Round 50 Transcript

As Halie's words hang in the air, Merrin looks up from the ground, her eyes narrowing slightly as she surveys the tower's crumbling structure. The rusty pipe's burst has released a noxious cloud, but it seems to have passed, leaving behind an acrid smell that lingers in the air. With a deep breath, Merrin readjusts her grip on the crossbow, her hand still instinctively reaching for it. On the wall above, a faint tremor causes one of the ancient runes to shift slightly, its pulsing light intensifying as it draws more power from the surrounding stones. The air around the group begins to feel heavier, as if the very atmosphere is growing thick with malevolent energy. Seraphine's warning echoes in their minds: be wary of what you find up there. In the distance, a faint scraping noise grows louder, echoing through the tower's depths like the sound of twisted metal scraping against stone. The group exchanges uneasy glances, the silence between them oppressive as they await Merrin's next move.

I peer up at the crumbling tower, my hand resting on the haft of my mace. The air feels heavy with decay and something else... something ancient and hungry. Halie's right to be wary of those stairs. I've seen too many good fighters fall to traps and tricks in places like this. "Alright, let's see if we can't find another way up," I grunt, looking around for any signs of a hidden passage or service corridor. "But we best hurry. Whatever's in there, it knows we're here now."

I step forward, my boots crunching on the rubble strewn about the base of the tower. The stones feel cold and lifeless under my touch, but I can't shake the feeling that they're watching us all the same. "We need to move fast," I mutter, more to myself than anyone else. "But we can't afford to be sloppy either. Keep your eyes sharp and your wits about you. This is no place for careless mistakes."

My eyes scan the tower's exterior, looking for any gaps or weaknesses in the masonry that might offer a way in. The runes Jeane and Seraphine talked about send a chill down my spine. I've fought against dark sorcery before, but this feels different. Older. More dangerous. "Alright, what do we have?" I ask, turning to face the rest of the party. "Anyone see anything that might work as an alternate way up?"

I circle above the base of the crumbling stone tower, my dark leathery wings beating steadily as I assess the area. The Whispering Woods press close around us, and something ancient and hungry lingers in this place. My sorcerous senses tingle with warning—the air is thick with decay and old magic, and those pulsing runes on the staircase are drawing power from the stones themselves. I descend slowly to hover beside Halie at the base of the stairs leading into the tower's yawning darkness. Her divine aura flickers uncertainly in this corruption, but her stance remains resolute. "Those ancient runes aren't just decorative," I tell her, my voice barely carrying over the wind. "They're feeding on something—perhaps the very structure of the tower itself. The magic here is... wrong. Starving."

I can feel it too—the wrongness in this stone. Those runes aren't just old magic, they're... hungry. Merrin, I know you want to charge up there, but we need to understand what's feeding them first.