A Dark Dungeon. (Closed)

[PyroBlaze]

Well, it seemed they were all in, though everyone else suggested calling the army, either Equestria's or the griffon one. While the added support wouldn't be unwelcome, he figured there was a reason he had asked for mercenaries to take care of this. Sure enough, Razor seemed adamant against either army having anything to do with this.

"Deal. I won't be telling anyone about this for now." Aranak said after Razor offered more money to keep their mouths shut. Being paid for silence was easy money. The rest was less important, though he supposed it was good the griffon had arranged the notification of the army should they fail. He was prepared, that was good. Unfortunately, that preparation had nothing to do with keeping any of them alive.

The meal after that point was rather uneventful, the dragon eating his meat in silence. He would've preferred some gems, but this was perfectly fine, and it wasn't like Razor was expecting a dragon to show up.

Once they were done eating, the sound of drums reached his ears, and he looked around, trying to discern the source of the noise. Judging by Razor's reaction, the sound did not herald anything good. The dragon stood up as he continued to look around, preparing himself for whatever was coming.

[DerpRavener]

Zelda and Dunder actually agreed with Slim Chance's suggestion, to her surprise.  Not that she didn't expect them to take the reasonable approach, so much as she was expecting them to have different motivations in this situation.  The unicorn had a hope that they might be able to go about this whole thing intelligently.  She was always up for a little risk, but there was a difference between risking harm and throwing yourself headlong into it.

 

But her hopes were dashed when Razor insisted that they not get anyone else involved, even offering to triple their pay to keep the word from getting out.  It seemed this would be a proper horror story after all.  Slim Chance gave him a glare, and almost said something.  He might be putting a lot more lives than just theirs in danger this way.  'Chance had her doubts that he actually had any workable plan to inform any armed forces should they fail.  She almost said something, but bit her tongue.  She COULD use the extra bits.  And she couldn't exactly blame Razor for acting a little erratically, in his current state of mind.  She would just have to make sure she made it out of this, to warn anypony else that needed warning.

The meal had continued in relative quiet as Slim Chance sorted out her thoughts.  “Fine,” she said eventually, “but I'm raiding your library for any relevant books before we leave.”  It wasn't a request, even if she strictly speaking couldn't demand it,   “I don't know how much help I'll be knowing nothing but spooky stories about what we're up against.  Maybe I can find something about-”

 

Slim Chance's thought was interrupted as the steady, resounding boom was heard, at started to draw closer.  Razor began to freak out, recognizing the sound in one way or another.  Whatever the griffon had dealt with in the caves, it apparently followed him home.

“...how to banish these things...” Slim Chance trailed off.  Looked like the library would have to wait, they had uninvited guests.  Unsure of where exactly the attack would come, the yellow unicorn stood up and braced herself.  She started to take stock of the room, noting the doors and windows as both the likely points of attack and as possible exits, as she tried to listen for where exactly the sounds were coming from.

[tacobob]

 

“He didn’t count cause he wasn’t trying to get Inkbrand’s attention, and with his usual freaking out in the company of gals, he wasn’t having any luck getting the kind of attention you’d want from an lady anyways. Not as if he was trying.”, the griffon added as she continued to pat the pretty, pretty pony. “And this isn’t your old fashioned needle and ink sort of tattoo.” Zelda recalled an old bird that helped her father back at the forge in Rockwington. He had given himself a terrible burn on his upper right front leg, and while the miracle of modern medical magic had saved his limb, he could never regrow any fur, so had someone do a tattoo of Equestria’s beloved Princess Celestia in a not very princess’y pose. “This was real magic going on. Ink that could show up through the fur or hair. Mine was pretty simple compared to what some ponies got.”

 

"And I'm ready to stop whatever hurt Razor, and I'd do the same if someone was crazy enough to hurt you, Fire or any of my friends." she smiled as the stallion ran his hoof through her feathers ,"And why would I want you swing by and only drop food off? Considering my work is also my home, unless, I'm doing something for the R.E.A, I'd probably want you to stop in as well. Supply me with food and company, while I'll give you desert.", with the last word, she tossed the stallion a wink.

 

As Zelda nibbled on her fish, she started to wonder if the male griffon had planned on having more come to this aid, considering how much dinner he had made. If only he sent out word to his friends, his neighbors and asked to bring their friends along. He would have had an army at his side. Still, Razor had his reasons. And he finally voiced them. The griffon nodded her head as he spoke. She wasn't terribly crazy about the whole thing, and a family's 'name', while important to some, was nowhere near  as valuable as the family members themselves. Thankfully, he did plan ahead incase they did not succeed, and being the optimist, like she always was, the bird spoke, "Yeah, you're a bit fermisht, but wounds will heal, and we'll find a way to stop whatever monsters were unleashed and save your father."

 

Being the clever sorts, the unicorn suggested they read up on anything that would be of use to their job. "Good idea, but we'll need to be quick about it. I have a feeling Razor's father isn't one for playing 'helpless' for too long. I believe..he...oh!", she let out a yelp as the what sounded like thumping and evening squealing could be heard, "Oh crap.", she quickly snatched up a few rolls and stuffed them into her pack, "Razor! Is there a way out of here beside the front? We need to get our weapons and get the heck out of here! Maybe Aranak can carry you if necessary?", he eyeballed the dragon as she got up from her seat. They were either going to face some of Razor's new foes, or someone hired an 'Drum 'n' Squeal 'o' gram.'

 

 

 

OOC: Sorry guys! For some reason I thought we were waiting for someone else to post. Please feel free to shoot me an PM if I'm behind on my posts..Also, where is the noise coming from?

[Dunder]

the stallion listened to Razor go stir crazy on Slim and Zelda for requesting aid. Perhaps the griffon didn't know that not everypony cared about honor when more important things were at stake. Or maybe the griffon did know since he offered more bits. Dunder decided just to stay silent on the matter.

 

Dunder felt like he wasn't going to end up eating that much if Zelda was going to keep his heart pumping like this. Those claws could really treat his head to scratching unlike any other. He grinned and opened the flap on his saddlebag while leaning closer to her, listening her talk about tattoos. But as she talked, he began stuffing fruits into his saddlebag, mostly the tougher variety. "I have to say, I'd get a tattoo, but I don't know what of." He thought about it for a moment, a sword, quote, symbol? He'd probably never settle on anything, "And poor Razor. We should take him to Manehattan one night, introduce him to some nice mares, or griffonesses, or maybe even a cow. Those caribou are really curious after shaking off their isolationism a little."

Dunder kept petting her smooth head as he went in to refill his goblet with wine. He didn't know what it was, but it was red wine and smelled like the fruit that composed it. He lifted the goblet to his face and began drinking, but gagged on the liquid and spat some out back into the cup after she offered some dessert for his food services. "I know you don't cook very often, but I you know I am always up for some of your dessert. Hehehehe..." Just the thought made him chuckle, "R.E.A. could wait anyway." The stallion said and buckled his saddlebag back up, "They'd understand the best blacksmith in Equestria would need to do her best work."

After that, Dunder decided to concentrate on eating again. He went back to the soup, chugging as much as he could down, before taking a break and trying some fish. Wasn't bad, could use more salt or butter though. He deiced just to leave the fish slice on Zelda's plate, she'd finish it.

And after some more pilfering of fruits and switching to water from wine, Dunder could feel the room shake ever so slightly after a loud thud. Uh did he put something in the food? Was Dunder's first thought, but then the room shook again after the thud sounded off and he noticed everypony/griffon/dragon in the room noticed too. Zelda had the right idea, he popped his saddlebag back open and stuffed some more fruits and baked goods inside of it as the thudding grew in a stomach churning crescendo.

Dunder dropped his black cloak to reveal his battle ready equipment. Pink shirt with baggy sleeves under a steel chestplate made by Zelda no less, red and pink pumpkin breeches, red fabric under his sword belt that draped down low over his left hindleg, and black leather boots on his hindleg. On his side was his cup hilt rapier and parrying dagger. He noticed Zelda wasn't armed. Quickly he reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a hatchet, wasn't sharp at all and was obviously meant for cutting wood, but better than nothing. He laid it on the table in front of his friend, "Just in case."

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor drew the blade from its sheath, and gripped it tight in his talon. He looked around, and he breathed heavily as he tried to figure out where the sound was coming from. The squealing grew louder and louder, until finally it arrived.

 

With a burst of splintering wood, and a section of wall coming off like a door off its hinges, at the left side wall, near where a fireless heart stood. From the opening poured out what could only be described as hideous malformed mockeries of life.

 

They largely resembled pigs, though their flesh was bulgy and contorted. Stretched even, as if the flesh was being molded and stitched to a skeleton not properly fit for it. Their eyes were nothing but empty black pits yet it did not seem to stop the creatures from seeing those gathered in the dining hall, and charging them.

 

Two were large and overly bulging with muscle. Their great bodies making them stand near the height of Aranak. Their flesh was red and bloody, with muscle and sinew peeking out from stitches that seemed to bind the flesh together. Though the creatures looked like great hulky boars, their feet were hoof like and their arms like talons. In their great muscled arms they wielded rusty cleavers, and spiked balls with a long chain that was wrapped around their arms. The great boar swine squealed, spittle flying from their large tusks that resembled bone, and spun and flung the spiked balls of their chains towards the group.

 

Another four were shorter then the boar like creatures. Though they were thinner, though still looked as if their flesh was stretched over a body not properly fit for it. They had no talons or hooves to grasp things, only large hooks that were attached to stumps of arms. Upon the chest of one, was the eyeless face of a pony, whose features bore a look of horror, mouth open in a silent wail.

 

And the last stood hunched and misshapen, a beak jutting from its swine like head and feathers covered its chest. It had no weapons, but it beat a drum, which seemed made from the hide of another creature. It beat at its drum with two femur bones and the resounding beats seem to push the other swine creatures into a greater frenzy.

 

"You dare enter my home you foul abominations! I will see your heads mounted upon the battlements of my home!" Razor roared as he pounced forward and brought his blade down upon one of the hooked armed swine beasts. The swine squealed as blood gushed from the wound as the blade cut through its shoulder and down towards its gut. Razor kicked the body back, but hissed and barely managed to bring his blade up to block the hook from another of the beasts as a talon went to his side.

 

Another of the hooked armed ones leaped, and with surprising dexterity, sored toward Dunder, hook arms raised and brought down to strike at him as it squealed.

 

The two large ones roared and charged Aranak and Slim, their spiked flails spinning and being hurled towards them. They smashed at the table as it got in their way, the wood splintering by the force of the blow. Cleavers went up and down to cut.

 

The last of the small hooked ones drove towards Zelda, and swiped its hooks at her in a savage way.

 

All the while, the hunched swine beat at its drum, and let out a squeal of ear piercing sound that seemed to rattle the mind.

 

Razor found himself going on the defensive, and realized that rushing to battle had not been so bright with his wounds still needing time to heal. He rolled away from a strike, but the swine kept up and he found himself blocking hook slashes again and again.

[PyroBlaze]

Aranak continued to pan his gaze around the room, trying to figure out where the attack was going to come from. Slim had a good idea, figuring out how to get rid of whatever the things Razor descibed were, though that would have to wait. Next was Zelda, suggesting they go get their weapons and get out of the house. He glanced briefly at her as she suggested he carry Razor out. While that made the most sense to have him do it, he wasn't exactly keen on the idea.

Before any other ideas could be voiced, part of the wall broke inwards, allowing access to a group of monstrosities that looked vaguely pig-like. That explained the squealing, and the drummer explained the other noises. Speaking of the drummer, that one appeared to be important to the group, as his playing seemed to be invigorating the others to fight.

"When one of you get open, take out the drummer. He seems important." Aranak called as he braced himself for the two charging in his direction. The dragon tensed up before springing forward with a flap of his wings, slamming into one of the large monsters with his shoulder to knock it off balance before he took a deep breath, leaning back al letting out a stream of fire into the creature's face, accompanied by an attack on the thing's chest with his open claws.

[DerpRavener]

Slim Chance spared a glance at Zelda, watching as the black griffon stuffed some food into her pack.  'Chance thought it was a good idea, mildly unhappy that she hadn't thought of it herself, but now was hardly the time.  They'd have plenty of time to gather supplies later, and food was probably the least of their worries for the moment.

 

Slim Chance was validated in that respect, as a wall came crashing down only moments later.  The unicorn found herself caught between curiosity and fear, wanting to analyze and avoid the mutilated swine that came running through the suddenly formed hole.  She saw Razor start to charge one of them,  before her attention was forced forward.  The two large ones started to move toward her and Aranak.

And all of a sudden everything became simple as one hurled a spiked ball in her direction, crunching through the table between them.  A fight she could handle, and it gave her something to focus on besides the appearance of their attackers.  Slim Chance waited until last second before rolling to the side, and returned the favour with a small, bright fireball aimed at the creature's face.  If she hit it, all the better, but her real goal was to either distract or force it to back off.  Fire inside a building was always a bit of a risk, but Slim Chance had learned (that is to say, had been forcibly taught) a couple spells that could help her deal with that, after an incidents.  Besides, Razor's manor had already lost a wall, some property damage was a given at this point.

 

She dove under its raised cleaver, which gave her a shot at her real target.  She'd heard Aranak's suggestion, and while she agreed 'Chance saw no reason not to act now.  She fired off another small, hot fireball, this one aimed at the drummer's instrument.  The instrument wouldn't be any good if it were burnt to a crisp.

[moonshineTheleocat]

Oh... great! Just buckin great! This was the first job he had in a LOOOOOONG time that stayed in civilization, and here he was already buckin it up harder than a bronco going berserk! Uncharted stopped in place after wondering through a hallway that felt like it went on FOREVER! His gaze flicked here and there with a disgruntled look.

 

Why was it that aristocrats felt the need to make such large and open homes!? It was like wondering around a school with a confusing floor plan! Why couldn't he have a cutie mark in path finding! But nooo! He had to get treasure! The beauty behind that is getting lost! And where was he lost now?! In some griffon's home that had promised a good pay! Drats! What was it that a tenant told him? All the way down the hall on the right? Pft, indeed! That lead to a dead-end!

 

Uncharted's rump fell to the ground with a solid thump. His ears pulled back, and his maw in a grumpy pout. Looks like he might have to wait on a tenant to come find him... less he get lost again.

 

 

That was odd. The stallion's ears perked up as he quickly lifted his head in alert. Where did that come from? His gaze followed the sounds of fighting. It sounded close... real close. In fact... IT WAS RIGHT BEHIND THE WALL! How was he supposed to get there!? He couldn't even find a bathroom when he needed it! He almost had to turn a plant into an unfortunate victim. Luckily some-grif pointed him in the right way before it came to that!

 

But... back to the mater at hand! All that racket, the drumming, and the screaming! It sounded like they were in dire need of help! And he couldn't waste any time! What if they already fought them off by the time he got there! WORSE! What if they were defeated, and he found nothing but bodies!

 

The horrifying thought was all the justification he needed to do the most brash solution! He'd have to knock a hole through the wall!

The stallion spun to action. First hopping up on his hooves and running back to build up some distance from the wall. His horn was aglow with a bright light as he charged a spell. He had nearly touched the opposite wall by the time he turned around and made a head on charge towards the wall.

 

-

 

A large crack sounded off as a bolt of lighting tore through the air and met wood. The wall exploded inwards in a shower of fire, smoke, and wood chips. Out of of the plume of smoke, came a Unicorn stallion dressed for adventure leaping high in the air and soaring over the cloud of rolling soot.

 

He was screaming like a banshee as he rolled back, The momentum of his sprint carying him, almost making it appear that he was lying on the cloud of smoke like a bed. His hind legs shot out like a cannon shot, aiming to crack the Drummer across the head. The stallion, Uncharted Treasure, was hoping that the jerk would turn his stupid face to him so he made sure to make it nice and prettty!

 

“SUPER LATE DYNAMIC ENTRY!”

[tacobob]

 

"Yup.", the griffon agreed with Dunder, "Once this whole drama-monster-business is taken care of, we need to take Razor out for some serious lady-smooching." One thing did bother her a bit, "Wait...A COW? Why would he?" While there was nothing wrong with the oversized barnyard fixtures, kissing those guys was better suited for an college prank or dare. Or maybe he meant a female caribou? She could never figure out how such beautiful creatures like Sigrun would be called a cow?! She was probably the exact opposite of an cow in everyway! "Well, I did run into our host at this cute little speed-dating I attended a Donut Joe's...Oh crabbles!", she let out a chuckle, "I'll have to tell you about this some other time, but the guy scored a 'date' with Miss Freaking-Rainbow Dash herself! Would yah believe it?"

 

OOC: I'll end this bit right here. They eat..They then get attacked by monsters.

 

Ho-Boy, even when he was about to get rip to shreds by rampaging monsters, her little buddy still had time to make with the melodrama! And while it hurt her head, it did very little to scare the beasties away.  And really?  Heads mounted upon the battlements? These things were too gruesome for even Nightmare Night! And they needed to be stopped, right away! Razor attacked with a furor that Zelda was unaware that he even possessed. Still, he was not just fighting for himself, but his family!

 

As she got up from her chair, she reached for her trusty hammer. "Oh feathers.", that was probably not the first thing she wanted to say, but it worked. Her trusty weapon was waiting for her at the armory. And while in the old days, a griffon would fight with her claws, the pitiful things at the ends of her talons had long dulled due to her work. She would have to fight with the creatures with the little bitty blade her old friend had given her.

 

"Keep those stupid looking hooky things away from me, you!", this is what happened when one does not have time to think up of a clever battle-cry when ones foes arrive unannounced.  Thankfully, the bird had been working at the forge since she was just an fledgling, and this made her one really tough griffon. She grabbed her first attacker by the least pointy of its parts, which gave her enough time to plunge her tiny, but rather effective blade into what she believed was its skull. If that did not stop it, a few more proper cuts would do. She was worried that Razor, while fighting like a true Ironclaw, would tire out quickly due to his injuries. She needed to get to him before he was overrun by those whatevertheyweres!

[Dunder]

Dunder flinched when the wall suddenly burst open. It sounded like an explosion, but the pony smelt no sulfur. After lowering his head and covering his face with his foreleg he gripped his sword and dagger and with a quick rasp against the scabbard pulled the swords out. Sword to the right, dagger to the right. Now the party was going to begin, but nothing could prepare Dunder for the horror of their new guests.

Swine demons of descriptions befitting only the most grotesque works of fiction. Bulging flesh, sharp tusks, augmented arms meant for flaying its victims. The pegasus had hardly tim to think about his opponents before one of them struck.

The creature lunged and leaped at the pink shirted pony. Fortunately Dunder was scarier than he looked. He braced himself for the weight of the demon as he swiped his rapier blade across the sloppy attack. With the swipe he warded off both blades and tied up the demon's stubby hooked arms with a stiff clank! He swiped the parrying dagger across the stomach of the creature, gashing it open and stunning it.

Dunder then brought the dagger back over to his left and plunged the dagger into the creature's leg. With a bust of strength the pony lifted the demon up as it squabbled in protest, clawing against the chestplate that protected Dunder's back.

"Chupan lo, monstruos!" He cried out as he lifted the creature up and threw it behind him.

The monster landed on the ground with a thud and tried to recover, but was wounded too deeply. It let out a squeal, but was silenced when the pony used his hindleg to stomp on the creature. The creature stiffened then went limp.

He noticed the pony face on the chest of his fallen opponent. Locked in an eternal scream, Dunder's morale plummeted at the sight.

But he snapped out of it when another of the hook armed beasts charged at him from his flank. Dunder spun and lunged the rapier out into the beast's chest, but the beast seemed not to care as it charged onto the sword, squealing and lashing out as it jumped on Dunder and took him to the floor. Dunder's rapier was sticking through the beast, but it didn't care as it tried over and over again to bite down on Dunder's face. The only thing saving the pony was his two hooves pushing against the beast.

[ShadowWalking18]

The drummer Swine squeals as it turns slightly, only for it to be struck in the head and sent flying to the ground, its drumming put to a stop for now. It flailed as it got up, its hunched form having difficulty before it let out another ear splitting squeal.

 

The first of the large boar swine squealed in pain as Aranak's flames burned it. THe acrid smell of cooking flesh, began to fill the room. As the creature burned, it swung out with its great clever, the rusty blade hitting across the dragons chest as he went in to strike with his claws. The claws dug into the bulging flesh and the swine gave another squeal bucked its head to gouge at Aranak with its boney tusks.

 

The second was struck to its head by Slim's fireball and it too squealed in pain, and lashed out by wildly swinging its flail wildly with its long chain. It staggered, its face now burnt and flesh melted. It gave another squeal of rage before charging and swinging its clever upon the pony that caused it pain.

 

The swine which Zelda gripped squealed as it tried to swing its hooks at her, to cut feather or flesh with its rusty point. It howled in pain as the knife was jammed into its skull, but it kept swinging and managed to score a bit with its tusks before the repeated cuts and stabs to its head made it go still.

 

------------

 

Razor grunted as his blade flicked and slashed, and he removed one of the hooked arms of his attacker. He rolled away from a retaliator swing, but gasped in pain as he felt his weight press on his wounds. The swine didn't let up and leaped at him, hook raised to attack. Razor flapped his wings to get him back, but the swine managed a cut across his chest as he went back.

 

"Agh!" Razor roared as he hit the ground, talon to his chest.

 

Razor felt the wound at his chest and felt the blood leaking from the injury. His attacker came at him again, but he blocked the next strike and flicked his blade here and there with dexterous grace to slash and plunge the blade into the swine beasts chest. He then let go of the blade and grabbed at the beasts head with his talons, letting the sharp and pointed tips dig deep before he pulled back with a wet sickening sound of tearing flesh as the swine squealed in pain and lashed with its hooved feet to kick at his chest before it went still and died.

 

Razor breathed heavily, and pulled his blade from the body. He felt exhausted, and his body ached and hurt. He felt at his side and felt the bandage was wet, telling him his wound and opened up again. Yet  it looked as if the battle was nearly over.

[PyroBlaze]

Aranak smirked as his attacks landed, though that also distracted him from the incoming cleaver, which impacted against his chest and sent him back a bit, growling in frustration and pain. He watched his opponent for a second or so before the attack came, the creature attempting to gouge him with it's tusks.

 

The large dragon grabbed the tusks, keeping them away from his body. He jumped slightly, bringing his legs up and pushing hard against the creature's chest, ripping the tusks out of the creature's head and launching himself away. He hovered in the air for a second before diving back down, stabbing one tusk through where the creature's heart should be, and the second up into the creature's skull to hit the brain, assuming there was one.

 

Once that was taken care of, he pushed the body to make it fall away from him, then looked around briefly, seeing that the drummer had been taken care of by the new arrival. He smirked as he noticed the pony had been hit by a fireball as well, presumably aimed at the drummer by Slim. Well, it appeared this battle was over, for the most part. There was another big guy going after Slim, though he held back, wanting to see what she could do.

[DerpRavener]

Slim Chance was able to dodge the disoriented, charging swine easily enough.  It moved faster than she was prepared for, and out of the corner of her eye she saw a few of her own green hairs float to the ground as she dove forward.  Still, overall her maneuver worked, and brought her just behind the creature.  The unicorn delivered a powerful kick with both her hind legs, hitting the swine's own lower limbs with a crunch and sending it toppling over.

To the creature's credit, it almost managed to recover, and had partially stood up and raised it's cleaver to strike again.  Unfortunately for it, it was a larger and clumsier creature than Slim Chance even before she'd injured, and by the time it was started to look her direction again she was already back on her hooves.  She didn't give it any more time.  She used fire again, but didn't settle for a small bolt this time, instead shooting off a short-ranged stream, engulfing the creature.

 

Slim chance didn't let up until the thing stopped moving.  When it was finished, she finally came back to her senses, took a breath and took stock of the situation.  She'd lost track of the drummer when the large swine had charged her, so she was a little surprised to find an unrecognized pony standing on top of the now incapacitated drummer.  A pony that was now slightly ignited.  “Huh.”

[moonshineTheleocat]

Uncharted  Treasure was beaming with a satisfied grin when he felt the solid impact vibrate it’s way up his legs. As he fell he rolled backwards, landing on his back, and preparing a kip up to hop back into the fray! He sprang off his back with no problems, but just as he was about to nail the landing… things got really bright real fast. Everything was basked in an amazing amber glow. There was a swelling heat that just started, and it was getting hotter and hotter by each second!

The confused stallion just barely had time to shift his head to look off to the source in confusion before something stuck him in midair. The ball of fire exploded into a blaze of glory, engulfing the poor victim in a brilliant corona! Sweet Celestia that smarts!

 

“FRIENDLY FIRE! FRIENDLY FIRE!” Uncharted screamed out in horror.

 

The stallion in was running about frantically screaming out in agony! Uncharted’s fur was singed, his mane smoking, and his tail and all four hooves were on fire! He flailed violently, wildly screaming a large plethora of sailor slangs and swears. Nothing seemed to be working!

 

Even threw his fit of swears, he had taken the moment to hit the deck and began to roll around like an alligator in a death roll! But THIS STILL DIDENT WORK!

“IT’S NOT WORKING! IT’S NOT WORKING!”

 

[tacobob]

 

The black griffon let out an yelp as the dying creature managed to get one good lucky strike before passing on to whatever the horrible little monsters go. "Oh for the love of...", thankfully her armor protected the bird from any serious harm, but she knew there would already be a bruise forming under her plate and fur. The others fought bravely, but was something still cooking in Razor's kitchen? Actually smelled pretty good! Last time she got a whiff of a scent like that, it was coming from a strange little café in Canterlot, which was closed shortly after. What sort of food did they serve again?

 

"Ah come on!", she finally noticed another pony, who she had not seen before was on fire! He was the one that was cooking! "Keep rolling!" Zelda quickly disappeared into the kitchen and came out with a pile of very wet dish towels. The Prench torchons probably cost a small fortune, but she wasn't keen on seeing the poor guy burn to death.

 

Making sure to cover all of the burning spots, the blacksmith quickly dumped the soggy towels onto the pitiful pony, "Probably not the way you wanted to make an entrance. Thank Celestia, it was mostly the fuzz that got burnt." Via the corner of her eye, she noticed her old friend did not look good either. "Dunder!", she called out to the Pegasus pony, "Please fix Razor's bandages!"

 

She turned her attention back to her 'patient'. "You're lucky I was here. I work at the smithy over at Canterlot, and you need to be trained on how to handle these sort of things before they even let you pick up a hammer." Making sure not to repeat her previous gaffe, she added with a friendly smile, "I'm Zelda."

[Dunder]

Dunder was fighting off the weight of the demon that was flailing his arms and scratching the ground, trying to bite Dunder's face. Spittle from the demon's mouth dripped down onto Dunder's cheek and muzzle. The smell was unbearably acrid.  For a moment, Dunder was panicked, hoping one of his friends would help, but he knew that this wasn't the time. The pegasus reached his foreleg up and landed a punch on the demon. Punch after punch after punch, the demon  decided to sit up, rapier sticking out of its torso. Dunder rose up too, ending the demon with the blade of the parrying dagger.

The pegasus used his wings to push the whimpering demon over. The pony wrapped his foreleg around the rapier grip, sliding the blade out as the demon fell. It seemed as though all the attackers were gone. And none of the crew seemed injured, at least not exceptionally injured. The pony's armor and clothes all were streaked with blood, and the room reeked of it. As well as something else...smelled like something that could get a few ponies arrested.

Oh, and how Dunder felt. He was covered in the red liquid. The pink shirt and metallic chestplate streaked red. The pegasus began to chuckle, then laugh as he wiped his muzzle off in the clean shoulder of his shirt.

He kicked the corpse of the demon away as he pulled himself away with his wings, still laughing snickering complimented by the dragging of his rapier point on the floor.

Though when Gilda called his name, Dunder snapped out of it. Help Razor with the bandages.... Dunder casually glided past Zelda, grabbing one of the wet towels. He draped the wet towel on his foreleg, carefully wiping the blade of his rapier and dagger clean. He put both away in their scabbards before flicking the towel off his foreleg.

Now, about that wounded griffon. The pegasus snapped back. He flew off into the kitchen, and after a few moments came flying back out with a medkit. Next to Razor, the pony laid the medkit down and kicked the white box open with his hindleg. "Now, now.... This might hurt, so just hold still and don't look at what I am doing. Let the adrenaline rush do its work."

Dunder grabbed the loosened bandages with his wing and drew his dagger. Quickly he began to cut old, soaking bandages off and began to replace them....but under his breath Razor might have been able to hear a chuckle.

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor breathed heavily as the feel of battle and his own exhaustion all came at him at once. Battle reflexes and adrenaline leaving and the pain of his injuries becoming more apparent. He took a moment to look at the hole in the wall and closed his eyes as he hissed in pain and....exasperation.

 

'If this dungeon delve doesn't kill me. Mom will.' He thought before slouching to his knees and gave a low growl of pain.

 

He looked to the hole in the wall, where the creatures had burst forth and gave another low growl.

 

The hole revealed what looked like an old tunnel path that seemed to lead downward after going a few feet in. The stone wall and floor looked old and there were no lights.

 

"How did they find that?" He said, and snarled as he felt the stinging pain as Dunder tended his wounds.

 

As the bandages came off, it is apparent that Razor had seen a lot.

 

Feathers seemed to have been torn out violently, revealing a brand where his feathers met his cat half underneath. Several deep cuts had closed, but were now reopen again, fresh blood oozing out. And the new cut on across his chest from the pig monsters hook would no doubt need cleaning to prevent infection. In all they were injuries few would want to keep moving around with, even properly bandaged.

 

Razor growled but let Dunder do his work, and when he was done he stood up slowly.

 

"Miss Slim....the family Library is down the hall to the left. Past the herbarium and alchemy labs. I simply ask you don't take anything out of it and be careful with the books and scrolls. Some of them are very old and no new copies have been made yet."

 

He then turned to the Unicorn who had made a....firey entrance.

 

"And who....are you?" Razor asked. He was sure it was another mercenary. Though he wanted a name, mostly so he could remember who to send the repair bill for that wall.

 

 

[PyroBlaze]

Aranak chuckled as he watched the unicorn stallion burn. It was funny, in a way, watching him run around like that. The dragon leaned against a wall as he watched Zelda go to help the burning stallion. What to do now... They had dealt with the beasts, so what was there to do now?

Well, now that the pony wasn't on fire anymore, perhaps he should head to the library, see what they had that he hadn't already read. He gave a small hum before pushing himself off the wall, heading in the direction Razor had given as to where the library was.

"Don't have to worry about me taking your books." He said as he walked out the door, leaving the others behind for now. He really didn't care to wait for the new pony's name.

[DerpRavener]

Slim Chance sighed.  Yet again she'd lit somepony on fire, although this time she was certain it wasn't her fault.  How could she know the wall would give way to a pony flying through it?  If he was here to help, and 'Chance had no reason to think he wasn't at this stage, there was no good reason to come crashing through the wall itself.  That's what windows were for.  “Might have been smarter to look first, leap second,” she said, and she spoke from experience, as she lit her horn again.

'Chance's first thought was a conjuring some water, which had been how she's solved it last time this particular problem occurred, but she rejected it quickly.  She didn't know what the newcomer had on his person, or how he would react to the water in general.  So, she fell back on her backup plan, and fired off a ball of blue energy, which burst into frost when it hit the struggling stallion.  It was a clumsy solution, but it would (probably) help.  And Zelda had already returned with wet towels before Slim Chance could come up with something else.

 

Looking around, she saw that the fire was the last immediate problem.  Everything else was looming, but distant.  And in that regard, Razor was finally feeling helpful: he apparently agreed that investigating the library for something useful was a good idea, with the only condition being that she be careful and not remove anything.  A little frustrating, as in a case like this it might be hard to tell exactly what's important until an angry demon is bearing down on them, but ultimately understandable.  If anything, it told Slim Chance that the library would be full of venerable pieces of history, and should be treated as such.

Besides, it was easy enough to get around the restriction.  She couldn't (and wouldn't) remove the documents themselves, but with a little care making copies wouldn't damage them.  She would just have to borrow some paper on the way.

 

"Don't have to worry about me taking your books."

 

Aranak somehow thought that the statement was about him.  Slim Chance shook her head.  “That was for me, you big lout,” she muttered.  There probably wasn't anything to accomplish by pressing the point.  It wouldn't help to agitate him now, that they were headed in the same direction.  She started moving toward the exit, and following Razor's instructions to get to the library, lingering just long enough to catch the name of the newcomer, if he offered it.

[moonshineTheleocat]

Uncharted Treasure kept to the critical advice... as much as he wanted to stop, get up and run off screaming like a banshee to the nearest source of water. Becuase he had a sneaking impression tha the stop, drop, and roll does not work as well as it was portrayed. Or maybe not for magical fires at least. What ever the case... it was not going out without a fight.

 

Luckily the kind griffon who had gave him the previous advice had actually came to his aid! Unlike the other two-bit brained ponies and griffs who sat about gawking or fighting off defeated foes! She was truly a life saver!

 

Oh yes! The sweet sweet soothing relief of cold blankets! Once he felt the heat ebbed away, the pony calmed down as a gentle sizzle sound emitted from his body. He let out a low sigh and waited till all the small tendrils of smoke ebbed away.

 

Once that finally finished up, his ears perked up. With a large grin on his maw, the pony sprang to his hoofs and wrapped his arms around the Griffoness's neck in a big hug!

“Thank you, mate!~ Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Nearly turned me into a roasted thing of meat, that it did! Uncharted Treasure! And I owe you one!”

[tacobob]

 

 

The black griffon let out a gasp as she caught sight of her old friend's wounds through the corner of her eye. It was far worse than she had assumed them to be. "Oh for the love of.", she growled, "I can't believe, in this day and age you don't at least have a few healing salves or potions around.", she pulled out a small packet from one of her pouches and slit the top open with one of her claws, "Zebra by the name of Mister Kupoza in Canterlot. Older fella. Makes some of the best potions around, for practically anything. If I knew..", she rubbed some of it on the previously toasty unicorn's flank. "You were in such rough shape, I would have brought a bucket of his best and made you bathe in it..Don't even believe you should be going with us without getting yourself fixed up. You will slow us down. And if something in dungeon does not kill you, your current wounds will."

 

Once Uncharted Fortune was taken care of, she quickly gave the stallion a quick lookover, "You might want to brush the..oh.", she smiled politely as the pony gave her a hug, "I'm sure you'll figure out a way to pay me back. Please feel free to be creative.", she ran her claws though his mane, playfully before turning her attention back to 'Doctor Dunder's Number One Patient'

 

"Good job Brownie.", her smile stayed on her face for the moment. "Fire Walker was right when she said you were a stallion of many talents. But this..", and her cheerful expression promptly vanished as she studied the male griffon's wounds further, "We either need to get your rump to a doctor or something needs to be done about those wounds. You've got to have something in a potion here. I have my packets, but they're just for little burns.", she spied a small pantry and started to dig through it.

[Dunder]

Dunder chopped off bandages red and cracked with dry blood. The sight was appalling, the wounds on the griffon. Flesh was starting to reconnect and repair, and in an act of recklessness the griffon just delayed his own recovery. The pony packed bandages where they needed to be, wrapped them where they used to be, making sure to double wrap before finishing off the last tie.

After he finished it, Dunder took a few deep breaths. His heart was still racing at the memory of the swine demon leaping at him... with that face on his chest. The stallion gritted his teeth and rubbed the side of his head with the side of his hoof while he shut his eyes in an attempt to clear his mind better. The others seemed lighthearted about it. Did none of them realize the dark power they were faced with?

No matter, he had things to attend to. His hears flicked towards Zelda when she pulled out that nickname he wasn't too fond of but never told her. "Many talents? Anypony can learn to wrap and tie bandages." He stood up and slid next to Zelda, facing Razor. "She is right though, I am not a doctor and you need one. You shouldn't dive into this, no amount of potions will help you, but some can help." The pony pulled out a small corked bottle, a red ribbon tied around the top. "This should help though. It's a zebra concoction. You're bleeding a lot right now, and this will help. Just smash it against your chest, make sure you do it hard enough to crack the bottle, and let magic and alchemy do the rest."

[ShadowWalking18]

Razor grumbled a bit as Zelda lectured him, "This was after what potions we had here. We didn't keep many though cause....we never expected this to happen."

 

Razor took the offered potion and did as instructed in its use. He sighed in relief as he felt its effects take hold, and he looked a bit healthier now.

 

"And don't try and talk me out of this. This is my home and I'm not gonna just lay back bedridden while these things wander my ancestors halls and defile my lands. But dying in my home is not what my fate is." he said, and he puffed out his chest feathers some in a display of stubbornness. He wasn't gonna move on this.

 

"Besides, unless you manage to find my father in the first few halls, you will need me to navigate. A lot of those tunnels and halls form a labyrinth and if you don't know the way you can end up lost till you're nothing but bones. And no there are no maps. We never made any."

 

Razor looked back at the hole to the tunnel that the pig monsters had entered through, "But we can talk about that later. Right now, I have a tunnel to collapse to keep any more of those things find it and get in. If you want to help, go to the armory and in the third storage room to the right, where the explosives are kept and bring a crate or two back here."

 

 

-------------------------------------

 

The library of the Ironclaw Manor was easy to find, held behind to large double doors. Behind the doors were shelves and aisles of books, scrolls and the like. Each documented and categorized by date, with newer and more recent documents at the forefront and older documents further and further back. The tables within held sheets of parchment and ink, and the looks of restoring older documents had been in the process before interruption.

 

The contents were largely in connection to the Ironclaw Family in its older days stemming all the way back to the oldest days of griffon kingdoms and even when Griffonstone was a power to beheld to an event called The Fall.

[PyroBlaze]

Aranak hadn't heard what Slim had said, though he probably wouldn't have done anything even if he had. The dragon simply continued on his way to the library, basically ignoring the pony following along behind him. He really didn't like her much so far. She had proven that she had some worth, having taken out one of the big guys by herself, but he didn't much care for how she treated him. Besides, taking out one of those creatures wasn't enough for her to earn his respect.

 

Once in the library itself, he looked around briefly before picking up the most interesting document he could find, one talking about some event called The Fall. That sounded like something important, so he looked through the document and the surrounding area for anything with more information on the event.

[DerpRavener]

Anarak seemed to be ignoring Slim Chance.  It was probably just as well, that would be the nicest thing he'd done all day.  Though she had to admit, she was a little curious what made him decide to come this way.  The dragon didn't strike her as much a reading sort.  She supposed maybe Anarak had wanted to spend more time with the rest of them even less, but that still wouldn't explain this.  It wasn't entirely deliberate, but 'Chance had essentially been prodding him since they got here, so she found it odd that he'd end up going this direction.  If nothing else, she'd figured he would want to see a treasure room, or tunnel, or the armory or where they were going.  Heck, if 'Chance had to guess, she'd say he'd want to be anywhere but here.

Maybe he liked being bothered.  Was he a masochist?  Not the sort of thing she'd have guessed, but there were some strange folks out there.  And she had to admit that she didn't know much about dragons, maybe they liked that sort of thing in general.  Still, it probably wouldn't help anything if she asked, so she held her tongue.

 

For a few minutes anyways.

Silence reigned as they passed through the great doors of the library itself, and here the two of them separated somewhat.  Anarak went for a seemingly random manuscript, and for a moment Slim Chance wondered if she'd have to keep him in line lest he damage anything.  In the end, she decided not to worry about it.  Anarak was here for the pay, and destroying priceless records of your employer was a poor way to get anything from them.

Slim Chance started with what reproductions had been started.  She had a respect for the history of the place, and while she couldn't expect to keep to them it seemed the best place to start.  It was reasonable to expect that the pivotal moments of the building would have been kept available, if nothing else, which might include it's initial construction.  It was a place to start anyhow, and one that would hopefully be less embellished than any more mythological texts.

 

As she looked around, skimming through a few of the reproduced texts for relevant references to this 'portal' if that was even what it was, her curiosity finally got the better of her.  “Hey Aranak,” she asked, without looking up, “what made you want to come to the library anyways?”  She paused for a moment as she thought of the right word.  “...It doesn't strike me as your sort of approach.”

Well, if Aranak didn't want to be bothered, he should have known better than to come this way.