed. Their hot food was left undisturbed the entire night, and Gish finally fell asleep listening to her the her mothers repeated, guttural prayers to her god.

Over the next few weeks her mother began to change. Not in any way that was important, but dramatically all the same. Gish felt ashamed that she was actually kind of happy as the woman turned to the color of wet ash, as her features distended and bloated like a drowned corpse, as her lips began to recede and her eyes began to widen. Her pain was obvious, though whether it was from the transformation itself or some great weight pressing down on her mind she couldn't tell.

Finally, on a night of the full moon, they heard the call again. Her mother took her and laid her in bed. She tried to speak, but by this point she couldn't manage any language that Gish could understand. Still, she made her point clear. No matter what Gish was to stay indoors. Then, giving one last look back at her progeny, she stepped out and shut the door.

Gish waited until her footsteps disappeared, then followed.

She found her mothers dress on the porch, torn and wet, and saw points of light moving out into the swamp. She crept through the dark for what felt like hours, spying on then quiet as a mouth. She saw them sometimes, by the light of their torches, creatures like mother. She heard them speaking the guttural prayer, which sounded much more natural in their voices. Sometimes she caught sight of her mothers long black hair. She followed them deeper, and deeper into the swamp. They moved around the poisoned gases that rose from the muck and stepped through the quick mud that could swallow a cow in two minutes. The predators, usually so numerous, avoided them, until at last they came to the ocean.

Gish had never seen the ocean. Her mother had described it, but the swamp where they lived was inland so she had no real idea what it looks like. Still, there it was. It must have been the ocean. In the moonlight she saw the procession moving down the shoreline, and in an instant she wanted to run out to meet them and dive into the waves. Then she heard the call again, and remembered the words of her mother. She stopped herself, and watched as the congregation returned the call in a chorus of voices. Something turned out there in the water, a shadow just below the surface, and the group made their way into the surf. She caught sight of the last in line, one with deep black hair that reflected the moonlight, and the figure turned and looked right at her. She gasped and bolted from her hiding spot, back toward the swamp.

Then she heard a rumble that she didn't remember. Something enormous breaking out of the surf. She glanced back and saw a shadow blot out the moon, dripping and bleeding a fine mist. One massive hand that seemed to cover the whole sky reached out grasp her. The god of her mother. The great beast that dwelt in the oceans and spawned all life. The hateful thing that had torn her from the arms of the only other creature on earth that loved her! As it smashed through the tops of the trees Gish knew it was hopeless to run from the horrible thing and threw herself into the mud. She felt the monsters hand slam down on her, knocking the wind from her lungs. As it dragged her through the muck back toward the sea she looked up and saw the Leech thing! It waved one tentacle in the air like like a chiding finger. She opened her mouth to call out to it, only for it to be filled with the taste of ocean salt. She spit, hacked, started to drown, was drowning, couldn't breath, could brea%$@#$%^$##%W$#$

She woke up face down in the dirt, head throbbing. Someone was touching her back. She turned quickly toward the warm feeling. "Mothe-"

The question died on her lips as she looked at the strange white figure from before. She was momentarily confused, then it came rushing back. She was in this strange cavern. "What happened?" She asked, looking around. "Where's the leech thing?"

@Gentlemanvaultboy

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Amheurst

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The familiar sound of combat, shouts and fire, and..

Oh...gods...the pain...!

Amheurst cried out as the Mindskitter withdrew its tendrils. Thoughts & memories flashed in distant echoes of agony. This was a pain that rendered his half plate armor useless and forced Amheurst to drop his broken blade. He fell to his knees clutching his ears in pain and then all went dark as he slumped over unconscious.

Memories flooded his mind that were not his. Oceans and willow'o whisps, lost mothers and a hunger that was insatiable. His eyes flashed open and he sat up next to the girl named... Gish.

How do I know her name? Was it that...thing?

The man creature with the lantern was giving comfort to the poor girl. A strange sight in the gloomy cavern. The crowd around the bonfire had dispersed in the ruckus, each shadowy figure fleeing to...wherever. The halls were endless after all.

"What happened? Where's the leech thing?"

"It attacked me," said Amheurst. "I think it was...feeding on my memories. Is it gone?"

Amheurst recovered his broken blade and slowly staggered to his feet.

@Polybius

Having both the girl and the man inquiring about the creature, Echo pointed to the bush in which it was hidden. Whether they got his implied message that it was hiding in there was another thing.

The man seemed to think it fed on memories. Echo wondered for a moment if it could find his memories. He couldn't really remember anything before the halls. At the same time if it stole the memories then he would certainly never find them. He wasn't willing to give that a chance right now. To much was unknown about the creature.

@rechonq

[GodOfWar]

The Mindskitter's observations were priceless in their depth. The fish creature Gith easily bent to the abomination's will, as did the knight Amheurst. Their minds were indeed simple slates, easily drawn upon. Now only if it knew much more about past physical and mental conditions, the abomination could be better prepared for-

SHISK came the pale man's weapon upon the Mindskitter's phantom tendril. The burn disintegrated the mental form from reality easily, yet not before the pain rocketed up into the beast. That was what the Mindskitter had to be prepared for, exactly that! These indivuals were absolutely brutal and paranoid, like little rabid rats! Unpredictable, unwilling, and stupid. The Mindskitter was absolutely perturbed! It would be mightly well to depart if those wolfish creatures were to not cooperate. It had already drained the fish and the saddened son, a wise choice to leave with it's winnings. Vile vermin...

'But, what about the pale one?', it thought curiously.

It had learned nothing of such the magically induced scarecrow. It produced wisps, but that was it. What were the mutations on his hands? Where did he come from? These thoughts invaded just as fast as the abomination's anger lingered. The Mindskitter was suddenly ruled by such thoughts, it's own knowledge hungry disposition doing it's work. It rounded farther towards the the party through the thick vines, keeping caution to be quiet and stealthy. Approaching, it dared to step closer to the bonfire, still hidden by the vegetation, and caught ear of a rather exciting matter.

"It attacked me, I think it was...feeding on my memories. Is it gone?"

Oh thank a deity they could reason! The knight may have been a little off on his hypothesis, which is understandable under the circumstances, but it gave the Mindskitter a lead that they were able to carry an intellectual thought. The discovery most certainly helped the Mindskitter approach the situation (and the scarecrow's wealth of knowledge... Mmm, delicious.). The pale skeleton of a man pointed far off from where the Mindskitter currently was in response to the nobleman's question. Perhaps not all were as informed about the abomination as the knight, but no matter, it was going to use the armored humanoid for it's little plan anyways, it was convinced of his capabilities.

It floated another few feet before finally coming out the brush and into the revealing light of the bonfire. It lingered in a position opposite to that of Gish and the white man, the fire in between them, but faced the knight. First, it took it's two, long fore tendrils and intersected them into a cross shape (Amheurst's kingdom's symbol). Simultaneously, two phantom tendrils were formed near the front of the Mindskitter, barely out stretched due to their enormous length, limp and almost hanging. The 'palms' of the mental tentacles were turned upwards, facing the warrior, as if requesting peace; such was the main goal of this confrontation. This ambassadorial mission was ripe with risk, that the Mindskitter knew, but so was the missing of the bleached corpse's past.

It waited.

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

"Memories?" Gish asks slowly, shaking her head from side to side. Had it been insider her head? That would make sense, but she hadn't forgotten anything. The long night she had seem all those years ago was still fresh and clear in her head. Clearer now than ever before, as though she'd lived it all again. She didn't feel like anything was missing. In fact, it felt like there had been more to what it had shown her.

"I don't think so. I don't think it eats them." She stammered, but was cut off by the rustling of the brush as the thing floated back into view. She reached into her pockets and whipped out the first thing she found. She brandished the simple wooden flute like it was a legendary sword, never taking her eyes off the thing as it seemed to raise up its tentacles in supplication. "Careful. It's still a leech. And maybe a witch. Maybe."

[Polybius]

"Memories?"

"Careful. It's still a leech. And maybe a witch. Maybe."

"There!" shouted Amheurst, louder than he intended. The vines had parted, the sickening creature returning to view.

"What a foul abberation..." thought the knight. He raised his sword once more as the creature in turn raised two horrid tendrils...and turned them in acquiescence and formed a cross. Instinctively Amheurst crossed himself with his free hand. His sword lowered. His heart no longer sure. The girl had brandished some sort of instrument, and the pale man had said not a word but defended them both nonetheless.

"I don't think it means us any harm...or...it doesn't realize we don't like that...whatever it did to me!" Amheurst looked at his two unlikely companions to see what they would do.

[rechonq]

Echo turned as it exited the shrubbery as well. He noticed the girl wielding a fife like a knife and smiled a bit as if to chuckle to himself in this tense situation. The knight also drew his sword at the sight of it emerging, but as it crossed it's tentacles the man lowered his sword and made the symbol on his chest. It was rather odd, but slightly reassuring nonetheless. As it stretched two more tentacles out with hands turned up, he understood that it was meaning for peace right now. Perhaps this thing couldn't speak either.

Echo didn't dismiss the wisp but he dimmed it's light. Echo could see that the creature was vying for peace at the moment, but it didn't seem like the girl got that message. He waved his lantern in front of her to get her attention. When he got it, he took a deep breath and made a calming motion in an attempt to get her to relax a bit. He was still on edge though. He never saw a creature try for peace and they betray it, but a man did try it once. Fortunately it ended well for Echo and not so much the man, but he wasn't going to let it happen again. He kept his guard up for any unwanted movement's of the ethereal arms toward the three. With his free hand he waved to the creature in an attempt to communicate with it.

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

She looked up at the mask guy when he drew her attention, motioning for her to lower her weapon. She had a moment of indecision, then actually looked down at what she had in her hands. She gasped, then replaced the flute in her pockets. She felt around in there and felt the comfortingly cold metal of her little craving knife, and shook her head in embarrassment over having grabbed the wrong thing. But she didn't draw the knife.

She looked back at the mask guy and saw him waving at the leech witch thing. "Easy for you to be so friendly. It hasn't been in your head." She patted the side of her head for emphasis, and suddenly realized that something was missing. "Gah!" She croaked, looking frantically around until she spotted the big reed hat that had been knocked from her head earlier. She dove for it, snatching it up and pulling it down over her head. She squatted there, looking out at the others from between the reeds. It didn't matter. They'd seen everything, hadn't they? Especially the leech witch thing. There was no point now, but she felt naked without it.

[GodOfWar]

The Mindskitter was, once again, surprised by the new species's reaction(s). Amheurst didn't interpret the abomination's gestures as peace more than he saw it as a "hesitation of murder" or "mistaken conduct". Yet, the pale man waved in greetings, a pleasant development (and perhaps apology for damages). Gish... floundered a bit in her efforts. At least she found it unnecessary to actually arm herself in this situation.

Proceeding with it's greetings, the Mindskitter took one of it's physical fore arms and impressed it into the dirt surrounding the non fire, it detailing a clear message. Writing the word "harm" into the soil, the beast quickly crossed out such grammar with the same tentacle. Perhaps this correspondence would make the Mindskitter's motives much more clear. Yet, now approached the risky stage. It formed a third phantom tendril, and extended each growth to each respective member of the party, the same peaceful 'palms upwards' motion upon each. Driving it's second fore tentacle into the dirt, the Mindskitter quickly wrote a more instructional message;

"Speak with me"

It made sure to draw this literature close to that of which was crossed out, a method it hoped to use to remind them "I will speak with you peacefully". It did not enjoy using these terrain enscriptions, and tried to keep them as short as possible (the Mindskitter's knowledge and creation deserved a cleaner surface). Sadly, such was unavoidable. It prepared a message for those who grappled it's tentacles; "I am the Mindskitter, the beast of knowledge, what do you wish to ask of me?"

[Hawlin]

The faint echo of distant voices mixed with the ambience of the cave as Luciel trekked down into the darkness, cascading glints of light from the sun behind him shown in brilliant untamed metals within the cave walls. It was more than enough for them to find their way, though the sounds worried him to a considerable degree.
Hoisting up the tatters of the tapestry cloak as not to trip, Luciel drew his sword with his other hand. Under the fabric, the blade could offer little more than a surprise stab if need be, and the plan of where to go from there wasn't entirely thought out. However, with the fading aid of the sun's whispers across the walls, the bright amber hue of a fire now took its place.

Peering from around the corner, a group of maybe five figures stood around the telltale fire Luciel had expected. Their various sizes and shapes worked a cautious curiousness from him, though he merely watched. With a shout from an armored man, their attention turned to a peculiar creature floating from the vines to address them. The chimera took advantage of this moment to ease out from where he hid, sweeping across the opening passageway leading to the entrance of the cave like a shadow. Into the opening of the room, he quickly realized there was little cover within reach. Almost frozen from the shock of this realization, he contemplated retreating back to the corner before his body instinctively dropped to the floor with a dull click of his boots across stone.

"T'szeem...leear..." he whispered, the tapestry settling over him and assuming his motionlessness which meshed with the uneven rocky floor to become little more than part of the shadowy scenery. What was a sound and a whisper, soft like the wind, became nothing but nondescript shadows and the faintest glint of steel from the tip of the shortsword catching the faint reflection of the fire's light in the way a dull gem might.
Luciel did his best to steady his breathing, muffled by the thick fabric while he watched the creature, which invoked familiar feelings of wonder, begin odd motions as if to converse with the group.

Darkly, Luciel wondered what kind of stuff the group had on them, and if he'd get a chance to pick through their remains if diplomacy with the beast ended with bloodshed.

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

Gish steps forward to see what the thing was writing on the floor, then shirks back as one of it tentacles moved toward her. She hopped from one foot to the next, turning over the words on the ground in her mind. After considering it carefully she pulled the flute out of her pocket and used it to gently push the tentacle it offered away from her. "No. No. No thank you. I've had enough, thank you. No." She muttered.

As she moved the tentacle her eyes lingered on the liquid still coating her arms. The leech thing was really fragile. She'd done that with a stick, without even trying. She looked to both of the others. "I think I'd be able to handle any funny business it tried to pull if either of you gave it a go."

[rechonq]

Echo was relieved to see the creature not making any more moves for the three of them. It did instead extend one of it's physical tentacles out and began to write in the ground. It seemed it couldn't talk either. It wasn't really odd that something of this particular shape didn't have a tongue or vocal chords, at least in the human sense. It wrote the word harm in the ground which almost brought up a red flag for him, but when it immediately crossed it out, the opposite happened instead.

Echo began to feel more calm around the thing now. He could tell that the line through the word was intentional to mean the opposite. It now formed a third phantom tendril and extended it upwards like the others. Each tendril was reached out to one or another of the party. He still watched carefully as it wrote it's next message trying to see if there were any other underlying messages. It was written close to the first message, despite the available space, and he wondered if there was supposed to be a correlation. When it finished it was quite clear that it could speak through it's tendrils, but he was a little unsure whether to fully trust it or not.

He decided to not care and give it a chance. He had been living without his memories quite fine and if the creature was to eat them, then he wouldn't even know what he was missing. He reached his hand out and grabbed onto the phantom tendril. Immediately words rushed to him. It was like he was hearing them, but he know no real sounds were being made. He didn't feel any other sensations at the moment so he felt like the mindskitter was actually just communicating now. He wasn't sure if it could hear his thoughts, but as clearly as he could picture the words in his mind he thought, "Hello, I am Echo. I am unfortunately mute and unable to physically speak. If you can hear this then please respond."

Echo was beginning to hope that the mindskitter could hear him. The opportunity to express a deeper message through speech was something he had not had for quite a while. Perhaps this beast of knowledge could be a godsend instead.

[Polybius]

""I am the Mindskitter, the beast of knowledge, what do you wish to ask of me?"

The pale man holding the lantern appeared to be concentrating on the aberration, coaxing something from its mind.

"A beast of knowledge...? Amheurst had heard of such things-in strange tales told late at night at his father's table. Amheurst would sit quietly in the shadows listening to men and women with scars and weapons with names like Lightbringer, Goblin-Bane and Firebrand. They would talk and tell stories of deep dungeons, catacombs and dead cities along the Bright Road.

The Bright Road...

An ancient underground path built by gnomes or dwarves long ago and lit by gas lights drawing their fuel from somewhere incomprehensibly deep below the crust of the Sphere. That is where Amheurst was headed when he ran into this...thing..

"Do you know the way to the Bright Road?" he asked the Mindskitter, doubtfully.

[squints]

Cyrano stepped carefully through the dark tunnel. It was more cramped than he would like under normal circumstances, maneuvering the statue he carried, though comparatively small, did not make things easier. Cyrano was unsure how long he had been walking, or how deep he had come. He was unsure also how much further he had gone before he saw a glimmer of light.
He came upon an odd scene when he reached the light. Some strange creature seemed to be the center of attention, reaching out toward the other occupants of the room, some of whom seemed to enthralled or under a spell.
Cyrano set down his statue, and his glass orb at its feet and sniffed the air.
Next time I will count my pace
he thought to himself as he sat and watched to see what would happen.

[GodOfWar]

The plan had worked out well, not as great as the Mindskitter had've hoped, but successful nonetheless. Both Echo and Amheurst made contact with the beast's tendrils, whilst Gish had withdrawn (a smart move), two out of three was a proportion it could deal with. First, the scarecrow entity spoke;

"Hello, I am Echo. I am unfortunately mute and unable to physically speak. If you can hear this then please respond."

"I, too, do not possess physical speech, Echo.", it responded. "And please, do not believe I find sustenance in removing memories more than I do in consuming knowledge; that of which I can easily duplicate so no host loses such precious, thoughtful treasures.", it's final sentence very much addressed what Echo hadn't been saying, but rather more of what he had thought. Even without knowledge consumption, it was obviously clear to the abomination Echo had only agreed to this method of communication because of his mindset of 'f*** it, I have little to no memories'. It had gotten his attention through such, which was fine, but still, it wanted to lay out what this group was addressing. Knowing an ally well is essential to an alliance. Always.

In more predictable fashion, the Knight spoke through the telepathic bonds to the beast, most likely asking a question about the Mindskitter's purpose her-

"Do you know the way to the Bright Road?"

That was quite an absurd and... unpredictable question for Amheurst, the man that had previously no idea what he was here for. Yet, it gave a chance for the abomination to show the help that it could provide to this party and alliance. "Of course, I know every bit of landscape in these halls", it responded. It started into the brush, about north of where these indivuals had entered this room, and whilst it lead the party this way it allowed it's phantom tendrils to dissipate. "We still have the telepathic bond and mental sync, thus, no contact is needed for communication. Now come, Amheurst and Echo, the road is this way. Oh, and bring Gish.", it informed them

before stopping, that was. It felt a coarse texture underneath it's floating tendrils, as if a tapestry fabric laid there. Hiding here before it's confrontation with the others, it had never felt such an item. Something had happened, or moved. It slowly looked down to see the rugged piece of art. 'Why would such a lovely, artful piece be left tattered on the ground... and who would still be here to leave it?' It thought curiously. It picked the tapestry up, perhaps Amheurst would be able to store it in return for his directions to the Bright Road. "Amheurst, would you be so kind to-", the abomination started in it's telepathic bond, before a pink set of rabbit ears emerged out of the front of the wrapped tapestry, followed by a whole chimera body. The Mindskitter stood there, a little flabbergasted, before it could finish it's sentence. "- investigate this."

[Hawlin]

Nothing seemed to be going Luciel's way, the group resolving to a tense understanding with the creature. However, this was inconsequential, as he simply needed to lay still for long enough everyone to leave...maybe they'd forget something or at least have enough leftover wood for him to warm himself with. Sighing into the fabric, he got comfortable in anticipation for a long wait, but before he could ease himself into a suitable position to even consider taking a nap, something brushed against him.
Luciel didn't dare try to move to see what seemed to be looming over him, though the way the fabric moved was cause for concern. With a bit of effort, the fabric was pulled from around the chimera to reveal their form crouched in the sprint position with. Their drawn sword held backwards like a dagger, the flat of the blade against their sleeve while they looked up at the Mindskitter.

Their ears folded back, pupils sharpening as they barked, "Give zeht back!" and rose to stand. Looking between the group and the abomination, their expression detailed the panic of having been discovered and it was exercised with a flourish of the small blade. The brandishing display was more of a distraction to throw The Mindskitter off guard before Luciel grabbed the cloth with his free hand to wrench it from the creature's grip. Still in the creature's hold, he tried to cover himself in the fabric as if they were more afraid of the group's eyes than the abomination almost within arm's reach. As terrible of an idea as it would be in a combat scenario to burden yourself with bundling up in fabric, it earned Luciel enough of a grip on the tapestry to pull away with the aid of his now free hand prying off the tendril.

On the topic of bad ideas had in the throes of panic, running in the dark with essentially a bag over your head is a good way to end up somewhere you don't want to be. Luciel discovered this philosophy the moment he lifted his hand to pull up the makeshift hood to see where he was going, only to crash into a stalactite. A few sparks kicked up from where his sword was flung to the ground, Luciel staggering back a few steps in a daze before toppling over. The tapestry settled and the spell resumed, only lightly obscuring him as he knelt with a groan and checked himself for damages before beginning to search for his sword.

[Bubsy 2]

Tap, Tap, Tap...

Rose's staff served as a guide to help her negotiate the hill that led into the cave. The rhythmic tapping would herald her approach to the others. Shafts of light followed her down, dissipating into nothingness as they hit the depths of the cavern. What a curious situation... Rose found herself bereft of her immediate memories. She could not seem to remember exactly how she arrived at this point, but this appeared to be a place of some importance. She hoped, at the very least, she would find some answer below. As she descended into the darkness the reverberations of some distant beast or machine joined the sound of her staff tapping of against the stone floor. The mossy floor crunched underneath her, uncertainty both behind and ahead. But it seemed to be that there was only one way to go, and that was forward.

Ahead was a light. A bonfire filling the area around it with warmth and a reprieve from the choking darkness around it. Past it was a group, leaving as she entered. She examined the party. What an odd gathering, the witch observed, glancing over each member of the ragtag team. The most notable was a floating creature, an Aberration, Rose surmised. She'd read of creatures like it before. Beside it there was a man, a knight, by the look of him, a small fishperson, and a man wearing a mask with an odd set of features. The knight she had already disliked on principle. She'd had her experience with knights and their kind didn't exactly get a long with hers. The fishperson the witch found to be quite frankly comical looking. The other was an enigma, covered in armor but clearly not human.

And then there was the other. The chimera. Rose gave a small frown to herself. Such creatures are a mistake, she surmised. Of course she had nothing against the chimera himself, only the concept of his existence. Rose considered such work taboo, a disgusting mistreatment of life. Of course there was an element of hypocrisy to the witch's statement, considering the source of her magic, but she had her opinion nonetheless.

The witch beat the tip of her staff against the ground, hoping to gain the attention of the group. She called aloud, a wicked grin filling her face, "Why hello there! What an interesting party you are. Might I humbly request to join your gathering? You have the pleasure of meeting Rose..." She momentarily paused. Two thoughts crossed her mind. The first was to make up a surname, they would no doubt expect one. The second was that there was little chance she would tell the group, with their knightly escort, that she was a witch. She continued, barely missing a beat, "Rose Red. My parents must have had a very odd sense of humor, you see. I am a mage beyond compare, an expert of the arcane arts." The witch gave an exaggerated bow filled with flourish. She was hardly what most would consider a mage, but she was sure that she could play the part.

Of course with her black pointy cap one could surmise she was a witch, but she had not though of that.

She strode towards the group without invitation, moving in a way that was somewhere between a skip and a step. Rose was a big fan of such fanfare. She would say it made her seem cute, but others would call it strange. Such was merely one of her many eccentricities. She looked at the Mindskitter. If it cared to examine her it would no doubt have its curiosity piqued. Rose possessed a wealth of knowledge- of the world, of the arcane, of the dark arts, and of much more. She was greatly well read. In fact, it would almost seem odd the amount of information the young girl possessed. Of places near and far, of experiences that seem much too great for a girl nearing her mid twenties.

Rose played the part of the enigma very well.

She tipped an imaginary hat at the Abberation, "How very interesting to see a creature such as you," She looked at the rest of the group. She had yet to give the group a clear chance to speak, "In fact all of you are very interesting. I think our alliance will be fortuitous for us all!"

Of course she had yet to be officially invited into their party, but she now gave them a chance to speak, waiting with her grin still firmly placed on her face.

[rechonq]

Echo was quite excited at hearing the thing respond to him. He bounced a little in his joy. He would be able to communicate with it, and evidently without connection anymore. "So, I do have quite a few questions about you now, and the opportunity to easily speak is to much to pass up. How clear do my thoughts need to be for you to hear them? Like could I still have private thoughts? If I thought of an image would you be able to see it as well? It is nice to know you don't actually steal the memories as well. Since it seems you just have to learn to survive, can you learn of your own volition or do you have to obtain it from someone else? Also can you link me to others? How deeply can you search one's mind? I'm sorry if this is a lot of questions, but you are the first person I can really talk to."

It seemed the knight asked about a Bright Road, and it seemed this Mindskitter knew all of these endless halls. He beckoned for Amheurst and Echo to follow him and to bring Gish along with them. He wasn't sure why Gish had to go with them. She had her own free will, in fact so did he. It would seem intresting to follow the Mindskitter, but he wasn't keen on being ordered around. He had wandered a path called the Bright Road before as well. It didn't actually seem that bright, but it was lit by some strange lamps. He was quite intrigued by them and their numbers.

The Mindskitter began to wander off towards where he thought the Bright Road was. He was probably right, but then he stopped to pick up some old tapestry. It seemed to turn out to be a mistake because a strange boy with antlers and bunny ears popped up with a sword in rather frantic panic. Fortunately it didn't attack the Mindskitter, but Echo was beginning to wonder how this creature has survived for any amount of time with seemingly endless knowledge, but so curious and thoughtless at the same time. Randomly reaching out to strangers minds and moving things without care. It was certainly reckless, but perhaps luck is better than skill any day.

As the jackalope boy ran off and apparently knocked himself out on a rock, another visitor came to the group. This campfire, was becoming a rather bustling spot in these halls. Echo didn't really notice before how many halls actually connected to this room. It was like a hub or epicenter. She was a rather pretty girl, but he was pretty deformed and barely looked human himself. He wasn't sure how the white armor came to be stuck to him or how his skin turned grey. He was pretty sure he was human though. Something in him told him he was human. Anyways this Ruby Red claimed to be a mage and wore a large pointy hat. She certainly did look odd. Like someone he met before who called herself a witch, but that person was old, very old, in fact she looked older than possible, but this girl was quite the opposite. She seemed rather friendly, but her smile held some sort of secret. He began to write in the ground again for her. Hi Rose, I'm Echo.

[squints]

Cyrano twitched his ears back and forth as he watched and listened to the goings on. He didn't want to be left behind and so would bring up the rear of the group should they move off down one of the many halls. He had attached himself to the group, despite the fact that no one seemed to have noticed him.
"Yes. Stealth is good" he agreed with himself aloud and rose again to his full height to pick up his statue and orb in preparation to follow. He would leave them at some point. When he found the right place.

[Gentlemanvaultboy]

"Hey, is it done? What'd it want?" Gish asked as the creature turned and started floating away, seemingly removing itself from the men's minds. They didn't look any different on the outside, but what if they had tentacles in their heads now? Her mother had told her stories about things that could do that, wrapping their tentacles round people's thoughts and never letting them go, dragging them around by the brain. Then she realized that was stupid, because if it could do that it would have done it when it had been in her brain and she would trust the tentacles. The paradoxical fact was that tentacles were still the absolute number two thing she distrusted in the entire world, and that her still feeling this way meant the tentacles before her were probably trustworthy. It made her head hurt.

Luckily she didn't have to think about it for long, because the tentacles uncovered something else to occupy her thoughts. A small creature, only a little bigger than her, grabbed at the covering the Leech Witch Tentacles thing had pulled off of it with the sort of desperate panic that she was intimately familiar with. She grabbed at the brim of her hat in sympathy, pulling it even more snugly around her head, and silently rooted for the Pink Deer Rabbit thing. It wrenched itself free of the tentacles and ran off recklessly into the dark, then managed to brain itself on a rock. She opened her mouth to say something, but then her thoughts were interrupted again.

The absolute number one thing she distrusted in the entire world walked into the circle of firelight and banged her staff.

Look at that hat! Who did she think she was fooling!?

More than any information about tentacles her mother had told her about witches, and that was only compounded by the stories she'd heard in her nighttime lurkings in the nearby village. Witches were horrible creatures that stole men's souls and women's breath. They ate children and conspired with all kinds of devils. They flew around naked in the form of beautiful woman and everywhere their shadow touched was rendered barren. Her mother had been very particular not to go out far into the swamp, because according to her they shared it with a particularly horrible witch by the name of...

"Why hello there! What an interesting party you are. Might I humbly request to join your gathering? You have the pleasure of meeting Rose..."

Gish felt her stomach drop out and froze like a stone, while at the same time a nagging little voice of disbelief was born in her head. There was no way. There was no way that this was the woman whose cackling form occasionally still haunted her nightmares. She had never seen the trickster witch herself. Her mother had kept her close at hand throughout until the day when the witch had quit the swamp for greener pastures, and she'd had no desire to test her luck before then. In addition the witch had never come to them because, according to her mother, they were friends to the gods of the swamp and those gods would whip up seven shades of hell on the witch if she tried to trespass on their land. The woman before her looked the part from the stories, though. Then again the stories only mention that she was extremely beautiful. Then again this woman was so beautiful Gish actually felt a bit of anger welling up amid the rising tide of sheer terror.

Rose continued speaking. Rose Red. A little joke. A Mage. Gish desperately wanted to believe that. She grasped at any reason she could that her mother and all the parents of the village had made it all up, because what could she do if it was true? If the woman was the Trickster Witch that had supposedly disappeared from the swamp some time ago she would be hexed if she tried to warn the others. Her eyes shifted to the knight. That was it! Knights fought witches. That had ways to tell, surely. If the knight thought she was a witch, that would be that! If he didn't, that meant she probably wasn't a witch. That confrontation would decide it.

If she turned out to be a witch Gish did not want to be around for whatever happened when that was revealed. She looked for a good excuse to get out of the circle of light, and heard the groans of the Pink Deer Rabbit thing. "I'm, uh, I'm gonna go see if that person is okay. Won't be long, I'll be back in just a little. I, uh, I mean, we're the same size so maybe they won't run away if I go up to them? Yeah, that's right. Right." she said, trying and failing to keep the nerves out of her voice, before moving with forced calm toward the slightly obscured Pink Deer Rabbit thing.

It was scrambling around looking for something, and she felt her foot knocked against something in her path that clattered a small ways forward. She reached down and took the small blade in her hand, then flipped it around and extended it to him hilt first. Normally she wouldn't do something like that, but she was no fighter and figured that maybe they should be armed. "Hi." She said. She'd never really introduced herself before and wavered awkwardly. "I'm, well, call me Gish." Something else, something else, people said other things after introducing themselves. She glanced back at the witch. This had to be normal. "I like your cloak." she blurted out.

[Gisk]

The Bright Road. Though far fallen from its glory days, it was still the best lit single stretch of tunnel in the Endless Halls. The Bonfires burned bright, but they were few and often far between, and most of them weren't connected to the Bright Road. Whether or not the Road is endless, no one knows, but the lights do stop, about thirty leagues past The Sun's Grave. It was from this subterranean stronghold that Sir Fazra set forth, bearing the warhammer Lightbringer.

She held the mythic weapon by the very end of its half, resting it on her shoulder as she walked past the last light with a cavalier swagger. The bubble of light she carried was almost as large as the one cast by the Bright Road's lamps, but unlike the lamps who flickered from their gas flame, hers was a steady glow, produced by magic from the head of her hammer. Many could not stand to look at Lightbringer when Fazra held it, and she was actually one of them. And so she held it so that the glowing head rested behind her left shoulder, shedding light both in front and behind her, without shining it directly in her eyes. Her quest was vague, she was the next in a long line of knights who had been sent into the end of the Bright Road's light. Would she come back when no one else had? Was Lightbringer the game changer that her Lord Commander had toted it as, or was her possession of it simply an excuse to send her to her death?

It didn't matter much to her. She was one of the biggest knights in Sun's Grave, and she considered herself the strongest. Lightbringer proved it, it didn't shine so bright in anyone else's hands. Would it bring her back safe and sound, with all the glory the quest afforded? Or would it be her strength that saw her through? She was ready for everything as she trekked into the darkness.