Dragon Age: Pony Origins (Private)

[Walker]

The slap that the pegasus received on his back nearly bowled him over, but luckily, he was numb enough at this point that any wounds on his body were little more than dull throbs at this point. He managed a good natured chuckle at Teagan’s words, straightening up his hat, which had fallen somewhat over his eyes from the sudden forced movement. “Well, I’m glad you approve, now just make sure your knights are ready for the most glorious battle in Redcliffe’s history.” He said with a wide grin, embellishing the point just a tad. After all, a fired up army of knights charging in was better than a regular army of knights charging in. He watched Gossan’s reaction to his plan, making a small face at the dog’s words. “Sure, you might be barely scratched… in fact, I’m sure you could take a hundred more wounds like that. But, if you’re guarding our rear, when we get to the courtyard, you can unleash your full strength, which, believe me, I would love to see.” He smirked, and called out right before the dog jumped in the hole. “If I could have you at 100% for that battle, I would love that to be the case. No one makes undead heads roll quite like you.” He said, before biting his lip. He waited for a moment, before turning to Grym. “If he or that shapeshifter were in the front, I worry about their berserker instincts kicking in, with all of us in such a tight enclosed space.” He sighed. “I’d rather not be decapitated by his axes or her claws as they rip through the undead. At least you and Cold show a bit more discipline in your swings… despite your…” He paused, before shaking his head. “No judgment, of course. You control it much better than some I’ve seen. Just… don’t let it consume you.” He piped, before clamping his mouth closed once more, his eyes betraying that there was far more information that he could share, but the chuckle coming out of his mouth revealed that was no longer the conversation topic.

“You don’t need to know anything beyond that. I’m just a simple bard who happens to have picked up a few tricks and tips along my travels… and as for why I’m still following you…” He shrugged his shoulders. “You didn’t kill me when I abandoned the group, and still allowed me to come with you to Redcliffe. I suppose I feel like I must pay my debts.” He gave a small smirk. “Plus I would be lying if I neglected to say that my associates being missing didn’t make the decision easier… but who knows, this might make for a remarkable song once we succeed.” He stepped his way down into the hole, and the relative blackness engulfed him. Truth be told he was much more at home in the dark then one might think, and he allowed himself a short sigh of peace. He pulled out the piece of paper that he had planned to draw his map with, nodding his head one final time at the Warden. “Sure, we can look around. I would strongly recommend we let the knights in before we search every nook and cranny in the place, but once again, it’s your choice, leader.”

As he picked up his pace slightly he seemed to recognize her slight distress at the notion, and offered her one last thought before the conversation ended. “You know, every leader in history has had those who stood beside them, helping them with every decision, every fight, every conquest that they did…” He paused, before shrugging his shoulders. “No need to go it alone, you know?” He offered. Then, without another word, he trotted off, stretching his wings as he made his way down the tunnel.

[Shadowbolt0]

Midnight had opted to silence as she listened to the plan from the bard, who she may have tried to shoot before. But, opps. Still, it was a solid plan. She doubt-checked she had her daggers. She would be fine. She followed them down into the darkness, but honestly, the darkness wasn't anything she couldn't face. The darkness was a 'home' of hers. She kept her attention up, near the back to keep Clover safe, at least, until the mare learnt the tricks of it.

Midnight's ear perked up as Clover whispered to her, and at the request, her cheeks turned pink. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard.

"Clover...I..I, ummm, we're..i public..!" She whispered harshly "Can, you control yourself..Please...We're in public"

She opted to silence, trying to hide her blush at such a request. She kept walking, very distranced by Clover's previous request.

[Cainiam]

GM Post:

The group sets out, each falling into the ranks Tune dictated and adopting the formation. The tunnel itself was as secretive as the Bann promised however. They didn't even see any rats as they followed the straight passage. All they heard was the echo of hoofsteps and the occasional voice as one spoke up about some concern or another. Broken's light guided them all, even if some would have preferred the darkness. Gossan walked proudly at the back, Tune's words having cheered him up again. He would be sure to make some heads roll just for Tune.

They carried on all the way until they came up to a fake wall with a very clear lever. inevitably pulled it and it opened up into the dungeons, a straight forward row of cells which lead out to the kennel on the other side, past a big sealed wooden door. Torches lit the one long row of cells. Dead bodies littered the corridor here, but they smelled old, some rotted to skeletons and none that looked animated. Most wore soldier's armour, but some just wore the shredded rags of castle staff. While they were on edge a sudden voice cut through the air. "Hey! Hey! Is somepony alive out there!" It seemed to be coming from the cell closest to the door.

[Hundashter]

Clover lowered her ears and bit her lower lip. " R-right, o-of course your right, s-sorry. " She tried in vain to think of anything other than mares as she continued to awkwardly walk down the tunnel. Like...chairs! Chairs weren't sexy at all! Yeah, that'd work! Only then she started thinking of what she and Midnight could do on a chair and suddenly chairs weren't so unsexy anymore.

She let out an exasperated groan and once again felt a pang of sadness at the loss of her magic. She could have solved her current predicament in seconds if she only had her magic still!

Finally, they came to the exit of the tunnel, filing out in formation into what looked to be the castle dungeons. She heard the voice and looked around at her compatriots, deciding if she should respond or not, before finally hefting the crossbow to aim at the bars and of the cell the words had come from and responding in an only slightly quavering voice. " Y-yes, we are a-alive...a-are you alive? " She mentally berated herself for saying such a stupid thing, but it was too late to take it back now.

[Travelaway]

Cold couldn't keep himself from laughing at Clover's response to the voice, he gave a throaty chuckle as they moved out of the tunnels and into what looked to be the castle dungeon. "Where are you stranger? Are you in one of the cells?" The stallion strode down the hall at the front of the group with Grymrose, looking for the source of the voice.

[TheUsurper]

"Careful!" Archon hissed, pulling his bowstring taut and levelling it at the dungeon in front of them, more specifically in the approximate direction of the source of the voice. Clover revealing their presence was bad already, but now Cold was detaching himself from their carefully prepared formation and possibly walking headfirst into a trap? Had these people no sense of self-preservation? "We don't know what could be there. Stay on your toes..." He looked down. "I mean, hooves. Stay on your hooves and look out for ambushes. The ceilings could be crawling with hostile enemies for all we know."

For his part, Archon extended his wings slightly, not far enough to shrug off his cloak but close enough to a full extension that he could open it fully at a moment's notice. He wanted to be able to escape quickly if the situation called for it, or at least have enough manouevrability to take down whatever undead there might be, given a few moments' worth of trap-springing.

[SunlightHeart]

Grym turned the stallion's words over in her head a few times and absorbed the wisdom. He was right in a way. Many leaders did have help, but this group was small and varied, even the smallest difference of opinion would be enough to completely destroy their teamwork. She already knew that her views differed greatly from Cold Iron's and with his 'behavior' he was likely to be more of a thorn in her flanks than the Dark Spawn. She sighed, watching Lucky Tune make his way to his position in the formation.

Following in Tune's footsteps and the idea of getting to the gate controls as soon as possible. Now, she was faced with a dilemma, find the blacksmith's daughter first or let open the gates first. If she opened the gates first, the entire castle would be alerted and instantly on guard. Whoever was behind all of this would have be prepared for a large force to come for them; but if they didn't open the gates they'd essentially be wandering the castle alone. She promised that she'd do whatever she could to find Owen's daughter, but the risk was too great. "Our primary goal, as you all know, is the opening of the castle gates," Grym said without breaking stride. "Our second objective the location and rescue of the hand maid Valena."

As they made their way down the tunnel, Midnight and Clover were still, doing whatever they were doing. It was a distraction that they didn't need right now. Eventually, they came to the end of it all and after pulling a lever, the false wall opened up into the dungeons, just as Teagan had explained. Grym was about to make sure that everyone was in position and knew what to do, but a pleading voice came echoing through the empty cells. The warden didn't trust anything in this stench-filled, corpse-lined dungeon. Before she could give a hold command, Clover foolishly answered, followed by Cold. She knew the stallion was an idiot, but this... this was a new lever stupidity.

She whipped around to Clover, growling. She glared daggers at the mare and spoke in a low tone. "What are doing?! That outburst could cost us all our lives!" She turned her attention back to Cold who was walking away from the group. "And where are you going? ****it, we just just entered the castle and you're already putting everyone in danger!" She snarled at him.

At least the mercenary seemed to have some common sense. Like him, Grym brandished her weapons and prepared herself for anything. "Midnight, control your mare. If there's a trap, let the fool spring it."

[Cainiam]

NPC Post: Spirit Seeker

"Yes I'm still alive!" he added to respond to Clover's ridiculous question as she called over. "I'm in the cell by the door, but stay back! There's runes out there! I can sense them!" he shouted. Cold however had already passed them and a rune glowed in the floor at his hooves then vanished. "That's a resurrection glyph! They're necromancers! Stay away from the bodies!" he shouted.

Gossan:

Gossan stood at the back besides Aselia, waiting for the formation to advance when it seemed to start dissolving. He followed out, hefting out his axe as they slowly filtered through the fake wall and into the empty room. He looked over at a corpse right next to him, raised his axe high, then slammed it onto the skeleton's head, smashing its skull to dust. He lifted his axe up and shrugged. "Safe," he said with a smirk, turning around and starting to walk back when the skeleton grabbed one of his legs and pulled him onto the ground. Gossan kicked fiercely, shattering the limb, before rolling forwards and turning back to smash the skeleton with his axe hard enough for it to explode into a shower of bones. "Not safe!" Gossan growled as he dragged himself up and put his back to the group. Aselia's staff twirled as she took up position.

GM Post: *AMBUSH* - Players are stuck in established positions. Short encounter.

A swirling black miasma filled the chamber, seeking out skeletons and taking them over, each one then starting to rise rise with the creaking of bones, the soldiers armed with rusted iron swords and clad in dented armour. There were around thirty skeletons in total, nineteen of which were armoured and only fourteen of them were armed. They had the main group surrounded except for behind them in the tunnel. Cold was cut off from the rest of the group by six skeletons raising between them. Their bones creaked and chattered as they started to charge the closest pony to them.

[Travelaway]

At first Cold jumped in alarm as the undead began to rise up out of the very ground...then he realized they were skeletons and couldn't stop laughing, even as he smashed two of the flimsy creatures by bucking them. He pulled out his sword and slammed down onto another, then swung up into two more; the last skeleton had it's skull smashed with the flat of the sword. "This is the trap? Skeletons? Bahahaha!" He continues to cackle as he swung into the crowd of dusty bones.

[TheUsurper]

It seemed that, for once, his paranoia-fuelled guess was right on the money. Archon was beginning to grow tired of all these undead enemies. His tactics of spine-severing might have worked for previous opponents, but these were just skeletons - there weren't any nervous systems to speak of. They were driven completely by Motion-inducing magic, so his arrows might not be of much use here. He was beginning to question the extent of his own use here.

He sighed, deciding to try for headshots anyway, and he lined up his shot with the skeletons opposing Cold. Maybe he could pick them off and allow Cold to rejoin the group. But then he realised, after a few seconds of the soldier's wild efforts, that his arrows weren't needed. He subsequently decided to switch his efforts to disarming the skeletons.

He drew his bowstring taut again and aimed for the nearest armed skeleton's sword, loosing the arrow and catching it on the hilt. The sword, along with the bony jaw clutching it, detached itself from the rest of the body and skidded some ways away, though the skeleton hadn't quite died yet. Well, strictly speaking it was already dead, but... well, everybody would know what he meant.

He repeated the process for the other skeletons around them, taking out the weapons of those closest to him first and then assisting the others. An unarmed skeleton was a far easier foe that an armed one, and with the fighting expertise of his allies this ought to be a short fight.

[Shadowbolt0]

Midnight had heard someone cry out, but remained silent. They were in an unfamilar place in an army of the undead for all they knew. They needed to approach everything with caution. At least, that was ok till Clover spoke out. Midnight glared out the corner of her eye at the Unicorn. Sure, in stories that's what the hero did, but they weren't hero's. They were a team of broken ponies, and a griffon. They needed to use their heads. But when Cold joined in Clover's stupid antics, she wanted to facehoof. Clover she could understand, but him?! Where had his brain gone?

And Grym turned to her, she looked away from the Warden's glare. She felt like it was partly her responcibility to keep Clover in check. She turned to the mare, and offered her a weak smile "This isn't a book Clover, please, use your head in a place like this" she hissed, as the corpes aroung her came alive. She grabbed her daggers, knowing she had to keep them off Clover. She broke formation, running to the closest one and taking it's head off. She turned her head, flared her wings and body-slammed into another, taking it to pieces. She hopped to the ground, raising her hoof, before remembering she didn't have her crossbow on her. She was so used to that thing! She ducked under on of their swings, before dismantling the next 3 skeletons near her. They were weak, but that didn't mean she could get lazy. Hearing Cold laughing, she stuck a hidden glare at him. Was he retarded or something?

[Hundashter]

Clover grimaced a her friends derogatory remarks, she knew it was dumb to do what she did, she just thought it had seemed like the right thing to say. She squeaked when the skeletons began to rise, and instinctively tried to use her magic, which immediately left her feeling light headed and gave her a headache. She panicked when one of the skeletons reared up in front of her to attack as she was rubbing her horn, and fired the crossbow directly into its head.

The bolt struck true and created an impromptu unicorn from the poor earthpony's skeleton...but did little else. It opened its maw and would have screamed at her, had it still had vocal chords, and she suddenly realized that she had four options available to her. One was let this thing hit and potentially kill her, which she wasn't too fond of, the second was to hope one of her friends destroyed it before it attacked her, which was unlikely given that everyone was already busy with their own skeletons, leaving her the third option of turning tail and running.

She grit her teeth as she dismissed that option. She'd already run from the last fight she'd been in, and she wasn't some helpless little mare!...Well, ok, she kinda was at the moment, but she said she'd help and not be a hindrance and so that's what she would do!

Which left her with one final, terryfiying course of action, and that was to fight.

All of this had taken about three seconds, and the skeleton didn't have a weapon, but it did have armor. She dropped Midnight's crossbow, not wanting to damage it, then yelled and reared up on her hind legs before bucking the skeleton in the head, knocking it back slightly since she wasn't very strong, so she then threw herself at it, tackling it to the floor and crushing it beneath her. It pretty much fell to pieces, and she grabbed one of its femurs in her mouth, scrambling back to her hooves with a manic expression on her face and tears of fear in her eyes.

She then screamed past the bone in her maw as she charged the next closest skeleton, wailing on it with the leg bone as soon as she got in range. She wasn't useless! She wasn't a coward! She wasn't stupid! She could protect her friends and Midnight and even Aselia and she would!

[Walker]

When the group entered into the castle, and a voice that wasn’t familiar in the slightest broke the relative silence of the room, two things popped into Tune’s head right away. One; Undead do not talk. They may grunt and groan, but they don’t make any actual words… that he’s heard so far. So that means the voice belonged to a very alive pony. His next thought was of how they seemed to be in a jail cell… if somepony was locked in one of these cells, they might have been saved from the undead… but they also would have been locked up for a reason.

His eyes snapped open and he audibly groaned as several voices and actions quickly betrayed the group to the voice, the sudden urge to just bash his head into the wall once or twice suddenly becoming a very tempting feeling. It wasn’t that hard of a thing to understand. Stay in formation, work as a team, why couldn’t anypony understand the simple rules that came with having a plan. He gritted his teeth so hard that his jaw hurt, before taking a deep breath. The clattering of bones announced that something was off before he even got a chance to look at what was happening. He spat angrily on the ground, a gesture that was surprisingly off for his normally calm and refined demeanor, before growling in a voice that betrayed a feeling that was more then mild annoyance. “You’d think that it would be easy… but I suppose when one’s lacking half their brain.” He muttered darkly to himself, before darting forward.

From his original place behind Grym, he slide into Cold’s empty spot, keeping the line steady and making sure no undead could slink past into their groups inner workings, where the mages and archers had been placed. He glanced over at her biting his lip before calling out. “Not telling you how to fight, Warden, as I’m sure you’d have me beat in that department for knowledge any day. But between the two of us… I think you can use heavy swings?” He had sheathed his own sword, the tiny blade not heavy enough to break bone, and edged weapons having little effect on the shambling undead coming towards them. “You can put your full effort into shattering their bones, I’ll make sure they don’t get close enough as to render your sword’s reach useless.” He suggested, using his body weight to slam a nearby skeleton backwards, the small pegasus not actually able to break anything with his weight alone, but causing the jumble of bones to stumble back and slam into the nearby wall. He shook his head, more than a little bitter that he couldn’t do much to help. His hooves clattered over an old, bent shield and he paused, before picking it up, using it to help push the undead back and away from the rest of the group.

[SunlightHeart]

Not even a full minute in an they already had action. By the time the stranger had warned of the rune traps it was too late. Grym dipped into fighting stance, she let her eyes scan over the the swirling blackness as it sank into the piles of bones around the dungeon. Slowly, each felled warrior started to reanimate, their bodies' nothing more than shambling skeletons. Cold was immediately cut off from everyone, but that's what he got for breaking formation.

A skeleton somehow managed to slip pasted her in the gap that Cold had created and got at Clover. Grym would have turned to quash the threat, but that would mean turning her back on greater numbers and that was NOT a good idea. Gritting her teeth, the warden accepted that Clover would just have to deal with the situation herself. Cold seemed to be handling the skeletons without his weapons, and even taking some sort of enjoyment out of it. He didn't even seem to care about the weakness he put into their ranks. Luckily, Tune stepped in beside Grym. Once again the stallion offered a bit of advice that she was more than willing to accept. "Smash their bones," she confirmed, nodding to him as she orientated her blades to their flats. The sharp edge would go through the bone easier, but she was reaching for maximum trauma.

For a bard, Tune was proving to be an excellent asset and quite the fearless fighter, but he lacked the kill power that Cold did, meaning that while he could deter them, she'd have to be the one who actually neutralized the threats in their sector. With what needed to be done in mind, Grym went to work on the approaching undead. An armored undead and one with a rusted mace charged her, but she refused to move. Just as the mace wielding skeleton leapt at her, an arrow struck the weapon from its mouth leaving it flying through the air and vulnerable. Grym swung her blackened blade at the creature and scored a clean hit on its skull, sending bone shards across the dungeon and leaving the body to fall to pieces. The armored foe would have proved even trickier had Grym not known where the weaknesses in armor were located. Without flesh to absorb the blow, when she smashed her weapons into the armored back of the pony the metal did little to lessen the impact. A satisfying crunch and a pile of bones was all that she needed to confirm the effectiveness of the attack. To her side, Tune was doing his best to knock back a skeleton whenever he could, but his efforts would only stun them momentarily before they were back at it again. She looked to Tune, then to the undead before her. Taking a deep breath she focused on the feeling of both blades held in her magic; everything from weight, to shape, position, and texture became important.

Her steel came to his aid, smashing the spine of a skeleton he'd just slammed. It was a a bit of a strain, but the support was the least she could do for taking up Cold's place and providing valuable tactical insight.

[Cainiam]

NPC Post - Aselia:

Aselia locked her eyes coldly on the threat as it became apparent, the trap that the pigheaded soldier had tripped reawakening those that had fallen in this place. Her staff twirled as the air around her grew colder. She focused on her staff, raising it high then turning to the side and letting it loose. There was the howl of a northern wind as powerful magic burst forth, freezing the air in front of it and the charging skeletons locking into place unmoving. She looked to her side at the diamond dog who was still staggering to his feet. "All yours, hound," she said sharply.

Gossan:

Gossan growled as he staggered to his paw, axe ready to sing. As he was pushing up Aselia let out a powerful spell, freezing the skeletons in place. The dog shrugged before charging forward and smashing them apart with furious strikes from his axe, smashing the frozen skeletons apart as if they were... well, skeletons. Fragments of bone and chipped ice fell to the floor in his wake as his axe cut them apart. He turned back to the fighting, seeing just how outmatched the skeletons were.

GM Post:

The skeletons didn't stand a chance. Almost instantly Cold smashed several of them to pieces with sharp kicks and a wing of his sword, the creatures of bone shattering and exploding as bones were crushed and rendered useless. Midnight's antics saw the same, skeletons obliterated by the weight of her body as she nimbly tackled them down, dodging their slow and imprecise strikes. Those that had weapons often found their hands being shot off by strategic shots from Archon, most not even realising as they continued to strike as if still holding them. Grymrose's blunt side strategy worked wonders as she tore up a torrent of bone, with some help from Tune. Even Clover's crazed tackle and pounding took down one of them. As the group readied for the rest of them, the miasma suddenly pulled back, tearing out of the other skeletons as they collapsed to the ground and fell to pieces, before it burst through the corridor and pushed through the wooden door, vanishing through to the other side. "It's gone! You did it! Quickly, get me out of here!" the voice called.

[TheUsurper]

Archon kept shooting valiantly, disarming skeleton after skeleton, and finally it came to the point when they all collapsed to the ground and fell into a bunch of bony pieces. He relaxed just slightly, putting the bow down and surveying the surrounding areas. Then he heard the voice speak.

"Yeah, no." Archon said quickly to his team, trying to make sure that this time, no one blindly walked forward into another trap. "Why don't we all move forward, as a group, and keep an eye out for traps? And while we're at it, actually make sure this voice isn't also a trap? These skeletons seemed awfully weak for the actual ambush." He raised his bow again and left an arrow notched, only moving forward if the rest of the group did. The last thing they needed was the ceiling to fall down on them and suffocate them, or for the floor to open up and spill them into a lava pit, or other traps of similar lethality.

[Travelaway]

Cold didn't put his sword away, but he relaxed a little, "I apologize if that seemed a bit foolhardy, but Clover had already given us away, and the trap would've been sprung no matter what, as I highly doubt any of you would've been able to spot or disarm that rune, I like to get rid of problems, not cow before them." He said, taking his space back near the front, turning to look at Tune as he did so, "I apologize if I upset your formation soldier, not used to being told what to do, usually the other way around." Cold smiled to the pegasus before turning his attention forward again, "When you're ready, I'll be a good boy this time." The stallion chuckled quietly to himself; he was actually having fun, the skeletons weren't exactly challenging but they still ignited his love of battle, and that brightened his mood.

[Hundashter]

Clover stopped beating the newly re-dead skeleton with the femur and realized what she was doing. She let the bone fall from her mouth as she began breathing heavily, nearly hyperventilating, her body still running on adrenaline. She backed up, taking a few shaky steps, before eyeing Midnight in her peripheral vision and making a beeline for the mare.

She had to make sure she was ok, she had to! Upon reaching the mare, she grasped Midnight and spun her around to face her, then forcefully pushed her lips against Midnight's, kissing her passionately for a few moments before her rush wore off and she realized what she was doing.

She stumbled back, falling on her haunches and stammering apologizes to Midnight. " I-I'm sorry! I-I-I was...I j-just...I w-wanted t-to make s-sure you were ok-kay a-and...t-the adrenaline w-was rushing a-and I just...I-im s-sorry! "

[SunlightHeart]

"War winning intuition at it's finest," Grym said sarcastically. "Cold Iron, despite being in each of our acquaintances for only a few hours, has enough of a read on our talents to doubt that anyone here would have had a chance to spot a magical trap." Throughout her delivery, the mare's voice never shifted away from her dry monotone method of speech. There wasn't even a tell on her face. One would have missed any double-play in her words had she not emphasized what she wanted to call attention to. The group had not one, but three mages and a trap maker. None of them even had a chance to properly look at the room .

Grym sighed, glad that at least the griffon was trying to take the situation seriously. "They're undead. Disposable shock troopers with no purpose other than to tire us out. More than likely we're just being softened up," she agreed with him.

The sound of a sloppy kiss from behind her caused Grym to look over her shoulders. Again, Clover was engaged in a passionate show of affection with Midnight. While the warden didn't really care what they did, there was a time and a place for everything. This was neither the time, nor the place for what they were doing. "Clover..." Grym started. "What you did... you know what you did was idiotic, I doubt that you'll do it again. I don't know what you and Midnight have, but whatever it is keep it separate from the mission. We need to be alert; these undead won't spare you just because you're hot and bothered. Keep your tongue to yourself, or you just may lose it."

Now the voice was asking for their assistance. It was likely a stallion by the voice, which meant it was not who she was looking for. "I say leave him. If he's a criminal, he's right where he should be; if he's only in there as protection from the undead, that's the perfect place for him and the knights will let him out once all of this blows over. Either way, he isn't vital vital."

[Travelaway]

Cold smiled, "Yes, how fortunate they have me to pick up the slack of leadership. How unfortunate that incompetence has lead them to ruin, luckily I shall be here to whip them into shape." Cold said in a sing song voice; typically his job was to go in and destroy a problem, so subtlety wasn't one of his strong points in battle. That being said, he'd be ****ed if he'd take the blame for her lack of leadership, what kind of leader expected everything to go well? You laid a strategy out yes, but you always made ready for when things could go wrong. She had none of his loyalty, and even less of his respect; the griffon had a point to be sure, but Cold was no dog, it took more to make him move than screeching orders at him.

Finally Grym made some sense as she suggested leaving the pony in his cell, "I actually agree with that, if the fool is down here then there's a reason for it I'm sure."

[Shadowbolt0]

Midnight placed her daggers back in their positons. The Skeletons weren't too hard, but that didn't mean she could be lazy. She felt something on her, a hoof. She turned to see Clover, right before the unicorn kissed her! Midnight felt a giant blush on her face, but couldn't help but kiss her back. When Clover backed up, she couldn''t help but be upset slightly, even if she knew it was bad to do it in public.

"Clover..I-its fine, just, not while we're in combat ?" She suggested. The mare was cute, but there was a time and a place for everything. And right now, this wasn't the time.

When Grym called Clover out, Midnight felt like she was glaring at her. Like Grym expected her to control Clover. She was trying! But it wasn'r easy, she needed more time to show Clover how to act normally, but for now, she just hoped the mare was smart enough to do it correctly.

As for the pony asking for their help, she didn't know if she agreed with Grym and Cold. Maybe he was innocent? She felt the need to speak up, to tell them to give the prisoner a chance. Maybe he was innocent, framed? Who know, but, it wasn't fair from him to be locked in a cage...like she had been. She nearly spoke, but instead held her tongue. If she could wait until the others moved up, then spoke to him, yes..That could work.

[Cainiam]

Gossan:

Gossan held his position at the back, axe raised and ready for any more troubles if they came. He heard the discussion up front and smiled. The Warden knew what was up. He wasn't important. The mission came first. They should just move on. "Forget the prisoner," he said with a gruff nod of agreement.

NPC Post: Spirit Seeker

If any member of the group drew close enough, they would see a dark blue unicorn clad in the robes of The Circle. Anyone familiar with the Circle would know these were Apprentice Robes, not those given to full members. There was a good chance Clover might remember the Apprentice who managed a daring escape using blood magic, and how it cost another Apprentice his life, and a Cleric life imprisonment. There was a story there that would have been talk of the Equestrian Circle for months. In her current outfit however, he didn't recognise the lonely unicorn who spent so much time to herself, just seeing her as another rogue that fought with the team. The team of powerful warriors who had just decimated the undead ambush without taking so much as a scratch if his ears didn't deceive him.

Spirit pushed against the bars of his cell, pushing a dark blue hoof out. "See? I'm equine!" he said as he shook it around. The others speech hardly bode well for him. He sighed loudly. "I can hear you, and I know your reasoning is sound, but I can help you. What happened here is the work of magic, and it will take magic to fix. Are any of you accomplished enough spellcasters to enter the Fade? As that is where this fight will be won," Spirit said, an edge of desperation in his voice as he tried to appeal to the group. Remaining in this cell would be his end and he knew it.

NPC Post: Aselia:

Aselia stood close to Gossan, but out her staff away. She wanted this whole thing to finish so she could get out of here, but everyone was moving so slowly. She didn't care what Cold had done, or that Clover was a naive fool, she knew the latter already. The talk of the one in the cell made her clear her throat to get Grym's attention. "I can get some of us into the Fade. Forget this stallion. An accomplished spellcaster would not allow himself to be locked in a cell," she replied coldly.

[SunlightHeart]

Grym rolled the stallion's words around in her mind. Teagan had informed them ofthe demon and from what little she knew, they truly resided in the Fade and were immaterial unless possessing a host. Even then, the demon was no more than a spirit puppeting flesh. He was right, the real battle would be held in the fade, away from the familiar world she knew. It wasn't a place that Grym was willing to traverse, she had neither the skill, nor the magecraft to survive there.

Just as she was about to retract her statement about leaving him there, Aselia spoke up and revealing that she could perform spell needed. "Well then, Mage, it seems that your that your talents are not needed," Grym stated. It was Aselia's word against him, she may not have known the mare very long or in any personal manner, but having fought beside her, she did not doubt her magical abilities. However, this still brought up several questions such as who would be entering the fade? She knew that it wouldn't be her. Clover? She had no magic right now. That left Aselia and Broken... "You will likely be a hindrance to us as we move through the castle, so unless one of them--" she gestured to the group with her "--decides to let you out, you will be remaining here until this conflict is over. Then, the knights will come for you."

[Dabom444]

Broken had gone into a autopilot mode. Her mind receeding as she healed any small wounds that came about her comrades as they moved through the caves. She didnt really come out of her trance as she was in truth afraid of the dark. Not darkness in general but the feeling of claustrophobia she had in the back of her mind. She did snap out of it in some places when they were attacked by skeletons. Her work set about sealing wounds were even doubled. She was now brought to her attention that they were speaking to a mage in a cell. She let the others speak and kept her focus on the area around them. (Im stuck typing in italisized and cant make paragraphs now on this stupid site..... just wonderfull.)

[Shadowbolt0]

Midnight listened at how everyone else didn't care about the prisoner. Her own experience in a cell gave her the knowledge that more than likely he was guilty, but, that wasn't an absolute. And this unicorn might actually know what happened here! Midnight hated walking in blind, and he might be able to help her.

But the others had already disprove. Even Grym made it clear that she wouldn't help, and Cold's change of heart surprised her. He took a chance with her, why not him? Still, Midnight wouldn't just leave him to die, everypony had a purpose, and even if he was to just be food for her, he had a purpose.

"You guys keep moving, but, I'm gunna stay behind for a bit. He might know something, about what happened here. If he does, it's information we could actually use"