353/The Blight That Man Left Behind

The Blight That Man Left Behind
Date of Scene:	05 August 2014
Location:	Great Painting of Ariamis <PoA>
Synopsis:	The final Bell of Awakening is within reach. After an extraordinarily dangerous foray into the underground waterways of the Undead Burg, the Union has come upon the last belltower deep into the mire that lies at its outlet. Reportedly, this place was once a settlement for the unwanted and outcast who could find no place in the city above, but was ravaged to the last man by a deadly plague. Something is down there however, and it must be a lot more dangerous than just more Hollows.
Thanks to:	To Priscilla, for letting us crazy players -reason with a gigantic freaking spider-, among other things.
Cast of Characters:	Tomoe, Priscilla, 168, 183, 253, 385, 395, Riva Banari, Wuyin Tsai
Tinyplot:	That Dark Souls TP I Don't Know The Name Of

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Priscilla has posed:
    The meeting point this time is much deeper than it ever has been before. The temporary warpgate leads a vast, cavernous chamber far under the earth; carved masonry up until the halfway point, where it seems the builders just stopped and left the natural stone intact. The main focus is the river of rainwater flowing through the room, channeled from the waterways above, and the yawning chasm at the end of the room where it abruptly becomes a waterfall. The secondary one is the enormous, onyx coloures skeleton of some horrific beast with too many limbs and far too many ribs crashed out in the middle of the room, bridging the stream from both sides.

    Priscilla seems to be lingering near the edge of the massive pit, finishing the simultaneous summoning ritual to call several phantoms at once; upon which swirling shapes begin to coalesce out of the faint fog that fills the room. One by one, the forms of those brave volunteers rise from their glowing signs scrawled against the floor spaced evenly in a circle around her, phasing in from nowhere just as before. Likewise, though the phantom forms look just like the Elites that they belong to, the edges of their silhouettes where the light should fade towards black, instead glow with a faint but distinct colour. Six phantoms in total are present by the time the last two members of the group arrive, leaving nine people standing at the edge of the abyss.

    "Mine apologies, but I shall not be accompanying thee this day." Priscilla is quick to assert the moment everyone is gathered; unusual given her typical behaviour. "I hath lead thee this far, but for this stretch of our journey, no further. What lies beyond here, I hath no knowledge of, and even less desire to tread. Please understand that down this hole is simply somewhere I cannot go. Were there some advantage into mineself accompanying thee, perhaps I wouldst maketh the effort, but as it stands, I hath nothing to offer but the risk of slowing thine progress." Being scant on the details is more in keeping with her personality, but considering what she'd already dealt with so far on this mad little quest, the questions it leaves are more than a little worrying.

    As for the hole itself, a series of iron spikes have been driven into the cliffside, old and rusted, but thick enough that there should be no worry of them breaking. The ropes that dangle from them down into the blackness look new, since this level of humidity would have had them rot within weeks. The drop is so long that one can only just barely hear the distant, misty roar of the water reaching its destination at the bottom, but despite most of its length being pitch dark, a faint approximation of its end can be glimpsed from a multitude of tiny lights visible through the window it provides, suggesting another cavern below this one.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna glances over her Phantom form, then around her immediate vicinity; four differently-colored balls of light seem to be hovering nearby, one of which is surrounded by the outline of the little robo-faerie Elner - sort of a sub-Phantom, perhaps. They both listen to Priscilla's explanation, with Yuna glancing around at the others who are here. "Fair enough, Priscilla," she answers. "If we need to confer with you, we can do so on radio, right?"

She's not especially looking forward to going down the waterfall, even WITH the ropes ... but if the other lights near her represent the rest of the Matrix of Light, she may have an answer of sorts to that.

Psyber (253) has posed:
Invaded the world of 420KindleItErryDay the guilty

    The fog of summoning coalesces into the form of a glowing blue spirit which looks vaguely similar to Psyber and which rises out of one of the summoning signs on the floor. The half-angel-turned-phantom looks slightly disoriented by this new experience, but doesn't seem to mind it too much. It makes his life easier when he doesn't have to make the trek out himself.

    "Awesome. So I'm here to beat the shit out of something," Psyber says confidently, cracking his phantomly knuckles and being ready to go head into a boss encounter.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva lucks out! She gets to get summoned in /past/ the 4 hours worth of undead-infested city and the sewer level. Riva declined being summoned in as a phantom, however, citing certain... experiences that made her averse to such a thing, and that she is more than certain that she is capable of dealing with the situation.

Look, sometimes solving a murder mystery is... killer, all right?

Riva arrives in her Templar uniform, it being unusually appropriate for the area, apparently. Besides, she doesn't /have/ an armor set. She looks upon the massive room, taking in the architecture with a measure of awe, however, as well as the scale of the bones that lie there. Finally, she looks actually directly at Priscilla, and marvels for several moments. Her eyes go straight to that sleek, fluffy tail, but she coughs and suddenly straigtens, waving to Priscilla and smiling. "Hello! I'm Riva, it's a pleasure to finally meet you!" She bows, and then looks over at the hole. "Don't worry! We'll be happy to assist in any way we can." Boy is she enthusiastic!

Give her a few minutes. "I'm ready to go whenever!"

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan's here, as usual, and Nathan's here with a lot of white tinting to the edges of his body, also as usual. This is because Nathan Hall is very bad at being alive, and around here, suffers a fairly good chance of getting his shit murdered, or as Nathan would put it, the place is very worrying.

    The General is in his usual adventure-worthy robe-ish outfit, so he doesn't look out of place around here at all, besides being a pasty nerd in a place where pasty nerds have been exterminated by emancipated corpses hungry for souls. Once he's done ominously emerging from signs, he takes a look around, examining the environment that he's familiar with contemplatively while the rest of the summoning finishes, and then nods to Priscilla. "I understand." More demons she's afraid of? Eh, maybe. Priscilla has her own reasons for doing stuff, Nathan understands he needs to step off.

    He shuffles quietly to the edge of the waterfall chasm, squatting down and leaning over it. He takes one look down at the huge, painfully dangerous drop, and makes a quiet, subdued worried noise while he keeps his monotone and blank expression. "Well," He says, "Unless there are further briefings we require, let us begin." He then immediately sets about trying to find whichever of the ripes and giant iron spikes seems immediately condusive to actually getting down there, and, with Action-Survivor Clumsy Efficiency, attempting to initiate slow, unimpressive, deliberate navigation of these ropes to the abyss far below.

    I mean technically he could use that wing-pack of his, or get carried by someone, but flying around here has a bad history and Nathan isn't eager to contribute to it.

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    From another one of the sigils arises another figure. A short spirit of vibrant light, glowing and grossly incandescent. The armored form of a female in the heavy chain and surcoat adorned with the Astora crest, Amalthea arises. The old unicorn knight spends a moment, glancing down at her hands and body to inspect her phantom form before lashing her shield tightly to one arm, before rolling her shoulder out.
    "Huhn. So we're on our own then. Alright, I'm sure we can deal well enough." She muses, leaning over to get a peek down the hole. So just like that she grabs a rope and gives it a test.
    She does not opt to take Nathan's slow pace but actually just kind of... Decides to ignore the rope and freefall down.
    "I'll scope out ahead."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki slowly comes to be as a murky, grey silhouette, but her manner and general likeness assert that this phantom is indeed the lady herself. Last she was here, she was in a vaguely urban area rife with undead/morbid chic. And now? Well... -well-. She's underground, it looks like, and the water doesn't exactly look healthy. Diseased, probably, but this whole world is plagued, isn't it? That plague is just more mystical in nature, and something that her artistic sensibilities can respect.

    This, however, is not.

    Glancing around herself, her countenance contorts slightly. "This place..." She draws in a breath, resting her hands at her waist. "... is very different from the last sector of your world I visited, Priscilla. But nevertheless, I shall endeavor to be of some assistance." After a pause, she adds, "Though I'm certainly glad I didn't come in person."

    Man, peoples' guts may be spewed here. She'll have time to be squicked out later.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is here in her avatar state, she's not be so insane to come otherwise even with Tanizoa, she didn't want to see if she could tnak some of the horrors her.e However as an Salamander she should be moderatley at less risk here, she's looking odwn at the hole and makes a bit of a face as her 6 foot plus form looks down into it for amomebt before she looks back to Priscilla.

"Hey I still owe you for helping to get me and everyone else out out of that mad man's death game. Hopefully I can be of some use Pricilla." 5R
she looks over to Riva whom she's also not met in person before and she says

"Ah Riva right? Tomoe the Iron Lily."

She also takes note of Amalthea 's arrival and tiolt he hea a little bit at her and Nathan before she leaps down the hole.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Wuyin, one of the less-familiar faces on-scene, arrives with Riva... more or less. Similarly to her, he's not a phantom, opting instead to stay as he is. He doesn't particularly wish to see if his ability to channel Anima is interfered with when he's under the effect of such a spell. Besides, he's already got his form of contingency.

"Ah; good evening." He sketches a bow in Priscilla's direction; she seems to be the local. "My name is Wuyin Tsai. I am here to help, along with Miss Banari, on the Council of Venice's behalf." He gestures at Riva with one hand. "They hope that rendering aid elsewhere may bring our plights to the attention of others."

The Council among others, he thinks. Someday he'll have time to ask why he's being sent places before he goes there.

He casts a glance towards the big ol' hole. People seem to be throwing themselves down it. He walks over, looks down, looks back, shrugs for a second, and promptly does the same.

Priscilla has posed:
    Priscilla looks a little relieved that the polite refusal to go any further she had rehearsed isn't immediately met with a wave of questions and complaints. Not having to explain her particular reasons is good for her dignity. "Of course, Lady Kagurazaka. Though this place is far from Anor Londo, I wouldst be glad to share anything that may be of use. I shall not simply leave as soon as thou art on thine way." Were it not for what's on her mind, she would have cracked one of her ill-practised smiles at Psyber just then, but currently she seems to have a sense of humour rapidly approaching Nathan's level. "Unfortunately, more than likely." She responds instead. "These far corners of the world art often the domain of things far older than the men that settle near them. I doubt a Bell of Awakening so distant from the city above wouldst not be guarded nor claimed for the purpose of exacting a toll." Speaking of Nathan, the librarian's intuition is remarkably close to hitting the nail on the head, and almost as good at picking out a rope that doesn't creak as much as the other ones; only to have it sway wildly beneath him as Amalthea goes flying past anyways.

    Mizuki's appearance gets something of a second glance from Priscilla, but no further words than an usually brief thanks for the girl's help. It probably has something to do with just which talisman happened to resonate with someone with the appearance of a young girl. Tomoe doesn't get the same stare. She knows full well how ALO's avatar forms work and has no worries or reservations about Tomoe using an alternate means of remote adventuring. It is Riva and Wuyin who draw most of her attention, both being completely new faces, and also either brave or uninformed enough to chance coming here in the flesh. "Well met, Lady . . . Riva." Priscilla says uneasily, instinctively tucking her tail behind herself. How long had it been since last she had seen that look from someone? She'd almost forgotten that particular kind of stare. Already she has the feeling the girl must be as new to the Union as she is to this world. "And Sir . . . Tsai? Wuyin? I cannot well manage the order of Eastern names." Well at least she made the effort.

    As a significant number of Unionites are present bearing the gift of flight, a treacherous, nerve wracking climb quickly becomes a skydiving exercise for half the group, swallowing up divers one by one into the pitch black between the mouth of the chasm and its end destination. For a brief few moments (or less brief for those using the ropes), there is the sensation of floating through the middle of nowhere, surrounded on all sides by nothing, where the cavern above and the cavern below seem to grow neither closer nor more distant. It's only right before reaching the bottom that the lights come into focus, and a full view of the lower cave can only be glimpsed once emerged fromt he hole in its ceiling.

    Anyone expecting a mysterious secret cave civilization will be abruptly disappointed. The place is awful. Torrents of water crash through other holes in the stony roof that looms overhead, but all rivers spew into a single body far, far below. Rather than immediately reaching an ocean outlet, the water seems to have become stuck and stagnated into some kind of underground swamp, leaving the air hot, humid and damp. If it looked 'diseased' up above, the channel looks outright necrotic now; the surface of the underground lake covered in so much pond scum and filth that nobody can see so much as a reflection in the murky green and brown tide. The cave walls are slick and slimy with condesantion, and the atmosphere reeks of rot and decay. For god knows what reason, someone seems to have gone to the effort of building something down here. The myriad lights are nothing but crude torches lining the mouldy catwalks of some kind if dilapidated shanty village propped far up above the swamp on rickety stilts, casting the place into a perpetual glow of dim, flickery firelight and leaping shadows. It would be a good question as to how anyon

Priscilla has posed:
    It would be a good question as to how anyone could live down here, were there actually anyone living. Though someone must have changed the torches recently, and probably most of the wood that supports them considering how fast it should rot down here, not a single human shape is in sight. Instead, the cavern walls writhe and shiver with other shapes, barely distinguishable in the dark. Looking closely, one can see hundreds of smaller holes honeycombing the solid stone all around, probably from smaller channels that have since dried up, but more unnervingly reminescent of a hive, especially with the faint thrum that buzzes in the stale, heavy air.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna nods, and heads over to the waterfall's edge. "Good to meet you," she greets the new faces, before glancing to one of the 'lights' accompanying her. "Erina, you ready to give this a shot?"

The purple-tinted light (which shares Yuna's gold 'border') shines brighter, and a vaguely humanoid outline takes shape. "It seems like this'll work, yes ..."

The purple shape shifts over to overlap with Yuna's - and when they've finished resolving into a single shape, Yuna is wearing her Flight Form armor ... still as a Phantom. "All right, it DID work!" Yuna exclaims, happiness mixed with relief in her voice. She flies over the edge, following Amalthea in a rather more leisurely manner; if anyone who has to resort to the ropes loses their grip or has another form of bad luck, Yuna intends to be ready to assist them if at all possible.

Barring such a calamity, though, Yuna is content to descend the waterfall at a descent clip. (Amalthea will likely reach the bottom well before Yuna does, however.)

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki keeps her eyes fixed on Priscilla a moment... and she grins ever so slightly. She doesn't say anything else either, but she knows when she's been noticed. And she loves being noticed! ... when being noticed doesn't involve adversarial types, and premature, bloody deaths. Glancing back to the hole, her smile immediately vanishes. Like those she's apt to see when she goes down -there-, she thinks. But alas, she shall endure. For the good of the narrative, the people, and...

    ... ah dear God what is that smell, what is that please make it stop.

    Mizuki pinches her even more metaphorical nose closed, jumping back from the opening in the floor just a bit with a hand on her chest. She mumbles something along the lines of '... Creation's Mercy...' and flutters her eyelashes several times. Eventually, though, she clears her throat... and steels herself. Her wings emerge from her back and, once she's found a safe, relatively clean(?) place to land, she attempts a soft descent. And assuming she lands safely... she would do a double take.

    Squeezing her eyes shut, she rears her head back in utter disgust. This is going to take some adjustment, but... ooohhh man. So, so, so, so glad she didn't wear her own imaginary flesh today. SO glad. She summons Aelinos into her hand and heaves a sigh.

    "If we confirm that whatever lives here is hostile, and that it isn't abundant in cultural significance or some such obscenity, may we please drop a Union payload on this place? Please?" She gives a rather dark look in Nathan's direction. "Such a place is not fit to exist anywhere, let alone in a world with such a lovely atmosphere above ground." Yeah, totally has her priorities straight.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "This place looks and smells like something an ass would eat and then shit out in some secondary level of scum," Psyber helpfully comments as he looks around, waving his hand in front of his face at the humidity, "Augh god, it's like someone rubbed a damp towel of garbage water on my face. Who would BUILD such a place?"

    Psyber looks incredibly unhappy to be down in this portion of the trip. Though secretly appreciative of being here in a form that won't soak his clothes in the moist scent of bog garbage and poison.

    "Seriously, you know that sensation when someone eats too much food and then talks about an inch from your face for an entire conversation? This entire place is like that all the time."

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    Like a blazing comet of gold, Amalthea descends. Doing nothing to halt nor slow herself the whole way, the paladin lets herself drop like a rock, arms and legs spread to keep her control through the duration of her breakneck descent. That keen eye keeps peeled in the darkness, looking for a suitable and safe space to land, and spying only filth and slime. It's not going to be pleasant, she can tell that much already, but as she draws closer to landing, she still does not a thing.
    It is not until the extreme and very last second that the robot unicorn rights herself and curls her legs to her chest. And with a KICK at the air beneath her, a flare of light, rainbow color, and sparkles erupt from her ankles as she arrests her downward momentum entirely with a single double-jump, launching her back upwards in excess of a few feet before she comes back down. The splash and landing is immensely less jarring that way as she SPLASHES down, the heivy weight of her body and armor disappearing in the murky mire of filth, sludge, and shit for a frightening instant. BEfore several paces allow that golden horn to break the surface. And then her head.
    Amd then her scowling face, as she emerges to stand in waist-deep filth.
    "I hate this place already.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva waves back to those who greet her, though she looks very embarassed when Priscilla looks disturbed by her gaze upon the tail. She quickly says, "Sorry!" quietly, she quickly goes to the ropes and begins rappelling down. She learned how to do this in her training, so she's proficient in handling the rope at least.

The first expression of regret crosses her face when the horrible rickety shanty-town comes into sight, as well as the smells and /taste/ of Blight Town become apparent. "Oh." She says as she carefully lands on some of the rickety wood, as if expecting it to collapse out from beneath her at any time. "This is going to be... um... An adventure." She comments. Instinctively, she pulls her pistols and begins carefully picking her way across the wood towards everyone else. "I guess... There's no real water outlet down here, so it all just collects and becomes horrible. I mean, that /was/ a sewer up above, right?"

She seems to be muttering things to herself, perhaps some kind of mantra as she tries to work her way through the mazelike structure-warren.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe makes note of Wuyin, he's and she's curious she looks out at eveyrone's forms tofday and raises an eyebrow it was one thing to hear about this it was another to see it in the flesh so to speak. She checked her gear and moved deeper into the hole with the rest of the group. She notices what a hell pscape this could be considered. She moves and keeps looking about aiming to take point she cringes at the smell as well wondering just /what/ it is. Then thinks she doesn't want ot know.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan takes his time getting to the bottom, because he's here to do this the normal way. He's the guy in the group who's just regular, so this is his way. He takes the chance to try to memorize the layout of the town-on-stilts, stopping for a moment to peer out and over the shantytown, if he can get a good perspective from one of the ropes. Nathan's still a ways up when Mizuki speaks up, and gives a long, contemplative noise of sorts.

    "Depending on how successful we are in fixing the problems besieging this world, it may be necessary." Nathan says, to Mizuki. "I cannot say how effective the darksign may be in resisting more widespread weapons, but... There are still those who are worth saving in many places for now. Sometimes even in the darkest depths." There's a long pause. "Wait, lovely atmosphere above-ground?" He seems baffled for a long moment.

    When he does finally reach the bottom, he swings back and forth for a moment and hops onto one of the catwalks. Then, to Psyber, in his usual monotone, "An apt description, though perhaps more explicit than I would say. It is unpleasant. Let us work efficiently, then, to avoid needing a return trip." He peers around. Okay, let's see what we got here. Any signs of a bell? Or... Maybe another exit to this area, so they can move on to more productive areas, if there's no signs of a bell here.

    Nathan's also keenly attentive for more signs, but the information from others might not come up much, given how hostile this place is and how unlikely it is that people have been here very often, what with the gaping dragon guarding it.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Immediately before he makes his descent, Wu replies, "First then last, in this case. I wasn't raised in a place where we used the traditional order." He smiles at Priscilla, and prevents himself from staring at the legendary tail.

And then he plummets.

The people flying or hovering down will probably see him pass by them, going in a free-fall towards the bottom of the hole. It is a very, very long fall. He perhaps underestimated the depth of it. Maybe he has time to rethink his life choices.

That'd be silly. A Dragon never rethinks his life choices!

He hits the water at top speed, plunging into the muck feet-first. He drops into a crouch, apparently unharmed by the fall. The magically-perceptive may notice a flicker of something coming off of him when he connects, though it's likely overwhelmed by his aura's brightness either way.

The smell hits him like a hammer. He wrinkes his nose, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a black cloth and a bottle. He presses the mouth of the bottle against the cloth for a second, and then affixes it around his neck and face, covering up to his nose. He looks kind of like a ninja, if ninjas wore hoodies. It also smells strongly of honey in his immediate vicinity.

"That was a terrible idea," he says to nobody in particular. "Eugh!"

Priscilla has posed:
    The sprawling stiltwork shithole someone could generously call a "town" seems more solid and secure where it is far away from the brackish muck below, secured against the slope of the vaguely spherical cave walls. A handful of platforms seem to have once lead to the surface judging by the rusted remains of ladder rungs and climbing pitons stuck in the stones, which make for ideal vantage points for fliers to land on after the descent. They also happen to be the furthest away from the body-temperature updraft that wafts from the water's surface, making them the least sweaty and smelly places in the whole cavern. The ropes also lead down to a few of them, meaning Priscilla did at least look ahead before choosing where to affix them. Standing up against one edge of the cavern makes apparent its sheer size, as looking towards the opposite wall leaves the sights misty and faint from the phenomena knownn as atmospheric scattering, made even worse by the humidity. Amalthea's and Wuin's respective splash landings find that the water isn't terribly deep, but that the cave "floor" is actually under a thick of a layer of matted silt, mud, rotting plant matter, and god knows what else several meters thick, through which the water must drain at an incredibly slow rate. The whole town is practically riding on an island of crud rather than supported by solid stone, making it clear how old this place is.

    The main source of all this biological matter appears to be from the west wall, where the roots of an absolutely monolithic tree breach through the stone and spew into the cavern like disembowled intestines, penetrating deep into the swamp and weaving the convoluted mesh that supports it in the first place. A whole ecosystem seems to have sprung up around this one particular tree, if one's eyes and ears can trust that the sounds of buzzing and bubbling are swamp insects and rotting plant matter. A far more obvious sign that something lives down here is the fact that the far end of the cavern is caked with miles and miles of web, like one of those communal spider colonies that drape whole forests in their silk. Normally it would be obvious to assume that spiders catch whatever bugs make their living in and around the tree, but considering this particular world, a swarm of thousands of tarantulas is probably wishful thinking. The sight is fuel for paranoia for those in the swamp, because the muck seems to ripple and throb as though large forms are swimming through it; just waiting to make the awful brush against someone's leg.

    Nathan and Mizuki's phantoms are the first to gain any relevant information. The platform Nathan arrives at seems to have been used by pilgrims in the past; at least before the Gaping Dragon's cult moved in. Orange signs are scrawled all up and down the wall, providing directions, vague maps, and warnings in a multitude of different writing styles. The latter inscriptions are the most pressing. "Don't breathe the fumes." "Stay out of the water." "Hollows more aggressive than usual." "Treat open wounds with moss." "Swallowing water fatal." "Bring moss." "Don't look into the cracks." and most ominously, someone seems to have scribbled "They never stop eating" over and over again all over the floor. Mizuki is given information less direct in nature. From the moment she touches down, she is hit with the inescapable sense that she is in the right place. The strange feeling that there is something here that she is meant to see. She'll find her gaze inexplicably drawn to the spider's nest in the distance, and yet at the same time, laying eyes upon it will fill her with equal parts heart thumping dread and inexplicable sadness.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber is relegated to the standard 'cop sweeping an area' combination of holding a big handgun in one hand while the other hand carries a high-powered flashlight. He's actually not sure if the flashlight will work while he's an apparition, but it's at least worth trying. He's RELATIVELY sure his weapons will work.

    The statement from Riva about this being an outlet swamp that is also the end-place for a sewer makes him wrinkle his face in disgust, "Nathan, try not to... run into any Fecalmancers or Poo-ltergeists, please." He advises to the librarian, sticking close and shining his flashlight around of it works.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna looks like she very much regrets being here without the ability to make her senses selective like Amalthea can. Psyber's 'advice' to Nathan gets a wry look, but apart from that, Yuna is doing aerial recon of the cavern, letting Elner 'map' as best the robo-faerie can do.

And of course Yuna is keeping her own eyes open for anything of interest or concern, whether it's near areas accessible on foot or not.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Turning back to Nathan briefly, Mizuki nods with the best smile that she can muster. Her eyes are probably watering from the stench, though, which makes it look a bit less coy than she might've liked. "Why yes, of course!" She spins around more completely now, almost giving the man a bow as she does so. "Didn't you feel it? The sweet melancholy, the crumbling ruins..." She clasps her hands together and stops in her tracks, shutting her eyes in what one could rightly assume to be reverence. "... so artistic, so divine~." Then, reopening her eyes in an irritated sort of squint, she frowns. "Infinitely moreso than this backward hell." Turning back around, she lays out the palm of her right hand in a vague shrug. "But at the very least, I am glad to hear we are in agreement as to the essentiality of this cesspool's destruction."

    Further assessing things, though, she... calms down a bit. The massive tree is somewhat artistic, isn't it? Like something out of a forest from fantastical literature. Probably the sort that would have elves, she muses. Ah, and spiders! She actually doesn't have a problem with tranatulas, no matter their size; she's quite fond of arachnids, actually. It's -insects- that she hates. Grrr. The distinction is abundantly clear to her, even if it isn't to all of the others pleasant.

    ... still, though, her look on her face suddenly straightens. Her being fills with a sudden wave of sadness and fear even despite her apparent non-distress over something that is usually a common phobia. Stopping abruptly, she inhales, and allows the forces from beyond to swivel her neck in the direction of her choosing. And when again she fixes her gaze... she's looking at the spider's nest. Where all of those things have come from, probably. Working in conjunction with her authorial sense, this tells her all that she needs to know: that is their destination. Whether or not the bell is beyond it is irrelevant, because the path they find there will surely take them to it regardless. Breathing in again, she steels herself.

    "-Wait-... a moment, if you all would. I am fairly certain of our destination." Anyone who stops to pay attention to her would see her extend her arm far outward, a lone finger aimed at the nest in the distance.

    "There. The spiders' hive."

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is making into the hit hole as you might say, she seems on edge about this place. She kepe expecting what might be lurking for them she looks to the warnings and gets the idea. Everything here wants to and can kill you, this is like some special corner o hell.

"Look if we need someone to be on pointl use me I'm ... the most disposable."

She tilts he rhead at Mizuki wondering just what she did but if she's got an idea of where to go? Who is she to argue

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan mutters a bit under his breath and summons up a minor Miracle taught to him by Priscilla, forming a small orb of light to light his own path as he joins up with Psyber. "I will endeavor." He says, simply. "The thought is rather disgusting." He keeps such composure for a man assaulted by all these smells though. "Though I may have less control over the encounters than you seem to assume."

    He begins trying to progress through the town-on-stilts, shuffling over the catwalks. A nod to Mizuki. "That is our route, then? We should move quickly. Any environment condusive to actual life, such as spiders, promises less saturation of fumes." Nathan does his best to follow these vague maps and stick together with Psyber, moving cautiously through the town to try to navigate to the spidery area. Maybe a spider stole the bell.

    God he hopes these aren't spiders big enough to move bells around.

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    It was one of Amalthea's rarer, better, ideas to come to this place in phantom form. As she wades amid the sludge to rejoin the others, the slime and filth slough off her golden form. She doesn't look so bothered by the stench, having shut off her ability to smell as soon as she realized on the way down that it wa going to be unpleasant. Knowing that she'll wake up in njorun without needing to deep clean every joint, seam, and inner work also helps, as he real body will not be filled to the brim inside with toxic filth.
    Her first target is Wuyin Tsai, the miniature golden phantom trudging through the muck towards him, she holds out her hand. Should he take it, she's not going to let go, and that grip is like a vice as she hits a button on the grip of her shield. "Hold on tight." It's the only warning.
    Rocket Knights are aptly named, considering she has a jetpack, and it flares to life with a splutter and burst of momentum to carry them out of the mire and land in a controlled leap to join the others.
    So with that, she simply shakes her hair out and draws her blade. The broken sword gleaming gently in the pitifully lit surroundings, sets to joining Psyber in his sweep; shield and sword at the ready. "They never can pick green glens and flower fields to bury ancient bells can they?" She grouses. Pithy though her statement may be, the unicorn's good eye is narrowed, keeping an eye out for anything so much as even threatening, before Mizuki points out the nest.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva clambers down the wood, giving several squeals and yells as parts crumble apart around her. She lands, heavily, upon a more solid wooden platform, wherein she gets up. There is a hissing noise that whuffs past Riva's head, and she instinctively rolls out of the way, a low 'thuck' heard. She looks up to see a quivering needle embedded in the wood, vibrating from the force of impact. She sees the gob of purplish-black material smeared across the point, and frowns. There is another whuff, and Riva rolls again, the air splitting with the sound of bullets cracking through the air as she fires not physical bolts, but greenish-tinged energy bolts (phys/magic damage!) as she moves. They spray into the darkness, giving hints of form moments before there is a horrible shriek, a black form falling off into the distance.

Riva huffs, breathing heavily as she looks down into the abyss where it fell. "... This place..." She shakes her head.

A few minutes later, she manages to clamber (and occasionally fall) down to where everyone else is. She gives one look at the muck, bending down to look at it closely, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "... This is going to be gross." She says, straightening before she makes sure her boots are hiked up, and begins quickly trying to pick her way across the swamp, trying to hustle from dri(er) island to island. "This is so gross, so gross, so gross...." She says.

Mizuki gives her a destination, and she squints in the distance, trying to measure how much she'll have to slog... And sighs in resignation. "This place..." Riva then looks up at the giant mass of web, and stares transfixed for several seconds. Not even slowly sinking into the muck seems to distract her from whatever it is that has her attention. Is she afraid of spiders?

Finally, she shakes her head, and mutters something to herself. "I get the feeling that this is going to be one of those days." She says. "All right, lead the way. I'll back you guys up." She makes sure to hold her pistols up out of the muck. She might not need actual gunpowder, but training is training.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Wuyin, already filthy and disgusting, takes a moment to look around. He holds his arms above the surface of what is only generously called water. His sword's hilt is gross, and his elemental focus is... well, he's going to be surprised if he can channel Anima through it without catching fire. This is a less-than-ideal place to stand.

He walks gingerly on the collected /stuff/ that makes up the bottom of the river, such as it is. He doesn't really want to be down here, but he hears... something familiar. A sound, a buzzing, and not the one that this place gives off in a manner of hinting at swarms of murderous insects. He looks puzzled. It's mixed with the slow trickle, the gurgling flow of the fluid. He needs a better view. Maybe if he --

Amalthea offers a hand. He blinks at it for just a second, but takes it without further hesitation. There's a nod -- and she takes off. Rather than looking towards where they're /going/, he looks /down/, staring with some intensity. "I've almost -- ah! There it is!"

His voices immediately changes pitch and cadence. It sounds like something else is speaking with his voice, a hint of eagerness and amusement coming through. Wuyin's(?) voice carries all the way to the rest of the group with ease.

"Man looks to man as he looks to refuse, and banishes kin from his presence as he would his own filth. Out of sight and out of mind, and yet the rot which spills from human bodies disappears sooner than the rot that spills from human minds. Instincts recoil to look to one's own filth just as they shrink from looking to one's own sins, and so it would only be natural that the unpleasant reminders of both would swirl together in this loathesome kingdom of unwanted dredges."

"The kingdom is disease and its rulers are its carriers, and the tax levied upon entry is to bear its blight in one's body so that all are made equal under its ravages. Where once there were seven, now there are two, but both of them halves."

He touches down, wobbling a step. Wuyin shakes his head. "Here, too, then..." He's back to normal, and apparently no worse for wear, whatever that was.

Priscilla has posed:
    Pysber finds that his flashlight works just as well as his gun should. Everything he could concievably do as his normal self should work as a phantom, owing more to the warping of concurrent places and times rather than to any special property of his phantom form. For all intents and purposes, it may as well be considered a temporal clone. As Yuna and Amalthea (and her payload) join up with him and Nathan however, moving cautiously and as a cohesive unit seems to be something of a moot effort. The planks beneath their feet creak, sway and shudder; moaning in complaint that anyone but their rightful owners should dare settle their weight upon them, but nothing stirrs from the battered and warped little huts that dot the sprawl of walkways and stilted paths. The place is, put politely, a complete clusterfuck. Ladders connect platforms with little rhyme or reason, and some paths only seem accessible by jumping from a higher path, speaking volumes of how unplanned this ramshackle village must have been, as if each house had been hastily added to wherever could support it as new arrivals came over the span of years and years.

    In eerie quiet, broken only by the distant tumbling of fetid water and the strange sounds of humming and squelching, the group almost makes it all the way to the end unharried. It is when the sounds and flashes of Riva's gunshots split the dark, depressive silence, that the cavern seems to stirr from its slumber. Like a collective entity, accepting of the revolting nature of its every inhabitant, safe from the judgmental eye of those yet to hit rock bottom, it is as if the cave itself is offended by the disrespect shown by its intruders. The buzzing that comes from the walls rises in volume from an ambient thrum, through a gradually building whine, all the way to a frenzied roar.

    The edges of the light cast by Nathan and Psyber suddenly come alive with vague, flying shapes; blurring through their little orb of illumination like a stream of startled bats, but all spines and fur and feelers; impossible to make heads or tails of. They pour forth from the holes in the walls where the water doesn't run, vomited out in great streams of blaring noise and flashing, translucent wings. The swamp below starts to spasm with thrashing and bubbling shapes; slick, oily black forms rising and falling from its depths in great pulsing masses. The crags in the stones below, the ones that Nathan was precisely warned against looking into, suddenly bristle with far, far too many legs, rattling over the dry rocks like a million little fingers tapping away madly at someone's desk. Even the holes through which the water drains show motion; thick, serpentine shapes each the size of a bus crawling from their depths on thousands of sharp little feet, and bloated, quivering forms like ticks or leeches hauling themselves up with legs more like massive, gnarled human figures.

    Every last one of them converges towards Riva.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is just going to take a moment to stare at Wu as he speaks in a strange voice. She's wondering about just what it means but with how it's worded she's got the idea they are going to be paying fo rother people's sins is maybe a very painful way. Given she'd had the pain reduction dialed down somewhat to give her a better sense of feeling in her evatar's state. This might have been a bad idea as things just start to come to life. She stare at the horrible mass as it comes up and they are going for riva? That's where Tomoe starts chanting and strange golden runes swirl about her and when it finish she starts launching fireball at the horrible things charging towards Riva.

"BURN!"

She statst the chanting process again and when the fire blast hit there would bea moderate explosion and oddly the magic seems to have friend or foe abilities.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
With the planks complaining THAT much about anyone setting foot on them, Yuna is just as happy to *stay* airborne, floating along next to the others. She's staying alert generally, looking in as close to 'every direction' as she can ...

So the swarm of bugs that starts pouring out of nowhere (or everywhere) does not go unnoticed, no matter how dearly Yuna would *like* to not have noticed them. Psyber calling for folks to cover their eyes is a fine excuse to turn her back and shield her eyes with her hands, until Elner tells her Psyber's done what he needed to do ...

But afterwards, the Matrix Divider materializes in her hands and Yuna turns back to see what's left of the swarm - and flies pointedly away from her allies on the catwalk before she starts shooting bugs with *very extreme* amounts of prejudice.

(Even if they're technically not 'bugs' but are instead spiders or what have you; Yuna still gets extremely creeped out by 'bugs' and bug-like things in the first place. And since running like hell isn't exactly a valid option ...)

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber doesn't know much about subterranean worlds, but he does know they tend to go on two things: Light and Sound. Both of which are confirmed by Nathan's advice on the radio channel about it.

    So Psyber holsters his gun and brings a hand to his belt. He draws a metal cylinder with a pin, which he pulls and quickly throws forward, "Fire in the hole." Psyber calls, throwing the thing as far out into the muck and away from the group as he can.

    After landing and floating for a few moments, it erupts in a massive fountain of blindingly bright flames and pops, the incendiary grenade trying to grab attention, scare off monsters, and distract all at once.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan covers his eyes as Psyber asks, keeping his view of the last bits of the awful town in his mind's eye. Whatever Psyber's about to do is probably gonna be way too bright. He also continues on, just as he was before. With the most experimental, cautious steps, he tries to continue with minimal noise, poking each plank to make sure it is there and stepping with slow, soft lightness to his walking. Despite having seen absolutely HORRIFYING creatures streaming out of the walls and the stone crags and the drainage holes. He cuts his light and he moves as absolutely quietly and calmly as possible.

    There's something strange about a man with both hands over his eyes walking calmly while a storm of horrible creatures emerge from the walls all around him, but hopefully Nathan's tactic of doing what he was doing before - which is to say, making himself as unobtrusive as possible - will carry him to the spidery objective.

    He is completely terrified and his external appearance is completely calm. Ideally he'll reach the arachnid hive in short order. You know, without being assaulted by an awful swamp monster.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Like your illustrious narrative voice said before, Mizuki hates bugs. Hers isn't the kind of 'Oh dear *GOD* I have to kill it!!' variety of disdain, though; that would get their dismembered bits on her! No, no. She's more the type to watch the forces of nature slowly (or explosively, as the case may be) whittle them away. And that is precisely what she intends to do here as she raises into the air with a small twirl, her form quickly fading out of existence.

    With a few, small, inaudible steps, Mizuki walks to a point where she can be reasonably sure that she won't bump her head... and launches herself into the sky. Letting herself fall just slightly - and twisting her nose again in disgust as she catches another large whiff of the ungodly, composite horrorterror of the swamp's stench - she flap-flaps to catch some air, fixing her gaze on the area that she is so concerned with. Assuming no errant wads of gunk hit her, and that none of the monstrosities about have especially acute spiritual senses, she soars to the 'beach' upon which the large collection of webs rests. Then, she becomes visible again, folding her right arm behind her back and keeping the other at the ready with her sword. Then, after taking a deep breath... she peeks her head inside.

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    With Wuyin deposited, the unicorn gives him something of a Look when he begins speaking in another voice. The gold phantom's lips purse, one loppy and notched ear pricking up to listen better. Though she says nothing, it's something she makes note of while... TRYING to move with the group.
    That's a difficult task as is, when the gunshots make her head snap up. And then the darkness itself all around them is rife and teeming with murderous life.
    "Fuck fuck fuck shit." For a unicorn her language is as colorful as her hair that's for sure, and as TERRIBLE THINGS begin to pull themselves free from the water she was just in mere moments ago, a brief chord of revulsion strikes its way through her heart as she takes a hacking swipe at the closest bug-like horror nearest to her. From her cloak she draws the streamlined form of a KRISS Vector submachinegun.
    "Go. Fucking go, don't a single one of you wait for me."
    As soon as Psyber's explosive goes off, her finger is on the trigger, firing full auto, only half-trying to hit things, while snarling and shouting. It is a big display of fucking LOOK AT ME, to try and drag heat and attention off the others as an insectile beast draws in. It meets her blade, claws strike sword and sparks flare up. She clashes with it, before another appears, and another, and another. Somewhere in fray there's a snarl of fury and pain, one golden glowing arm shorn from her shoulder, the other lashes out to strike down another. Something rams in through her armor, piercing gut through to back and she only gets ANGRIER, and then, kicking, thrashing, and roaring, Amalthea is flung clean off a walkway, dragging SOMETHING down with her and stabbing it wildly before splashing down in the swamp, sans her OTHER arm, sinking out of sight and leaving nothing but bubbles and ripples breaking the surface.
    Before they slow. And then stop.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
After his vaguely-prophetic fit (well, informative, not so prophetic; that's Inga's job), Psyber asks for them to cover their eyes, so Wuyin does just that. He waits for the flash and the bang, and then...

Well, he's totally willing to leave Riva to her fate. He doesn't even care. While he /could/ leap in there and be a big damn hero, he is much more prone to just letting nature take it's course. Besides, she'll be fine -- especially because Amalthea is taking the fall for her.

Wuyin isn't so sure about leaving /her/ to her untimely demise. He's totally aware that he and Riva will live through gruesome murder (well... sort of), but he's not so informed about the phantoms. He frowns deeply, stopping himself from rushing in and instead moving off.

While he does, he produces a plastic bag and dumps his elementalism focus into it, the metal thing on his belt getting thoroughly wrapped up and tucked elsewhere. Then, he pulls out what looks like a round mask crossed with a gong, a metal ornamentation(?) that he slings over his shoulder and affixes to his back. It's a good distraction from the murder happening over there.

Riva Banari has posed:
Whoops. DPS pulled aggro.

Riva watches in numb horror as the /entire place/ wakes up and decides it wants breakfast. Specifically, her. Riva screams as she understands that she has a large chance of perishing messily in the next minute or two. She abandons her pistols, instead pulling her sword. It's less noisy. The blade has a crude, strange circuit pattern inlaid into it, which begins glowing as she channels Anima into the weapon. Desperately, she begins backpedaling, desperately trying to keep from getting swarmed under.

This might have been a good plan if she wasn't standing in the middle of a noxious, poisonous swamp of hell. A massive leech lunges at her, knocking her back before she stabs back in desperation, the blade cleaving into the thick, rubbery flesh. Buzzing bugs begin to divebomb her, and she stumbles, about to fall into the murk and be lost.

But then Amalthea gets their attention with massive light and noise. The creatures are drawn towards it, leaving Riva able to recover... As much as anyone can in this noxious place.

She turns, acknowledging the orders, anger and embarassment rushing through her face as she charges across the swamp to the web.

One thing's for sure. She owes that woman. "Damn, damn, damn..." She curses to herself.

Priscilla has posed:
    Pretty much exactly as hypothesized (or feared), Tomoe's fireball strikes the surface of the swamp, and rather than fizzling out in the water, explodes into a roaring column of flame; igniting the hydrogen-thick swamp gasses into a blazing oil fire that spreads to engulf a far larger area than the spell's constraints would normally allow. The level of ambient light goes up several notches, throwing the dancing shadows of the murderous swarms all over the length of the cave. The flying critters that dive down to Riva's level are incinerated instantly, burning up like mosquitos caught in a bug zapper. The much larger bulk settles into a steady vortex around the temporary wall of flame, impatiently abiding the conflagration until they can settle upon the girl inside of it and strip her to the bone. The things moving /under/ the water are not so troubled. The swamp explodes behind Riva as something wet, black and slippery bursts up from under the surface, attempting to fasten finger-like grippers around her body and a sucker-like mouth filled with a mill of dripping teeth around her head; like some unholy hybrid between a spider and a leech.

    Psyber's grenade accomplishes a very similar effect, mowing down another curtain of flying insects on the spot, but more importantly, the blinding flash of light far more intense than just the flames seems to cause the much larger creatures crawling out of the depths at bay. The blind, pulsing, twitching horrors must be very sensitive to light to live that deep, and for the moment, the vehicle sized monsters stick to their holes. Yuna's rifle fire would normally draw most of the swarm, but it is practically a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of fire there is grabbing primitive insect attention. Instead, it seems the ground-bound creatures are interested in her rather than the fliers; skittering up the walls at an alarming pace. Only when they draw close to her can she see that each of their legs terminate in human hands, easily allowing them to clutch and climb the shanty supports. With her in the air, it seems they shouldn't be able to reach her, but as they draw within a certain proximity, the entire front of their bodies split open into fanged maws burning like the heart of a furnace; vomiting forth twisting streams of flame like living tongues of napalm, lashing at her in burning torrents. A single shot with her rifle is easily enough to kill or dislodge them, but there are just so goddamn many. It is mostly due to Amalthea's heroic yet undignified sacrifice that they don't overwhelm her, drawn by the louder and more insistant gunfire before swarming after her last position, expecting to scavenge a corpse from the larger predator.

    Wuyin making the wise decision to escape nets him a minimum of attention. A handful of the crag spiders and flying, stinging things divert from swarming Riva to come after him, gaining on him rapidly with his legs mired in swamp mass. Riva is followed by the bulk of the swarm as she charges out of the fray and comes right after him, unfortnatedly headed in the same direction, if now luckily bereft of a leech creature after her head. And yet, strangely enough, Mizuki and Nathan are left completely alone. The living organism of the cave pays them no mind so long as they step lightly and respectfully. They create no noise to disturb the silence, and no fire to upset the atmosphere. As the battle rages behind them, both of them find their way to the spider's nest untouched, and as they set foot upon it's island, not one single multi-legged creature dares come near them. Though all sorts of awful things are popping out of the walls and floor and ceiling, every last one of them gives the nest a very wide berth. Mizuki sticking her head in finds a path that winds through the sheets of webs; a sort of tunnel through the impenetrable mass of white. More importantly, through the dirt and silk, she can see that said path is marked with paved stones, though anything else in the way of a structure must have been engulfed long ago in all t

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
That was ... not what was supposed to happen.

Not that Yuna objects to having the swarm's focus drawn away from her when the numbers mounted *that* high, but - Amalthea wasn't supposed to have to sacrifice herself. Telling herself that she was protecting the rest of the group (or simply *all* of the group) doesn't help Yuna very much ...

"Yuna, snap *out* of it!!" Elner's tone is rather more harsh than usual, but the robo-faerie has a job to do, and more often than not, that job is 'keep Yuna on task'. The sharply-spoken reminder cuts through Yuna's clouding emotions effectively enough that the idol-turned-quasi-paladin does indeed shake them off, dismissing the Matrix Divider and flying to rendezvous with the others ...

If she can be fairly sure that she's getting all of the bugs off of her tail in the process, at least. Speed and agility are good for that, and her sword - high-tech-looking, but still essentially a sharp and pointy piece of metal - is good for quietly dispatching the most persistent of those creepy, freaky, *unnatural* bugs when they get too close.

However, in the time it takes Yuna to meet the others at the nest's entrance, she will probably be bringing up the rear.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber is hovering close to Nathan after throwing the grenade. While the Librarian walks onward, Psyber is careful to follow directly in his wake and keep careful overwatch with the pistol. This pose would normally be more robust, but the player is still distracted.

    The tl;dr is that the spirit-Psyber is hanging close to Nathan and making sure to guard him with his handgun.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki gently presses a foot against the webbing, just to be sure that it's sturdy. And... sure enough, it's easily as hard as cement. Casually, she wonders to herself if this little webbed edifice is the result of a massive number of spiders, or just... one... very large one? If so, that would certainly make for a fitting 'end of region' fight, as it were. But that's enough musing for now. Mizuki enters the cocoon with especially light, tender steps, her form rippling slightly and becoming translucent - well, more translucent - as she heads in. Just a side effect of something that is at least intended to dull the sound of her steps.

    Walking along, she notices... stones? There's actually something of moderately sophisticated human make down here? Will wonders never cease. "Nathan." She gestures to the ground to call attention to them... if he hadn't already noticed them. Then, reaching into one of her chameleon pockets, she takes out her revolver. If there -are- any particularly large arachnids down here, she may be able to use the sparks from that thing to scare them. Maybe. She won't bank on it, but she wants to have every possible resource at the ready when she turns this next corner.

    Peeking around the silky ivory walls at whatever may lie beyond, her authorial sense almost literally buzzes in her head. And... is it just her, or is that sense of unease amplified in here? She's exited the bowels of the devil - thank all that is beautiful in Creation for that - but now... well. To quote certain other sword wielders from times long, long ago, she has 'a bad feeling about this'.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva continues running until she notices that a BUNCH OF HORRIBLE THINGS ARE STILL CHASING HER. With a curse, she turns towards the monsters, the blade sizzling with power. "All right you horrible things? COME GET IT!" Riva yells in challenge. They're after her. She caused the problem.

She should pay the price, not them. Not anyone else. It's only proper. It should have been her doing this before Amalthea. If it takes two to get these things off the backs of the adventuring group...

So be it.

But that doesn't mean she lies down and dies. Her blood is going to be dearly bought. She spins, slashing out at the creatures that chase her still. Cleaming contrails of energy track the blade as she strikes again and again, ichor mixing with the mire as she cleaves into the beasts. But they give as good as she does. She cannot guard all directions and she cannot keep enemies at bay forever. Everyone gets tired eventually. Gaps open in her guard, and the bugs swarm, knocking open a gap in her assault and staggering her. Moments later, a horrible black thing lunges at her and she is born under the muck with a muffled scream.

A minute later, the struggling ends.

YOU DIED

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Wuyin's path is tricky. Riva is coming his way with the big swarm, and the little ones -- the bugs, small and not so small -- are trying to slow him down. Okay; first thing is first.

Wuyin takes a slow breath through the honey-scented cloth, hand resting on the hilt of his sword. His right hand is free and empty, fingers loose and hand open. He waits a span of seconds for the bugs to get closer --

Anima flows. A green aura flows from the focus on his back, the eyes of the odd metal face igniting in the same color. He jumps upwards and backwards, making a sweeping gesture with both hands and leaving a trail of rippling green. It comes into focus in the span of a heartbeat, with slivers like tiny glowing knives formed from his strange brand of chaos magic and propelled into the swarm. It's like he's throwing waves of throwing daggers sized for them, and accurately to boot.

He keeps moving. Wuyin looks around, spying higher ground without the spiders and insects. He casts one hand that way and the other downward, flowing through a martial kata with the motion. The upward-swept hand flings a green chain, and the downward-swept spikes a red pulse towards the surface he's standing on. He pulls himself up and away from the swarm just as he makes a short upwards strike with the unoccupied hand.

Wuyin's shape ripples weirdly as he takes off. He fades out of sight, leaving an illusory clone where he stood while the real him is reeled upwards. The ground around the clone erupts into red spikes, formations like spearheads shooting upwards into the path of the insects over and over again. It'll last a few crucial seconds.

/Then/ he sneaks towards the people who were smart enough to stay quiet, electing to take a page out of their book. No sense drawing monsters over there.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe was a bit quick on the draw, and she stareds as the swamp catches fire, oh dear god, well the light goes up that's the only small upside. On the other han the creatures are burning really good. She's managed to get Riva some breathing room. That muvh is good she does wish she could get to fluying right now but that's a no gohere. Then something else is coming up.

She's going to keep moving and hoping she di enough it's too much there';s an utter sense of horror as Riva tgets ripped apart. There's nothing she can do and she's moving ahead now.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan follows along, some distance behind Mizuki, keeping close to Psyber. There's a light greeting to Yuna, Tomoe, and Wuyin as they join up, a quick "Salutations." A tilted head. "Where did your friend go?" He looks past and raises an eyebrow, but seems to decide to move on. He's been told just enough about these people to know they shouldn't have any trouble.

    Now Nathan stops and kneels where Mizuki has gestured, brushing web away from stone. "This used to be something else. Another sort of structure. It seems to have been repurposed by the local fauna. Be wary and attentive for anything useful that may remain, and for any instabilities the fauna may have created in the structure itself."

    "And for giant spiders, I suppose."

    Now Nathan heads on forward, briefly double-checking via his radio that Amalthea is indeed okay back at where she was summoned from. Yeah? Alright, yeah, cool. Time to move on. Let's see what's further in here.

Priscilla has posed:
    With both Amalthea and Riva laying down their lives (temporarily, albeit) for the rest of the group's escape, Psyber, Yuna, and Tomoe all have an easy enough time catching up to Mizuki and Nathan. It's Wuyin who has to deal with the portion of the swarm that isn't busy searching for where Riva's body should have gone under the muck, again denied the prize they would normally take apart and retreat into the walls with. The swamp fires are just about out, causing the air to crowd with dark, flittering shapes, as if a stormcloud had sprouted thousands of legs and had swooped down after him. Were they perhaps more intelligent, he'd be another dead man to add to the pile of recent casualties. Instead, the vortex swirls in around his illusory double, shredding it in a whirlwind of mandibles and stingers. So densely packed, the curtains of sleeting knives make short work of a huge bulk of their number, whilst the glowing spikes impale the groundbound spiders in his wake, leaving him just clear of them by the time he reaches the island, with Yuna easily able to pick off any stragglers as she desires. Predictably, as the last of the group reaches the island nest, their pursuit abruptly ceases. The swarm takes its time scouring the surface of the swamp, before slowly starting to retreat altogether. It is equal parts relieving, and extremely ominous.

    Mizuki scouting ahead finds that her use of invisibility is mostly for naught. A real spider would have spun tripwires into the halls, since they sense prey by vibration, but the webbing seems to /be/ the walls instead, deliberately constructed like an ant colony would build something out of earth. Those following in her wake find the pathway perfectly safe, with the nest walls being too thick for any kind of insect to be lurking in, giant or regular sized. The passage winds back and forth, joining up with others at sudden blind angles, but all of the walkways are paved just as well as the others, as rambling as they seem. Here and there one can even spy the vague suggestion of a pillar or arch where a column or span of web seems too straight to be natural.

    The paths all eventually converge into a sort of antechamber; half dug into the ground before one final arch, far, far larger than the man-sized ones the group had been walking through previously. Any question as to where the hollows were this entire time, immediately goes out the window. The chamber is a mosh pit of writhing, crawling, human forms, dragging themselves back and forth on knees and elbows under the weight of the horrific growths on their backs. At first it looks as if every one of them has been infected with some manner of gargantuan tumor or horrible parasitic mushroom, but soon enough, the realization hits that the shrivelled, leathery substance is in fact, undead skin, and the shapes underneath it that bulge and wobble with every motion are in fact, massive eggs; implanted into the flesh as the parasitic insects that usually /feed/ on spiders do. The sight is absolutely nauseating, but the afflicted hollows don't seem to be paying the least bit of attention to their horrible deformities. In fact, each and every one of them appears to be deep in some sort of trance; chanting in quavering tones with their hands clasped together, as if in reverent prayer. A single, solitary person has left their pilgrim's message here.

    "Do not disturb the burdened. They are sworn in service to the Fair Lady."

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
The storm cloud-esque swarm is creepy to say the very least. Wuyin is glad that he left something for them to gang up on until he could get clear; he would /not/ want to be there when they descended.

Dying may be temporary, but it does not mean that he would not feel every second it takes to get there.

"She was caught by the swarm," Wuyin explains quietly, as he approaches. It's the quiet of a man who does not want to attract the attention of the thing sweeping the swamp behind him. "I expect she is quite dead. It will take some time for her to reach us again." Wait, she wasn't in phantom form. But... /bees/.

Wuyin produces a rag and wipes down his scabbard while they move forward, ensuring that it won't be stuck from partially-dried muck if he needs to draw it. He slows when they arrive at the antechamber, looking around it cautiously. It doesn't bother him like it should; there are creatures like this on the beach of Kingsmouth, combined with the bloated flesh of the drowned dead. This is unpleasant, but he's seen it's like too commonly just recently to be openly revolted.

He continues forward instead, slowly creeping into the chamber to find the path beyond... and, perhaps more relevently, keeping his eyes open for anything unusual that might be stuck in the webbing.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Turning yet another corner, Mizuki finally allows herself a comment in a tone above a hush. "My word, this place is quite the labyrinth, isn't it?" She glances back at the group. "Let us all hope with all of our hearts and various other organs that we do not encounter its respective Minotaur, hmm?" When she turns to face front again, though, she stops in her tracks, staring.

What.
The hell.
Are those things.

    Just when she thought she was past the grotesque and the terrible for the evening, even more crops up. Gah! What... are those? Eggs? Particularly massive eggs, if they are. Otherwise, they are the most insipid variety of fungi that she has ever seen. And either way, the blight must be taken out of existence! ... but someone who wields the power of fire. Though she holds her sword in the direction of one, she doesn't make any attempt to strike it... and is quite surprised to see that they aren't making any real attempt to attack her either. Er, wait. That's probably the sort of thing she should -say out loud- before the others turn the corner, see these abominations, and start shooting, casting, slashing, and... whatever else they'll do.

    Holding out a hand in the direction of the passage that she had just emerged from, she speaks. "-Wait-." Clear and forceful as it had been when she was pointing to this place earlier. "... if we don't interact with them, I don't believe they will pose any real threat. Leave them be." Scowling slightly, she adds, "... grotesque though they may be, we've greater concerns at the moment."

Riva Banari has posed:
It feels odd to have one's soul (AKA Anima Form) divested from one's body. At first, perhaps, it is a relief. The pain becomes a memory. The horrible, hot, toxic, stinking pain. fades with the blackness...

And then there is light. But not the warm, grossly incandescent light of the Sun, or the soft glow of the moon, or the cold distance of the stars. But a sourceless, gray light that Riva stands within, hanging near the Warpgate.

She looks around the area, shuddering as the whispers grow louder. The souls... The cries of the dead are strong here. If anyone happens to be able to see souls or ghosts, she's standing right there, a gray, nervous spirit who is probably entirely too disconcerted by what she sees and feels within the gray places of Lordran.

She doesn't stay long, however, turning and simply leaping down into the void again.

Ghosts don't die from falling.

She rushes down through the area, the lack of (apparent) danger allowing her to quickly get back into the swamp.

As she draws near the place where her body was, she turns, feeling a... strange pull. Turning, she moves to find the source of said pull, moving into a dank sewer hole that seems to be some misbegotten remnants of whatever infrastructure surviced the city above. There, a twisted, rusty sword lies thrust into the ground amidst a pole of ancient bones and ashen bone dust. There is a warmth and light there that she can feel, even here...

There is a surge of power as the bugs and creatures in the muck become very, very confused as the corpse they were perhaps feasting on vanishes, dissolving into the aether. There is a surge of Anima near the guttering light of the ersatz bonfire as Riva rematerializes from the realm of the spirits, her body reforming from where it vanished, healing rapidly.

The Templar shudders again, and shakes her head, before coughing and retching for several seconds.

A minute later, a pale, shaky Riva begins quietly sneaking from the gutter and moves towards the webbed area with silence and stealth in mind. And not Templar Stealth, either. Normal stealth.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
The fact that Amalthea's death was less fatal than it looked like comes over the radio at the *best* time for Yuna, and her relief that her friend and ally is NOT actually dead bolsters the idol/paladin's spirit greatly.

The sight of the hive's interior - and its inhabitants - means that she REALLY needs the emotional boost, too; she's still hugely inclined towards turning around and leaving - but she has the willpower to stand her ground beside her friends and allies.

Or in this case, to try and maintain her composure and slip past the hollows in their 'worship' of whatever it is at the center of their attention.

At least she's currently unarmed, having let her weapons disappear when she ran out of enemies who needed to be fought.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    "Do not disturb the burdened. They are sworn in service to the Fair Lady."

    "I wonder who the Fair Lady is." Nathan says, as he finishes reading these signs. Only he could see it. "Mizuki is right. Do not interact with these. Avoid them where possible." A few firm nods. "We need to approach with less trouble. As before, I fear that engaging enemies without cause may draw... Aggression." A somber, distressed noise, though Nathan's keeping his stoic expression and flat tones as firm as ever.

    "Let us try to keep to the paved areas. The environment here that has been built over is presumably the old structure that housed the bell. Avoid areas that are newly carved or constructed, for now we seek the remains of something old here."

    He makes a worried noise. "And be careful. It is clear other pilgrims believed there was still danger here to be agitated." He works on moving on behind the scouts and protective sorts now.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is making some good head way in cetching up. She has no idea what happened to Riva and well she's gromaicing she's feeling she's failed again they lost someone. As she had no idea bout Riva's little ability, she may have missed part of the report due to school work or some such other issue. Either way she moves ahead and now seem to be making sure to keep her weapon ready as they reach the antechamber, she has to wonder now about those thing how does that even work. She stares in stark horror. She lowers her weapon now.

"Agreed."

She's not going to make any attempt to disturb these things it would be bad.

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    Kuklos ka Amalthea Schmendrick-Fortuna... Do you FEAR DEATH?
    Somewhere back on Njorun, in the old and repurposed SAO elite ward, a slumbering figure stirs. It is not at the nearest Bonfire that Amalthea respawns, but here. And with a START she lurches up in her bed gasping for air, swinging wildly at foes that are not present. Her snarls are not those of war and challenge... But of a gripping and soul-clenching fear.
    Only after a moment of taking in her new surroundings does the realization of safety come upon her. Yet her breath comes in a ragged shiver as her mind and soul were forced to fleetingly experience what her immortal body did not.
    Mortality.
    To an ageless and immortal creature such as a unicorn, this is a horrifying experience, and only once before has she ever tasted the experience of literally being in contact with death, even for but a taste is more than enough to make the aged paladin curl into a small ball for a moment, to regain her wits. Something she had only felt back in the time of The Emperor.
    The truth is... Yes.
    Amalthea fears death.
     And it is a few moments of hoping none of the others awaken to see her in such a state that she lays there quivering. Before pressing a hand to the radio in one loppy ear.
    "Priscilla... Summon me again."
    That was moments ago.
    Now to go back into that nightmare.
    Despite having to start back again from the top of the hole, drop down, head down into the much, traverse the shitty town, and all the obstacles EVER, a form of armor and gold catches up to the group from behind; once again the unicorn in armor of the Astora Knight emerges, blade in hand, looking grim, and dead silent. She says nothing to no one. Though she cannot sweat, though she cannot go pale like those of less mechanical bodies, she does her best to not look shaken.
    "Rugh." It's a snort that's as close to a greeting people are going to get, to announce her return. She barely even seems concerned by how horridly deformed the wretched Burdened are.
    "I told you fuckers not to wait for me, you should have been farther in." The old knight grouses.
    But for all her sttempts to seem fine.
    Her hands are shaking.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Wuyin actually stops when Mizuki calls for waiting, and when Nathan lays out a pretty decent plan. It takes a lot of willpower to listen instead of hacking and slashing his way across the room. He doesn't particularly like to do things like wait and plan; he prefers to rely on his instinct, and maybe lean on his immortality a little more than Riva does.

When Amalthea and Riva rejoin their murder-convoy, he half-turns, digging through his pockets. He pulls out some form of hand sanitizer, using it liberally on his hands. Then, he pulls out paper-wrapped bundles, and offers one to each of them. They are labeled with a plastic sticker.

Visit London's famous HAITIAN MARKET
Home of DANTE'S HOT SAUCE
&
The TEX-MEX T-REX 7,460 TACO CHALLENGE!

The sticker has what looks like a hunched over cartoon ghoul on it, holding out a taco and grinning toothily. It is certainly what is inside the bundles.

/Then/ he moves on. Sally forth!

Priscilla has posed:
    Mizuki is correct. Seeing Wuyin creep around the edges of the pit confirms that these particular hollows have absolutely no interest in humans; or anything at all outside of their strange words and gestures at that. For whatever reason, no translation effect illustrates whatever they happen to be saying. Is it just pure nonsense? It's very deliberate nonsense if that's the case. Nathan and Tomoe following behind with a little less stealth indicates that they must either be really focused, or completely blind and deaf to the world around them. Either is a distinct possibility.

    Going ahead however, demonstrates that there isn't much further left to go. The antechamber leads into one last tunnel, and then that tunnel exits into a far larger "grand hall" of sorts, where the web encrusted ceiling vaults high above like the inside of a cathedral. Judging by the stones underfoot, it may actually /be/ a cathedral buried underneath all this white silk; especially where the orderly, cocentrical bricks lead up to a double set of stairs at the far end of the room. Of course, it'd be ridiculous at this point to assume Priscilla was wrong in talking to Psyber before. There is simply no way that the creatures outside would have learned to avoid this particular place if it didn't house something. There was simply zero chance that a Bell of Awakening would just be covered in useless old cobwebs. Not the slightest possibility that the grey phantom's premonitions had been misguided.

    Exactly what had been on everyone's minds is what awaits them inside. A gargantuan arachnid the size of a truck lowers itself from the ceiling as soon as the first Unionites ender; thudding to the ground with eight simultaneous footfalls. Despite generally sharing the shape of one, it would be difficult to call it a spider. Its legs have far too many joints and terminate in wicked spikes instead of claws; its head and thorax are fused together, and studded with what appears to be hundreds of little red eyes, sprawled all over its "face" without any kind of pattern; where mandibles should be, there are rows upon rows of vaguely canine fangs instead; and every hair and bristle on its body glows and crackles with baleful red light, as if channelling an enormous amount of scarlet static electricity. Its jaws ooze some kind of fluid that ignites on contact with the air, but the back of its head is more attention grabbing. A woman seems to have been fused into the spider's body, but rather than a natural transition from female to monstrous form as some classical mytholigical beasts bear, the two appear to have originally been seperate beings and forcibly spliced together, judging by what appears to be a gaping wound in the spider's carapace where the woman's hips cease to exist. Her skin is no shade that actually exists on the human spectrum, more the colour of the webs that cover the chamber, like an unpainted doll. Both the spider head, and the woman's face, immediately fix on Wuyin as he comes into view, before each clearly looks to a different target between Nathan and Tomoe. Instantly, the chanting in the antechamber doubles in volume.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva sneaks through the mire and gets to the webbed area. She seems relieved to not have to deal with the mire anymore. Even a webbed hellhole is superior to that bog of eternal stench.

She does, however, brighten when Wuyin offers a taco. She takes it, mumbling a thankyou as she looks around at the suffering creatures with giant eggs upon them. She frowns at this, but... She has orders. "Poor people..." She says, shaking her head. She seems to be not sure if she wants to eat now, but she still begins eating the taco as they stroll forward.

She's about halfway through when the massive spider-woman arrives. Boss senses tingle.

She stares, head tilted to the side as she stares with the taco half in her mouth.

And then sheabruptly shoves the rest of the taco into her mouth quickly, hands resting on the pistol grips as she looks around, waiting for a signal of what they're going to do. This can't possibly be good.

Amalthea (395) has posed:
    Presented with some THING wrapped in paper, the unicorn is halted briefly. Wuyin gets a skeptical look, but she unwraps it regardless.

    "... This isn't a taco."

    Not that this stops her from EATING it, after that nightmare, even she can work up an appetite. "... Good enough..." She concedes and... Begins to feel mildly better, still munching on half of it by the time the group heads in deeper and comes face to face with... Some kind of arachnid female(no copyright infringement intended.)
    Following Riva's lead, the rest of that taco gets shoved into her maw, chewing it down and lashing her shield tighter to her arm in case attempts at talking with... Her... Fail.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
As soon as Amalthea rejoins the group, Yuna turns to face her ...

And gives the normally staid and stoic paladin the biggest damn hug she can. Armor is not much of an issue, seeing as they're both wearing it - Amalthea's plate armor and Yuna's Light Suit, respectively.

Yuna holds the glomp for a few seconds, then lets go so Amalthea can restore her dignity from backup - but Yuna is still smiling. "I'm glad that wasn't permanent ... I didn't want to lose a friend down here."

Then she resumes progressing with the group, up until we reach the cathedral and DEAR GODS IN THEIR HEAVENS, WHAT IS THAT *THING*

Idol singer, interstellar champion for the forces of Good ... and still terrified of creepy-crawlies. On the plus side, Yuna won't be shooting at the boss. ... Yet.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki holds her sword at the ready, and spins the chamber of her revolver... before disappearing the first, and putting the second away. And then, hands folded behind her back, the newly-dubbed grey phantom paces closer to the spider woman... before delivering a curtsey, if she's not eviscerated on her way over. Bringing a touch of elegance to this forgotten chasm since... well, however long she's been here. Yes, let's go with that.

    After rising again from her curtsey (should she be allowed to do it in the first place), she places her hands at her waist and looks up to the woman's head - yes, the human head bit; she's assuming that's the epicenter of any sapience that may yet remain in this unfortunate being - and clears her throat. "Pardon our intrusion, if you please." She pauses briefly to bow her head again. "But we've come bearing you no ill intent. You see, we've come to find a... er, what was it called? Ah, yes. A 'Bell of Awakening', and we have reason to believe we may find it beyond your home." She smiles a moment... before straightening her expression again. "... so if you would kindly let us through, then we'll not terrorize you further. There's really no need for conflict here, naturally."

    Welp. Let's see if what worked in the Ivalician Courtroom will work here. (Spoiler: Probably not.)

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Wuyin is relieved to not have to fight through the mass of breeding-pod people, even if he dearly wants to cut them down to relieve them of their suffering. He's not totally heartless; he just pretends to be. It has a different effect on people, one he often wants to ellicit.

They move on. The antechamber leads into a cathedral proper, a great, towering place. He would call it majestic if it were not covered in webs. That makes it a shade closer to spooky. As far as lairs go, though, it is pretty top-notch. He would not want to be here alone.

And then, the landlady shows up.

Wuyin steps out ahead of the group, another step or two from his already-frontal position. He slowly lowers himself into a more balanced position, eyes locked on the giant spider-woman hybrid. She's like some kind of crudely-made Frankenstein's monster, he thinks. It doesn't look natural.

The Dragon's hand rests lightly on the hilt of his sword, the other open. There's a green flickering in the eyes of the mask on his back, like it was waking up. Anima begins to gather. He doesn't attack her just yet; instead, he bows politely, taking the moment where other members of the entourage attempt to talk their way through to take in the room and get ready to get it's attention.

"Where once there were seven," he whispers, "now there are two, but both of them halves."

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan Hall doesn't falter a damn bit. I mean, he's completely terrified of whatever afflicted those humans, and naturally assumes it has something to do with this horrifying spider-woman. But as ever, his stoicism holds firm and he doesn't panic in the slightest. Alright, this one doesn't look undead. No signs of traditional darksign-induced humanity loss. Skin still retains tension, body shows no signs of mummification, decay, or loss of tissue. He walks forward.

    Diplomacy time.

    "Salutations." Nathan says. Alright, first thing's first. Is this the Fair Lady? Maybe. She's looking at least half fair, and maybe even half lady. Whatever the case may be, Nathan knows the local spider-related gesture of respect, and so he takes a vaguely kneeling version of the semi-prone gesture that's his best approximation of what the "burdened" people were doing before. "We come intending no harm to you or those who may serve you. We seek only the bell here, and ask your approval to ring it once, and then we will be on our way, unless you would ask anything of us in exchange for our right to do so."

    Then he rises quickly and vaguely respectfully.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is not trying to make noise but stil she's thankful she didn't wake them up, whatever their task is? She leaves them to it. She finds he way into the hall with Nathan and the rest she's making sure to pay close attention to things. She stares at spider thing it reminds her of the skullreaper from SAO she does not like that. She wants to rip it apar, oh god she wants to rip it apart.

"... Suffering like this."

She waits to see if the attempt to talk to this alien being down.

Priscilla has posed:
    It is impossible to mistake the fact that the spider is drooling at the sight of Wuyin. The saliva that runs over its snarled fangs looks like pooling lava as it sizzles against the floor into a little flaming puddle. Despite this however, the woman on top of it is looking in an entirely different direction, ruining any idea that the creature might be like a sphinx or harpy or something. There are clearly two seperate intelligences here. One of her hands slowly caresses the back of the spider's head, as if comforting a nervous horse, but the other hand is wrapped tight around some sort of weapon; a kind of blade made of jagged black chitin and sparking with the same kind of electric-red as the spider's bristles, and covered in just as many spines. The spider takes a couple of steps forward; all the joints in its legs working in a vaguely sickening way rather than by traditional arachnid means of locomotion, but it halts right away as more Unionites spill into the room, being a mix of phantoms and real people. For the second time, Mizuki is fixed with a meaningful stare by a Lordran native demi-humanoid. She gets the unmistakable feeling that this particular being is familiar with whatever mythos surrounds her grey incarnation, and that, for some reason, gives her pause. Nathan actually bowing to it seems to garner a look, but not one of uncertainty. Is this thing used to being deferred to on bended knee?

    The woman opens her mouth, and says something clearly in some kind of actual language, but for whatever reason, no translation effect is present. The multiverse fumbles its save. In fact, it didn't even entirely look like the woman herself comprehended whatever Nathan and Mizuki had said, clearly recognizing it as an attempt at dialogue, but without any kind of facial reaction. There is some kind of language barrier present here, and there are only two, very obscure circumstances where the understanding effect doesn't function.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki... stands awkwardly still a moment before bowing, gesturing to Nathan, and politely backing away. She remains silent with her hands folded behind herself to provide the good XO with all of the time he could need to try to work this thing out.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan tilts his head curiously at the completely untranslatable words. And then at the lack of comprehension from her. His mind races and he thinks back. Waaaay way back to a year or two ago when Priscilla was teaching him how to use orange soapstone, and the old script he had to learn to use it.

    A deep, calming breath now. He puts a hand over his mouth, then both over his ears, trying to make it clear that there is a mutual lack of understanding. Then, he fishes in his pockets, and pulls out an orange soapstone, approaching to the halfway mark between himself and the spider. Using the old script, he writes glowing orange glyphs, as amateurishly-fluent as he can pull off.

    "Salutations. We mean no harm and no disrespect. We seek the Bell of Awakening. We seek your approval to ring it once if it is here. We will leave afterwards. We seek to know any exchange you may require for this right. We apologize for any intrusion or offense. Please consider our humble request. Thank you."

    Then he stands, and backs away, back to the group.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
To his credit, Wuyin /does/ smell delicious. If you can get past the smell of sewer-swamp, anyway, he smells like Agartha, which is sweet like honey and warm like a spring day. It's hard to explain why that's a smell, but there you have it.

He's surprised the speech doesn't get translated. He keeps his eyes locked on her, in a defensive stance that speaks of a readiness to fight. His eyes flick to the sword she's wielding, brow twitching upwards. His lips quirk in a small smile. He likes the look of that. He'll be happy to relieve her of it once this is done with.

He still doesn't attack. He shifts how he stands, very slightly, a subtle motion that speaks of his impatience and irritation. He's willing to see if they can talk to her, but if this takes any longer, he's going to just start stabbing.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe nods once to her companions but she seems confused as she does not understand a word of what the creature has to say. She alts fo ra moment and falls into a more passive stance as she waits and sees how this is going to end up. She's on the other han is like coke she however does look at Wuyin, he almost rminds her of DPS that's about to charge in and she shifts her weight a bit...making ready if something hits the fan...

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber, glowing blue as he is, isn't participating in this discussion. He's off to the side, smoking a ghost cigarette while two hands are doing that photo-box thing to Quelaag as he tries to figure out the logistics of his contingency plan for if this monster tries to kill Nathan.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva continues to crunch, slowly chewing as she watches the proceedings. It might be kind of unladylike and it's certainly not the dignified behavior one expects of a Templar (if Dame Julia could see her now...), but hey, it's just /wrong/ to waste a taco.

More importantly, that spider woman is /very/ dangerous looking. Especially that blade. And the flaming drool. And the whole... giant spider thing... But Riva holds back, because diplomacy is being attempted.

All right. She's not going to just haul off and start shooting. She screwed up once already. She has no idea what the being is saying, but she shakes her head, just... waiting to see what happens.

Priscilla has posed:
    Who would ever have known that Priscilla bothering to teach Nathan the old, quasi-divine language of Lordran would ever be useful. This particular being is actually even older than Priscilla, but languages steeped in the arcane and metaphorical don't mutate over time like human tongues do. Her dark red eyes immediately light up in comprehension at the sight of the script; which is essentially the Latin of Lordran: only high class members of human society are ever taught it. She sweeps the tip of the bladelike object in her hand over the floor in front of Nathan, instantly materializing several lines of her own in one motion. Psyber, by virtue of his blue nature, is suddenly hit with a sense of understanding for this particular character. The supernatural awareness that is privy to only spirits of vengeance tells him of this half-woman's history, so heavily stained is her aura with murder. At the same time, there is no particular sense of "detect evil". The blue phantom's natural inclination for righteous vengeance stays at a low simmer, bubbling away at a morally-grey pitch.

    The script reads thus: "The Bell is in my care, and will remain so. I have no interest in it, but in those that come for it, and what they bring me. I know the honey scented one cannot be your master, for your phantoms are too many and too powerful for one human. Have you come to offer his Humanity as a tithe? I will gladly accept it. Otherwise, I will speak with your true master."

Priscilla has posed:
    Curiously, once the text is actually inscribed, anyone else can read it just fine. Though only Nathan knows how to read it, the ancient script is specifically made so that beings of all different intellects grasp it immediately, hence why it has been used to facilitate communication among the eldritch for so long.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Wuyin can read the script! That's good. He would be a little bit off-put if they were negotiating about his delicious organs without his say-so, especially when the spider apparently drools lava, or napalm. Why does the spider drool lava or napalm, anyway?

He /does/ react to /that/ offer. He looks up at the half-woman, gesturing slightly to catch her attention, and then listing his head to one side as if confused. He shakes it after that. No, I don't know what that is. No, you can't have it.

Nathan has a plan, though, and him telling part of it on the radio means that Wuyin does not immediately attempt to set the spider-and-woman on knifes. He does glance back the way they came, frowning suddenly.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan steps forward to read. There are a few nods from the man, and then he shifts his position, kneeling again and writing. He'd be sweating a bit with the pressure of handling all these shenanigans, if he hadn't trained himself out of that a while ago.

    "Thank you for considering our request. We do not have humanity to offer at this time. The one who summoned us cannot speak to you at this time, as she is unable to descend into this area from above. However, we have many allies. We offer to return with more substantial quantities of Humanity that some have collected at a later date. If you would accept it, I also offer to return later with Humanity, but request an opportunity to ring the Bell now. In exchange, we will attempt to offer you whatever price of Souls you may deem acceptable collateral."

    That's "spiritual energy" souls, Nathan is not actually selling his allies' souls. Don't worry. Once again, Nathan stands and retreats.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva has no authoority here, but she'd probably object if they sacrificed someone to the spider-woman. She lets those who have more knowledge about the situation deal with it, however.

She squints at the question of Humanity, though, a confused look on her face.

Priscilla has posed:
    The spider woman seems more intrigued than anything at an otherwise kind of lame offer. One gets the impression that she is momentarily considering attempting to kill everyone anyways before she lays down more text.

    "I had thought you servants of the dragon's order with the grey spirit among your number. For this many phantoms to be summoned by a single master, and to venture this far into another's domain, is unexpected. For the time being, I will believe that your covenant possesses more to offer than what you alone bear, as I will believe those you answer to will not allow you to idly throw away souls for the sake of a worthless bell. I exact a toll of ten thousand, and my spiders will see you off. Tell your master that she will answer to Quelaag of Izalith."

    With that, the colossal spider moves to the side, clearing the way to the stares at the other end of the room. The woman watches anyone who passes with an extensively calculating stare; clearly able to tell that something unusual is going on here, but willing to wait and see how this rare disruption to the status quo plays out. Maybe she thinks the group doesn't have much of value. Maybe she realizes she can't take everyone present. Maybe both.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is remaining at rest now as she looks to the spider woman and to Nathan her eyes just moiving about as she takes in the entire are aas Nathan puts up some collertal for them. She tilts her head and nods once hopefully they can pull this off. She moves to head out, still reeling from a bit talking worked.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki shuffles past Quelaag about as awkwardly as before, offering her a series of bows as she passes by. A fairly universally understood 'Thank-you', she would think, but one never knows. She presumes it won't be interpreted as offensive, at least. Whatever the case, she summons a small, vaguely gaseous collection of white light into her hand, offering it to the spider lady whom they've spent a good portion of the evening trying to reason with. And once those 500-some souls float off into her possession? She walks graciously to the room beyond.

    Once she's there, though, her gait practically transforms into a skip. You know? Even if Nathan did most of the metaphorical heavy lifting, she's satisfied with her contribution. After all, even if he would've gone for it anyway, she was still the first to put forward the 'diplomacy' idea. Looking back to the group, she lets her grin spread ever wider for a moment or two.

    Complete insanity: 1, Mundane Realities: 0.

    She twirls in place when she's reasonably certain that no one can see her. But... er... wait. Where -is- the bell, exactly? Oh. Probably up those stairs or something.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan Hall calls out the text to the rest as he reads off of it and deposits his own reply. "Thank you for your consideration. My allies will attempt to fill the price you request. You have our gratitude for permitting us to do this, along with our collateral. I will ensure your proper payment is conveyed to you swiftly, for whatever purpose you may require it for."

    Well, that went well! Thank god Nathan Hall had these other people here though, otherwise the dude was gonna get his shit stabbed, because there was no way the spider-lady was gonna take him seriously at this soul level. For now, he... Wait, CAN phantoms leave souls? Nathan tries to leave some excess souls with her. He picked some up way back in the burg as the group went through, just the spare change they left behind, but it's a start. If he can drop them. Can he drop them?

    Well, if that works out, he'll gesture to the others to do the same, and head on through, accepting whatever guidance the "spiders" give him and ringing the bell (or at least ordering someone else to) if he has the chance.

Wuyin Tsai has posed:
Wuyin eases up on his guard. He never really lets it down, though; that's a thing that you just don't do when the boss-monster thinks you in particular might be tasty. The benefits and drawbacks of showing up in human form instead of as a phantom thing, he supposes. He'll stick to that, though.

So, off he goes, acting as part of the vanguard for the talky few. If he were a giant spider monster lady with a cool-as-hell sword, he would jump them when their backs were turned so he could pick off a couple of the fighters before they really knew what was happening. Stupid trustworthy non-spider people.

Good thing he's not a giant spider monster lady with a cool-as-hell sword, though. (The bees wouldn't appreciate it.)

Priscilla has posed:
    Thankfully, between the lean, mean, killing machine that is the current party, and the "spending money" Priscilla had left Nathan before, ten thousand souls is just within reach to actually pay. As each member in turn passes, the bizarre, human-handed spiders from outside begin skittering in through where old windows must be up above, following their progress from the roof. True to the woman's word, the stairs lead to what must be a belltower in the next room, though it bears wondering why anyone would bother when the cathedral is already buried so far underground. There would be no feeling of height at all, were it not for the fact that through a tiny gap in the wall of webs shrouding it, one can spy an even more precipitous drop than the hole they had come through, and the soft orange glow of what must be an underground lava flow. The second bell is identical to the first; a massive thing of steely grey metal, untainted by the filth and humidity of the swamp, where not a thread of spider silk comes within ten meters of it. Setting its mechanism to ring it feels almost silly, as there is simply no way its sound will echo all the way above ground, and yet there is the unmistakable, unshakeable feeling that doing so has done something. Along with the clear, heady chime of the ancient relic being rung for the first time in centuries, there is a gut sensation of something sliding into place with a satisfying click.

Riva Banari has posed:
The deal is struck, for what it's worth. Riva considers the situation, and after some discussion, supposed it was probably the best possible result.

Of course, Reiva herself isn't sure how people would trade souls. Something like that leaves a certain bad taste in her mouth. She observes the ritualistic ringing of the bell solemnly.

A part of her wonders, a bit, what exactly she volunteered to become a part of. What kind of dark fate awaits them all? What might lie in their future?

Oh well. She'll have to think about that later. Right now, she wants to just go home and rest. Dying takes a lot out of you.