genessia | [Open] Have fun storming the ruins.

Entry tags:

[Open] Have fun storming the ruins.

Who: Open.
When: Feb 14th - 28th
What: Exploring old ruins!
Where: Ruins in Fayren
Warnings: None at the moment

It’s easy enough to tell that these ruins have been around for quite a while. However, something shielded them from being found. Whatever was blocking that from happening has since dispersed, leaving the ruins as they were now. However, the place still permeated with magic, something those adept would easily be able to feel. It wasn’t malicious, but it did interfere with attempts to use travel magic such as teleportation.

Overgrown grass, trees and greenery. Just underneath one of those overgrown trees is the entrance to the ruins. The ruins are lit faintly by vines snaking throughout the place. Little blue orbs of light had grown upon them. The place was expansive, with five floors to it. There was a broken set of stairs that lead to the roof of the place, and another than lead down to the lower floors. There were many treasures to be found, but with search them out came danger. There were many manner of creatures that littered the place. On the all of the floors, you would find Dust Skeletons, Carnivorous Plants, Dire Bats and Living Vines. On floors 2 – 4 you would find Dust Wights and Gargoyles as well. Floors 3-4 you would find Bone Powder Ghouls and Stone Spikes added to the mix. And on the 4th floor, you would find Giant Snakes, Rock Golems and Stonesingers.

But be careful, some of these creatures may find a way to make it up to the floors above as well.

[ooc: This is an open log for everyone to log out their ruin adventures if they want. Note in the subject line of your tag if it is open to all characters or closed to certain ones. He sure to check the Newspaper before posting here.]

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"Skeletons," Ike muttered. "More skeletons."

He had ventured into the ruins fearlessly. He hadn't come very far, though, before he ran into some dust skeletons. He wasn't afraid of them -- far from it. He was more annoyed that he had to fight more skeletons.

Ah, well, at least they posed a minimal threat. He didn't even need to strike them with Ragnell's blade. Simply the energy its swings produced was enough to destroy them.

Once they were gone, Ike lowered his sword. "Now. Let's see what actually exists in here."

Artanis walked carefully through the ruins, using one of his psi blades to light his path. Some of the paths in this area reminded him of places he had been in the past. Ancient xel'naga temples in the wilds of Aiur, the caverns and temples on Shakuras, and even the depths of Ulnar -- this place bore resemblences to them all. It brought back memories...some which were fine to recall, but others he would rather forget.

His thoughts came to a stop when one of the vines nearby lashed out, trying to wrap itself around his neck. Artanis stepped back to avoid it, but more vines awoke and began flinging themselves at him.

"What is this?!" Igniting his other psi blade, Artanis waited for the next attempt. It came soon enough, and Artanis went into action. The air heated up as Artanis's psi blades sliced through it, and the sounds of precise footfalls and vines striking the floor echoed down the hallway. Artanis didn't stop until all of the vines had been severed, leaving nothing left to attack him.

"Peculiar...and unpleasant." Artanis put out one of his psi blades and continued to walk. "I'll have to be more careful than I originally anticipated."

[The ruins were intriguing. Cipher was lured to them in the first place solely because of the article, but now that he was standing within the chambers, the intrigue grew. It was easy to detect the magic in the air, and before he'd even gone deeper into the ruins, he had decided to test his magic in advance, as he wanted to ensure that all of his abilities remained in tact. Of course, he did find that his ability to teleport was gone within these walls, but thankfully, that was all that was taken from him. Lacking this ability was of no concern to him.

Cipher, or rather, Liam was strolling through the ruins as if it were nothing more than a walk on the beach. He was interested in going into the deepest portion of the ruins, because if anything, it was the creatures that interested him more than the treasures. He would be at the third floor when one of the lower dwellers had decided to make itself known. The odd howls filled his ears, like a strangely ominous wind howl yet oddly... musical.

When Liam would turn the corner, he'd be face to face with the source of the howls - one of the Stonesingers. He could tell immediately that a few well timed deflections with shadows wouldn't work against this creature... and with that knowledge, he knew he would certainly enjoy fighting this thing.]

[What the hell was he thinking.

Maybe it was boredom, or maybe it was some form of genuine curiosity that would lead Pixy to check these ruins as well. It could have been any number of reasons, including a silent interest in learning what else could be in this world so he could be prepared for it, but whatever the reason, there he was. And nothing could have prepared him for what was down there.

More often than not, Pixy was ducking around corners to evade whatever bizarre creature there was in his path. The gun he had on him wasn't going to do much to some of these monsters, but given that he was already down here, he wasn't about to back out now. He would look to the ground, spotting a weapon dropped by a downed dust skeleton and picking it up. It looked aged and borderline useless, but it'd be better than nothing where his gun wouldn't save him.

At this rate, if he kept with the sword and dungeon delving thing, he was going to end up taking his 'Knight of the Round Table' status from home a little too seriously.]

When she heard about the ruins being found again, she had wanted to check it out - though she'd refused to set foot outside the Guild until she and Natsu had confirmed its safety. Loke and Virgo were both offering their help on their own, much to her relief - it meant she could still use her magic without worry of it depleting from their being around.

It had been a while since she went out to simply explore a ruin like this, her hand gripping her whip cautiously as she managed to not trip her way into the ruins, moving carefully and slowly - she didn't want to accidentally wake any monstery denizens before they were ready! Although once she was inside the ruins, she coughed a little, "Ugh - musty... these ruins must have been here for decades.." she murmured in a low whisper, peering through the gloom.

The ruins had been there for quite the long time. The monsters that made it their home hadn't seen people in ages. But as soon as they were discovered, they saw more than they could have ever expected to. Not all of them came there for benevolent reasons. Lucy comes to a crossroads as it were, with one path leading to the left and the other leading to the right.

Faint voices can be heard, but it's difficult to tell which direction they are coming from. She has to pick one path.

Natsu was naturally right there with Lucy for this adventure. It had been a while since they just went out to explore on their own what with the whole commotion surrounding the Hands of Decay. Natsu could sense and smell monsters all around so he stuck as close to Lucy as possible all the way until they reached a crossroads.

"Well that's what they're called Ruins. So which way you wanna go?" Natsu prompted his ears straining to figure out where the voices were coming from using his hyper sensitive senses.

Even if Lucy had headed out ahead of him, once she saw those crossroads she would have waited - of course, the odds of Lucy being by herself for adventures was infinitismally small for obvious reasons. "Hrm..." She didn't like the idea of splitting up, not knowing what she'd encounter, but.. "I'll take the right path." She said finally, glancing towards her partner. "Should I call Plue to go with you, so if you find something you can let me know through him?"

If she found any troublesome monsters, she knew all she need to do was yell for him.

He was just as keen to leave her side. AS in not at all. Especially not with those faint voices that reached them from all sides it seemed. When she decided on the routes he only nodded and started towards his side with slow reluctant steps.

"Huh? Oh yeah that's a good idea." He didn't trust the devices to function as reliably in this place.

Down the path Natsu chose, he would come across a group of bandits, all dressed in similar clothes. Dead on the floor was a pair of adventurers. They had arrows sticking out of their backs, clearing having been shot as they tried to flee. One of the bandits was stuffing some treasure into a bag.

"Told you this job would be lucrative." One of the bandits said. "Did our job, got paid, and even earning a little extra."

The leader of the group was just closing up his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. "Alright boys, let's move out. The monsters will be after us soon if we don't."

The closer the drew the more distinct the scent became. Blood. SO violence was occuring or had occured further up ahead. Natsu quickly picked up the pace before he hid behind the entrance to the chamber and listened. Bandits huh? He should have known. Even so he wanted to surprise them so for the moment he erased his presence and whispered to Plue.

"Tell Lucy that there's bandits in teh ruins so she should be careful." He didn't need Lucy to come over to his side though. THese were small fry to him.

The bandits all readied their weapons, because theyu didn’t know what could surprise them in this place. (They most certainly didn’t think anything like a Dragon Slayer would be around.) Bandits were always looking to make money some how. And these ruins were a good place. People walking around, carrying potentially expensive look. People always worried about monsters, not other people. That’s why they made good targets.

They all started toward the entrance of the chamber so they could leave the chambers.

Natsu didn't wait for Plue to get back to him about Lucy's response as the small group he'd run into had started making their way out of the room. Or they would have if not for Natsu appearing right in the middle of the doorway and inhaling all the way until he was close to resembling a barrel before he expelled a massive blast of fire from his mouth. The whole ruins probably felt that just now.

The bandits eyes widened as Natsu appeared and breathed that huge flame at them. Some tried to dive out of the way and maybe two managed, but most were caught.

The ruins shook from the force of Natsu's attack. And then all went quiet for a moment. Then, all the way from the bottom floor, a monster roar could be heard as something awoke.

The two remaining bandits readied their weapons, but we're trembling at bit. They needed to get out of here.

"T-The drag-" One bandit started to say. But the other one quickly addressed Natsu.

"O-Out of our way and we'll let you live!" It wasn't Natsu that was scaring them, but what they knew was lurking below.

"That's a dragon's Roar. I'd know it anywhere~" Natsu spoke ignoring the threat as a look of rare before seen seriousness took over Natsu's expression. But then his lips curved into a grin showing his fangs off to the two survivors.

"I have a better idea. You two take a dirt nap with your buddies and I go kick that Dragon's ass before we all have a nice trip back to town~ All in favor?" Not that he was asking them since the moment he asked that, both of his fists erupted into flames as he rushed at the two shaken bandits aiming punches square in their face.

The men go down fairly easily after the blows from Natsu, but given how easily he leveled the other guys, that isn’t much of a surprise. They both fly back and land on the floor, lying there completely out of it. They won’t be getting up any time soon. And they’ll probably need some ice packs for their faces when they do get up.

With them out now, nothing wasn’t stopping Natsu from going after the real challenge.

"Hmph all bark and no bite." Natsu said, blowing the flames from his fist before looking down the corridor towards the roaring and noise signaling the dragon's awakening. "Plue tell Lucy I'm going after the dragon." With that instruction given, he picked up the little spirit and put him over his shoulder before breaking into a sprint to face the new challenger. Part of him was incredibly excited. After all he didn't have a dragon test dummy to use his new techniques on. Small matter of Acnologia having killed all of them ages ago.

Down the path chosen by Lucy, she would come across a small group of people. One (Almon) stood in front of a wall, dressed in a red robe who's hood obscured their face. While there was a pair of people standing behind him, one male (Pelleas ) and one female (Lura). They were dressed in robes as well, but they were distinctly different.

"We've received word that interlopers are in the area." Lura said.

"Let then be for now." Almon replied as he touched the wall, finding a spot and pressing it. A mechanism was activated and the wall opened up to let them inside. "It's here." He said as he started inside.

This would be one of those times Lucy had wished she'd dug out that cloak of invisibility she got off of those bandits months ago. But that's okay! She was far more subtle than her dear partner, so she could tail the ..mages? Wait, no, just because they wore robes that didn't mean they were magic users.

Once she heard the voices closer, she stopped short, crouching behind the wall as she peered around the corner. It was far too soon to make that particular connection, but she did take note of the robes that the people wore. She remembered that woman that had spoken to her and Natsu some time ago, spying robed figures on the roof of a building.

Either way, this was definitely interesting. Her hand lowered, touching Plue's key so she'd be able to stay in contact with her spirit - once the figures had ventured inside, she waited a few seconds, then quickly trotted forward on silent feet, brown eyes scanning the wall - particularly the spot that the man had touched so briefly. There was something there, but she'd check that later.

Maybe they were just adventurers after a hidden treasure? Either way she was curious, and as such, she silently trailed along behind them, doing her very best to move silently and stay out of sight.

The wall had opened to a corridor that lead to a room at the end of it. By the time she entered in the corridor, the figures had already made their way into that room. The room was expansive, it looked like it might have been some sort of library or study at some point, but the books were long since gone. And nature had started to work its way into the room, covering broken shelves and tables and the walls themselves in vines.

What they were looking for was here, they knew that much. Almon took a book out from inside of his robe and opened it up. It was an old journal that had been procured. After a moment or two of staring at it, he closed it and moved over to one of the shelves. He trailed his fingers along the back of the shelf, moving under he found a particular spot. He pressed it, and it sunk in before sliding out of place leaving only a hole. He reached inside and removed a scroll. Opening it briefly only to glance over its contents before rolling it back up and tucking it away.

“We have it.” Almon spoke as he turned towards his two compatriots.

“Good, so we can get out of this dreadful place.” Lura said.

“Should we check on the ‘hired help’ ? They should be finished with the task we gave them.” Said Pelleas.

“No. They should be done now. I assume they are just as eager to get out of this place as you.” He said while looking to Lura.

Whoah.. if only there were books still in these ruins -and in good condition. The things she could have found out! And ..well, reading old books like that would have been pretty awesome. Alas. More importantly, this group did not seem to be your average adventurers. What was this about 'hired help'? She narrowed her eyes slightly - she'd...better interrupt their departure. There seemed to be something shady going on here.

She paused, the key connected to Plue glowing slightly. And ...well Plue didn't speak in -words- so understanding what he was 'saying' was a little tricky. There was no urgency to his thoughts though, so whatever he and Natsu encountered must not have been anything troublesome. Silently telling the little spirit to stand by, since -she- might have found something interesting on her end too, Lucy straightened.

"It looks like you guys found something interesting~! It's almost as if you knew all this would be here!" Probably from that journal he'd been staring at. What was in it, she wondered -- "Pardon me for being nosy, but that scroll...what was in it?" She very much doubted that they would be that generous - doubted they were here for purely innocent reasons too.

She tilted her head slightly, resting her hands against her hips, taking only a few more steps forward. No more than that though - this whole place could be boobytrapped!

It certainly would have revealed a wealth of knowledge on this place. And who knows, maybe Fayren as well. But sadly, it didn’t look that that knowledge was up for grabs. They were many years too late. Almon looked to Lura.

“Which one is this?” He asked calmly, and Lura started to size Lucy up a little.

“This would be Lucy Heartfilia of Fairy Tail. Natsu Dragneel must be nearby if she is here.” Lura spoke, equally as calm. The interlopers that had been mentioned earlier were, none other than, Natsu and Lucy. Almon absorbed this information, it didn’t detract from their plans at all.

“Do you want us to take care of her and move her below with the others?” Pelleas asked as he reached inside of his room.

“No. That won’t be necessary. I think she will go on her own." Responded Almon.

Wow RUDE! "I'm standing -right here- you know." Lucy said flatly

So these guys knew who she was, and knew about Natsu too. She frowned that much more at that latter statement. "... others? What others?" Alive others, she hoped. No, hold on a second... her eyes widened. Ooooooh kay DEFINITELY not adventurers. ...could it be... those guys? No way - this is what they've been up to? Hiding out in caves?

"That's a pretty shady statement you made right there, pal," Lucy said, coolly. "If you've got people trapped here somewhere, and you know who I am, then you know I'm not about to go anywhere."

They’d done their homework. That much was apparent. Figuring out who they were wasn’t going to be an issue.

“There are mages being held on the bottom floor. Tied and unconscious. I can’t tell you how many there are, because that would be like trying to figure out how many pieces of trash there is in a trashbin.” Almon said.

“We’ve had..incentive..placed for the monsters down there. A little snack located near each mage. Something snack on before they get to the main course.” Basically a lure for the monsters.

“They might be dead now or you might still be able to save them, since you vermin all like each other so much. But by all means, don’t go anywhere. Less mages in this world is a good thing."

"You..." Sick. BASTARDS. "Those were -- ARE -- innocent people! I don't understand how you can stand there and act like you're better when you're making yourselves worse than the monsters you claim mages are!"

But they did have a point. As much as she wanted to know what it was they were after in here, those mages were priority. But they could also be lying to her. In which case, send a scout first! "Open..Gate of the Maiden; VIRGO!" Lucy swiped her key forward, glancing at the maid spirit. "Thanks for coming - can you check out their claims for me? See if you can delay any monsters down there - if what they say is true, I'll be fast to follow you."

Virgo nodded briefly, and quickly dove underground, following her earth senses and searching for the mages far more quickly than Lucy ever could. Lucy turned her glare on the mage - Almon - next. "You people really are slime - what were you after here?"

It was entirely likely that they wouldn't answer, and just wait out Virgo's response. Or ..something else would happen. Either way, Lucy wasn't going to let anyone else lose their life here. Not if she and Natsu could help it.

They liked to think about the mages in the past tense. They all watched as she summoned Virgo. So their intel on her was true. Then they could likely believe what they knew about Natsu as well.

They made no moves to stop Virgo as she left. They didn't care where she went.

"We simply came here to take out the trash. We had an excess of it. So we needed to dump some." If she really wanted to believe that or not was up to her. Almon was about to speak again when the ruins shook.

There is a pause and then a monstrous roar is heard from below. Lura tensed and looked to Almon before she started to speak. "That's the drago-"

Almon cut her off, holding up a hand. "We'll be fine. It will find them before us. The Weaver's work is second to none." He looked towards Lucy.

"I believe you should now be worrying about yourself, as opposed to the other mages. There was something in here even we didn't want to wake."

What a coincidence, Lucy liked to think about the Hands of Decay in the past tense too! ... or future past tense. Although with less deathy and chompiness. "That might have been one of your plans, but I sa-"

ACK, Lucy stumbled in surprise, her interrogation cut short by the shaking of the ruins. JEEZ Natsu take it easy! She glanced back over her shoulder worriedly, but was quick to look back towards the members, even though her face paled a little at the sound of that roar.

Yeah. She's not going to forget the sound of a dragon anytime soon. "..there's a dragon in these ruins?" Of COURSE there's a dragon, why wouldn't there be. Life officially sucks. She shot a dark glance at Almon, "This isn't over." That said, she touched the key in her hand to her chest, "Stardress: Virgo form~!"

Using up the rest of the budget for transformation sequence because she deserves it damnit, and a few seconds later she's.... she's dressed as a maid. Don't laugh, don't you DARE LAUGH. Giving them no further thought, she opened a tunnel beneath her feet, q uickly following after Virgo. They had to move doubletime now, to get back to Natsu's side. And that means being sneaky and getting people out - even the dead ones because families need closure - as fast as possible.

And just like Almon said, Lucy would be leaving on her own. Not that he factored in that the dragon would be awake. But how did they even know it was there? And how did they know about the secret compartments in this place? No one had ever explored these ruins, so they were a huge mystery.

They watched as Lucy activated her magical maid outfit. As she went down the whole, she might hear some brief laughter coming from above from Lura and Pelleas. Almon was just annoyed himself, because damn mages and their weird magic. With no one else standing in their way, they were all free to leave. Not a single trace of them would be found, should anyone come to this place to check for signs of them. Even scent trails for the three didn’t exist. But the reason for that might be discovered at a later date.

Lucy needed to focus on saving the mages below. There were five rooms on the bottom floor, each had two unconscious mages in them and a slab of meat that has been seasoned with a herb that would lure the monsters in. At least the ones that could smell those strong scents.

How could anyone - any normal human - make such a clean escape? It made no sense - and to not even leave any scents behind? There had to be more to it than that. AND SHE HEARD THAT LAUGHTER you jerks!

Virgo was already waiting for Lucy at the bottom of the tunnel, steadying the mage when she landed a little unsteadily. Although that might be because of Plue's message. Not saying things in so many words, but she got the gist of it simply due to their close bond. And ... well, from knowing Natsu as well as she did, Plue didn't even have to say it. He'd be going after that dragon.

... Natsu, not Plue.

"Virgo, I'll need a tunnel to the surface - fastest and safest way if possible." She .. didn't want to open a third gate - couldn't, really, not if she wanted to be able to stay standing. Though there was a big difference between opening three gates to powerful spirits, and opening three gates to two powerful spirits and one..not so. STILL, she didn't want to take that risk. She touched Plue's key, "Plue, try to let Natsu know I need to close your gate for a little bit."

Which ...would basically amount to him tugging on the dragonslayer's hair and waving a 'goodbye' with a few 'punpunpun's. Once she closed Plue's Gate, she quickly opened Taurus's, ready to knock him in the head if he made any lewd comments.

Fortunately, he was behaving today - no doubt sensing her urgency. Or maybe he didn't want to risk the ire of a -another- dragon around here. As much as she wished there were more Fairy Tail members around, Lucy couldn't take the chance of trying to find someone at this juncture. Ten mages. That would give Taurus two, and Virgo two - they could get the mages to the surface and come back while Lucy stood guard. Then Lucy would help with the remainder - two trips in total. Yeah that should work. Plan set, Lucy gripped her whip anxiously as she started to the first room, to get it open - with brute force if necessary. YAH it'll alert monsters, but she's ready for them! (Actually she's kinda hoping they're more scared of the dragon and won't come out for noms.)

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[Open] Have fun storming the ruins.

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Liam - Open

Pixy - Open

Closed to Mod and Natsu

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Left Path

Re: Left Path

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Right Path

Re: Right Path

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