Snippet #2170932

Cale had to scoff at the idea of him being the first to brave the passage ahead of them. He wasn’t about to risk his own neck for the sake of finding this artifact, and the closer he stayed to danger, the quicker he would use up his rings. If he could, he would only use the ones that carried the lesser enchantments during their little expedition… Those cost the least to replace. If he were to get stick in a narrow passage way with however many traps and whatever variety of creatures the tomb’s creator had decided to stock it with, he might actually be forced to use the better rings in his collection. Now those cost many hundreds of gold to replace, and had precious few charges left on them after his last venture.
“I highly doubt that a tomb such as this could offer any reward or “loot” worthy of more than second glance from me, and I’m sure any one of you could disarm any of these foolishly made traps… Besides...” He started, pointing lazily at Gil as he spoke, “This boy seems to be better equipped than even I.. He should be the first to venture into harm’s way..“

Gil had been listening quite intently to Sven as he spoke of the histories the various illustrations in the room depicted when he heard Cale announce that the young squire should be the first to venture into the black void of the crypt below. He also let loose that Gil was also better equipped than the thief, a fact that Gilleastos had been hoping to hide. Apparently his effort to hide the white steel chainmail under his leather armor, using a gambeson underneath to quiet the links, had been for naught.
“I’m hardly better off than you, thief. I have a rather distinctive lack of magic items… Whereas you have a seemingly inexhaustible supply. You also have a much more useful skil-“ His rather well thought out point was cut off prematurely by the words of the rather soft-spoken member of their merry band, the not-so-human Lacuna. Apparently the area ahead was supposed to be safe, and as an added bonus, the apparent mage laid a spell upon them that silenced their steps. Then, to further his point, Lacuna made his way down the passage ahead of all of them, relieving them of the rather pointless argument over who should brave it first.
“Well, that was rather decisive.” Cale said with a rather large smile as he made his way into the tunnel after Lacuna, leaving the rest in the better-lit chamber with the various undead corpses.
Gil stood in place for a moment, dwelling on the words left unsaid, before running off into the black passage after Cale, his sword drawn and held rather firmly at his side.

After a few moments of walking through the decently wide hall, that was now partially lit by a blue glow coming from a ring on Cale’s left hand, concerns started to rise into Gil’s mind once more, and the urge to voice them had become almost unbearable. “Don’t crypts like these have more than just traps and magic guarding whatever remains or objects contained within?”
Cale glanced back at the boy with an eyebrow raised in question. He stared for a few seconds before deciding to humour the squire with an answer. “Some do have more than a few spells and traps.. As you’ve already noticed, whoever made this particular tomb made sure to leave a few undead lying around.. And, in some tombs, they lay enchantments along the walls, or in specific chambers to block the mage sense, that lovely ability to perceive with magic that most of you seem to possess… Others, so few others, have entire passageways or chambers made from Octurnium which, in large, refined quantities, absorbs whatever magic an individual possesses, should they attempt to cast a spell. I’ve only ever run into three tombs with the latter two, but the habit of stocking creatures is a common one.”
With those words said, Cale turned his head back around and continued after their rather silent friend, the ever more nervous Gil following close behind, somehow now finding some shred of comfort in being closer to the obviously far more experienced thief. While they walked, Gil tried to reach out with what little of the magical sense that he had with the intent of finding whatever life that lie ahead. What he found was rather discouraging. He could sense everything before him up to the distance Lacuna was in front of them, but everything beyond the man seemed to be shrouded in a very thick fog.
“What kind of creatures can live in places like this?” He asked Cale as he continued to try to push his mage sense, attempting to satisfy at least one of his curiosities.
Cale didn’t even look back this time, just kept walking. However, he did give a brief answer. “Mostly undead… But, if the architect and whatever mage who did the enchantments did everything right, any manner of creature can be stored in a crypt like this. I’ve come across drakes, trolls, and goblins that had apparently survived for centuries guarding the various treasures of other tombs.”
A strange thought entered Gil’s mind as he gave up on his attempts at using his rather weak mage sense. “What about ROUS’s? Have you ever seen those?”
“Rodents of Unusual Size? Boy, those only exist in the less believable adventure stories told by bards with a significant lack of skill.”
“But my knight said that they were used as guard hounds by the ancient nomads that called this land home.. He said they were three feet tall and more dangerous than any ho-“
“Boy, bite your tongue! I’ve been through hundreds of tombs and never once have I seen a giant rat! They Do No-“ Cale had stopped and turned then to look Gil square in the eyes in an attempt to get his point truly across. However, just as he’d turned, a section of the wall on their right had crumbled away, and through this rather large hole pounced a creature as large as any war hound, but twice as feral.
The giant rat took Gilleastos to the ground, sparking a rather intense battle for survival between the two as Cale stood spectating with an expression of utter shock. “Well…. I’ll be damned…” He managed to say before drawing the rapier at his side and placing the tip of its blade into the ROUS’s frontal lobe.