Round 35

The air inside the crumbling stone tower grew thick with an ancient malevolence that chilled them to the bone. The central chamber was a labyrinth of shadows and flickering torchlight, the walls slick with condensation. At its heart lay a yawning pit, its edges lined with runes that pulsed with a dark energy even as they crumbled away from centuries of neglect.

Jeane circled the precipice warily, her wings half-spread for balance. The air here felt wrong—thick with residual magic and the stink of centuries-old death. That rune pulsing down below? It screamed danger even through Merrin's clumsy prodding. And Varrika up there on that rope, straining under both their weights? She'd snap before that beam did.

Halie inched closer to the pit's edge, Mace ready but held back. The air grew colder by degrees, echoing like a prayer backwards. The runes on the floor pulsed with an ancient malevolence that made her skin crawl—Jeane saw this place as a nexus point, a doorway to somewhere worse than death. Merrin! Be careful down there—I don't like what those skeletons are protecting.

Varrika braced herself against the straining rope and creaking beam, her muscles burning with effort. "Halie! Pull them up, NOW!" she shouted over the ominous groans of the ancient tower. The air grew colder by degrees, thick with an ancient malevolence that chilled her to the bone. She could just make out Merrin's figure far below, fiddling with the...

Merrin quickly scrambled back from the edge of the pit as noxious gas began to billow up. Her heart hammered in her chest as she shouted up to the others. "Get me out of here, now!" The ancient rune on the floor pulsed ominously, its dark energy making her skin crawl. She grabbed the rope and started hauling herself up hand over hand, her arms burning with the effort...