[IC] DUNGEON CRAWL!!: The Stylized Dungeon Crawling Adventure Game

[Descartes]

Episode 3

In their time in the dungeon, the adventuring party consisting of James Hawthorne, the forlorn knight; Gabriel Knotts, a circus performer way in over his head; Rasa, a mysterious robot with little known about her past; and Billy Bane, the reluctant adventurer dragged into the dungeon by his own sword, found themselves running around through the labyrinthine twists and turns the dungeon had to offer. Having already been attacked by a demon, it was no wonder the ruins were referred to as the "City of Fallen Angels".

Their last exploits led them to meet a wonderful artificer known as Gyver. Like all things in the dungeon, he was looked onto with suspicion. Nonetheless, he helped the party, James in particular, giving them access to an invention of his: the Teleportation Crystal. The crystal, coagulated with a special serum Gyver had, turned into a small lump of charcoal. It was trusted later in the hands of the knight, James Hawthorne.

After the adventurers said their goodbyes to the artificer, they were met once again with the seemingly endless corridors which all looked the same. The same columns which stood erect at the center of the halls, the same turns, the same corridors, and even the same signs every once and a while which mislead the party into believing they went in a circle.

As they trekked, however, they decided to investigate one such corridor after hearing running water- unusual for a desert. There, they faced deadly monsters to save one of their colleagues, a Lily Rhine, who was trapped. Upon being saved, Lily joined the party, hers apparently having gone missing and presumably killed; or were they?

The party later found themselves at a clearing only one flight of stairs upward, but visible from the hall from afar.

[Neobullseye]

[/i]...Great. Now what do I do?[i]
From the bottom of the small stream, the Sprite was pondering about the situation she'd managed to get herself into, and more importantly, how to get out of it again. Although the monsters could not reach her were she was now, neither could she leave this place. The one blessing she had was that,seeing as she didn't have to eat and could 'breathe' underwater, she could stay down here as long as she wanted. The bad news; it seemed like the monsters weren't planning on leaving anytime soon either. Those damned beasts... They were over Lily and her party so fast, half of them were dead before they even knew what had happened to them. And with the party so swiftly decimated, the remainder didn't stand a chance either. The only reason she was still alive was luck; if this stream had been even a few more metres away, the beasts would've likely caught up to her and torn her to shreds. The memory caused a shiver to go up Lily's spine. As far as she could remember, she'd never been this close to actually dying before. And the screams... She could still hear the screams of battle, echoing in her mind.
..Wait a minute. Those voices... Those weren't the voices of her comrades! But that meant... Did another group of adventurers stumble upon her watery prison? Maybe she could finally get out of this place now! Quickly but carefully, Lily made her way to the surface, ever so slightly peeking her head up the surface to see what was going on.
It was indeed as she had hoped; other adventurers had crossed her path, drawing the attention of the monsters that had pinned her down, the later of which now had their backs turned to her. Not wanting to let this chance go to waste, Lily shot out of the water, drawing several globs of water up with her, which she then shot at one of the monsters from behind. As it turns out, water moving at high speed and forced into a small package can do a lot of damage.

In he end, the battle went by about as quickly as the one that had cost her previous party their lives; only this time the roles were reversed. With all danger now a thing of the past, Lily swam towards the edge of the water. "Thank you!" the Sprite said. "If you hadn't come along, I fear I might've never gotten out of there..."

[Professor_Wyvern]

Gabriel Knotts beamed a large smile to the Sprite, as he continued juggling three throwing knives. "It's what heroes do!" Gabriel smiled as he continued juggling his blades. He quickly stopped juggling and returned two of the throwing knives onto the right holsters, and placed one in the left holster. He tapped his left temple as he peered around the area, at the corpses of the horrific monsters they had fought. "Now where did my other three knives en- AHA!" Gabriel quickly ran to one of monster corpses that was in the shallow end of the pool of water. Gabriel quickly saw his blades stuck within the monster's torso, all around the same place, which would make it much easier for collection. "If only he had an actual Bullseye target on his torso, it would be much more entertaining, plus I can accurately judge my knife-throwing skills. Oh well, the thing is dead, and that was the point of this particular encounter. It was much less about style than efficiency." Gabriel mused to himself.

After he finished that piece of dialogue, Gabriel climbed on-top of the monster's chest, as he began pulling out the throwing knives. Gabriel snickered a bit at the monster. "And you thought you had a sharp instincts..." Gabriel chuckled a bit, as wiped under his left eye. "Ah, puns you amuse me so..." He said while he pulled the first out of the three knives in the monster's torso. It was stuck in there, and Gabriel had to wiggle the blade quite a bit, and as soon as he finally jerked the blade out, he placed it in the left holster. Then while he was pulling out the other two knives he began to sing in his beautiful singing voice.

"The knives went true/
And little did that beast knew/
That heroes most mighty would come to this glimmering water/
Heroes on a quest to save the Monarch's fair daughter!/
And while in the process saved a maiden so fair!/"

Gabriel quickly procured the last of the two of the knives, placing them in the final holster slots. He jumped off the monster's torso as he returned to the edge of the water where the Sprite was. Gabriel eagerly extended out his right hand, "Gabriel Knotts, Freelance Adventurer and Professional Entertainer! I'm glad we saved you out of... Well whatever mess that was." Gabriel peered at the fallen monsters, "Say, what did they want with you anyway?"

[The Roman07]

Rin trudged along the hot sand playing with his newly aquired payment, a shiny nugget sized piece of raw glass. He held it up to the blistering sun and watched the many different colors emerge out of it. Half forgetting about the armor-clad employer huffing and puffing along behind him in a full suit of obviously brand new shiny plate mail. "Rin told you that it would be a long walk. Maybe you should at least take the helmet off?" Rin gestured lifting off the imaginary hat on his head, then proceeded to throw the glass rock straight up and catching it as it came back down.

"SHUT IT LIZARD!" The Knight echoed the words through his iron helm. "I as a knight must be ready for battle at all times.... *pant* I've crossed the artic tundras of Winterhelm, the tropical forests of Blackwater....*gasp*.... the mountanious..... *pant* mountains of....*CherTHUNK* *Clank* *Crash*. Rin turned around to see the "Knight" sprawled out on the sand. Stopping to see if he was okay. "Do you want some of Rin's waterskin?" He asked. No answer... using his foot he gently nudged the knight on his side to see a rather large pool of blood underneath him. Quickly Rin rolled him over to reveal that he collapsed on his own sword.

"Tsk tsk tsk... Poor man will never save that princess he kept talking about... OH WELL!" Rin shouted to nobody as he left the body there and continued on towards the large ruins that he was paid to guide the knight to, intending to make camp until nightfall in which he would make his way back after. "Maybe Rin would find that princess he was looking for? She might need a guide.... Rin wonders if she has more glass hmmm."

[Lindow Amamiya]

Rasa takes a quick sweep over the area, the robot making sure that all possible threats were neutralized. Thankfully, the battle had gone remarkably well for them. Rasa had stuck to the middle of the fight, using her magical energy and combat skills to defend the others and prevent counterattacks on their party. She'd even blocked an attack with her arm, without suffering the kind of damage that such a move would normally inflict. A good clue that she wasn't exactly a normal person.

Once she was satisfied that all possible threats had been dealt with, Rasa turns her attention towards the new person, speaking in a voice that was just a bit more monotone than most people's: "Greetings. And I am glad we came along when we did, then. Do you require further assistance, or are you alright now?"

[IncredibleBee]

"Well, Gabriel." James responded, wrenching his hammer from a beast's skull. "Assuming they weren't mindless and hungry, I could think of far too many reasons why someone would kidnap a young, pretty lady."

He shook excess brain matter off the weapon. "I mean right off the top there's the slave trade. She could have been a ritual sacrifice, or perhaps they intended to cook her before eating her. And then there's the satisfaction of more primal urges. It's a really good thing we found her when we did."

[Neobullseye]

"I don't know," the Sprite answered Gabriel as the latter helped her out of the water, making sure to grab his hand in such a way that the webbing in beteen her fingers wouldn't get in the way. Of course, as she'd proven moments ago, she could've easily gotten out herself, but Lily figured that it would be rude to ignore one of the persons who pretty much just saved your life. "Monsters attack adventurers all the time, right? I wouldn't know the reasoning of a beast. As far as I know, they just wanted to eat me. They... likely did the same with the others already..." Thomas. Carl. Maria. Roy. All of them, dead, torn apart by the monsters. The memory caused Lily to fall silent, bting the inside of her cheeks. She had no choice; she had to go along with these people. Even if she didn't know them at all, the only alternative she had was to stay stuck here. The list one of the group's members rattled off made the non-choice even easier.
"Uhm...," she started again, nervously shuffling in place. "Can I come with you guys? I promise I won't be a burden."

[Parser]

+"I dunno about this one, Billy. I don't trust her."+ The sword said as Billy wiped off the viscera.
"Is this about the Render?", Billy asked.
+"No. Well, okay, maybe a little. She totally-"+
"Sword-", Billy responded as he retrieved Sunset, "-for the last time, there is no such thing as kill-stealing. It's dead."
He shouldered the pot and walked over to the group, sticking out his hand to the newcomer. "Pleased to have you along! I'm Billy Bane, and this is my sword, which is called, uh, sword."
+"Bah!"+
"Don't mind him. He's just mad that I don't kill everything. So what's your name?"

[Lindow Amamiya]

Rasa seems unperturbed by being ignored. "It seems like a reasonable assumption that those creatures would have attacked anyone passing by. I am not sure if the reason beyond that matters. Regardless, I have no objections to you accompanying us." Rasa glances around again. "Though we should probably keep moving, we don't know if the noise from the battle has attracted anything else."

[Professor_Wyvern]

Gabriel smiled at the Sprite, "Another fair maiden joining our merry band of adventurers! OF course it is acceptable!" Gabriel glanced at Rasa, "Oh right, monsters, yes noise would attract them. Anyway, so... which way shall we go then?" Gabriel inquired as he peered at the rest of the group.

[Neobullseye]

The positive news quickly cheered Lily up. "Thanks!," she chirped, a wide smile appearing on her face -- which was instantly replaced by a flustered expression when the warrior names Billy asked for her name. "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't want to be rude, especially not after you all saved my life and everything. I mean, uhm... My name's Lily, Lily Rhine!," she ranted, shaking his hand the entire time.

After this somewhat bizarre greeting, Lily turned around to face the other two people in her savior's party. "Uhm... Can we go that way first?," the Sprite spoke up, pointing in the direction she wanted to go. "Like I said, I lost my bag when those beasts attacked us. I'd like to see if there's anything still salvageable." She didn't make any illusions about her comrades still being alive...

[IncredibleBee]

"Yeah, let's go." James agreed, shouldering his hammer. "If your bag's about, we best collect it before it's scattered by rats."

"...Name's James, by the way." he added. "That's Gabriel, and Rasa."

[Descartes]

Further down the clearing, though not much further, the sounds of snarling could be heard. Those sounds were accompanied by pounding and apparent scratching- a fight was going on. They were large, almost human sized and covered with hair. They had stood on strong hindlegs. A pair of sharp front teeth stuck from the top of their lip, a stubby pair of ears poking from the top of their heads. Their three-fingered hands ended in sharp claws and a pair of twisting horns shot through their skulls. They seemed to be fighting each other- a territorial display. As one turned its head toward the adventurers, the other caught it off guard, scratching at its neck and drawing blood. It hissed as it pounced onto the other, ripping away at its tendons.

Covered in blood, it looked toward the adventurers. A glare came across its face. Though it did not speak, it seemed to communicate through its eyes. "You're next" was what it seemed to be signalling.

[Professor_Wyvern]

Gabriel glanced at the human sized hairy creatures. Gabriel stared at the carnage these beasts displayed as they began slaughtering each other for territory. Gabriel glanced back at the party, "Music tames the savage beast. Allow me to see if we can tame one and have a cool new friend!" Gabriel quickly moved his backpack up to his front as he opened it up. He rummaged through his bag as he pulled out his flute, and shut the bag and returning it onto his back proper. Gabriel began to play a soft harmony, trying to lull the beast into a calm demeanor. Gabriel watched the creature closely as he continued playing his melody. Gabriel stopped for a moment, as he peered at the other two. "I hope this works, that thing would be cool to have as a friend! Just imagine what he could do at the Circus!" Gabriel then quickly returned to playing his melody.

[Lindow Amamiya]

Rasa looks at the beasts, and quietly switches over to combat protocols. She points a hand in the direction of the beast, and summons up mana, preparing for the fight that was about to erupt. But she doesn't immediately release the prepared magical energy. "You believe you can tame this beast?" Rasa asks Gabriel, without turning to look at him. She doesn't know how likely Gabriel is to succeed, but either way she's prepared to throw up a barrier infront of her allies, should the beast try to attack.

[Descartes]

As the halfling played his tune, the tall, furry, horned creature hopped up to him in curiosity. It seemed to have dropped its more hostile disposition, taking on a more calm and docile appearance similar to a domestic animal. Its once vicious movements turned into what one might expect from a bunny rabbit. Curiously, it tilted its head at Gabriel. The beast chittered its teeth as it brought its nose down to Gabriel's instrument. It inhaled, sniffing around the flute, putting its nose over the hole momentarily and stopping the flow of air as well as the sound.

Alarmed, the beast jumped back, still closely examining the halfling while ignoring the other adventurers.

[IncredibleBee]

"....Did Gabriel just make the situation better?" James asked, keeping his shield raised. "It's not even attacking one of us. Maybe it's already domesticated."

[Professor_Wyvern]

Gabriel paused his tune for a moment as he saw the creature was alarmed. "Hold on friend, I will play. In fact, I can teach you probably! But first..." Gabriel peered at the others, "See, he's friendly!" Gabriel turned his attention tot he beast, "Do you want some horse-meat pal? I've still got some." Gabriel quickly rummaged through his bag as he pulled out a large chunk of horse-meat and offered it to the creature. "We are friends here. I just want to be your friend. I hope you want to be my friend." He said to the creature offering a heart-felt smile.

[Descartes]

The beast waited and stared as Gabriel stopped his flute to grab something from his bag. It closed its eyes as if waiting for a surprise, but wasn't quite still. It always moved somewhat, even if slightly. Either its leg shook or its head bobbed. As the halfling took out the meat, the beast once again lowered his head to sniff the chunk, going around it and examining it like a dog. Determining it was safe, the beast opened its jaws revealing two rows of sharp teeth before it nibbled onto the horse meat, getting to Gabriels hand but not sopping, biting his fingers.

[Professor_Wyvern]

Gabriel glanced at his fingers, as he noticed the sharp teeth did pierce skin, and he was bleeding. Gabriel glanced at the creature and chuckled a bit, "Well, I suppose you were really hungry huh? IT isn't that bad of a wound, but it is something I'd like to show you how to avoid. As people don't like being bitten by animals while offering food." Gabriel lowered his hand, that wasn't bit, "Would you mind if I pet you?" Gabriel asked the creature, as he began moving his hand in a petting motion in the air. He peered at the beast and smiled, "You are a magnificent creature you know." Gabriel glanced back at the others for a moment, still doing his petting gesture, "See, everything is fine." He returned his attention to the beast.