Group One Spoiler: Speed Checks Emerald: 70+4 Melody: 17+6 Guard Perception Hidden Emerald Whirl speeds on by, as Melody rushes for the Tomb. A little bit of misleading confusion, however, leads her to standing out between one building and the other as Emerald heads to the right one. By the time Melody is headed in the right direction, she sees one of the guards coming around the corner. He is, fortunately for her, looking in another direction. "It's not over here! Where else did you patrol around here?" Spoiler: Melody Speed Check Rolled:57+6 Guard Perception Hidden Seeing where Emerald went, Melody takes the opportunity and makes the rest of the trip to the open door of the tomb. The mausoleum was structured with huge dark stones in a natural cut fashion, built in a tall manner with huge metal doors. The doors had beautiful etches of roses in spiraling patterns, and one of the doors was ajar enough for both ponies to squeeze their way in. The inside of the main room had a similar metal door, but much more... pony-height. This one had a decorative image of two unicorns standing and facing each other with their heads bowed, one was on each door, and their horns met in the middle. On the other two walls were old metal gated windows with grey-stained glass, and in the center of the entry room was a large slab with an old and worn book on it. The book was, strangely enough, heavily chained to the stone slab. The one end of the chain was closed in the corner of the books binding, while the other end dissappeared into a hole in the slab where it connected to an unseen source.
Emerald raised an eyebrow. "I guess that's it. But why in Equestria would the book be chained down like that?" She crept closer to the book and tried to peer into the hole in the slab.
Pefect Melody shook her head. "I dont know... Wait... Where is Zephyr? And the quiet one...We best stick together." She nodded at her new 'Teammate' for this mission. Should be a doozy!
Zephyr peered out curiously from behind the safety of the decrepit tombstone. It seemed as though the guards were still on a search in rescue mission. The rogue wiped pastry crumbs from his mouth as the sentimental taste lingered. There would be no survivors on that mission of theirs, they would only come with both empty hands, and empty stomach. Sticking around any longer might prove detrimental, while there was plenty of time to enjoy a 'free' snack, there would only be a few opportunities to plunder a crypt. Zephyr slithered out of his cover and onto the ground where he slid all the way to the tomb with the help of his wings. There's no doubt about it, he is the best at snake impressions, there's no contest, it's him. Rolling into the open door of the crypt, Zephyr hissed quietly to continue his impression as he brushed off the dirt from his chest and belly. "I dont know... Wait... Where is Zephyr? And the quiet one..." It seemed the others were looking for him, where else would he have gone? Maybe they were on to something, that pastry began to build up his appetite, but he had a stronger appetite to quell. An appetite to plunder! The cobalt rogue carefully snuck up on the clueless pony, and right as he got right behind her... "Boo!"
Throw eyed the two blobs suspiciously. 'What the hay are these things?' he thought. Glancing behind him, he noticed that Silver was still out of commission. 'One for each of us then. Time to finish what I started.' Throw turned and ran towards to injured one to finish it off.
Group One Spoiler: Guard Perception (Listening) Ugh, why do the guards get such bad rolls suddenly? All these hidden ones... It was a 16, a 10, and now a 5. Sheesh! The hole the chain disappeared into was likely made for it, as it was only just barely big enough to have the chain running through. The book itself had a dark purple color with some rosethorn vines curling in a black design on the cover. It was dusty, but the cover held no words. Group Two Spoiler: Combat Rolls Throw Attack: 88+8 Blob Dodge: 47+12 Blob Attack: 30+4 Arc Dodge: 93+12 Blob Attack: 34+4 Throw Dodge: 68+0 Arc Attack: 9+6 Blob Dodge: 48+12 Arc Second Attack: 59-10+6 Blob Dodge: 58+12 Arc Init: 24+12 Throw Init: 33+0 Blobs Init: 25 Firebolt Init: 86+10 Firebolt Attack: 58+8 Blob Dodge: 100+12 Arc Dodge: 81+12 Throw stomps onto the wounded blobby thing, and yellow sticky stuff flies out from around his underhoof. The other blobs split up, one of them attacking Arc, but he was so ready for it. The other leaps at Throw Down like a bolt of lightning, but his reaction speed hasn't failed him yet! Arc Gust turns to the blob that tried to hit him and tries to give it a good one-two stomp of his hooves, trying to trample it, but the feisty blob is too quickly weaving around his hooves. Firebolt, leaving Silver at a safe location, turns back around to assist the group. As she sees the fight going on, she flies in to help Arc, and turns to kick at the blob with both back hooves, but the blob dodged so well that she almost ended up hitting Arc! Fortunately, he was quick enough to get out of the way of the flying double-kick she had going on, and he was quickly awarded with a sheepish grin. Arc, then Throw next.
Melody jumped. She NEVER liked scares. "Ahhh!" She screamed, trying not to make it too loud. "What was that for?!" She turned to face Zephyr, who was cackling with laughter. "Not funny..." She looked at the doors. The Unicorns made her think of Magic being of use here.
Group Four Ultra Violet, Grey Mane, and Facia are all there in the main sanctum "Sending Room." This room is a massive circle with only one entrance and exit. A mass of runic characterss are placed in a circular pattern on the floor, marking out in a glowing orange color a fairly big triangle with a slightly smaller triangle inside of it, with a glowing circle drawn in the floor in the very center. Eight Star stands at one of the triangle points as he calls out. "Ah! Good to see you have all responded to my summons! I have an extra-important task for you all, but it's going to be quite a bit of a trip." He clears his throat as he steps closer. "You see, magic is waning in a far off area, outside of the main Equestria. You'll be taking a trip to the savanna areas where the Zebras come from, but you're going to a very specific spot." He turns and begins to pace, as he continues to talk. "I've pin-pointed the location of a crystal much like the chaos crystal which dwells deep in our very own sanctum." His eyes twitch back and forth for a moment, almost nervously. Always keeping on his toes, nobody was to anger the crystal, even he... the only one allowed to meet with it. "Anyway... who better knows about magic than we, the unicorns? I've set the sending circle to the location, so you won't need to travel. I've sent another agent ahead of you, she is an expert at cooling things off, and I know things can get hot out there. She'll be the one with ice-cream like hair. A pegasus, but she should see you." He levitates a leather pouch over to Facia. "Here, you should hold onto this. Inside is a red orb which will allow me to pinpoint you with the sending circle, and if you focus into it hard enough, that'll signal me to return you. Don't use it until you're done with the task at hand. Also inside the pouch is a jagged golden stone. It's wrapped in a blanket, and I advise you not to unwrap it unless something happens... but the stone in there may be the key to getting magic back." He takes a deep breath and continues. "Now, your task... and I'm putting a lot of faith into you fillies... is to traverse the Izziduka Vault, and find the cause for the depression of magical power in the air. My best guess is that the crystal is either being subverted against its will by something powerful, or it is losing will to give energy... which then you would need to convince it otherwise." He looks between the three ponies. "If you have no questions, stand in the circle."
At Zephyr's shout, Emerald leapt straight into the air in fright. When she turned, she found Zephyr giggling like a dolt and Melody shaking in anger. Once her intitial shakiness subsided, Emerald couldn't help but laugh a little bit herself. She fluttered down next to her comrades and told them what she knew about the chain, which admittedly wasn't much. "It goes into a hole," was about the extent of it. "Is this the right book? I thought it was supposed to be white..."
GREY MANE: Grey Mane walks into the circle without a sound. MELODY: Perfect Melody shook her head. "It is hard to tell. It is after all, covered in chains..."
(From now on I will probably need to color my text to make it easier to tell which of my characters is talking/thinking. So Silver will be silver, and Facia will be darkish blue. Yeah, I forgot to mention her appearance, she is dark blue with a light blue/black/pink mane. I'll have to design her sometime...) Facia stood uncertainly, still levitating the pack in mid-air. "What do you mean, only unwrap the stone if 'something happens'? What should I wait for?"
Eight Star chuckles, seemingly at ease around the mares. "There I go, making details vague." He taps his forehead with a hoof. "It's all this work getting stressful. Ah, but anyway... the stone will know what to do if you get into trouble. If you just hang onto it until you find the other crystal, things would probably be best... but if you end up awakening some giant monster made of fire that's about ready to devour you... it would then be time to hold out the stone and pour yourself into it. As many of you as possible should just trust it with your energy, and it'll help you out." He rubs his hoof under his chin a moment. "The stone is sort of like one part of the elements of harmony, but not quite on the same level as those six lovelies, nor is it put into a crown or attuned to anyone. However, he'll surely help you out if you give him your energy, since he's sort of... one of the crystal's babies." He looks around suddenly and huffs. "That was more than you needed to know, really. He'll be able to understand the other crystal better than any of us, so do not lose him. Even if you can't make it to the other crystal, keeping the stone safe is a much higher priority." Eight Star pauses for a thought before raising a hoof and bobbing it down for each item. "Priority One; The Safety of the Stone. Priority Two; The Safety of Your Team. Priority Three; Your Personal Safety. Priority Four; Complete the Mission. Priority Five; Nobody Learns of the Order." Then he grins.
"Okay!" chirps Facia. "That makes lots more sense!" She steps into the circle, ready to go, and looks around at the other ponies who will be accompanying her.
GREY MANE: Grey Mane looks over at Facia, who just stepped in. Great... Teamwork... Not her strong point...
While she was waiting for the other two ponies to step into the circle, Facia decided to start talking to the unicorn who had already stepped into the middle. "Hi!" she said, the epitome of cheery. "What's your name? Mine's Facia! What do you think of this mission? It sounds dangerous...but I'm always willing to do whatever it takes to help a friend, and Eight Star is definitely my friend!" ​She flashed a quick smile at the red unicorn.
(She's black coated :derpe GREY MANE: Grey Mane looked at the hyper Pony next to her. "Greetings... I am Grey Mane... Mission... I could care less what we have to do. I merely am looking out for Eight Star whenever she wants me to do something..."
(No, silly filly, I meant she looked at Eight Star! xD) "So you're helping Eight Star becaaaaaaaauuuuse...?" she asked the overly serious unicorn.
"Because you're friends, and that's what friends do; help each other!" she finished, before Grey Mane could respond. Turning eagerly to Violet and smiling, she asked, "And what's your name?"
Group Four As the mares and filly stepped upon the circle, Eight Star flicked his mane to the side and raised his horn into the air. With a bit of focus, his horn began to shine orange in tune with the circle, which lit up brighter. Suddenly, the all too familiar and unforgiving feeling of teleportation pulled the three from the Sending Chamber. This teleportation must have been longer than most, because rather than be instantaneous, they were able to see an orange tunnel, swirling with white ripples and blue sparkling lights dance around like fireflies. Suddenly, the realm flashes, and the ponies find themselves dropped abruptly back into reality. The first to fall tastes sand and dirt, and the ground seems to be a mixture of the stuff. Small patches of tall grass, and a scene which is vast and has few trees in view in all directions tell them; they are in the Savanna. Before them is a large, ancient-looking stone structure. Painted with tribal pictures of faces, and adorned with broken masks, the structure appears to be an old... temple of sorts. The entrance of which has been assaulted more by the wild-life and time itself than anything else.
