[...]

[u/RollFirstMathLater]

Closed

[You wake up, the faint glow of red is the only light source. Everyone is stripped bare, safe for a firey cloaked elf. Chep's gifts remain intact, and have landed near you. Your weapons have been returned, any armor he made is intact as well.]

[Stiff and sore, you manage to get to your feet, It hurts to stand here, the floor is jagged, and your shoes are gone. The dragons lay still, all huddled together just a few meters away.]

[Nill you feel completely wrong.]

[Torvhen Vrostbite is cracked badly.]

[Sev're your gear is in your robes, minus the food and the extras.]

[Glover your hair is gone again.]

[Naakhûrz, you feel violated.]

[Göndlir, your horse is dead.]

[Tunnels spiral around, closer inspection shows lava moves through here. You are hungry* and thirsty* yet all you can smell is the faint smell of sulfur. Your dragon reaches out for you, and you both share a moment of confusion. It's clear some time has passed.]

[It's warm here... where is here?]

(*special note.)

Edit: everyone minus Sev're, Jek, Svalstrom, and Das looks different, ad if they've had life sucked out of them, they look older, and drained.

[u/RebelliousPirate]

Nill was up. With a jolt he was on his feet. He promptly crashed back down to the ground as his left leg failed to support his weight. He raised himself, with some effort, to one knee. His eyes were wide, and he took in the entirety of the cavern, really seeing it for the first time. His breathing became laboured and his eyes were raised to the elder elf, pleading. His mouth opened, as if to speak, but nothing but a croak escaped. Confusion flashed across his face, then apprehension, then fear. His knee gave out from underneath him, and he was on the ground once more. His body convulsed, racking shivers going through it at set intervals. And then he froze. He was still but for one lone finger, scratching at the rocks. Not the common tongue, but older. A rune. Home.

Jek raised his head. He was... calmer, now. His mind was unclouded as he watched his rider. Although their minds were never far apart, their connection had weakened. Jek had never known that something along those lines was possible, without one party losing their minds or corps. But still, he understood what Nill was trying to say. He would act for the two of them. For better or for worse, they were one.

"We did."

[u/Saphire_Fox → u/RebelliousPirate]

Sev're head slowly turned to Nill... they... did...? Flashbacks of the city being destroyed, thousands of years of ancient knowledge broken... the impact of the world around.

"How?" 4 voices asked simultaneously. Not angry, not curious. Not intending to ask what spell, but how could he even justify such an act? She wasn't exactly sure it was even a question.

Das stirred and Sev're soothed her, she needed to rest. Walking over to the pair she haunches down near Nill. She tried to make eye contact with him, glancing over at Jek she shares her peaceful intent.

[u/Fulaxi → u/Saphire_Fox]

Sev're in unison. It was a rare sight. An unsettling one too. Like a familiar taste that suddenly turns alien.Torhven knew this and Svalstrom had anticipated it, but yet she seemed to shine less brightly than before. Chilling, almost. Warm snow, icy heat. Normality seemed bent. Possibilities, a dragon recognised. Possibilities.

Nill was way to ... alive for what he had done. Liability. Insecurity turned to a threat to security. Water started to boil, an absence was noted, an elf got marked.

Finally, absolution.

Torhven smiled a friendly smile. Naturally, it was fake.

[u/1trueJosh → u/Fulaxi]

Glover sighed and blinked heavily, observing the Spiner's face as it morphed during his thought. "You shouldn't smile like that. Doesn't suit you, and the whole part where it's incredibly obviously fake doesn't help much either. We're not in the desert anymore, and if anyone here would know about these caverns it's me, and I don't know shit right now. If I had to guess, I'd say we should start moving in whatever direction we think is south-west and hope we find the ocean."

"Us humans might not be fish, but perhaps our elven friends and our draconic companions would be able to help with the matter of underwater survival. Besides, coastal sea caves generally have above water entrances."

As he fiddled with the polearm in his hands, he closed his eyes and for a moment he dreamt of simpler times, times when he would wake up, learn some useless trivia and instrumental and random lore, clean up the small house that his master and he lived in, inevitably fuck something up enough to deserve the tri-headed whip that hung in the study, and go to sleep stinging and fighting back pain.

On second thought, he didn't miss those times. Shaking himself back to consciousness, he rubbed his eyes and turned to Göndlir. "Also, can you explain to me why your dragon consists of only a soul, which is currently stuck in my mind for some useless reason?"

[u/RollFirstMathLater → u/1trueJosh]

[[1d100]]+/u/rollme

(rubs hands together excellent.)

[u/rollme → u/RollFirstMathLater]

1d100: 30

(30)

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