RP (non-canon): D&D Mission 1: Getting "Acquainted"

"We're goin up ta the top floor a tha tower, and ye're all just stayin behind! Someone come up with me ta back me up in case there's some o' those traps up there!"

Aurelus was looking down at Ghira with a frown from his position up the spiral staircase that lead up and out of the room they were in. It had no railings, so it was rather perilous to get pushed from that height. Once inside the tower, though, one would assume the walls would be touching the spiral staircase, and since there was a round column at the center of it, it'd just be a matter of making sure you wouldn't fall backwards.

"I ain' goin up there alone!" The light from his torch still lit the room, even if the far lower corners were drenched with darkness from the light's inability to reach that far.

Talarin chuckled as he stroked Joanna. "Maybe when we got some time to relax, she'll get her chance to be held then." Joanna gave a low satisfied hiss. Talarin smiled as he put her in her designated pocket on top of the coins. He turned towards the doorway Aurelus had just cleared. "I'll go behind you" he told Aurelus.

Denkou cleared her throat. "Yeah, that makes sense. Lets go up the winding, rickety looking staircase, instead of seeing what's behind this perfectly sensible set of doors down here where we already are." She rolled her eyes. "You have fun with that."

Sorri checked her things before picking up her staff. "We could go one at a time," she suggested. "Less strain on the stairs." Treat it like a log across a stream, she thought. If it's rotted, one person at a time would be able to cross but everyone at once would break it.

"Let me know if you find anything of a magical nature." Ghira called to Aurelus, leaning against a wall. "I have a spell prepared for identifying such things."

The wizard turned to face Denkou, asking, "Are we to go through these doors while the others go up the stairs?"

Denkou shrugged. "I plan on at least checking them out for traps, even if we decide to head up. Especially since I'm not going up until those two have tried the entire thing. I don't trust stairs like that. No where to run." That said, she made her way to the doors, and started running her hands over them, trying to find anything unusual for her to take apart. "Ghira, right? Why don't you take a look at that hole on the wall over there while I'm doing this. Can't think of anything I could do that would leave burn marks like that, it might be up a magical alley of some sort."

As far as Denkou could tell the doors were standard wooden doors. They appeared to be locked, although the lock appeared to be very simple and wouldn't require much work to unlock.

Aurelus dismissively waved at Denkou's sarcasm. "'ave it yer way, lass. The source o' that magickal sickness is supposed ta be up these stairs in the tower! I'm tired, and a long walk back ta the town awaits fer us after we finish 'ere! I'm gonna finish this once and fer all! Been long 'nough as it is!

C'mon Talarin, le's get this over with."

Aurelus waited for Talarin, staying where he was on the spiral staircase.

Ghira nodded to Denkou and walked over to the burn on the wall, observing it in an attempt to ascertain its origins.

Talarin nodded to Aurelus as he stepped onto the stairs with him. He tightened his grip on his spear as they prepared to move up the stairs.

Kyou poked around for a second more before stopping, and pulling out a set of lock-picks. "Well, here goes nothing," she muttered under her breath, and set to work.

The fighter lead Talarin up the stairs, the flames his torch emitted providing light to the road ahead. However, as he entered the hole in the ceiling that went into the tower, the light from the torch began to dim more and more in the room below. Eventually, if Aurelus kept going upwards, the light would cease to be in the room, as the stairs blocked it out.

"Keep yer footing tight, Talarin. If somethin' pushes us back, there's very little we can do." Aurelus crouched as he climbed the stairs, taking more time, but making sure to keep his center of gravity close to the ground.

Talarin nodded as he crouched along behind Aurelus. He glanced at the top of the stairs hoping that some trap wasn't set up waiting for them. He gulped at thoughts of falling logs crushing them both.

As Denkou fiddled with the lock a faint click could be heard as the lock popped open. Moments later a louder click could be heard coming from the somewhere up the staircase. As Aurelus and Talarin proceeded up the staircase a scythe blade came zooming around the turn, slicing Aurelus across the side. Talarin managed to dodge the blade, just barely, as he dropped to the ground and the blade missed the top of his head by only inches. From the room below the rest of the could merely here the swish of the blade followed by the sound of the blade meeting flesh.

Talarin crawled to Aurelus's side "How bad is it?" he asked as loudly as he could, before shouting downstairs to the others. "I'm ok, but Aurelus got hit by a swinging blade."

The spiral staircase column was really small. There was just not enough room to dodge the blade that was incoming. He tried to move to the side, but all that managed to do was allow the blade to tear into the opposite side. "GRAHH!"

Aurelus collapsed against the column, dropping the torch and his longsword on the ground, looking down at the cut. It was deep. Damned wizards...

Panting, Aurelus looked at Talarin. He grabbed Talarin on the side of the head firmly, and said. "NEXT TIME, YA REMIN' ME TA LISTEN TA DENKOU!"

He let go, and put his hand on his wound, trying to stop the bleeding. "Pelor damn it...! Those mum-munching wizerds and 'eir damned traps! I get a hold af 'em I swear by my dead offspring I'll tear their damned heads from their shoulders with me bare hands an' use their necks as outhouses fer the rest o' me DAMNED life! I'll be old n' wrinkl'd n' I'll still be droppin' m' load 'own 'eir damned ded throats! I bet 'ey'd lik tha', wouldn' dey!? 'ith 'eir damn'd odd 'ays ye'd think 'ey'd 'ave th' weirdst fetishes, ay...!?"

And so continued a string of curses towards the wizards that had booby-trapped the mansion, Aurelus' odd Scottish/Irish accent slowly eating his words more and more till it was just a bunch of angry-sounding gibberish.

Talarin nodded grimly as he started to drag Aurelus back down the stairway, keeping low in case the scythe came around again. He kept a sharp lookout in case something else happened. He grabbed Aurelus's sword, placed it on top of Aurelus's chest, and tried to keep from hurting him even more.

As the two men were going up the stairs, Sorri took out her lantern and lit it as the light from the torch was leaving. Then she heard Talarin's shout and picked up the lantern before quickly rushing up the stairs while keeping low, almost climbing up on all fours (hands and feet).

Panting, Aurelus screamed down into the room as they approached the part where the stairs were unencumbered by the walls in the hole in the ceiling. "REMEMBER ME TA RETURN EM THE FAVOR! I AUGHTA CARVE THEIR FACES IN!"

Denkou paused, quirking her mouth slightly. She wasn't sure whether or not something she had done caused whatever was prompting that kind of response from Aurelus, but she decided it would probably be in her best interests to not mention the fact it might have been her fault to him. "I'll be sure to do that for you. Now stop screaming like a little girl and get down here so you can get fixed up." That said, turned back to the door and cautiously checked it over one last time, planing on opening it slowly and quietly if she still didn't find anything.