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Location: Dungeon, Ritual Room Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: everyone except Khord Aurielle had no idea when she came running down into the dungeon just how bad it really was going to get. She watched as her new team mates turn on eachother by the power of some very dark and charming evil and she watched in horror as her friends dropped before her as she flew near the ceiling trying her best to keep people on their feet. At one point she called forth the power of her god feeling his energy flow through her in way that filled her with life and light but also an intense darkness, with this she directed the flow and watched three of her friends rise from the edges of death while another was healed back up a bit. All of the battle seemed to go by so fast and before she knew it she was face to face with Donny and it was all a blur when he struck out at her with his blade. Her eyes went wide the force of the blade knocked the wind out of her and suddenly she could taste blood in her mouth. Within a minute the battle had ended and the monsters and the charming succubi and her mate were dead, but the destruction they had rained down upon this group could be felt deeply. Auri watched Khord walk up to Tik-Tik and suddenly lash out at him headbutting him solidly. "Khord!!" Auri despite her own hurts and the deep bruising she felt ran towards him stopping just shy of him. "Khord stop!!!" Auri panicked as she watched him go to hit Tik-Tik the second time and she called out "STOP" as she felt her divine magic flow through her the darkness surrounding Khord and forcing stillness from him as Hold Person took effect. Auri took a brief moment to take a breath as she watched her spell take form around Khord holding him still so he could no longer attack Tik-Tik. It was then she watched his helm fall from his head and clatter to the floor and it was then she felt the horror of what she had just inflicted upon Khord. She saw the pain and fear in his eyes and knew that trauma herself, whatever darkness he was feeling that was because of her. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry.... " Auri watched him break free of her spell and ask she tried to reach out to him to try and comfort him, to make some semblance of an apology to him he recoiled from her and booked it from the room. As if she had been struck again Auri took a step back holding her shield close to her body and her mace fell down to her side hanging almost limply in her hand. She hadn't meant to hurt him, to bring him such trauma but alas there she stood as he tore out of the room, facing things she could only imagine but she had some inkling that it had something to do with the woman whose form that Succubus had taken.  It seems all of her friends had their own darkness they were facing and somehow though that should have hurt, it actually made her feel a little less alone. As her wings receded into her and the sort of ethereal aura she had about her faded she felt the weight of the world on her.  She looked around for just a moment before finding herself a corner and standing with her back to the corner she slid down to the floor the weight of the world heavy upon her shoulders. She let go of her shield and mace with a clatter as they fell to the floor. Aurielle pulled her legs in as close as the bruising of her chest and torso would allow her head dropping down causing her bangs to obscure her face as she looked down at the floor. She needed a moment or the world would spin again, but just as he had been before, there was Aren in front of her a hand held out to her to help her up and he was urging them all to move on, that something greater still lurked there. He wasn't wrong, even Auri knew that but at this point she was tapped out. "Give me a moment... I am so tired..."

Location: Dungeon, Ritual Room Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: everyone except Khord He slowly rises to his feet. When did I pass out?  Kallen thinks to himself, as he reorients to his surroundings. Everyone seems to be alright, but what is this taste?  Kallen brings a finger to his tongue, a smear of dark substance remains as he glances down. Oh no, I couldn't have... He immediately investigates the enemies, finding multiple bite wounds in one of them - a full row of teeth, not two puncture holes. Kallen scans the room to see if anyone took notice. "This is so embarrassing." He mumbles to himself. Just as he begins to work through how to avoid explanation, Tik-Tik and Khord are at each other's throats. He does his best to calm Khord down. "Please, don't get upset afterward." He says as his eyes shine with a newfound radiance in Khord's direction. The struggle ceases when Khord and Tik-Tik go their separate ways. I'll be sure to tend to their wounds after we get out of here - this was not easy for any of us. We must all get stronger. We...uhm, I can't go on unless I gain the necessary strength.  At camp made outside the dungeon, Kallen sits in a tree alone, staring up at the sky, fiddling with his crossbow. This will not be as simple as I thought...

Location: Dungeon, Ritual Room Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: everyone except Khord Aren found himself wobbling a little unsteadily, his injured leg not quite holding his weight. He needed to recover both physically and mentally - though he had fortunately been able to recognize that the what the succubus had shown him wasn't actually his sister, just the sight of her likeness and her voice had left him reeling. He hadn't anticipated the effect that seeing her again would have on him. He knew he would have to find a secluded spot before he broke down, but for now he couldn't afford to do that just yet. They needed to get everyone out of here, first. There were people clearly worse off than he was, after all. "Yeah, I think we're all going to need a few moments after what just happened."  Aren replied to Aurielle. "But we can't take them here." It seemed like Aurielle wasn't taking his hand, so he moved to pick up her dropped weapon and shield, instead. As he offered them to her he somehow put too much weight on his injured leg, causing a searing pain to shoot through him. Aren let out a quick exhalation through clenched teeth. He looked around at the others to hopefully cover the noise. Noticing Tik Tik hurriedly leaving he called out, "Donny do you know what's happened to Tik Tik? He's not heading further on alone is he?"  And where had Kallen gotten to? The little Kender had made quite a case for himself in the fight, impressing Aren despite the initial reservations he had had about the quiet man - but now he had disappeared. Shaking his head, Aren turned back to Aurielle, still sitting on the ground. Hopefully she hadn't heard the pained noise he had made. As she still didn't seem to be moving, he found himself growing a bit desperate. He offered Aurielle her gear again.  "Come on, we can't stay here. Can you stand? You did take a bit of a beating, there."

Location: Dungeon, Ritual Room Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: everyone except Khord Donny was sitting a bit frozen for a while, people were talking but his stomach spun. The fact the he saw his Pa die again, and this time it was his fault, practically shot a bolt right into his heart. Luckily, even though he now knows the trick, it still felt so real, Donny was to weak to save anyone, his Pa, this team ; he needed more strength, much more, and he would find it now. However, this rag tagged team needed something, and seeing as Khord and Peri weren't gonna do anything about it; Donny would have to do his best to put on a brave face. He took a long deep breath and began working on each person one by one. Kallen, he was the closest and seemed the most okay, at least morale wise. Donny extended a hand to Kallen helping him to his feet, "That was a damn good show Kallen, I feel you took two of them demons practically by yourself. You have some stones to stand up to one of those things by yourself, and the fact you were able to practically kill this one. I'm slightly envious." Donny of course referring the one Kallen had bitten. After helping the Kender up Donny would reply with a quick, "I'ma help the others up, if you can go up and make sure you see Khord and Tik-Tik's in the camp, if not at the very least see if they're foot prints run out of this dungeon. I would hate for anything to happen to them while we were hear wasting time." After that Donny would listen to a quick response then move on to Aurielle, seemingly the worse one out of all of them.  Donny patted Aren on the shoulder as he walked by, mouthing a quick good job and thank you. Donny took a knee next to Auri, not wanting to disturb her. "Auri, if you can listen to me real quick; it be tremendously helpful too me. I just wanted to apologies... I know I was charmed by them devils, but I still caused you harm... I didn't mean to. It's just they dressed up as a very important man to me..." At this point Donny was tearing up quite a bit, it seems the emotions have gotten to him. (9 Cha saving throw, to hold face.) "I know it's not much, and I can't do the amazing things you can do... My damn magic can't do what yours does... But I wanted to say I'm sorry for everything, you might be feeling." Donny wiped his face, realizing the tears were running down his cheeks. He took another breath, trying to stabilize his emotions. "I also wanna let you know it's not your fault. I know you feel awful about Khord, but you didn't do anything wrong. Khord was attacking an ally, an ally who was extremely weak. I'm sure Khord would never kill Tik Tik for any reason, but accidents happen. So you did what you felt you needed to do, ain't nothing wrong with that. Sure right now it might hurt, and it'll probably hurt later a bit; but don't let that hurt control you, or parallelize you. You're a strong women, hell you literally the only reason why were all able to live. You're also kind, even when I was attacking you; you never swung at me. Which may have been foolish..." Donny gives a light chuckle. "But it was kind, so everyone knows you would never do anything to hurt, or freak out Khord. It was an unfortunate accident, but we live, we learn, and we grow from our past mistakes and struggles. Donny still hurt but giving a smile. "Now I know you're tired, and you're stomach is probably like mine which feels like an untamed horse trying to break out of a barn; but would tt be alright if Aren helps you get topside? I would join, but I wanna make sure Mrs. Peri's all good, after that I'll head right up behind the both of you."

Location: Dungeon, Ritual Room Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who:   Aurielle, Aren, Donny, Peri Auri sat there focusing just on her ragged breathing, each breath was painful right now and she knew she would be sporting an ugly bruise across her mid section come morning from where Donny had struck her. She was trying to keep the dizziness from returning but Donny  and Aren were right, they couldn't stay there, it wasn't safe and with the other now gone and them all pretty much wiped out any attack on them could do them in. As her shield and mace were picked up Auri heard Aren's pain and it made her flinch, which caused her pain in her own side, but she knew she had nothing left to help him, all her magic had been used. "We really are a mess," she muttered before trying to relax her legs as her body would allow. She shifted and feeling the pain erupt in her side she stopped for a moment biting down on her lip to stifle her own outburst. She would not allow herself to show them further weakness she decided and she forced herself to her feet, ignoring any help the guys gave her, her stance tense now as she stood in front of them her head still down. It was all she could do to try not to have them worry about her right now, though honestly it probably would cause them more alarm than if she just cried. Auri took her shield and mace, placing the latter on a hook at her side hanging off a belt. With grim determination she walked past the two of them, muttering ,"forgive me. I will do better next time." Her voice was sweet but some of the shine it normally had, had been dulled by the battle. She didn't have the energy to be her best, none of them really did. She walked over to where Khord's helm had fallen and leaning on her shield for support on her bad side she reached down a bit shakily and picked it up holding it close to her chest as she headed towards the exit. She kept her head down the whole way but her eyes scanned the floor looking for signs that any of their own people might have wandered off anywhere but to the exit. She may have been hurt and she may have felt like she had failed them, but she would protect them all to the bitter end, and if that meant tracking someone down by golly she was gonna do it.

Location:  Outside the dungeon Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: Tik Tik Tik-Tik made his way outside still in a complete daze as to what just happened, a part of him seriously was worried for the sake of the tribe since his old mate told him to protect the tribe. What an honor it would be to save the tribe and be welcomed back with open arms! He began trotting through the dungeon a little quicker before the memories hit. His own family turning him in and stabbing him in the back, But why would they ask me to defend the tribe now? Deep in his gut he knew something wasn't right, the tribe would never leave the deserts of home and come underground when the sun was so important to them. So why did i attack them for the sake of the village...? But why after the monsters were gone was i still attacked.. I must've done something wrong.. something wrong. Corn is dangerous, will watch him. Before he knew it he was outside gaining further speed, to heal i need flesh Ignoring the cracked chitin and the oozing wounds Tik Tik began pulling himself high into the trees leaping from tree to tree looking for the tell tale signs of wild game. After stalking and repeated attempts and failures he successfully gathered enough tiny flesh creatures to feed himself. I shall eat enough for both DD and I, for his  strength is mine now. He walked and ate eventually finding himself back to the camp. Making sure to keep himself near enough to the camp so his teammates would know he was there but not close enough to be bothered. He quietly tore into piece after piece letting his adrenaline calm and letting his memories settle. The overwhelming feeling of that he had done something so wrong that he was no longer welcome settled on his mind, for being someone so obtuse to natural feelings he couldn't help but be put off his meal. He set a great deal aside, he drew a square around himself and laid down in the sun, unsure what to do and what was coming his way.

Location: Dungeon, Ritual Room Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: Aurielle, Aren, Donny, Peri Donny couldn't help but wear a sad smile as Aurielle stood up, refusing the men's help. He was happy, but the slow movement showed it was a struggle. Donny couldn't help but respond, almost instinctively, "See I knew you were strong." He said it aloud, but it wasn;t meant for Auri, more of a comment that the others could hear. As she left she said her final words Donny couldn't help but chuckle and respond, "Don't worry, we'll all do better next time." He stood and watch her for a moment, it was kind of beautiful sight. Not in terms of attraction, but in terms of defiance. This small little angle refusing to stop moving forward, and continually growing stronger. She had been beaten by him and abandoned by Khord, and yet she still walked tall; claiming next time she would do better. Meanwhile in Donny and hopefully all the others mind, she was the only reason they stood in the fight. It's the only reason they were all still there. As she moved further away Donny put a hand on Aren, "Could you follow her please. She maybe one of the strongest ladies I know, but even the strong can falter. Just make sure she gets outta here, I'm gonna grab Mrs. Peri real quick." Donny would listen to anything Aren had to say, and then after he would go to Peri. "Mrs. Peri you need any help? I know you can heal yourself, but I wanted to just make sure you were alright?" Donny asked with an awkward smile on looking at Peri, hoping for a good response.

Location: Dungeon, Ritual Room Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: Aurielle, Aren, Donny, Peri "Just Peri's fine," she said uneasily, and climbed to her feet with difficulty. The nasty, nasty kiss of that demon thing hadn't killed her, but it had come real close, and she'd been knocked unconscious at least once that she remembered--not to mention that her very brain felt almost bruised, from the way the needle-claws of that charm spell had sunken into it. She patted herself down, checking the damage, and groaned quietly as she realized that her beautiful, comfortable, expensive new underthings were sodden with blood and possibly ruined for good. "I'm fine," she finally replied to his initial question, and squinched her eyes tight shut as she dredged up some magic to try and Prestidigitate her clothes a little less bloodied. It worked, to an extent, and she hurried after Auri. The cleric was moving slowly, eyes on the ground, and Peri caught up pretty easily. She cleared her throat, trying not to startle. " Hey, lady. Thanks for everything you did back there--if it had been just me healing we'd all be dead for sure. Do you need some help moving? You can lean on my shoulder. I may not look it but I'm really pretty strong."

Location: Dungeon, Ritual Room Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: Aurielle, Aren, Donny, Peri Donny was happy that Peri was alright, his smile turned to a genuine. "Phew, that's great to hear. I was worried when you...." However, as Donny was speaking Peri was already gone. He sighed, he shouldn't be surprised, but he was hoping for at least a moment. Well at least she wasn't being rude this time. He sighed, the tiny woman was a big handful sometimes. Donny would give a welp look to Aren, "Well shall we." and begin to leave with Aren.

Location: Dungeon, Ritual Room Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: Aurielle, Aren, Donny, Peri As Aurielle silently took the gear he offered her Aren could see she was hurting. Aren was a little puzzled by her words of inadequacy - she was the only reason they were still alive, after all. There was no way they would have come out of that fight in one piece without her. Of any of them, she probably had to most reason to be proud and happy right now. Even so, her voice was dull and her head was hung low as she slowly picked up Khord's fallen helmet and began to walk towards the entrance. Aren was already moving to follow her when he felt Donny's hand clap him on the shoulder. In response to his request, Aren gave a quick thumbs-up. "Sure thing, Donny. I'll make sure she's safe." He glanced around nervously one more time before setting off. "I feel like we should all stick together as much as possible down here." Despite his fears, the walk back to the entrance was uneventful. They had all ended up leaving together anyway, so Aren trailed a few steps behind the group - close enough to assist if they needed it but far enough back to give plenty of space. Fortunately they set a nice easy pace, so Aren could keep up even with his damaged leg. It didn't look like they were paying too much attention to their surroundings as they walked, so Aren focused on looking for any more sightings of that thing they had seen earlier. However, in the end they made it to the entrance without any more encounters. He had walked up to the entrance in silence, but Aren felt he couldn't let Aurielle go without at least expressing his gratitude. As it looked like she was about to head off, he finally spoke. "Hey Aurielle." He began. "I guess things didn't exactly work out all for the best in there, but I wanted to at least say thanks for saving me, and the others. There's no way we would have come out of that alive if it wasn't for you." Aren tried to catch her eyes so that he could properly convey his sincerity. "Thank you. I mean it, we were right to put our trust in you. I just wish I could have protected you better..." Aren trailed off at that. Out of nowhere, now that they were out of immediate danger the feelings he had been suppressing since he'd seen his sister's likeness were finally starting to catch up with him. Aren turned away and cleared his throat. "Well. Anyway, if you need anything come find me. I promise I'll do whatever I can to help." Hopefully she'd be OK for a bit with that. Aren turned and walked off towards the woods with a confident stride - well, as confident as it could be with a limp at least. He kept it up until he was a good distance into the woods, at least far enough that he was confident no one from the camp would find him quickly. He found a place where he could sit comfortably and began whittling a small piece of bark he had picked up on the way. Whittling had always been his way to calm himself down - the rhythmic, repetitive motions helped him occupy his mind when he was troubled. If there was any time he needed to clear his head, it was now.  Suddenly he felt the knife slip in his hand - twisting just enough so that he couldn't stop the motion in time. He felt the blade cutting into the meat of his hand. Not a deep cut, not serious by any means. Aren stopped and stared at his hand as blood began to well up. Compared to the wounds he'd already taken today this was almost laughably small. Yet Aren couldn't force himself into the familiar motions of binding the wound. His hand was shaking - when had that started? Were those tears in his eyes?  Who am I kidding. The thought suddenly rose up in him unbidden. Thinking I can protect someone. I couldn't protect my parents. I couldn't protect Kyla. I can't even protect myself. He moved his hands to dab at his eyes, looking at the glistening tears in disbelief. The memories were suddenly relentless, bombarding him one after another. Gone. They're all gone. What am I even doing here? I couldn't save them. As his tears began to flow in earnest Aren felt a familiar grin on his face. The one that showed up whenever he cried, as if he was subconsciously trying to defy the despair trying to consume him. Aren found himself almost laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. Casting himself back upon the ground and throwing an arm across his eyes, Aren was unable to stop himself from finally breaking down and sobbing - even as desperate, anguished chuckles escaped him.

Location: Dungeon, Ritual Room/ outside the fort Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: Aurielle, Aren, Donny, Peri As she made her way back towards the enterance with Khord's helm held to her chest the walk was slow going. Her shield felt heavier than usual and she could feel the bruising welling up across her normally pale skin, causing her deep pain. Her focus now was just to get out f this place and figure out where her party members had gone. She wanted to see them safe and she wanted to apologise to Khord for what she had cast, even if she knew in her panic that it was the only thing she could have done to stop him in that moment. He had become unglued for a moment after all the damage that Tik-Tik had done and after seeing that succubus turn into that woman. Auri knew very little of her new party but the few things she had gathered was that everyone here was some sort of broken, after all normal people don't go on adventures. They settle down with a nice plain partner and pop out a couple of kids and live happily ever after, they don't go down into dungeons and make deals with demons or devil's and risk life and limb. Except for Peri each of them had seen someone, someone important from their past and it gave Auri a sad look into their pains, into things they held close and she didn't know how to feel about it but she was starting to really wonder about Khord, why he had reacted to her so oddly back at the pond and who this woman the succubus had turned into was, and why she looked so similar to Auri in so many ways. Peri's throat clearing brought Auri back to the world for a moment and she stopped placing the shield down for something to lean on as she stood there. Her head listed just a little as she looked to Peri. "Miss Peri, I am glad to see you are ok. " She tried to give Peri a small smile of recognition but her side made her grimace just a little. "I'll be ok soon. The shield is just heavier than I remember it." Auri leaned a bit more on the shield as the room seemed to wobble just a little. She took as deep a breath as her chest would allow and then let it out slowly feeling the wobble pass. "I'll be ok. I am just worried about the team, I am worried about Khord and Tik-Tik. Niether of them were well when they left here. Hopefully Kallen can find them." As they all walked together and they soon found the enterance Auro was never so glad to breathe the sweet night air as she did in that moment. She took another deep breath and hearing Aren she turned to him," I am glad I could be of assistance. I just need to get stronger so you all won't have to worry about protecting me. "She muster from the depths a sweet and sincere smile even though it pained her her cheeks a little flushed though if you asked why she couldn't be sure if it was from exertion or from what her party had said to her tonight. She still couldn't fully understand why they were all being so kind to her after everything that had gone down. The last group she was in wasn't. "I am just going to go put my things away. They are heavier than I remember." With that Auri headed to her tent bending just enough to enter it dropping her weapon and shield to the side of her bedroll. Kneeling down she began to take off the belts she wore to carry items on and with painstaking effort she peeled off her chain armor dropping it beside the other battle worn items. Just taking the weight of that off was enough to help her breathe a little easier and make a little of the pain in her side subside but still she forced herself to lift her under shirt and look at the angry bruising that had started. Running her fingers over her ribs gently she let out a squeak of pain that she tried to muffle by biting her finger on the other hand. Finding a clean shirt and a skirt she took the time to change into lighter clothes before stepping back out into the night, Khord's helm in hand. She wasn't going to be able to rest until she found the others and knew they were safe. 

Location: Woods outside camp Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: Kallen, Auri He finished cleaning the hand crossbow, oiled and wiped free of any debris. Sometimes I wonder why I still use this thing when the shortbow is much more convenient , Kallen questioned as he brushed his hands along the engraving found just under the stock. Putting the weapon away safely, he took out his toothbrush and began the nightly ritual. The taste is oddly enjoyable, which makes it even more repulsive.   Clean, let's just be clean for a little while. He jumped down from the tree and searched for any signs of Khord's direction. "I think he..."  Kallen started, then saw the others together and hesitated to interrupt. He let the words trail and fade as he turned to follow the crushed leaves and branches.  The pain was dull. I guess there are some benefits, as awkward as it is.  Kallen rubbed his bandages, content with the professionalism that he continued to strive for over many years of practice. Helping others was his calling, his desire in life - holding conversations was not as easy. The formalities instilled by his parents took over, as mask, when he spoke to strangers. It bothered him when those high-strung salutations flew out as he tried to form sentences. This was not Kallen; he learned that, with most, it is easier to get along when overt gratification and respect are given. Ugh, sometimes I even forget why I want to help when they always want to cause selfish trouble... The debate restarted, one that he struggles with regularly. "If someone heard me now, hahaha..." he spoke aloud and sighed. The path he followed showed drops of blood - whether it was as a medic or a part of his transformation, he had an eye for spotting even weeks old stains. Focus. He needed to focus right now, everything will come after. Kallen put away his toothbrush and set off to find Khord before he passed out alone, or worse. It was then that he heard the brush move. He jumped into the trees and stopped. Surveying the surroundings he saw Tik Tik collecting...he wasn't sure, and it was rude to spy on a companion. Kallen continued tree to tree for another few minutes until he saw someone. Again? Why is everyone running about when they are so injured? Who could this be?  He drew closer to notice a pretty girl with a stern, steadfast expression that seemingly added to her overall charm. Auri, hmm oh! She has Khord's helmet . He caught up and followed behind for a few more minutes. I'm doing it again, breathe and just say hello...why is it so much easier to talk when they seek my help?  Kallen strode forward and dropped down from the branches. Lightly landing a few steps behind, he tapped Auri on the shoulder. "Hello" he said with a bright smile and low bow. "Khord actually went this way, see?" Kallen walked in a direction just left of where they were facing to retrieve a bloodstained leaf. " I think he'll be very happy you brought his helmet." 

Location: Dungeon, Outside Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: Donny, Tik Tik Donny followed the rest of the group out he was towards the rear watching everyone emerge outside. As he walked around camp, some of his bumps and bruises bothered, causing him to wince here and there, but nothing to serious. As he gazed around he noticed Tik Tik, who was a solid 20ft or so away from the camp. It was obviously very hard to read the large insectoid, but after everything that occurred it was pretty obvious that everyone was upset by it. Donny walked over to Tik Tik without really saying to much, all he wore was a small smirk as he approached his much bigger friend. If Tik Tik would allow he would seat back to back with him, not looking at him but Donny resting the back of his head on Tik Tik's back, as Donny watched the others at the camp. If Tik Tik were to move away from Donny, the boy would just remain seated. As he observed the others in the camp he saw Kallen approach Auri, and gesturing to Khord's helmet. Perhaps he found Khord and wanted to return the helmet, Donny was unsure, but he hoped that Khord was at least safe if not found. As he rested there, he kind of enjoyed the wilderness for a moment; with all the running around it seemed that there were fewer and fewer times to sit back and enjoy the beauty. However, Donny felt now that he got the others, it was time for Tik Tik to be addressed. As Donny sat there, perhaps on or near Tik Tik, he glanced over to Tik Tik. "I don't know what you saw from those devils, and I don't know what you're feeling, but if you saw something similar to what I saw it wasn't good.... I just wanna let you know I'm not mad at you, and I don't think anyone is either... I know Khord is... a bit of a handful, and he can be hard to understand; more so than you I feel." Donny chuckled at his own joke, unsure if Tik Tik could register the humor. "I think Khord was just mad at himself.... " Donny shook his head a bit, as if he was trying to shake thoughts out of his own head. "I just wanted to say it ain't you fault. Whatever you saw, whatever those devils put in your mind to attack us. It wasn't you.... Those red winged bastards put my pa in my head" Frustration and surprise grew in Donny's voice. Frustration obviously directed towards the devils, but he was also surprised. Surprised at himself, that he was speaking to someone about this, I mean certainly Tik Tik might not understand what he's saying, and even more then likely wouldn't tell anyone; but still. Why even speak? However Donny felt compelled to do so, "You know, I've had some bad days... and I thought the worst was behind..." Donny looking at the Arcanic Runes carved into his arm, then back towards the distance. "... but then I was told my pa died, and then my world shattered. I says to myself 'that's it! That's surely gonna be the worst day ever.' ... Turns out I was wrong again, I saw my Pa die.... I was responsible for my pa dying" Tears running down the young boy's face, he tried to hold them in but masking emotions wasn't exactly Donny's forte. "I know he wasn't real... and I know.. I know those damn devils tricked me... but I was so happy... he was alive....I missed him... I still miss him!" Donny couldn't stop himself from bawling at this point, he quickly covered his face with his hands, trying to hide his face, but muffled sounds made there way through his tightly clasped hands. What had started as a quest to comfort his team, ended up failing with the last one. The words Donny said to Aren were proven true. Donny was strong, but even the strong can falter; and at this point the young child was too strong for too long.

Location: ??? Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: Khord As Khord fell forward he basked in the exhaustion that seemed to swallow everything else up until nothing mattered. He hit the ground as he closed his eyes, hoping for just a little while of peace. When he opened up his eyes looked around at the familiar place and then looked down at himself. He was cloaked in a red ornamental set of robes emblazoned with a gold sword. As he finished examining the familiar set of clothes and looked up seeing his best friends. As Khord looked down at them he felt a weird sting in his heart but he shook it off as a full smile curled up his lips, a deep and hearty laughter exiting his mouth. He ran up to his three best friends and clasped Ronnon's hand, before picking up Rass and giving him a great big bear hug lifting him off the ground, finally slapping Dris' shoulder and almost knocking him over in his happiness. Something felt off but he couldn't figure out what so he gave up trying to think about it as he walked with his friends, just like the old times. The walked for forever, and also not long at all, as they continued talking, about everything and nothing, just whatever popped into their minds.Khord looked around and took in a familiar open plain, a forest on side, a small town on the other and a mountain to the south. As Khord took in the scenery his heart stopped with a pain he couldn't understand and looked at his friends. Seemingly to remember something he smiled and asked them about his newly-wedded wife. He tried to ask about her whereabouts but as soon as her name left his lips something happened. As Khord spoke her name the world trembled as if some unimaginably powerful spell was cast. The skies turned grey and the happy mood was gone, replaced with one of sorrow and pain. At the sudden change Khord was startled for a bit, finally coming back to his senses after the smell of blood and death entered his nostrils. He looked around and caught the sight of is mentor, Siegfried. As their eyes met Siegfried walked over and told him now was not the time to be spacing out, pointing to the forest as monstrous humanoids unceasingly poured out. He looked around and saw the mercenary group he followed and lead around him and looked back to Siegfried. Siegfried just gave him a look that said, 'you know what to do' and walked to the front of the group, raising his weapon as he rallied the mercenaries around him. Khord walked over the the casters, where his friends would most definitely be. Giving the orders to the magic casters Khord looked at his friends and gave them a nod. He pulled out a book and prepared a spell as he waiting. He began to unleash spell after spell when the two groups clashed. He could hear the screams of the fallen from both sides, the laughter of the monsters as they killed another one of his friends. Every spell he cast wiped an area clean but it was soon filled in with two for everyone he killed. The mercenaries gave inch after inch, making the monstrous humanoids pay for every life they took. But they still fell back towards the mountain which now seemed a lot closer then it should have been. They fought and fought, more people dying with moment that passed. A fireball from the other side hit Ras. Khord was just out of the range and was stunned seeing his friend die right next to him. The smell of burning flesh rose from the aftermath of the fireball and he had to resist the urge to vomit right then and there. He continued casting spells as they were forced up the mountain. After the battle went on for hours, or was it only a moment, Khord and a few other people were on the top of the mountain, a literal ocean of monsters chasing them, still pouring out from the forest. He now had a familiar spear that was silver and copper in his hands, where it came from no one knew. He swung it over and over, killing as many as he could. Sweat was pouring down his face and sting his eyes and every time he licked his dry lips he could taste blood, both his and others. He looked over to see Dris and Ronnon falling to the monsters. Soon it was only Khord and Siegfried, and hearing a pained shout, Khord looked over to see a giant sword pierce the back of of Siegfried's throat, cutting his cheeks open so his jaw fell open like a puppet. From out behind Siegfried stepped a giant, towering hobgoblin grinning evilly at Khord. Tears streamed down his face as He charged, gripping the spear until his entire hands turned white as he screamed ferociously, losing his voice due to the brutality of it. He ran the short distance swinging the spear. The hobgoblin caught the spear and swiftly cut him down. Khord fell feeling the emptiness of his body as the blood left hims. He called out for lulu wondering where she was. His sight faded to black as he hoped this would be the end but the part of him that knew this was just a dream knew it wasn't over yet. Khord opened his eyes again and he in his cold, familiar armor and was swimming in the ocean. But it didn't feel right, it was warm and stick and the scent of iron was everywhere. He looked down and noticed it was blood. that was when the voices started up. Some where calling him, beckoning him towards peace, all he had to do was stopping fighting the ocean of blood and sink, never to surface again. Others were screaming out in anguish, reliving the pain of their last moments. Still others were angrily screaming at him, blaming him for their deaths, and those were the worst. He could see his friends in the ocean accusing him of causing their deaths. Khord screamed loudly as bodies below the surface tired to pull him under to join them. He began swimming as fast as he could as he heard a soothing voice calling him gently. He looked up and the sight began to crush his soul. He Lulu floating there, cut in two, crying as she called out to him, trying to reach him. Crying profusely, Khord raised a hand towards her, reaching out towards her. At the same time he was being dragged downwards by the corpses below him. He struggled trying to get closer to Lulu as he was slowly sinking, their hands getting closer and closer. Just as he was about to be pulled under he grasped her hand. They looked at other sadly and they both said, "I'm sorry." He caressed her cheek as he was dragged under. He struggled more but he couldn't get back up.

Location: Dungeon, Outside Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: Donny, Tik Tik Tik Tik was cutting away at the meat in order find pieces that would be good to travel with as he felt something lean against his back, for a moment his first instinct was to grab his axe but he waited. I'm going soft,  he extended his hand still and pushed his axe a foot farther away not wanting the unseen being to become scared as he braved himself to allow vulnerability. It's cookman, probably giving me a warning from miss- the thought stopped as he  began to listen to him talk. His secondary hands subconsciously fiddled with the helmet, unsure if he wanted to talk or hear him out. Seconds later he gingerly put the helmet back on and answered "Its okay, Khord- probably thought i was still controlled... If he didn't... it's tribal rule to fight when attacked like that- but this isn't the tribe... right? I don't need to worry about him? I can feel his killing intent towards me.. he wants me dead" Tik Tik's tone was matter of fact,   he turned back slightly and shrugged and froze as cookman suddenly started uncontrollably rambling. Not really knowing what to do he suddenly froze and just watched extremely awkwardly. For a moment the thought of merely standing and walking away passed through his mind, he reached for some of the meat turning back no no food won't fix this.. or .. will it? Tik Tik fully turned and draped his blanket that he got in his  pack over Cookman's shoulders.  "It's okay Cookman, stay busy or stay here. Family is always hard but we make new family right? Tiny brother?" Tik Tik chittered away as he spoke knowing showing sadness is known to be weak so he attempted to cover up Cookman's sounds.

Location: Dungeon, Outside Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: Donny, Tik Tik After Tik Tik finished talking Donny threw the blanket over his head, and then threw himself into Tik Tik. Tik Tik's skin was hard and uncomfortable, but it felt safe. Donny cried for a while, keeping his face buried, using Time Tik as a shield. Tik Tik began clicking rather loudly, Donny of course, had no idea what he was doing; but it was extremely well timed. Hopefully he could hide the sound of his tears with the clicking of Tik Tik. As he slowly began gaining his composure, the noises began to subside from Donny, but he still hid himself. A couple sniffles escaped Donny, but nothing more than that at this point. The worst seemingly passed, but Donny still had his forehead resting against the rather large insectoid. A single sentence escaped from under the blankets. "Thank you Tik Tik, that means more than you can imagine."  If Tik Tik wanted to leave Donny would let him, but he would hold tightly on to the blanket. Justin for a bit longer.

Location: Woods outside camp Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: Kallen, Auri Holding Khord's helm to her chest, Auri had began to wander in what she hoped someone booking it might have gone after having fled the entrance of the dungeon. She was by no means a tracker and perhaps it would have been better to ask one of her fellow party members for assistance, but right now they were all a mess and all of them needed to rest. Hell she should be resting, but she was going to make amends for what had happened down in the dungeon even if she didn't quite understand what had happened herself, she knew that she had caused him pain and that was enough drive for her. She walked in almost a zombie like state, not worried about stepping on twigs or making noise her arms cradling the helm as her eyes searched the ground for any obvious signs something had gone through here in a hurry. "Where are you?" Auri muttered to herself worry creeping into her voice. A shiver ran down Aurielle's spine as she got the feeling that someone or something was watching her as she walked, but looking around she saw no one. She could have sworn she heard something, but she tried hard to brush off the uneasy feeling she got, Kallen's shoulder tap made her jump with a startled squeak, and then a gasp of pain as her ribs reminded her that they did not care for sudden movements. Auri turned to find herself looking down at Kallen and she took a step back, "I'm sorry I didn't notice you."  Auri attempted a half curtsy her side raging at her, but she forced a kind smile as while Kallen had startled her he was being ever so polite. At the mention of Khord's direction, Auri looked to the leaf and nodded taking note that he was bleeding and hoping she could summon some part of her magic to help him when she eventually did find him a little more worry setting in on her face now that she realized that up to this point she had hoped Kallen would have run into him by now since he had left shortly after Khord had. She clutched the helm tighter at its mention and her head hung a little more feeling shame burning on her cheeks. "I need to find Khord soon. I am worried about him, and whatever it was that happened down there.. " Her voice trailed off for a moment and she took a breath trying to keep her emotions at bay for a moment, "I want him to know I am sorry. I'd never intentionally cause any of you pain." She was not good at hiding her emotions, people seemed have been able to read her like a book at times for as long as she could remember, and often her hair ended up used as a sort of screen to hide her face and emotions, it was why she kept her bangs long in the first place. Her voice became incredibly soft as she tried not to choke on her words, "Thank you for your assistance sir. I just hope I can do better next time. Please excuse me, I need to find Khord."   She gave another half curtsy to Kallen, Auri turned and headed in the direction Kallen stated that Khord had gone now looking for the blood as she went and trying to move as quickly as her body would allow and her poor tracking skills would let her see things, which honestly wasn't that fast but it was all she could do. She had a sinking feeling in her gut that she couldn't shake and she was fighting back the irrationality that came side by side with panic which she was also fighting back. "You couldn't have gotten that far..."

Location: Woods outside camp Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: Kallen, Auri Dealing with hurt people was commonplace for Kallen before everything changed. Well, it was still what he enjoyed doing. He seemed to understand others' pain. This was most obvious with Auri currently. Her injured physical state could not mask her internal concerns. She smiled but is unhappy - if only I were as ineffective at hiding my own thoughts...  He wasn't confident why Auri was so hard on herself; chasing out into the woods with such wounds and looking after the others throughout the fight showed strength. She fails to take notice of her own actions? And although she paused when she saw me, no comment was made about my...ahem, 'fighting style' at the end. The kind that only sees those around them, hm. Kallen smiled to himself and looked away. Auri had taken the leaf without hesitation and continued on Khord's path. "I don't think he'll be mad with you. Y our actions have yet to show any intent to harm"  Kallen called out while following after. He caught up to her pace, moving at her side and extended his hand. "Here, this will help."  He had a small supply of tinctures left with him. What you have prepared is meant to be used, and more can always be made. It was quite the difficult task though. For him, these would stifle the paroxysmal hunger pangs while others would get a brief excitatory sensation. We don't know how far Khord went and both of us are likely necessary to carry him back.   "If you would excuse me"  Kallen said quickly as he took Auri's free hand and sped forwards in Khord's direction. The blood was pooling in larger amounts on the ground. Khord had either been injured further or was finally slowing down. Unsure just how far from camp they traveled, Kallen at least knew the two of them were gaining on Khord. Kallen glanced back every so often to see how Auri was with the pace. The posture was awkard, Oh! This is unnecessary now.  He released her hand, allowing Auri to run more comfortably. Kallen kept his eyes and ears open, scanning for any and all signs of Khord's whereabouts. The group would grow concerned if they did not return soon.

Location: Woods outside camp Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: Kallen, Auri, Khord Auri looked down to Kallen as his tinctures and hand caught the edge of her vision. She looked at the tinctures a moment and suddenly her hand was in Kallen's as he excused himself and then suddenly was pulling her along. "What are these?" Auri was unsure of these tinctures she had been handed, she didn't really have time to ask more than that as they moved faster down the path catching the pools of blood as they went, making Auri worry more. It was starting to get late in the day and while her dark vision was good she didn't want to end up missing something important in the darkness. It wasn't long as Kallen ran before he let go of her head and Auri tried to keep up his pace. For someone with such short legs he had an incredible run speed and just when she felt like she was starting to get dizzy she felt her foot catch on something and she spilled forward, her hands going out to break her fall, she dropped the helm landing on the ground with a thud and a small outcry of pain. She curled up on the ground trying to catch her breath for a moment as she had the wind knocked out of her. As she tried to recover her breath she sat up a little to see what she had tripped over. "A hand?" She wouldn't have caught it at first as it had been obscured by some bushes but it had been reaching out as if trying to reach out to someone. "Khord?" Auri scrambled over to him, he had seemed to have finally fallen and passed out bloodied along side the bit of a trail that they had gone down. "Kallen! Kallen he's here!!" She yelled out as she took Khord's hand in hers. Her hands pained her, scraped in the fall but she didn't care as she brought his hand to her heart clutching it tightly and her other hand went to his chest gently trying to shake him into awakenedness. "Khord.... Khord please wake up.... Please be ok."

Location: Woods outside camp Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: Kallen, Aurielle, Khord As Khord was dreaming he would occasionally call out the names of his dead friends. Shaking as the nightmare got worse, his voice climbing in volume, tears streaming down his closed eyes. He swung his arms at imaginary foes trying to drive back his inner demons. And then suddenly he got extremely quiet, his body shaking with his sobs. He said, "I'm sorry." And then went even quieter as he started to look like he couldn't breathe. He wrapped his hand around Aurielle's hand, squeezing roughly, still not breathing as he cried.

Location: Woods outside camp Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: Kallen, Auri, Khord Despite her gentle shakes Khord was not coming around, as he went deeper down his own dark rabbit hole his outcries in his nightmares became audible to Kallen and Auri. Auri knew this feeling all to well and she had been so grateful when Aren had pulled her back out of her own darkness, but she knew she was tapped, it was the power of her final spell that had brought them here in the first place. Knowing that stung more than the scrapes on her hands or the bruising on her side, those would heal but the pain she caused others might not. She tried to control the fear in her voice as she spoke softly him. Biting her lip she summoned what little strength she had left to pull Khord into her arms laying his mountainous form across her lap, his head in her arm as she held one of his hands in her free one. Pulling his fitful form close she began doing the only thing she could think to do to ease his pain and try to bring him back. She sang to him. "When the hope of morning starts to fade in me I don't dare let darkness have its way with me And the hope of morning makes me worth the fight I will not be giving in tonight." Her voice was soft and she hoped it might just pierce the veil of darkness inside his mind, it might call him back to them and out of the shadows. " Khord..."

Location: Woods outside camp Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: Kallen, Auri, Khord He was a wreck. The valiant display of bravery and strength did not match Khord's current state. It was a wonder how he could move so effortlessly with all the armor and weaponry weighing him down, especially with such wounds. Kallen looked him over head-to-toe. Without uncovering the skin directly, he could visualize Khord's state. The broken bones, torn tissue, everything was clear. I can still feel life.  Again, the transformation gave aid. Maybe all that happened was not as terrible as he first thought. Before he would have had to go through the regular motions to prove to himself Khord was not a lost cause; but now, he could feel it, smell it. Closing his eyes he leaned in ever so slightly *buh-bump*............*buh-bump* Khord was truly alive. He opened his eyes to Auri holding Khord close. Her mouth was moving slowly, a hint of a smile revealed itself as some words were formed. The sounds around him gradually returned. As Khord's heartbeat diminished from Kallen's ears, he began to hear Auri's calm resolute voice bring life to the dreary scene that is two friends in the woods sharing terrible wounds. Kallen opened his bag, took out a few small bottles of different colors, some clean cloth, and set to work. He noticed Auri pause for a second, watching his every move with anxious curiosity. "Don't mind me. I think he hears you, you should continue,"  he whispered. With that, Kallen would do his best to stabilize their companion. This armor is one thing, but it will be easier to move him once the bleeding stops. Maybe together we can; removing his armor feels wrong but I can't place why. One thing at a time, don't get distracted.  When finished, Kallen washed his hands under the contents of his waterskin, packed up the unused cloth and various medicines, and looked up at Auri. "This is as much as I can do here. Back in town I could do more, but...We should at least be able to bring him to camp as is. Would you help me?"

Location: Woods outside camp Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: Kallen, Aurielle, Khord As Khord Began to get swept away into the ocean, he tried reaching for Lulu's hand again, but it was out of reach. The ocean of blood and corpses began dragging him deeper as the pressure began to push on him. His lungs burning, he tried to inhale but his lungs filled with blood as he was dragged further down, screaming soundlessly. As his vision began to sway and darken he heard a familiar song. He remembered his mother singing it to him when he was small. He felt strangely comforted but he doesn't quite understand why. He gasps deeply as he awakens, but he can't see anything through his tears. Still thinking of his mother as he hears the singing, he reaches up and holds the singing person tightly, quietly sobbing as he mutters unintelligible things.

Location: Woods outside camp Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: Kallen, Auri, Khord Auri looked to Kallen as she held Khord in her lap a worried look on her face, but as Kallen encouraged her Auri pulled Khord closer and kept singing to him her voice sweet and warm burning away his inner darkness. She switched songs to one she had heard somewhere but where she couldn't recall. "Take me all the places that we used to go The starlit city, our make-shift home I'm not scared to hold your hand On the streets of our own land Slow down, just breathe, All we have is all we need Slow down, just breathe, All we have is all we need" Auri felt Khord come around with a sudden gasp feeling the air return to him before he began to sob into her chest. He held onto her tightly and she didn't fight him pulling him close, instead she gently rocked him her hand still clutching his . "Shhhhhh... Shhhhhh slow down... Just breathe.... All we have... Is all we need ..." Auri shook her head looking to Kallen eying his small stature and knowing that while she was usually strengthy she was weakened right now and the dizziness was only just being held at bay . "I don't think I can carry him alone..."  Auri leaned bit her lip and looking to Kallen she took a deep breath , "forgive me I know this is foolish but Khord needs this more than I do." She let out a soft warm smile to Kallen, then releasing Khord's hand she placed her now free hand back over his heart and closed her eyes reaching down deep inside herself calling up power that was better left untapped. She knew well that all magic even divine and natural came at a price and for her party she was willing to pay it. Once more Auri's hand glowed filled with radiant healing energy as she used her healing hands, but as she sunk her healing into Khord, Auri began to turn pale, the color leaving her face as the world spun. "Forgive me, everything at a price..." Her world went dark as she fainted slumping over, but in exchange Khord would be filled with energy, her energy.

Location: Dungeon, Outside Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: Donny, Tik Tik Enjoying the company well enough Tik TIk stayed and held the tiny being, knowing all too well the position of a protector as he kept an eye out for anyone coming nearby. A little pang of guilt ran through Tik Tik knowing that he was already accepting this new fleshling as family and he made DD jump through hoop after hoop. The other ones... we will see. "Just rest, I will let you know when people are coming. Will you need long?" Not trying to sound impatient but physical contact was not one of Tik-Tik's forte's and he was still oozing slightly from the many wounds covering his body, a constant fuzz covering his vision Is this how the fleshlings see? 

Location: Woods outside camp Date/Time: second day, after the fight Who: Kallen, Aurielle, Khord As Khord continued to cry he felt his support give way and him hitting the ground. The rough shake brought him out of his own thoughts, noticing the surroundings he was bewildered. The last thing he knew he was in the dungeon angry at Tik-Tik for rushing into a room that almost killed everyone. The scenery was completely different now, there was trees and it was almost dusk. He looked down at the person below him. "Aurielle?" He asked questioningly. Khord then noticed Kallen, standing a little bit away and stood up. He looked back at Aurielle and then to Kallen once again. Khord felt Aurielle's wrist for a pulse, sighing as he found it. He looked at Kallen and asked,  "What happened? Where are we?" Before Kallen could even answer Khord answered himself. "I had another Episode didn't I?" Bowing deeply, his arm held up to his chest in a salute as his face darkened with shame and self disgust. "I am deeply sorry this happened. I won't trouble you guys again the next time this happens." As Khord bent down to pick up Aurielle he saw the helmet she had nearby and picked it up. Sighing deeply as he put it on to cover the last tear running down his face as he thought of all the trouble he had caused. A few seconds later he finally picked up Aurielle. Not wanting to look Kallen in the eyes, he said over his shoulder, "You can go back I will take Aurielle back to the camp... It is the least I can do for this trouble I caused her." Khord began to head towards the camp and after a while he found his way back. It was starting to get dark so he took her to her tent. Opening the flaps he saw her bed roll and put her in it, removing her armor, cleaning it and folding it neatly before placing it next to her bed. Seeing her lay there with a gentle smile on her face he couldn't help but mutter, "She's too good to me, I don't deserve this kindness. I don't deserve any of this" He decided to tuck her in gently before leaving, resting against the closest tree, listening for any sounds of distress from her tent as he maintained his gear. Sometime deep into the night, not hearing anything from her tent, he allowed himself to fall into a fretful sleep.

Location: Dungeon with Creepy Statue Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: Donny, Khord, Auri, and Tik Tik (kinda) Donny was hanging by his pal Tik Tik, who could not be spoken to. Donny was upset, he knew he could communicate with him soon; he didn't think that spell would be very useful, but it seem there would be use for it after all. As he sat next to Tik Tik he didn't really speak much, it must be bothersome to only hear people and not speak to them; so Donny figured silence would be the best of both option. However, Tik Tik's body language was very easy to read. He was holding the 2 swords that Kallen and Aren were nice enough to give him; but it seemed he didn't really like them. He kept on putting both the swords in one hand and swung them around. Clearly the swords were to light for his big friend. Donny could understand that, he remembered the one time his pa was trying to get Donny to use a bow. It was less than graceful. Aren would probably be able to shoot more accurately with his eyes close than Donny could at all. Donny would, give him his sword; but he didn't think it would help the insectoid. He kinda needed something heavier. Donny surveyed the room and there was only one man who had something applicable, Khord. Of course, it had to be Khord, it wasn't as if Khord and Donny were enemies, but it was pretty obvious to Donny that Khord wasn't exact;y affectionate either. Even worse, Khord already has had multiple problems with Tik Tik; one including a certain beating when Tik Tik was already on deaths door. Donny got mad even thinking about it, but he couldn't even get mad. Maybe after the dungeon Donny would have a sit down with Peri and Khord, but one step at a time. Donny approached Khord, who decided to plant his flag next to Auri, so Auri would hear by proxy. Donny wanted to ask her something too, perhaps after this. "Hey Khord, you mind lending Tik Tik one of your heavy weapons. As helpful as Kallen's and Aren's swords are; they don't look like his style really, and we kinda limit ourselves if one of our teammates doesn't have the necessary equipment they need." Donny sighed a bit after speaking, with a slightly more stern face than usual. He figured Khord would say no, and probably not even give a damn reason. Cause that's just how Khord was, did what he wanted.

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: Donny, Khord, Aurielle Khord sits there watching over Aurielle and keeping an eye on peri out of the corner of his eye. He looks up as he notices Donny approaching. After hearing Donny's request, Khord pondered for a moment, stewing on the question. He tried to come up with a reason to not acquiesce to Donny but he couldn't find a decent one. Of course he could come up with a few half baked ideas but they would be shot down by Donny. So he instead thought of a way to bring about the most benefits to what he wanted. He looked around as he thought and his eyes settled on the dispirited Aurielle and he thought of something. As he decided he pulled out the axe and held it out, the handle pointing towards Donny, "He can have it, if and only if, he protects Aurielle, like not leaving 10 feet from her side protecting her." He smiled a little inwardly, protecting her was the main reason but it would also keep the Thri-kreen away from him and, hopefully, stop it from doing the stupid shit it had been doing repeatedly. He looked at Donny with no hint of negotiating on his face, "Get him to agree to that and he can have it. " He continued holding it out but not letting go of it until he got the agreement of his deal.

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: Donny, Khord, Aurielle Donny was also in no mood for negotiation either, and he was also in no mood to answer for others. "You ask him. He's a man, not a pet I control. I simply made the request, because he lacks the words; but he certainly understands them. If you wish to make a request of him, which you are 100% inclined to do so; then I feel it's only right if you ask him man to man."

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: Donny, Khord, Aurielle, Tik-Tik Sliding down the wall to the ground her head was spinning again and she felt a cold in her core that she couldn't seem to shake off since the night before. The last thing she remembered in the forest was holding Khord in her arms and then she remembered reaching deep into herself, a white hot light lanced through her and a sudden darkness, before nothingness, pure and total silence. When she had awoken she was alone in her tent, stripped of her armor, though it had been neatly cleaned and folded with care, and a cold like none she had felt before had soaked into her. She hadn't been able to shake that feeling through the day though she tried hard to hide that she still felt wiped and the dizziness was more frequent now than it used to be. Even with as little of a grasp of true magic as she had she knew that all magic came at a price and to her bringing Khord back to his senses and healing him up from the state of being she had left him in was worth the price, worth the dizziness and she would have done it again for any of her party. She still hadn't shaken the cold that had set in on her and it was as if there were a darkness deep inside of her with little tendrils reaching out being held back only by her light, love and life, but for how long she had no idea. As she sat there she closed her eyes and went through some deep breaths trying to focus herself and not let her dizziness overtake her again. It was at this time she heard the scuffs of foot steps approach and she looked up to Khord watching him sit near her in an almost protective sort of way, she couldn't be for sure if he knew what she had done or not and thought it best not to bring it up. He seemed better now, more whole than how she had left him after her spell had held him and she was grateful that she could do that much for him. Donny approached soon after and reading his body language as she approaches Auri bit down on her lip knowing whatever was about to transpire would not go well. Everyone was tired and moods were less than stellar since they were now trapped down in a cave area with the creepy talking statue which Auri took care to avoid as it was unsettling to her. Donny made a proposition and Auri glanced to Khord meeting his eyes for a moment before he looked away, based on his what little she did know of him he seemed to have something against monsterous humanoids and Tik-Tik and him were already not on great terms, so she fully expected him to say no. What he did say surprised her.  Watching him hold out his axe handle out to Donny, she watched that non negotiable sternness appear on his face, but his words caught her off guard. "Protect me?" She was instantly trying to get to her feet her hands out in front of her waving them in a placating gesture as she stepped sort of between the two of them, Donny's response being a little sharper than she had expected from the usually very pleasant young man.  "I'm fine really I don't need to be protected."  Her voice was small and sweet but its shakiness gave away that she had become dizzy again standing up so quickly. "Donny, stop! He didn't mean it like that! You were negotiating that request on Tik-Tik's behalf for use of the weapon were you not? Khord doesn't have to let anyone use his weapon and he's willing to... even though I don't need protecting." Auri was being stubborn now, but she was trembling, trying not to let the room spinning get to her but now she was unsteady. She reached out her hand to steady herself, but as she had stepped away from the wall to place herself between the two of them, there was suddenly no wall there to catch herself on.

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: Donny, Khord, Aurielle, Kallen As Khord listened to Donny's response his eyes narrowed a little. He was giving him what he wanted and now he doesn't just ask, he demands for more. Just as he was about to say something Aurielle stood up and started defending him from Donny. She started by saying she didn't need protecting, which annoyed him because as one of the few who can heal she was very important tactically. Besides she barely seemed to know left from right when dealing with people so having something with a bit of intimidation around could save her a lot of trouble and pain.  As she said what he was thinking, albeit in a nicer tone probably he decided to keep quiet. Hearing her voice become shakier as she continued talking, Khord Ignored his annoyance at Donny for a moment to look at Aurielle closer, seeing her reach out a hand and start going down, he froze for a moment worried. Suddenly reaching out with his free arm, Khord caught her. A bit of worry on his face, Khord gently set her down in a sitting position against the wall, putting up a hand to put the conversation with Donny on hold. "You okay Aurielle?" Khord began to do rudimentary check on Aurielle. realizing that he has no where near enough knowledge to make even a guess at whether she is alright or not he stopped trying to diagnose her and called out to Kallen, "Kallen can you come here for a moment? Aurielle got shaky and fell all of a sudden. Can you check her out?" He put the axe down behind him and pulled out his water skin and offered it to her. "Here take a drink." (Rolled a 18 on dex save to catch Aurielle)

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: Kallen, Khord, Aurielle, Donny The resources prepared were running low. Kallen had opened his pack, counting through the number of vials leftover from the recent events. As long as everything goes smoothly, we should get above ground in time . He kept a keen eye on the number of "personal tinctures" in case his hunger grew uncontrollably. When finished, he decided to investigate the newly collected samples from their enemies. The succubi's was different to that of the bearded or chain devils. There was almost a fragrance to it, alluring and capturing, that forced Kallen to stopper the vial.  Interesting. These will prove useful, though how I'm not yet sure. Thinking to himself in the comfort of his personal nook found along the wall of the room, he heard Khord's call.  Donny and Khord had formed a palpable tension in the air. Paying no mind to their situation, Kallen observed Auri's state while held in Khord's grasp. Again the world around him slowed - the fire crackling from the statue, eerie skittering of small creatures which preferred these darker settings, even the words of his fellow comrades, everything faded as he scanned Auri head-to-toe. He listened, felt, and though nothing stuck out aside from possible overexertion, she had an unusual aura. This is not simply working too hard, there is something else . Kallen looked at Auri, "Tell me what is going on and when it started."  She looked pale but was using her all to try and remain steady. I wonder if this is related to what she did back in the woods.  "I can only help your current state. Without proper background information, I cannot say for certain what can be done. I will do my best to make you comfortable."  Kallen went back to his pack, readied a wet towel and returned. "This has soaked in that water which acted as an antithesis to those demons from earlier. My best guess is you also work with some power which opposes them. Take some time to sit with this against your head." Kallen turned back to Donny and Khord,  "The best thing to do now is replace the soaked towel in a timely fashion. I will need both of you to soak a towel for ten minutes. If not done properly, her state could rapidly decline."  Kallen ordered. This should help, I hope. They are much better fighters than I; losing our teamwork will become deadly down here.

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: Khord, Aurielle, Kallen Keeping his eyes on Aurielle, Khord helps her move over to the pool. He pulls out his bedroll as a cushion for Aurielle and helps her lay down. Pulling out a well used pillow he placed it below Aurielle's head and before she can move or say anything, "You just stay there and anything you need to you can let me know. You aren't feeling well and I bet this is because of you over straining yourself to heal me last night, so I will take care of you until you are feeling better." Khord pulls out a few small but clean rags and began soaking each of them for exactly 10 minutes, counting the seconds to be sure. He keeps himself busy, carving a piece of wood into an animal, making sure to replace the rag when necessary, keeping an eye on Aurielle the entire time.

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: Kallen, Khord, Aurielle, Donny One moment she was talking and the next the dizziness had caused her to lose her balance, her arm had reached out for the wall that she remembered only moments after she had stepped away from and suddenly there was an arm around her bracing her from falling to the floor. A squeak of surprise escaped her small form as she looked up and realized with some embarrassment that Khord had caught her and was now pulling her back to the wall for a moment and helping her to sit on the ground. Suddenly there was a lot of attention on Auri and out of embarrassment and to some extent fear Auri's eyes ended up looking to the ground, refusing to look up to any of her party members. "I'm ok, really... I... I'm sorry, I don't mean to be a bother." Of course Khord saw right through her as she sat there trembling and he had even pushed aside a potential feud with Donny to make sure she was alright. Khord was at her side checking her over, his waterskin held out to her and suddenly she felt so small in front of him and the other guys. Khord called Kallen over and Auri tried to reassure Khord, "oh please no that isn't necessary." Kallen had made is way over despite her protests, but she was finding more and more with this group that unlike her previous party, they cared, but that was something she didn't know how to respond to. They didn't just want her to be there in the moment for her ability to heal, but for whatever reason they wanted her to be alright. Silently she was cursing to herself, her hands finding a nervous purchase on her chain armor. She cursed to her god, and then begged him to please give her the strength to carry on, she didn't want to be left by another party, not again. Her dizzy spells were nothing new to her, they had become a part of her life after that night so long ago, but when she over exerted herself or pushed herself beyond her means they got worse, much worse and no one else seemed to understand or care before this. Auri squeezed the armor in her hands as Kallen spoke to her asking about her dizzy spells and when they had begun. She flinched thinking back to that night, the blur and the darkness that surrounded those memories and she felt the pain of it all well up in her. She felt the tendrils of her own darkness reaching up towards the surface of her with each recalled painful memory and she felt ill. The cold rag applied to her forehead caused her to have a full body shudder, but the cooling sensation of it felt different than just a wet rag, it was soothing and it felt as if to some extent it was also helping to fight back the sudden sickness she felt, and it was like the tendrils of darkness shrunk back away. A slight look of relief made it to her face as she sat there and once more there was an arm around her and she was being moved this time beside the pool of water and the creepy statue. Auri didn't care for the statue but at least the pool seemed to radiate a sort of good aura from it and Khord was now by her being ever so gentle with her, usually such a tough person, she was amazed to see this other side of him and it made her wonder just what had happened to Khord to make him become the man he was today. At the mention of the night before Auri blushed, the night had been a blur for her and she knew she had over done herself and she knew she had tapped into something far deeper and darker that had 'lent' her the power she needed but didn't have to bring Khord back around. It was a price she had been willing to pay for what she felt was important, and at some point maybe it would be a price she would have to pay again if it meant keeping her party alive. "Kh.. Khord... thank you." Her voice was small and timid as she spoke with him. "Please don't think you owe me anything. It was my fault, all of it." A tinge of pain rang through in her voice as she finished, "I'm sorry though. I didn't mean to hurt you."

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: Khord, Aurielle, Kallen, Tik Tik Silently watching from the far side of the room, Tik Tik was still reeling from the events of the last few days. He was never one to really truly feel comfortable around fleshlings as his past was riddled with abuse and general distrust from the races. The days in Bermuda Hex were something slightly different, he had been through loss at the abandonment of DD and comfort at the adoption of Donny. But this last day had seemed to shatter those comforting times and plunged him back into his more feral state of self preservation. A odd missive from the tribe telling him his group was planning to attack them, followed by a confusing mess of them playing mind games, which was followed by the massive knight seeming to unleash some past anger on Tik Tik. Missus peri seemed to just as forwardly hostile and now to top off the whole situation Tik Tik was now stuck underground far away from the comforting warmth of the sun and was forced into a bath which not only burnt his new toy, but attempted to drown him, The tribe was right about water . It was not a good few days.  Shaken from his stupor Tik Tik glanced around to gauge the current situation, he overheard the situation of Cookman trying to talk to Korn and honestly didn't want to take part whatsoever. But it seemed that Korn was too preoccupied with taking care of Winglady, must be mating season, all of the fleshlings seem to be flocking around her... does she make a good mate to them? odd. Tik Tik glanced down to the small swords in his hands and experimentally waved them about unsure if he still wanted to use them. Mid swing he stopped Do i really want to stay here? His hands hung limp to his side and hunched lower a wave of disappointment crashing over him. He wandered closer to the group and silently crouched by Korn and Winglady. He glanced at the axe and back up to Korn. Using the tip of the sword he motioned to Korn placing his hand at one end and began to motion as if the sword is too small. Again he pointed to the axe giving the distinct motion as if he had anything larger than that as well. He didn't chitter as he usually did when attempting to communicate and instead just stared at Korn gauging his response. As he was kneeling he slowly shuffled a little farther away from the pool of water keeping his front facing towards it and one hand bracing himself if anyone tried to push him in. 

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: Khord, Aurielle, Kallen, Tik Tik Laying beside the pool of water Auri's tired eyes scanned the room looking to each of her party members for a few moments before her eyes fell to Tik-Tik who was cautiously approaching them. "Tik-Tik." She watched him and gave him a gentle smile. "Khord's offered to let you borrow a bigger weapon..." Auri looked to Khord and gave him a soft smile, though it could be seen how tired she was around her eyes, an internal battle going on as she lay there between the darkness and the light. "I think Khord just has a request of you, though really I can hold my own."  Auri trembled again but tried to hide it a bit.

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: Khord, Aurielle, Tik Tik As Khord was changing the rag on Aurielle, he heard her voice. He started before coming out of autopilot to talk to her. "You don't need to thank me, I do owe you." He went quiet for a second as he thought and then continued, "Beside even if I didn't owe you I would do it anyway." He leaned down and, just softly enough for only Aurielle to hear, said, "I respect you. You can fix things and heal people, all I can do is hurt and destroy." He looked down at his hands a little ashamed and also surprised that he had opened up to her. 'Maybe the creature appearing as Lulu affected me more than I thought.' He went back to wringing out the rag as he continued. "You don't need to apologize. You didn't hurt me, my past did, I did... My failings did." He went quiet losing himself in thoughts that he didn't even know of. As Khord went to exchange the rag in his hands for the one on Aurielle's head he saw Tik Tik skittering up. His first thought was 'Oh great, not now.' Then the Thri Kreen scribbled something. He ignored Tik Tik at first but hearing Aurielle talk to Tik Tik Khord remembered his offer to Donny. Wanting to get this over quickly so he could go back to taking care of Aurielle he said, "If you want to borrow the axe you will have to protect Aurielle in this dungeon, and it will only be yours to use until we get back to town and you can get a new weapon. If you understand and agree you can take the weapon." Finishing what he had to stay he didn't look at Tik Tik anymore and finally replacing the rag on Aurielle's head, worrying a little since Tik Tik made him late changing the rags. After watching her a bit to see if she was going to get worse and nothing happening he went back to carving again. beginning to work like clock work once again, replacing the rag every 10 minutes.

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: everyone Aren sat outside the small passage, idly carving a small wooden totem as he kept watch. Those hell hounds had found them alarmingly quickly - probably drawn to that strange statue - which had been worrying him. He hadn't seen any more enemies during his watch, but that didn't mean they weren't coming. They needed someone to keep watch while they rested, just to make sure. Thanks to the strength of their front line, Aren had been untouched in most of their fights so far, so it was only natural that he would keep watch while they recovered. He couldn't see in the dark like Kallen could, so instead he had been lighting torches and spreading them out along the cavern to light it up. As a result he had a pretty good view, letting him feel confident enough to sit just outside the small little passage leading to their hidden alcove and spend some time carving the piece he had been working on yesterday before he had broken down. The menial task also helped him calm down, keeping a tight reign on the dread that had been rising in his ever since the cave-in earlier. Aren shuddered. He hated feeling trapped - and the way this had happened reminded him too much of that day... He forced the fear back down, focusing on the wood in his hand. As he settled into his task he suddenly heard some shouting from inside the cave. Khord was calling for Kallen? Concerned, Aren stood and tried to peer through the small passageway to get a look at what was happening, but couldn't quite get the right angle. He could tell that something was up, though. He kept glancing from the passage he was guarding to the hallway they had come from. He started restlessly pacing a little, wanting to investigate to see if there was anything he was needed for but unwilling to leave his post. However, the commotion seemed to die down as quickly as it had risen. As it did, Aren sat back down by the entrance and resumed his whittling, but he couldn't shake his concern. He couldn't quite focus on the carving in his hand, glancing up more frequently and shifting restlessly. He felt more than heard Kallen come up to him. He turned to see the small Kender next to him, offering to relieve him of his watch. Aren felt a wave of gratitude wash through him at the offer, but hesitated for a second. He felt guilty just leaving the still-injured Kallen to stand watch just because he was feeling concerned. Though the little man didn't talk much, Aren felt a genuine respect for his steady presence and confidence. He had been a little alarmed to learn that Kallen was at least partially vampire, but the man had clearly not acted on whatever urges he had, and if anything had been altruistic so far in their adventures. His darkvision at least was certainly superior to Aren's lack thereof in this situation, so Aren reluctantly allowed Kallen to take his spot. As he rose and moved back towards the alcove, he clapped a hand to Kallen's shoulder in a friendly manner, "All right then - it's all you, friend." He said, "Let me know if there's any trouble, I'll come right back." With that he walked back through the passageway to see what was going on with the rest of the group. As he entered the alcove he saw the group gathered around Aurielle, who was sitting beside the pool Tik TIk had bathed in - and where they had drowned the babau. Aurielle seemed to be insisting she was fine, but she had a wet towel around her neck and seemed to be trembling. Khord was fussing over her, changing the towel for what Aren assumed was a fresh one before saying something to Tik Tik and proceeding to ignore him. Aren wasn't good at reading the giant creature, but for his part Tik Tik seemed down. He wasn't chittering like he normally did, and his movements were subdued. Did he miss his giant axe that badly? Aren felt a pang of guilt, since he had been encouraging Tik Tik to go into that water - but surely he should feel better now, right? Assuming that the stature had been right, he would have turned into a demon if he hadn't gotten in the pool. Aren felt a sigh rising up in him. He still wasn't able to be completely comfortable with him, but after the joke Tik Tik had played on him a few days ago he was unable to continue really fearing him. And even though he had basically gone on a rampage yesterday, he had been charmed by those succubi, and he had shown genuine remorse afterward. Honestly after that incubus had morphed into his sister Aren almost couldn't even blame Tik Tik for being charmed - he must have seem someone important to him, too. As he looked at the sad creature, an entirely unexpected feeling of sympathy rose through Aren. Donny for his part was standing a little off to the side, clearly angry but not saying anything. He was glaring specifically at Khord - it definitely seemed like something was brewing there. Aren made a note to try to talk to Donny to try to figure out what was going on between them. They couldn't have that kind of division in their group, especially not now while they were trapped down here. Peri was off doing something in the corner, looking concerned for Aurielle but involving herself, clearly confident that the situation either wasn't very serious or was already handled.  Aren walked towards Aurielle and Khord. Addressing the whole room, he said, "Hey I heard some yelling going on in here while I was standing watch - is everything all right?" He looked towards Aurielle, frowning with concern. "Are you OK Aurielle? Did something happen?"

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: everyone An audible sigh escaped Tik-Tik as it was obvious to him that Korn wanted nothing with Tik-Tik being there, still thinking of Cookman and Winglady he wrote in the dirt again taking several moments to even convey the message as his sense of writing was evading him. Eventually giving up Tik Tik continued to gesture towards the axe and holding his hands out as if to say BIGGER. He pensively watched Kord go about his business wetting the cloth and applying it to Winglady, Fleshlings really like water... odd. Falling back slightly Tik Tik landed on his butt with a resounding "Thump" picking a spot across from Korn and beside Winglady. He patiently waited and looked Winglady up and down curious about what everyone was worried about. He slowly leaned forward till he was above her face and let his antennae gently waft above her taking in the subtle changes in her state since the first time they met. The flesh isn't bad... she would be worthwhile to eat so what is wrong? He chittered slightly for the first time since being with Cookman and cocked his head slightly as if he was a confused pup watching something happen for the first time. He gently laid against her forehead checking for a temperature and held up a bundled up blanket from his bag and thrust it forward in offering. As Daggerman walked into the hastily set up camp Tik Tik recoiled slightly again reverting to a more reclusive state, curling his knees closer to his chest and wrapping his secondary hands around them while his primary held him up. Subconsciously he drew a small square around himself whilst simply staring towards the ground in silence.

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: Donny Donny crouched on the other side of the water, when Auri fell he got worried, and reacted slowly. Khord was able to swiftly wrap his arms around her and make sure she was alright. In the face of challenges sometimes his experienced, Khord quickly called over Kallen to and have him check her condition. Donny did sigh a relief when they were told she was not in immediate danger, however he was worried when he mentioned that there wasn't anything that could really fix her right now. Donny could easily follow orders, hell as a child he never got a say in anything anyway; until he left that awful place all he did was listen to them. However, as he did what Kallen asked Donny couldn't help but keep glaring at Khord. He didn't mean to, but Khord just kept hating Tik Tik for no reason, and he made him jump through hoops, like some animal. As Tik Tik came over and barely wrote out the words, Donny heard Khord's demands. Donny wanted to be happy that Khord and Tik Tik were talking, but every word Khord spoke shout out like venom from his mouth. A disgruntled growl could be heard from the boy. Donny came to the other side of the water, put the cool towel on Auri's head; and with a smile spoke to her. "I'm glad to see your well enough to speak, you just have a little sit down and rest. Don't worry about anything, you have nothing to apologize for....." Donny switched to a more serious tone, and plopped a seat cross legged right in front of Khord. "I will apologize, because Mrs Auri I know you don't want us to fight; but I have some words for this Dragon." Donny staring at Khord. "What the hell is your problem with Tik Tik? I for the life of me can't figure it out what the hell is your deal, and luckily for me you're are literally trapped with us in the room. So it be hard for you to run away, like you always do." Donny didn't give Khord a chance to respond, before continuing. "So Khord please explain to me what the hell is going, because I have no idea why you distrust Tik Tik so god damn much when he has done nothing bad to you or anyone here. And don't even dare start speaking about the fight upstairs, because he wasn't in control of his actions; he was by all means possessed, and before you get on your high horse saying that he should have shrugged it of or that, that's no excuse. I have a question, why aren't you mad at me and Peri? Peri was attacking us. I was attacking Auri, and yet you decided to beat up Tik Tik who was already on deaths door. But wait lemme guess, 'he shouldn't have charged into that room without back up.' Well you're right that was a bit foolish of him, almost as foolish as a man refusing to fall back and get help from his allies; and therefore get blasted by fire, and don't give me the whole 'O well it was fire blasts, there was nothing you could have done to help.' Cause hind sight is 20 20 pal, so you don't get points for something you had no idea of." Donny stopped for a moment to catch his breath, but then continued. "Also Tik Tik saved you! Tik Tik literally was the first one to move you out of harms way, and then immediately gave you HIS potion! He saved you, and yet every time you look and speak to him it's like you see a monster. He literally told me yesterday, that he knows you don't like him, and that you want to kill him; and still he protected you and rescued you." "You want Tik TIk to protect Auri, well think bigger. Tik Tik wants to protect everyone! This man..." Donny pointed to Tik Tik, "regards all of us as his family! He literally wrote it down for me. He wants to protect all of us, and yet you want to make him jump through hoops; make him obey your rules of 'staying 10 ft from Auri at all times.' Do you know how insane that is? He's not a dog you put on a leash Khord, he's a man, he knows how to fight. He probably fights better than everyone here." Donny took a deep breath, realizing he was rambling and wanted to calm down; and return back to the original question. He took a moment to collect himself, before asking. "So Khord, back to the original question. What is your problem with Tik Tik?"

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: everyone When Khord leaned down so only she could hear him her heart broke a little at his words but her whispered response to him came so naturally. "And protect, you are a guardian." She watched him wring out the rag before continuing and still quiet she responded to him only, "We all have failings and things that haunt us. I know, I carry mine too." Auri's attention shifted over to Tik-Tik as the mountain that was Khord turned to address him about the weapon and Auri hoped once this was over between the two of them that some of the tension in the room would ease up. Khord's words were not unfair to Aurielle, his conditions of protection over her had seemed silly earlier, but with her current state she was tending to fight that part less and less though that fire inside of her that told her she could hold her own wasn't out yet. She felt him lift away the old rag before placing a new one on her and she let out a soft sigh of relief as the rag did its work keeping whatever darkness was inside her at bay. Hearing Tik-Tik's sigh of frustration and him thud down beside her Auri looked over to Tik-Tik and gave him one of her soft tired smiles. As he slowly drew close to her she gave no hint of fear of the Thri-kreen even as he placed himself above her looking her over as if trying to assess her. Everyone else seemed to be around her and while her embarrassment of being the center of attention had her flushed a very pretty shade of pink against the pale of her skin, so at this point she just gave in. It was comforting if nothing else to know that for once in a very long time, the people around her cared for her. If only she could find a way to convince them that really they cared for eachother in much the same way even if they weren't aware of it yet. Auri's attention came back into focus as she felt Tik-Tik's forehead against her own and rather than a raging fever she seemed cold and clammy. Startled by this she let out a tiny squeek and then a light laughter rang from her filling the area with a much needed light. "It's ok Tik-Tik." Tik-Tik held his blanket out to her and his offer made her smile, "that is so kind of you Tik-Tik. Thank you!" Auri reached her hand out to him and frowned as he backed away, but hearing Aren say something she understood it wasn't he that had caused him to back up. Auri placed her hand on the Thri-kreen's arm, "Shhh shhhh it's Ok Tik-Tik." She tried to be comforting to him. "It's ok he just wants to make sure everything is ok." Auri looked up to Aren and flushed a little deeper pink remembering that he had already been there to witness this happen before, "I'm ok, I just... I didn't feel well. I got dizzy and fell." Auri hoped that he would not think less of her for something that right now was out of her control.

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: everyone except Kallen Well...it certainly seemed like everything was fine. Tik Tik was bending over Aurielle for some reason, but as her clear laugh rang out Aren felt some of the tension that had been gathering in his gut drain away. As he continued to approach he got a clearer look at Aurielle. She was blushing, if anything seeming more embarrassed than injured. Dizzy?  The thought ran through Aren's head. I don't think she got hit on the head in the fights today - shouldn't have a concussion. Maybe she just stood up too fast or something?  Shrugging mentally to himself, Aren came to the conclusion she was probably fine. Still, he couldn't help but remain concerned as he remembered her nightmare in the tent yesterday morning. He hoped that a nightmare was all it was - one person with haunted dreams in the party was enough.  The nodded, reassured that there was at least no immediate danger. He replied to Aurielle,  "All right, then. I'm glad it's nothing more serious." He tried for a smile, though he was sure it came out more than a little strained. "Though you've been falling quite a bit lately it seems." Aren shifted his attention to Tik Tik. The creature had shifted away from Aurielle. Was he...cowering? He had drawn that square around him again - the one that he had said made people more comfortable with him. Aren sighed a little. This was probably thanks to his overreaction the other day. Still...back then Tik Tik had laughed at him and played a prank on him - he must really be in a bad state to have such a different reaction now. Aren felt sympathy for Tik Tik wash through him again. He didn't think he'd ever feel completely comfortable with the guy, but if this behavior was somehow Aren's fault he wanted to at least try to make amends for it.  As he came up to the pair by the pool Aren carefully reached a hand out to pat Tik Tik on the back. His exoskeleton felt hard and stiff - though there were still a few cracks in it from the earlier fights. "Hey, Tik Tik."  Aren began just as cautiously as he had extended his hand. "You, uh, you did real good in that fight... even without your big axe. You even saved Khord, too!" Aren used his other hand to flash a quick thumbs-up to Tik Tik, trying to smile at him as well. He took his hand off of Tik Tik's back and instead raised it up like he would waiting for a high-five. "Um. I guess - I mean, um...It's good to have you here. I'm glad you're, ah,  not going to turn into a crazy demon-thing like that statue was saying."

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: everyone except Kallen Daggerman seemed to be reacting well to Tik-Tik, seemed like he didn't feel like he was encroaching on his courting ritual with Winglady. He let out a sigh of relief knowing that maybe not everyone hated him, or at least tolerated him thus far. The feeling of a hand snapped Tik-Tik back to reality and he flinched slightly, not fully understanding the intention. Hearing the soft cooing of Winglady Tik-Tik relaxed slightly letting his head come up slightly to fully make eye contact with the room once again. Daggerman was patting him on the back, is he trying to show that i am open to attack? Tik-Tik's head fell to the side in his usual confused look as he glanced at Daggerman again unsure what this social greeting fully meant. He gingerly held up the swords and softly chittered disappointingly in the loss of his fancy axe, but nodded slowly along till he mentioned Korn, immediately a low hiss escaped him in exasperation.  He imitated Daggerman's thumbs up weakly before leaning forward and plopping a claw on Daggerman's hand. He bunched his claw in a fist and pounded it into his chest, pointed forwards toward Daggerman chittered a single phrase and continued to follow suit turning toward Winglady/Cookman. 

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: Khord, Donny (Natural 20 on intimidation towards Donny) As Donny sat down in front of him Khord knew another one of his rants and interrogations where coming. As Donny started Khord quickly went from annoyed to fully angry. Feeling something snap inside him, Khord stood up glaring at Donny with a stifling intensity that could be felt, almost appearing as he himself was a devil. Khord begins yelling at Donny, his voice reverberating throughout the cave, " You know Donny, I am getting quite tired of this. It is like you are trying to piss me off, and for the record, you are starting to do a really good fucking job at it. I have already told you once that if you wanted to talk about stuff we could do it once we got back, but you just can't help but push and push until something snaps. If that is what you wanted you got it. The only reason I am not beating your ass right now is we are trapped with god knows what down here. And about me taking up the lead in the cave, yes I didn't know they would be hellhounds. But either they would be physical attackers and then they would have to come one on one and have a hard time hitting me thanks to my abilities, or it would be magic users and if they could throw a few fireballs in the cave maybe all of us would have went down. I actually think about how the battle goes, I don't just follow DESTINY and hope I don't die." As Khord continued on his verbal tirade his voice escalated in volume until it seemed like he might cause a cave-in, "And about Tik Tik, I could be a whole hell of a lot worse to him. I don't treat him like an animal if I did there would be a muzzle on him. And, just for the record, the reason I was so angry at him is he was being stupid and impulsive and almost got us all killed. He wanted to open a door with none of us ready with a high chance of monsters behind it and everyone told him not to. And what did he do? HE OPENED THE DAMN DOOR. You don't get to ignore that and make it completely out to be my fault. HE ALMOST GOT US ALL KILLED, DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT? AT ONE POINT FOUR OF US WERE UNCONCIOUS AND THE REST OF ALMOST DEAD ALL BECAUSE HE WANTED TO OPEN A DAMN DOOR AND COULDN'T WAIT. YOU DON'T GET TO SWEEP THAT UNDER THE RUG LIKE IT DIDN'T HAPPEN..." Khord took a few deep breaths as he continued to fume, almost seeing red he was so angry. He thrust the axe into Donny's chest roughly, knocking him fully on his back as Khord stood over Donny almost threateningly,  "Here is the DAMNED axe YOU asked for. He better follow the offer I set up earlier or I am taking it out of your hide since you want to stand up for him so much. Now I am leaving here and if you follow me and continue on with this shit..." Khord continued glaring at Donny with almost killing intent in his eyes, "I WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT HAPPENS." Khord began to stomp out as he felt an unlimited fountain of anger pouring out of him, towards Donny and now, by transference, towards Tik Tik since Donny brought him up.

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: Khord, Donny "If you ain't following your destiny what are ya following!? Cause right now it seems your only goal is to run at enemies head first until you die! And if you would have thought about your lone wolf stance, you would have seen that if you backed up a bit it could have been a 3 on 1! And NO you damn IDIOT I OPENED THE DOOR! When I solved the puzzle! All Tik Tik did was walk through it first, and yes that was rash of him I know! I'm not an idiot, and when I could talk to him I was gonna; but you damn near knocked him unconscious I forgot to! As khord began to walk away Donny couldn't help but speak up! "This is the problem Khord! You refuse to communicate with us! All you do is run! You ran when Mrs. Peri was upset, you ran when I wanted to have a word with you, you ran when Auri stopped you yesterday, and now you're running again! Stop running and talk! Khord you can stand up to 3 hell hounds, but when someone asks you about yourself you hightail it. But sense you're leaving I do have one question for you to think about Khord, if Aren or Kallen or Auri needed the weapon; would you force them to do the same thing?

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: everyone Aren was feeling a little cheered by Tik Tik's reaction, though it seemed he was more puzzled than pleased. As Khord started raising his voice Aren swung his head around to stare at the confrontation unfolding before him. He head heard a little bit of Donny's talking to Khord, but he hadn't heard enough to get more than the general gist. He certainly hadn't heard anything that would warrant this kind of reaction. For a moment he could do nothing but stare, dumbfounded as Khord exploded at Donny, yelling so loud Aren thought that rocks might start falling from the ceiling. Aren wasn't even the target of Khord's ire, but he could feel the sheer fury radiating off the man as he spoke. This situation was beyond Aren's ability to simply defuse. Clearly there was some kind of history or something between these two which he knew nothing about, and getting in the way would likely only make things worse. Even so, he couldn't just stand there while this was happening. No matter what happened afterward, he couldn't let the team fall apart now. Aren rushed forward, positioning himself between the two combatants, holding up his hands in placating gestures. "All right guys, let's all hold on a second. I don't know what has been happening between you two before now but here's what I heard." Aren turned to Donny. "Donny you're upset because you feel Khord isn't communicating enough with the rest of the party? And you feel he's treating Tik Tik unfairly." He turned to Khord, "And Khord I think there's more to it but from what I heard basically you're upset at Tik Tik because you feel he's endangered the party, and now at Donny because he's defending him." Aren looked back and forth between the two. "And I guess he won't stop pestering you about something? I won't pry about that right now. But look, both of you. Arguing about this right now is likely to get us all killed. We're all trapped down here and we're all scared, and uncertain about what's going to happen to us. But this is not the time for us to be losing our heads. If there's a problem we need to find a solution, and getting angry about it won't help anything."  Aren quickly beckoned to Khord. He hoped his nervousness at being in a position like this wasn't showing too much. "Come on back, man. We don't have to solve everything right now but we at least need to stick together down here, right?"

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: everyone except Kallen Auri covered her mouth as a soft little chuckle fell from it, watching the interaction between these two amused her greatly. It was nice to see them get along even if Tik-Tik didn't always understand all of their customs, Auri imagined this had to be really tough sometimes. "It's ok Tik-TIk, he just means you did a good job." Auri tilted her head as the hiss of exasperation was let out, "Thank you... for what you did for Khord." She gave his arm a gentle squeeze, "I appreciate it. Please though use Khord's axe... he's probably right... I probably need a little more protecting right now... and you need a bigger weapon." Auri sat up a little as Donny began to approach her hand leaving Tik-Tik's arm as she tried to steady herself, pulling her legs under her. She had hoped that Donny had had time to calm his mind before he walked over and that maybe whatever he had to say was less intense than before. She watched him lean in and replace the wet rag on her with another that Khord had prepared and as he said words of apology hope rose in her before it was dashed out. "Donny? Please don't." Her words were soft and must have been lost as Donny went from sweet to spitting out his own venom and what seemed like a lot of repressed anger towards Khord, causing Auri's mouth to drop open in shock and horror. Auri hadn't been with the group long and she didn't know people well, but she knew Khord wasn't the one you wanted to press buttons on and while some of his points were valid, so too were some of Khord's. "Pl... pleas... please s.. stop.." Auri was trembling as she sat there watching the two go at eachother but her words were being lost. "Kh..Khord.. D..Donny no...." As Donny roared his furious words at Khord, so to did Khord roar back and Khord's roar, his words came with a ferociousness that Auri hoped she would never see, and the fear she felt when these two fought was feeding the darkness inside of her. She felt a sudden well of strength almost like drop had fallen into a dark pool and instead of a ripple a torrent came back up and the tendrils of darkness were happy with this. Auri took hold of and Tik-Tik forcing him to help her to her feet, her trembling had become that of a small rage that was now growing on her. Her usually kind face had turned cold and dark and the damp cloth fell away from her. Letting go of her friend Auri stepped forward, the ground underneath her feet seeming to rumble outward for about 30 feet and suddenly with a voice filled with her own tiny anger magnified three fold she called them both out. "KHORD... DONNY... YOU WILL LISTEN TO ME AND YOU WILL BOTH STOP NOW! PUT YOUR PISSING CONTEST ASIDE, YOU ARE BOTH IN THE WRONG. " She watched Aren try to defuse the situation but she was beyond pissed now and she forced him aside. She leaned down to Donny and with a swing of her hand she slapped him across the face. "Stop acting so fucking self righteous, always prying into people's hurts. You keep digging and digging and eventually even the kindest soul will bite back. What did you expect from him? Did you expect him to meet your inquiries with flowers? Find it in you to apologize or so help me..." Auri stepped back a little shaky but the power she had tapped into, that anger and the little tendrils of darkness were holding her up. When she turned to Khord she held her hand out a finger pointing to him as if to say, ' you're next .' Auri strode across the room catching up to Khord with no problem, for all the weakness she had felt before she was currently empowered. She reached out to him and grabbed him pulling him back toward her with all her little raging strength and with her free hand she went to strike him too. "YOU! You sit there and you brood all the time over something none us understand, but its your pain and that isn't for me or anyone else to pry into until you are ready. BUT... you do OWE Tik-Tik an apology for what you did. Donny isn't lying when he said he saved you, he pulled you towards me when you went down so I could bring you back around. You need to thank him for that and apologize for what happened before. You need to apologize to Donny too! You and Peri are leaders here... ACT LIKE IT!" Her rage was roiling and the darkness inside was enjoying every moment of it her eyes too had appeared to have gone dark, not their normally bright selves and one couldn't be sure if that was the magic of the cantrips working on her or the internal darkness leaking through. "Khord be the bigger man!!!"

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: Khord, Donny, Aurielle Rolled a 20 (18+2) on a dex save against the strike. As Khord continued to leave he threw a remark to Donny, "And yes Donny, if they had just almost gotten us all killed because they weren't thinking and were being impulsive I would." As he continued walking he heard screaming but in his anger he didn't pay any attention until a hand grabbed onto his arm. He spun around ready to throw his armored fist into donny's face and was startled to see a shaking Aurielle. As she reached up to slap him. Startled he barely caught her arm. She was shouting at him, which surprised him some, he had never see her talk over anyone let alone shout. As he took in her words, he wondered if he was too hard on Donny but he was still too angry to make a real decision on anything. As Khord looked at Aurielle's face, the anger on his face being replaced with worried, he noticed there was something off about her... He saw her face rigid and cold, her eyes pure black and as he paid more attention he noticed a slight rumbling centering on her. She seemed like a completely different person. "What is wrong?" He looked at her seriously for a moment and deciding that something was wrong and the water in the pool seemed to help earlier. Aurielle began kicking and screaming like a woman possessed as he picked her up and began to head towards the pool. The worry on his face worsening, calling out for Kallen over her screams, "Do you know anything about possession?" Khord continued to head towards to pool steadily. As he reached the edge he looked down, praying he was wrong, "I'm sorry if I am incorrect but something is wrong. Hold your breath"  He began walking into the pool until he himself was submerged, holding onto Aurielle tightly as she continued to fight while keeping her mouth closed.

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: everyone As Aren was trying to defuse the situation it seemed for a half-second like it might work. Then suddenly he felt someone shove him roughly aside, causing him to lose his balance and fall onto the ground (8 Dex to not go sprawling). Quickly picking himself up, Aren looked to find Aurielle in a terrifying rage. Aren stared for a moment, unable to really comprehend what he was seeing. Where it normally looks like a soft glow was emanating from Aurielle now there was what seemed almost like darkness. Her aura had shifted completely from one of kindness, sadness and grace to one of terrible, terrible anger. It looked like in the moment it had taken Aren to pick himself up she had slapped Donny, trying to bring him to his senses before admonishing him and moving on to Khord. Aren didn't know how Khord could stand up to the cleric like that, but clearly his own fury had given him some strength, as well. Plus he had more brute strength to begin with. It seemed like Khord basically just completely ignored what Aurielle was trying to say to him, instead picking her up and starting to walk towards the pool with her. He was calling out to Kallen about...possession? In Aren's mind the only thing possessing Aurielle right now was righteous anger. Khord would have to be arrogant beyond belief if he really thought that was what was happening here. Suddenly, though, Aren flashed back to Aurielle's nightmare. Maybe there was something there, too? Even so this was an entirely different thing happening here. She had been awake, for one - and had never shown any kind of signs of possession before now. Aren scrambled to get in front of Khord, trying to stop him from getting to the pool. The way he was going he was more likely to drown her than help her. "Khord, man, what are you doing?" He tried to appeal to Khord, but the man continued on. "Can you just listen for 2 sec-" As Khord came up to him he seemed to almost not even notice Aren, sparing enough attention to again roughly shove him out of the way. Aren managed to stay on his feet this time (23 Dex), but couldn't resist Khord's superior strength. He watched helplessly as Khord walked into the pool, Aurielle kicking and screaming the entire way.  He stared after them for a moment before turning to glance at Donny. "Oi what are you doing?!" He exclaimed, alarmed at this turn of events. "Help me get them out, he's going to drown them both!"  At that Aren ran towards the pool, but the two had already completely submerged beneath the water.

Location: Statue room Date/Time: Middle of the day Who: Everyone The entrance into the cavern was more shallow than the rest of the dungeon. It was here where Aren held watch just before being relieve of his post, so Kallen took the same position. Keeping aware of the area just beyond the tunnel, Kallen could hear the increasingly boisterous conversation between his comrades. Mixing potions or researching poisons required a majority of the focus left over from keeping watch. They are causing such a ruckus, don't they understand how everything echos down here . Kallen paused his work, placing various vials and tools back in his pack to hear Khord raise his voice. This was a new level of loud, especially in an enclosed space. Donny's response was none-the-quieter. If this escalated, everything else down here would come find them. I'm sure someone will quiet them down, I can't be the only one thinking this is absurd. Looking over to the group, Aren had just stepped between Donny and Khord. An unwise decision given his current state but a respectable one at that. Aren had a way of recognizing how the others felt. Hopefully he calms them down, then I can get back to work. Don't they see Auri's head must be pounding from all this...? His attempt at getting Donny and Khord to work together for Auri's sake was obviously unsuccessful. *SMACK* The resounding impact made Kallen lift his eyes once more. Auri was standing in front of Donny with a stern look. Here we go, now she'll overexert herself and square one is where we'll be. He watched as Auri moved toward Khord. Her voice traveled so Kallen could make out the gist of what was said; a strong sense of diplomacy was in order and her motivational justice was a light Kallen hadn't expected from someone normally so soft-spoken. At that, Khord called out. Possession?? She was with you all the entire time. "Peri, I'll need you to keep watch for a few minutes, please. Just so I can help sort this nonsense out, if you don't mind." Kallen patted his unusually quiet leader on the shoulder as he walked by. He approached the others by the pool and spoke loudly so under the water he could hear.  "Khord. Get her out of there, possessed or not she needs to breathe. All that aside, was anything she said incorrect? Wouldn't someone possessed act and say things matching whomever the possessor is? No, Auri is not possessed, she is pissed. All of you, use your heads once in a while, please." Kallen looked everyone over. Donny's face was flushed, Aren had reopened some wounds, and Tik Tik had a grey energy about him. Though he was not someone to uplift the group, this team needed some reorganizing. Kallen brought out a cool cloth and handed it to Donny, pointing to the recognizable hand print on his cheek. Clean bandages were tossed to Aren along with a vial of alcohol. Donny was holding Khord's axe, a weapon Tik Tik would appreciate over the shortswords. What would make him relax... Kallen placed a small tub of grease just outside Tik Tik's square. "This will keep any water from staying on you. Feel free to use what is here, I can get more above ground." Kallen looked at the group. Talking to large groups was something he tried to avoid. Anyway, this was a necessary moment. They need a hard reset.  Calmly, and slowly, Kallen spoke to everyone. "Look around. Each and everyone here is a comrade that fought with you recently, even to the state of falling in battle for some, myself included. Are you all so righteous that you that would lay your life down to combat enemies with fellows you know nothing about? I'll tell you honestly, the thought of escaping yesterday's fight crossed my mind multiple times. I am not a great person, and an even lesser fighter. But, I have learned from each of you. I first joined Bermuda Hex to gain personal strength. Now I am aware just how empty that desire was. My personal goals will never be accomplished on my own. I will need to grow, yes, but I also need the help of others, friends. Inside of each of you, you have a reason to fight beside someone else here. Of course we all have secrets. Has anyone tried to discuss any of those illusions we saw yesterday in the fight? Those were from personal memories, ones that have likely impacted who we are today, yet not one of us have brought that up. Why? Don't we care to know everything about our allies as well as our enemies? Ugh, I'm rambling again...Look. Pay attention to why those around you act the way they do. Not why you think they are acting, why they think they are acting. You might just learn something."  At that, Kallen took a long exhale. Under his breath, but loud enough for the others to hear "Yup, still hate talking to groups of people."  He began back in the direction of his watch post, Peri had covered for him long enough. As a party member, it was important to hold himself equally responsible.