Tiredly, Water Hornet smiled in return: "Yes, surely we will."

Speaking to he whole gorup he said: "The Agarashi has reached the entrance to the citadel...but I will be urging it to continue to upper levels, so it clears a path for us and eventually attacks the leader controlling Kraans. Of course, that means that if enemy forces outside the citadel decide to enter the citadel, for example to kill the beast gone wild, we'll be running right into them. Unless we hurry up and follow on Agarashi's heels."

OOC: Just checking: we could let the beast exit the citadel and attack everyone outside, but we decided to aim it at the guy controlling flying beasts, right?

Sun Snake nodded without opening his eyes. "That seems to be the way of it. Making a speedy exit ourselves rather than splitting the Agarashi efforts is perhaps for the best. Let us punch through the levels before they know what has hit them."

Sun Fox nodded.

"Yeah, we've got no time to lose, really. Besides..."

Before she could continue, the walls suddenly shook, a tremor spreading through the stone and the ground both under and above them. Sun Fox paused, then continued speaking, winking as she did:

"We wouldn't want tehm to share their gift, would we? That'd be horrible manners!"

She laughed, even as her steps lenghtened, to make her ascent of the wall toward the red glow at the top a bit faster.

"Hey as long as we get out of here a bit quicker I'm all for it!" Fox sniggered "saying that. Want me to zip to the top at top speed first anyway? I can guard your ascent just incase something nasty wants to meet us at the top"

Swift quickly swapped the green dagger for the orange one that was already on her belt before continuing the run up the stairs.
"Best wait till we get past that statue again before we use this" she remarked.  Then she looked towards Sabre Fox and Sun Fox with a grin.
"And I could probably beat both of you to the top if I wanted to.  They didn't name me 'Swift' for nothing!"


OOC: hehe ;)

Will use the green dagger at the top then, unless anyone wants a change of plan :)
This message was last edited by the player at 11:34, Sun 22 May 2016.

While the group kept climbing the stairway as fast as they could, the whole building around them continued to shook, with each tremor being stronger than those before; by the time they'd reached the top and Sun Fox moved to press the opening combination following Hornet's instruction, the well was no longer only lit by the glyphs at the top, but also by a red glow they could see slowly accumulating at the bottom, and the air was becoming dry and somewhat hard to breathe.

Once the statue moved out of the way, the group found themselves, once again, in the central room of the dungeon's first floor, and Sun Fox turned to Swift with a nod.

"If you're ready..."

Meanwhile, the ground started to shook once again, except this time the tremor didn't stop, but kept going, a low but constant hum spreading to everything in sight, and they could hear dark rumbles, as if of thunder, coming from outsidethe citadel's wall, so strong that they could be heard even past the thick stone walls.

"We seem to have a clear path to the roof, at least," said Sun Snake as the group exited the well, looking to Water Hornet to confirm the path of the Agarashi.

Swift nodded and stepped back from the centre of the room, peering up at the ceiling intently as she did.
"Better stand back" she said to the others.

Drawing the green dagger and the pink dagger, she gripped the pink one in her left hand, while pointing the green one at the floor near the opposite wall.
Her eyes narrowed in concentration, clearly trying to shut out the growing awareness of the imminent cataclysm that now pursued them back to the surface...


OOC: Okies, burning 10 WP to create huge tree growing up through the floors above.  Will also use craftsmanship knowledge to try to assess if one part of the ceiling is safer to smash through than the rest, and will use that part if so.
Will definitely try to avoid displacing the statue in the middle with the tree, since I seem to recall damaging that in any way would be bad news for us...

With a nod, Water Hornet confirmed Sun Snake's assessment. "Indeed. It will be looking for its way to the roof now." After a pause, he added, speaking mainly to Sun Snake: "Once it's done with the target we set for it, we must not linger and destroy the beast - for it is not an opponent we want to meet in an open battle."

Dawn Sword turned toward Hornet with curiosity.

"Why is that, Master Water Hornet? I mean, I know these are foul creatures, but you said that like you're afraid to lose? This creature's brethen that the High Priest had caged was dispatched by Master Sun Fox easily enough."

The young woman seemed surprised by the caution in the Magnakai's tone.

"Ignore him" Fox sniggered "he's being such a worry warden, but I'm glad to see that someone had confidence in me!" He smirked

Dawn Sword's words prompted Water Hornet to gave Sun Fox a long look and, before he could answer, Sabre Fox beat him to it.

"I saw how the beast fights," said the young Magnakai calmly, "and I am afraid. For only fools and madmen do not experience fear." There was no aggression in Hornet's words; he was speaking as if asked a philosophical question by the masters back at the Monastery. "Now, to know fear and to be controlled by it are different things. One must not allow the latter, obviously, but being afraid is not necessarily wrong."

With a hint of a smile he added: "But I think we have a good mix of each extremity among the group."
"But we indeed ought to be cautious of the defeat, because there's much more at stake than our lives," he concluded becoming completely serious again.

Dawn Sword nodded in apparent understanding, but then, before anybody could say anything else, a small plant started to grow from the stone ground, intitially small, but quickly turning big enough to start pushing against the ceiling; Sun Fox motioned for everybody to quickly grab one of the lower branches the thing had, herself setting over one while trying not to break it.

After a few more seconds of pushing against it, the tree started to create cracks in the ceiling, and eventually it smashed through, gaining speed in its growth as it did; each following ceiling was breached more easily, and the Kai could see the plant literally growing under their feet.

It smashed through eight different ceilings before slowing down and stopping, letting the group able to land on a small metal walkaway that leaded toward a curving corridor on one side, and a large door onto the other, with no clear indication of which side they should go.

Even so, they could feel the tower trembling around them much more strongly now, as the high position made the transmitted vibrations much more powerful, and in some points on the ceiling and walls there were more cracks forming - these not the result of the tree, but rather of the citadel's foundation being slowly damaged by the large-scale destruction that was being unleashed on Gazad Helkona.

Sun Snake had apparently been partially aware of the conversation previously, and commented after the impressive explosion of nature hefted the group through the tower. "Dawn Sword, the Agarashi is an adaptive foe, wishing nothing more than to throw itself fearlessly in to an enemy to prove itself. You have to respect that mindless danger. More importantly, we have to learn the lesson. Your people have twice suffered when we have gone against powerful foes. The acolytes when we were forced to fight the High Priest, and now the Drakkarim here when Vyctar has forced this confrontation. We as the Kai must never seek to fight just to prove our power. Even if we can win, we must always be weighing it against the consequences of the action, those who will suffer, what other ways could have been employed."


Yeah, I'm saying it - Vyctar forced us to blow everything up and use an Agarashi to kill everyone. THis is all his fault and we're just helpless pawns here :p

"Isn't there some kind of a fable of a giant at the top of a tree?" Fox said observing "I'm not sure that bodes well!" He sniggered

The way up on the branches of a giant tree had clearly amazed Water Hornet. When they stepped on the walkway, he spent another long moment admiring it, before his focus was apparently drawn in a different direction.

The young Magnakai looked at the door on one side and then at the corridor on the other. He sniffed the air and stick out his tongue, freezing for a moment in a rather comical position.

OOC: Will use Tracking (with Pathsmanship boost)  to determine which way leads to the exit. Paying 1 WP and should I make a roll?

EDIT:
Rolled a 4.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:08, Fri 27 May 2016.

Swift jumped from the tree, landing easily on the walkway and shaking some rock dust out of her hair.

In almost the same movement, she had returned the green and pink daggers to their sheaths and recovered the Jade Spike from her sleeve, the weapon almost appearing to materialise in her hand to anyone who hadn't seen her conceal it earlier.

Reaching back to take up the mirrored shield again, she glanced around at the cracks forming in the walls with an almost nonchalant expression.
"We should probably hurry" she remarked.

Sun Snake absentmindedly let his hand drift to the pommel of his sword.

Sun Fox nodded.

"We should, yes, unless we want to end up like the giant in Sabre's story."

She grinned at the swordsman, then turned to Sun Snake, as if expecting him to tell her which way to go.

No rolls needed for this one.

Sun Snake stirred somewhat. "Through the sealed door there's the glass dome we saw from the outside. We should be able to break through the dome, though I do not know what caused the red light we saw."

He then indicated the corridor. "There is air entering from outside that way. So we have a definitive path to exit that way. I cannot tell what that exit is, though."

Water Hornet looked in both directions again and then said: "For some reason, I don't like the idea of entering the dome... Let's head for the fresh air. Fresher than here, at least."

OOC: I don't have any additional info available, I just like that way better. :)


He then turned his head towards the ceiling. "The Agarashi has met the foe in the air - and it's currently trying to cope with his magic." Looking at Swift Fox, he continued: "Swift, can I look at the Korlinium on you gloves or the scabbard, please? I hope the knowledge, transferred to the beast via our link, might help it against the enemy sorcery."
This message was last edited by the player at 11:50, Sat 28 May 2016.

OOC: I think Hornet really liked those gloves :)

Swift nodded.
"The nature of Korlinium makes it immune to magic, although I'm not sure how a living being could mimic that effect by knowing about it though.  Unless it has some strange abilities."

Despite seeming sceptical of the idea, Swift tugged off her gloves and held them out to Hornet.


OOC: Hmm, curious...  :)
This message was last edited by the player at 13:50, Sat 28 May 2016.

OOC: Could be... :) But I have Laethian gloves, currently; they're nice, too.

Water Hornet thanked Swift and ran his fingers over the surface of the gloves. "Agarashi's abilities allowed it to create a magic shield after experiencing a magic attack targeting it," said the young Magnakai, clearly amazed by the fact, "those are indeed some strange abilities I would've never expected to witness." Turning his head towards Dawn Sword, he added: "Hence why I spoke about destroying it quickly afterwards."

After a moment of deep concentration and study of the items, he returned the gloves to Swift Fox, his brows furrowed. "Maybe you're right... More importantly, though, it seems the connection works differently than I expected..." He gave a sideways glance to Sun Snake and then addressed the whole group: "Anyway, we have to hurry - the Agarashi is an exceptional fighter, but even it won't be able to stand against the opposition that currently awaits outside. Our presence could turn the tide of battle, though. Allowing the beast to kill the enemy leader, then we psychically destroy it. So, which way?!"

Looking around at his fellow Kai, he seemed to be caught between two worlds: the one that his human senses presented to him; and another, that was projected onto his mind from a psychic connection. "And if someone has an idea that could help the Agarashi, please do tell."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:51, Sat 28 May 2016.

"Do we need to help it defeat the magic, or just remove the threat of magic for a moment? And also the mass of fighters outside? We have five Nexus wielders, two of them of the Lorecircle of the Spirit, and a direct connection to the outside air. Can we not create a temporary disruption in the sky outside? I feel the Agarashi might be best equipped to deal with such a disruption and take advantage first?"

Sun Snake then regarded Water Hornet. "Also, warn me psychically if the creature is mentally assaulted. I can most likely shield its mind from harm, and I'd rather it didn't develop the ability to resist the physic kill effect we are relying upon..."

Swift pulled the gloves back on and peered around them, concentrating intently for a moment.
"When I saw the dome from ground level, I thought the light we saw there was just a beacon, to guide the Kraan squadrons back home safely during the night.  Normally I can tell when something is a trap, and I didn't detect anything dangerous about the dome."

She shrugged and looked back at Sun Snake.
"Then again, there could just be some danger there that I didn't detect.  Can't be sure without checking."