A Venture into the Dark

[Oedipus Rex]

Karthus shambled over to the bars of the cell and looked the dragon dead in his eyes. His antennae twitched a bit, apparently trying to figure out weather the man was trustworthy. Eventually, though, he slowly nodded.

[Sarrus]

Sarrus meets the mantis' gaze as he is sized up. After receiving the nod he carefully lifts up one of the bands and lowers it over the insect's head. Once again it shrinks and leaves behind a pattern of runes around his neck.

"How about you?" He says, looking over at the remaining two.

[Niphi]

Thaese growls in irritation, "I suppose dying with a weapon in my hand will be more honourable than than kneeling for the headman's axe..." He glares at the dragon, "You'd better not betray us when this is over," he holds out a paw to take the band.

[Sarrus]

"Trust me" Sarrus says with a smile "when you all return to this city as free men, I will buy you each a drink." He passes the collar to Thaese. Once the wolf has put it on he runs his palm over the lock on the cell door which clicks and opens, curtly he holds it to let the prisoners out, once they have all left the cell he motions towards the exit and begins to walk speaking as he does.

"When you come outside with me you will see just why we need your help."

Slowly he leads the party through a corridor, out of the jail. The chosen passageway emerges on the outside of the main gate to the city. As the group pass it they can see the city through the bars, standing by the gates and glaring at the group are several members of the gardaí watching solemnly as they are passed.

While it might have been initially expected that they would glare, only a few do, the rest look surprisingly sullen and seem to look on almost blankly.

"Afternoon." Sarrus says politely to them though they hardly seem to notice, continuing to stand stock still in their long navy-blue great coats.

Turning, the dragon then leads the group up the vast staircase to the outside world.

As they emerge into the pitch black outside, Sarrus draws a golden pocket watch from his pocket and opens it, looking at the hands in front of him.

"Given that you have all been in a cell since before our 'issue' began, can anyone guess what is wrong?" He almost seems amused by his own question.

While waiting for a reply, the dragon steps up to Karthus and undoes his chains.

[Angder]

Angder scratches at his neck with his claws, He could feel the collar, he knows it is not physically there, but he could feel it, He remembers what Sarrus had said, "Not a kill switch". Angder keeps scratching, he still needed that thing out of him! He glances around the group, he had managed to slip to the back. If he got away now, there was no way Sarrus would be able to find him! the world was vast, and he knew how to vanish when he needed to. The fact it appeared to be night helped immensely (Which was odd, Angder could have sworn it was mid-day in Torus, he guessed the hunger had effected him worse than he thought).

Just one quick sprint.

Angder gestured wildly at the empty air behind Sarrus, "BEHIND YOU" he yells, and then sprints away from the group at full speed, trying to get as far as possible in the couple of seconds had won himself.

Time to find out what these collars actually did, and if he could outrun it...

[Sarrus]

"Ah, good" Sarrus says curtly "I was hoping someone would do that" He lifts his hand up as if holding a rope and tugs. Angder's legs come out from under him as his lower body keeps moving and his neck stops as if yanked backwards.

"Sorry, but I myself would end up in that cell if I let you just run away."

[Oedipus Rex]

Karthus stretched widely, yawning once the chains were removed. "It feels good to finally have those things off. I felt like a dog in them." He looks at Thaese and Angder. "No offence..." Karthus' voice was raspy and gruff. Not exactly something to impress anybody, but it reflected his outer self well.


He walked up to Sarrus and nodded. "Thank you."

[Niphi]

Thaese watches Angder's failed escape attempt with a harsh bark of laughter before turning back to Sarrus, "I'd recommend keeping that one on a short leash or he'll  be gone in the blink of an eye." He turns and looks up at the sky, "So, it's midday but it's dark as midnight? There's clearly some form of magic at work here and I am no mage, I fail to see how I might help in this little investigation of yours," he turns back to the dragon with a suspicious glare, "Why isn't  the arcane college dealing with this themselves?"

[Sarrus]

Sarrus nods at Cho'garth then turns to Thaese. "You have probably seen my fellows." He smiles "dusty old men who know magic but rarely put it to good use. It was no surprise to me how unhelpful they have been, still, i am something of an 'unofficial official' in the city when it comes to actually implementing magic." He turns to the group. "You are far more useful than some mangy old wizards."

"Our mission today is the first offensive step the city has taken towards resolving this. Just before this started happening we lost communication with Argorn, the nearest town. I believe that if there is something useful to be found, it will be there."

"Nieran was clear that she didn't want you armed but, there is a good chance you will need weapons so i have taken the liberty of smuggling some weapons out for you, i hope they are to your tastes." As he says this, he walks over to one of the coniferous trees nearby, next to it is a small mound of snow, a common enough thing to form in the harsh mountainous climate. The dragon waves a hand over it and with a lilac shimmer of heat the snow melts, underneath is a long chest which he opens and motions inside. It should be clear which ones are for you.

[Angder]

Angder Yelps as he falls flat on his back, and lies there for about 30 seconds, clutching at his neck, He had been so close! he could taste freedom only a few feet away.

Eventually, Angder climbs back to his feet, "So that's what the collars do" he said quietly.

Angder returns to the group (Its not like he has much choice) and heads over to the tree, reaching into the chest, he pulls out two of his weapons, a pair of daggers "...Really" He says flatly "You want me to wield a pair of knives like a common Mugger?" Angder throws the daggers haphazardly behind him. and pulls out his third weapon, a small crossbow, and a small pouch of sharp bolts for it.

Angder smiles, glances at Sarrus, and then looks down at his crossbow. He then shakes his head, No way Sarrus would be that stupid.

He places the crossbow across his back; It was a good secondary weapon, but his primary weapon was still his claws, and he did not need to be given those...

[Sarrus]

Sarrus chuckles as he watches the idea cross Angder's face but remains silent, motioning for the rest of the group to help themselves from the chest.

[Oedipus Rex]

Karthus takes a moment to peer inside the chest and chuckle softly at it's contents. He moves aside and stands under the shade of the tree and begins cleaning his forelegs, running them through his mandibles and picking off any stray piece of dirt or stuck food that may remain there.

[Niphi]

Thaese steps forward and peers into the chest, bends down and pulls out a one handed war hammer and spins it in his paw, testing the weight. The head is blunt on one side with a long spiked protrusion sticking out of the other, the haft is long with a leather bound grip and spiked pommel at its base.

He stares down at the weapon in his paw with a curious look before turning and glancing at Sarrus, wondering if the dragon would still be able to keep up that cocky smile with a broken jaw and a cracked skull. But his mind is drawn to the runic collar around his neck and thinks better of it, not liking the look the dragon is giving him, almost daring him to give it a go.

Thaese huffs and rests his hammer on his shoulder, looking around at the party, "I assume we are setting off immediately?"

[Sarrus]

Sarrus nods, then turns and begins walking along the path, away from the entrance to the underground city.

The route he takes the group on begins with the main path leading out of torus, very quickly they move away from the lighting coils iluminating the archway and into the darkness, thick and consuming it brings with it an unpleasant feeling of foreboding. No stars are visible in the sky and there is no wind whatsoever, strange for a mountain area.

Sarrus flicks the fingers on his right hand open and ignites a small lilac fireball to iluminate the way. "I wouldnt normaly do this but there really is no other light. We wont be able to find the way otherwise so will just have to accept the risk of giving away our position." The fireball casts an eerie light that seems to illuminate the outlines of things and reflects dimly on the thin layer of snow covering the path.

To the group, their softest footsteps sound like loud trudges in the snow, the only sound to be heard in the darkness. There is no echo, and in the still air it feels that the sounds are travelling far.

The group travel a good distance without seeing or hearing anything. Sarrus silently leads them up a turn off the main road signposted 'Argorn'.

The darkness and the silence seem to penetrate in a strange way, impossible to ignore.

Not wishing to make his fire too bright, the group can only see a few meters around.

Suddenly, Sarrus stops dead.

Standing in the road in front of the group is a figure, it could easily be missed, only just caught around the edges by the fire. Unmoving it simply stands there, its back to everyone.

Slowly and quietly, Sarrus draws his sword, holding it in his left hand and waiting for the group to respond.

[Angder]

Angder draws his crossbow and loads it, he then takes a few steps back.

"Hey you there!" he says, as loudly as he dares.

Something told him that was a really bad idea...