The Dawn Will Come [Dungeon Run | March 2018 | Part I - Labyrinth of Souls]

"You know, all this people in my head stuff is gonna get old real fast."Orow said as he ran his hand over the perfectly smooth, black stone wall. His journeys across the Kumamoto Province had exposed him to everything from air nomad temples to Sun Empire industrial complexes but none of that compared to this. The stone was warm to the touch and felt almost alive; this thought unnerved him. These feelings were forgotten as they entered to courtyard and saw the fountain sat before the group.

"Something like this.. you may only see once in several lifetimes." He remarked as he stared, astounded by the beautiful work of art before them. He had read many books and heard many tales in his travels though the name of this celestial being escaped him. After a few more moments of indulgence the words of one of his senior scouts flashed through his mind, "Take ten seconds, analyze your surroundings completely. Ten seconds separates a dead man from one who gets to fight another day."

Tearing his eyes from the work of art he turned first to the left and right. Once again he could not see completely down either path, which infuriated him to no end. "I hardly like bumbling my way around this place.. He thought as he placed his hand to his chin. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine this place as a typical maze, keep your hand along the left wall and you will make it out just fine. "Puahh, yeah right, as if anything today has been typical" He mused before turning back to the group. Perhaps they'd have some inkling as to which way to go.

The young women, yami, was suggesting they go right, which sounded fine to Orow. He was going to throw his vote in when a deafening roar shook the air and the ground beneath them quaked.

Nobunaga chuckled at the blonde. "You clearly don't know who I am. I guarantee someone's looking for me."

Then the Ziio girl's voice sounded in his head. It was painful as she forced her way inside, but he had to admire her spunk. The girl had guts, and balls larger than most.

"Haha! What a spirited young girl," laughed Nobunaga, "You'll be needing those balls for what you're about to face in here. If the old legends are to be believed..."

Nobunaga wasn't wrong though.

Another voice cut through his head. "We'd probably best listen. Best not to ignore the warning of the spirits," smirked Nobunaga, even he wasn't stupid enough to do that, "As your new leader I say we go onward!" He charged into the hallway, not even caring if people followed or not.

As the group pressed into the blacker than night hallways that made up the labyrinth, Nobunaga's mind began whirling a mile a minute. Gone was the mad man, now had come the mad genius.

"I read once that this place was an ancient prison, not just a cemetery for the Dawn Crusade. The thing no ancient texts ever mentioned was what exactly this island had been built to imprison."

Nobunaga babbled to no one in particular, but he secretly hoped his comrades were paying attention. He didn't like repeating himself, even if he was just working through a problem in his head.

"Something big and evil probably."

Nobunaga looked down at the worst, scrawled and carved and fitted with gold in the stone floor. "That's not ominous...jeez."

Nobunaga spit, somewhere off to the side of the sacred words. Ominous as they were he wasn't about to go cursing the whole group.

Then he continued his babbling. "You don't build a cemetery in a tower, on an island, surrounded by a labyrinth and a foggy sea unless you've got something to hide. Not to mention the evil spirits...the Dawn Crusade didn't mess with them."

Something else was drawing the evil here.

"This place was Sacred Ground, and the Holy Light and blessings of the dead Paladins of the Dawn Crusade kept the Light Spirits here and the Dark Spirits in check. It was probably two fold...this many holy people buried in a single place? The largest collection of Holy Light aside from the Spirit King's Palace?"

The catacombs and labyrinth were the lock, the tower and the tombs the key.

"But why would you keep the key so close to lock," muttered Nobunaga, "And why..."

Nobunaga's thoughts were cut short as they reached a massive, stone courtyard. At the other end, a massive statue of En'no-gyoja that once functioned as a fountain. But the water had long since run dry, all that remained was the basin and the statue.

"Beautiful craftsmanship," assessed Nobunaga as he examined the statue, "I wonder where the got the likeness of Old Geezer. One doesn't just visit the All-Father, Creator of the Universe and make a sketch...he's got better things to do. Like have sex with heavenly bitches, and raining down heavenly wrath upon the unworthy maggots of his many worlds Nothing like damning the fucking hell out of a planet, eh big guy?" Nobunaga smiled at the statue.

Nobunaga chuckled at himself, thinking himself funny.

Yami and Orow decided to go right. Nobunaga frowned. "As your leader, I say we go left!" he cried, "You there, soldier! I really do command you. We're going le--"

Nobunaga hopped up and back, landing on the basin of the statue. He was pretty sure he felt the ground shake before anyone else because they all stared at him like he was crazy. Years on the battlefield had taught him to better sense the vibrations of a charge through his feet.

This one felt like a thunderous cavalry charge. But...there was no cavalry near here that he could see.

That meant it was coming from below, and that meant.

"Fuck!" hissed Nobunaga drawing his sword with his left hand and his pistol with his right, "Everyone, keep to the edges! Shit's about to get messy!"

Karasu was not fond of the many voices in her head. The first one when she first arrived was high pitched. Then there was Ziio. She was fine, but she forced her way into Karasu's head and that just gave her a headache.

This last voice though, Karasu recognized as wholly Water Tribe. Or at least...he had to be. He spoke Southern Dialect. Near the Western Glacier Flows, specifically. This was a very specific dialect, but years of study had made Karasu at least semi-knowledgeable about the dialect.

Unfortunately she couldn't speak a single word of it.

She prayed for the best and responded in the secondary dialect of the Northern Tribe. She thought her words, trying--and failing she might've thought--to force her words out into the giant pattern of thoughts that kept trying to get into her head.

"Shé:kon," she started. A simple greeting meaning hello. Nothing.

She tried again. "Karasu ni'iótia'ts." She introduced herself by her first name.

"Nahò:ten iesá:ia'ts?" What is your name.

"Ónhka ní:se’?" Who are you.

Still no response.

Karasu sighed and gave up. The person either wasn't responding, or the person could only contact her, and not the other way around. Of course there was just the possibility he was ignoring her, but regardless, Karasu abandoned her efforts.

She followed the others into the hallway. She saw much the same as they did. Smooth, unbroken black walls that seemed alive. And creepy words written on the floor. Not exactly the best second impression, which really didn't help after that even worse first impression.

Things were going to get interesting, that was for sure.

Then, Nobunaga, the Emperor, started babbling away to himself. Karasu, however, ever the eavesdropper, listened in on what he was saying. "So...if this labyrinth is the lock, I'm guessing we're looking for the key? Or are we the key?"

The Emperor never responded.

"What are they keeping locked up here? Why is it drawing in dark spirits?" asked Karasu.

Again, nary a response from the pensive Emperor. Karasu would have to find out on her own it seems. Whatever it was, the thoughts were giving her chills. Were they brought here to kill it or to tighten the bindings that hold it down?

Karasu's thoughts were cut short as she saw Nobunaga admiring the statue. She rolled her eyes as he mentioned "heavenly bitches" and "damning whole planets."

"As if," she replied, "Gods have better things to do than being petty destroyers. They are Creators after all. They're not wicked...are they?" However, Karasu, once more, never got a response.

The ground started shaking, roars started coming from everywhere and nowhere. Fuck.

Nobunaga told her and the others to keep to the edges, and that was exactly what she was going to do. She drew her sword, and readied herself, back to the wall of the courtyard.

Things were going to get sticky.

Ziio immediately recognized the dialect spoken by this man. In fact...if she wasn't crazy--crazier than she knew she was--she could've sworn she had heard this man's voice before. In a dream. It was a very specific dream about...no. Not at all possible.

Ziio was hearing things.

This could not be. Not at all.

Her grandmother had been a Southerner, born in Tekaniataró:ken, in the same area as this man's dialect.

Ziio's eyes narrowed. Her grandmother had always told her to embrace the spirits, and perhaps that's why Ziio had, and had always seen and been closer to them for it. But this...? This was too weird.

Ziio froze, while entering the hallway--she ignored the ugly-coloured living rock--as she heard one of her "comrades", another Water Bender, responding to the Southern Speaker with her Northern Dialect.

Ziio scoffed internally and responded in proper Southern dialect to the voice, using nothing but her mind. She made sure to broadcast the proper responses through the mind of the woman.


A simple set of phrases, but important. She gave her name. She gave her settlement of origin, and where she currently lived. Standard greetings for a Southerner.

But Ziio never managed to worry about a response, as the group came upon a courtyard. Some oogled the statue of the old Light Skin. Ziio cared not for him.

Some argued over the direction they were going to head.

Ziio didn't care for arguing.

She went left, and stood there.


Then the ground started shaking, and the thrill of the hunt came to Ziio. She snarled like a wolf about to fight a bear, and licked her lips. She was ready for a fight, let whatever creature come before her be struck down by the fear in its heart.

She listened to the elder one's advice of keeping to the edges. Smart plan. Crouching low, she drew her tomahawk, and readied for the fight to come.

More voices! Aedan's favorite. The group finished their brief introductions on the beach when the voice that seemed to plague each of the members spoke of demons in the water.

"Fuck this," Aedan mumbled under his breath. He truly wanted one day and night to fully unwind, do what he wants, and sleep for an ungodly amount. Apparently, some spirits had a different idea.

The people around him seemed knowledgeable of spirits in some shape or form, not Aedan. He knew fishing, fighting, some firebending, and having supreme emotional breakdowns. Spirts and the sorts, not his thing. Spirituality? Count that out. Whatever was happening wasn’t due to connections to the Spirit World or ancestral ties. Aedan didn’t care at this point. He wanted off this island and to go home.

Black stone made up the entrance of the labyrinth, weird tiles, alien almost, paved the path forward. Aedan followed the group, Cia not far behind him, keeping to the back, which Aedan had an odd sort of respect for.

Golden words lead them onwards, the lyrics to the chant oddly empowering, humbling, and scary all in one. "I'm not drunk enough for this," Aedan whispered, remembering the nice glass of rum that he was enjoying. He frowned. The group continued through the hall.

Labyrinths were not necessarily Aedan's favorite things. A courtyard opened up at the end of the long hall. An ornate fountain, dry and old looking, was fashioned in one end of the wide space. People slowly filled the space, two doorways presenting two paths to follow. The doors, as Aedan wistfully expected, were indeed locked.

The Emperor rambled on, something about an All-Father? He ended his rant with a tantrum of commands. He wishes to go through the left door, commanding the soldier to follow orders. Yami, the banshee, voted to go right. Ziio wanted to go left as well.

"To hell with it," Aedan cleared his throat, and proceeded to the door on the right,"I say ri-"  the sudden roar and shaking ground cut him off. One of the people, Aedan unsure whose exactly, said to get to the edges. In a quick motion, Aedan got to the door, unsheathed his sword and stood in a stance ready for a fight.

"Let's do this!"

((OOC: PLEASE DO NOT READ THE PRIVATE WHISPERS OF ANY OTHER MEMBER. IT WILL RUIN THE DUNGEON EXPERIENCE. ACKNOWLEDGE THEM IN YOUR POST, BUT NOT WHAT IS SAID WORD FOR WORD, ONLY THAT YOU HAVE BEEN SPOKEN TO. SECONDLY, YOUR ATTACK ROLLS ARE YOUR HP IS 1000, YOUR ATTACK 100, YOUR ACCURACY IS 10 AS ALWAYS.))


A massive tentacle bursts forth through living stone tiles of the courtyard. A massive hole is ripped in the centre of the room. It stretches out towards the extremities, seeking to smash and crush its opponents. It secrets a toxic liquid, and it's barbed, spiky tendrils try to stab at everyone and anyone.

Everything but the edges of the room and the area around the statue has given way to the blackness of a bottomless pit.

A horrible terrible screeching erupts in all of your minds.

And then, dark whispers invade your mind. They enter. None of you can possibly know what this voice says to one another, nor do you know that anyone else has been contacted. But these words rip through each of your minds individually.

FOR YAMI ONLY:

FOR OROW ONLY:

FOR NOBUNAGA ONLY:

FOR KARASU ONLY:

FOR CIA ONLY:

FOR ZIIO ONLY:

FOR AEDANONLY:

The massive tentacle swings at you while you're doubled over in mental anguish. Good luck fighters.

Attack Accuracy

Random number (1,10) :

3

Attack Strength

Random number (1,100) :

34

Defense:

Random number (1,10) :

6

HP: 1000/1000

First the ground shook, knocking the ever clumsy Yami off of her feet. Then the tentacle shot out of the ground. Yami instinctively pushed back against the wall, and was glad she did, because the ground where she had been kneeling before no longer existed.

She glanced down the hold and instantly regretted it. A wave of vertigo gripped her body as she stared into the pit.

Next, the screeching. Yami gave up trying to stand and fell into a crouching position, gripping her ears tightly, squeezing her eyes shut as if she could will the horrible sound to stop. But when it did, the words she heard in its place left her feeling cold.

Doubt. Seeds of doubt were planted in her mind with those words. She continued to hold her head.

You look like a pitiful child, you know. Oh, by the way, watch out.

For once, Kokuo's advice was appreciated. And she actually preferred Kokuo's voice over the whispers...that message that kept repeating in her mind. Yami looked up as instructed, jumping out of the way as the tentacle lashed at her. She pushed herself into the air with her fire bending, cyan flames shooting out of her feet. The tentacle passed harmlessly below her.

The gaping hole would make it difficult to fight the tentacle at close range unless she waited for it to strike at her again. Shrugging her bow off of her shoulders, she began firing off a series of arrows, aiming low so they wouldn't hit anybody on the other side of the room if she missed.

Power:

Random number (1,100) :

78

Accuracy:

Random number (1,10) :

6

Defense:

Random number (1,10) :

4