Gakgak's Story

The goblin waved her off with one hand, and brushed itself off with its other, grotesque hand. "How?" Elyzabeth demanded again, grabbing his arm and holding it over his head. The goblin, somewhat annoyed, pointed at itself and declared "Gakgak." Then it pointed at her, and uttered his foul language's word for her race. She released his wrist, then shoved him down and pointed a sword at his chest, which showed no signs that it had just been pierced in two places. "What has healed you?"
The goblin stared up at her. It touched its chest and pointed at the smelling remains of the bison, then at her sword. It was clad in some sort of soft leather outfit, which had its chest piece thoroughly ruined, and a belt. It clattered at her angrily in terse phrases, but his native language was snarls, growls, barks, yaps, and nonsense. She understand "Elf" and "Scared of," things she'd taken in pride in juxtaposing in goblin conversation many times before.
One of her hands was throbbing, either from being thrown against a wall or trying to get through an animal's skull. Either way it loathed to support the burden of her sword; both, finally, were returned to their sheathes, and she took the goblin around the shoulder and hauled him to his oversized feet. "Go." She pointed, and gave him a shove. If he couldn't say what his secret was, she couldn't beat it out of him, but she could wait for something else to, so she could watch and learn. Goblins weren't smart enough to do magic, not like what would be needed to survive Gakgak's injuries. It hesitantly complied, plodding along a few steps ahead of her.

Satogi Orokawru

---

The paladin rookie was glad that most of the monsters seem to have either already been vanquished or all together left the area. He had gotten in a good workout and needed to rest for at least an hour before continuing. He broke into another room and began to meditate once he was sure it was safe. During his meditation he focused on his religion and gained some insight into further reaching the light of his faith. (New Ability: Flash Familiar) It took him twice as long as he thought it would, two hours in total. The benefits of his pray however paid off and he felt even stronger than before.

Leaving his sanctuary he now heads out to find the next staircase or even more things to fight.

Satogi would not reach the third floor so happily unmolested, unfortunately; he was doomed once more to face Elyzabeth, now with Gakgak the goblin as her shield. A living creature that could bite and regenerate threatened to be more useful than a metal buckler, if they were to come to blows again. Which was likely, given Elyzabeth's empowerment, and the goblin's unease at coming to a crossroads between two paladins.
"I said I didn't want to see you again," Elyzabeth barked angrily, with clear disregard for the fact that Satogi likely had as little control over his path as she did. Her back, arms, wrists, lets, and chest still ached from being pinned between flagstones and bison skulls, but she felt confident in her ability to knock him aside again, especially now that her new companion could dive for his ankles or attack his shins, at the least.
Gakgak chattered in the foreign tongue neither of them could understand. He stuck out a crooked, bony finger and traced shapes in the air, like a wizard might deign runes before invocation. Elyzabeth watched him from the bottom of her vision, not sure what magic he could do (if any), but interested in seeing it used on someone that wasn't herself. "Stand aside, human," she ordered. "And there will be no violence."

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As the two paladins exchanged their words, a third party decides to join the fray; a group of Corrupt Guards and Casters stand in the background, placing bets with the imp scavenger. The Casters, however, decide not to play around with their coin, and join the battle soon to begin. 2 Red Casters join Elyzabeth, while 3 Blue Casters join Satogi.

The radiant darkness of the casters limit both the heroes' holy connections (-5 Faith to Elyzabeth and Satogi). The two Red Casters raise their staffs high, and blast the elf with blazing mana-essence (+2 Attack, Armor Ignoring Attacks, Fire DOT). The Blue Casters on the boy's side of the field raise their weapons as well, and envelop the warrior in a glowing blue forcefield (+3 Defense, Strong Injury Recovery, Physical Damage Immunity).

It seems like all hell is about to break loose on the second floor! While the battle progresses, more monsters will join the audience, and some may even join the fight as well.

It was quite unfortunate for the goblin, standing between the angry paladin and the selfish elf. He was still tracing in the air, with not intention of actual spell casting, when various magical effects and another fight broke out. Gakgak was not prepared to feel the full weight of the paladin and his ridiculous shield falling down a flight of stairs on him (which was exactly what happened; Elyzabeth used him as an obstacle without compunction). She didn't know why she was suddenly glowing, and decided to ignore it; the human was attacking her, not the costumed wizards that stood on the sideline. She felt the weight of her swords, drawing both and holding them just above her waist. Though she couldn't explain why, she felt like they could have gone straight through Satogi's newest addition. Fortunately for him, she didn't care about killing him if simply disabling and abandoning was faster.
"Heuhf." The goblin coughed and wheezed. Its torso was flattened, and his skin ruptured at ribs, spilling liquefied internal organs. His legs twitched once, then what was left of him went limp. Elyzabeth was not concerned with his condition. "I asked that you stand aside," she announced like it would justify killing Satogi. "You force my hand." She kept her distance from the advancing paladin, unimpressed by his violent strategy but wary of the size of his new shield. She felt confident that, if needed, she could snake an arm between the wall and the side opposite the paladin's sword, and stick her blade through his ribs, or else throw her weight against it, and leave him in the same condition he reduced Gakgak to. "This time I will take more than your possessions."

(Power Damage: -All buffs, Heart damage 1/10)

Elyzabeth wasn't impressed by the paladin's display, but at least appreciate the wherewithal to recognize the influence of the magi and dispose of them. It was somewhat disappointing to lose her newfound enchantments without having the opportunity to test them on the poor paladin, but she'd have ample opportunity. It was good that he refused to fight thereafter; she was struggling to regain her vision, pointlessly trying to hide her frantic blinking from Satogi, least he realize her weakness. Arguably she could fight at least half-competently in the dark, and had done so in the past, but not against enemies that carried functionally rocks strapped to their arms.
Elyzabeth's vision filtered back in, albeit marred by black floating blobs compounded by a headache, after Satogi had already doubled over to cough. She raised her swords expectantly, anticipating either his or the mage's attacks, but he was preoccupied with trying not to cough himself to death and the spell casters were ashes. "...by Elyz..." So he has a bad attitude, and takes all the fun out of the Tower? She hesitantly returned her swords to their sheathes to approached. While it looked like a gesture of comfort, the hand she placed on Satogi's shoulder was intent on shoving him sideways if he proved still hostile so she could stomp his little neck permanently closed. "Human: Uh, thanks," she mumbled, finding it difficult both to be humble and get over the adrenaline rush of expected combat. "I will be leaving, then," she told him with disregard for his health. She assumed if he could manifest light with physical properties strong enough to break through thick stone once, there was no reason why he couldn't continue to do it (and for her to remain within instant-ashification-range of him). "And, uh, Elsir's blessings and all that good stuff." She didn't dare actually try to call on her patron to cure a human's maladies. That went poorly the last time it was attempted, which was on someone she tolerated far better than the screaming, indignant paladin.
"Gakgak, are you coming?"
The goblin was still on the ground, seemingly barely clutching to life, but he was no longer a puddle of liquid organs. The stone around him was bloodstained and reeked, but the seems at his sides had patched themselves shut. "...you going to be a minute?" She asked, impatiently. The goblin gave her the goblin hand gesture equivalent of "go to hell."

"...what the fuck? No, shoo. Flaggon rats." She waved her arms angrily at the imp, and the other creatures, and didn't much appreciate having dense pieces of metals thrown at her. "Go away. I don't want any. Piss off. Go. Shoo." She hadn't won anything; she just waited long enough that the situation resolved itself. "If you aren't here to challenge me, you're a waste of my time."
Gakgak had returned, shakily, to his feet. He joined her at the end of the ruined corridor, opposite the stairs, far more interested in the scattered coins than Elyzabeth was. Without asking, he snatched a pouch from her belt and started filling it. She let him, realizing the money might have use in the future, even if as just a very expensive bludgeon. "Hurry up, goblin." He held up a silencing hand and yapped impatiently in his grumbling language. It left his tongue lazily hanging out the side of his mouth, like it had been forgotten, or he was just too lazy to return it to where it belonged. Either way, the top of their spoils were slick with drool.
"You are disgusting. In every possible way."
Gakgak offered her the coin purse, despite her insult. She reached for it, then shook her head. "...no, you can hold onto it, I guess." Gakgak happily accepted the task, and tied the string around his left wrist. It left his arm dangling (two hundred gold coins was not a light burden), but he seemed content. "Gurghlker...." he cooed, almost like a soothed baby. The elf rolled her eyes.
"C'mon. That paladin no doubt has already found himself more trouble. I suppose I should try to repay him for his efforts."
"Hagk!" Gakgak spat on the floor. He wasn't a fan of Satogi, and for good reason.
"I don't think he'll squish you again. And if he does, I'll kill him." Elyzabeth shrugged.
"...aghk..." The goblin narrowed his eyes in thought, then snorted and waddled his loping self towards the stairs. The elf followed, hoping the obnoxiously celebrating beasts would not persist.

Gakgak took the liberty of holding Elyzabeth's lantern for her, which left her hands more readily available for killing things. It seemed like the most efficient way for them to travel: Gakgak as the pack mule and Elyzabeth as the slashy-stabby. The disturbed vines, ripped and worn thin did not escape her notice. "Humans and their overthick armors," she muttered. "Sure it can stop an axe, but I'm not winded after a hundred feet, or top heavy."
"Grahk!"
Elyzabeth didn't know if the goblin agreed, or even understood. She'd never seen one adorned in anything more advanced than stolen and ill-fitting chains, seeing inferior leather working as their more common source of protection. But it sounded like agreement. Or at least not disagreement. And anything but disagreement was welcome.
"I seek asylum in which to trance, goblin. Do you require rest?"
"...grahk?" It was the goblin's turn to shrug. So that sound was his approximation of yes.
"Very well." Nothing had jumped out at them yet. It would have been unfair to leave a monster lurking ten feet from the start of the floor, and having not yet passed diverging paths, she was confident that the lack of monster or Satogi corpses meant nothing was present to threaten them. At least, not for the moment. They came to the same door Satogi had; she carefully pushed it open, listening through the groaning of ancient hinges for the tick of a spring-loaded trap and feeling for the standing hairs of imminent, magical destruction. Neither came.
"Paladin!" Elyzabeth called on seeing the soon-to-be-sleeping man, announcing her presence as well as hopefully startling him awake. "I will be resting here." She didn't leave room for argument as she closed the door behind her. Gakgak gave him a less-than-pleasant look before the duo moved to occupy the opposite side of the room. "Do not disturb me, and I can offer the same nicety."

Sanul thrashed about, trampling the tall grasses in his path, looking for anything of use, really. Damn near impossible when the stupid shrubs limited his vision to a few feet in front of him, if even that.

Finally, the mage found the stairs up, although there was an issue in the way. Two Sentry Gems, purple large tetrahedrons, floated quietly about the area around the stairs.

"Impressive... Didn't know these existed, thought they were myths..." Sanul knew very little about the sentient crystals; if anything, he knew they were extremely sensitive. So, to avoid problems, he took refuge in the nearest room, and locked himself inside

Sanul would meditate there until the paladins triggered them; better them than him.

The two Sentry Gems become triggered by Satogi's presesnce. Almost immediately, they begin to hum at an odd frequency, as they charge up their arcane essence, ready to serve their worth.

As the humming grows louder, one Sentry begins arcing out bolts of lightning violently. Satogi is struck by one of the bolts, blasting him backwards a foot or two (Crippling Injury; Satogi is now Dazed, -6 to all stats temporarily) as sparks continued to fly from the gem. The other sentry begins glowing with a red hue, and several noises begin emanating from afar. (Enemies have been alerted to Satogi's presence.)

From the shrubs enveloping the floor, a few additional beasts join the fray. 2 Acid Blobs begin crawling towards the paladin, as three massive Killer Bees whizz around the child, their sharp stingers poised to stab the young warrior through.

Elyzabeth uncrossed her legs and muttered a vulgar insult, not directed at anything in particular. It was, typically, how she came out of her trances. Where other elves woke refreshed and at peace, having furthered their pursuits for enlightenment or whatever it was they did, she just found herself slightly less annoyed.
Of course all that annoyance came flooding back when she remembered where she was, and what for.

"Goblin! Gakgak. Where?" Elyzabeth waited a moment for her eyes to adjust. She could, barely, make out the silhouette of the goblin watching the hallway from the cracked-open door. She looked around, expecting to see the paladin's sleeping form somewhere on the ground, and failing that, expected some of her things (most of which were stolen from him) pilfered. Everything was where she left it, including the lantern she lit.
Elyzabeth shared a quick and paltry breakfast with her companion, then, together, they left the room. It was only a few feet down the hall that they came across a body, impaled by Satogi. "Darn. Looks like I've missed the fun."

The goblin carried the lantern. Its hobbly gait, and predilection for occasionally using one of its knobbly hands in place of feet, caused the light to bounce and dance, making it impossible to focus on anything. Still, it was better than having one of Elyzabeth's hands preoccupied.
In record time, her patience was already worn thin. The third floor of the tower, or at least the section she occupied, smelled foul, and was filled with strange noises. She took turns at random when there was nothing for guidance, but whatever she thought she saw a light or heard a creature, she tried to investigate. Gakgak was far less keen on tracking down danger.
They exchanged words occasionally, which was an exercise of dubious merit and an undertaking of great difficulty. Elyzabeth's speech was interrupted by more vulgarity and insults; Gakgak's was filled with grunts and strange noises that Elyzabeth wasn't sure were words at all.

Elyzabeth's wandering led her towards a strange sight; a Shrine, dedicated to a nameless hero. It's adorned by many offerings and niceties. Gold coins, a few scrolls and potions; all of these thought to help a spirit in the afterlife, as old Commonmen traditions would say.

They're free for the taking, but the owner of the shrine may not be happy with someone raiding his tomb.

Lance watched the paladin patiently perform the ritual the spirit deserved. He smiled at Satogi's generosity as he wouldn't have had the foresight to do such things himself. Satogi was truly a man of divine faith, something Lance didn't exactly dwell in, but he was thankful someone in their group did.

As Lance and Satogi carried Koko to a room to rest, he couldn't help but notice that Satogi had seen quite a few battles while in here. He'd set himself up as a distraction for the sake of everyone's livelihood and hadn't even so much as grumbled about it. The price of his actions were even more visible than before. Lance would be sure to make it up to him.

When they got into the safe room, Lance set him down and reached into Koko's pack, pulling out the Vial of Life. A realization had come upon him while they traveled and he was going to act upon it. He turned to Satogi, giving him the vial.

"Here," he told the paladin,"It's a Vial of Life. Only give it to Koko should the two of you run into some trouble while you guys rest. I'm going to find you some armor." He turned to leave the room, but stopped himself as he realized that it wouldn't do any good not telling where he was going. He looked back at the two. "I'm going to try and find the room where we battled the crystals. I remembered we didn't open that chest that lay in there. Perhaps it'll carry armor for you or something that'll help us all. He took one foot out and had one more afterthought. He pulled out his worn golden shield and tossed it to the Paladin. "Here, use this in case your shield falters on you in a future battle. It's kind of damaged, but it's better than nothing, right? Besides, who knows what kind of magical properties it may have."

Without an answer, he left the two, sprinting through the corridors and rooms to find the place he'd fought the crystal. While he was fairly good at navigation, being a nomad, he wasn't perfect, especially when it was dark. He soon found himself lost somewhere on the third floor.

"Ah, that isn't good," Lance mumbled to himself when he realized this. Slowing to a walk, he panted as he tried to look for landmarks that would point him in the right direction. He must have missed one while he was running.

He rounded a turn and stopped in his tracks. At the end of this hallway appeared two beings silhouetted be the glow of what appeared to be a shrine inside. Perhaps there may be an item in there that could help Satogi and Koko. But he was worried about how the two would react to his presence. One looked graceful and deadly, like a viper, while the other's large shambling form could prove a great deal of strength to battle against.

"Um, excuse me?" he called out to the two, hoping that his decision would lead to salvation rather than defeat.

Lance obviously meant no harm, but he was about to bring some; as he approached the shrine and the two beings near it, he tripped off a trap!

Four obsidian obelisks rise from the stone floors of the Tower. Each stone etched with the name of a long forgotten hero, they each expel a Wraith; ravenous spirits with a thirst for murder.

Two Wraiths assault the duo standing at the shrine, while the other two fly towards Lance.

Lance took a step forward. The moment he felt the ground falter under his foot and a resounding click! he knew he was in for something.

The obelisks rose and Lance immediately thought he was going to have to fight those things. But the two Wraiths that flew out of the obelisks were considerably worse. Spirits were not a favorable opponent for Lance as he couldn't really damage them with something physical and his shards were more or less ineffective. He would either have to consume one of his more powerful shards or bolt out of there.

Without hesitation, he ran, apologizing quickly in his head and deciding should he run into them again, he'd make it up to them.

Once again, he ran as fast as he could through corridors, hoping the Wraiths weren't in pursuit. Left, right, right, left, left...the landmarks flew by as he went on. Suddenly, something caught his eye. The vines! Lance remembered passing them when he'd first arrived on the floor. He knew where to go from here.

Before he knew it, he was back where he fought the crystals. Sure enough, the chest was still there. Quickly opening it, he knew he was fast enough to have outran the Wraiths thus far, but it might not be long before they caught up.

The chest contained... another trap!

A Sentient Knife floated out of the chest, and immediately started to shove itself into Lance, stabbing violently at every opening he could find.

The two Wraiths following him refused to give up their pursuit. Once they reached Lance again, the two spirits melded together, creating a larger Ghoul.

The newly formed Ghoul draws his weapon; massive claws, sharper than sharp. With a bit of pullback, the spirit swipes at Lance.