Ruin's Dawn: Conquering Hive

[Nir'wei]

Heathens with no respect for the Labyrinth. His work gone. These were his papers, then? From the way he spoke, it was somewhat clear that the burned man was not a part of the Aukari incursion. Did that make him a potential ally? He couldn't even begin to speculate. He thought them all nothing more than more of Faldrun's henchmen, and they hadn't even had time to correct him before he fell still. Elisabeth could at least confirm that he wasn't dead, not yet. If only they'd had something else alive in this place for him to kill and transfer its life back into him. "Do it," he told Balthazar in a clipped tone, using Cold, Myrth, Squeak, Kin and Castile to search the remainder of the clear ground for any other hints or clues that a wolf's keen senses could detect. Sovar watched the archway of skulls. Greyhide remained by Nir'weis side.

"It makes sense now, what this feeling is," he said only when he was certain that there was nobody else in the room. "Tests. Traps, not necessarily set by Faldrun. Something else, made by his Mistress," he said with a gesture to the burned man. "Something ancient. A necromancer? A Lich?" Could they use all of this to their advantage? Only possibly, if they were found to share a common interest in removing the invaders made by Faldrun. On the other hand, if it was dangerous... well, they'd have two enemies to fight for control of the device. "Illusions or enchantments meant to lead us by the nose towards danger. Fantastic. Elisabeth, while Balthazar handles the man, can you dissipate these fires with Defiance?" It was contrary to everything he'd said before, true enough, but he looked visibly more relaxed now, with Cold, Myrth, Squeak and Kin all standing at the archway of skulls, staring into the alluring depths yet resisting the pull of curiosity now that they knew it was nothing but a trick of their mind. Like before, it was... the scent of prey, wafting through the air for them all. Nir'wei felt it was like a man with his back turned. A perfect opportunity just waiting to be taken. "These fires clearly aren't a trap. They're the work of an attack on the current occupants." It still didn't explain why it didn't feel as hot as it should have, but Cyshe and Gaddwin had said nothing on the topic, so he could only assume it was the work of something else. "Besides. When he wakes up again, perhaps he'll see it as a gesture of peace that we tried to salvage what little of his work we could find."

He approached one of the piles and tried to make out some of the writing of the unburned sheets. "Plus, it'd be nice to know who this 'Mistress' of his is, before traipsing into her domain uninvited. Plus, the time we lose here trying to learn more about what lies ahead might be gained back with interest, should we discover something more about the traps and pitfalls that inevitably await us. Yes?"

[Ralgar Warborn]

Moving through the flaming room, Ralgar stuck close to the back of his team, hugging their pathway. Only then did he notice the petrified sticks for walls, glancing behind him for just a moment. A small detail, one the warrior didn't think to pay much mind to at first, but perhaps something that would be important later. In a situation like this, it was hard to tell what information mattered and what would simply be Immortal trickery or pride. Why his mother, who had neglected to ever see him during his life until now, had chosen him to deal with an Immortal was beyond him. Perhaps she truly knew nothing about him, where he had gone, the tribe he had joined.

Eventually, sweat pouring down his forehead, they made it across the pathway and to the person Balthazar had told them about. The person was burned badly, though Ralgar imagined the smoke was doing just as much bad. If they didn't leave this place soon there was no telling what damage this place would do to them. While he was no healer in his tribe, he knew the dangers of fire did not end with just burns, that the smoke could do just as much harm. Balthazar said he could heal the man and both Elisabeth and Nir'wei shared their opinions, the tribal man glancing to the group, standing tall.

"Without his information, we may die. We can afford the time. I'll help defend, but we should not do so here" he nodded to Elisabeth as she suggested a place easier to defend. "If the place we defend has a small, narrow hall I can help hold it. Raskalarn's blood and the blessing of Death have given me gifts that might help us, should we be attacked, but I can not use it in the same fight as another" he said with a grim look to the team, knowing it would be best for him to hold a hallway if he had to. "Wherever we defend, whatever powers we do or don't use, it can't be here."

Then, however, Nir'wei suggested that Elisabeth lower the flames with "Defiance". Ralgar didn't know what it meant, but if that was a power she had then he would be willing to stay where they were. In the meanwhile, Ralgar removed his cloak from his body, the bearskin that meant much to him. Instead, he placed it in his arms, the long sleeves of tattoos now on display. Death on one arm, nature on the other. A reminder of his home, he thought, as he looked forward to his team. He did not know many of these people, he didn't care for the mission and yet here he was.

With a thought, he turned to Nir'wei. "You know my people, you know we know little of Immortals. But we have battled Immortal tricks together once" he said openly, for any to chime in. "Raskalarn did not acknowledge me beyond two words. Her son. But I have not met that woman before. I know she is my mother, my father told many stories. I have many gifts from her blood. But she has never seen me, never held me as mothers do. Yet she addressed me as someone she 'chose'. And you, and all of us" he thought aloud, his tone harsh and guttural as he spoke of his mother. Perhaps bitterness was clouding his judgement or giving him thoughts that were unrealistic, but he had been told so many stories of just how wonderful Raskalarn was.

Yet she gave him nothing.

"What if that was not her? What if we are not here on the wishes of Immortals, but whatever is drawing us to this place?" he asked, pausing for a moment before explaining himself, gesturing down the hallway. "We see images down there, like cats, that make us want to go in. Art pieces showing us something unique, to each of us. Everything is pulling us towards this dungeon, including the Immortals. How do we know we can trust their judgement now?"

~~Haltunga~~ Common~~

[Tor'ree]

Tor’ree felt a growl bubble up in the back of her throat when Nir made a quip about her being able to see in the dark. Yes, she could, but last the woman checked smoke was not darkness. It also stung the eyes and made it hard to breath on top of the pain from the flames. Not their heat, but the light that the flames created made her eyes hurt at her sight to blur some. Though she was not completely blind, the woman followed the others to the person in trouble hanging back some to try and watch as she called for Kae’laen.

If anything, perhaps the wolf could help guide her through the smoke. The last thing she wanted to deal with was the rest of the group getting upset with her. Though most of the time Tor’ree would not care they were her teammates on this mission. And as such needed to make sure to keep in their “good favor”. She watched as the group tried to decide whether or not to help the man that they had found. When the man spoke of what was burning, the woman turned keeping her head down and looked around. If possible, the Sev’ryn would try to find a piece of paper that was not on fire to see what the other people had destroyed.

Did the man know something that was written on his papers that the other group did not want them to know? Tor’ree stopped and looked when Elizabeth explained about seeing a cat at the end of the tunnel. She looked towards the opening and felt a chill run down her spine seeing all the skulls that made up the entrance. Tor’ree sent Kae’laen to see what he could find to learn about the tunnel before anyone went down it. The longer she looked though the less the thing looked like a cat to her, but it almost resembled none other than her familiar staring back at them. As time passed the smoke around them was causing her throat to go dry. What the woman would not give for a cold glass of water that would quench her thirst.

“Are you sure it’s a cat?” Tor’ree asked still covering her face trying to talk past her dry throat, “it looks different to me than that.”

[Fate]

Ambience

Elisa reached out towards the flames with her defiance to determine if there was anything odd about the flames. As she reached out and touched the flames she could feel that it was different but only in its sources. The flames were burning away merrily with no concern for how hot the room was or should have been. If the temperature was being controlled it was by something other then the flames. Though as she touched the flames, she could feel the influence of Faldrun and his mark. These fires had been started to destroy what they burned. Elisa almost got the impression of a bunch of toddlers who had been set free and given permission to destroy.

All made it through and after some conversation they decided it would be best to heal the hallucinating man of his wounds and see what insight he could give them instead of moving one. Balthazar’s Flames of Lovalus began to spread over the man and the healing began to take place. It was difficult work as he was surrounded by the others, smoke and above all the call to go down the tunnel. As the other watched the healing began to take place.

It was while they were doing this that one of them Tor’ree tried to read the paper. It was hard as paper naturally burns quickly, but even in this case it would take a bit of time to get through the stack. Near the bottom of a pile it appears there had once been a book and the leather cover had given the inner pages some respite. For Tor’ree though and her struggle with light. Reading to much was difficult. All she could really read was a simple statement. “……Intestine of a giant. Weather ……. true is impossible …………… Infused with energy that wants to ……… explore … inner self.” Much more then that was impossible to read unless she tried to rescue it from the fire.

The healing was working and while the wounds were still bad the man’s eyes popped open and he looked around panicked for a moment. For those who observed human behaviors there was something in the man’s eyes. Panic, but also cunning, and maybe something seen only in the fanatics expression. Balthazar would still need to focus on healing but the man was more awake then when they had found him.

He spoke his eyes looking at all of their hair. “You aren’t one of those Flame lovers.” He narrowed his eyes. “But the chance of such a large group of truth seekers coming after them isn’t possible.” the man paused and groaned as the pain was still being healed.

As they waited a gust of wind seemed to blow out of the tunnel carrying with it just the hint of the smell of water. The man’s face grew thoughtful. “She is calling.”

Info & Rules

• Due to the time-sensitive nature of this, I can not hold out for people to post. If you miss a round, there will (I'm afraid) be consequences. Please Communicate with me if something comes up for the week. There will still be consequence but different. Please post by Tuesday July 13 by 7:00 am Mountain Standard Time.
• This style of event moderation - with objectives etc - was created by a wonderful moderator named Crimson.

Objectives

!	Message from: Must-Do Objectives
	your off the hook this round.

!	Message from: Can-Do Objectives
	Use the opposites of sane and obsessive

[/quote]

[Balthazar Black]

35 Saun, 721

As soon as the consensus was reached, Balthazar went to work healing the man. Purple flames that emit a cool sensation manifested around Balthazar's hands and when he placed his hands over the burned man the cool purple fire spread over his body. It was slow work but the flesh that had been burned away seemed to come back little by little and other damage similarly began to fade. Focusing on the healing meant that Balthazar could not help the others with the recovery of the destroyed material which was unfortunate given he'd have been able to recall whatever he read verbatim so that copies could be created of what was lost. However saving the man who supposedly had written it all would hopefully help with the issue of recreation. Balthazar hated to see knowledge lost, one way or another.

As Balthazar healed the injured man another possibility crossed his mind- what if the man leapt to attack them? As soon as the thought rose, it fell. If the man did try to attack, Balthazar was the closest to him and more than equip to restrain him. It would end the fire because it would break concentration but if the man attacked, why heal him? Elisabeth made a point about finding better cover to heal the man but Balthazar was not sure they had the time. Fuego hadn't reported anything strange from the opening of the tunnel but Balthazar still didn't feel bringing the man through it was the best decision until more healing was done. Nir'wei asked Elisabeth to get rid of the flames and while Balthazar didn't agree with the decision because he knew how a Defier could sense fire, he did not protest. It was Nir'wei's decision to make and Balthazar did not see it being any more obstructive to them than staying to heal the man- which would be easier without the smoke and flames.

"Always cats with you," Balthazar mumbled while healing the victim after Elisabeth said she'd seen a cat down the corridor. Nir'wei began pulling the pieces together aloud when he was confident that there was no one else there with them and Balthazar listened, but focused on his healing. He'd never had to repair so much damage before and buildings were generally easier than people. Even if the burn looked like it was gone, how would he know that the healing fire had done all its job? Nir'wei theorized that the mistress might be something ancient like a necromancer of a lich and Balthazar grimaced slightly. He'd met a wide enough assortment of necromancers that he was hoping not to meet another and lich would be even worse. Balthazar made no comments as Nir'wei spoke because in general he agreed with the decision being made.

It was when Ralgar spoke of Raskalarn to Nir'wei that Balthazar's attention seemed to flutter for a moment. When it came to an ancient enemy, Nir'wei mentioned a lich or necromancer... but it very well could have been another mortalborn. Was Faldrun the type to breed children for his schemes? It seemed more like a... manipulator than all consuming fire. Regardless it was not Faldrun's motives or agents being questioned by Ralgar, but the one who'd brought them there. Ralgar expressed suspicion that it was not Raskalarn who'd summoned them and suspicion that the judgement of the immortals was not to be trusted. Balthazar understood the suspicion. This situation was far from normal, but it wasn't Balthazar's first abduction. He trusted the Immortal of Curses who was vague about their mission for the same reason he would have to go along with Raskalarn now.

"Consider this," Balthazar voiced his opinion though he probably shouldn't have while he was working, "If it was not Raskalarn, whoever summoned us still had the power to pull us from wherever we are and put us here. They did pull us all together and put us here. They gave us a goal- do we know if completing it will do what she said it will? No. What we do know, given that they can take us from anywhere and put us where they want, is that the only path out is forward." Whether or not they were truly tasked by Raskalarn was moot to Balthazar at this point. There was evidence that fanatics of fire had come through and attempted to destroy this place. If he would not stop them for Raskalarn, he would stop them to preserve the knowledge held in the Labyrinth. "We also know someone has given us the ability to understand each other, and I don't see why they'd do that unless they wanted us to succeed. This place is under attack, regardless of who brought us here, should we not help stop the attack?"

That was all he said on it before refocusing on his healing work. The man's eyes snapped open and for a moment it seemed that panic and insanity would consume him. Balthazar was prepared to restrain the burned one but the man calmed down a trill later and watched them all. As the man spoke, Balthazar listened and kept working. He thought to tell the man not to speak or move to make the work easier but they wanted information so he did not provide such instructions. "We are here to stop the Flame lovers," Balthazar, one of the biggest fire lovers who had only recently become indifferent to his old obsession, said. "Who is calling? Who is your mistress?" Hopefully the answers were the same... or maybe not.

► Show Spoiler

[Elisabeth Black]

Arc 721, 35 Saun

Nodding to Nir’wei, Elisabeth reached out, calling to the flames to see what she could discern. First blush, it was fire, burning away happily. There was nothing to indicate that it was anything other than fire doing what fire did. Excitedly dancing for her, there was nothing on the surface to indicate irregularities.

Moving just a bit deeper, that’s when things got interesting. The difference was in the source of the flames. Cursing softly, she knew what she felt and what it meant.

A few of their feelings had been spot on.

She quietly reported to the group what she had found, but Nir'wei in particular as he had asked for the information. “The fire itself is fire. Nothing odd about it. How it started seems to be the issue. I felt Faldrun’s influence wrapped within the flames. My interpretation of what I felt is the fires were set to destroy – I’m assuming the paper. And it was done by beings that were….immature? Dramatic? I can’t really say. Like children. That’s the impression I got anyways. And the fire isn’t concerned with the temperature. Whatever is making it not as hot in this room isn’t the fire.”

They had quickly come to a decision regarding the man, and Nir’wei asked her to disperse the fires. While Elisabeth was still concerned about being out the open, the healing had commenced and for the time being, it looked as though they were staying put.

Balthazar’s comment about cats caused a smile to flit across her lips, one he would see even though she declined to respond. She did, however, reply to the woman’s comment, nodding as she rose. “Cat. If you saw something different then it means whatever is in there is showing us different things. That can’t be good if it can get into our minds.” Ralgar said as much when he spoke of his concerns. Both his and Balthazar’s comments intrigued her. They equally had unique insights that she couldn’t ignore. Looking at Ralgar, she offered a bit of wry smile. “I don’t think its wise to trust anything right now, other than ourselves and each other. Balathazar has a point. We were brought here and likely whatever did that can keep us here.”

She went to work on the fires, knowing the sooner they were out, the sooner breathing would ease up for the group. Turning to the pile where the woman was, Elisabeth called to fire, connecting with the flames and gently began urging them to dissipate. If that worked, she would then tackle each fire, one by one, and repeated the procedure of connecting and easing the flames from existence. It was slow work and although she could probably have accomplished it much quicker by using some amount of force, the young mage had respect for the elements and preferred a more cautious approach.

Should that work, Elisabeth would return to Balthazar to assist with the man. While Balthazar concentrated on healing the man, the young mage desired to use her skills to talk to the man and see what information he might be willing to share. Smiling down at him, she tried to find a point of connection. “No, not Flame lovers. I love books. I grew up in the most amazing library. Knowledge should never be destroyed….” Her voice was soft, gazing down at him. She still wasn’t entirely convinced that the man wasn’t something other than what he appeared to be, but he had information that could help them.

The young mage would always choose to help others when she could, despite odds. She had already made her decision on the matter, so she let the others discuss as they wished, focusing on the man being healed and seeing what information they might be able to convince him to share.

“Can you tell me about the tests?”

OOC Note about Elisabeth's Necklace

Elisabeth is wearing her heirloom necklace. This necklace has its own moderator (Basilisk). Please check in with him as the necklace has been known to have odd reactions to things like magic...

[Ralgar Warborn]

As the healing went underway, Ralgar stood on guard, keeping his eyes focused around where possible. He wasn't much of a healer, nor was he there for conversation. But what he lacked in other skills he made up for with a big club and some powers that helped him swing it. As he did so, he made sure to cover his mouth and nose where possible, at least until the fires had been removed. If they could be. Ralgar didn't know much about Defiance, but the fire seemed influenced by Faldrun, at least that was what Elisabeth told them. He had no time to ask how she knew all those things, or to express fascination with her bond to the Elements. The same fascination was shared with Balthazar, and however he had been healing this man. For the moment, however, he would let them do their jobs.

Then, at Ralgar's concerns, Balthazar shared his opinion. Ralgar paused for a moment and turned to the man, nodding. "My people know little of the Immortals, we do not worship them or follow them" he started, knowing that it was a strange thing to most people. Worshipping Immortals seemed almost normal in Idalos. "Whichever power brought us here, Raskalarn or not, I do not trust their motives. I do not trust that we're not walking into a trap, that all of this is a setup and we're too late to stop anything. But you are right."

He paused for a moment, turning back to the hallway that Elisabeth had seen the cat down. "If there is a chance we help save this place, we fight forward" he agreed, his low voice almost growling with each word. It was never aggressive, it was just how he spoke. Haltunga was a harsh language and Scaltoth only made that more prominent. Everybody was a fighter of some kind, everybody could survive in harsh wilderness. Trying to work with stubborn, powerful warriors in the jungle could prove difficult. Which meant lots of shouting, lots of aggression.

As they spoke to the man he kept his back to them, facing the various hallways that might prove dangerous, club at his side. It was more important now, more than ever, to be cautious. Should anyone rush forward Ralgar would announce it, should he see anything down the hallways he would tell the others. That was all he could do now, at least until they had answers. Perhaps it would be an important job, perhaps nothing of interest would happen. But at the very least he would be doing the thing he did best - keeping them safe.

~~Haltunga~~ Common~~

[Nir'wei]

He wasn't sure where this sudden conversation had sprouted from concerning Immortals, but Nir'wei stared rather blankly as Ralgar, Balthazar, and even Elisabeth began to lament on it rather openly. "Immortals are strange creatures," he replied simply. "I have died twice and been in peril more times than I can count, faced the dangers and threats of fellow Immortals and creatures beyond even their scope, and my father has never once appeared before me yet. I only hear from others. I feel his vague influence on my life from whispers of whispers. Whatever he does, whatever reasons he has behind any of it, if there is any at all, are unknown to me, and to everyone I ask." He shrugged. "It is hardly beyond the realm of possibility she sees you differently than you believe. And even if it was... I think all of you overestimate the value of two words." No. He still quite adamantly believed that Raskalarn had tasked them with this mission, quite frankly because it made sense, and it was the simplest and most logical explanation based on the information they had at that moment.

In fact, to think there was something else at play made much, much less sense. If it was something else, why choose them, and not countless others around the world? If it chose him, why did it also choose to do the one thing absolutely guaranteed to piss him off, and intentionally deceive him? Balthazar and Elisabeth believed that they could do nothing anyway, but of course that wasn't true; they'd been summoned for a reason, so sitting down and doing absolutely nothing was an entirely reasonable strategy. Didn't matter if they couldn't leave. He was willing to bet the significance of Faldrun and his agents presented a very significant time-sensitive necessity.

As the half-mad half-burned man seemed to slowly recover under Balthazar's care, he glanced back. "We have been summoned to stop the fire-lovers. We carry tools and powers of their enemies... and I seek to remove them from this place, all places, around the world." He spoke with simple honesty. "Tell us more about this place and the rooms beyond it. Tell us about your research, the books they burned and why the fire-lovers burned them." There had to be motive to their madness. "What does Faldrun not want us to know. Tell us, and we will rid them from this place, with extreme prejudice." He sought to appeal to the madness in the man's eyes, to stoke the fires of revenge to coax a few extra words from him.

Ultimately, however, it felt like they weren't really making use of everything at their disposal, and he knew it. "Traps and enemies ahead. Useful information behind. I suppose it's another one of those, isn't it," he said aloud, mostly to himself. "It'd be better if we split ourselves. This room and everything within it could yet hold invaluable information. Lingering for too long leaves our enemies more time to prepare... and probably destroy everything else, as well. I'll send five ahead and keep two back. If she's calling," he said with a nod to the half-burned man, "then it's not a trap. Not yet." With that logic in mind, Greyhide, Cold, Myrth, Squeak and Kin moved forwards into the corridor of skulls, tightly-pressed down its long and straight passage towards the mirage on the other side. Castile and Sovar remained with Nir'wei at all times. "Go with them if you want. I'll maintain communication between the two groups and remain behind to see what else we can find." With that, he sat next to Balthazar and the old half-burned man.

He hadn't given a name, so Nir'wei came up with one. "So," he asked Wallace, "semi-important side-question I forgot to ask earlier. Who are you?" The guy looked like a hermit. Perhaps a cult leader or religious zealot, but judging from his rants about his work, more likely a scholar gone mad.

[Tor'ree]

Tor’ree looked when the woman talked about their minds being affected by whatever was there. It was a solid idea, there were many things that could cause them to see different things. Was it all good? No, not at all that was what the group would have to figure out. The Sev’ryn looked over as the group surrounded the man trying to ask as many questions as they could. With a slight shake of her head the woman turned back to what she was doing. Wincing, she dropped the page and stepped on the flames to put them out while reading it.

From what the woman could see it appeared to be the ravings of a madman. None of it made any sense of course most of it had been burned already. Shaking her hands some the black-haired woman felt the urge to cover the mark at the base of her skill hidden by her hair. Something felt wrong, but she was afraid to try and reach out to her patron Immortal to ask for assistance. Tor’ree was fairly certain that the female was not happy with her leaving Desnind without asking if she would be okay with it. Since though, she had tried to work on being a mercenary with the abilities that the woman had gained.

It would take time and that was something the group did not have. With a roll of her red eyes, Tor’ree kept her hood down and moved away from the rest to see about the pathway before them. Nir’wei spoke of sending five ahead of them, while leaving two behind. She turned to watch him assuming he had some kind of spirits with him. Though the Sev’ryn would not dare to guess the type, she only knew of Sev’ryn having familiars. Moving closer, the woman tried to keep the light behind her so that she could actually see what was before her.

Reaching up, the raven-haired woman rubbed her eyes glad that the area was mysteriously clear of smoke. Her gaze flitted back to the creature at the end of the hallway past the arch of skulls. Tor’ree looked down towards where Kae’laen was standing beside her before looking back down the corridor. Everything was entirely too quiet past the sound of burning pages around them. The woman stayed close to the wall turning to look back at the group as much as she could. No animals, no rubble from the fires, no enemies to attack them. Something did not feel right; the last thing Tor’ree would allow was to be attacked from behind.

[Fate]

Ambience

The man sat there as the hearing continued and watched them as the conversation went on around him. As they looked closer at the progressively healing they would begin to notice that he had the parlor of someone who never went outside. There was also something in his gaze thought that was a it creepy to those who looked to long into them. Not dangerous creepy, well at least not obviously dangerous. He seemed to listen to the conversations going on around him while he was being healed.

He looked around as he received various confirmations that they weren’t the ones who had started the fires. He spoke slowly then and the more he spoke the more it seemed his accent was odd. “You have brought me back from the bring, so that speaks in your favor.” His gaze was still distrustful but he seemed to have come to a conclusion and spoke to them looking around.

“Your are in the Labyrinth.” The man said in his archaic way. “Legend has that the island of Rynmere is the remains of a giant and that this place, the Labyrinth, is the intestines of that giant. The soft parts having decayed long ago and left the walls shores up with the bones of its many meals.” He gave a humorous short laugh. “It has become my Mistress as I seek to understand its mysteries.” He said looking around the burning room and his expression seemed to collapse for a moment as he starred ahead. “They just came in and just started to destroy everything.”

While he was speaking Elisa began to work on bringing the flames down and but them out. Like Balthazar’s healing the process was taking some time. The flames didn’t want to go out. Again the effect of Faldrun’s influence the fire just wanted to burn and they now had enough smoldering remains to be glowing coals and ashes for a while. The dancing flames though were already decreasing and no new smoke was being created.

The man looked up at them and his eyes flashed with anger. “The Labyrinth itself is a test to help you discover who you are. To find and face your true self.” He paused and said. “In and of itself the Labyrinth is only as dangerous as the minds that wander her path.” He continued and he looked at them all. “I normally don’t tell people this but the key to the Labrynith is that there is only one path to the center, just as there is only one path to true self discovery. There will appear to be multiple paths, but they are just the paths of the mind.” He gave a wolfish grin, “Which can be just as dangerous.”

He paused as there was a low moan coming from the entrance which caused the stranger to look surprised at the tunnel. He turned back and said. “If the Flame lovers are here damage her. Then know that you must trust your friends and keep them by your side. I don’t know what they are doing to her but that isn’t a normal sound. Also trust yourself, when you begin to doubt yourself then you open up more paths for her to take you down.” He tilted his head and looked around, “in all my time never before have I seen two groups enter the Labyrinth at the same time. So I can not say what will happen. I do not know if you can cross each other before you come to the center. If you can’t then it will be a race to find the center first.”

The man while healing laid back on the ground feeling exhausted. Balthazar at this point knew that there was nothing more he could do to help heal the man. Eliza efforts were coming bearing fruit as most of the flames in the room had stopped and the last ones were dieing out.

Some of the text weren’t completely burned, but as Tor’ree could attest that while there would certainly be clues they were mixed in the ramblings of a madman. As the man slowly breathed he was silent for a moment after being asked his name, and his face became confused. “It was been so long since I have used it. I have always called myself the Explorer, but I seem to recall my mother once called me Jon.” He said as he slipped into contemplative silence.

It was durning this time that the pack began to describe what they saw the bones continued to line the halls Nir’wei began to get the distinct communication that the bones smelled fresh with marrow still running through the center and the wolves began become convinced they were hungry and one little bone would hurt. Greyhide was keeping control but had to remind Speaks to focus. Greyhide said they had entered a chamber it seemed to be a stark wintery type of chamber. There was snow over everything making it hard to tell in there was anything in the room. There didn’t appear to be any doors but the room seemed stretched a distance down. The wolves from the entrance of the room couldn’t see far into the room as the snow suddenly flurried up obscuring.

Info & Rules

• Due to the time-sensitive nature of this, I can not hold out for people to post. If you miss a round, there will (I'm afraid) be consequences. Please Communicate with me if something comes up for the week. There will still be consequence but different. Please post by Tuesday July 20 by 7:00 am Mountain Standard Time.
• This style of event moderation - with objectives etc - was created by a wonderful moderator named Crimson.

Objectives

!	Message from: Must-Do Objectives
	Weather you go in or stay out describe how it feels having all those skulls watching you.

!	Message from: Can-Do Objectives
	Describe your reaction to finding out the halls of this place are lined with bones of a giants lunch.