Margrett didn't like being ignored. By either of them. Granted, one was a moron and the other was busy being strangled, but she thought they should at least give her a look. She set her jaw and growled in her throat, running headlong towards the brute. She didn't have her armor or hammer, but that almost made it worse; used to the extra weight of her gear, she felt more agile than normal. Without any kind of word or sound for a warning, she hit Dom's attacker in the stomach, shouldering in and throwing her weight behind her arm, trying to knock him off-balance.
Air found it's way back into Dom's lungs as he fell down to the ground. The creature was caught off guard by the sheer force in the hit brought on by Margrett. The dumb brute stumbled backward for a bit, nearly tripping over his own feet.
"Wha?! Dumb blue lady I'll clobbers you too!"
Taking a brief moment to catch his breath, he raised his club and was about to charge Margrett in full force. Before the brute could take a step, a quake in the earth could be felt by all and suddenly the hulk disappeared from view as he instantly sank into the ground. Without any time to investigate, the same happened to Margrett and Dominic.
Before they had time to realize, Margrett and Dominic fell into the ground as holes opened up beneath them and they tumbled through a narrow passage that seemed to sink further and further. Eventually, both of them landed together in an open passage deep under the forest. The cavern was riddled with illuminating crystals that emitted a soft blue light all around them. Dom could feel the hard rock wall and crystal as he got up from his ordeal.
As they acknowledged where they were, the ground trembled again in a slow timed pace, footsteps. Coming around the corner into view, Margrett could see a massive rock golem coming towards them.
"Humans....humans of..Wistvale?" the creature said with a low, jagged voice, with uncertainty when he brought up Wistvale.
Last Edit: Jan 29, 2012 20:08:33 GMT -5 by Serenity
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144][b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
Dom didn't move for a second or two, just glad he wasn't dead. Stupid stupid stupid indignant terrified temper. He'd heard the familiar clatter of wood not far from where he fell, thankfully his staff had come down with him. His knees ached, his neck ached, his head felt eight sizes too small for his brain and he sucked in lungfuls of stale underground air. His hand alighted on his staff just as the thudding of the golem started. He'd just managed to get to his feet in a newborn deer sort of way when the golem spoke. He could tell it was immense and instinctively froze. Was he alone?
He listened hard, a sliver of relief coming to him when the whispering breath of a distinctly female set of lungs. Wouldn't make much difference if the huge thing just wanted to squash them.
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
I'm just going to assume your actions till you take control again, Margrett. _____________________
The Guard-Captain stepped back a bit with the overwhelming presence of the golem who still awaited an answer. Margrett answered reluctantly that they were indeed from Wistvale.
"Then...you are companions of Lady Serenity...yes?" the large creature said almost with an uncertainty. Humans were an unpredictable race and known for their heinous acts even against their own kind. The golem wasn't sure whether these were friends or foes, but his trust seemed to be elevating a little.
"Oh...my manners...humans, I am Geodane...servant of Gaia. Your kind refer to mine as "Elementals."
It took the group a little while to realize that there was no sound being emitted from the Elemental to begin with, the voice was being heard directly in their minds, the sensation of which was numbing at first.
Last Edit: Jan 31, 2012 4:21:26 GMT -5 by Serenity
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144][b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
Dominic had heard of such creatures on his travels but never met one, though a particularly malicious air spirit was about as close as he ever got. He wasn't as disquieted by the sensation of the mindspeaking as he could have been. He had never had the visual aspect of watching a mouth move, so his brain rationalized it as just a very clear omnipresent noise. It didn't help his dizziness any though.
What he did find frustrating though, as he hauled himself to fully standing and rolled his aching neck a little, was that he couldn't orient himself on the speaker as the voice had no directionality. He began to talk, not knowing which direction he was facing, gingerly feeling out his surroundings with the tip of his staff.
"We mean no harm to anyone who'd call Miss Serenity a lady. Pardon any bluntness, but are we safe?" He was referring to the brutes who'd attacked, worry not quite hidden beneath the genial mask. He was still quite shaken and pumped full of adrenaline, and even the best actor can't shake off nearly being killed and then swallowed whole by the earth so easily.
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Geodane looked to Dominic, confused by the human's movements for a moment. The area around them was well lit enough that the elemental could be seen, and Margrett in fact could see him well enough.
Geodane with his stubby, large arm knocked "lightly" on the rock wall to give Dominic some perception, as the elemental assumed the man was blind.
"From the... misshapen humans? Yes...I dealt with your attacker...as I came here to see....Lady Serenity. Her...doll... barely reached me...."
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144][b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
Dominic turned to the sound and kept his head at what would be eye level to most, though he'd likely be staring the golem directly in the chest, or maybe in the crotch. He had no idea on how big it was but he somehow had a sense of the implacable mass of the thing to which he was speaking.
The worry did not leave his voice "Where is she?" he asked, slivers of warring hope and dread poking their way through the holes in his calm mask that the adrenaline and pain had punched "Is she allright?"
Now the rush of fear was starting to subside, and he didn't have to marshall his emotions so strongly, he felt pettier notions creep up on him. Immasculating embarassment chief among them. Travel for a decade, face hardship and heartbreak and come out smiling and he still wasn't able to rise above his limits and protect someone. That stung.
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.
Margrett watched the music man take over talking to the golem, and was glad for it. She was frustrated and wanted both to go home, and to find Serenity. And the gods-damn headache she had from hitting her head on the way down here wasn't helped by the damn thing's mind-talking. She grimaced and held her head. She wasn't dealing very well, she knew that, but she thought she had a right to be a little irritated. Letting out a long, calming breath, she picked up on what the elemental had just said.
Doll? I called her China Doll. So, that's a thing now, is it?
Geodane focused his featureless rock head at Margrett, but his voice traveled to both minds all the same.
"The doll...old magic...I sensed it above us..you must have seen it. Lady Serenity....used it to warn all of us....about a danger that troubled this land before...."
Oddly enough, a gust of wind suddenly breezed through the group; the sensation of it was strange and unnatural. Geodane didn't look bothered by the sudden breeze.
"But...we owe Lady Serenity.......and her previous companions....great favor for saving our sister."
The gust of wind returned in stronger force, almost wanting to push the humans off their feet. The wind elemental arrived as fast as he could, opposite of Geodane and behind the group.
"I've found them, Geodane, Lady Serenity and the others who were taken, I fear we must hurry." his voice was deep and booming, but at least audible compared to Geodane's mental communication.
Dominic could hear the torrents of wind confined to a single location as Margrett could just barely see the form of the elemental herself were it not for all the dust and debris it were kicking up with it's form.
She put up her hand to protect her face instinctively, and in the process reminded herself she didn't have her armor on. All at once she felt naked, and it made her pause. Then she shook her head and took a step towards the gust of air.
How do we know we can trust a strange wind flying around in some caverns? She threw a look to Geodane, and then back to the air being, bracing herself.
How do we know you didn't do that to her?
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144][b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
Dom stayed quiet for a while, trying to assess what was going on, racking his brains to fit symptom to scene. Some kind of wind spirit, as well as an earth elemental. Well, he wanted epic and boy has he gotten it in spades. Barely daring to move he turned his head slowly so that he was facing Margrett.
"Ma'am. If they are what they seem to be from what I can feel then do you have any doubt in your mind that they could kill us in seconds? Gods, the venerable elemental...Geodane was it?" He spoke conversationally "...is likely being very careful not to accidentally knock anything loose and accidentally crush us."
He sighed a little and spread his hand out in a gesture of appeal. "C'mon, there is literally no reason not to give them the benefit of the doubt. If it weren't for them at least I'd be dead, and if they mean us harm there isn't anything we can really do about it, is there?"
Geodane made a gesture that made it seem like he was staring intently on Margrett,
"You...wish to assist us? Against a....bulky horde of humans....and their sorcerer?"
Geodane's elemental wind brother barged in, "You are not equipped for battle and the time is now to strike, otherwise Lady Serenity and the others captured with her will be lost forever."
"Hmmmmm, but even....we may fail....our power is limited....and few of us remain in this land....the sorcerer could turn his magic on us....and we'll only serve to add our strength with his.......just like Lady Serenity."
Geodane took two large steps closer to Margrett and Dominic.
"Can....you fight?
Dominic [M:123:1420:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=382&page=1#14144][b]Let me tell you a story...[/b][0:No encore today][1:You have my attention]
Dom suddenly felt like he'd taken a knife under the ribs. Shame and embarassment roared up inside him and he felt his face go hot. Could he fight? Oh he thought he was able to handle himself surprisingly well for a blind man. But there's 'good for a blind man' and 'actually capable' and those two things now seemed an unbridgably wide gulf apart.
"I..." he began hesitantly "...wish I could. I can't think of any way I'd be of any help in this one." He laughed a little bitterly and added "Though I'll be writing one fine epic song about this for the tavern later...if we survive." He didn't move from his spot but seemed to sag.
"I'll follow behind, keep a rear guard. I can hear trouble coming pretty good and can warn you if anything's sneaking up on us but...well...that's about all I'm good for."
Love, like Hope, has too few letters for a word so powerful.