there's light at the edge of the darkness
Wessex’s arrival was unsurprising. Still, this was a volunteer effort, so, queen or not, she wasn’t actually in charge of this endeavor. Besides, she’d ditched Loren and left him and other civilians to the monsters, so he wasn’t exactly inclined to listen to her at the moment, especially given her proclivity to bark out commands that made sense only to her. Then Jigano arrived, and the summoner eyed the white-haired man warily: the Launceleyn had no idea what the bard’s capabilities were, so Loren would assume civilian in need of protection until proven otherwise. Great. Just great.
At least Jigano had a great deal of information about the Spire. Unfortunately, it sounded more than a bit out of date. Of course, that was also assuming nothing had changed since the last team to breach the Spire. Which the summoner wasn’t willing to do. So, as always, he would assume danger around every corner and expect the unexpected. Same old, then. These weren’t the sorts of situations any amount of planning could really prepare for.
Unfortunately, there was going to be at least a little more chatter.
It was always a bad sign when Loren was the top candidate for the most reasonable member of a team. Glancing around at the other three members of their little group, he let out a huff of laughter. ”Lotta strong personalities here, including myself. In the interest of not getting dead, can we at least try to work together and trust each other to do the right thing?” So that meant no orders, no judgment, no letting pre-existing tensions influence their behavior. They had a shared goal: get in, find the portal, get out. That meant they all had to assume everyone was working towards that in their own way. If the Launceleyn was willing to do it, hopefully the others would as well. Because frankly this was too dangerous for them not to act in concert or to sow further divisions.
Turning, Loren carefully descended down the stairs, Astra by his side, eyes peeled for any danger and feet as sure as he could place them. Strangely enough, it was much as Jigano had described it. The sky was visible far above, the plants were dead husks, the walls looked like they might crumble at any moment, and there was rubble blocking the path ahead. No giant snake to be seen though. Alright then. Time to get to work.
Calling upon the deep well of magic within, the Launceleyn raised both hands. In one, he pictured his water magic, in the other his summoning. Ice poured out of his fingers, attempting to shore up the crumbling walls as best he could, especially where he saw dust pouring through. At the same time, he scoured through his summoning magic for something that would help them clear it out of the way. He still wasn't entirely certain of his mythological creatures, so he settled for a bear instead. It popped into being and lumbered over to the rock pile to try and pick loose some of the stones.
Loren descends the stairs, then tries to shore up the walls with ice while summoning a bear to clear the rubble. Astra does nothing.
At least Jigano had a great deal of information about the Spire. Unfortunately, it sounded more than a bit out of date. Of course, that was also assuming nothing had changed since the last team to breach the Spire. Which the summoner wasn’t willing to do. So, as always, he would assume danger around every corner and expect the unexpected. Same old, then. These weren’t the sorts of situations any amount of planning could really prepare for.
Unfortunately, there was going to be at least a little more chatter.
It was always a bad sign when Loren was the top candidate for the most reasonable member of a team. Glancing around at the other three members of their little group, he let out a huff of laughter. ”Lotta strong personalities here, including myself. In the interest of not getting dead, can we at least try to work together and trust each other to do the right thing?” So that meant no orders, no judgment, no letting pre-existing tensions influence their behavior. They had a shared goal: get in, find the portal, get out. That meant they all had to assume everyone was working towards that in their own way. If the Launceleyn was willing to do it, hopefully the others would as well. Because frankly this was too dangerous for them not to act in concert or to sow further divisions.
Turning, Loren carefully descended down the stairs, Astra by his side, eyes peeled for any danger and feet as sure as he could place them. Strangely enough, it was much as Jigano had described it. The sky was visible far above, the plants were dead husks, the walls looked like they might crumble at any moment, and there was rubble blocking the path ahead. No giant snake to be seen though. Alright then. Time to get to work.
Calling upon the deep well of magic within, the Launceleyn raised both hands. In one, he pictured his water magic, in the other his summoning. Ice poured out of his fingers, attempting to shore up the crumbling walls as best he could, especially where he saw dust pouring through. At the same time, he scoured through his summoning magic for something that would help them clear it out of the way. He still wasn't entirely certain of his mythological creatures, so he settled for a bear instead. It popped into being and lumbered over to the rock pile to try and pick loose some of the stones.
Loren descends the stairs, then tries to shore up the walls with ice while summoning a bear to clear the rubble. Astra does nothing.
loren
