The Crystal Archway (Open)

[Mirage]

Timestamp: 12th of Immanis, Era XV


It was on the 12th of Immanis that the normal flow in the residence district was disrupted. At exactly midday the ground shook and split asunder. A huge crystal archway rose from the crack in the earth glistening in the sunlight. Anyone who strayed too close was overcome with a horrible feeling of dread. None dared approach the archway after a few tries to approach it were repulsed by fear in the people's own minds.

Exactly twelve minutes after the archway appeared the Protectorate arrived. They pushed the population back fifteen feet away from the structure and quickly organized a party of there two bravest to enter it. They managed to breach the palatable aura of terror and entered the arch. At which point they simply flickered out of existence to all those watching. Several people screamed but the real terror hadn't begun. Twenty minutes after the Protectorate were dispatched a flicker formed within the archway. Slowly it coalesced and took shape into a skeleton. The Protectorate quickly cut it down but the people were starting to panic.

The Protectorate made a decision and sent out two criers too search for the bravest citizens or adventures to gather immediately behind the Protectorate's lines to group up and enter the archway.

[Sam Blackwater]

"Uhhhh... Aye, Shuddup!....Blaaaah..." A large hand lazily swatted at the boy who was standing twenty feet away in the doorway of the tavern yammering on about some archway and brave citizens. It was much to early in the brightening to be woken up for stupidity, but none the less Sam had no choice but to wake up.

He peeled his head off the scummy, beer stained table and gave his eyes a moment to adjust to the dagger-like sun beams that pierced into his pupils. A torch was still lit on the wall just behind him, so he grabbed that and lit his pipe which was going to need replacing sometime within the next month... he just kept forgetting. Thick smoke raced in and out of his lungs and back into the muggy air as he stretched out in his chair.

"What are ya talkin' 'bout, boy?" The giant bellowed as large smoke ring wobbled through the air. A young crier boy stepped into the tavern and repeated his message. "Sir, the Protectorate are looking for brave citizens to venture into a strange archway that appeared in the middle of the city!"

Sam stared at the boy with a glossed over, empty look. Was he still drunk? Was this just a dream? Had he taken one to many blows to the head last darkening? "An archway.... appeared, ya say? Har Har Har! Ya know, if yer lookin' ta get yer face slapped, ya came ta the right place."

"No, sir! I'm telling the truth! A crystal archway! Come see for yourself! The Protectorate wants anyone who can handle it to venture in... who knows what kind of treasures lay await inside, sir!" The young boy was nervous talking to the giant, but he managed to say the right thing to catch Sam's attention.

Sam sat up straight in his chair and scratched his black beard. "Treasure, aye? I be likin' the sounds o' that. Where do I sign up?" The giant stood up and stretched his legs out, then gave his neck a good crack on both sides.

"Follow me, sir! It's in the residence district!" The boy exclaimed as he bolted back out of the tavern with Sam right behind him. He made sure his greatsword was still on his back before they ventured out, and although he was not officially trained in the art of wielding it, he could provide some damage if he needed to.

When they finally got to the residence district, Sam's eyes shot open as he became witness to the crystal archway. He was more confused than anything, as most of the citizens standing around would be. The crystal was beautiful and the suns rays danced off it casting rainbows on the ground and crowd. This was to good to be true for Sam, because something this out of the ordinary and this beautiful had to have some amazing treasure just waiting to be picked up by him!

"Where would I sign up ta go in that archway?" The ten foot giant asked one of the Protectorates standing in close proximity, keeping his eyes locked on the crystal. When there was treasure involved you could bet your crowns that Sam wanted to be apart of it. Danger was not even a factor. The suns were shining and he had a good darkening of drinking before... all omens said this was a good idea!

[Xyltha Thanole]

The crystal archway glistened under the glare of Telath's angry Sun. The crowd that had gathered around the line of Protector's surrounding the Portal. The strange gateway that beckoned hauntingly to Xyltha. He barged his way through the throng of commoners, jabbing his elbows to mow down his obstacles.

"Hey! You! What's happening around here? Where did this ... Crystal Gate come from?"

He addressed one of the Protector's, all the while peering at the strange artefact with utmost curiosity. He had been around Jaedaxia long enough to know that this was a recent addition to the city, not some construction that had been undertaken by the Council.

[Mirage]

OOC: Sorry for the long wait. You'll see my posting much faster from now on. Hopefully you haven;t given up on me!

One of the protectorate came up to Xyltha and Sam. "Please come this way monsieur's. Our senior soldier wishes to speak to you." As he was turning a man detached himself from the crowd and walked over to the two and the protectorate soldier. "Ben Smith. Sword maker and practicer of sword play." The man was tall probably six foot two. He had brown eyes and a longsword strapped to his waist. A toughened piece of leather was fitted to his chest and a medium shield was strapped to his left arm.

The soldier just nodded and led the adventurers to the veteran soldier on duty. The veteran soldier was a dwarf, and like all dwarves was short. His muscles bulged and a huge waraxe was strapped on his back. He took one look at the three and snorted. "This all we could find?" He tone had disdain seeped into it. "Yes sir." The dwarf pulled out a cigar and lit it with a match. Putting it in his mouth he spoke, "Looks like I don;t have much of a choice here."

Taking a puff on the cigar he pointed to the three, "Look here, I don;t care what kind of fancy adventuring you get up to but your the only ones that answered the herald so lit looks like I am stuck with ya." Jerking a finger toward the archway he said, "That there archway thing stinks of arcana and none of my men want anything to do with it. So we got you three here to go through find out what it;s doing here, and then destroy it."

A halfling ran through the crowd and boobed excitedly next to the adventurers, "Well actually, destroying the archway would be a bad idea. It could cause a backwash of sorts releasing a huge upheaval of energy that in ..." He was shut up by the dwarf promptly stepping on his foot. "This is are mage. Just listen up. Destroy the archway and then we can all go home this brightening." The halfling tried to speak again but the dwarf stepped on his foot again. Apparently put out the halfling slipped his way back into the crowd.

"Whenever you're ready you three." A man said from behind them. If the looked they would see the archway looming over them, except the giant who would probably have to squeeze into it. Ben didn;t seem put off and immediately marched up to it and stepped through. Now the other two had to make there decisions, stay or go.

[Sundown Griffon]

Sundown had watched a man enter the archway. He also noticed two other people where looking at it as if amazed by the fact he had actually walked into it... Sundown hadn't been on a adventure in a while and by the look of what was going on it looked as though they needed all the help they can get but did he really want to take that risk he was still shaken by the fact that his bow could not alway's protect the people he called his friend's... Without another thought sundown drew his bow and ran for the archway hoping to pass though with no problem's he didn't know what he was getting himself into all he knew was that if he didn't help odd's are they would not succeed

Sundown ran past the two guy's who where watching the archway and as he did he turned his head and blurted out "What are you waiting for?" and then continued his run it was hard because as he got closer to it he started to feel fear it was as if he was staring death in the face however he ignored it and carry'd on and passed though the archway

[Raven Keyla]

Raven stood in the shadows watching the adventurers arrive. Only three had stepped forwards. Although she had had no dealings with arcana she had a feeling that three may not be enough although that may have just been the overtones of dread that seemed to stem from the crystal archway.

She heard a call from beside the adventurers, snapping her back to reality. Her amethyst eyes flew in the men's direction in time to see an all too familiar shape take a headlong run into the archway. Raven bit back the cry that threatened to fall from her lips but her old friend's actions made up her mind for her. She would have to help the men. If only to keep Sundown Griffon from killing himself. Silently she wandered from the safety of the shadows and towards the adventurers.

"Serale. Although I have no idea what's going on here, I wish to help you." The stench of fear was stronger this close to the archway but fighting the urge to retch Raven stood beside the men, waiting for a response.

[Sam Blackwater]

A small smirk spread across the giant's face when they were taken to speak with a dwarven man. Dwarfs were amusing to Sam because they looked like little compressed muscle men, but he knew what they were capable of. Sam wasn't very surprised when the dwarf told them that it would just be them three going into the archway, by the unnatural event of a crystal archway popping up from the ground in the middle of town, he couldn't see why anyone would wanna rush into a high probability of death.

Sam was a gambling man, though. Odds against him meant nothing more than a high reward. Plus, their ship wasn't going anywhere for a few brightenings, so other than drink, smoke and bed some barmaids, Sam had some spare time on his hands.

The archway would have been reward enough if he was able to take it. On the black market that thing would be able to buy him a brand new war ship, a massive crew, plus an army! Sam ran his fingers down the smooth crystal edge. "I don't know if I want to smash this thing of beauty. T'would be a bad omen." He grunted to the dwarf, eyes fixated on the rainbow spectrums that danced off the doorway.

Apparently more people had a death wish than Sam thought! A man ran past him with his bow already drawn yelling for everyone to hurry up. "I'll let ya run on ahead and find out where the traps are..." The giant said to himself, but loud enough for those close by to hear, while shooting a nasty glare at the boy.

More people meant more division of treasure... so when a young lady spoke up about wanting to help, the smuggler's eyes rolled back into his head. "Why don't we jus' invite the whole city ta come an' help us..." Sam was still a bit cranky from sleeping on a barroom table for the last few candlemarks. None the less he gave Raven an insincere grin that beared his crooked stained teeth and ducked his head to fit underneath the archway...

[Xyltha Thanole]

Xyltha chuckled at the giant's comment, but glad for the additional members that turned up at the last minute. He didn't particularly wish to face danger in a party comprised of such small numbers, even if one was a giant. He was happy for every little bit of help that threw itself or himself headlong in their path.

"Very well then. Off we go, I guess. After you, my good giant." He waited for the huge frame of manflesh to squeeze past the enigmatic arch before he himself wandered in, craning his head backwards to watch the vanishing crowd of onlookers.

"Would this be the last time I see Jaedaxia?" He hoped not.

[Raven Keyla]

Raven ignored the giants comment and his smile, choosing instead to stay silent as the large man bent to pass through the crystal archway. The other man passed through next speaking to himself. Raven ignored that too.

She looked at the crowd that surrounded them for a few moments before she realised she was the only one left outside of the arch. "What have you gotten yourself into this time Griffon?" She sighed walking forwards slowly, through the archway.

[Mirage]

OOC: Looks like I got me some pets to play with. Muahahaha!

Wehter or not the archway would be worth that much was a matter of debate, but when everyone had gone through it it's powers became evident. The world twisted and stretched distorting around in a circle that was impossible to follow. Then everything stopped as each member of the party was deposited semi gently on the otherside of the archway.

The cold damp musky smell of the tunnels met the nostrils of each member of the party. Sam found the ceiling high enough to stand straight in. The room they found themselves in was large, really large. They were in the very center of the room on a raised area of rock. The sound of dripping met the ears of all of them and if they were to look behind them they would see the archway still standing there. They could see through it too, to where they had been.

A hole in the rock sized for something large than a giant wound it;s way into the dark. No matter what they did however the sound of foot steps met their ears. The footsteps were light but had a strage hollowness too them, almost like someone was walking on stilts.

[Sam Blackwater]

Sam felt like he was drunk for a moment when everything in sight became a blurred mess after he entered the archway. His knees bent to brace himself as he felt like his whole body was going to fall over, but he didn't and the distortion soon stabilized only to find himself and the other adventurers in some musky cavern.

The giant swept his eyes across the rocky room. Any glamor the crystal archway presented held no merit inside... the contrast was blinding. Constant drips could be heard, but Sam wasn't able to pinpoint their exact location. He didn't even know where in all of Telath they were! Was this an underwater cave or something on the side of a mountain?

Sam looked around at the others and gave a snort. "So here we are... I be startin' ta wonder if there be any treasure here at all." He sounded dissapointed and bored, but not a moment to soon did the footsteps start to come. Strange footsteps. Sam clenched his fists and held them at his side as he scanned around for whatever was coming. "Aye! We got us some company." His mood lightened up... whether it was friend or foe coming, Sam was ready.

[Sundown Griffon]

Sundown had never been more confused in his life one second he thought he was staring death in the face and then the next second he was staring at a room from witch looked to him as a underground catacome, necromancer place.

He didn't really know what to think and with his bow drawn he placed an arrow ready to fire and then took note of the people around him there was a giant and a dwarf and "RAVEN!" He said her name out loud and could tell that everyone had heard feeling stupid he fell queit then when he had sucked in his joy he continued " Raven you do seem to like my....my.... company"

He knew he just sounded like a idiot but as he was speaking he heard slit footsteps that had drew his attention he drew the arrow back and got ready without anouther word

[Raven Keyla]

Raven's amethyst eyes darted around the inside of the archway, trying to make sense of the blurred shapes and colours she was seeing. Warily she placed her arms out in an attempt to keep her balance. As suddenly as the blurring had began, it stopped and she found herself standing beside the men she had followed into the arch.
Looking around all she could see was cave-like walls. Drips sounded throughout the cave, punctuating the silence.

Finally she recognised another figure, this time a familiar one with an arrow nocked to his bowstring. She heard him cry her name followed by a garbled sentence and rolled her eyes. "Of course I like your company Griffon. Somebody has to keep you out of trouble." Despite her words she couldn't keep the smile from her pale face.

Footsteps snapped her attention back to the cave and her hand flew instantly to the dagger at her hip, before drawing it silently and standing ready.

[Xyltha Thanole]

As the elf took the final step through the Crystal Archway, his world upended. Whether it was all in his mind, or whether it was the distortion of the nexus leading to the otherside, he did not know. What he did know was that it was a fething unpleasant experience. As the vertiginous sensation subsided, he found himself unceremoniously deposited in a dark, dank cavern.

He glanced around, and noted the presence of the other companions who had entered through the Arch. Good, at least they were together, not spat out in different He felt safer with companions. If he had to die, well he wouldn't be alone.

"Where in Telath are we?!" He whipped around in the direction of the incoming footsteps, peering into the darkness to make out any approaching figure.

[Mirage]

The talking reverberated off the cavern and seemed to unnaturally magnify what was being said, and still the strange foot steps came closer. It would be Xyltha and Sundown to spot the creature first. Their eyes enhanced by the elven blood they carried. Followed closely by Raven, the giant would make the creature out last, which was fortunate for the creature because the giant could most likely just step on it.

The creature was none other than a skeleton. A tall one at that, standing nearly six and a half feet tall the creature wore an ancient version of imperial armor. It hung loosely on the decayed bones and the sockets where the eyes should have been held an unnatural green flame.

The skeleton seemed to notice the party because it's skull looked straight at them. It's right hand clasped a sword that seemed to fragile to use and with a slightly crooked motion drew the blade. If Sundown were to fire his arrow he would find that the armor, while old, seemed to be sturdy and the arrow did little damage.

The skeleton seemed like some inevitable monster as it charged the party. The eerie glow of it's eyes reflected off the damp walls and the faces of each person. It's sword lifted high it attempted to strike Sundown with a horizontal strike.