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Post by Ruby on Dec 2, 2019 22:20:16 GMT -8
Upon hearing King's comment, a wry smile formed on Daisy's lips as she gaze at the statue that stood before them. The demon lord statue was meant to be imposing, perhaps intimidating the guests to behave themselves while they're inside the castle but it has as much effect on them as a poorly made scarecrow. Ruby watched with amusement as King walk up towards the statue thinking that he would destroy it. Surprisingly he exercised a considerable amount of restraint though not out of kindness or appreciation of the arts. She wondered if perhaps he simply thought the statue was not worth his effort. A certain scent filled the air and the source, it seems came from the other Saiyan within the group. Emerald orbs drawn towards Fang's direction, there were no mistaking the expression she bore on her face. Furious barely even began to describe it as the duo watched her head towards the stone statue. Neither of them made the motion to stop her, though Ruby did keep her eyes peeled on her surrounding to see if Fang's action triggered any more traps. Yet the only thing that greeted them thus far were silence. A silence that was interrupted by a huge crash as Fang smashed the statue into thousand little pieces on the floor before it continues. "Guess he wasn't all that attached to the statue." Daisy remarked as she look at the foundation where the statue had been ripped off. "Aww, I was gonna vandalize it with my magic marker. And sure, lead the way King~"Ruby replied before following the pair from behind, she glanced at Fang from the corner of her eyes. Judging from the display she had shown earlier demons seems to rub her the wrong way personally, rather than just intense loathing at their kind in general. Inwardly, she wanted to ask Fang on who this Azoth person was but she wasn't quite sure if this was the proper time for it. Save it for later, she thought while scrutinizing the hallways they were walking into. It took a moment for Ruby to notice the sheen of forcefield protecting the duo before she mimic the technique. One can never expect what sort of trap they may trigger while exploring the castle. So far the hallways were barren of anything valuable, such as paintings or lavish ornaments. Thin layer of dust covered the windows and floor, with burnt mark and the ocassional blood splatter could be seen. Yet despite there were signs of altercation, there were no corpses in sight. Whatever it was that leads the owner of said blood splatter to their demise, the source was left up to imagination. There were rows of doors on both sides of the walls but should the group explore inside, they were mostly bedrooms or toilet facility. It wasn't until they encountered the very last door at the end of the hall that the group would find themselves in a huge archive. There were dozens of shelves filled with musty books which seems to cover all the topics one could think of. An old and rusty ladder could be seen resting on one of the shelf. That said not all books were properly stow away, one could see papers strewn about on the floor. While most of the books seems to be of common language, there were others that was written in either foreign or archaic language, perhaps even a mixture of both. "Ya all think the secret passage is in the library?" Ruby asked as she walked inside. Should one explore the inside thoroughly, they would notice that the side of the shelves, a wheel valve were attached towards them. This would allow them to shift the shelves around, though some of them were quite rusty at this point it would take quite a bit of strength to try and move them. WC: 647 TWC: 3099 Tag: King Fang
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Post by King on Dec 3, 2019 17:24:24 GMT -8
Or, you could just pick it up and smash it against the ground. King moved a few paces back after catching sight of Fang grabbing hold of it. A few more when it was hoisted into the air. Its collision with the ground brought his arm just ahead of his face to save it from whatever shrapnel might have happened to cross him. The resulting quiver swept the immediate area. The sounding was thunderous in contrast with the silence sandwiching the abrupt spike in audio. King began to laugh hysterically. He extended an index finger out towards the rubble, the remains of the monumental monument, and just laughed. It was childly, loud and it was he who challenged the reverberation cast by the statue's destruction. It was just so over-the-top; something very much characteristic of him. Fang beat him to the punch, that time, which spurred a moment of frantically looking around for something he could demolish. It appeared that was the only piece of the former owner that wore his face. “I should've broke it while I had the chance,” he said with a sideways smile. There was nothing but regret as he ventured forth down a hallway. After his inaction, there was more inaction. Just halls and doors. King grew tired of looking into the rooms. There was nothing for him in there. Nothing to claim as his own, nothing to break, nothing at all. It was very apparent that their client was right. It was far more than something that was more than likely. It was confirmed as fact at that point. The place had long-since been raided – to the point where King began to question if there was anything left at all for them to even take. “Oh, books. I guess nobody really does like books, huh?” he jested as he looked about the library the stepped into. The subjects the books covered? King would not know. He was not interested enough to give them any portion of his attention. “A secret passage?” King echoed. He was already looking around, but he started looking more intently; leaning forward, squinting for maximum focus. “Maybe it's like those shows where there's a special book y' gotta pull and somethin's revealed!” King started pulling books out. Just... books everywhere. Books were flying all over the place as he pulled one out, tossed it behind him and proceeded with the next in an endless sequence of fluid motions. Of course, he is short. So, his reach went only so far. While he wildly started casting books behind and beside him, anything above a certain height was left completely and utterly untouched. If there really was a secret switch and it was not at waist level or below, King was not about to find it. “Here? Maybe here?” he muttered insistently, seemingly possessed with an impish glee. Was he looking for a hidden switch or was he just having fun throwing books all over the place? Both, possibly.
WC: 498
TWC: 2647
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Post by Fang on Dec 5, 2019 8:33:46 GMT -8
”We’re just kind of breaking shit,” Fang stammered with inflated cheeks, just managing to conceal her own laughter long enough to push the sentence free before it was minced and shredded with her own fit of laughter. After witnessing the group’s reception to her antics Fang felt the seething rage she harnessed for the demon known as Azoth subside. Not a permanent erasure; but her mood improved for the time being. She had no idea how she felt about demons but she knew most of them lived up the stereotype both Baal and Azoth were known for. King was probably right when he asserted there was no good demon but a dead one. Never once had Fang witnessed a charitable one. ”Don’t worry, man. Bet this waste of air has all kinds of personal monuments to shatter inside here.” A knavish smile of her own beamed in King’s direction, Fang stuck her hands into her pockets as the group proceeded. Not only did the panda man look forward to obliterating more demonic idols, but Ruby entertained the idea of blatant vandalism as well. Had this not been an abandoned palace of an evil monster, she might have had more reservations towards overt destruction should it implicate herself. However, she could not deny the appeal to breaking apart creation that seemed to reside within every living creature. And the immediate regret that followed should it belong to the destroyer. Good thing none of this was hers in this situation. Unlike before Fang decided to start paying attention. Maybe the call to action started with no longer gorging herself on food and being distracted from the main objective. Perhaps her mood swung in a different direction because King, Ruby and Daisy assuaged it. Placing her hand on her chin, the half-Saiyan considered her surroundings. It appealed to her appetite for diving into the unknown and exploring different areas and subjects she had no idea about; uncovering the elusive truth. The situation began to interest the felid Saiyan more and a desire to find the underlying cause of the anomalies resided within. A lot of different rooms were available to check out. Many different things interested Fang at the time as the sweet tooth for figuring out the puzzles of the unknown made its existence known. The subjects of books and secret passages surfaced and she felt like a kid in a candy store with the amount of different eccentricities around. ”This is actually really cool…” Fang said to herself, but while the others motioned for the library, she checked out a few other things and reported on them. ”Blood, and nothing’s around. Shit feels hella sketchy to be honest with ya’ll,” Fang said while taking note of her surroundings. Blood splatter and a suspicious absence of valuables in an abode known for excess pointed a massive accusative finger in the direction of looters. Which was also what the current group was; it made sense that people might have beaten them to the punch after such a monolithic period. ”I think it’s safe to say the lack of goods is because people took it, which I guess is obvious—but well, I’ve already said it now.”Tilting her head to the side, Fang did her best to get a closer look at the blood while the four of them kept walking. ”As for the blood, I’d be wary of this. It’s—“ Rubbing a thumb against the flecks of blood, she flicked her tongue over her sullied extremity to log the taste in her mind. ”Not some kid’s prank. It’s real. But I don’t have a lot of theories regarding the struggle. Maybe they killed each other and hid the bodies. Maybe the traps did this, which is the thing to be careful about. But man, I love this mysterious crap. Wonder what all went down…”Books were flying all over the place while King indulged the finding of a secret lever. Fang saw a lot of those in a few shows she used to watch in her limited free time as a youth. If one of those existed, then the experience was going to feel even more surreal. Seeing this sight before her, she cracked up again before she made her way to the papers. Picking them up from the ground, she sifted through them for any clues. Anything of use to their current situation and or providing insight on the mansion; or its associates. Feeling like a detective on the search for clues was a childhood dream of hers and she felt a surge of the old Inspector G coursing through her veins. Regardless if her efforts bore fruit, she decided to make her way over towards where King worked to pry free the books. At first, Fang opened one up and attempted to read it. The language proved foreign, dead, or a mixture of the two. Furrowing her brow, she looked around the room for any compartment or object that resembled a cipher for the purpose of deciphering languages. Fang had low hopes for locating such an implement. She more than likely would end up just ripping books free from the top shelf in delirium in an attempt to help the panda man with his endeavour locating the secret lever. In short time, the duo filled the ground with musty tome gore. WC: 892 TWC: 4441 Tag: Ruby King
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Post by Ruby on Dec 6, 2019 16:49:17 GMT -8
Noting Fang's expression turned from livid fury to one of laughter relieved her slightly. Ruby was unsure why but there's a certain feeling tightness in her chest that she couldn't quite explain. Before she could delve upon it any further, Fang mentioned about the blood splatter they saw outside. She confirmed that it was indeed genuine blood and not the result of mischievous pranks of a juvenile. Even provided them with multiple theories on the absence of the corpse, though with no more clues at hands neither Daisy nor Ruby could provide her with anything more on the subject than what they already knew. "Hmm, a library or an archive should have a classification system yes? Perhaps we can try to find a book that's out of place?"Daisy suggested. The books within the library(at least the ones written in common language) covered all sorts of topic and indeed, was put in a way that made it easier to find them based on the title. Of course there are shelves filled with completely foreign or archaic ones which made the task all the more difficult. Instead of just randomly shuffling through the books or trying to look for clues, Ruby decided to put herself in the Demon Lord shoes. "Maybe they picked a really boring book that no one would bother reading them, hence trigger the secret passage by accident. Or a super obvious one with the title Open or something." she suggested, her eyes scanning the title of the books as she do so. Meanwhile, Fang would find on the ground that there are records of transactions. Most of them were quite mundane like records of taxes being collected, wages of the guards hired but every now and then the cat-eared Saiyan would also find purchase of more lavish items. Fang would note that for some reason, there was quite a decent amount of statues being purchased...even though there was only one that stood outside at the foyer. There was no record of Baal selling it away either, suggesting that they would likely be in a part of the castle that they have not explored yet. Should one pay attention to Daisy's suggestion about books being classified in a particular manner, they would find that there are a section of the shelves that focused on language. There were multiple books that ranged from identifying different dialects from different part of the worlds to one that tackle ancient literature. Pouring through them would reveal that most of the ancient and foreign language cluttered within the library was actually one belong tothe demons and the most common words on them were words like arcane or thaumaturgy. A piece of paper slide down on the ground, from which demonic words were written on them. Translating them into common words, it would reveal to be a riddle of sorts. "Something that you tell but should never be told, Something that you keep that never gets old." There was only three particular book in the whole library with the title that answers such riddle and all of them were written in common, foreign and archaic language. These books were hidden among similarly sounding titles which requires a keen eye to pick them out among their brethrens. Regardless whether it's by random luck, deductive reasoning or simply spotting one particular book that was outside it's categorization, three things would happen at the same time.One particular bookshelf would swing open to reveal water closet inside. Though it had aged due to time, one would notice that this particular toilet were mostly pristine and barely used. Another instead would trigger a trap which caused the bookshelf to fall on top of them, crushing them under the combine weight. And it was the final one that would cause the bookshelf it sat on to revolve, revealing a hidden passage that would have remained unnoticed to unsuspecting eyes. WC: 655 TWC: 3459 Tag: Fang King
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Post by King on Dec 7, 2019 4:25:04 GMT -8
“Eh, all of them gettin' pulled!” Did the panda-man have a sharp mind? Perhaps it was a dull one, dim and flickering and in need of dire changing. Who knew, but many were ready to lean towards the latter as he dismissed the idea of thinking about which books to pull and instead, daftly just kept tossing them all over the place. At times, though not terribly frequent, he paused to read the cover. “...Tusk Love?” he read aloud. It took no time at all for King to spit out a snort and toss it aside too. Then came a slip of paper. King just managed to seize sight of it as it came to rest. He could hardly help but read it over; but it was in a different language. His brow furrowed as realization of this came to the surface. “Hey, did this thing just pop out? It says a bunch of gobbledygook—OH GOD!” What happened?! It was so sudden. King found himself beneath a fallen bookcase. Finally, a trap and with his guard completely down, it fell right on top of him. All he could do was cry out to his assumed maker and squirm about. Though, there was something very strange going on. His initial outcry was born of an obvious start. He was surly spooked by this sudden development. Then, the potency of his cries wavered. It was less like he was in pain and suffering, less like he was helplessly pinned to the library's floor. This was especially true when he just began outright laughing. An acute eye could pick up that the bookshelf lying on him was not actually lying on him at all. There was a tiny space between him and it and it shimmered as if a reminder that the protective sheet of solidified air still existed around his fur-paved body. “Wee!” he exclaimed as he rolled toward the portion of the shelf with the highest incline. Thanks to the other shelves, its top slid along the back of the bookshelf directly behind it. If it were to fall over as well, there would still prove to be a space he could roll into. That was what he decided to do. He crawled on his fours until he rose back upon a sturdy pair of paws, standing upright and with an expression no-doubt a flux of daring and amusement. Though, more happened than just that. King wandered over to a toilet. He laughed upon catching sight of it. Inwardly, he questioned why it was in such a weird place and he was definitely not about to touch it – or use it. “Random toilet. Cool.” King moved on. There was a particular bookcase that was revealing something it had not before. “WOAH! GUYS! OH MY PAWS! GUYS! GUUUUUUYS! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” King was just standing at what the bookcase revealed – the passage, pointing at it and screaming. Clearly, excitement overcame him. “Just a bookcase fell on me so far! That's great. Getting this far with just that? I'd call that pretty lucky.” He winked to the three of them – but just one wink. It lost its charm in rapid succession. Turning his attention to his arm, he gave it a testing slap. “My technique holds! Well, then I'mma just run on through!” With that, King made way for the revealed passage – if he could, anyway. He was not shy about simply running towards it and starting his way through it.
WC: 581
TWC: 3228
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Post by Fang on Dec 7, 2019 5:31:26 GMT -8
”Guess I gotta read some shit…”Reading was an interesting thing. It was a thing she knew how to do but never found the time to commit to in excess. The idea of reading mystery novels and horror subjects enthused her, but she always had other things to do instead. Things like making money through stealing fat loot and beating up society’s worst. However, she still taught herself how to read and studied up on pirated books because the information in them was useful for her trade at times. There was an individual in her group who taught her knowledge was power, and the more power one had the less terrible their living condition tended to be. Maybe she should exercise that more, then. Fang was combing through books King was tossing about the place. She didn’t go into them in depth, but she looked through them enough to identify parts of them that seemed familiar. Though she was no demon nor was she a linguist, she pilfered enough demonic tomes in the past—given these lands inclination towards witches and devils—to find several phrases familiar. This boded well for the group because the woman managed to pick up on the riddle. Before she could usher out her input on the topic, several things happened at once. A toilet was revealed, which in the fleeting moments she had to ponder the former bandit guessed from its condition that it was just there to troll people who tried to steal this overlord’s belongings. Or as a quick access for the devil’s hygienic needs. Before she could dwell too much on the parts that mattered little, the felid Saiyan came under attack by the bookshelf. While King’s barrier provided more than enough fortification to serve as a buffer between him and what she reckoned would have been negligible damage, the cat proved her swiftness as she dashed rearwards to get out of the way. Heartbeat accelerating, the reality became clear to her in that moment—they were in a boobytrapped castle and there were real traps out to get them. The magnitude of this one probably meant that whoever owned it wanted to preserve this place’s integrity without serious damage. Whatever insidious mechanisms lurked in the shadows beyond would likely be more powerful, and offer more grievous damage to those who suffered from their blight. She felt relieved for now, because it assured her partner’s health with the bookshelf having fallen on top of him. ”Glad that shit didn’t piece you up—I bet the traps are going to get worse the farther we go into this place,” she started, a statement that preceded King’s renewed hollering. Unable to conceal laughter at his antics, she examined the opening revealed from their efforts. Like most things in this place, it was surreal to witness a revolving door that showed the group to their potential new destination. Fang had a couple of things she wanted to do before the group proceeded in that direction. The things pertained to the information she picked up on through her inspection of the books lining the shelves. Indeed, the half-Saiyan noticed a few anomalies as she went through the hoard. Going through excessive amounts of goods for inspection was a feat she grew accustomed to as the former leader of a bandit organization. ”Sec, I wanna let you all know I stumbled on some sort of riddle. Never was one that great at that, more of an abstract seeing shit in puzzles sort of person, but it reads ‘Something that you tell but should never be told, something that you keep that never gets old.’ Really, I’m drawing a blank when it comes to that—but hold on,” Fang explained, and hurried around the room to pick up more books. ”See, I been going through the things here for a bit. The papers are pretty useless, but the books? Some of these got actual common language, not demonic, titles and things, and that might be pointing at the context we need for this riddle stuff.”As hard as she found the riddle, she couldn’t deny she was enjoying the experience. Traps, mysteries, riddles, and treasure—there was so much to explore and investigate that she felt truly at home. Just like the days when she was part of the Pigmen Brotherhood, sharing experiences like these with people she cared about. Fang picked up the books that were anomalies with plain language and investigated them further in hopes of uncovering more about the secrets of the place. Catching up and lagging a bit behind, Fang continued to study the few common texts available to read as the group progressed further into uncharted territory. Hopefully her fruits would bear labour and make the experience, not to mention finding the treasure, a significantly easier endeavour. WC: 805 TWC: 5246 Tag: Ruby King
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Post by Ruby on Dec 8, 2019 21:01:49 GMT -8
Ruby's finger traced the spines of the books as she briefly skimmed through their titles. While they were mostly serious, a few of them felt like they were joke titles rather than actual books. Her finger paused at a book with the title "Chamber of Secret" which made her tilt her head slightly in response. It couldn't have been that easy could it? But then again, perhaps the Demon Lord had expect them to overlook the obvious ones. With a slight shrug, she began to pull the book from the shelf which triggered a hidden mechanism. Eyes widening in excitement as she watched the shelf move but only momentarily as King's outburst pulled her attention towards him. Stunned by the sudden development, both Daisy and Ruby could only watch as the book shelf came down crashing upon him. Thankfully the shelf stop short courtesy of the near invisible force field barrier King had deployed earlier. Both of them exhaled in relief after King reassured that he was fine before they turned their attention towards what Ruby had uncovered. Which is a toilet. "Wonderful. Masterfully played Baal." Ruby remarked, her words dripping with sarcasm. She peered inside to see if the toilet was just a facade to hide something else but found nothing that would suggest that so instead she would rejoin her companions. King hollered by the recently revealed passage and how his technique managed to hold off against the trap. Both Ruby and Daisy chuckled and patted King's head in response, glad that he still kept his enthusiasm rather than shaken by the event. "Same. Let's try to keep an eye out so we don't trigger more traps."Before they could proceed however Fang held them up by bringing a riddle to their attention. Apparently it came from some of the books within the library and conveniently enough contain common language. Though the both of them think hard on the solution to the riddle, neither of them can come up with one. Still, it was a good thing to keep in mind as they make their way towards the vault. "Good catch Fang. We may need that on our way down there." said Daisy with a nod. The shelved that revolved open revealed a dark staircase surrounded by stone walls on both sides. Noticing that, Ruby would take out her phone and turned on the flashlight to illuminate their way down. There were no switches or any other potential light source for them to use. There were however dried blood and what looked like scratched marks a few steps down the stairs. "Wonder what made those scratch mark..." Ruby muttered, though only for a moment as she make their way down the stairs. The stairs led them down into what appeared to be a basement of sorts. For the most part, the room was filled with nothing safe for a cabinet with multiple keys on them. At least 20 keys were hanging and on them were engraved multiple demonic script. Upon reading the books, one of them would notify Fang that answering the riddle would be necessary to pick the correct key to the door which will lead them to the hidden vault. Not only that, they would have to navigate through a maze with said key which contain traps and dangers should they take the wrong turn. Should they succeed in finding the exit, it is required for them to use the key to open the door less countermeasures would be taken to safeguard what lies beyond. WC: 589 TWC: 4048 Tag: King Fang
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Post by King on Dec 9, 2019 13:22:04 GMT -8
“That's good to know!” King replied. He was so chipper and quick to chime in at the mention of the riddle. Though, he had no intention of making use of it. There was too much to think about. He had to find something worth breaking, but not valuable. On top of that, King had to find what all of them were actually looking for. This meant payment. Payment is good. He was not ready to think upon a riddle and how it fits into everything. Though, fortunately, the others were. He was doing a great job being in front and... that was about it, really. “Will do!” See? He even had to keep an eye out for even more traps. A riddle was too much at this point. How was he going to solve a riddle and avoid triggering any traps at the same time? And then they all stepped into a new room. The basement. “It was supposed to be on a lower level. Well, this is a lower level,” he muttered to himself as he looked about the room. He spotted a cabinet. It was fairly easy to spot. It was the only thing in the room, essentially. He was not shy about approaching, but all he could do was look upon it. He was too short to actually get at any of the keys without making a whole scene about it. He was not about to jump up and down swatting at a bunch of keys knowing there were definitively dangerous. “We gotta pick the right one, right? That's gotta be why there's like a thousand hanging there. What's with this guy... Just have a giant monster protect shit instead of all these puzzles. Can't punch a puzzle!”
“HEY!” King hollered at Fang. “...what'cha readin'?” The question came a lot more subdued than his jesting attempt to claim her attention.
WC: 315
TWC: 3543
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Post by Fang on Dec 10, 2019 18:06:33 GMT -8
Fang wondered what the purpose of inserting books with common language into the repertoire was from the demon overlord’s perspective. With it in the common tongue, she doubted it was to provide the demonic ilk that once resided within the structure a way of getting in. Fang theorized it might have been less to allow intruders a way in, and more to provide associates with no knowledge of the cryptic language a means of entering without providing much for intruders to go off. In that regard, it was like leaving a key under a secret compartment or mat to allow a person without the main key to advance. Daisy mentioned the group might need the riddle to proceed, cementing her thoughts. It was a relief to know she wasn’t the only person who had that theory moulded in her mind. ”Probably. I’m guessing this is the way in for the people he associated with who didn’t know the language, or have access to the main way. Or I guess this shit could have tested people’s wit before he chose to invest in them,” said the half-Saiyan, continuing to sift through the tome she picked up. That day was the first instance of Fang having to do a great deal of skimming through texts to figure out a way in. Normally, it was just a matter of breaking in through brute force and then making away with the goods using significant manpower in numbers. With the dark staircase revealed, she was about to retrieve a match to illuminate their surroundings. Ruby set her phone on torch mode to provide more lighting instead, and Fang returned her hand to the back of the book fixed in her grasp. Though she was absorbed in going through the content, her attention wavered for a moment as she glued her eyes to the surroundings showing similar signs of struggle the group witnessed making their way through the expansive building. Witnessing the creeping darkness ahead didn’t bode well. Not only did she consider the sight creepy—which was also a boon in her eyes—but the poor lighting denied the party a decent field of vision should they come under fire. As Ruby emphasized, there were scratch marks lining the interior alongside bloodstains. It lent credit to the possibility of being attacked while making their way through the ghoulish scenery, which given recent personal developments integrated a hot coal of doubt in her stomach. Further travel down the eccentric path guided the group to an enigmatic room. Her attention returned to the book when she saw the keys lining the walls. Speed reading wasn’t the former bandit’s forte, but she managed to skim through the content enough to derive the connection between the riddle and the platter of implements before them. Combing her hand through her hair, she realized her decision there could make or break the operation. She disliked the weight on her shoulders, and she was surprised she was taking the scholastic approach instead of just guessing haphazard as she would have in her youth. Fang’s ears perked up and swiveled in King’s direction when blasted with his exclamation. Transferring her attention towards him with the same haste her felid ears displayed, another laugh rolled free of her lips as she listened to the question posed. ”It’s a book that has to do with the connection between the riddle and these keys here. I just finished reading that part. There’s a maze up ahead—I can probably lead us through it; been pretty good at those things for as long as I can remember. We need to pick the right key, and that has to do with the riddle. Only thing that makes sense given what we learned and the way the riddle went is the answer being: A secret. You tell it, and it should never be told. It stays with you, too.”With those words spoken, Fang would survey the different keys and attempt to pick the correct one based on her theory. Should it permit the access the group required, then she resolved to begin spearheading the operation into the maze. That mandated the lot of them take a left from entering, and then proceed upwards. From there, a series of winding twists and turns would be undertaken—though the route was secured, the hybrid was uncertain what ungodly traps would line their way. One route she took seemed to be going backwards after a fork in the road, and thus she would attempt to trace her steps and return to the primary route. After all, it was dark and dingy and filled with traps and who knew what else—mistakes were bound to occur. Red = Intended primary route Orange = Intended detour before retracing steps WC: 784 TWC: 6030 Tag: Ruby King
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Post by Ruby on Dec 13, 2019 9:09:58 GMT -8
With the key cabinet being the only noteworthy thing within the basement, Daisy made her way towards it with King and Fang. Meanwhile Ruby would check the door, trying to open it though of course it was locked. She stopped from trying to brute force her way through the door, not really eager to set off any more traps than necessary. As she spotted no way to get through the door without using a key she too walked back towards the group. At this point, the pair were used to King's shouting to get attention. With the subject being the book at hands, the pair would gather on both side of Fang to look at the book she read. There was a riddle inside as well as the picture of a maze, the latter of which Ruby was quite thankful for. Had Fang not grab the book, even if they somehow solved the riddle it would mean they have to navigate their way through the maze and relied on their own sense of direction within them. Speaking of riddle, it appeared that Fang managed to figure out the solution behind one. Realization dawned on both their face as her answer made sense. After Fang picked the key with the demonic runes that translated to secret, they would watch as she tried it on the door with tense expression. The wrong key would potentially trigger more traps...however, Fang's key turned rather easily on the first try. The door would soon open to beckon them to their recesses. As she was holding the flashlight for the group, Ruby took point to illuminate the way. The walls seems to be made of solid stone and there were barely space for the two people to walk at the same time. As they continued their journey, they would see trails of blood and blood splatters. The group even stumbled on corpses along the way though but at this point, they have more or less been reduced to mere skeletons. Should the group canvass their bodies for spoils, the group would find a torch, an old blaster, as well as an empty canteen of water. Cause of death seems to be puncture wounds inflicted by arrows. "Either a bowman did this or they triggered a trap somewhere within this maze. I'm not an expert in archery though."
[/b]Ruby commented as she illuminated the corpse with her mobile. As the group made their way towards the exit, they would find traps impeding their path. From poisonous hidden arrows that shot out of nowhere to falling axes that would descend upon them should they step on certain pressure plates. Their barriers would hold steady in the face of unexpected assault but it's integrity would be challenged should they trigger too many of them. By the end of the maze, the group would find themselves in a vast space with seven demonic statues standing in a row and a large metal vault door on the other end of the room. Before they could step in further however the statues began to rumble as if awaken from their slumber, their eyes glowing deep red. For a moment they seem to be observing them. "Death to intruders." It wasn't clear which of the moving statue said that...nor was there time for them to check as very next instant, all of them would assault the group at once by pouncing on them. WC: 572 TWC: 4620 Tag: Fang King
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Post by King on Dec 13, 2019 13:00:10 GMT -8
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Post by Fang on Dec 14, 2019 8:31:03 GMT -8
”I’ll stay in the backline,” Fang said while the group made their way through the uncharted domain. ”But I’ll give routes based on the notes I’ve derived from the books and crap.” With Fang being a bowman herself, though she lacked the funds for such an implement for a long time after returning, she preferred to stay in the back and take opposition out while others lead the charge into the fray. It allowed her to keep watch over the battlefield as well. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a small capsule. Pressing it together, it expanded and revealed a cryptic black bow. Clutching it in her hand, she lowered her favourite weapon while continuing to progress through the labyrinth and provide verbal directions while the party pressed on. With eyes accustomed to light and the source of illumination Ruby provided, the half-Saiyan was able to perceive grisly sights in the darkness. With the passageway growing narrow, the four of them were forced to walk almost single file. Fang claimed her spot at the back while Ruby most likely took the front because she was the one with the light source. Through her feline eyes she witnessed larger splatters of blood and trails from the past. ”Well, I’m an archery expert,” Along the way, Fang took a moment to inspect the skeletons lining the path. Without flesh to see any puncture wound, the hybrid needed to look for incisions on the bone that suggested death via arrow. Being familiar with taking lives with arrows, the former bandit ascertained the cause of death without issue. ”And you’re right. Lots of incisions on the bones from arrows. Some of them serrated.”Eyes widening when she heard the familiar launch of arrows and their flight through the air, Fang relied on a basic skill to defend against the projectiles. ”FUCK OFF!” Fortifying herself and the barrier around her with chi, she slapped away the barrage of wood and metal through brute force. Splattering them against the round into more pellets than broken rain, she used her reinforced resilience and the lack of significant energy backing the bolts to ward away the armaments. King was safe—Ruby and Daisy were probably safe, which lessened the need for Fang to prepare any restorative technique to ease their injuries and cleanse them of any poisons they might be suffering from. The group proceeded without significant difficulty from there on while she took her place in the back once again. Arriving in a cryptic room filled with demonic statues, she furrowed her brow. Anxiety rested in her gut like a lump of ice, but she managed to step forward and direct her attention towards the different statues lining the room. She felt the rumbling through the floor; her Saiyan pride told her to stay and fight while her sense of rationality told her to get out of there. Getting her bearings, she hoisted up her weapon and trained it on the potential opposition. ”I think they are golems,” Fang spat in response, her venom directed towards the malicious statues opposing them. She had no interest letting these entities have the first attack should they put them under pressure. In her opinion, it was in their best interests to land the first strike while it was still in reach. Notching an arrow of amethyst wreathed black energy, she shot it towards the middle of the room. It passed over the shoulder of her allies before erupting into a triad at the center of the structure. Upon splitting, it targeted every statue there with precision, attempting to skewer their heads before exploding into a blinding flash of violet. ”DEATH TO DEMON STATUES, BIIIIIIIIITCH!” Fang hollered, lowering the octave for the last exclamation. WC: 624 TWC: 6654 Tag: Ruby King
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Post by Ruby on Dec 15, 2019 8:23:41 GMT -8
The arrows that flew towards the group felt like it came out of nowhere. There was no warning, one moment they were checking the corpse and the next King performed a split second limbo in the face of a hail of arrows. She was about to defend herself but Fang stepped forward and deflected them away from the group. Ruby paused slightly, waiting for any sounds that may suggest that they were dealing with an archer rather than a booby trap but but there were no sounds of footsteps nor were there a call for reinforcement. "Guess we really are dealing with traps..." she muttered to herself. Was the trap set to trigger by those who checked on the corpses? Such cruelty disgust her slightly. Ruby took a moment to look at the arrow which seems to be coated in something which she assumed to be poison. There was no way to know for sure but at least none of the group appeared to be injured. As they make their way towards the exit, an axe suddenly swung from the side triggered by the pressure plate Ruby stepped on. Fortunately, her barrier remain intact but the impact made from her barrier was significant enough to damage it slightly. After leaving the maze and arriving inside the room, the pinkette noticed that they were in a room filled with statues. A huge door stood on the other side of the room but before they could make their way, all their eyes turned crimson red. She glanced at Daisy's direction but the woman's gaze were transfixed as well. The words that followed next were like declaration of an execution as the statue moves with incredible speed. "Thanks"Daisy said as King made his move to prevent the more agile of the statues from flattening her into a pancake by conjuring a gust of wind. It was then followed by Fang's arrows which illuminated the cavern with purple light. The first 3 statues crashed onto the floor with a heap while another had part of it's head blown off. The remaining three had somehow block the arrow with their wings, tail and arm preventing, mitigating the damage enough so as to last. "Keep shooting Fang!"Crimson energy channeled into her fist, Ruby rushed forth to engage the remaining statues. Every blow was like a strike from sledgehammer, her heavy strike intended to create cracks and fissure within the statue. Not all of the statues were occupied on attacking her, the remaining split up to take care of the other intruders. One of the demonic statues, the biggest and heaviest attempted to body slam on top of King. Another, whose wings had fractured by Fang's arrow earlier rush towards her, with the attempt to use it's massive claw to lacerate her up close. The remaining one, with it's head blown off rushed in the direction of Daisy who took a few step back. WC: 489 TWC: 5109 Tag: Fang King
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Post by King on Dec 15, 2019 11:02:12 GMT -8
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Post by Fang on Dec 15, 2019 18:46:31 GMT -8
”Yeah, I got it!”For the most part her attacks seemed to find a remarkable amount of purchase. A sense of relief and triumph filled her chest while she witnessed her volatile arrows reduce three of the demonic statues into heaps of rubble. Their swift dissolution might have been caused by her hitting a sweet spot on their inanimate physiology, and she resolved to aim for it next time for the entities who managed to mitigate the brunt of her attack through blocking with their wings. Another thing the archer Saiyan took note of was the damage caused to the remaining forces by her allies. Weak spots or not, if Fang could aim for the places on the statues with the most significant amount of damage caused by the group, she might be able to finish them off without issue. As she expected, cleaving off a portion of the head did little because these were not sentient beings; as King mentioned, the enemies appeared to be some manner of archaic golems. By challenging spots on them Ruby and King carved she could target the places where they were most vulnerable and make a sprint to eradicating their structural integrity. The half-Saiyan’s heart beat to a fleeter tempo while she witnessed one of the remaining adversaries rush her. Not intending to take the full brunt of the attack, she defended in a way not unlike the mitigative tactics displayed by the insentient rock puppets before them. Dark ki crystallized in front of her, forming constructs of energy and forming in front of her bow. It created a translucent half dome that served as a weightless barricade around her armament. It surrounded the bow in such a way that she would still be able to loose arrows at her targets while retaining her newfound defense. Reinforcing the barrier with her energy, she watched while the claw crashed into the tenacious sheen. It caused her to skid back on her heels, but her adrenaline eschewed the finer details from her mind. Fang saw an opportunity to retaliate before her. The being hyperextended itself through its motion swinging its arm to no avail, and now its chest was exposed unlike before. Manifesting another dark energy arrow, Fang attempted to fire it into its core. A moment passed before the arrow exploded into another blinding flash of light, which the feline Saiyan pre-emptively shut her eyes for while dashing rearwards. Opening them again, she was greeted with several alarming sights. One of them included the one she struck earlier approaching Daisy, succeeded by King imprinting another statue into the ceiling and Ruby fracturing the others with crimson wreathed fists. Clicking her tongue, she notched another phantasmal arrow and charged it with an enormous amount of ki. It crackled like the first bolt she fired during their violent introduction. ”Shooting Star Arrow!” Loosing it, it split into three once more. One streaked towards the back of the statue heading in the direction of Daisy, the other blitzed towards the ceiling where King pinned its ill-fated neighbour, and the other attempted to lance into the fissure created on the other statue by Ruby. Each attempted to bore through the creatures before erupting into simultaneous amethyst explosions capable of searing the eyes. Moreover, the same tainted energy continued coursing through her and bolstering her with every use of the malicious implement, making her less vulnerable to future attacks. WC: 570 TWC: 7224 Tag: Ruby King
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