Round 34 Transcript

As Halie descends into the pit, the rope creaks and groans beneath her weight. The screech echoes again, louder this time, and the runes on the walls flash brighter in response. Seraphine raises her staff, casting a quick shielding spell to protect the group from any potential magical backlash. Merrin watches anxiously as Halie's form disappears into the darkness below, her eyes darting between the pit, the gate, and the source of the unearthly sound. "Keep that shield spell up," she warns Seraphine, her voice tight with tension. "We don't know what's coming." Suddenly, a section of the wall slides open, revealing a narrow passageway that was previously hidden by rubble. The air that escapes is musty and filled with the scent of decay. The group exchanges worried glances, unsure what to make of the new development. Halie's voice echoes up from below, her tone laced with concern. "Guys, I think I've reached the bottom. Varikka's... she's okay, but we need to move fast. The pit's starting to fill with water, and I can hear something moving down here."

I descend into the pit carefully, my hands slick with sweat on the rope. The darkness below swallows me whole, and I can hear Merrin and Seraphine's anxious voices echoing above. Varikka? I call out softly. Can you hear me? Are you okay? My voice bounces off unseen walls, the sound swallowed by the oppressive silence of this cursed place. Gods, what have we gotten ourselves into? The air down here is thick with decay and something else—magic, old and wrong. I can feel it prickling at my skin, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Focus, Halie, I tell myself sternly. You're a cleric—you've faced danger before. But never quite like this. My foot touches bottom, and I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. The floor is uneven, slick with water that's rising steadily around my ankles. I can hear something moving in the darkness beyond Varikka's position—something large, something... alive. Varikka? I try again, louder this time. We need to move. Fast. Suddenly, a section of the wall slides open above us, revealing a narrow passage. The air that escapes is musty and filled with the scent of decay. Oh gods, I mutter. What now? I crouch down next to Varikka's prone form, running my hands over her quickly—checking for injuries, checking for signs of life. Stay still, I murmur, Let me work. The rising water is cold against my skin as I start casting a healing spell, the divine energy warming my palms as it flows into her. Varikka moans softly, her eyes fluttering open. For a moment, she seems disoriented, then her gaze focuses on me and panic sets in. Halie? she gasps. What—how—

Hush, I tell her firmly. We'll get you out of here. But we need to move fast. The pit's filling with water, and I can hear something moving below us now. I help her sit up, supporting her weight as she groans in pain. Lean on me, I instruct. We're getting out of this gods-forsaken place. As we start the laborious process of climbing back up the rope, I can feel eyes on us from the darkness. The water rises higher, now swirling around my thighs. Whatever's down here with us, I mutter to Varikka between heaving breaths as we climb, it's not happy about our uninvited presence. Above, Merrin and Seraphine's voices call down to us, filled with both relief and new urgency.* "Halie! Varikka! Are you okay? We've got a problem up here—something emerged from that new passage. It doesn't look friendly."

Of course it doesn't, I think grimly as I heave myself over the edge of the pit, pulling Varikka up behind me. What now?

As Halie and Varikka struggle to climb out of the pit, I watch Merrin pace back and forth by the newly revealed passage, her dagger drawn and her eyes wide with fear. The screeching sound seems closer now, more frantic, almost like it knows we've found a way out. Seraphine stands beside me, her staff crackling with arcane energy as she maintains the shield spell around us all. "We need to get moving," I say, my voice tight with tension. "Whatever that thing is, it’s getting closer."
I take a step towards the passage, but Merrin holds up a hand, stopping me in my tracks. "Wait," she hisses, her head cocked as if listening intently. "Do you hear that?"
A soft rustling sound drifts from the depths of the pit, like something moving through water. Halie and Varikka are almost out now, their forms silhouetted against the dim light filtering down from above. But the water... it's rising faster than should be possible in a natural pit trap.
Suddenly, a massive, tentacle-like appendage bursts from the water, wrapping around Varikka's leg and dragging her back under with a scream. Halie screams and clings to the rope, her own safety suddenly precarious as she fights to pull Varikka back up. The creature - some kind of giant aquatic monstrosity - thrashes in the pit, its bulk displacing even more water, which begins to pour out of the opening and into the main chamber with alarming speed.
"Pull them up!" I shout at Merrin and Seraphine, grabbing the rope myself. Together we heave, muscles straining as we try to bring both Halie and Varikka back to safety before the entire bottom level is flooded. The water rises past our knees, making the footing treacherous. The screeching from the passage grows louder, more insistent, and I can see a dark shape moving in the darkness beyond the opening. It's large, and it's heading straight for us.
"We have to go," I pant, my arms burning with exertion.* "Now!"

Jeane stands frozen, her wings tucked close against her back as the water rises around her ankles. She can hear the thing in the pit thrashing below, dragging Varikka back down into the darkness. The screeching from the passage is getting louder, closer—something else is coming. "Gods damn it all," she spits, her voice barely audible over the chaos. Her eyes dart between Merrin and Seraphine struggling with the rope, Halie's desperate cries echoing down from above, and the dark shape moving in the passage. Her hands tremble around her staff—not from the cold water, but from sheer terror. She can feel it, that primal fear deep within her, urging her to run, to fly away as fast as her wings will carry her.

But running means abandoning Merrin and Seraphine, leaving Halie stranded above with no way down. It means admitting she's useless in a fight, that her spells won't matter against whatever horrors this tower holds. Her demonic nature screams at her to save herself while her human conscience refuses to leave anyone behind.

Jeane raises her staff, the runes along its length glowing faintly with arcane energy. "I can try to—" she starts, but stops mid-sentence. What can she do? Her fire magic might incinerate them all in this cramped space. Her ice spells could freeze the water around their feet. But would that help? Or would it just trap them all together? The thing in the pit surfaces again, tentacles thrashing as it pulls Varikka deeper. Jeane's stomach churns—she can't save her, not like this. The screeching from the passage cuts through the air like a blade. Something large emerges from the darkness—a skeletal horror, its bones gleaming with dark energy in the dim light.

Jeane stumbles back, her wings half-spreading instinctively before she forces them down. "We need to go—now!" she shouts, her voice cracking with fear and desperation. The water is up to her knees now, cold and rising fast. "Merrin! Seraphine! We can't fight both of these things!"

She turns toward the skeletal creature, raising her staff again despite the tremor in her hands. This is it—this is the moment she has to prove her worth beyond spellcasting. But as the undead abomination lurches forward, all Jeane can think is that she's going to die here, drowning in filthy water while some monster tears her apart.