Round 77

The air was heavy with tension as Sister Hale's steady voice rose above the cacophony, "We need to match their rhythm perfectly!" The glowing plates pulsed in sync with each THRUM-THRUM-THUD, feeding greedily on Gravedigger Renn's terror-smell. Silra's eyes darted between the pressure plates and her companion, her mind racing with the implications of whatever lay beneath them. As Sister Hale began to adjust her stance fractionally, matching Silra's surgical timing, the ground trembled ominously once more.

The runes' pulsing rhythm seemed to synchronize with their footsteps, a macabre waltz that underscored the ancient entity's growing hunger for terror-smell. Gravedigger Renn's convulsions intensified, his fear-smell thickening tactical space like spoiled wine spilled across stone floors. The tunnel's darkness seemed to press in around them, the only sound the steady THRUM-THRUM-THUD of the pressure plates and the soft gasps of the two companions.

Sister Hale's eyes locked onto Gravedigger Renn's contorted face, her will straining to hold back the terror-smell that threatened to overwhelm them. Silra called out sharply across the pulsing plates, "Renn! Focus!" The ground trembled in response, its deliberate rhythm measuring their Intent like a heartbeat. Sister Hale pressed her unholy symbol harder against Gravedigger Renn's forehead, channeling calm into his terror-smell until he stopped convulsing.