[ CLOSED ] Lathbora viran

[serannas]

WHO: Ellana Ashara, Sam Gareth, Korrin Ataash, Mal Reynolds, Katniss Everdeen
WHAT: Gathering herbs leads to an elven ruin
WHEN: mid-Justinian
WHERE: Emprise du Lion
NOTES: ooc info post

The journey to Emprise du Lion is uneventful. The Inquisition has a secure supply line between the region and their base of operations at Skyhold, and that means no battles along the way. Once there, the group stops to rest at the camp near the Tower of Bone before they set out across Judicael's Crossing with satchels or bags in order to gather herbs.


[ ooc: please hold for three top level threads to be posted. all done! go wild. :3 ]

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{ the final doors open }

[serannas]

With the pulling of the last lever, the gate with the lever prior to this one opens, releasing the person inside. Thankfully, no gate closes on this last lever puller, but instead, there is a gold glow that comes from behind the doors at the end of the room before the doors swing open. The anticipation as to what might be in this room is probably quite high right now, but those who know to be on their guard won't be surprised at all when danger rears its head in a minute.

Of course, the corpses are nice enough to wait until the party is inside the room and the ornate box at the far end is in sight before they suddenly burst up through the floor, bows and swords in hand.

[gatheringstorm]

"Wonderful." Scowling, Korrin immediately throws up a Barrier to encompass everyone close enough before the corpses close in. And since there are several, she holds back from using her spirit blade right away. Instead, the Vashoth mage casts Chain Lightning, acting on the logic that while such creatures are rarely directly vulnerable to the element, they aren't resistant to it either. Better to thin the herd now before she wades in, as will happen in a moment.

[aintwejust]

"What'd I say?" Being right would be more fun if it didn't involve fighting creepy undead. 'least all he has to do is bark a quick order at Jayne to have him fall back and cover Ellana while he shifts his grip on his spear, swinging in hard after the lightening crackles and fades. None of them look all that staggered but he lunges for the one that's closest, spear snapping out sharp and straight for the sternum.

[el_tybs]

Because the puzzles hadn't been bad enough, now there were animated corpses popping out of the floor like daisies. "Can never just be easy," he mutters, pulling out his own weapon like the others. The magic blade hums to life as Sam takes the hilt in both hands, feeling a barrier spell fall over him, and noting that it covers the others as well.

With everyone already protected he sets about casting Haste on Korrin and Malcom, who have already jumped into the fray, and then putting up an aura to help with the battle. After doing so Sam is quick to join in on the fight, magically traversing the space a bit as an arrow goes whizzing by. With a grunt he brings his blade down on the corpse, watching as the blade cuts right through it, followed by the electricity surging over the bones before branching out to another corpse nearby.

[serannas]

Of course Ellana's felt guilty that on this trip it looked like her friends might be forever trapped behind ancient elven gates, or at least one of her friends, because of the way the gates puzzle operated. Now she winces at what's before them. Corpses. Of course. The felandaris growing outside is a clue that the Veil is thin here, and what else can be found where the Veil is thin? Spirits possessing corpses. She's about to cast a barrier when Korrin beats her to it, so she picks one corpse to set on fire instead. Lifting her new staff, she wonders what kind of damage it can do, and as the fire is set, her eyes widen. This staff is definitely stronger than her old one.

Her eyes move to Sam, fascinated by his magic blade, but she reminds herself that now isn't the time to focus on it. She may be completely healed from the demon attack in the Fade, but she's not going to undo Sam's hard work by letting herself be struck down again. She moves quickly up the set of side steps in the room to hide behind a pillar, casting her spells from relative safety. Naturally, she'll have to listen for the floor breaking apart behind her in case one tries to surprise her, but for now, this works.

[gatheringstorm]

Sam's blade is indeed nifty and Korrin's glad that their sparring session happened before this, or the novelty might have distracted her. As it is, she's grateful for the boost he provides, though there's no time for more than a quick nod. When his barrier is down, she'll return the favor.

As it is, after that opening blast, Korrin searches for a decent spot that won't get in the way of her comrades, conjuring a fiery glyph that explodes immediately after she centers it on a pair of corpses. Satisfied that their numbers are diminished, she finally charges in with her glowing blade, relentlessly slicing at the nearest one.

[the_effect_she_has]

Katniss had faded into the shadows the moment the corpses began to rise, and suddenly she came up behind the group of corpses, and started to fire. One after another, plugging them with arrow after arrow as she moved across the stone floor.

"I have them flanked! Lay it on!"

[el_tybs]

"Just be careful!" he yells back to Katniss as he cuts into another corpse. Originally he was going to yell for her to watch her back in case more popped out, but knowing their luck, that would happen exactly if he said it out loud.

After dodging an attack from a rusted blade, Sam drops back, fade stepping behind the others. He takes some time to refresh barriers and spells, tossing out some minor healing here and there. Even if he has a weapon to go on the offensive and learning how to do so, he is still spirit healer - his priority was to make sure everyone was protected.

[serannas]

"Watch out for my fire!" she warns, giving everyone a chance to disengage for a moment. Normally it would only be Mal that would have to move, but with both Korrin and Sam now bearing blades of magic, they're too close to the enemy too. Once she sees an opening, she throws down a fire glyph to ignite under two corpses. Her heart is pounding, but this new staff is giving her such a rush that she doesn't have time to feel scared. And then a strange sensation comes over her. She feels magic surround her to protect her and knows without a shadow of a doubt that no one can harm her for as long as this lasts. Immediately, she Fade Steps down into the fray instead of hiding behind a pillar. She only just gets stopped inside of a corpse, proving that she really is invulnerable, when the magic wears off and the corpse blasts away from her like a cannon ball shot from a cannon. The force is so great that it slams into a pillar and falls to pieces. Shocked, Ellana looks at the staff in her hand, the dragon's head staring back silently with no answers.

"What spell was that?" She's no Knight-Enchanter, so she's never learned Fade Cloak, but its magic is woven into the staff to protect the bearer.

[aintwejust]

Undead, just like he said, and they burn pretty damn well. After working with and around Korrin for years he knows how to duck under a spell and step back around flames or ice or lightening- for the most part it goes where the mages want it to go and usually that ain't him. Jayne does his job, keeping himself between Ellana and the mess-

Till Ellana ain't THERE and he's a confused bunch of pup bounding after the vapor trail of her spell till he's in the thick of it right alongside the rest of them which- if that ain't a recipe for a clusterfuck if the undead had any kind of grenades, Mal don't know what is- but it don't much matter when the world is rattling with sound and noise and the corpse Ellana had stepped INTO explodes in a meaty shower.

"Ce que la merde était cette merde?!" Seriously. What the shit? He points to the staff with his short sword, wiggling the tip. "What the fuck did that thing just do?"

[gatheringstorm]

There are advantages to being a Knight-Enchanter, and Ellana's just unknowingly shown off one of them. It's not one Korrin herself has mastered yet, but she can't help but admire the timing of the staff in question. Though she doesn't dare take her eyes off any opponents after that brief window of time, the Vashoth still calls over. "That was a Knight-Enchanter trick! Nice staff, Ellana. You really picked a good one."

But they can chat and compare staves later. For now, her own will see use as she whirls it to encase a corpse in ice for Katniss or Same to take out at their leisure. She'll swing her glowing blade anew at one still moving, her barrier strengthening the more enemies she cuts down. Even so, she doesn't give in to tunnel-vision. If her any of her companions need a hand, she'll blur over to help them in an instant.

[the_effect_she_has]

"All right, am I the only one who is uncomfortable with the people who are wearing the least amount of armor getting the closest to the undead?"

Is Katniss's dry response, as she sends one of her arrows straight through one of the frozen undead that Korrin has so kindly left for her, shattering it. The corpses are now showing interest in her, however, and she's left to jumping out of the way in a roll before swinging up for another shot. The corpse falls, to be followed by another one coming at her side and slashing her with a sword. It cuts at her armor and she knows she's going to have a nasty gash along her side, as she hisses and backs away again, to get more range.

[serannas]

Maybe Ellana would be a bit more scared of her strange staff if she hadn't felt that protective energy over her. Hearing Korrin's explanation helps too. But Katniss is right, and Ellana darts back out of the way, calling out "Sorry, sorry!" as she gets back behind a pillar and refocuses. Poor Jayne, having to keep up with the flighty mage.

At least one good thing about this whole mess is that when the corpses are killed, they don't come back again. Their numbers are dwindling rapidly, and in another minute or so, they'll be no more.

[el_tybs]

Despite the predicament they are in, Sam cannot help but chuckle at Katniss' question. You didn't need to wear metal to be in the thick of things - just look at Jayne. With magic they were also probably the more properly protected in the group. Course he's not about to get into the conversation since they were concentrating on other things.

The numbers of undead were dwindling, but there were still many. Seeing a group of them gathering together Sam casts out a glyph beneath them that brightens as it detects movement. All at once the group stops moving, paralyzed for a time.

With that done, Sam fade steps across the fight, stopping just short of where Katniss is. "You alright?" Even though asking he still reaches out to place a hand just above the wound to heal it.

[aintwejust]

Jayne grumbles (as much as a dog can grumble) and sprints back to keep an eye on Ellana's flank.

"It's alright, he can use the exercise." Big ole pudgy war dog like he is. Mal's just glad Ellana's out of the frey so he can focus more on stabb'n these beasties without worry'n about magical folk zipp'n in front of him without a word. He and Korrin have a system- new folk kinda muddle it up just cuz he don't know 'em all that well.

Sam locks 'em down, Mal darts in with swift jabs of his spear and cuts of his short sword, getting in what damage he could till they started mov'n.

[gatheringstorm]

The last of the undead near Korrin are relatively close together, so she takes a moment to conjure a static cage, effectively trapping them. There, everyone has a nice bundle of targets. Upon hearing Katniss, she glances over, prepared to toss a potion, but fortunately Sam's right there to heal her. That frees her to join Mal, covering his back as she knows he'll cover hers. Conversation can wait until everything else in the room is dead, and that shoudn't take too long.

[the_effect_she_has]

"It's gushing but it's not anything I can worry about right now." Which is to say, she wants Sam to concentrate on the undead heading for them and not healing her. She lifts her bow, sinking another shot right into the undead's head and sending it flying backwards into two more of it's brethren.

[serannas]

Oh, no, oh no. Katniss is hurt and Ellana feels terrible about it. Yes, they all knew the risks, but that doesn't stop Ellana from feeling as she does. For the moment, all she can do is keep attacking the corpses that are left and keep them away from Katniss and Sam. Korrin's static cage does the trick better than anything, and it allows the group to pick off the last of the corpses with ease. When the final one falls, Ellana leaves cover and comes over to the rest of them, patting Jayne on the head along the way.

"Katniss?" she asks, brows furrowed in concern. "Sam, is she going to be all right?" Now she looks at Korrin and Mal, feeling a surge of guilt wash over her. "You two aren't hurt, are you?"

[el_tybs]

"That's what I'm here for," he mutters, at least healing the wound up enough that it wasn't 'gushing' as Katniss had put it. He doesn't seem at all worried about the undead heading for them, mostly since the others were doing great work in clearing them, and Fortitude constantly kept him informed - like eyes in the back of your head. That and Katniss was picking them off pretty well.

The fight is over relatively quickly after that, at which point Sam has Katniss stand still so that he can fully work on the wound, though there isn't anything he can do about the rip or the blood left over. "She'll be fine, Ellana." He appreciates her concern, but the look on her face certainly makes it seem like she blames herself for it.

[serannas]

Ellana releases a breath of relief and nods her head. If anything happened to Katniss while they were on this trip -- a trip Katniss joined because Ellana asked her if she would -- well, Ellana doesn't know how she'd forgive herself. She takes thinks to heart, and it would have been hard to convince her that it hadn't somehow been her doing.

"I know that we all knew the risks, but it doesn't make me any less sorry that this happened." And yet now the corpses are gone and they've reached the goal of their puzzle solving at last. She looks over towards the box and back to the group.

"I really hope whatever is in there is worth all this trouble. Let's just open it already, and then we can go. We've seen all there is to see here."

[gatheringstorm]

Stepping over the corpses of the undead, Korrin comes to stand by Ellana and rest a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, Ellana. We have healers, potions and grenades. No one's getting left behind." Maybe it's tempting fate to say that, but Korrin's resolve holds, and she knows they have enough to back it up.

"Right, let's see what was worth wading through all those walking corpses. They wouldn't just guard this place for no reason."

[serannas]

She looks up at her friend and releases a breath, trying to let some of that guilt go so she can focus on what lies ahead of them.

"If we're all ready, let's get barriers over everyone," she says, moving up the stairs to stop in front of the box. Her staff is held in a tight grip, and she casts a barrier on whoever is closest. Then she moves to open the lid.

And nothing happens. Of course. At least, nothing happens with the box. What does happen is that in between the group and the door leading back out, a Revenant materializes in place. It's a corpse like the others, but this was the corpse of a great warrior, and it still wears remnants of its armor. Taking its sword, it drives it into the ground between the tiles and reaches out a hand. Immediately, a huge, spectral form of the hand reaches out and grabs Sam around the waist, dragging him towards the waiting Revenant, who then retrieves his sword, ready to strike.

"Sam!" Ellana cries out, immediately sending a lightning bolt down on the corpse to buy Sam some time.

[the_effect_she_has]

"Son of a - " Katniss pulls out an arrow, releasing it at the reaper, following up by another shot, and then another. "Put him down, you diseased Fade bastard!"

[gatheringstorm]

Korrin's eyes widen in horror, then narrow as she forces herself to react. Now is not the time to freeze up. She snarls and casts Stonefist, hurling the Fade-rock ahead before charging and adding her spirit blade as well.

[aintwejust]

"Always the foutu undead-" Two steps forward as Jayne hurtles across the way, going low while Korrin, Katniss, and Mal go high. Can't exactly flip a spectral float'n bitch but he can take aim and hurl his spear, aiming dead center at the damn thing's chest.