Dark Ages RP- Chapter One- Galuterra

[Charentes]

Iasan sighed as he took in the smell of the sewer.  ‘you wanted some adventure in your life’ he thought to himself.  At this moment, however, the thought of the nice quiet little monastery back in Wintrie was appealing.

“Well I guess we’re getting dirty” Iasan said loudly, trying hide his disgusted expression.  This was probably the last thing in the world he wanted to do.  With this he turned to Newt and Calanthe, “Come on boys, its nothing a little water won’t wash off”.  With this he began trudging through the smelly liquid in the centre of the room.  Walking in as straight a line as he could, with the limited vision granted to him in the sewer.

“What do you think that noise is above us?” Newt asked the group nervously.

“I don’t know, but it’s the reason I’m so eager to wade through this disgusting sewer water” Iasan responded, keeping his pace steady trying to reach the other side of the room.  “Are the rest of you coming?”

The next noise was the Clang of the door that they had entered the sewers through closing.

[Dragonium]

Something was off. From the moment Stahn had looked up, even before hearing the ominous sound from above, there had been something bothering him.

"Shut up", he said quietly to the monk who had wandered across the room. He needed a moment's silence to think. After a second it struck him: the room was far taller than the staircase they had descended. "This can't be part of the tower", he said under his breath, "It's too large. This is like another tower entirely". He paced about for a moment, the stony silence broken only by the strange sound from the unseen ceiling high above.

Stahn shook his head. "I don't like it", he said simply, "We should keep moving". He took his axes from his belt, gripped them tightly, and added, "Quickly".

[Prpl_Mage]

Franklin had hoped that the sewers was the best choice.
He pondered.
What manner of dark creature could possibly lurk in this part of the fort? And what manner of lord and lady would have such an large array of danger hidden?
Maybe it was something that was common amongst the houses in Galuterra? Keeping powerful beings indoor. Franklin could not understand it at all. They had always taken care of anything magical back home, it was evil manifested after all. Beast or sorcerers - they all met the same fate. But none seemed to care here.

"We should keep moving" Said Stahn and Franklin could not agree any more.
"Arm yourselves and be ready to defend your life if anything decides to get in our path." James said as he raised his crossbow towards he looming ceiling.
Stahn already had his axes in hand but the boy ; Calanthe finally decided to heave the bow of his back without a word.
Franklin pulled out the short sword and remembered that he still had one of the inferior sword of the guard, he let that one rest and stepped into the water and felt that horrible feeling of his feet getting moist as sewer water poured into his greaves.

[Zerlina]

The Earl of Kinnoul aimed his bow at the ceiling as the others drew their swords.

“I hate this place.” said Newt “I hate this place so much.”

There was a twang as Kinnoul fired an arrow into the ceiling. A moment of silence.

Silence.

Silence.

SNAP!

A hairy pincer snatched up James in one fast strike. Two red eyes glinted from the ceiling. Four eyes. Then six. And then eight.

In a moment, the ceiling went black again. James’ unconcious body seemed to be floating, although the group new he was being held up by something above them.

[Prpl_Mage]

Franklin saw the Earl being held by the dark force above them. He knew not what it was or what magic that bound it. But Franklin knew that his body was getting more and more exhausted for every battle they fought.
The earl saved his life when they went against the witch, and even more importantly - he seemed like the kind of authority that this group needed to stick together.

He floated above them, dangling from side to side - not responding. The crossbow laid on the tiles below him and everyone watched the bizarre scene.
The first one to react was Calanthe who fired an arrow above James' head. The Earl shook as the arrow struck something.
Franklin didn't know what to do but lounged out towards James' legs as it moved closer to the group. He missed and watched as Calanthe ran away from where he stood and something striking that exact spot.

"Don't let it catch you!" Franklin shouted as he tried to make out what was above them. "And find something to light this place up! We can't fight like this." He felt powerless on the ground as whatever hunted them preyed from above.

[Charentes]

“We can’t fight like this.” Franklin was saying.

Iasan heard the knight and felt fear growing in him. “Are you mad!? We can’t fight at all, we need to get out of here.  Newt you go along the walls and try to find an exit to this room, and be quick about it.”  After saying this Iasan made a dash for the Earl’s crossbow.  Picking it up he ran to Calanthe.  “Pass me a few arrows, I will load and reload the bows if you keep shooting at whatever you think you can hit.”

“Alright brother, I’ll do my best” replied Calanthe, although the boy was visibly shaken.

“Right, so we’ll need to keep moving or this monster will snatch us up as well.  Stahn try to grab a hold of the Earl if he comes near you.” 
Calanthe fired another arrow aiming for the spot above James’ head.  He handed the bow to Iasan to reload, while taking aim with the second bow.

“Feel free to send a couple in the direction of the Barbarian if you get the chance” Iasan whispered to Calanthe.

“Are you sure you’re a monk?” replied Calanthe, who had taken him seriously.

((Zerl I guess you need to roll before we know what exactly the arrow that Calanthe shot did?  Also do we roll to see how long it takes Newt to find an exit?))

[Dragonium]

Stahn paced back and forth, keeping an eye on the ceiling. For once, he felt powerless to help, and rather than feeling fear, he felt anger.

One thing stuck out to him though. Whatever it was up above in the dark was very, very big.

"I can't reach that high", he bellowed to the monk, who was already giving out instructions, "Perhaps you might ask your God to lift me into the sky. And anyway, those crossbow bolts may as well be feathers for all they're going to worry this thing". He looked around, peering through the gloom of the sewers. Stahn had no intention of leaving the noble behind - a warband was nothing without camaraderie, he'd learned - but he was out of reach, and the foe was too mighty. He could only hope that Newt could find one of the narrow passageways that made up the sewer system.

Narrow passageways. That was it.

"Pull back", he yelled, trying his best to rally the troops, "We try and lure it after us. It'll have to come down to follow us into the sewers, and we should be able to reach the noble - and get a good view of our foe".

Stahn looked across at the monk. He looked speechless for a moment, then added, "Yes, I agree".

Stahn moved to Franklin's side. "We won't leave him", he said quietly, "We'll just bring the fight onto our terms".

[Zerlina]

Newt felt a rush of hope come over him as he heard Stahn's command. They were going to get out of here after all. Crawling along the outer rim of the wall, he felt around blindly until at last he felt a small gap and the cool rush of night air.

"There's an exit!" he cried as he pulled away some stones. The water rushed out of the room faster "There should be enough room for us to get through. Please come quick!"

He hesitated, wanting to crawl for his life, but not wanting to leave the others (or James behind) "You'll have to crouch down, it's very low."

The narrow tunnel stretched into an unseen darkness, it was filled with water at least six centimetres high, and stunk to high heaven.

[Prpl_Mage]

Franklin heard the news and agreed to the plan.
"Retreat! Back into that tunnel!" He shouted as people drew closer to the tunnel and the stench which was sewers.
Franklin laid his eyes on the looming danger above him and the body floating in the air.
When the last person had reached the tunnel  - he too began to slowly back towards it.
The eyes in the ceiling fixed on him as he was the last one out there.
He tried to read movement from the beast but it was almost impossible with the darkness.
The thumps of the legs moving against the ceiling left a chill along Franklin's spine as he realized that his foe was right over him at the moment.
With no hesitation he ran the last yards and leaped into the tunnel. He struck the water and his nose filled with the incredible smell.
Then came the crash, he looked up and could partly see what he was facing. A large, hairy monster with eight limb, it struck him to be a spider.

The creature began moving against Franklin and the tunnel with amazing speed for something that large although it seemed to be limping on the side it held their comrade.

"Continue further down the tunnel, I don't know how long it will be held where it is now."

[Charentes]

Iasan moved further down the tunnel, shaking as he went.  He wanted to keep moving but he knew that if the group did not get James back quickly he would most likely die.

“If we want the Earl to live we need to get him out of the clutches of that beast quickly.  It is already likely that he’s lost enough blood in his body to cause an imbalance of the humours in his body.”

Iasan knew they needed James back now, yet he had no idea how to get to him, or what to do if he did.  Healing was his talent not fighting.  If the others could bring the Earl to him, he’d be the best person to dress the wounds and would likely save his life.

“You two are doing an awful lot of running, considering you are men who like to fight.” Iasan yelled to Franklin and Stahn. “You now know what the creature is and have a better idea of what it is capable of.  Perhaps you should try and rescue a nobleman.  The reward would be great I’m sure.”

[Prpl_Mage]

Franklin met Stahn's eyes for moment and nodded at the command of the priest. They would make their stand here where the beast was stuck in a narrow place.

An arrow soared by them as they steeled themselves before the charge, the beast retreated a little but continued forward as the two warriors came at it, Franklin went first with the Northman a few steps behind.

The beast blinked with its' red eyes with anticipation as Franklin moved closer and raised one of the limbs against him. Franklin stopped for a moment as the beast waited. He jabbed with his short sword against it and the limb retreated a little each time but returned.
Then a strong forced slammed him into the tunnel wall as another limb lashed out. Franklin clashed with the wall, helm first and dropped his sword in the water somewhere.
"Honourless beast fights like three warriors." Franklin mumbled as he pulled himself back from the beasts advance.

Another limb rose up from the rest of the body as the beast got closer, Franklin drew the inferior guard sword from its' scabbard and slashed at the limb. But the limb grabbed the sword and held it firm, trying to pull it away from a sitting Franklin who pulled it with both arms.
"I command you to let go!" Franklin exclaimed as he did his best to retrieve his last weapon.

[Dragonium]

((Apologies for my absence, I've had no internet since Tuesday.))

In an instant, the beast retracted its limb. It was difficult to know whether it was down to Franklin's command, or the large axe suddenly buried into it. Stahn staggered momentarily with the force of the withdrawal before steeling himself and turning to face the creature. It too stood firm, barely acknowledging the damaged limb. It jabbed at the Northman's feet in warning, hissing through unseen fangs.

Quickly, Franklin took up his sword and stood firm next to Stahn. The two of them were a picture of battle.

Again, the beast jabbed with its forelimb, grazing Stahn's leg but drawing no response. Within a moment instinct struck and the two warriors were hacking desperately at the exposed leg before it was hastily withdrawn with another screech of protest. The creature surged forward in anger, splashing sewer water and causing the two men to retreat further back into the tunnel.

"Can we really hack this beast down piece by piece?", asked Franklin loudly over the creature's hissing.

Stahn gritted his teeth. "I've never backed down because a foe was bigger than me", he said solemnly, "And I've lived this long, so I don't see why I should change my ways now".

[Prpl_Mage]

Franklin felt like a the tamer of bears, he did his best to slowly advance but was thoroughly pushed back as soon at his opponent realized what was happening. The Earl was so close to them and yet this beast would not let itself be defeated easily.
The beast relentlessly attacked them, Franklin and Stahn dodged out of the way of the beast's limbs and tasted the sewer water.
"We need to get him out of the way." Stahn mumbled as he and Franklin rose to face it once more. The Earl acting slightly like a human shield.

"You're right... Boy! Toss me that rope!" He called to Newt, with the rope they could perhaps get a grip around their comrade and have the rest of the band pull him out as they focused on distracting the beast.
"They'll get him out. We'll take this out." Franklin said as the boy threw the length of rope the last meter.
"It better work." Stahn said as he parried one of the limbs with his axe.

He tied a knot, the kind he used to make snare traps. Stahn kept the beast occupied with axe and will as Franklin readied the rope and called a signal to Stahn.
Stahn advanced and attacked the creature's limb with full force, Franklin moved in closer than he'd want to and threw the rope around the Earl. He pulled the end and the knot tightened, then he made a double on it so that it would last longer.

"Accomplished" Franklin called as he threw the rope back towards the boys and the priest - they would do the pulling. A quick swoop came at him and struck the helmet, balance was lost and he fell down into the water once more. There was little more than a putrid breath between him and the monster's jaw, the ugly eyes and the fangs.
He unsheathed the sword and held it out towards the creature, the face retreated a little but clicked as if chewing. Franklin used the momentum to back away from it when there was an eruption of slime from the beast, it all splashed against him and he felt a stinging smell and disgusting feeling all over as he was soaked in the creature's goo.