Tarbo looked at the red emblem on the side of his belt, depicting waves of some kind—he wasn't entirely sure; he wasn't at home in the magic department and its symbolics. Mioralynthia had assured him it would help him stave off any possession attempts, and that was good enough a reason for him to wear it.
"Wow," Elyssa prattled on while Mioralynthia gave her a ring, "is this, like, a Chaos symbol or something?"
"No," Mioralynthia replied, only the faintest hint of suppressed irritation noticeable in her voice, "this is a ring that will negate most attempts on your magical or mental wellbeing."
Elyssa stared at the ring after putting it on her finger, trying to make sense of the symbols inscribed in it. "So, like, what's the symbology here?"
"Symbology?" Mioralynthia asked, and Tarbo felt the last vestiges of her amiability and patience towards the young woman brutally torn to shreds. "I believe the word you're looking for is
symbolism: 'what is the
symbolism here?' " She took a deep, calming breath, and retook her patience. "It will stop you from being possessed by an evil host."
"You mean this Daymare... Diemarn... Diesis—"
"Daynarii, yes."
"You can, like, pronounce that just like that."
"What can I say? I'm an expert in
nameology."
"Is that a course in sorcery school?"
"Lynthia," Tarbo cut in before someone would be hurt, "why don't you make sure Anleth is similarly protected—she's sitting right there with them, after all—while I get a few men together and scout the surrounding area, check our location and bearings? We're here for the artifacts, after all."
Mioralynthia blew air out her nose for the longest time, then nodded. Some diversion from Elyssa would do her nerves—and, in the long run, Elyssa's physical integrity—veritable wonders.
°°°
Anleth generally ignored the jabs at her allegiance and rank. As captain of the Temple Guard, she was the head of the Temple's internal security and, while she was not in her immediate jurisdiction, she was still a member of the expedition's cadre. But the insults needlessly hurled in her direction could be done away as stress or, at the very least, be dealt with at a later time.
"I would urge everyone to remain focused on the matters at hand, and to cast your vote soon, if you are not to abstain. The situation—" She stopped mid-phrase when she heard someone approach, and kept her eyes on the new arrivee even after she recognised her as Mioralynthia. "The situation has remained stable, as far as we can tell, but I do not expect that to last."
The sorceress silently showed a small amulet to Anleth, then kneeled behind her, and pulled her hair back over her shoulders, and carefully tied the charm around her neck. Another thunder struck loudly above, and everything became silent for a moment. The interruption took only a few moments, but those few moments had once again made the expedition's predicament ominously clear.
°°°
Tarbo wrinkled his lips while kneeled on the floor. There was something... off about the corridor ahead of him. What few soldiers he had with him agreed: their senses told them there was something out of the ordinary, but they failed to tell them exactly what.
"Perhaps a trap?" one of them suggested.
He nodded. A trap would be a good reason for having this odd feeling about the corridor. After all, he had a knack for spotting out-of-place things, the subtle details. But he couldn't spot any obvious triggers, and not even well hidden ones.
"We could try lobbing something in, like a coin or rock, see whether anything is triggered."
"Mmrh... good call, but it won't find everything. Tripwire, sensitive cobwebs..." He shook his head, and finally shrugged. "Rock. Sounds good."
"Or a coin."
"We're on a budget here. Let's find a rock."
°°°
"Killia is correct," Anleth agreed. "We are not dealing with Chaos daemons. At least for the moment." Her eyes aimed up briefly. "Daynarii was a necromancer, and a master of his arts. Daemons do not enter into the equation.
"But speechless ones do." She kept her eyes on a silent figure near one of the sarcophaguses, and who suddenly started on his feet. Uneasily, he made his way to the center of the group and cleared his throat.
"I believe we should pick someone to be voted; however, we should be careful not to pick the wrong person. We should choose through majority, but we must not be led by the wrong people or by the wrong ideas, but must strike at our enemies and be careful not to strike at our friends. There must be action, but the action must not be rash or innocents will die, so we must think about what to do, but we must not think too long. However, we must find the culprit."
Dulled, glased eyes stared at the elf from every direction. An awkward silence fell, along with much of his self-esteem.
"And...?" Mioralynthia finally dared.
"...and I don't want to vote anyone until more evidence presents itself, and... And does anyone else hear a crackle?"
Anleth rolled her eyes to the door, then to Mioralynthia—no, she didn't hear anything either—and then back to the elf. "Are you feeling alright?"
Instantly, a fork of searingly pink lightning burst through the far door of the room, curving broadly through the air, and struck the middle elf squarely in the chest. The sudden explosion of light, energy, and sound threw the other elves back and to the floor, throwing their arms up to cover their eyes.
When the thunder subsided, arms were lowered and heads raised. Where first the hesitant elf had been standing, was now the sordid location of a particularly small pile of smouldering dust.
"Oh, screw this!" Another elf that had first been silent, too absorbed by his immediate surroundings, bolted into action. He burst out of the chamber at full speed, his legs swinging widely back and forth, barely landing on solid footing before leaping ahead again. As quickly as everyone realised the elf had fled, they came to a silent consensus: that was a dash for safety if ever they'd seen one.
°°°
"So the rock didn't find anything." Tarbo took a coin out of his pocket and held it up. "Heads, we go through; tails, we head back." With a shrill 'ping', he tossed it into the air.
"Out of my way, out of my way! Coming through!" As the elf darted past the small squad, Tarbo snatched for his coin, but it bounced off his fingers and onto the hasty elf's shoulder. Unabashed, he tore through the corridor at breakneck speed.
"Now that's commitment," one of the soldiers commented while staring at the shrinking figure. Instantly, the faces of his and his fellows winced. The same shrill sound echoed dustily through the corridor while Tarbo's coin rolled back to his feet.
"And that's a lot of arrows," the same soldier said.
"Did you see the spear? That was just—wham!—out of nowhere," his comrade added.
"I know! Right before that slab came out from the ceiling."
"Well, at least we know it's clear now," Tarbo noted while picking up his coin. "Let's go check it—" A sudden explosion flashed light onto the elves' faces and waved their gently. A profound, surprised silence followed.
"Boy, whoever built this corridor really hated people."
________________________
Players
- Kefka
- SleekDD
- Kinslayer
- Demendred
- Zardock
- Deroth
- LordAnubis
- Drainial
- zzug
- Shadow Dark
- Telrunya
- Belial
- Mel'Reyna
With 13 players left,
7 constitute a majority. There is
1 infiltrator in the game.
Deroth
- Telrunya
LordAnubis (Zenobius)
- Kinslayer
- Zardock
Deaths
- 51la5 (Pure Soul) -- Day 1, inactivity
- Khel (Priest) -- Day 1, excused
The activity deadline has passed. You are now in the second and last part of the Day. A majority vote will lead to an immediate exorcism.
Day ends on Saturday, around 21h00 GMT.
Votes listed are votes
against a player and are listed in chronological order.
PS: Khel's computer fried and he'd have too much trouble to play (and follow) the game on short notice. It'll take a little while for him to be back online.