Dungeon, Party of Four [DeathIncarnate, LouCypher, Menel, Rayne]

The celebration from a month ago had finally brought in some new content and LouCypher was excited to give it a go. Since the big incident at that celebration, Lou had been just been doing things alone.  

That hacker had really done a good job on the summon they'd created and been able to escape us without us being able to stop him.  He had just arrived on the scene when the Hacker cackled evilly and teleported away with his monstrous creation. He should have anticipated that someone would want to ruin people's fun.  Who'd have thought that being a game Security Officer would actually have any stress to it?

Oh well, time to relieve stress and do some dungeon delving in the areas he couldn't go in alone.  Group finder always led to finding trolls, so he figured he'd just hoof it there and maybe get with people that weren't too lazy to run.

 The day looked fairly nice on the outset to the new dungeon location.  This changed right about past the point where it would have been better to just turn around.The rain was coming down pretty hard and making it slippery in some places when trying to get to the cave.  
"Hopefully I won't need this again any time soon," LouCypher muttered, "but this rain just doesn't suit me."
A brief moment's pause and his feet cover over in traction shoes of ice.  When the shoes finish forming over his feet, the ice begins to grow outward from the impact location of his foot.  Lou laughed softly "AND GO!" and took off at a full sprint in the direction of the dungeon, leaving ever growing circles of ice in his wake.  Looking behind him, he was amazed at how realistic the rain looked bouncing off of the frozen trail he was leaving behind him.

With the rain coming down the way it was, Rayne was already in a poor mood when her foot suddenly caught on a stray patch of ice and nearly sent her sprawling to the ground. She could have sworn that there wasn't a patch of ice there only a moment ago, but it was dark out with the clouds hanging so oppressively; darkening the world beneath them. She was fairly certain she'd seen someone go whipping by, but she couldn't be sure.

She cursed loudly. "Watch out for the ice." There was more of it, and she had to walk off to the side of the path toward the cave that was her destination in order to avoid it. She was talking to DeathIncarnate, the player who she had teamed up with not that long ago. He was agreeable enough, and she felt like they made a pretty decent team. The dungeon they were headed toward didn't require a party to enter it, but it was challenging enough that without one it was almost impossible to accomplish.

"Usually there's a few people hanging around outside the cave, so we should be able to find a few more that are willing to team up." She didn't love the idea of meeting new people and socializing, but it was worth it to get the experience, and some of the monsters inside would make good summons for Death if he was inclined to take them.

It didn't take them much longer to reach the mouth of the cave, and Rayne instantly spotted the fire and headed toward it; still on the lookout for ice. A path which had continued all the way to here. She was starting to suspect that it was a player's ability, or maybe a summon's.

"Hey." Came the sound of a man's voice by the fire and she picked up her pace a little in time to spot a pair of men around the flames. One was sporting white hair cut short. He looked to be a sword-fighter of some variation if the weapons on his hips were any indication, and the other was red-haired with a bow strapped to his back.

"Hey." She offered a lifted hand, and an uncertain smile along with her greeting. "Looking for a party?"

DeathIncarnate was walking along with Rayne in rain and he was finding it difficult to make conversation with her about the crappy weather without accidentally making some joke he hadn't realized he'd made, so he stayed mostly silent.  He could hear Rayne cursing under her breath about the lousy weather and something else that he couldn't make out when she began to fall.  Reaching out to try and catch her was almost her undoing.  His awful coordination wasn't one made for quick rescues.  Thankfully, Rayne was able to avoid whatever made her slip while skillfully maneuvering around Death's poor attempt to use his reflexes.

"Watch out for the ice."  

"Why... would there be ice..." Death began while blinking rapidly up at the sky, "in a rain storm like this?" he finished, muttering to himself while looking down at the trail of ice leading off into the same direction they were headed.

Regaining their composure, they continued their trudge to the cave.

"Usually there's a few people hanging around outside the cave, so we should be able to find a few more that are willing to team up."

That didn't sound too horrible.  Hopefully there would be some summons in here for him to get.  Maybe even pick up some weaker ones just to summon and drain for health.  That took a very heavy toll on his mental status though, so more of a last ditch effort to save someone's life.  Who knows, maybe they'll make more friends as well.

Death was just following Rayne along, as he would never have found his way through this mess. It wasn't too long before he could make out a wavering light off in the distance.  As they grew nearer, through the rain you could see that it was a small fire in the mouth of a cave.

WARMTH!!

This rain was annoying but the chilling cold it sent through his bones was what was really bugging him.

"Hey." came the voice from in front of Rayne.  

"Hey," Rayne replied, "Looking for a party?"

Death stepped into the cave and around Rayne to get a view of the other player.  He had a posture about him that exuded confidence.  The sword on his hip indicated he was a fighter of some sort.  That could be helpful to our party.  There was another player sitting by the fire as well.  This one had a bow strapped to his back and shoes made of ice.  The armour he wore was atrocious.  Death couldn't help but stare at the man's ragged clothing.

Oh I hope the sword person is the one that's leading...

Whatever it was cooking on the fire, he wasn't hungry.

After a moment, a small man entered the light of Menel's fire. It was hard to determine what color his hair was in the uncertain light, but it looked red or orange. In fact, at first glance Menel thought him a dwarf for his lack of height, but he lacked the build for it. If he was a dwarf, then he had made some serious alterations to the base. Menel's keen eye roamed over the other man's armor and weapons, noting the strange runic markings on most of it and a condition which was at best described as poor.

Menel nodded politely to him, his smile widening just a little bit when the man was quickly followed by two more people. One was a woman, her hair a definite shade of red and her bearing a bit uncertain. She wore some kind of red and silver armor and he noted immediately the guns she wore on either thigh. Everything she wore looked as carefully attended to as his own equipment.

Following in her wake was her companion who didn't offer a greeting of his own. He was a thin man who was outfitted somewhat like a cowboy with a long duster coat and a hat seated low so as to cover his features. He wore no obvious weapons, but Menel didn't discount him because of it. He could easily be a spellcaster, or simply keeping his weapons in his inventory until the proper moment.

Seeing them all Menel rose to his feet, forgetting the rabbit which was beginning to overcook. He didn't seem to notice. Instead he offered a hand to each of his guests, a firm friendly handshake for each of the people in question and a nod to the question that had been posed. "I am, though I can't speak for this gentleman here." He motioned toward the man who had approached his fire first and then sent out party invites to everyone gathered around the flames. "I haven't been through here before, but a party of four should work well from what I've heard. So long as you're all inclined."

Lou made his way into the cave, hearing "Hey." but was thinking about the possible repercussions from using his new spell that he'd just used to get here and didn't quite register that the words may have been meant for him.  He auto piloted his way over to the fire, deep in thought when he realized that the man next to him stood up and there were other people here talking.

"I am, though I can't speak for this gentleman here." Menel said gesturing at Lou and following up with,  "I haven't been through here before, but a party of four should work well from what I've heard. So long as you're all inclined."

"Hmmm..?  You're all here to party up?" HOLY SMOKES!  No LFG needed!  YES!  Quite likely some competent people if they found their way to this place in this Gods' forsaken weather..

Looking at the group, Lou could see that one of them was a ranged weapon user, another a spell caster of some sort, due to no apparent weapon and choice of armour and the other was the swordsman who was here first.  Not a bad pairing of people to just randomly show up at the dungeon.  Maybe Lady Luck was with us all tonight.

Lou stood up and then noticed that the one with the cowboy clothes was staring at him.  Being stared at because of his height and always being too poor to buy new gear was nothing new to him... It was the eyes that were creepy.  From Lou's low vantage point, he could clearly see Death's face.  His face was shallow and gaunt with crackling white electricity for eyes.  Did this person pay for an aesthetic like that?  I never saw that option and I've been playing this game forever..  I'm looking that up.  I want Ice in my eyes when I use my bow!!  THAT WOULD BE SOOOO COOOOL!!!

Looking in Menel's direction, Lou nodded,"You gonna be our tank then?"

Whatever was on the fire was starting to burn and Rayne cast a glance at it. Some kind of small animal was roasting too long there. She was tempted to move it herself, but it wasn't her meal that was getting ruined and she wasn't inclined to stick her nose in where it wasn't wanted. Not in this instance in any case.

Death stayed quiet as they approached the campfire, and even the man's friendly greeting didn't draw any comment out of the necromancer. At least not right away. Which put Rayne in the unenviable position of being friendly with the strangers. At least the white-haired man seemed fairly friendly, not assuming that the man that had come to his campfire was willing to join up with them. She was surprised that he offered up a party invite so easily though, but she was quick enough to accept.

These people would do well enough she supposed, though... She couldn't help taking a second glance at the other man's worn and ragged gear. It looked like something that had been passed down from his grandfather rather than something that would actually protect him if it came down to it. He clearly needed to run the dungeon just for the loot rewards that it would offer.

She returned her attention to the swordsman as the short man began to question him. "I'll join your party for this adventure, sure." This was said mostly for Death's benifit since the man tended to role-play out his adventures. It was something she was still getting used to. "I haven't been through here before either, but I've heard it's pretty challenging so I'm glad we found someone else to come with us."

Rayne glanced at Death. "I'm Rayne by the way, and this is Death Incarnate." She motioned to her companion and mentally urged him to say something. Goodness knew where this day was going to go if she was expected to do all the talking. Things would not end well.

Noticing that the short little guy caught him staring, Death averted his eyes and came back to the conversation. After a quick shake of his head, he tried to catch up to what everyone had been saying.

"...but I've heard it's pretty challenging so I'm glad we found someone else to come with us." Rayne had just finished saying. "I'm Rayne by the way, and this is Death Incarnate."

"Hello. As Rayne said, I'm Death Incarnate. Give me just a moment and I can help our start out. I can only imagine we're going to run into some nasty critters in no time."

Stepping forward to give himself enough room, Death began the incantation and somatic movements required to bring his own friend to the party.

"Souls of the dead, hear my cry; and do my bidding until you die.
Arise with flesh, bone and sinew. Back to the grave after this, I'll send you!"

In front of him, the air began to swirl; all of the small debris, dust and dirt began to form a snake like skeleton. The form continued to gain mass over a short period of time: The bones first, followed by the muscles that cover them; each muscle fiber individually strapping itself over the last. Once the muscles had fully formed, the skin, a dull grey-blue color with blotches of decay leaving little pock marks throughout, tightly pulled over the sinews was materialized. As the form of the Dark Naga came fully into shape, she opened her eyes as her bright scales began to form her natural armour.

Letting out a deep sigh, sweat covering his brow, Death pointed at the Naga as cords of bone popped out of it's skin in various places to form a complex myriad of bone structures which ended in a full suit of bone armour.

"Okay," Death panted, "My job is done for a little while." he said with a feeble chuckle.

Looking at Rayne, "Maybe I should have brought some mana food with me?"

Everyone was accepting the party requests in their own time and Menel smiled in satisfaction that it seemed like he would have a group to join him in the dungeon after all. Considering the weather it was possible that he might have sat here all day without a single sign of someone else to try the dungeon with.

"You gonna be our tank then?" Menel laughed at the question but nodded.

"I'll warn you that I'm not as much of a... tank as some fighters can be, but I'll draw the attention of the monsters inside and do my best to keep them off of the rest of you." Menel turned a bit more serious, meeting the eyes of each person as best he could. Offering his hand to them to shake. "I'm Menel, and it's a pleasure to meet you all."

His eyes flickered toward the storm and then he motioned toward the entrance of the dungeon. "Now, if you would all join me? We should be on our way. I heard that the storm sometimes drives monsters to this location and we don't want to be pinned between them and the doorway."

Actually, if no one had showed up, he probably would have spent the day fighting those monsters. As it was though, he was glad for this impromptu party to join him. It would make the day far more interesting than if he'd tried to spend it alone. With those words however he picked up a brand from the fire, stashed his rabbit in his inventory for later consumption, and headed toward the door. The gateway into the dungeon opened with a press of his hand against the metal. It was far easier to open than it looked like it might be and he was able to pass through without any real effort.

Inside it was pitch black, but the light of Menel's torch pushed the shadows away from the group far enough for them to get a look at the interior. It was a huge cavern full of stalactites and stalagmites. There was no sign of monsters yet, but there would be some eventually Menel knew. He pressed inwards, keeping his pace moderated for those following so that they could keep up. "Let me know if you spot something unusual and I'll check it out."

Lou watched in amazement at the now obvious Necromancer as he summoned a creature that had only been in game for a short time.  Maybe this will be a good group afterall!  Menel agreed that he would be the tank, but with some stipulations it seemed.  

LouCypher took Menel's hand in his for a quick hand shake while introducing himself to the party.  "Hey all, I'm LouCypher and I'm an Arcane Archer." Lou said while releasing Menel's handshake to brandish his bow.  As Lou brought his bow to bear and nocked an arrow the bow began to shimmer like thousands of tiny diamonds had encrusted it and each was vying to be the brightest.  Once the bow and arrow were both in position, the wood from the bow had given way to a bladed version of what was, now made purely of ice.

Watching the rabbit get picked up and stowed away made Lou's stomach give an unappreciative growl, reminding him that he skipped out on eating to make his way here... poor timing.  Maybe he'll be willing to share that later.  Lou subconsciously licked his lips at the thought.  

Accepting the party invite, Lou put himself in position behind Menel and the Naga but in front of Death.  While Lou's armour might look like crap and offer no protection... He knew that a Necro wasn't suited to take any hits either.

After Menel had given a warning about needing to leave this area and get into the dungeon before getting attacked, Lou wasted no time helping usher everyone into the dungeon to get away from the chance of getting caught in a pincer attack.  He hadn't died on this character a single time yet and didn't want to change that.

Keep an eye out..?  Too easy!  This might just turn out to be a cakewalk.  A quick glance over at Rayne to see if she was going to do anything fancy to show off how cool she was, or if it was only going to be magic users?

"Rayne, you want to pull Rear guard, or me?"