Among the Ruins (Closed for Amchentai)

[siobhancan99]

Sigrid pulled her pack down off her back and observed the valley below. She was dressed simply, for the road and the weather. Her athletic frame was in a pair of buckskins and comfortably worn boots, with a loose linen top to keep off the sun without making her swelter. at her side was a simple knife, more for utility than combat, and in her right hand she held a staff which served as her magical focus. She stretched her tall frame out, working out the kinks of the day's march, then bent to take a canteen from the pack. She drank the last of it, muttering to her companion "We'll have to find a stream soon." Then affixed it back to the pack. They'd been on the trail for days. The map they'd bought indicated that the lost temple complex should be here, in this valley. The map made the trek to the valley look deceptively simple, however, and they'd not packed enough. Fortunately, the battle-mage had some woodscraft from when she was in the King's Scouts and they'd been able to forage easily enough. For now, she was just glad to be close to their destination. She sat on a nearby boulder, pulling the map out again and checking various reference points. The description in the margins had said there would be a tall rocky spire, like a needle, jutting out from the valley floor and a small river flowing through the valley nearby. The valley was too overgrown to see a river, and if there was one it was small. Still, she found the spire, a rocky alabaster outcrop jutting from the verdant canopy of summer foliage.

"This thing better not be picked over entirely." She muttered "Map cost us enough." She doubted it was though. The trail there was hard, and they were a week out from the frontier. They'd been ambushed by worgs, and there'd been other signs of Goblinkind about on the trek. Only the foolish or the brave were making this journey. Her blue eyes drifted over to her companion, sitting quietly nearby on another rock "What do you say? Should we head down and try to find the river?"

 

[amchentai]

Iczer sat on the nearby rock with his eyes closed. Cross-legged and seemingly asleep. But as Sigrid asked him what they should do, he took a breath. "I doubt it has been picked clean Sigrid. In fact I doubt any who have tried before has returned." He looked down at the valley. He had been a Monk at one point. His hair just starting to regrow out. A light fuzz of black hair coming in over his head. His brown eyes narrowed at the valley before them. He did not like how it looked. The Valley was overgrown, which told him that not much in the way of animal life was keeping the growth of the plants in check. And the lack of sound coming from the Valley showed no signs of life. No birds singing, no roars of beasts. It was true that a pack of Worgs a few days ago. But they had no seen much in the way of animal life as they had gotten closer. He at first thought maybe the Worg's owners had scared away the animal life but having not see hide nor hair of bandit since it left him more worried. His orange and white Monk robe fluttered lightly in the breeze. His matching baggy pants shifted and fluttered as he stood.

"We have come this far, the question is are we brave or foolish for pushing ahead?" He asked Sigrid as he looked over to her. Going back would be a waste, but maybe it was better than ending up dead. He picked up his own pack and his wooden staff. Not a mage weapon but a Monk Weapon. Sigrid could see the runes glow softly as he picked it up. The runes kept the wood from breaking when used in combat against metal and sharp weapons. As he looked down at the Valley he felt something too. Whatever was down there was not going to go down easy, but it was the hint of something else poking at the back of his mind's eye that worried him more. Something for the moment he kept from Sigrid. For he himself did not know what this uneasy feeling meant. It was unlike pure danger, yet it set off his senses like danger. It had a hint of desire too, something odd for sure and unlike anything he has felt before.

 

[siobhancan99]

"Well, if we're fools we might as well rush in." She strapped her pack back into her back, then made her way down the rocky hillside, expecting Iczer to follow. She Scrambled here and there as the slope was treacherous and there was no path leading down into the valley. In places, there was just loose shale that had to be navigated. Finally, about halfway down the hillside the slope became more forgiving and vegetation had a chance to take hold. She hadn't picked up on the lack of animal life, like her partner had, until now. it was a bit disconcerting how quiet it was. There was a stillness only broken up by the rustle of leaves in the wind. AS they made their way into the forest below, she remarked quietly to herself how overgrown the plant life was, as if the underbrush had choked out all of the animal life in the valley. It was disconcerting, but they'd come this far and had no water for a return trip. Besides, glory was for the bold and turning back over a little strangeness was a good way to have wasted their time and their money. There were fascinating things here, in the ruins beyond the frontier. Things that could make you rich or powerful or both. Life wasn't worth living without money. Or power. Either really.

"No bugs even" she gestured around, looking back at Iczer "wonder what drives them off." She leaned on her staff for a moment, searching around, sniffing the air. "I think there's water over there. I hear something." Cresting a little rise, she noted the thick underbrush again, making it hard to navigate the space between there and a large stream. Only the stream itself seemed free of vegetation, and there were insects over it and small fish. She wondered if the vegetation itself was responsible somehow for the lack of animal life. Still, at this point she just wanted some water, and maybe to follow the stream deeper into the woods. If there was a structure, it would be near fresh water.

 

[amchentai]

Iczer carefully followed Sigrid down the hillside. His training as a Monk helped it seem effortless for him to follow her down the loose shale and rocks of the first half of the hillside before it evened out more. Upon entering the forest, though, the unease he felt was far greater. He felt life via the Chi or magical flow of life he could sense. But it was different. As if the whole forest were one large creature. No animal or insect life till they got close to the water. Upon filling his own canteen and placing back in his pack, he looked around. Slightly confused as to why there was signs of bugs and fish in the river by just a few foot steps away, nothing. All the while, he felt as if he was being watched. But he was not one to talk openly about things he is unsure of.

"Strange... Life by the river is normal. Yet only a few steps away, and it is like the plants rule without worry of predator or pest." He said out loud as if to see at least what Sigrid thought about it. He kept looking around as if he were on edge. And yet, as the cool breeze shifts his baggy pants, Sigrid could see for some odd reason he had a hard on.

 

[siobhancan99]

"Are you smuggling a second staff under those robes or are you just happy to have some water?" She grinned at Iczer. She'd not seen the monk without his robes on, but she had an excellent idea now as to what he was hiding behind them and it was not bad. She chuckled and poured some water over her head to beat the heat, then refilled her canteen. She blinked and looked out into the woods "it is strange. I saw the same thing. I wonder." She hmmmed and muttered a spell "There's a low grade magic present in all the foliage. Maybe its just some kind of anti-pest magic gone wrong? The ancients had strange magics they used." She shook some of the heat out of her hair. "Let's take the stream deeper into the valley. Keep an eye out for any structures yeah?" She looked over the foliage again, feeling something pricking at the back of her mind. "Or you know, anything that doesn't belong I guess. Besides us."

She felt as if something were watching them, some menacing force that wanted them out of the valley. She chalked it up to equal parts possibility and paranoia. "I don't want to linger here. We shouldn't camp down here tonight I think"

 

[amchentai]

Iczer looked up at where the sun was at in the sky. They would either find the ruins they marked on the map or they would have to make camp in the forest. And the latter did not sound appealing to him. So he followed Sirgid along the riverbank deeper into the forest. He brushed off her comment about his robes. Not that he was offended but that his arousal was partly due to whatever was going on in this forest. So for the moment, he pushed it out of his mind. He kept one hand on his Staff as he walked, ready to wack anything that would jump out at them. Yet no sound of anything other than the breeze and the sound of the leaves swaying about. Yet as he listened, it sounded unnatural somehow. His eyes glancing back and forth, trying to find something.

 

[siobhancan99]

Sigrid moved slowly through the thick underbrush. The vegetation here was out of control, for sure. Vines threatened to choke the trees and yet somehow didnt. Bushes and weeds littered the forest floor, creating a dense carpet of hard to navigate green. She contemplated burning a path, but squandering her magic on that when there was likely something ahead to deal with seemed at best unwise. She instead just slowly tromped through the undergrowth. When her foot caught on a vine a few times she thought nothing of it, until suddenly the vines and wrapped around both ankles and she was being hoisted into the air. Fortunately, her pack didn't open and her clothes and equipment weren't spread across the forest floor. She was, however, suspended in the air with the vines around her legs snaking down towards her torso. She swung her staff around, shooting a Jet of flame out from it's tip with an eldritch word.

Her feeling of victory was short lived, however, as the burning vines were no longer strong enough to support her weight and she felt them snapping. She muttered another word, wincing as the spell cushioned her fall and kept her from being brained on the rocks below "watch yourself! There's something controlling the vines!" Obviously, she thought immediately after shouting it. She couldn't do anything about how stupid that felt, but she could scramble to look about for whatever it was that was causing the plant life to attack.

 

[amchentai]

Iczer was walking behind Sigrid as she was pulled up into the branches. At first he thought it was a trap set by bandits. But looking down and seeing only vines he knew this was not the work of bandits for sure. Vines burst from the forest around them. He brought his staff up and with great speed spun his staff and it acted like a shield. The vines that tried to push through the blur of the staff were diced up as if the staff was a sharp bladed weapon. But as more and more vines tried to get past Iczer's staff, it seemed to give Sigrid time to catch her breath.

"I don't know who or what is controlling them. But we either need to find the source or fall back." He said, unable to push forward himself as he kept his staff spinning and acting as his shield for the time being.

 

[siobhancan99]

Sigrid nodded and cast another spell, expending more of her precious magical resources. She fanned the flames out, burning a wide swath of the undergrowth to form an arc where there were no vines or plants underfoot. She stepped into it "We might have some respite here." She scanned around, looking for some break, something to indicate what or who might be behind the aggressive plant life. She thought she saw something, a humanoid up in the trees, but... not quite. It appeared to be made of leaves and branches. Some kind of plant man. The red glow here its eyes should have been brimmed with malice. "UP there!" She cried, pointing at the being nestled in among the branches. "Are you able to get to it?"

 

[amchentai]

Iczer looked up and leaped into the air. Landing on the branch next to the human-like mass of leaves with red eyes, he swung his staff and hit the human shape in the shoulder. But as if the leaves had been piled into the shape of a human, the staff passed through it and scattered the leaves like a gust of wind. They then blew and swirled around for a moment before reforming into the same shape on a different branch. There had to be a core Iczer knew, a brain. Something that controlled the creature. So his next hit was to the head, but once more the leaves scattered and reformed. It was like the thing was mocking him. His next was a stabbing blow to the chest area, but this time he swirled the staff the moment the leaves scattered to try to find out where the creature's weak point was. But whatever this thing was, he was not able to find the heart of the thing as he gave chase around the branches near the clearing Sigrid made with her fire magic. He only hoped that Sirgid had seen something as he once again scattered the leaves, knowing not to stray too far and risk being cut off from Sigrid.

 

[siobhancan99]

Sigrid saw nothing. In fact, there was a conspicuous lack of anything. She called out to Iczer "I think it's a projection. We should look deeper in the valley!" Though, getting into the valley much deeper would be an issue of some great difficulty. At the edge of the burned region, the vines were encroaching. She bolted closer to iczer, then looked around. Fire wasn't the option, the plants had plenty of water in them for the most part. They resisted her fire and her last attempt was smaller than it should have been. Instead, she focused, channeling her power for a more powerful spell with a different take. Her hands fanned out, and the air dropped in temperature instantly to below freezing, a line of cold lancing out from her deeper into the valley. In the wake of the cold, the vegetation burst and withered and died. She ran deeper, following the channel of destruction, up ahead seeing a grotesque plant with vines emanating from it. "Might be that..."

 

[amchentai]

Iczer jumped down from the branches and then followed Sigrid as she cast an ice spell and froze the vines. Doing his best to defend both of them from the vines that struck at from above. Using his staff as the vines darted out of the branches of the non-frozen trees at them. As he got closer to the heart of the plant, a sickly sweet smell hit him, and it also seemed to act as some aphrodisiac as he felt himself get hard. Most likely a way for the plant to pacify its prey. But he was too busy fighting and keeping the vines at bay with his staff to do much else other than grunt with annoyance as he helped keep Sigrid from harm. Some of her magic needed her to concentrate to cast her spells. But as he followed Sigrid towards the heart of this beast, it was getting larger and larger as the tunnel of ice came to an end.

 

[siobhancan99]

Sigrid was, blissfully, unaware of her companion's priapism. She was instead focused on the plant thing. Her magic reserves were running low, as she'd slung fire about and ice, trying to keep the encroaching vines at bay. The waves of plant life seemed relentless, and the heart of the plant seemed to pulse, throbbing like the beat of a heart. She swallowed her revulsion, aiming an icy blast for the plant. it seemed to work a bit, but not enough to take it out. "If I clear a path, can you destroy the heart of the thing? Or should we try it the other way around?"

 

[amchentai]

"I don't know if I can kill this thing. But I can clear a path for you. Make your shot count!" Iczer said. As he ran up closer to Sigrid his eyes began to glow, his normal brown eyes seemed to shift to an ethereal blue. As he passed Sigrid his irises seemed to catch fire with a white and blue flame. She heard him yell a loud chant and the spinning of his staff stopped as he thrust it forward towards the huge plant beast in front of them. She watched as from the staff a ghostly Chinese styled Dragon seemed to appear from Iczer and his staff. The ghostly dragon roared and dashed forward. Vines, brush, branches, even parts of tree trunks were no match for the Dragon as it dashed forward. Iczer shifted to let Sigrid by but had to stop to keep concentration up as the dragon slammed into the mass of the plant. The long Chinese style dragon coiled around the thing's heart like a snake and gave Sigrig the opening she needed. Iczer stood with one hand holding the staff thrust out towards the creature while his other hand was held in front of his face as he chanted and controlled the ghostly dragon. His robe swirling around him like he stood inside the center of a raging storm, yet no wind or sound was made by it.

 

[siobhancan99]

Sigrid looked around, frantic. Vines were closing in from all sides, and Iczer was way out in front. If she didn't put the plant down immediately he was as good as dead. She whirled her staff, chanting,building up her mystical power for one last push. As the staff whirled a small breeze formed, colder and colder within the vortex created. She focused, both hands rotating the staff over and over, faster adn faster, blue runes appearing along the length of the oak. Eldritch words ripped from her lips in the heart of the maelstrom building around her, then finally an icy lance shot forth, striking the plant creature. It hit the heart of it, and the water within the creature froze, bursting membranes and ruining the beast. It made no sound, but simply froze and burst as the icy crystals forming inside it split the outer skin. She dropped to a knee, feeling somewhat drained, but the vines fell all around them, motionless without whatever it was that was animating them. "What." She huffed "the fuck was that?"

 

[amchentai]

Iczer fell to one knee, panting heavily. The Dragon reared back in a silent roar, and the long serpent-like dragon disappeared into the aether as the plant's core froze and shattered. The sound of the frozen shards of the beast falling to the ground, as the thud of the none frozen vines that nearly choked out the rest of the life in the forest came crashing down. The once-green vines turned a deep brown color quickly. The vines that acted as the beast's limbs rotted away before their very eyes.

"I do not know... But who sold you the map to this place? And do you think the treasure is worth it if the types of things we might encounter are like that thing was?" He asked her as he turned and looked back. His breath was still heavy. Yet even with the beast dead and the very vines that had once attacked them turned to dust around them, he could not shake the feeling they were still being watched.

 

[siobhancan99]

"The Priest of Toran back in that village near the logging camp." Toran was the god of luck, both good and ill. "So I believe the treasure is real. Just you know, maybe a risk." She shrugged and looked around, viewing the carnage. Whatever the thing was, she could see the dying vines all around. "Im guessing that's what's been eating everything at least. Or... god forbid. Is one of a series of them." She walked over and poked at the remains with her staff, "Could be some kind of ancient trap, but I'm guessing more along the lines of some terrible monster created in the fall of the old civilizations that inhabited the land beyond the frontier."

She crouched "Which means that this particular ruin is quite unlikely to be picked over, and that means that the haul is probably good. Maybe even too good for us to get it all back without a sledge or a wagon. In any event, there's probably more than enough to fill our packs and hire some hirelings to clear out the rest once we've made it safe. Or not. you know. Either way." That was the life of an adventurer, after all. Feast or famine. Riches easily gotten easily slipped away in search of the next score. Still, it beat her time in the army that was for sure. "don't tell me all your courage is stored iny our throbbing erection" She laughed, gesturing and then standing.

 

[amchentai]

"No, it's not. But when you asked me to join you on another one of your Adventures, I figured it was going to be another local bandit group or finding out who stole some local rolls for the baker who is so full of himself he doesn't even see that his wife is giving away the unsold bread and rolls to the local homeless people. Not fighting for our lives versus some ancient horrors." Iczer said. Slowly standing up. Using that last technique took a lot out of him. His eyes looked drained of life for a moment. However, shaking his head helped him refocus his mind.

"Still.. if you got it from one of the Priest, then they probably are not trying to get Adventurers like us killed on purpose." He still could not shake the feeling of being watched. And then there was still the arousal that he could not explain. He had helped Sigrid in the past and never had a problem with being aroused like he was now. He still could not understand that either. He closed his eyes and reached out with his senses once more. Feeling for anything out of place. What was once filled with life felt empty now. The creature must have been the reason for the lack of life outside of right around the river.

 

[siobhancan99]

"No, I doubt very much it was a trap." She laughed "you paranoid bastard." She shook her head "ANd don't cheapen the adventures I've taken you on. Just because the one time it was not that great a mystery..." She paused and looked around. She didn't feel the same sense of dread as before "Lets go back to the river. Anything that was built is going to be built next to water right? Plus we know the plant thing doesn't dominate there, if there are others. I hope to the gods not, but.." she shrugged. "we should camp along the banks as well. If we're still here come nightfall. It seems safest. Anywhere there are bugs should be ok."

 

[amchentai]

Iczer took a wobbly step forward and nodded. He needed to catch himself using his staff. Using that technique always takes a lot more out of him than he thought it would. "Paranoid maybe... But I still feel as if we are being watched... And then there is this feeling of arousal that I can not seem to shake." He says as he follows her back towards the river. Without the creature, the forest seemed different. The lack of life that the creature had eaten or forced out of its territory left the area devoid of any life other than the trees. And with no breeze, the trees themselves could be lifeless recreations.

 

[siobhancan99]

Sigrid nodded, then leaned against her staff. "you are rocking a second staff, my monkish friend" She grinned and walked over, looking down at his tented robes "So, being cloistered as once you were, I don't suppose you prefer the company of men?" her vocie slightly teasing, her hand resting on his chest "because if not, I think the thing to do is maybe take care of that so you're a little more focused on the task at hand."

 

[amchentai]

"No, was never into men that way. So I am hardly in a position to turn down your offer. And maybe it will help me figure out who or what is still watching us. As long as you don't mind putting on a show for them anyway." Iczer replies. His arousal clouding his senses a bit as he looks around as they get closer to the river bank. The silence of the seemingly dead forest giving way to the sound of life the closer they got to the river.

 

[siobhancan99]

Sigrid dropped to her knees and opened the man's robes, tugging down the breeches beneath. He had a nice cock, all things considered. She looked up at him, then leaned in and sucked on his balls, slowly rolling her tongue around each. Wrapping her fist around his shaft she then playfully rubbed it against her cheek "you sure? because we could hike back to that logging camp and find you a big burly lumberjack to slake your lust on" She dragged soft lips along the side of the shaft, then moved her head around, taking the head of his cock into her mouth. Her tongue lazily dragged around the crown of his cock, grazing the edge of it, her lips sealed around his shaft soft and warm. Her cheeks pulled in and she slowly bobbed, fucking him with her mouth for a moment before pulling off. "AS for what's in that woods, it doesn't seem likely to be overly aroused by mammalian sex, given that it killed all the animal life off." She took him back into her mouth, plunging down and slowly dragging her lips back up along the shaft as she worked her tongue against it.

 

[amchentai]

Iczer moaned softly as Sigrid took him into her mouth. Feeling her warm mouth across his hard member was wonderful. He didn't even feel the wild magic slightly increase his size while she took him. Feeling her tongue along the underside of his member sent a shiver down his spine. Neither seemed to hear the soft laughter echo through the silence as Iczer placed his right hand on top of Sigrid's head softly. Slowly helping bob her head up and down his cock. Iczer was not one of the strick Monks and so this kind of thing was not forbidden to him. He closed his eyes as Sigrig continued to work his cock. His cock had grown to size of eight inchs hard and his fluids will taste slightly sweet thanks to the wild magic in play. He closed his eyes as he let Sigrid work him, wanting nothing more then to give her a good pounding when she was done with her mouth.

 

[siobhancan99]

Sigrid took him entirely into her mouth, feeling him press against the back and threaten to enter her throat. Her head bobbed at the pace he set, cheeks sucked in to make herself tight, warm, and wet around his cock. Slender fingers wrapped around the base of his shaft, loosely stroking him as she fucked him with her mouth. Blue eyes staring up at him, she kept eye contact the whole time as she slid along his rigid length. She worked her tongue against the underside of his shaft, free hand cupping his balls and teasing them with a thumb, grazing the sensitive skin of his sack.