NPF Avatars IV, Chapter III: The Sphinx on the Doorstep

[GARUD]

"Screw lighting the place up, the more shadows I have around me, the stronger I am. Besides, when the fighting starts, I can materialise any weapon anyone wants. Seriously. But if you are that intent on getting some light in here, then start giving in your requests now."

[PhoenixFlame]

Phoenix sighed as several people clamoured for light while several others less did anything at all to acquiest. While she too was of Garud's persuasion regarding light, Phoenix didn't want to seem like she wasn't a team player. In perfect silence, she clicked the hammer twice on her revolver to cycle the cylinder, and, in perfect blackness, fired down the hall.

Likely suprising everyone with the sharp, deafening crack.

Like a signal flare, the 30mm Plasma Rocklet flew true down the hall as Phoenix literally attacked the darkness. Soon, the warhead detonated as it hit the cave's ceiling as the path began to descend, showering bright-green, light-emitting plasma all over the cave walls and floor.

"Let there be light." She proclaimed while reloading the cartridge.

[GARUD]

"And it was shit."

Garud finished Pheonix's statement, quoted from the book of Krylotology. Everybody knew that phrase. He walked down the hall, using what little shadow was left to create the Blades of Chaos, an ever reliable weapon inspired by the game God Of War. They were conveniently effective and reminded him of sword chucks.

"Let's go."

[Flarecobra]

"Just what kind of rocket WAS that PF?" I asked.

[Bailey]

"If I had to guess, I'd say it was a Beta 290 Gigaflash Classic"

[PhoenixFlame]

"Incorrect. That was a thirty millimeter plasma-ignition rocklet, designation GJ-.30P. Curiously, it doubles as a flare just as well as it eats through armor and shielding. It even comes in 6 unique colors." She responds to Newb and Flare at the same time.

Waving the oversized piece over her shoulder and clicking her tounge, Phoenix chuckles, "It's freakin' awesome, innit? She's a bit big for mere mortals, though."

[Bailey]

"Well, the Gigaflash is about the same size and has the same visual effect. If you had shot at some shielding, I probably would have figured it out."

Syttulg looked at the damage.

"I don't think that 'awesome' is a big enough word to encompass the GJ-.30P."

[Arhra]

Love was oozing out of them? Arhra surreptitiously adjusted her clothes to check for a leak. She needed her love for herself. It had been bad enough last time it had happened...

That moment of panic over, she heard Mauve's request for something to light their way and ignored Garud's reply. "Certainly!" said Arhra brightly. "Let there be light!" (Phoenix is a future line stealer). She clapped her hands in the semi-darkness and what appeared to be an extremely large glowing slug appeared in her hand.

"Er... there you go." Arhra said, handing the slug to Mauve and idly wiping the phosphorescent slime it had left behind off her hand. "Now, no time for materialising weapons or attacking the darkness! We must act now!"

The corridor wasn't really much to see. It was old, stone and intricately carved in blocky, geometric patterns along the walls. The faint smell of loam also pervaded the place. It was your average mysterious old temple interior.

Further on through the corridors, they came across something a bit out of the ordinary. The tunnel opened out into a vast chamber, seemingly open to the sky. Closer inspection would reveal that it was covered by a huge dome of what appeared to be glass. But the eye was far more pulled in by what lie beneath the arching glass. It was a forest primeval, giant trees that had trunks meters across, but they all seemed to have been petrified long ago. Many looked weathered and had partially collapsed, but stranger still, some looked much like they had when they were alive and stone fragments of broken leaves littered the ground.

Arhra looked around at the impressive sight, "Yes, the taint of Chaos is definately here. Its why these trees are like this. I think the more intact ones might actually still be alive. Chaos is corrupting the element of the seal." She started heading into them, "Well, we'd best get through to the other side."

Of course, something was watching them as they entered the petrified forest, moving from tree to tree like a ghost, waiting for them to approach the forest's heart. Arhra was the first one attacked. She stopped to peer at a tree and something burst out of it, slashing at her with long, flinty claws. Arhra cunningly dodged by falling on her ass as the razors slashed out, just grazing her. Arhra caught a glimpse of a sharp, lovely face screeching like a banshee surrounded by a long mane of leafy hair before it spun around and vanished back into the tree with a momentary ripple. Arhra edged away from the tree a bit and clambered to her feet, feeling off balance, "What in the seas of Limbo was that?!" she felt necessary to exclaim. The forest suddenly resounded with eerie screams, coming alive around them. The stonewood dryads burst out of ambush.

OOC: The dryad battle as a whole is a higher end Can of Spam. It is a pretty hard fight and there is one dryad per person. As noted in their description, dryads are Insane. Expect to get hurt. They'll be using extensive hit and run tactics, they won't stay and fight face to face.

[PhoenixFlame]

Phoenix too, walked through the eriee petrified forest with a sure-footed, proud gait. After all, dark and eriee forests were her speciality, being a vampire. Perhaps not as special as the stone spectrelike being that had dashed from tree to tree behind her a moment earlier.

Phoenix stopped, and turned slowly, eyes scanning the trees. She'd have sworn tha-

*SWIPE!* needlelike stone claws ripped forth from the tree, undamaged, toward Phoenix's face.

She instinctively raised her right arm, gun still in hand, and moved to interdict the strike, a blow which tore into her sleeve and the lifeless flesh beneath alike. The dryad made another strike, pressing forward now, and Phoenix backed up to compensate, rotating her arm to catch yet another quick swipe of the deadly appendage. Firing the GJ-.30 at such close range would hurt her just as much as it would the stone fae assaulting her... So Phoenix did the first thing that came to mind. She ran away.

It wasn't a full retreat. A quick leap back and a jump between three to four trees put some obstacles and distance between Phoenix and her assailant, giving the vampiress time to draw her vibroblade...

[Flarecobra]

As I walked along, and hearing Arhra's scream, I whipped around, only to come face to face wthi a female face, grinning with an insane grin. "Um, can I he.." Was all I got out before getting hit with a kick to the head, knocking me to the ground, and sending my dragon helmet off. "Ok, THAT was uncolled for, as I reached over, and grabbed my whip, lashing out at her leg with the bladed tip, hoping that it'd knock her down.