hermit33 Opening herself up a little at a time to feel more and more she tries to use what Kasun was teaching her about energy signatures, her eyes locked on the dark patch behind the water cascading down. Whatever was in the cave caused her stomach to knot, a heavy feeling throughout her body...."I know yer in there"...she whispers, eyes unblinking.
hermit33 It had taken hermit awhile to put two and two together, but the game in the immediate area slowy dwindling off was the clincher. At first it was supplies and food missing from the sheds. They had indeed caught a few theives, and Kasun alone could have polished off the food, but now the absence of wildlife in an ever widening area around the camp, that wasn't coincidence.
hermit33 knew something was eating the larger game, and scaring the rest of the wildlife away..."I feel ye.."..she whispers again, smiling and narrowing her eyes. Getting to her feet she glances back towards the Inn. Nari was in no shape to be going anywhere, Kassi was cooking up a feast, and Kasun was busy waiting and watching. Adjusting the pack on her back that held her new weapons, she climbs onto the wall, and begins to shimmy towards the fall.
hermit33 makes her way slowly across the slippery rock as a foot slips out from under her, taking the other with it, she hangs from only her fingers, the weight of the pack on her back pulling at her. Staying calm and closing her eyes she feels around with the toe of her boot until it finds purchase and she again finds her balance..."ain't gonna loose me that easy"..she mumbles and continues slowly on her way until she's directly over the cave.
hermit33 allows herself to hang now and drop to the ledge at the mouth of the cave. Complete and utter darkness was all that lie ahead. Turning around towards the driection of the fire, now only a small muted rippling glow in the distance, she lets out a long slow breath. They wont miss her for quite awhile as she had been gone a lot the past few weeks..."off on unannounced jaunts"...as Kassi had so humorously put it.
hermit33 nods and turns back towards the darkness. Tugging on a small chain around her neck, a small glowing orb pops out from inside her shirt to create just a hint of indigo light. If anyone were looking, all they would see was that small orb seemingly floating away into the distance as hermit adjusted her pack and walked into the cave.
hermit33 walks slowly and quietly only the dimmest of light illuminating her way. she could easily cup her hand over it and snuff it if she had to. Hermit was using her other senses now. One's she had been taught to use long ago, by those she had since turned her back on, as well as most of the things they had taught her. Hermit had always preferred to be nothing special, half human, half elf. It had always been enough for her.
hermit33 Figured it wouldn't be good enough much longer, as everyone around her now seemed to have all sorts of special abilities, magic, or something particular to their race, and there she was, just hermit, doing everything the plain old hard way and being of less and less use because of it. Frowning as she reaches a branch in the cave, she leans back against the wall, wondering which way to go.
hermit33 hasn't used her abilities hardly enough to tell from which direction the energy she felt might be coming from, both ways basically felt the same to her. Making the descision to go down the right corridor she takes out her dagger and carefully etches an arrow into the stone wall pointing back in the direction she had come from. She might have hair-brained idea's most of the time, but atleast she wasn't daft.
________________________________________Two nights
later____________________________________________
hermit33 having snuck off into the cave by herself two nights back, had wandered
through the maze-like tunnels ever since, often finding that hours of travel had
only taken her in circles, eventually to hunker down in a small niche in the
rock to rest. Waking with a start, as she hadn't realized she'd fallen asleep,
surrounded now by nothing but darkness, she forces herself to remain still and
quiet.
hermit33 Taking in a few slow deep breaths she focuses her attention outward, further and further, seeking once again to tap into the energy signature of what had drawn her here in the first place. Her brow furrowing more and more as she focuses her attention, hermit shakes her head..."It can nae be......so many"..she utters, barely even a whisper.
hermit33 It seemed what she once thought was a single ominous presence from far away, was now turning out to be many. Running a hand back through her short black hair she again tries to focus on the one overwhelming energy, it seeming to be a common thread in some way to the many lesser ones she felt. Setting her head back against the rock in frustration..."Eh"...she exhales in frustration..."I must be doin' this wrong."
hermit33 Once again, a feeling of disappointment in herself washed over her. She hadn't come in here with intent to fight whatever it was posing a growing threat to her small community, but had only wished to go back and be able to tell Kasun exactly what it was, hopefully please him by showing how eager she was to learn and some day master what he, for whatever reason had the confidence in her, to instruct her.
hermit33 gets to her feet moving her head from side to side in a mock conversation, chiding herself.."Well ye see Kasun, i know just what it is, it's a bunch of folk, from all races, all smashed into one big energy."...convinced she must have been picking up the signatures of every living thing that had ever set foot in the cave, she resigns herself to going back not only empty handed, but "empty headed" as well.
hermit33 ..."Brilliant hermit...just..."...her conversation was interrupted by a loud rumbling, the rock walls shaking so violently hermit was flung from her niche to land face first in the tunnel. Scrambling to her feet and adjusting the pack of weapons over her shoulder she tugs the orb necklace from inside her shirt to create the muted indigo glow that would be her only light in an attempt to flee.
hermit33 Feeling the ominous prescence closing behind her she races through the tunnels, stopping and circling at each intersection to find the arrows she scratched out with her dagger on the way in. Running harder now, seeing the way ahead going only straight on for some distance, hermit hastily passes one narrow corridor on her left, the pathway and arrow marking it as the way, whizzing by unseen.
hermit33 comes to a sliding stop, arms flailing as she finds herself in a small round room, no other tunnels, doors, or openings of any kind. Turning back to where she had entered to find the tunnel shaking more violently than before, feeling that "thing's" energy bearing down on her quickly hermit closes her eyes, arms straight out, palms facing the opening.
hermit33 ..."C'mon, C'MON!"...she breathes out as the mix of energy inside her builds quickly at almost a dizzying rate as she had just flung herself wide open to channel it..."Go...go..go.."...swirling in a frenzy of energy from her entire body rather than merely her palms, the Indigo energy, a mixture of dark and bright flashes streaking through it forms itself across her only exit.
hermit33 Opening her eyes, her heart racing she runs her hands along the walls, fingers groping, eyes scanning, for anything at all. Her fingers slipping into small grooves she stops and lifts the orb around her neck to find a decent amount of what looked like runes etched into the wall..."Eh...great, like i got time fer story hour"... Taking a step back she begins to decipher as best she can.
hermit33 "Throw them all away, but don't predict where your foot will fall. The first and last steps are the same." ..shaking her head making no sense of it, she looks past the empty space to whats written below...."Create what you seek, from only "ONE WORD"...survival looks bleak, until the answer is heard."....pacing around, hands to her head she repeats the words a few times.
hermit33 ..."ok, ok...easy...from one word.."....leans back against the wall sliding down it to sit, arms draped across her knee's...."but...WHAT word?"...just then the room begins to shake and she looks over to the seal she set in place to see it too was vibrating heavily..."Think hermit....ok, Akham's Razor....the simplist solution is usually the right one"...running a hand back through her hair.."What is it i seek to create?"
hermit33 chuckles to herself..."ooh i'd say a nice big steel door, that i could step out and lock behind me right `bout now"...the smile fades from her face and she slips out her dagger, using it's point to write in the dirt the words "ONE WORD"...crossing out the "d"...the first "o"...then the other, and finally the "r"...she looks to see what letters are left.."/NE W///"....getting to her feet she yells out....."NEW DOOR!"
hermit33 No sooner had the words come out of her mouth when directly in front of her the rock wall began to ripple and grow thin. Beyond she could see another tunnel, not too long, with a light at the end. The moment she lifts a foot some force tugs at her, sending her rolling across the room towards the first exit to see the energy she had set over it being seemingly sucked away.
hermit33 All that could be seen of the beast was a large dark figure through the dwindling indigo mist as it dissipated. Leaning her body forward and straining as hard as she could hermit takes a few steps towards the "new door" and hurls herself through to go tumbling forwards this time as there was no resistance on the other side. Scrambling further away she looks over her shoulder to see the dark figure.
hermit33 Slowing to a stop about ten yards from the way out she looks curiously back. It seemed the beast couldn't use the "new door" itself. Just as she was thinking how relieved she was that it couldn't follow her to whatever land that opening took her and attack the people that lived there, a huge ball of energy comes spewing towards her.
hermit33 only had enough time to turn as the energy hit her and sent her hurtling through the air, letting out a yell at first, arms and legs flailing, only to end up falling downward, unconscious now, to land with a splash in the waters of her own Falls. Hermit floated there, face down and unmoving, the last thing she had felt, was being attacked with her own energy.
***For those interested there will be quests held to go slay the beast.Please
have your characters rp what happened to hermit, and noticing the lack of
wildlife and game in the area*** Quest info will either be posted, or announced
in the room. The first one should be with-in a week, feel free to ask me about
it if you want to go.
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