Wizards of Breol Forest [PG-13/Started/Accepting/IC]

[Asriel Dreemurr]

When Alaster finally came to, he was laying against the side of a cage and felt something not quite so familiar against his skin. It was cloth, and he bolted up to examine his situation only to suddenly feel every bit of pain which had been dished out as a result of his falling unconscious at the hands of Rautar. Remembering the whole of the events that had occurred, he swore to himself to be the end of that skeletal son of a b****. He didn't need his own weapon to channel his spells, as he had proved in his earlier years he could use just about anything which was sufficiently resistant to fire as an implement but it would cost him some effectiveness and power for his spells. He was just thinking that he could destroy the cart...when he saw the tower and felt the malevolent power within.

"Well...this isn't good." He said aloud, before doing the best that he could to stretch his sore muscles out to a point where he could more easily move himself about. When the time came he would need to be able to move as effectively as he could...now came the time to think of how to bring this place down from the inside. A thought crossed his mind, one which could very much work but which he absolutely could not share with the rest of the group. If another option came up he would take it, but all the same he was planning on utilizing this idea if it came to it.

[i]"Well I'm awake now, the rest of you alright?"[/i] He broadcast this message to the whole group, hoping that he could get some idea of how everyone was doing. [i]"I recommend we start planning on how to get out of this place now. You know, so once we're in we know what we need to do."[/i]

[Love of Ghibli]

Beatrice's eyes widened as she listened to Mel ramble and eventually get to something of substance. He said he liked her and that was something she totally did not see coming. Yes the signs were obvious and the mannerisms were clear but once again never underestimates someones low self esteem. As she got more and more embarrassed it was clear that she was hugging Silvest tightly to the point of suffocation. She didn't know what to do. She had never been liked before. Pretty girls are liked, flirtatious girls are liked, sluts are liked...for different reasons but still sluts are liked. She wasn't sure what she should do and how she should approach this situation. Sure Mel was cute but she always thought he was beyond her station.

[i][color=#800080]OH MY GOD you think everyone is beyond your station! All men on this planet should somehow leave you alone. Seriously do you have any self confidence. [/color]Hush you insolent pair of shoe lining, I can't help it...Oh my God what if Alaster likes me too. [/i]Silvest face turned stoic for a moment as she is clearly a surprisingly dull creature when it comes to reading others emotions. [color=#800080][i]What if he does. Let's just entertain the notion for a second. [/i][/color]

It was then that Alaster's voice rang inside their heads and Silvest laughed. [color=#800080][i]Speak of the devil.[/i][/color] He said so that everyone could hear. That wasn't an accident he wanted to give everyone a hint on what was going on inside the minds of these two. Beatrice smacked the cat across the head due to his defiance and he still laughed though it hurt.

[i]Um..Um...I'm fine...a little tired though. I'll be ready to help out in whatever way I can when the time comes. My magic requires no weapons so I can go all out.[/i] It was as if one could here the blushing in her voice as she was talking to Alaster and Mel through her mind...and some other background characters in this drama that is going in her head.

[Cray-Crow]

[color=#696969][i]Well, this is lovely. [/i][/color]Staring through the bars of the cage, Reaal got a better view of the group's adversary, and, well, they had an army. Evidently hundreds of these skeletal warriors were en mass, escorting the their cargo to their destination. Mel insisted wherever they would be placed, would be close to Nekrom's dwelling, but Reaal couldn't believe the enemy would do something that plainly stupid. Either way, despite his thoughts, Reaal was in a cage.

[color=#008080][i]It is a handsome view. Hm? It seems we have company, Reaal. Toklo. [/i][/color]Evesilith nodded her head to the little bear cub, greeting him. Reaal did the same.

[i]Well, hi. I was told by Mel to accompany you, seeing as everyone else was paired within the cages.[/i]

[i][color=#696969]How kind. I'll thank him later for his generosity. [/color][/i]Reaal looked off into the distance, seeing as the troop was atop a hill. He saw another mass of white leagues away. A tall black tower was ahead as well, likely to be their destination.

[color=#008080][i]Reaal, why did you give up? I know you have a spell that would've easily smitten the [/i]vast[i] majority of this feeble army, if not its entirety. Only the anti-paladin would survive.[/i][/color]

[color=#696969][i]Because, that single anti-paladin could have us all. I believe Mel. Don't know why. Besides, that spells costs five years of my life.[/i][/color]

[i]What? [/i]Toklo exclaimed. [i]You have such a spell? Have you used it before?[/i]

Reaal smiled crookedly and raised three of his right fingers. He than proceeded to bring his pipe from his pocket. Before lighting it, he heard a message broadcasted by Alaster. Beatrice was quick to answer.

[color=#696969][i]Well, if there's a metric ton of enemies like this where we're going, don't expect me to hand myself over like this last time. I've got something in mind. Glad to hear you're alright Beatrice. How's Mel and En?[/i][/color]

[Alice Moonflowyr]

Mel heard Alastars thoughtspeak, and jumped a little. [i]I'm pretty much screwed in terms of combat, but other than that I'm fine.[/i] Mel broadcasted. [i]Then again, we're all pretty much screwed except for Jak and Beatrice.[/i] Mel then pondered for a few minutes. [i]As for getting out of that place, let's wait and see what the inside of the dungeons are like. Much easier to plan out from there.[/i] As the got closer to the tower, Mel unconciously reached out and grabbed Beatrices' hand. She could feel him shaking a bit. Not out of cold, but fear. Mel had thought that this fortress of Nekroms' would be a lot simpler than a huge black obsidian tower, and barricades surrounding the entire area with literally hundreds of thousands of skeletons and other assorted undead. The thought of fighting all those undead scared the s*** out of him, and he was shaking quite a bit. Mel grinned at Beatrice, trying to hide the fact that he was scared out of his wits, but the fact that he was holding her hand and shaking kind of made that a futile attempt. He reached out to Toklo and said directly to him: [i]I dont like our situation. There are a lot more skeletons than I thought there would be...[/i]

[i]Yeah. But you were right in the fact that breaking out should be easier than breaking in with this amount of skeletons. [/i]

Mel shivered a bit more and scooted closer to Beatrice and pulled her close to him. He currently didnt care that A) she hadnt really responded to him yet, or B.) that Alastar would probably kill him if he knew. All he knew was that he wanted to be close to Beatrice, and maybe that would help with his current situation of being scared straight.

[Love of Ghibli]

Beatrice was glad to hear that there were some others who were alright and everything but there was something about her current situation that was almost soothing. Another man was using her for comfort. Whether it was conscious or unconscious it was happening. Her heart raced as she just sat still and allowed the events that were transpiring to happen. Yes it was incredibly awkward, yes it was completely inappropriate, and yes it couldn't have been in a least romantic setting. Nevertheless it was happening. She didn't seem to put up any kind of struggle against Mel. While he was holding her hand she started to process what he was saying. She remembered Mel being of nobility, but she really didn't know about the whole having a mother and sister thing. She simply looked to the side as they were coming up on the skeleton militia and she could feel his fear like he would probably be able to feel her heart's accelerated pace. It was almost as if they were having a moment.

Unfortunately not everyone inside the cage was feeling this little romantic moment in this horrific and unromantic setting. Silvest after about five second of this hand holding (which felt like an eternity to Beatrice) started "hacking" up a hairball. Just as a perfect killjoy the cat positioned himself right between the two youngsters. [color=#800080]Oh look you know what we should do we should at least scout this area while we can. We'll cover more with our eyes if we go to OPPOSITE ENDS of the cage. He said clearly glaring at the young boy.[/color] Beatrice's eye was twitching as this blocker was just clearly in the way. But Silvest didn't stop there, he decided that he would do the natural thing and telegraph everyone that statement mentally at the same time. In other words everyone would hear him splitting Mel and Beatrice apart. His next stroke of genius was to push Beatrice all the over to one end of the cage even if it wasn't that big. There the two magic partners would have a very deep and moving private mental screamfest at each other.

[i]What the Hell are you doing? [color=#800080]Wow we really do think alike...THIS RIGHT HERE is not happening.[/color] MY life, emphasis on the MY part. [color=#800080]Do you even like the boy? Seriously let's look at the facts you haven't been on this journey for a full week and you're out here all head over heals for some dude who is your friend by association back in Viz. Be honest this is just some automatic response system you have going on because you don't like yourself enough.[/color] [/i]Beatrice sulked a little because naturally the truth hurts. [color=#800080][i]And while we're talking about your love life. Him? This is what you're going for? He's scared of skeleton's. I'm just saying out of the group of barely post-pubescent boys you pick the one that left us in Viz. Did you see Alaster? I'm just saying even though I'm the one who saved your behind from the trolls. There was a smokey, burnt, tired husk of a man also running to your aid.[/i][/color]

Beatrice stood up in the cage and simply looked outside at her gloom and doom surroundings. There were a lot of skeletons and that leaders touch still lingered on her face. It was like molestation but deadlier. She rolled her eyes and let out a deep sigh as she tried to stay strong once again. Unless Jak had some plan she would pretty much have to step up in their escape efforts.

[Alice Moonflowyr]

Now, Mel wasnt an idiot. He could tell the difference from a broadcasted message to a private message. He also knew a broadcasted message could be blocked, but he didnt know how. On a hunch, he tried a funky little cantrip that his old teacher taught him, mostly as a prank. It tended to interfere with any radio waves nearby, and he figured it'd work the same for a telepathic message. He began letting arcane energy seep out of his body, not visible to any human eye, but enough so that he could work with the raw magic, as if he was preparing a spell. With any other, more complicated, spell he would've needed his wand. Sometimes, simplicity wins out. He made a huge hollow sphere of the magic around them just as Silvest got to the, ah, important, part of his message. Hopefully Mels' little radio trick stopped the message. It seemed like it, since no one except him and Beatrice seemed to take heed of the message. Mel listened intently for a few minutes after Silvest made his message. Hearing nothing, he sighed with relief, and tried not to laugh at the fact that a cat was trying to wiggle [i]behind[/i] Beatrice to push her to the other end of the cage. As they were up against the edge of the cage, getting Bea to the other side would require either being outside the cage, or being able to pull her. Silvest was neither, which he found quite funny. Although it was obvious that they were yelling at one another mentally, Mel couldnt resist, and burst out laughing.

At Beatrices puzzled look, he smiled, ruffled the top of Silvests' head, and said: "Thanks for that Sil. Laughter [i]does[/i] help fear. I owe you one." Still grinning, Mel put his arm around Beatrice and mindspoke directly to her, making sure nothing got to Silvest: [i]Sorry about leaving you behind back when we started this by the way. I was a little overexcited about this entire trip, and maybe kinda sorta forgot to get you. [/i]Mel was clearly embaressed about this little fact, and obviously had it weighing on his mind. [i]Dunno how I forgot you though. I still liked you back then, even. You were cute, pretty, funny. And Sil always managed to crack me up. [/i]Mel blushed. He was doing this not only for himself, but to help Beatrice with her little self-pity problem. [i]But uh....I get it if you like Alastar better. He's strong, silent, and a great leader. He...he'd be lucky to have you. [/i]

Mel waited anxiously for Beatrices' response, not knowing whether he was about to be kicked to the curb, or the other, more pleasurable, option.

[Aix]

Jak sat silently in the corner of his cage, solemnly watching the procession of skeletons walking by them and listening in to the group's mental conversation while playing around with levitating some rocks and grains of sand he had in his hand. Selena wasn't in much of a mood to talk.

[b][i]"I recommend we start planning on how to get out of this place now. You know, so once we're in we know what we need to do." [/i][/b]

[i]"I think I could get us out..."[/i] said Jak. [i]"Ever since I learned Signweaving... My telekinesis has become much... stronger. I have incredible control over it. You see, the sand in my hand? I can do it with my eyes closed. I can probably undo locks." [/i]Jak paused and asked a question that bothered him. [i]“How would we ever be able to face Nekrom if his minion is likely at least strong enough to take us all on at once and defeat us?”[/i] He turned around in a circle to look at his companions.

[i]“We can, and we must,”[/i] said Selena. [i]"If we took him by surprise and all attacked at once..."[/i] Jak adjusted his gaze at her. Selena's face showed complete confidence in them all and Jak felt somewhat heartened, but he proceeded with his ominous words

[i]"What if we fail?"[/i] asked Jak. [i]"There would be no one to stop Nekrom."[/i]

[i]"Don't even think about failure!" [/i]cried Selena, she scowled at him, as if scolding him.

Jak was silent, again, and he looked to the others to see what they thought.

[RogueZero]

Meanwhile not far from Allvia's Rock

Mark was running down from a large hill, now quite far away from the city. "Damn, what's Mel thinking going into the forest himself, and on the top of that he didn't even tell me... Seriously... I can't understand him sometimes..." Mark grumbled. "Oh, come on, you know that he couldn't possibly tell you, if he did it, you will beg to him to let you come with him..." said Raven. "What's wrong with me wanting to tag along with him?" asked Mark. "Well, the first thing is that the forest is an extremely dangerous place... and you know that he always care so much about you..." said Raven. "I know that he treat me like his own brother, but man... I wish he stop treating me like a little kid, I can use magic, and I'm as good as him, he should've known that better than anyone..." Mark grumbled. "Maybe you're as skilled as a wizard, but your attitude is like a kid... remember, you're still not recognized as an adult in Viz, not before your coming to age ceremony..." said Raven. "Even so! I'm still a worthy wizard to go inside the forest!" Mark argued.

After arguing with his crow, Mark reached Allvia Rock. "Awright! This is the place! Every person who wants to go inside must come across this stone... now where where would he go next ?" Mark wondered. "Don't be so hasty... let's take a rest first, it'll be a pain if we run across some centaurs or kobolds." advised Raven. "I definitely can't take a rest here, who knows he'll need my help!" said Mark. Raven can only sighed. Mark checked his surrounding. "Alright let's go into the forest!" after saying that, Mark ran into the forest.

[Astolfo]

En had woken up groggily, and seeing his friends busy arguing about how to avoid their fate, beat Nekrom, get out of this prison and such, he tried to think of a way, and thought. "Hey Jak, could you use stuff like sand to pick the lock? If it's a nonmagical lock that is. Then again, it probably is, but can't hurt to try, can it?"

As the others thought about it, En thought about the darkness he had in him, and wondered how on Breol he should try to defeat the more.... [i]undesirable....[/i] traits. He wondered if Nekrom would kill them outright, or torture them, or bend and try to break them to his will, and stopped thinking about it, because it was kind of depressing. [i]Then again, there's nothing to be really happy about right now. [/i]En thought dryly.

He looked outside, and saw them getting closer to what must undoubtably be Nekrom's tower, and shivered from the horrifying aura radiating from it... [i]Jak is right. [/i][i]How on Breol are we going to get out of this jam?[/i]

[Asriel Dreemurr]

[i]"Well, that's a good place to start, Jack," [/i]Alaster broadcast his message to the entire group, now that all the suggestions had been made there could be some real planning done. So far everyone was alright, compared to what could easily have happened to any of them, and able to cast at least some level of magic. Though he was lacking his armor and his preferred weapon, both of which he was certain he could retrieve simply enough, he knew full well that he was still capable of fighting his way through skeletons given how fragile they were.

[i]"Beatrice, do you have any way of summoning a creature which is small and would not be too noticeable in order to scout out this tower once were inside? Assuming you do, I'd like you to do so and use it to try and find wherever our gear is being kept. Jak, that telekinesis if yours will be quite useful in getting the cages open but I'd like you to hold off on using it. Reaal, I'd like you to have Evesilith try and find a path out of whatever dungeon we're put in while Beatrice is having her summoned creature find whatever vault or armory our gear is being held in. Mel, have Toklo do what he can to generally survey the area and if anyone else has any ability to summon more creatures we can use them to survey as much of the tower as we can. If we can generate a map of this place, we'll better be able to escape down the path of least resistance."[/i]

Alaster took a moment to pause in his mental speaking to the party to keep his thoughts to himself. This was a good plan, and if it was executed correctly they'd all get out alive. Of course there was still more planning to be done, but that particular bit was going to have to be done once they had cracked open their cages in whatever dungeon they were dragged into. Then a few other possibilities occurred to him that required noting.

[i]"If we get separated, then our first priority is finding where we all are in relation to each other and working out a location in the tower where we can meet up before making our escape. We'll stand a better chance together than alone. As much as I hate to say this next bit, I doubt that even all together we're powerful enough to defeat Nekrom so he isn't even an objective. If we come across someone that could be Nekrom, we turn and run the other way as fast as our legs will carry us. Rautar, on the other hand, is Kill on Sight but only after we've re-equipped ourselves. I'd be willing to bet that we can catch him off his guard, even if only for a few seconds, in this tower somewhere. Now, any questions?"[/i]

[Love of Ghibli]

Beatrice was almost moved with this blatant display of love and affection emanating from the young noble. She wanted to respond but she heard Alaster's message. Quite impressive coming up with a plan before we get to a place where one can properly make up a plan. The boy did have excellent leadership skills. On the other hand there was Mel who clearly liked her is some elevated sense. He maybe be foolhardy but he did have a certain all around main character feel to him. His flaws were completely minuscule when compared to overall good guy personality traits. Having a person like him around wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. What was surprising to hear though was this long running affection that Beatrice never knew about. She was under the impression that they barely even knew each other. Sure they were "friends" but she was a wall flower who didn't really socialize but he apparently socialized with him. It seems like she may have had a bad memory.

Silvest on the other hand was just twitching his eye, he was not amused at this boy who makes light of his efforts and just seems to know things. But luckily he was able to hear Alaster's message. And it was clear which boy he approved of. [color=#800080][i]Well I'm not sure if we could summon minia...oh wait I know just the little set of heroes that can help us with this. We'll be fine. [/i][/color]He was interested in Beatrice's response to the boy though.

Beatrice's just looked at Mel who was sitting next to her and raised her eyebrow as if she was confused. "What?" she said some concern. "Alaster would be lucky to have me? I've known the dude for two days now. I don't really recall knowing you that well in Viz when I think about it. But we just set out on this journey so let's not add some more confusion to the mix. As you can see I'm not the most mentally stable girl you'll ever meet. So...yeah. Sorry about that but maybe after we survive the skeletal army of doom and go on anything resembling a proper date can we talk about this."

[Alice Moonflowyr]

Mels smile couldnt be bigger if there were three of him. He could have [i]kissed[/i] Beatrice right there, but settled for a gigantic hug, squishing Silvest in the process. By that time they had been carried through the gates of the barricades, and were currently being carried underground. The passageway was dark, dank, and smelled bad. As they got nearer to the bottom, a skeleton took a torch and lit up some torches attatched to the walls. The place lit up, they saw three different cells, all of which were rather large. They dumped Mel and Beatrice unceramoniously into the first one, along with Silvest. About half an hour later, Jak, Selena, and Reeal arrived. They dumped those three in the second cell. Toklo immidiatly phased through a wall and tackled Mel and Beatrice with a huge hug. Another ten minutes passed, and Alastar and En arrived and were dumped into the last cell. Mel frowned as he examined the doorway, which was quite large, wooden, and had no windows. There were no windows anywhere through here, and the only light source was a torch on the far wall. Looking around, Mel saw one straw bed, one pot that he didnt want to think about, and one pool of water, which was clean. Oddly. Toklo tested the water and pronounced it truly clean, as in free of poison.

Mel rapped on the door. He immideatly felt an immense magical barrier, so on the off-chance he could get something going in here, he wasnt gonna bust through this.

"Can anyone hear me?" Mel yelled. He threw a look at Silvest that said [i]no funny buisness[/i]. After about a minute of nothing, he tried again. Still nothing.

Mel decided to try mindspeaking. [i]Can anyone hear me?[/i] This failed as well.

"Damn. Wards are up that stop both actual sound and mindspeak from getting out of these walls. Thats a pain. Toklo, get back through those walls and inform the rest of the group about this." Mel said.
Toklo leapt back through the wall, informed Cell 2, then informed Cell 3, then came back.
[i]Jak thinks he can pick the locks on these. It'll take him about two hours per lock though due to the magical barriers he has to get around, but at least we wont be in here forever. [/i]Toklo said. Mel in the meantime had tried lighting his finger on fire and burning the wooden door. No money. There were no loose large rocks around the area, and he wasnt strong enough to loosen anything, and he doubted even Alastar was.
"Crap. Alright Toklo, tell Jak to get on that." Mel said, sighing. As Toklo phased back through the wall, Mel turned to Beatrice and said: "We should get some rest. Do you wanna share the bed or do you wanna take turns?"

//////////////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Yaku hissed as he heard about the group getting captured. "Damn those idiots! What am I going to do now!"
A Syron standing nearby Yaku said; "There is another in the forest like them. A boy named Mark."
Yaku hissed again. "Fine. But he better not get captured!" The syron nodded and dashed out of the room.

///////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Rautar bowed before Nekrom at the pinnacle of the tower. "I captured them for you....may I keep the silver-haired one? He seems like a fun toy." Rautar would be smiling if he could.
Nekrom stayed silent for a few minutes. "You may. Once you get the information out of the rest of them, you can keep who you wish as a...toy...and kill who you wish. I dont care." Nekroms voice still had the rattle of death in it.
Rautar laughed like a maniac as he made his way towards the dungeons.
[i]This will be fun~[/i]

[Love of Ghibli]

Where was the indoor plumbing? She was already barely able to do what she had to do at the elf party but the copious amounts of alcohol definitely helped with decision making at these events. Her other method was pretty tricky and she didn't want to use it every time she had to go somewhere because that would put a strain on Silvest. So she really liked the concept of using indoor plumbing. For some odd reason though there wasn't anywhere to go to the bathroom. This was far from a comfortable situation to be in as she did not know what to expect. Especially since the groups forms of communication is cut off from each. Such oddly impressive magics for something that looked like it was made of wood. Sad that this was their unfortunate situation. Mel talked something about resting on bed with her and she just wasn't in the mood for any real contact with human beings right now. She looked at Silvest who would normally snicker at the situation but even he was a little off put by the living conditions the team was forced to be in.

[color=#800080]This is not the place for intellectuals[/color] he said out loud seeing as there is a mental ward blocking communication. [color=#800080]Though I find it odd that they can seal the mind link, something that they could not have witnessed, but there are no defenses for those two spirit beast which they had to have seen in action. Its odd combination of genius and sheer idiocy. Well at least we can use the spirits to go look around for us.[/color] "What about Hammsukes?" Beatrice asked. [color=#800080]Well we could use them as a technical travel clause but still why waste the energy when those two could pretty much do all the work with a lot less risk? [/color]

[Alice Moonflowyr]

Mel smacked his forehead when Silvest mentioned Toklo and Evesilith. "OK, not sure what I was thinking with for a few minutes there. I'll wait for Toklo to get back though, he's off chatting with Alastar I think." Mel then looked at Silvest to explain the mind block: "Telepathy isnt a built-in part of our anatomy dude. Its a spell in it of itself, and these wards seem to block a crap ton of spells. I couldnt burn through the, wooden, door, and I'm not even sure if Beatrices magic would work in here." Mel frowned.

After a few minutes, Toklo came back, presumably having conversed with Alastar about a strategy. [i]He wants me to[/i]- "Look around, I know." Mel said. "I would've had you do it as soon as we got here, but I was otherwise....uh...occupied." Mel said with a look at Beatrice. Toklo looked confused for a few seconds, shrugged, and phased out the door.

Toklo saw the same room that the rest of them saw when they came in. There was a staircase spiraling up, presumably to the top of the tower. Toklo couldnt see where they came in, and assumed it was some kind of magical entrance. No guards were in sight. [i]Well thats one less thing to worry about[/i]. [i]Nekrom probably thinks the wards are enough to keep us in here...but he should be able to spare one or two skeletons. Unless...[/i]Toklo got an idea that had him dashing back into the room with Alastar and En, panting.

[i]ALASTAR! [/i]Toklo yelled with his mind. [i]There are no guards out there![/i] Toklo sounded quite anxious. Alastar shook his head at Nekroms stupidity, but Toklo wasnt finished. [i]Alastar, Nekrom has hundreds of thousands of skeletons. Why couldnt he spare one or two for guards? [/i]As the look of realization came over Alastars face, Toklo nodded and said: [i]Nekroms army is on the march. [/i]

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Unceremoniously thrown into the cell as he was, Alaster had not actually struggled this time given that they had a plan which involved being captured. The first thing he did once the door was closed was examine it for enchantments...only to be told shortly thereafter by Toklo that there was in fact some sort of enchantment which prevented them from speaking back and forth between the cells. Fortunately the primal spirits didn't seem to be effected by it, and that was very good.

"Alright then, Toklo," He began and closed his eyes for a moment in order to think more clearly. Honestly, as much as he said he was up to handle combat he very much doubted that he actually was given the amount of pain that he was in. The Battlemage would be surprised if nothing was broken, and that wasn't even thinking about what that blade of Rautar's had done to him. "The plan doesn't change. Scout out and try to find where our gear is being kept." With that, Toklo returned to his master and passed on what he had been ordered to do. In the meantime Alaster began thinking on their situation, and as much as he had said that he felt they could take down Rautar if they all caught him by surprise at the same time he wasn't quite sure. When fighting him he'd seen the skeleton display combat prowess which he had not yet seen before, but that didn't change his orders. If they came across Rautar, they'd run if they didn't have their gear but once they did they would all attack him at once. After all, he couldn't possibly fight off six mages could he? It was just then that Toklo returned with news of there being no guards.

"No guards? The hell is this Nekrom thinking keeping us in here with no-" Toklo chose that moment to interrupt him with his idea about what could possibly be going on, and that idea was terrifying indeed. "Get back to Jak's cell and have him start picking the locks immediately, we need to get out of here as soon as we can." Once Toklo had left to go and do that, a freshly disheveled Alaster turned his gaze towards En as if his fellow swordmage could offer any aid. "We need to get out of here as soon as possible. Let's see if we can find a way through this door on our own." With that he began searching around for any sort of thing that could help them. The water would have proved useful, if only he operated off the use of that element instead of its opposite.

[Cray-Crow]

Before the group had crossed the gates of what was presumed to be Nekrom's tower, Reaal heard Alaster's plan on maneuvering through it once inside. He thought to himself that Alaster seemed to the one who was clear-minded and level-headed, easily assuming control of the group and issuing orders for a plan of action. Mel lacked this ability.

After entering the tower, Reaal saw Mel and Beatrice within a wooden crate. Reaal was tossed into another matching crate with Jak and the elven woman who joined them with the Elf Queen's blessing. Shortly afterwards, Toklo had emerged form the wooden wall, stating their enclosures were magically bound, blocking mental and verbal speech and preventing its breakage.

Reaal looked to Jak and Selena. [color=#696969]"This is swell."[/color] He remembered how Toklo had phased through the spell-entwined wood. [color=#696969]"Surprisingly, it doesn't block the animal spirits. Evesilith, see what you can gather about what's outside the crate."[/color]

[color=#008080]"I'm on it." [/color]She slithered through the wood, and after a few short seconds her head popped up. [color=#008080]"There doesn't seem to be anyone guarding you."[/color]

[color=#696969]"What? Why's that?"[/color]

[color=#008080]"His forces must be elsewhere. An elsewhere [i]much[/i] more important that here, guarding your escape. I shall return after scouting the passways, in search of any escapes or your implements."[/color] With that, she left.

[Alice Moonflowyr]

All of a sudden, a huge rumbling came from above them. Mel and Alastar knew this immidiatly to be the sound of an army marching, and after a few minutes, the others figured that out too. "Damn. Jak bettter work fast." Mel muttered. Toklo came back, informed him of what he already knew, and went off to find their gear. Toklo headed up the stairs, not noticing Evesilith coming out behind him until she spoke to him. [i]Oh, hi Eve. [/i]Toklo said. Nothing else was said, and they worked together to find the gear. After about ten minutes of searching, Toklo came across what seemed to be a promising room, and peeked in. It was full of swords and armor, with a few bows scattered here and there. [i]This stuff might be useful for En, Alastar, and Mel. [/i]Toklo said. He began sniffing around with Evesilith slithering into harder-to-reach spots when he came across a small leather bag that might fit a few items of intrest. Toklo poked his head in and saw the entire groups gear inside, and he pulled his head out, shocked. The leather bag couldnt be bigger than him, and yet there was Alastars armor and sword, Mels wand, bow, and arrows, and the rest of the groups implements. [i]Uh...Eve?[/i] Toklo said. [i]Might wanna look at this.[/i]

Evesilith came over and poked her head inside, promptly pulling it out with a hiss of surprise. [i]How the hell is this even possible? [/i]Evesilith said.

[i]Not sure. But I think I can pull it back down the stairs. [/i]Toklo said, picking up the front end of the bag in his mouth. [i]You go ahead and tell them we got the gear. But lets not tell them about the funky bag, they're stressed out enough. [/i]Toklo began dragging the bag down the stairs while Evesilith sped ahead. This bag would take maybe an hour to get down the stairs, as it was quite heavy and Toklo was tired. He didnt want to turn into his full form in case Rautar or Jack was still around.

Mel sat down in front of the door, and stared at it. He tried to remember what his teacher said about wards. [i]Every piece of armor has a chink.[/i] Mel thought in his head. He reached out towards the wood and tried to feel the wards magic. [i]Its probably fire-resistant. But....[/i] Mel got an idea. He got up, stretched, and walked over to the straw bed, yanking out bits of straw. He ripped a few threads of fabric from his clothes, tied the straw together as tight as possible, and tried a minor spell. He pointed the small straw bundle at a pebble. It glowed purple and lifted about half a foot into the air. Mel grinned.
"Well then. Looks like this is my lucky day." Mel pointed the makeshift wand at the door, and a ball of pure lightning erupted from the wand, exploding on the door. The resulting shockwave blasted Mel back to the other end of the cell, and was so loud that everyone else heard it. "Oww." Mel said, rubbing his head. He inspected the door, and there was a big black mark on it where the ball hit. Along with a little hole in the door. Mel whooped. "Woohoo! They musta protected against Fire and Arcane Force, but not lightning!" Mel smiled, and looked at his makeshift wand. It was now a smoking pile of ashes. Mel frowned. "I can blast one of these suckers off every 20 minutes." Mel said to no one in particular. "If Jak manages his lock, he should go for Alastars next. I can blast this one open by the time they get the other two doors open." Mel walked over to the pool, spashed his face with water, and made another makeshift wand. He waited for his spell to recharge...

[Love of Ghibli]

Beatrice was simply twiddling her fingers while the spirits were out discovering the bottomless bag from Halloween Town. She was thoroughly anxious that she might have a situation on her hands if she doesn't have a proper place to go to the bathroom. Luckily that moment had not come yet. Mainly because she hasn't eaten anything yet. Maybe the lack of sustenance contributed to Mel's decision to surrender easily. She shrugged because that would be unexpectedly smart of him. She was laying on the bed with Silvest while he was just looking at Mel discover things about the barrier.

Silvest with his big ears was a little off put by the sound of the lightning attack crashing against the barrier. Then again, Silvest is pretty much offput by everything Mel does. For some odd Mel reason Mel and Silvest don't mesh even. This is primarily due to Mel treating Silvest as the punchline joke and not Beatrice's better half. Nevertheless the explosion caused Beatrice to look over and see the damage that was done. It was then that the magical pair looked at each other and smiled because they knew what this meant. They were going to get out sooner than expected. Maybe in 20 minutes if everything went right. Beatrice simply looked at Mel and said with a smirk. "Hey can you let us know before hand when you shoot another one of those blast off? We got a plan."

[RogueZero]

At the same time, in the forest, Mark continued to run through the trees in the vicinity.

When he ran in the woods, he heard laughter from the distance is not far from where she was now. He decided to find the source of the laughter. When he reached the source of the sound, he saw an amazing sight. Wood Elf dancing dancing and laughing happily, he also saw a long table filled with food and beverages. He also saw a group of elves playing musical instruments near the fire pit. When Mark looked up, he saw a lot of houses in the trees and there is a rope bridge that connects the houses.

When he was admiring the houses on the tree, a little elf came over to Mark. Seeing elves came to him, Mark thought that he should ask about Mel to the elf. When he was about to ask the elves withdrew his hand and gave food and wine elves. "It's a good time for us to rest a bit." Raven said to Mark. "Hey, we're not here to party but to look for Mel!" Mark replied to Raven. But it seems, Raven has been affected by the elves party atmosphere. He ignored the words of Mark and danced with the little elves. Mark shook his head and let Raven partied with the elves, while he was busy asking where Mel is now, to the elves around. But they seem to ignore the question of Mark and continue partying. Mark also feel confused and thinking about who knows where Mel is now.

[Aix]

First thing that Jak had tried when his captors left him in his cell was teleporting out, but it didn't seem to work. [i]Dammit, it's warded.[/i] Next, he tried communicating with his friends, but after a minute, he realized that was useless as well, and it would be best to stick to the plan.

Deciding that the locks would be a serious handful, he let himself down into a comfortable sitting position, first, so that he may focus on moving the tiny components of the lock without anything poking at him or causing him pain, which could possibly distract him. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander into the lock's inner workings, ignoring his real sight and using his magical senses of awareness instead. Time ticked by, but Jak kept at it patiently. Somewhere along the line, he thought he heard some sort magical commotion, but he ignored it. If his captors came around, unless they had an extremely powerful sensing ability, they wouldn't realize what was going on anyway. They would simply think that Jak was meditating or praying or something.

[i]Click.[/i]

With the sudden loss of force keeping it shut, the door slowly swung open and Jak walked out. He looked around and walked over to Mel, but it appeared that he was already trying something, so he went to Alaster instead who was just one over. He wrote in the dust for Alaster to see, to tell him to keep guard and then, Jak returned to a sitting position. Another two hours passed.

[i]Click.[/i]

The door on Alaster's cell opened and Alaster was allowed out. Then, Jak moved on to En.

[Cray-Crow]

The search through the tower was a success. Everyone's weapons and armor were found in a magic, space defying bag. She darted back down the spiraling stairs, reaching the group in no time. One after the other, she entered the crates, letting the captives inside know their possessions had been found, and returned to Reaal.

Evesilith also let Reaal and his crate-mates that a method out of their enclosures was being devised: Mel and his makeshift magic, which was evidently working because shortly afterward a loud explosion was heard through the bound, and Jak picking the crate locks.

[i][color=#696969]This is going to take a while.. [/color][/i]

Sure enough, a while later, the Jak successfully picked the lock, the wooden door opening with a groan. He climbed out of the wooden crate and offered his hand to help Selena out, seeing as Jak went on to another lock.

[color=#696969]"Evesilith, you'd said you and Toklo had found our gear, where is it?"[/color]

[color=#008080]"Toklo is carrying here now. It's a hefty lot of gear, Reaal. Though he should appear shortly."[/color]

[Alice Moonflowyr]

Toklo came down the stairs dragging the bag, put it down in front of Reeal, and proceeded to pass out onto the floor. Mel made about six more explosions onto the door, and eventually it blasted off. Mel walked out of the room, stretched, and saw Toklo passed out in front of a leather bag. Reeal was equipped, and he told Mel about the bag. Mel grinned. "Bag of holding. Sweetness." Mell pulled his gear out, slung his quiver on his back and readied his bow. He carried Toklo back into the room, dunked him in the water to wake him up, and handed Beatrice her gear. He saw Jak messing with the lock on Alastars door, and he figured he'd just let Jak do his thing, and he walked over to the stairs. "No guards. And that rumbling from earlier was Nekroms army on the march." Mel notched an arrow, and kept an eye out on the stairs.

Toklo kicked Mel once he was awake. He then proceeded to shake the water off of him, soaking the general area around him. Grumbling, he wandered over to Beatrice and sat down by her feet. [i]Next time he picks me up, slap him for me. [/i]Toklo muttered to Beatrice in his mind. [i]Unless I'm hurt. Then you can let him. But if he's gonna dunk me again, slap him please. [/i]

Mel heard a sound. Not a big sound, but a footstep on the stairs. He pulled his arrow back and spoke to the rest of the group: [i]Incoming. Selena, protect Jak. Reeal, help me out. Silvest....be badass. [/i]Mel said the last line with a wink at Beatrice and Silvest. [i]Jak, get Alastar out NOW. Selena has your back, so concentrate on the lock. [/i]

Rautar turned the corner as everyone got into position. He smiled, pulled out his sword, and said: "Well then! Looks like I'll get to play a little harder than I expected~" Rautar then dived at Reeal, blade pointed at his chest. Mel loosed the arrow, but it missed by a thread. Mel got a look of desparation on his face, and dove in front of Reeal, taking the sword straight through his stomach.

"Hugh....ugh....gah." Mel tried to say something, but he passed out from massive blood loss. The blade sucked up his life force just as it had done to Alastar, and Rautar threw Mel in the corner of the room, where a pool of blood immediatly formed around his body.

"Anyone else?" Rautar said, the blade dripping with Mels blood.

[Astolfo]

- POST REMOVED BY REQUEST OF GREAT KING SPIKE -

[Cray-Crow]

Reaal gladly took his bonded javelin into his hands. [color=#696969][i]Hm.. I think some armor would be useful in these types of situations..[/i][/color]

A footstep was heard from the stairwell. Reaal instantly readied his weapon, aiming towards the sounds direction. Mel had done the same. Not long afterwards, the source of the footstep showed itself: Rauter. He smiled wildly as he made the first strike, aiming straight for Reaal.

Reaal was level-headed and knew exactly was spell to use in this situation. Just as he was about to use it, Reaal saw Mel's face, and knew what he was about to do. [color=#696969]"Mel, no! I don't-"[/color] Too late. Mel had jumped in front of Reaal, into Rauter's blade's trajectory. The strike connected. Fully, Rauter's blade piercing through Mel's stomach, the bloody tip visible.

[color=#696969]"Sure!" [/color]Reaal spun his javelin in his hands and struck the concrete ground. [color=#696969]"[/color][color=#696969]Corrumpitur ingluviem!"[/color] The blocks that made up the ground around where Reaal was standing began to split apart, separating each other. Between them emerged boiling black tar, bubbling and steaming. It surged upward, creating numerous thick tendrils, writhing and hissing as they struck their surroundings. In unison, the tendrils suddenly and powerfully made their move towards Rauter. Dodging them in such close quarters would be unthinkable. They wrapped around Rauter's wrists, ankles, neck and waist, an audible searing noise filling the air as the hot tar made contact with his flesh.

[color=#696969]"Alright, he should be pinned for a moment! Everyone, go!" [/color]Reaal grasped his javelin, forcing his energies through his implement, maintaining his spell.

[Asriel Dreemurr]

Alaster had been trying to work out some way for him to get them out of that cell himself, and that sudden explosion which sounded like it had come from the cell which Mel was presumably stuck in. Lightning, that certainly was an idea but as it stood the Battlemage didn't have any tricks himself which could work on getting through that door any easier than what Jak was doing. He had to wait quite a long time, but the news that his sword and armor were waiting for him on the outside was reassuring. Of course an idea came to him. Inspired as he was by what Mel had done, and was doing every twenty minutes. He just needed something to use as an implement...and he proceeded to grab the pot in the room which was, fortunately for all involved, empty.

He carefully aligned the pot with the floor and proceeded to smash it against the stones. Fortunately, his careful alignment payed off and he was left with a shard of pottery just large enough for him to use. Taking another, he quickly scratched a rune onto the surface of the shard to make things just a bit easier. It was nothing complex at all, just one of the runes from his sword which he knew full well was meant to ease the channeling of magic through the object. A moment later, he called a vortex to life about the shard and he smirked as he was about to drive it into the door, or rather the barrier about it, but instead just stopped for a moment.

"Mel's using lightning over there...that's a sub-element so they probably didn't count on warding against it. The wards are probably fireproof too..." He looked over at the water and, curiously, dipped the vortex-surrounded pottery shard into it. In mere moments it had sucked up quite a bit of water and when he removed it it seemed to be holding said water easily enough. Another crash of lightning sounded, followed by the heavy sound of door smashing against the ground told him that Mel had broken out of the cell. Not wanting to waste time, as that sound would probably be calling Rautar down upon their heads, he rammed the shard into the barrier.

The resulting collision of two elements against the barrier overloaded the wards producing it with a forceful sound akin to an explosion. This, plus the sound-dampening effects of the wards beforehand, prevented him from hearing it as Mel was sufficiently manhandled by the anti-paladin. Now hearing the sounds of the lock on his cell's door being tampered with, Alaster shouted out to Jak while his ears were still ringing. "Stand back! I'm going to kick down the door!" Hearing this, Jak had just enough time to withdraw before Alaster's foot came slamming into the door right by the lock and simply broke the wood around the locking mechanism off. It was then that his eyes beheld the form of Rautar with his sword still bloody in his hands and Mel hurled over into the corner. Worse still, he was between them and what he could identify, based on how some of their implements were hanging out of the top of it, as a bag of holding.

[i]"I'll make a break for the bag and throw you your sword once I've gotten it. With any luck Rautar will focus on one of us and the other can get the drop on him." [/i]He didn't wait for En to reply to him, he just bolted forward in what looked like a charge towards the anti-paladin. Rautar, thinking him a fool for charging headlong again, brought that cursed blade of his sweeping through the air with the intention of taking Alaster's legs out from under him. Needless to say it didn't work, as with a quick hop Alaster had his entire weight resting on the sword and leaped off of it into a forward flip through the air which had the double benefit of not only bringing him down near the bag of holding but also nearly wrenching the sword out of Rautar's hands. The Battlemage's hand darted inside of the bag and grabbed hold of a sheathed sword which was hurled through the air towards En.

Just as he was going back to the bag to grab at it again, Rautar turned about and things were about to get so much worse for Alaster. At least it seemed that way, for right as the life-stealing blade came down towards his head he gripped the overly-long hilt of his sword and tore it out of the bag. Two hands gripped the hilt as the Lifedrinker Blade collided with his own beautiful black sword. Rather than try and stop the weapon, he tilted his own just enough so that Rautar's slid down under the strength of his own attack, and from there Alaster forced himself into a spin which would take him around behind Rautar. Then, noticing as Reaal had readied to unleash a torrent of tar upon the anti-Paladin, he darted back so as to not be caught in it and pushed the bag of holding out of the way of the combat. He smirked, and soon he was rushing the now bound paladin again. If the tar held him long enough, Rautar would find the black blade of the Battlemage driven cleanly through his skeletal body. Assuming that the blade did in fact sink through the tar and wedge itself between the anti-paladin's bones, a smirk would cross Alaster's face as the elemental energies of fire exploded from the blade into his empty chest cavity and, due to the tar coating him, rapidly covered and filled his entire body.