Round 79 Transcript

As Jeane descends into the chasm, her emergency teleportation potion's glow illuminates the dark air. The sorceress's wings beat steadily, propelling her forward as she hurtles toward the depths below. The echoes from the chasm grow louder, punctuated by the ominous voice, "Who dares disturb the rest of the forgotten?" Jeane's hand tightens around her crossbow, her eyes fixed on the shimmering portal's edge, where Merrin and Seraphine prepare to follow. As she approaches the threshold, the air thickens with anticipation, and the chasm's darkness seems to swallow her whole.

Jeane's expression darkens as she realizes her mistake—she was about to call a tool to search for Halie when in fact, the sorceress is currently missing. I am an idiot.

Merrin's heart races as she watches Jeane descend into the chasm, her own hand tightening around her crossbow. I understand your anger, Jeane, but we need to keep our heads about us if we're going to find them alive. She takes a deep breath, steeling herself for what she knows must be said next. Halie made a mistake, but that doesn't mean she deserves to be left behind. Merrin's mind races as she considers their options, trying to come up with a plan that might actually work. If we're going to do this, we need to be smart about it. Halie may have screwed up, but she's still our friend. We owe it to her - and to Varrika - to try and get them out of there alive. With a final nod to Jeane, Merrin steps forward, ready to follow the sorceress into the unknown depths of the chasm. Let's find them, she says softly, her voice barely audible over the echoes from below. And bring them home.

I watch as Jeane descends into the chasm, her form swallowed by the darkness and the shimmering portal. My heart hammers in my chest at the thought of what lies below, but Merrin's words echo in my mind. We can't just abandon Halie—she made a terrible mistake, but she's still one of us. I turn to Merrin, my expression serious as I nod in agreement. "You're right. We need to find them, and bring them back if we can." I take a deep breath, steeling myself for the journey ahead. My fingers trace the patterns on my staff, a habit when I'm nervous, and I feel a surge of power flow through me. "But we have to be smart about this. We don't know what we're walking into down there." I look around the ledge, my eyes landing on a pile of debris near the portal. An idea begins to form in my mind. "Wait," I say, holding up a hand to stop Merrin before she follows Jeane. "Let me check something first." I move quickly to the pile of rubble, sifting through it with my free hand until I find what I'm looking for—a heavy metal bar, likely part of a broken doorframe or cage. It's not much, but it might be useful as an improvised weapon against whatever threats await us in the depths. "This could come in handy," I murmur to myself, hefting the bar and testing its weight in my hands. "Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it." With a final nod, I turn back to Merrin, my expression determined. "Alright. Let's go find our friends. And bring them home." I take a step towards the shimmering portal, my staff gripped tightly in one hand, the metal bar clutched in the other. "Just... be ready for anything," *I add, my voice dropping to a whisper as I prepare to leap into the unknown chasm after Jeane.