Dungeon of the Doomed King

[Grape_Drink]

The Duergar hrmed as he left the room, rubbing his chin.

"Well, methinks the princess ain't at any of 'em locations. Too obvious or too well guarded, t'would be easier to stuff'er in a burrow and wait a few fortnights fer the fun t'roll over. 'At said, I ain't keen t'take on a bunch of deaders wit'ou' magic 'case'a any wraiths or the likes, an' t'only thing prolly waitin' up'in 'at 'Lestial place are starcravin' loons an' fierce critters. Methinks t'Drakes'd be the best bet t'get some useful 'quipment an' prep for excursions elsewhere. Drakes like their shiny things an' if'em Turtle folks ain't stew, they prolleh got a secret entrance we can 'buse. Then again, 'ats prolleh t'most dangerous route too. Thoughts?"

He looks around at the others to gauge their reactions.

[spitfyre]

Following behind the Dwarf and the Lizard-woman, Kairon speaks up trying to keep his name clear and get on the good side of those that have negative feelings toward him.

"Well, good sir, I believe that the island is most certainly the worst place to at this moment, with giant creatures and evil enemies all around us. You have a good point about the undead location, however at the same time it might not be wise to let it go unchecked, for if the undead population grows too large it may begin to spread, and make our task there even harder. Also, the problem I see with the volcano is its activity. We have no idea of when it could explode and if we are fighting drakes, who knows what fighting could awaken the volcano and have it spew lava over the land. Also, because the Turtlekin are there as well we may end up fighting multiple types of enemies at once, something that we may not be prepared for. While we can fight undead, and hopefully humanoid, creatures, I fear dragons and giant turtles may well be beyond our abilities for know. Also, I do think that some of our, holier teammates may have an obligation to wipe out all of the undead creatures."

Kairon finishes talking and moves aside, allowing others to speak up after him.

[soulbound]

"indeed" Mazarus says with a nod to the dwarf "but said inconspicuous location will also be somewhat conspicuous at least and seeing as its a princess of all things, and likely some mastermind or leader or such, will be especially well guarded,"Mazarus says while thinking the matter over"Mazarus by the way, a pleasure to meet you all, but also for all we know this four locations are the hiding place, as we do not know on who kidnapped them,"

[MelissaB]

Listening to the princess Liel nods and gives a look of deep thought as she outlines numerous places for them to investigate. The town over run with undead, hmm might be a good place to check and until she has tested the strength of her companions she has no desire to fight drakes or their greater cousins yet. "Thank you. I hope to find or hear your sister return safely." Liel nods and gives Citrine a look. "I'd probably share her feelings in her position." She nods once and motions for her group to leave while they discuss where to go. "I think the town with undead, if nothing else we can find what may cause them to rise or spread and destroy it and thus inform others how to do the same thus lessening their spread." She states and heads back down the stairs towards the exit of the inn, hoping her new companions come in tow. "That will at least give us an easier time travelling and thus make us find the princess quicker."

[Kankra]

Sheera listened to her companions' words, but was more concentrated on letting her sword circle around in her hand. "Undead, ey? Hrmph, fine with me. But please let us see some real action after that. I want a worthy opponent, not blade fodder." she said, a bit grumpy about the group's choice, but nevertheless coping with it.

[Firehead]

Listening to her companions speak Kryth decides to put in her two copper. I'd prefer to not involve myself with the undead, the thought of sinking my jaws into a shambling rotting corpse is one I don't savor. Remember there will be other groups checking out these areas as well and I don't think we have enough information to determine the potential threat levels between the undead, dragons, an army made from the vegetation itself, or the area where no one know what's going on. If the Princess is in any of the places I'd bet on Black Shard, there is something worth protecting there, but I would be loath to go in blind. I would suggest we check out Firespin Mountain in the hopes that the dragon's have some knowledge of the area or that we could spare some survivor in exchange for checking it out for us. As for concern of volcanic eruption I doubt the Turtlekin would be there if they didn't have some way to deal with such a threat.

[MelissaB]

Liel looks over the barbarians with a frown and shakes her head. "You think all undead to be blade fodder? you are naive. Undead can be lead by a lich, a nest of vampires. To think undead weak will be your own death warrior." She shakes her head and regards the lizard woman with a tilt of her head. "Dragons do not part with anything for free willingly. Either Knowledge or trinkets." She casts a glances towards the duergar at that. "And you reckon you could force one to part with such? If not I suggest we leave that mountain for another time." Brushing her armor of dust she looks around them. "No one has come back from the shard, so without some information prior going there is surely going to end us up with a very dead or corrupted party. While I'd love to take your word that you are all strong experts in your fields I would not dare to test us against a dragon or it's kin. So can we put the idea of running off to fight -dragons- out of our minds?" She asks her voice raising a little for emphasis to hopefully get across how stupid they are being. "So it's the undead or the forest of living plants. I prefer cutting down undead and in doing so we might find a source of the corruption that's causing them to rise and spread. the same can be for the forest. So that's is where I suggest, undead or corrupted plants." She huffs looking around at them with a glare.

[soulbound]

Mazarus is surprised at the celestial and mainly himself finding himself in agreement with her"indeed, undead are not to ever be considered weak, and dragons are not to be fought with the correct equipment, and considering dragons don't tend to actually keep prisoners ransom, nor would they be able to have acquired the princess without being noticed. no i believe the undead and the corruption are our best options, i personally vote for the undead"he says after clearing his throat to gain attention at the beginning of his words.

[spitfyre]

Kairon looks around the party and sees that the group is mostly in agreement that they should to fight the undead first. He then speaks up and says, "Alright then, it seems we have reached a majority consensus.To the undead lands it is. We should probably head off as quickly as we can, before the undead population gets out of hand." With that Kairon turns to leave the bar hoping the rest of the party would follow him, or at least walk beside him.

[Kankra]

Sheera's eye flinched a bit on the Celestian's remark about being naive. "Listen here, angelfeathers", she said, puffing herself up, "I've been slaying titans in the Arcadian Dunes when I was half our age. These undead are not even worthy a play toy for the littlest ones in our tribe! The only thing those "vampires" will suck on is the steel of my blades." To underpin her point, she drew both of her swords in a flash, crossing them in front of her chest, and letting the blank metal reflect the sun directly into the Celestian's face, while putting a challenging grin on her own. "But I think this argument is still settled the best in battle. And thus, I think we should get on our way to this manor to give these undead their eternal as well as infernal rest." Sheera let her swords circle around once more simply for showing off before sheathing them behind her back again. "Now, anybody need to go potty or can we set off on our journey?" she said, following Kairon out off the bar and heading for the city gates.

[Grape_Drink]

The Duergar raises an eyebrow at the Celestial, smirking.

"I don't think ye'd find anythin' worthwhile to that dragon in a soddin' area that smells'ike feces, 'ats fer sure."

Snickering, he shakes his head.

"Yer right 'bout'em deaders though. Zeds'n'skeletons'd be a boon, but some'un woulda taken care'a'em by now if they were all the worries 'round there. An' who said anythin' about -fightin'- the dragon?"

Looking to the tall man, he rolls his eyes before tagging along. More intuitive fellows would note that he seems to be keeping himself intentionally near the center of the group, as if expecting something to jump out at any time.

"Prolleh somethin' ah can use down'n... Wha' was it again? Skirt town? Stilts town? Bah."

[MelissaB]

Angel feathers, That makes Liel smirk and her wings flex a little at the name as well before glancing after her as she walks. "Strange. It's not like boasting here will help her when we do fight them." Glancing at the duergar she nods. "Perhaps not. Perhaps we will, we won't know until we get there and see for ourselves. Because dragons don't give up their belongings without one grey dwarf." Moving off with the others she folds her wings behind her back and holds her great sword upon her shoulder as she walks, letting the plates bear it's weight while she with the rest of the group head out of town and towards the undead riddled town the princess spoke of.

[Gorbaz]

With the party moving out, the two princesses nod, Emerald bidding them a good day as the next group files in after them. The tavern is still abuzz as they move through and back outside, leaving the bounds of the town and heading out toward the border. A glance at the map tells you that the journey to Stilt Town would take about two days on foot - one to reach the border edge, and another passing beyond to find the place. However, not far to the north of the main marked path leading there is the forest belonging to the Elves of the Bark. A wide and dense forest, it may slow the journey slightly but the Elves there were loyal and had gotten used to living on the border. They may have forms of transportation, provisions, or even detailed information on that land beyond. It would depend on what mood they were caught in. Otherwise there would just be the wide open plains, dotted with the occasional farm growing cereals on this leg of the journey.

Everyone knows that the scenery would change as soon as they hit the barrier

[HarleyLocal605]

"Anyone in agreement that we should stop at the elven lands to see if they have any information in regards with these undead before we go barreling in?" Callista pipes up as she carries her staff across her shoulders, both arms draped over it. "I would think that being as close as they are they could know something relevant."

[Firehead]

Taking a quick glance over the map Kryth responds I agree our journey will only be delayed slightly but the information could prove crucial to our goals, and even if it lets some groups get ahead of us they'd be going in blind.

[MelissaB]

Liel Perks up at the mention of the elves and hms to herself before giving a slight nod as if coming to a decision, glancing among her companions the celestial nods in agreement. "Yes, that is best, worth a try at least, hopefully they'll be in an agreeable mood and offer us aid, even if not for free it should make our time easier in the long run." Glancing around the others Liel provided they all agreed would end up travelling and changing her path towards the Elves and their forest.

[Kankra]

As Sheera always had been more of a "Less talking, more fighting!" person, nothing else was left for her to do than roll her eyes, when she heard the group considering a visit to the elves and let out a displeased sounding groan. "Alright, alright. We'll visit the elves. Let's just hope I don't die from boredom along the way..."

[Gorbaz]

The group moved forward into the rapidly darkening forest home of the Elves, what little sunlight that broke through the canopy only serving to illuminate patches of earth through which pushed only a few blades of grass and flowers. The trees themselves grew taller and denser the further in, and the birdsong from the plains was replaced by the chirping of insects. However, the hand of the Elves was apparent after a couple of hours walking as brightly-luminescent bugs clung to the trunks of the trees, lined in such a way as to guide the party down specific paths until, at last, they emerged into a sunlit grove, dominated by a gigantic tree, clearly very old and nearly as thick as a castle's tower at the base. All around, the roots had been converted into homes and shelters with the simple additions of leaves and vines to mark out entrances. Everywhere came the sound of civilisation, but far less than in the Human city.

From behind them, A male Elf wearing simple hide armour and a bearskin stepped out of the undergrowth, followed by a blonde Elf maiden, golden bow in hand and simple lace dress flowing in the wind. "Welcome, travellers" the male said, approaching with open arms. "What brings you to our fair city?"

[spitfyre]

Kairon looks around at the group thinking that he didn't want to lead the group and would rather just wait in the back. Following was easier than leading, and he didn't want even more troubles.However, if no one else stepped forward he would reluctantly.

[Firehead]

Kryth turned to the elves surprised at their sudden appearance behind them, at least they were friendly. Walking up to the man she held out a claw hoping he would accept a hand shake in lieu of the hug he appeared to be offering. I am Kryth'sas. She stopped a moment to give the others time to speak any greetings they wished, once they had either all introduced themselves or it became clear they would remain silent she continued. We are planning an expedition into Stilt Town and were hoping you had some news of the area we could hear before we crossed over.