[Rina]

Ah, the Nether Plains. The ground reeks with malice, demons run amok, it reeks of dead things, and it's littered with traps that can trip up the uninitiated. The place changes form as well, making every endeavor dangerous. Its proximity to the extraction point makes it all the more intimidating and could strike fear to the faint-hearted. Surely with a place that easily is quite horrifying, there's likely a threat that's going to come in close proximity with the sphere that needs subduing.

But that's not what we're here for. We're here to loot this place silly for some treasure!

Schezo has a map unfurled in his hands, apparently rather puzzled at the sheet of parchment. It's got a vague area of where to look, but no marker on its exact location. Only the following hint was written on the map...

Maybe the creator of the map was fond of puzzles. Maybe it was purposely written in a code so that the one that previously possessed it only understands. Maybe it was cryptic to screw with the one who held it. Schezo rolled it back up, only waiting for Arle and Rulue to show up. He began talking to himself, as if he's trying to practice what he has to say.

"Ahem...Arle, Rulue...I wish to discuss som- No...is that too stiff? Arle, Rulue, I............................................................owe an apol- oh confound me, why is it this difficult to swallow my pride and..."

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Rulue had a fair amount of unease when making her way towards the rendezvous point, and it wasn't because of creepy places. It has been a fair amount of time since she went exploring for treasure, and well, she was bound to be a bit rusty once she was back in that action. Regardless of such, she reached the Dark Wizard, who was talking to himself about...something. She didn't quite catch what he said. She was curious, however.

"Hello there, Schezo. What were you talking about with yourself, hm?"

[Mari]

"Thanks for inviting us, Schezo~!" Arle greeted cheerily, apparently the only one who wasn't nervous. ...Or at least, so it appeared anyway. She was subconsciously sticking very close to Rulue's side. Perhaps that was her instincts telling her that there was strength in numbers; perhaps it was something else entirely. "Thinking about that treasure?" Arle went on to question, oblivious to anything suspicious Schezo was doing. She wrinkled her nose a bit and leaned in towards Rulue as if to whisper something to her stopping halfway through the motion. She spoke in a mildly hushed tone, but would still be clearly audible to Schezo. "God. It smells like demon B.O. here." Arle remarked light-heartedly. Perhaps Schezo would pick up on a lack of a certain tension between the two girls that he may have been used to. Arle's guard was 100% down towards Rulue, as if she no longer feared being smacked or hit despite being well within arm's reach. Arle in particular was in an oddly good mood all things considered. ...

Maybe she was used to these sorts of places after having been dungeoned by Satan? One could certainly imagine that was where she recognized the smell from. Arle had decided not to vocalize her second thought, that she hoped the smell didn't hint at Satan's presence, for Rulue's sake. As much as she fully expected him to show up at some point, he was probably more hygienic than the average demon anyway.

[Rina]

"Hm?"

Schezo turned around to notice his allies having finally shown up. He merely brushed off his mumbling and resumed to the current situation. It's totally not a cover-up for his insecurity. Nope, not at all. Paying no mind to the stench, he approached the girls with the map in hand.

"I thank you for accepting my invitation, and allow me to fill you in on where we're starting."

Schezo showed them the map to them, already with an annotation that he noted down. His penmanship is readable, but if he had a solid surface, his writing could be even nicer.

"We're right here. However, the creator of this map only left us with this clue. Its writing is not anything I've ever seen."

Once the girls get caught up with the notes, he turned toward the South, taking a look around for any leads in immediate sight. The ground is uneven at a glance, mounds here and there to traverse. Other than that, it's more or less safe to advance. However, it's best the group would stay vigilant, as traps are very much a possibility.

((You may roll with WIS to try and sniff out any clues or traps that may lurk around the area. How well your rolls turn out determines what is in range or not.))

[TheSpatialWeeg]

90hwTeyQp_1d20-3(Let's just get this roll out of the way.)

"Yeah, it does stink around here. In more ways than one, of course." Rulue went on to agree with Arle's statement, pulling the sorceress close to her.  It was possible that she noticed Arle approaching and thought she was nervous. Then again, it was also possible Rulue herself was a bit nervous, so she tried to stay close to her friend in order to wipe those worries away. It was kind of hard to tell as she maintained a calm expression.

As Schezo presented the map alongside the clue, Rulue...tilted her head and let out a sigh. "I...can't read this either. I suppose I can take a look around to compensate." Rulue said before diverging her attention from the map to the general area. 

1d20-3

[Mari]

Arle was taken by surprise when Rulue pulled her close. She curiously glanced up at the fighting queen, but did not protest or pull away. Instead, she would shift a fraction of her weight against Rulue's side, silently communicating her acceptance of the embrace by leaning into the other. Was Rulue getting protective of her? ...After a hard few months, Arle was decidedly open to the idea. She gave the area around her a cursory glance, trying to spot some sort of danger.

0_j72Qvyp_1d20+4 (Arle's Awareness)

She then returned her attention to the clues they were being offered. "Oh hey, that looks almost like writing." Arle mused aloud, shifting in Rulue's grasp. In but a moment she had slipped into a chibi frog onesie. It looked positively silly, but the rather childish looking pajamas actually had the seemingly magical property of bestowing Arle with the ability to understand any language. She beamed proudly at Schezo as she returned to leaning upon the fighting queen, apparently oblivious to how she looked. He'd already seen the PJs once before anyway. "Let me give that writing another try..." Arle requested. Assuming it was even writing, she'd probably be able to read it now. The suit had never failed her yet, anyway.1d20+4

[Rina]

Of course, their little gestures of affection only made Schezo feel even more hollow than he was before. If they had each other, then surely they wouldn't need him, right? Aside from having a treasure map, he's basically the awkward third wheel. And even still, Schezo kept it to himself. Who would care about how the Dark Wizard feels, anyway?

Schezo gazes into the distance: OAjE7Bx8p_1d20+4

When the girls looked out to the horizon, there is certainly something of interest out there. Well, in Arle's line of sight, actually. There is no immediate danger to be had in the immediate perimeter, but to Arle, there is some strange monument to be found in the distance. It might be worth checking out. As for Schezo, he took notice of the monument, and a tiny bit more. The monument cannot be simply walked up to for whichever reason that he cannot decipher from a distance.

"Do you see that monument there? It may have a clue, but I feel that it may be protected."

After vocalizing his observations, Schezo held out the writing to Arle so she could read it. To her, it reads...

GSV MLIGSVZHG OVZWH GL GSV GIVZHFIV

...which doesn't make anymore sense than it is untranslated.

"What does it say, so that we may advance?"

Map Update:

1d20+4

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Rulue allowed Arle to rest upon her as she scanned the surroundings. While her vision yielded nothing, the talks of a nearby monument were somewhat uplifting. Maybe they would account for her lackluster perception? Perhaps. She didn't vocally comment on Arle's rather silly frog suit, but...it appeared to look kind of charming?

Just then, something dawned on her. A word clue wouldn't be that simple as translating an ancient rune. It seemed...too simple to be true.

"...It can't be that simple as to translate this. I believe we may be in need to rearrange the letters or it's written in some sort of 'code'."

Of course, that was  only a couple of the millions of possibilites. She...hoped the clue was actually a clue and not something entirely useless for the loot hunting. Well, time to keep scouting the area.

jmx0jHWwp_1d20-3(A bit better than previously. 'S good.)1d20-3

[Mari]

Arle glanced up at Rulue momentarily. That was ... an oddly specific guess considering she didn't know what it said! "Nnno... There aren't enough vowels for that." Arle observed, pouting at no one in particular as she gave the writing a good second lookover. "It just looks like gibberish to me... Sorry Schezo. I guess maybe it is some sort of code, which means it wasn't meant to be solveable by anyone who didn't already know what it meant." the mage went on to lament. She seemed thoroughly disappointed.

A moment would pass before her gaze drifted to the monument Schezo had pointed out. "I guess that leaves that monument as our best lead. Maybe we should get a better look?" Arle went on to suggest, at a loss for any more subtle approaches to their mission.

[Rina]

"So the runes are in code nonetheless. Let's move onward. The monument may carry a clue for us to aid in solving this writing."

With that in mind, Schezo headed towards the monument in question. With Rulue keeping an eye out...there's nothing to be had at first still. Well, with the current situation rather safe for now, it's time to advance. As he inched ever so closely to the monument, Schezo held his arm up to stop the girls from advancing further.

"Wait. Something's not right..."

Schezo's intuition feels something is hiding in wait for the trio. Sometimes one has to trust instinct than their eyes. Standing around in broad daylight would ruin a sneak attack, after all. It could be invisible, hiding behind one of the rocks, or maybe even up in the sky. Schezo knows something is up, but he's not chancing approaching the monument. He's not nearly fast enough to avoid a sneak attack he's already expecting.

((Feeling suspicious about the surroundings? Rolling 14+ WIS will protect you from a sneak attack, while 18+ will allow you to perform one on whoever's lurking.))

Map Update:

[TheSpatialWeeg]

"Don't mind me, just thinking." Rulue ended up saying before following the two to the monument. Just then, Schezo made them stop on their tracks. Just as he said that something wasn't right, her instincts started telling the same thing. Well, it's a given things would not be easy on a place filled with demons, wasn't that right? Rulue began scouting the place once again...

GhTZ_OA0p_1d20-3(Okay...that's unexpected.)

Looks like someone or something was caught in her eye. "Everyone, stay close." Rulue said while she looked around. She went into a battle stance, preparing for any fight coming their way.1d20-3

[Mari]

PIDGSfYxp_1d20+4 (Arle's keen eye)

Arle did get the feeling they were being watched. But from where..? She looked about and around at the tainted plains, but hiding spaces weren't exactly plentiful. So maybe..? Her gaze trailed upwards and her eyes widened. Something was coming right at them from the sky! Arle gently rugged at Rulue's arm to get her attention and pointed up in the air, taking a step back and shouting an incantation of her spell of choice to 'encourage' their stalker to back off.

"Fire!"

p_1d20+4 (Arle's fireball)1d20+4·1d20+4

[Rina]

The flying thing in the sky could have dodged the fire attack, but due to it being quite unexpected, it was unable to evade it. A loud "SQUAAAAWK" echoed the skies before it made its plummet down to the ground. Her observant eye didn't go unnoticed, drawing Schezo's attention to her.

"A good eye you have there. So the one lurking around the monument took to the skies and not the ground."

However, the bird-like creature quickly got up and seems less than happy to have been burned from it. Its feathers have been singed here and there, but not too badly to be in extreme pain. Upon closer inspection, it turns out the bird-thing is actually a tengu! In angry retaliation, the tengu took its fan and whipped up a tornado towards Arle. The turbulent winds are also accompanied with leaves that are sure to cut into the poor victim that gets caught in it. It's coming at her quite fast!

((Look out Arle! Roll 15+ or the tornado will inflict 17%.))

"The avian one has grown hostile! To battle!"

Schezo, with his sword, pointed at the tengu and began conjuring a spell. The blade went dark, and once he called out the spell's name, a volley of dark arrows came forth from the blade and onto the enemy.

"Shadow Edge!"

(18%) SHEbvq|ap_1d20+4

The agitated tengu attempted to take flight once more to evade the arrows, but they were much too quick for it, causing it to fall to the ground again. This may end quickly, but don't get too cocky, everyone!

Kurasuke's HP: 68

Status: Burned (3)

1d20+4

[TheSpatialWeeg]

Rulue kept looking around the place before Arle notified of the threat above them. She began charging up her ki projectile as the tengu got assaulted by the spells. Didn't take long for the projectile to be ready. "Power Wave!" Rulue shouted as she released it.

I|bgoJ8hp_1d20+4(Power Wave. 22%)

Soon after, she closed in onto the tengu before pulling her left arm back, fist at the ready. "Haganshou!" Rulue said before throwing the fist at the critter in question.

p_1d20+4(Haganshou. 19%)

Rulue soon took a few back steps to maintain distance from the avian enemy. She took into consideration with how fast the tornado attack was, and decided to accelerate herself in order to stand more of a chance at dodging in case this attack ever came her way. She took a deep breath and focused on her resolve...which resolve? Why, that's simply a se-cret~

"Seishin Ittou..." Rulue muttered, feeling her morale raise at that point.

(Seishin Ittou. Grants Rulue 4 points of DEX and CON for 3 turns.)

---

Rulue 0% Seishin Ittou (DEX & CON +2 Mod) (3)

1d20+4·1d20+4

[Mari]

PthvR255p_1d20+1 (Arle's Twister Dodge)

Arle emitted a squeal as she tried to scramble out of the way of the tornado, only for her tail end to get dragged back into it by the wind force. She was rather violently thrown backward, rolling across the ground and scraping herself up in the process. Arle shifted back to her feet with a bloodied arm and promptly dedicated some magic to healing it. "Healing!"

p_1d15+4 (Arle's Healing)

With her scraped up arm partially healed, Arle jogged back to the field of battle and promptly cast another followup spell. "Brain Dumbed!" Arle shouted, attempting to cripple the tengu by literally melting it's mind. ...Just a little.

p_1d20+4 (Arle's Brain Dumbed; Targets INT, does 12% Damage and has a 50% chance at mind-melting)

Arle Damage: 8% Shield Damage: 0% Status: Normal Healing Cooldown: 2 Turns Left

1d20+1·1d15+4·1d20+4