The Pit is perhaps one of the most heavily-guarded spaces in all of Arx right now. Plenty have taken a turn at defending this space, and so now and then you can find people from all walks of life gathered in a cluster to keep this path to the Thinnest Point safe. Iron Guardsman, Crimson Blades, nobles and Crownsworn, upper crust and Boroughs trash alike.

So, rationally, one would think there should be no question about anything sneaking past and into the catacombs below.

And yet, there's something of a fuss about precisely that going on. Two youngsters -- commoners, and possibly from the Boroughs by the looks of them -- are arguing with an Iron Guardsman. A boy and a girl, of about perhaps seventeen, both full of the righteous certainty of youth as they glare down the armored man. "S'true!" The girl, her nut-brown hair bound back into a braid, puts her hands on her hips. "Tom says he saw one goin' down there, and Tom's no liar! He's just got good eyes. Spots lots of things other people don't!"

The boy, a gangly youth who seems not quite to have grown into his own limbs, runs a hand through his curly red-gold hair, turning to look at the Pit worriedly. "We gotta go in /after/ it! They aren't supposed to be /down/ there! It'll be bad!"

The Iron Guardsman looks utterly unconvinced. "We got a guard or two already /down/ there in the Pit. Something gets down there, they won't get any farther." He makes a shooing motion towards the children. "Now go. You shouldn't be hanging around here."

Despite--or perhaps because of--an unpleasant encounter with Bringers last night, Tristan has shown up for a shift at guarding the pit, complete with extremely large mastiff at his side which makes at least some of the humans nervous. "What do you think?" he asks of the dog as he overhears this conversation with the guards. "Smell anything?" The dog gives him an uncommonly intelligent look. For a dog.

In some circles there may be debates about whether a Greenmarcher should count as lower trash or high society. It all comes down to one's views on prodigals, boisterous drinking, and whether or not riding elk in cavalry charges is right and proper. It doesn't really matter in this case, though, when high and low alike take to the defense of Arx. Niamh is here, then, dressed in her leathers and resting a gloved hand on the pomel of her alaricite blade as she strolls through the area near the pit, serving as a guard for the day. The conversation between the urchins has her pacing steps slowing so she can hear the conversation before casting a look to the side, towards the Pit itself.

Aislin GM Roll checked perception(3) against difficulty 7, resulting in 41, 34 higher than the difficulty.

Rowan had been standing near the pit itself, leaning onto his axe with both hands folded over the butt end of the haft, making idle conversation between Khanne and Niamh and whoever else he was getting to know through this round of guard duty when the commotion kicked up. His attention turned towards the children, a curious lift to one brow, and his jaw lifting from the stack of his hands. Clearing his throat a little, he glances towards the others gathered, and then towards the guard arguing with the kids, nodding that direction as he picks up the axe loosely and takes a couple of steps closer. "Don't see or can't see?" His voice lifted to try and speak over the arguement. "There's some that can't be seen aren't there?" He glances then towards Tristan, and his dog, when he addresses the fuzzbutt himself.

Tikva strides forward, blithe and quick with a new flow to her step now that she's freed of all the bindings and constraints of the straightening cast and back in the lightweight armor in which she is so much more comfortable. She hums under her breath, a martial air that she probably has forgotten she's singing. Her bright gaze flicks here and there around the graveyard, uncertainty mostly coloring the slight tension in her brow. Her longbow and quiver are at the ready. "Best to be sure," she says. "These things can do a veil thing that can be problematic."

Khanne isn't normally seen as a Guard, but, here she is with Niamh and Rowan, clad in her leathers from head to toe. Nodding to Rowan and says, "that's what I hear. Good disguises, slippery, sneaky things..." She gestures towards Tikva, "best to be sure," she agrees.

Peregrine might not know about the importance of the Pit /specifically/ but she does know Tikva is damned good company and sitting around in a mansion is boring. No other explanation needed for the newly minted Prodigal to be striding after the much smaller lady. She too is in leathers, with one hand tap tap tapping an idle, easy rhythm against the butt of the sheathed dagger under her palm. Nothing need be said: Tikva speaks for it, and Peregrine hums low assent. It is known.

The dog sniffs towards the Pit, towards the Iron Guardsman and the children. With smoke and all the other scents of the city on the breeze, it's hard to sense anything, but... the mastiff whines softly. There's definitely a faint scent of /something/ he doesn't like.

"See?" The girl sounds triumphant at this. "Maybe Tom can just see through things, and /you/ can't. There could be dozens or /hundreds/ of those things down there, and you're just... just... too /dumb/ to see them!" She turns to offer both Rowan and Tikva a grateful smile. /Someone/ here has sense! The boy -- Tom? -- edges towards the Pit with an expression of deep concern. Why isn't anyone /going down there/ to deal with the thing?

The Iron Guard watches this, and then grunts. "Great. Now they're /never/ going to stop with their fairy stories about an invisible monster." He gives the new arrivals a baleful look.

Tristan touches the hilt of his sword, and straightens up. "Bringers can become invisible," he says, voice firm and authoritative. "And disguise themselves as people. I've seen both. Well. I didn't see the invisible ones until they unveiled, to be technical." He quirks an eyebrow at the guards, looking Unimpressed. "And the dog smells something she doesn't like. Let's take a look."

Coming to the edge of the pit, Niamh tugs on one of the knotted ropes leading down into the darkness below. "There are plenty topside. If there are just two below, we might as well go see what's happening, yeah?" The question comes in lilting Oathlands alto. "If there's something down there, the two Guardsmen might need some help. If there's nothing, we've not weakened the defenses up here much." Looking at the Guard dealing with the kids, "You have lanterns stocked down at the bottom for grabbing?"

Rowan listens to the children while they carry on. -Really- listens by the look of it, his eyes narrowing a little and his head turning like an animal's while he considers first the little girl and then the little boy at the edge of the pit. His attention lingers on the boy before he leans back and takes a few steps closer, to reach out a broad hand and try to draw him back from the edge some. "Long drop, kid," warned through a crook of a grin. Of course right after he leans over and peers down towards the stink coming up from the hole with a wrinkle to his nose, seeming generally agreeable to the idea of going down after whatever might have slipped past.

Khanne looks at the guard with a blank expression and a roll of her eyes. "There are monsters everywhere," she mutters, picking up her bow from where it leaned nearby. She looks to Rowan and Niamh, glancing at the others she is less (or not at all) familiar with. "Shall we?" she asks to the group, though she doesn't seem eager to be the first in line, she'll let others take the lead. Rowan, of course, wastes no time. She shakes her head and soon follows after him.

Tikva tilts her head in Tristan's direction. Slinging her bow back up across her back, she moves to join Niamh at the ropes. She gives the taller woman a quick smile, winking bright in her eyes. "I'm game," she says. She looks back towards Peregrine. "This is going to be really foul," she tells her, apparently quite cheerful about this.

Peregrine opts for leveling a hard stare at the guardsman. She has enough Arvani to at least pick up on the disgusted tone and is well-equipped to answer baleful with quelling. "Is foul here too," she quips to Tikva-- and no question of what she means, given the focus of her eyes. But with the others futzing at the edge she turns too, to pad after the little lady. A nod for all of those volunteering, before she hunkers down to take her turn with the ropes. \

The Guardsman gets an exasperated look best described as 'fucking amateurs'; here he is, a career guard, given a task, and all these random nobles and stablemasters show up thinking they can do the job better. "Yeah, there's lanterns down there. Two guards, too. Mikah and Louis."

"We're coming too." The boy, Tomas, suddenly chimes in here, his tone one of determination totally at odds with his demeanor; he's still all nervous energy and fidgeting, as he looks over into the edge of the pit. "If you really can't see those things, then you /need/ me down there!" And so saying, he moves to grab one of the ropes and slip down as well.

"Yeah!" The girl nods once, emphatically, as she heads in as well. "And if Tomas is going down there, then I'm coming too!"

"You /really/ going to take the brats down with you?" The Iron Guardsman peers over the edge at the rest. Still, he sounds like he's convinced he already knows the answer. Of /course/ the amateurs are going to take the kids with them. It's the worst possible idea, so far as he's concerned, so /obviously/ they're going to do it.

"I don't think we're taking the kids with us," Tristan tells the guards. "I think it's more than they're taking us with them." And, without further word, he heads for the ropes. He takes advantage of a spare rope to lower the dog down too, just to annoy the guards even further. Battle doggos are important.

While everyone is gathered around the Pit, Niamh does a quick, "I'm Niamh. That's Rowan, Khanne, Tikva." She point out the people knows, looks with a questioning quirk or brow to Tristan and Peregrine. The two teenagers get a /look/. "Stay in the middle. No running ahead. You see something, then call it out. If you can't do that you get tied up at the bottom to keep you safe." And she's rapelling down.

Rowan glances towards both Tomas and the girl before shrugging a shoulder and nodding some agreement with Tristan. "Old enough to make their own bad calls," added in agreement as he lashes his axe near the head to his belt to free his hands for the climb down. He's a few feet down his rope when he lifts a hand up to give a 'lo-there wave when Niamh introduces him. "You take off or get in front of an arrow or a blade, no promises on not hitting you," added on top of Niamh's instructions.

"Wait a moment." Tikva looks sternly up towards the children, the snap of a distinctly maternal glare weighting her vivid eyes as she turns her gaze away from the knotted ropes towards both boy and girl. "I'm not about to start feeding teenagers to the Abyss," she says firmly. "We should leave them here. There are other options for spotting the invisible."

Khanne uses a rope to climb down with the others, her bow strapped over her back. She stops when Rowan does, waving as well when her name is given, then continues on her way. She doesn't seem to have a problem with the teenagers coming along, after all... she knows what she was up to at that age.

"Peregrine.," is supplied promptly, with a bit of a grunt as she swings herself over the edge. "They are not babies, little mother. It is good, more eyes." That is the last thing she says on the way down, too-- the air, it rapidly takes on a thickness that leads to breathing through her mouth, and tight-pressed teeth. Hissing helps? Maybe.

"I'm Lyra!" The girl introduces herself brightly in answer to Niamh, already halfway down the rope. "And this is Tomas. He's my brother. Well." She glances over at the boy. "Not my /brother/, but like a brother." The moment she's on the ground of the Pit, she's offering a hand in greeting to anyone and everyone who she can reach. Except Tikva, who is now /promptly/ ignored as Absolutely No Fun. Even the dog. (The dog can shake hands, right?)

Tomas, for his part, has already hurried on ahead of the others, blatantly disregarding both Niamh's instructions and Tikva's objection. However, he's only just reached the excavated space that leads into the catacombs, resting a hand on the stonework with an air of wonder. "It's like a /story/." There's an edge of barely-suppressed glee. Sure, this is super dangerous and everything, but it's also an /adventure/. He bends down to take one of the three lanterns, fumbling in a pocket for some flint to light it.

The dog can shake hands, although she does it with a grave, almost patronizing air. Apparently, yes, dogs can be condescending. Tristan unties the mastiff from the rope, and straightens up. "Tristan," he says by way of introduction. "Royal stablemaster, dog trainer, and occasional stabber of Bringers." He glances over to the teenagers, and reaches for a lantern himself, lighting it with his lighty thing before tossing it to Tomas. "I don't want children fighting, but they're old enough to take their own risks."

Rowan continues working his way down when he calls up, "At their age Niamh and I were already fighting neighboring shavs. Another year at most and he'll be conscripted into someone's army." His words came half grunted as he worked his way down and landed heavy on his feet. Axe taken back from his belt, he follows after Tomas with a sigh. "-Behind-, kid. You don't want to be in front of archers in the dark."

Once Niamh has boots on the ground below, she ignores Lyra long enough to find Tomas. "Stay in the middle. DO NOT run ahead. Cause trouble and you will be tied up and left here." The instructions are said as firmly as she can to get hrough the kid. Lyra, then, is given the handshake of greeting. Dusk is drawn from its scabbard and Niamh begins to look around. "Which way?" is asked of the dog.

"At their age I was doing any number of stupid things," Tikva says crisply. "That doesn't mean thinking adults should be party to them." She slides down the rope as though born to it, as though she's damn well slid down a lot more ropes in her time-- well, never mind. Her jaw is tense. The first thing she does when her boots hit the ground of the Pit beneath is unhook her bow from where she strung it over her back. "Yes, it's very like a story," she says. "A tale of deeds and monsters." She pulls an arrow and rather than immediately nock it, she puts it between her teeth and clamps it there as she leans down to scoop up one of the lanterns. She lights it quickly and then moves ahead. Look, somebody brought a ranger along for a reason, right? Right?

"It is not stupid, to want to fight." Peregrine tilts her head at Lyra, bemused by the handshake, but not unwilling to give it and offer a quirky little smile for the courtesy. With that done, she stabs a finger after the dashing Tomas, blithely unconcerned with the words of wisdom being tossed at his back and she intones, "/That/ is stupid." There is a third lantern, and she lifts it while her dagger fills her other hand. The bird princess will take up the rear, safely behind the archers.

Rowan straightens up some and rolls each shoulder in turn, tips his neck left to right, limbering up his joints a little. "Fair chance they'll hone in on Khanne and me if they turn up," he alerts the others. "Please don't put any arrows in our hides," added with toothy grin though the mirth wasn't quite with the request.

With a lantern now lit, Tomas was already quite clearly preparing to start into the catacombs. But then he pauses at Rowan and Niamh's admonitions. He looks back at the adults, clearly mulling all this over, and then with an absolutely quintessentially teenage /sigh/ just heads back to the rest of the group. He might even kick at the ground as he does so. Peregrine's chastisement only seems to make him feel even /more/ dejected.

Lyra seems absolutely /delighted/ that the dog has shaken her hand. This is the best dog. Perhaps she can keep the dog, afterwards. But then she, too, straightens and moves to join Tomas in the center of the group. "We /do/ want to fight. The Boroughs are our /home/," she points out to the others. "And some of the /worst/ stuff has been happening here. We have all the same risks -- we could get torn apart by those monsters just as easily as anyone else -- but no one wants to let us help!"

Ahead, in the catacomb tunnel, a noise of movement. An Iron Guardsman with a rapier at her side stares at the party at the entrance, a lantern in her hand. "What's this, then?" she asks, in a tone of slightly exasperated amusement. "I didn't know we were giving /tours/ now."

Tristan keeps a close on the dog, observing what she reacts to, and what directions she seems interested in. Animals far more trustworthy than people, at least as far as Tristan is concerned. He follows closely behind Tikva, dog and all. "Sadly," he says, "I think the age to be allowed to defend your home is a lot lower the the age for other things." As they come along the guard he pauses. "Yes," he says dryly. He looks her over closely, too, still watching the dogs' reactions. "First tour of the day, all ages welcome." He

"Homes are worth fighting for. Show at the Champion's Guild at dawn and learn to fight. Knowing how to handle yourself will make others less likely to shove your assistance away." Niamh, not the most social of creatures, is quite happy to keep her sword at the ready and let others do the talking and direction picking.

"That's because you're seventeen," Tikva says, her tone kindly and exasperated once she removes her arrow from her teeth. She paces quietly towards the front of the group, scanning quickly with her gaze. She also pays close heed to what the dog's reactions seem to be, because her own nose is only human. "And we want you to live to be eighteen." Her chin lifts, her gaze bright as she ponders the armed guardsman; she lifts her lantern. "Hello. You all have any way of detecting veiling down here?"

Rowan also keeps an eye on Tristan's dog, as much as Tomas, trusting their individual senses as much as his own ears in the accoustics of the stone cavern. At the guards commentary, he looks around to the hodge-podge company of fighters and would-be defenders of the boroughs, then looks forward again. "Two silver a trip." While Tikva takes the more pragmatic questioning, Rowan glances behind them and out into the dark.

Having had developed a soft spot for ;children' as of late, Khanne smiles as Niamh tells them to shoe up at the guild and learn to fight. She too watches the dog, knowing a bit about animals and their behavior. She holds her bow at the ready now, progressing close enough to the front to not hit one of their own (hopefully) with an arrow, but not being first in line either. She looks to Tikva, then to Rowan with a glance.

With other eyes and senses ahead, Peregrine spares her focus for what's behind them. A guardsman in the tunnel? Perhaps, then, it's best to squint at the darkness they're leaving. A page from Niamh's book is taken, little conversation offered. Perhaps she feels claustrophobic down here, away from sky and fresh air.

"Louisa Barbieri, of the Iron Guard. I trust you all have a reason to be down here?" The guardsman looks over the party, one hand resting on the hilt of her rapier. "And all we've been doing is standing side-by-side to block the tunnels, so anything that wants to slip past has to actually /attack/ to do it. But..." She trails off, worriedly, and glances over her shoulder. Presumably if they were trying to block the entrance, she should have had someone /else/ present as well.

Lyra and Tomas, meanwhile, busy themselves examining everyone's weapons. What's Peregrine using? What's Khanne using? Oooooh, Niamh's weapon is /shiny/. Lyra /almost/ reaches out to touch the blade with a finger, then seems to think better of it.

"We're concerned citizens," Tristan tells the guard with a quirk of one brow. "And we've a report of Bringers coming into the tunnels." His is one of the less exciting weapons, a simple steel longsword. He raises that one eyebrow higher. "Where's your friend, then?"

Tikva reaches out with her lantern to wave it about in the space where Louisa's partner should be. She is super helpful.

"Don't," Niamh quietly warns Lyra. "I'll show up when we're back up top." Green eyes, shadowed in the darkenss of the place and hopefull not blinded by the light of the lantern Tomas has behind her, look around the darkness for said partner.

Tristan appreciates Tikva's helpfulness.

"My partner, Mikah..." Louisa frowns. "He heard something, deeper in the tunnel. He left, said he'd be right back. But he hasn't come back yet." She considers this for a long moment, and then adds, "If you're heading into the tunnels, and it was approved... just keep an eye out for him?"

Tomas seems silently vindicated by this. There /is/ a monster down here! And no one saw it yet! And maybe it ate the other guardsman! (That last part is evidently still cool, at least to a kid from the Lower Boroughs.)

"I will cut you. Like a baby touching fire." A gruff warning from Peregrine for the teenagers when they come sniffing around her dagger. "It is not the time for play," she adds, swinging a narrowed look from their 6 to the remaining guard. "Oh yes. This is not a worry at all." Someone's opinion of the Iron Guard is /plummeting/.

Rowan glances back up, his grin fading substantially at the mention of tunnels. He leans toward his side and peers past Louisa and down the tunnel. The dark, narrow, cramped tunnel. His hands tighten some on the haft of his axe. He seems less concerned by the kid's attention in it than others in their own weapons, but then if they cut themselves on the blade it's just a life lesson. Peering towards Khanne he asks gruffly, "You feel that?"

After her glance at Rowan, Khanne looks into the darkness, taking a deep breath. To others, it may seen as if she are not looking -at- anything at all, but perhaps in some sort of daze. It does not last long, however. She nods to Rowan. "Yeah... can't see it, but I can fucking feel it. Like... prickles up my spine." She lowers her voice to a whisper and says, "something... is close."

"We'll keep an eye out." Tikva nods once, crisply. "I strongly suggest that you send a message to your commanders for some relief. It is critical that these tunnels remain blocked to the enemy, and the Lord Commander and his seconds are well aware of that." She cocks an eyebrow at Louisa, and then turns to begin moving with a scout's quiet care past the guard and into the passage. For whatever reason, she assumes that it is her role in life to go first. "I'll believe it," she murmurs in a hush over her shoulder towards the others, and then moves. The lanternlight reflects faint glitters across her hairpins. The gray-green of her armor would make it really easy for her to disappear in the shadows of the forest. It is clear that this is not her favored terrain down here in the fetid gloom of the catacombs.

"You see anything, Tomas?" Niamh asks, not glancing over her shoulder to the boy with the lantern. "Strategy to make them attack you to get through you doesn't help if you break the chain, you know," she remarks to Louis. Which way did he go?"

Tristan does not immediately follow after Tikva, instead looking to the dog. "Smell anything?" he asks of her, as if the dog knows what he means. Perhaps she does.

The tunnels are no place for the claustrophobic. The lantern light seems somehow ineffective against the sheer /thickness/ of the dark around them. The walls, with their ancient and faded carvings, seem almost to close in, and the weight of all of Arx over their heads is not reassuring. The party pulls in closer, against the tight confines, and Tristan's battle doggo lets out an unhappy whine. /Something/ unpleasant is down here, somewhere nearby.

Lyra seems mildly disappointed when she's denied the chance to examine /either/ Niamh's shiny weapon /or/ Peregrine's dagger. She falls silent, though continues to watch all the others with shining eyes. She's getting to go somewhere with /heroes/.

If Lyra is quiet, however, Tomas makes up for it with an endless series of questions, seemingly not bothered in the least by the close nature of the catacombs. "Have you fought Bringers before? Have you ever been on an adventure? Have you been to another /land/? Have you seen an elf? I didn't get to see an elf. I hear they can do /magic/." When Niamh asks if he sees anything, however, he cuts off and shakes her head. "No... nothing yet."

Just ahead, off down one of the side tunnels, there's the sound of what might be a footstep.

Tristan checks to see if the doggo is reacting to the tunnel. In dog we trust!

The doggo seems not entirely happy with life in general, and keeps looking around as if trying to find the source of her unease.

Peregrine hoists her lantern high and eels after Tikva, her dagger held low near her thigh. She sees nothing, senses nothing (says nothing the chattering children), but the tension runs through the woman like a current as the whispers of the others are heard. The signs are clear enough. "Tch," might be /some/ sort of signal to the lady in the fore when movement is heard ahead.

"Yes. Yes. Maybe. No. Sword's from an elf." Niamh answers what questions she can in as quiet as she can get them out. Until she finally has to say, "Shhh," and try to sneak up closer to Tikva. She's at least not wearing plate, so she can be a little quite.

Tristan frowns, and keeps near the front, hand on his hilt.

"Sword's from an /elf/?" Okay, that caught Lyra's attention, judging by the way she burts that out towards Niamh. Stealth, apparently, is not the girl's strong suit.

Tikva stops and holds up her hand, ears straining. She covers her lantern temporarily and sets it down on the floor of the tunnel; holding up her arm, she gestures with swift urgency for quiet, and then inches forward as quietly as she can.

Khanne walks through the tunnels, thankfully not claustrophobic. She seems intrigued by the carvings, looking at them as they walk by, but keeping a proverbial eye out for the feeling she sensed a moment ago. She looks to Tomas and says, "shhhhhhh. We need to hear..." A footstep is heard and Khanne momentarily halts her step, trying to discern where it came from, since it seemed to not be one of their own.

Rowan takes up the task of bringing up the rear. He answers the Tomas' endless stream of questions, but it's on impulse, and heavily distracted - 'Sure, kid. Yea. No. Fuck them. Nothing good.' - all mumbled. He starts to roll through his shoulders more, twist where he stands, and always a step back to ensure he's not walking shoulder to shoulder with anyong. After a moment though he grunts what might have been just what Khanne said, his mind catching up to the fact they were trying to detect a potential ambush through the distraction of the tunnel walls that were definitely getting narrower and closing in on him.

Her breath a hush in her throat, Tikva inches further ahead, trying to let her eyes adjust to the gloom as she watches what happens ahead of her as she stealths deeper into the corridor (or tries to).

Peregrine sinks into a crouch when Tikva signals for silence and stillness. Her eyes flash once in the lanternlight, a hard look given back at the chattering teenagers. Then it's all focus ahead, and a small gesture made to draw the shade a little on her lantern to provide the prowling stealther with a touch more cover.

Tristan holds back now, letting the stealther stealth. He whispers, "Quiet," to the dog.

Niamh tries to position herself ahead of the others by a step or three, but not trying to sneak along with Tikva. Just remaining ready, tensed.

Tikva checked dexterity + stealth against difficulty 15, resulting in 18, 3 higher than the difficulty.

Aislin GM Roll checked perception(4) against difficulty 18, resulting in 25, 7 higher than the difficulty.

Khanne raises her bow, resting her fingers on it but not yet pulling back the string, just ready. She takes deep, slow breaths, staying still unless waved to move forward.

The Iron Guardsman in the corridor -- a tall, ascetic-looking man -- whirls with surprising panic-fueled speed, his sword leveled right at Tikva. "Get back, dead thing!"

Tomas and Lyra are, for once, blessedly silent. Right up until they hear the shout from the corridor, at which point Lyra lets out a startled little yelp.

"I'm not a dead thing," Tikva says. She straightens out of any attempt to hide, though she's still left her lantern behind her where it can't glow and give her away. Warm, pitched to carry -- so that her companions can totally hear her too -- but low and soothing, like she's trying to talk her way out of getting stabbed in the throat. Her hands are up, though one of them is holding a bow. "My name is Tikva Riven. I'm here to help. You've left your post, Mikah. Have you found something down here?"

With the sound ahead, Niamh starts forward again, to catch up with Tikva and the probably-lost-guardsman-not-a-bringer. There's a 'c'mon' kind of follow me gesture made to those still behind as she moves forward without a word.

Tristan's only immediate reaction is the twitch of an eyebrow. At Niamh's gesture, he moves forward, as quietly as he can.

Rowan twists himself around to follow the group walking backwards, tipping his axe so that it spans across the tunnel and doesn't allow for anyone or thing to slip by him too easily unseen. He glances over his shoulder frequently, checking his footing and following the others.

Peregrine stands. Her lantern is passed to Lyra, and Tikva's taken to bear forward. "Stay behind me," she tells the girl. "Do what I do. Eyes open, mouth closed, yes? That is the first lesson. Do not distract the fighters. Do not distract the boy." Tomas too is gestured forward to fill the space between herself and Rowan, with Lyra.

Khanne follows close behind Niamh further into the darkness, eyes alert at the shout of the guard. Her senses are on high alert, listening to their surroundings, her spiritual self scanning the area nearby.

The Iron Guardsman finally lowers his sword, realizing that Tikva is neither a skeleton nor something rotting. "Dead things," he repeats. "Skeletons, corpses. Just down that way." He gestures, indicating further down the corridor.

Mikah's beard is trimmed /just/ so, the lines on his face suggesting someone who frowns far more often than they smile. Given his rigid posture, and the oh-so-precise way his armor is cared for, the only way the Guardsman's demeanor could scream 'Oathlander' more loudly would be if he were carrying a bacon sandwich.

Tomas and Lyra, meanwhile, decide to stay close to Peregrine. Gods alone know why the prodigal princess is the one the kids have chosen to glue themselves to right now, but so it is. Tomas looks down the corridor with a sort of deep, creeping uneasiness visible in his expression. "Dead things don't sound good."

Tikva checked perception + survival against difficulty 15, resulting in 77, 62 higher than the difficulty.

Tristan has rolled a critical success!
Tristan checked perception + survival against difficulty 15, resulting in 22, 7 higher than the difficulty.

Niamh checked perception + survival against difficulty 15, resulting in 16, 1 higher than the difficulty.

Rowan checked perception + survival against difficulty 15, resulting in 54, 39 higher than the difficulty.

Peregrine checked perception + survival against difficulty 15, resulting in 29, 14 higher than the difficulty.

Khanne checked perception + survival against difficulty 15, resulting in 41, 26 higher than the difficulty.

Mariah, a nanny have been dismissed.

Rowan twists his head around to peer past his shoulder towards Mikah and the mention of dead things, brow furrowing some. "They could be Hers, Lady Death's-" he notes of the dead Mikah speaks of. "Doesn't mean they won't attack if they are, don't know if they count friend from foe..."

"They're gaining speed," Tikva observes. Her chin lifts. "If there's something new just came down..." Her hand tightens on her bow, wary discomfort showing on her face for those for whom it is visible in the dim lighting.

Right. Peregrine pushes the purloined lantern into Tomas' hand. Both teens are now equipped with fire, so far as she's concerned, and her hands are left free to shift the dagger back and forth between them-- and nevermind the dubious glint in her eyes, to be armed with a small knife against something that sounds like... "Bone? Skeletons walk here? This is not Bringers. How to stop bones?"

Even before Rowan speaks, hesitation takes hold in Khanne. She had much the same thought as he. Still, she checks the nocked arrow and pulls back her string slightly, preparing for the worse, though... hoping for the best. Death, the Goddess, did say the dead would help the Compact, after all. She takes that deep breath again, stilling her nerves, and watching.

Tomas is now carrying /two/ lanterns, so hands one to Lyra. Tikva's remains on the floor, still covered where she put it down earlier.

"But if they're Death's army," says Tristan, "do we want to stop them? Get out of their way, certainly, but."

"If it's Death's, could she be driving the Bringers that slipped in towards us? If we hold this position, might we not trap the monsters between us and ... them?" You know, whatever skeletons are. Niamh looks at the smart people, brow cocked in question.

"Break them," Rowan notes for bones, "But I'm not sure that's best...We could draw back...behind the turn, see if they're going the other way after the same shit we are - If not, we can meet them there."

Rowan tips his head a little left and right and nods to Niamh, the more battle schooled than him. "Point there too."

"I like the pincers idea," Tikva says with a tip of her chin in Niamh's direction, "assuming the dead aren't just coming for us. Line up in the hall and hold?"

"Maybe they want to get /him/," Tomas says, gesturing with his lantern towards Mikah. "He was alone! Couldn't one of those things have /replaced/ him?"

Mikah gives Tomas a glare. It's not the glare of an abyssal creature uncovered, however. Just an on-edge antisocial guardsman exasperated by a /child/ down in the /catacombs/.

"Call Death prayer if this is Death's!" Peregrine suggests, curt with tension. "Tell your goddess we are here. Boy, use your /eyes/."

Scrape. Scrape. Scrape. The sound of bone on stone draws closer. The glimmering lantern light illuminates first one yellowed, aged skull as it emerges from the shadows, and then another.

"If they aren't friendly, we might be better off keeping them from leaving the tunnel anyway." Niamh shrugs. If there are no better plans, she finds a place to plant herself to block off the tunnel t the dead are in, sword at the ready. "Be ready to run, Tomas and Lyra."

Tomas paces forward, squinting hard at Mikah. "I think..." And then he yelps, scrambling backwards as the skeletons suddenly emerge. This was, perhaps, not the adventure he expected!

Tikva checked mana + performance against difficulty 15, resulting in 50, 35 higher than the difficulty.

Tristan gives Mikah a long measured glance, but takes his place with the others in the tunnel.

Tikva starts singing a low martial theme as the skeletons round the bend, taking herself to a ready stance as she lifts her bow. There's something about marching forward, a general /come and get it/ air to the old song. It is a little inappropriate to the moment, maybe.

Khanne glances at Peregrine with a brief look of confusion. Death is not her Goddess, nor Rowan's after all. She stays at the ready, looking towards the noise. "I wonder... if we can see," she glances towards Rowan. "The difference... between Hers and... not."

The skeletons seem unaffected by Tikva's performance. Mikah is affected, but clearly in a more mundane manner; he looks over to stare at Tikva curiously, as if wondering why the hell she's choosing /now/ of all times to start singing.

But there's a clatter as one of the lanterns falls to the ground, going out. Tomas has his hands over his ears, his expression turning to one of fury as he stares at Tikva with naked, open hatred.

Rowan straightens up from where he'd been whispering something to Tomas, to stare at the skeletons filling the tunnel ahead of them. He turned back to listen at the tunnel behind them, though he doubted to hear much coming with so much commotion echoing from ahead. "If they feel anything like She did, may-" He stops abruptly there, brow lifting as he watches Tomas' reaction. "Well fuck."

Peregrine slides in to the space beside Tristan. What twists in her throat is a low hum of approval for Tikva's choice, rather than any song. She is sadly oblivious to any looks-- the falling lantern and dancing shadows see to that, as her focus tears over to Tomas. "Best song!" the princess decides.

Tikva checked composure against difficulty 15, resulting in 4, 11 lower than the difficulty.

The clatter of latnern and Rowan's 'oh fuck' are enough to cause Niamh to look over her shoudler. "What's going on abck there?" Because it's cleary too dark with one less lantern to be able to clearly see the hatred on a teenager's face.

The 'oh fuck' catches her attention too. She glances over her shoulder, keeping her bow up and ready just in case, though she does turn a fraction, in case her direction has to chance. She listens for an answer to Niamh's question, eyes trying to adjust to the more dim light.

Skeletons ahead of them. Clattering behind them. Tristan half glances over his shoulder, sword already drawn, to do a quick check of his surroundings. "What the--"

The song breaks off in Tikva's voice. For a moment, her breath breaks, a staccato stutter to silence. Then she shouts, "Bringer!" and turns her bow, not on the Bringer, but on the seventeen year old boy. She stares into his young face, and her eyes bright with a sudden, suspicious sheen of wet, and fires her arrow directly at his young head.

Rowan scrambles back two, three long strides from the group, to put himself at some distance from the group he had been behind. His axe is brought around to point towards Tomas between himself and the rest of the party. He tries not to think too much about the open tunnel at his back. He doesn't say anything, not for Tikva's call.

Tikva checked dexterity + archery against difficulty 30, resulting in 28, 2 lower than the difficulty.

Maybe it's the suspiciously bright glimmer to Tikva's eyes, maybe it's the darkness, maybe it's the desire not to hit anyone else. But Tikva's arrow goes astray, missing the seventeen year old boy's head by only a hair.

Lyra gasps in shock, staring at Tikva -- she knew that woman was No Good! -- and hurries to her brother's side, seizing his arm. "Tomas!"

But Tomas gestures, angrily... /hurling/ Lyra aside with far more strength than any teenager should have. There's just time enough for one shocked, confused look of betrayal on her face, and then she slams into the tunnel wall and crumples to the floor. Tomas, meanwhile, begins to /change/. His skin turns a pale greyish-white, his limbs lengthening to subtly inhuman proportions. His fingers turn to claws... and the tunnel begins to get very, very quiet indeed.

Rowan ducks his head when the arrow whizzes past Tomas's head, still hearing a pinged charm hanging from the stag antlers knocked and rattled for the off course shot. He exhales a breath and tries to focus more on the growing Tomas-turned-Bringer filling space in front of him.

Tikva checked luck against difficulty 10, resulting in 2, 8 lower than the difficulty.

Rowan checked luck against difficulty 10, resulting in 7, 3 lower than the difficulty.

Niamh checked luck against difficulty 10, resulting in 40, 30 higher than the difficulty.

Khanne checked luck against difficulty 10, resulting in 10, 0 higher than the difficulty.

Peregrine checked luck against difficulty 10, resulting in 13, 3 higher than the difficulty.

Tristan checked luck against difficulty 10, resulting in 12, 2 higher than the difficulty.

Aislin GM Roll checked luck(4) against difficulty 10, resulting in 24, 14 higher than the difficulty.

Niamh checked dexterity + medium wpn against difficulty 25, resulting in 57, 32 higher than the difficulty.

Aislin GM Roll checked dexterity(4) + medium wpn(3) against difficulty 25, resulting in 28, 3 higher than the difficulty.

Oh. That is what caused the profanity. Since she already has her sword out, Niamh growls, "Move!" before turning all the way back towards teh group and shuffling around those between her and the Bringer-that-was-Tomas. She stays to the side, so her back is to the wall and she has more room to use the blade. It's a simple thrust that she aims towards the Bringer's midsection, slicing in with the alaracite blade and withdrawing its painful touch from the foul creature in smoth motions.

Peregrine checked dexterity + athletics against difficulty 20, resulting in 29, 9 higher than the difficulty.

Mikah is still a bit fixated on the, you know, walking skeletons; he's oblivious to the /literal/ teenage monster behind him. Instead, with a cry of "HONOR HOLDS!" he charges in on the skeletons, and... whacks one on the skull with his blade. Go Mikah.

Tristan checked dexterity + medium wpn against difficulty 25, resulting in 54, 29 higher than the difficulty.

There's a hiss of breath from Peregrine. Chagrin and anger in equal measures, and it marks her sudden movement. One moment she stands beside Tristan, praising Tikva's singing, and the next she's bounding forward. She runs low, twisting and darting to slide between the wall and the Bringer up to Lyra's fallen place. The girl's wrist is seized in one calloused hand and with a grunt, the Prodigal contrives to drag and crouch both at the same time, on a course nearer to Rowan.

Tristan takes in Tomas's transformation with a quick glance, and, in a single movement, swings about, drawing his sword. He charges at the newly-revealed Bringer, bringing his sword in for a solid hit.

Khanne pulls the tring of her bow back further, glancing behind her towards the sound of the Bringer. It is too dark, and there are too many people in between her and the bringer for her to take a good shot, so she shouts, "Row, Cut it in half!" She's seen him do it before. Instead, she looks ahead to Mikah. Still unsure whether the skeletons are friend or foe, she tries to gauge that situation, ready to leap into action though if she sees Mikah in danger.

Rowan grunts some when he suddenly has bodies on his side of the Bringer, but truth be told there wasn't much room to swing Cataclysm anyway. He instinctively twists it around, shifting his grip on the weapon to poise it so the pointed spikes curling off the top were aimed ahead of him. He takes two of those strides back in towards Tomas, snarling out as the third turns to a lunge and he jabs the weapon ahead of him. Focus on the fight! Not the closing walls. There's only moderate satisfaction to be found in those spikes finding purchase momentarily before the weapon is drawn back again. "I'd love to but there's no room," was shouted back at Khanne.

Tikva checked mana + performance against difficulty 15, resulting in 33, 18 higher than the difficulty.

Tikva watches her arrow shatter against the stone. Her breath inhales, and then it is spent, shaking, as her comrades fly to the fight. Her tune changes. Literally, her tune changes. Drawing another breath, she sings out these words, as with all her will behind them, to rather a different tune, like a balladeer singing threat. She pulls another arrow from her quiver, eyes straining in the gloom. If only she had snare drums behind the sheer menace warming from her throat, song striving back against the silence. "Fall back into the dark, fall back from this spark, our flame will destroy you, you see we're coming for you--"

Aislin GM Roll checked dexterity(2) + brawl(2) against difficulty 25, resulting in 38, 13 higher than the difficulty.

Aislin GM Roll checked dex(4) + dodge(2) against difficulty 28, resulting in 27, 1 lower than the difficulty.

Whether or not the skeletons were friends before, Mikah smacked one on the skull with a sword; they're clearly not feeling super friendly right /now/. The first of the two skeletons returns the favor, lashing out at Mikah's face. He dodges backwards, but still takes a small swipe down his cheek... just enough to draw blood.

Aislin GM Roll checked dexterity(4) + brawl(6) against difficulty 25, resulting in 54, 29 higher than the difficulty.

Aislin GM Roll checked dexterity(4) + brawl(6) against difficulty 35, resulting in 54, 19 higher than the difficulty.

Niamh checked dexterity + medium wpn against difficulty 34, resulting in 68, 34 higher than the difficulty.

Rowan and Tristan can both feel their blades hit their mark, but it's Niamh's gut-strike with that alaricite blade that has the Bringer hissing with pain. And so it's Niamh that Tomas lashes out at with one clawed hand... but he's forced to stagger back suddenly, driven by Tikva's song back away from the young bard. As such, Niamh has more than enough space to dodge.

Niamh checked dexterity + medium wpn against difficulty 25, resulting in 50, 25 higher than the difficulty.

Aislin GM Roll checked dex(4) + medium wpn(3) against difficulty 25, resulting in 24, 1 lower than the difficulty.

Twisting to the side and bringing Dusk into the fight to push the clawed hand away, Niamh growls a defiant sound at the former Tomas. The blade twists around, recovering from the outward arc of the parry, to reverse into a side slash that cuts through some torso. No, she doesn't cut it in half though. Khanne will be disappointed.

Mikah yelps, leaping backwards as a /skeleton/ takes a swipe at his /face/. He swings wildly at it, and misses. Way to go, buddy.

There is a low mutter from Peregrine as she hunkers over Lyra, all too willing to take an axe swing to the back if it means the girl is kept safe from that bite. She does try to stay low-- sorry, Rowan-- but with Lyra's hitching breaths growing laboured, dragging her farther becomes less a good idea. She wedges a knee beneath Lyra's shoulders to help tilt her head back and begins wiping some blood away, while pressing wadded cloth to other.

Tristan checked dexterity + medium wpn against difficulty 25, resulting in 60, 35 higher than the difficulty.

Tristan keeps pressing the attack, keeping the Bringer's attention away from Peregine and the wounded girl she's trying to help. The quarters are close, and he's forced to keep his sword strokes short, but he batters his way through the ex-Tomas' guard with more determination than skill, catching his flesh with a sword sweep that cuts deep into his flesh.

Khanne checked dexterity + archery against difficulty 25, resulting in 32, 7 higher than the difficulty.

Rowan checked dexterity + huge wpn against difficulty 30, resulting in 52, 22 higher than the difficulty.

Tikva checked dexterity + archery against difficulty 25, resulting in 28, 3 higher than the difficulty.

Aislin GM Roll checked dex(2) + brawl(2) against difficulty 25, resulting in 14, 11 lower than the difficulty.

Aislin GM Roll checked dex(4) + brawl(6) against difficulty 25, resulting in 89, 64 higher than the difficulty.

Khanne mutters under her breath, "well fuck..." Lowering her cheek towards her hand as she takes aim, she pulls the string back tight. There is a 'thwunk' of sound as she releases, her arrow flying towards the skeleton closest to Mikah. It whacks the thing in the head, chipping a chunk of it's skull clean off. Khanne wastes no time, grabbing another arrow and nocking it in place.

It might not seem as though Rowan were paying all that much attention behind him, but he's cognizant of where Peregrine was ducked down behind him, and shifted his step so that when he draws the axe back the haft stretching out behind him didn't clock the woman in the back of the head. Another jab made, with a cranked twist to the weapon this time when the prongs find flesh and a thickly growled colorful swear that had fallen into some dialect of shav.

Tikva keeps humming her theme under her breath as though keeping it up in her own head. She lines up a shot and fires her arrow. This time it connects, though it doesn't appear to do much impact to the Bringer. Her lip curls back from her teeth just a little, her attention wholly focused on the abyssal creature for the moment.

Rowan checked dexterity + huge wpn against difficulty 79, resulting in 40, 39 lower than the difficulty.

The lead skeleton reaches out for Mikah's face again... only to stumble backwards a step when Khanne's arrow takes a chunk out of its skull. It's hard for a skull to look /offended/, but there's somehow a sense that this one might be trying.

Tristan, Niamh, and Rowan all land solid melee blows on Tomas, leaving him spoiled for options in who to strike back at. However, even the subtle hint of Tikva's painful song has him retreating from the little ranger-bard. And so it is that Rowan bears the brunt of his ire, with a harsh blow meant to crush his torso. The Greenmarcher brings his axe up just in time to deflect the first blow... but Tomas swings with his other arm, catching Rowan on the side in a crushing hit.

Khanne wields flame of refuge among the darkness recurve bow.

Rowan has rolled 2 1-sided dice: 1, 1

Rowan has rolled 1 2-sided dice: 1

Niamh checked dexterity + medium wpn against difficulty 35, resulting in 60, 25 higher than the difficulty.

Aislin GM Roll checked dex(4) + medium weapon(3) against difficulty 25, resulting in 48, 23 higher than the difficulty.

Oh, Rowan. Niamh can't quite get to him in time. She slides down the wall, keeping it at her back. "Over here, Flec!" the loud Greenmarcher doesn't quite yell at the Bringer. She takes Dusk in both hands and gives a downward, diagonal slash with the blade, body twisting to put more power behind it. The alaricite bites deeply into the creature before it's withdrawn.

Peregrine checked dexterity + small wpn against difficulty 25, resulting in 45, 20 higher than the difficulty.

Mikah, startled by the arrow whizzing past his head, collects himself and -- with a roar -- swings at the first skeleton's torso. This time, he connects with a good solid hit and leaves the first skeleton a pile of bones.

The second skeleton seems displeased.

Tristan has rolled a critical success!
Tristan checked dexterity + medium wpn against difficulty 25, resulting in 120, 95 higher than the difficulty.

Lyra is eased back to the stone and Peregrine takes dagger in hand again, a quick glance sizing up the situation. Seeing Rowan struck so harshly, she drives up with all of the power in her legs at the Bringer. It's quick, and a solid hit, the thunk of her dagger forced deep a single drumbeat of the battle. She's just as quick in jumping back into another crouch, head tucked in case Rowan decides to get ambitious.

The Bringer-formerly-known-as-Tomas catches Rowan with a swing of his arm...and Tristan, seeing a moment of distraction, leaps forward, sword upheld--and he brings it down, hard, in an arc toward the Bringer's shoulder. The simple steel of his sword cleaves through cursed flesh and bone, black blood flying--and the arm falls free, useless, crashing to the stone underfoot.

Khanne has rolled a critical success!
Khanne checked dexterity + archery against difficulty 35, resulting in 37, 2 higher than the difficulty.

Tikva checked mana + performance against difficulty 15, resulting in 23, 8 higher than the difficulty.

Rowan has rolled a critical success!
Rowan checked dexterity + huge wpn against difficulty 35, resulting in 146, 111 higher than the difficulty.

"Shit." Tikva's nostrils flare. "Shit!" She whips another arrow out, nocks it to her bow. She hesitates, and then lowers the bow very slightly as she fills her lungs. "Come now, come to me, come now, to the flame," she sings out, a much higher, purer, sweeter note than the low thrum of her sung threat. "Come now, come away, come forth just the same--"

Khanne is thankfully a bit oblivious to what is happening behind her, and that Rowan has been hit and injured (again). She is focused on keeping Mikah alive, or trying to, and takes aim at the sternum of the second skeleton. Releasing the arrow, she hears a satisfying crack as it hits, but... no pile of bones like Mikah made of the first.

Gods Old and New that fucking hurt. Rowan tried to suck air for what was knocked out of his lungs when the blow lands and crumples towards his left, dropping down to that same knee in the process. It takes him a moment to get is barings, to blink the daze out of his eyes. He blinks again when a Bringer arm drops on the floor alongside him. The seconds draw out long in his own mind but when they clear they're replaced by furry. The electric feeling of the coming storm brews around him. Tikva's song, the sounds of the weapons...Rowan bellows as he shoves himself back up to his feet, his axe thrusting out between Tomas' legs as he rises to heave upward upward with every intention of cleaving the bastard in twain.

Aislin GM Roll checked dex(2) + brawl(2) against difficulty 25, resulting in 9, 16 lower than the difficulty.

Rowan's move surprises even the lone remaining skeleton. It utterly fails to hit Mikah.

Aislin GM Roll checked luck(4) against difficulty 20, resulting in 24, 4 higher than the difficulty.

Tomas /howls/ as Tristan severs his arm. Thick, black blood spews /everywhere/ from his shoulder, as he rears his hand back -- prepared to strike at Tristan in a manner that would leave the stablemaster reeling or dead. But all that fury goes for naught when Rowan, out of nowhere, literally /erupts/ from the floor with a shout.

It turns out if you slice a Bringer open like a fish, there's a great deal of blood involved. It sprays everywhere, on /everything/. Nearly all the blood that /used/ to be inside Tomas is now... not, as the two halves collapse to the floor.

Luckily for everyone involved, the blood does /not/ douse the one remaining lit lantern.

There's spitting and spluttering soudns as Niamh brings up an arm to try to shield her face when her opponent is suddenly two halves of the same man. Her hair turns red in the spray of blood and her armor too - though it's at least darker. "Ah, fuck me," she mutters before stepping away, sliding along the wall, to get out of the spray.

Peregrine checked composure against difficulty 15, resulting in 5, 10 lower than the difficulty.

Aislin GM Roll checked composure(1) against difficulty 15, resulting in 9, 6 lower than the difficulty.

Nope. Nope nope nope. Mikah's had /enough/. This /never/ happened in Sanctum. At least there, all you ever had to deal with were hordes of rampaging shav'arvani! He just starts backing away from the remaining skeleton.

Peregrine is /right there/. And she is well and properly doused in the gore spilled by Rowan's axe. Having seen a hit like that though? She doesn't blink twice, just stares, big white and gold eyes in a black-smeared face-- then surges to her feet and lets out a /scream/ that is pure primal aggression. Maybe she is celebrating. Maybe she should have considered how sound echoes in a tunnel.

Tristan checked composure against difficulty 15, resulting in 4, 11 lower than the difficulty.

It's not the first time Tristan's been sprayed with Bringer blood. But--well. The stablemaster stares at the two halves of the Bringer as it collapses, the blood fountaining everywhere, all over Tristan's leathers, his hair, his face. He stands there, stunned. After a moment, he reaches up to wipe the blood from his eyes. "Oh," he says. (Skeleton? What skeleton?)

Khanne checked composure against difficulty 15, resulting in 12, 3 lower than the difficulty.

Khanne checked dexterity + archery against difficulty 30, resulting in 24, 6 lower than the difficulty.

Tikva's song chokes off into quiet, but at least her ranged weaponry leaves her far enough back to avoid most of the hideous splatter. She doesn't shoot at the remaining skeleton. Instead, she says, "Let's-- let's get back?" with a quavery shudder in her voice.

Aislin GM Roll checked composure(5) against difficulty 15, resulting in 25, 10 higher than the difficulty.

Aislin GM Roll checked dex(2) + brawl(2) against difficulty 25, resulting in 20, 5 lower than the difficulty.

It is the other skeleton's lucky moment, as Peregrine's scream makes Khanne gasp as she releases the arrow. Who knows where it ended up... but it certainly didn't hit the skeleton. She turns her head to look back towards the commotion, and the scream.

You know that image the Compact likes to paint of the shav'arvani? Savage and blood thirsty and brutal? Rowan, in all his furs and bones and animal parts, was making a good show of it at the moment as he stood there, trembling and rasping haggard labored breaths with his teeth bared bloody through his beard in the dim lantern light, clutching the axe, drenched from the spray that had flooded out from the now split corpse. He lasted like that for just a couple of seconds more before he dropped back down to his knee and tucked his arm in close to his side. The remaining skeleton was far from his mind. He just needs a moment.

The remaining skeleton is /not/ shaken by the scream, or the sight of poor Tomas being filleted like a fish. It reaches out for Mikah, but the man has already decided to Nope off. It misses, and turns its attention now to Khanne.

Niamh checked dexterity + medium wpn against difficulty 25, resulting in 53, 28 higher than the difficulty.

Keeping hold of her sword, keeping it from getting all slick with bringer blood where she's trying to hold it, Niamh turns away from those still collecting themselves, and walks over to the Skeleton. She turns the blade so the flat is the impact point, swinging it more like a baseball bat than a sword, and crushes through old bones and the spine.

Peregrine mutters something in Crownlands shav to Rowan-- raw and ragged her voice might be but it's /clearly/ a compliment-- and then turns back to the unconscious girl. She pushes her dagger back into its sheathe after a good wipe of the blade against her (equally dirty) thigh. With a grunt and heave, she lifts Lyra into her arms. Tikva's suggestion: taken. "Need light. More light."

Mikah stares at the blood. Mikah stares at the Bringer-halfs. Mikah decides that he's had /enough/, and takes off down the tunnel. His Iron Guard salary is /not/ enough to put up with this, clearly. He's going to put in for transfer back to Sanctum, where it's nice and sane and there's a total lack of abyssal monsters. The Beast of Sanctum was already slain, after all!

Lyra, meanwhile, slowly begins to stir with a groan. Her first thought, of course, is for her brother. "...Tomas?"

Tristan manages to find a mostly clean cloth from within his jacket, and wipes off his sword. It's a normal, instinctive action. "I've had quite enough of Bringers looking like people," he declares. "Let's have no more of that now."

Tikva checked composure against difficulty 15, resulting in 7, 8 lower than the difficulty.

Tikva flinches visibly, and slides her arrow away in her quiver before she rubs her arm across her eyes, wiping away the threat of the standing water there before it can be shed. "Shit," she mutters. "Shit, shit, shit." Inhaling deeply, she looks across the room, and then starts trying to find her way by memory to where she left her other lantern covered in the gloom so that she can loan more light to the others.

Khanne lets out a breath of relief, looking to Niamh with a smile of thanks before she turns around, rushing back to where Rowan rests. She hopefully does not slip in all the blood, not knowing what happened to cause it all. "Row? Row, are you okay?"

Rowan glances up towards Peregrine's muttering, not quite following the regional dialect but catching the tone. He gives a short nod towards her and tips his blade down to use the haft to lean on as he drags himself back up again to his feet. "Careful-" was grunted through his teeth towards Khanne when she runs through the gore, holding out a hand towards her to slow her approach, then to take hold of her arm to balance himself. He takes a testing breath and winces when he can't expand his chest to take it very deep, and mutters, "I will be." He glances around the tunnel and grumbles, "Just need to get the fuck out of these tunnels," as he starts to fall back the way they came.

Aislin GM Roll checked composure(3) against difficulty 40, resulting in 12, 28 lower than the difficulty.

Once there's no more danger, Niamh looks at the rest of the group. "Everyone ok? Time to head back out since we fell for the Bringer's ploy and tried to bring it down?" She spits off to the side. Maybe it's in disgust; maybe it's to get bringer blood out of her mouth.

Lyra gets upright, her breathing still labored. It's quite likely she's got something broken, and she should almost certainly see a healer for that. But there's a greater pain to deal with as well, judging from the sheer heartbroken /wail/ that's ripped from somewhere in her soul when she sees the two halves of the abyss-twisted body on the tunnel floor. The body she last saw as her 'brother'. The young woman scrambles across the blood-slick floor, heedless of the gore. Maybe he's not /actually/ dead...

"Shh, girl. You need healing. We get you there," says Peregrine to Lyra, bouncing her a little higher in her arms. "It is Lady Tikva who knew better. Next time, I listen to her," she adds as she steps after those departing.

Rowan glances around, honing in on Niamh's voice. He lets go from Khanne's arm and pauses his step long enough for Niamh's to catch up, to drape himself bloody on her shoulder. "Sorry about the shower," offered with a shade of his usual mirth.

Repose: Lyra lifts her head, her breathing still labored. It's quite likely she's got something broken, and she should almost certainly see a healer for that. But there's a greater pain to deal with as well, judging from the sheer heartbroken /wail/ that's ripped from somewhere in her soul when she sees the two halves of the abyss-twisted body on the tunnel floor. The body she last saw as her 'brother'. The young woman struggles in Peregrine's arms, but despite her desperation, she can't actually work herself free.

Tristan sheathes his sword . "Should have paid more attention to the dog," he mutters. He glances over to Lyra and says, more gently than he is wont to speak to people, "I'm sorry, lass. He's been gone a long while, longer than you realized."

Khanne was careful as she approached Rowan, letting him use her arm to help find his balance. She frowns with concern, but looks at the damage done before looking back up to Rowan. She smiles and despite the gore in his beard, reaches up to slide her fingers into it and against his jaw. Niamh catches up then and Rowan leans on his sister instead. "Let's get out of here... "

"We should just put a grate and some locks on the Pit entrance. Make it that much harder to get down here," Niamh comments, to no one in particular, while she helps shoulder the burden of family.

"Gods." Tikva whispers the single word, or the absent prayer. She inhales, shakily, and then says, "I'm sorry, Lyra. That wasn't Tomas. It was something else." She moves to Peregrine's side to try to help her with the girl, for all that she is surely Lyra's least favorite party member right now, and chews on the inside of her cheek.

Rowan glances towards Lyra, what little was returning of his mirth doused out again by the gut-wrenching wailing. Sure, it had been a Bringer, but it didn't change the way the girl was feeling any or Rowan for feeling for her loss. His head hangs forward and he just turns his mind to the feeling of his ribs, making it easier to ignore the closing in space, and just puts his mind towards getting out of the tunnels. When they reach the ropes, well, that's a fun exercise, but eventually he'd find his way towards open sky and fresh air...and a much needed bath.

By the time the party reaches the entrance -- and the startled-looking Louisa, along with another Iron Guard now assisting in the guarding -- Lyra is no longer struggling in Peregrine's grasp, and at some point she simply began to cling to the prodigal princess instead of beating a fist on her and trying to get free. Her wails have finally subsided to wordless, hiccuping sobs as she allows herself to be carried to a healer.