Eriu fluttered along with whomever, whatever she was assigned to. She was caught dozing off a few times, but did they have to really leave that early? What about sleep? Well, maybe if she wasn't up all night telling campfire stories to the other elves and fae perhaps she wouldn't be so tired. When they walked along she rubbed a sleepy eye as she trudged forth, not really seeing where they were going. But she had heard that they were going to the ruins, so that should be fun. When the sun rose a little bit more above the tree line, this somehow caused the fairy to perk up. Soon she was chatting among the other soldiers again, almost completely back to her usual cheery self. To some it was a dismay for she was probably too chatty for the groggy soldiers that just wanted to focus on the mission. Some had even doubted her ability to fight, but she was a proud swordsman, and upon her hips were the two signature curved swords of one. After all, she also had the power of enhancement, which she would readily use for her own weapons and for anyone else's that would need it. They would seem to be of need. She had talked her way all along the entire rest of the trip, getting to know most of the force she was in and who was in it. However, she didn't get to see much of the queen, who was way up in front that Eriu didn't have enough time to catch up with her. Once they were stopped, now she decided was a good time to introduce herself. After all, it wasn't everyday you got to fight alongside a queen!

Pink wings fluttering through the crowd, she managed to spot her majesty in all her glory. Flying closer she noticed she was handed towels but then the other woman had left before the queen had still called out to her. Dark eyes looked to see where she could be, but she was lost within the sea of soldiers. Eriu turned back to the elf queen. "I think her name is Oceane," she told her, trying to remember the name she heard. Was she a healer? Eriu didn't know but then her attention returned back to the queen. "Oh! I'm Eriu by the way! I'm a swordsman from Niwetri." Though it was evident by the armor she wore. She then looked at her closer. "Wow, you're really pretty..." she said absentmindedly, but then, her attention turned toward the ruins that sat a distance away.

"When do you think we're going to head out?" she then asked, focused back more on the situation.

Luiniel Ashwin

(Fast forwarding this a bit!)

The two forces, East and West, both led by the Elf Queen Luiniel and the Immortal Lieutenant Niera respectively, headed out into their respective directions within the abandoned temple. Everything had been quiet so far. The third force, led by Talen, had waited for a signal, a sign to go forth. They had to wait for the plant's arrival at least, to come within the next few moments of searching. But as the temple was eerily quiet, there was nothing more then the musky smell and the humid warm air along the moldy old ruins. Peering around carefully, the West force had ventured closer into the ruins, nearing inside as nothing more than sunlight illuminated the way. The sign was clear, every turn, every corner. There was no sign of anything. They had made their way further into the ruins first. Maybe this was just a false alarm, and the plant wasn't really there at all? But it had to be. All signs led to it here. Just as the many had entered a hallway, going past down further into the depths of the temple, a loud noise was heard. The sound of a door slamming shut behind them. There was only a small room if they ventured forward. But, as they would go further in, they would notice that within the walls, little, tiny, leaves were embedded amongst the moss. Twisting, turning, moving ever so slowly. Before a single man had screamed, being pulled back into the wall. Vines wrapped around his neck, before penetrating into his body. The leaves became more and more apparent, slithering their way and seeping into the room as it became more green. They would then lash out, at everyone in the room. The infected man also had begun to attack as well, headed straight for the nearest person to him.

On the East side, the ruins had been more damaged. There was no ceiling around the pillars, the broken tall stone littering the ground in rubble. There were stairs that led to the bottom, before there actually was an entrance. But, as they made it near the stairs to where the dark entrance leads, a loud running noise was heard, before a gush of running water headed toward them, from within the entrance and flowing down into the courtyard below, filling it up into a pool. It seemed harmless at first, until the vines from within the water had wrapped around every single person and horse's legs, aiming to pull them down into the water to drown them.

The third force waited a while. It was quiet. Nothing had happened yet, so far. There was no word or signal from any of the other forces. Everything had seemed to have gone quiet. There was only the dark, uninviting main entrance ahead. All they had to do was wait. Wait for some sign of the plant. Any vine. Any scream. Anything. But, nothing. Had they not even started fighting yet? Not even the sounds of clashing swords cutting against plants could be heard. Everything was ominous at the moment. It was too quiet. Too quiet for their own liking. What if this was all just a trap...? And, as they were waiting. Debating. A single vine. It darted out from the main entrance at high speed, plummeting toward the group from the extremely long distance as it snatched one man, wrapping around him and dragging the screaming soldier deep into the ruins. It was time.

Eriu had followed along, near the Queen in the front as she flew alongside the other elf soldiers that made their way near the temple. She didn't know what to think, as she looked around with the rest of them. This place was quite eery, not a friendly looking place at all. It seems as though the plant could attack at any moment. Just waiting to eat them for lunch. But couldn't they try talking to it first? Eriu thought that it would be the most peaceful solution. But now as she thought about it she didn't want to fight the plant. But she couldn't turn back. And she had a duty to do. She was a swordsman after all. And she couldn't let these people down. As she fluttered through in the air she landed into the courtyard below, or whatever it was. Walking along with the soldiers, she continued to look around until she heard water running. Well that was strange. She didn't make anything of it. Maybe there was a leak in a pipe? Nonsense Eriu, they didn't have pipes in abandoned temples. Just as she figured this out she could feel her feet soaking wet, the shoes getting all crumbly and cold feeling as it rose. Nevertheless they continued. They would make it to the top of the stairs anyway but it was a long way to go. She was whining and complaining about how her cute shoes were getting all wet much to the disappointment of the soldiers around her, but then all of a sudden she heard a scream from a behind her. A man was pulled into the water by something. Another then another. Eriu gasped in surprise but as the water rose extremely quick she herself could feel it coming up to her chest, and felt a strong force around her legs. Hearing a frightful neigh of a horse she was pulled underneath, having no time to react before she was under the water. She couldn't hear anything but the sound of bubbles and gargles of the other soldiers. She tried to reach frantically for her blades, flailing underwater as she could feel herself be pulled. Puffing her cheeks she tried to hold her breath, focusing as she closed her eyes despite the movement underwater. Sliding a hand down one side she managed to get one blade from its sheath, pulling it out and then enhancing it with her magic. The silver blade glowed a slight purple underwater, then bursting her eyes open she aimed to cut the vine wrapped around her leg. She got one off with ease, but her other leg was still wrapped. Trying to kick her way out it was futile, so with all of her might the fae bent over, holding onto it with one hand before slicing with her sword. But, unknown to her she had cut her own leg as well. Though the plant seemed to back away for a moment, and she used this opportunity to kick her legs with all her might, pushing up to the surface for air.

When she reached the surface the fae threw back her tangled mess of blonde hair in a loud gasp. But then she realized that the water wasn't safe as she looked around, seeing that there weren't very many people still on the surface. Beating her wings, she managed to push herself above the water, hovering as her wet clothes dripped water back into the pool. The liquid slipped off her wings however, and how they fluttered at a faster pace. She had to get onto surface, and quick. Flying to the back end of the courtyard, where the dry medic was, she landed by the staircase. "We need to help!" she said with worry. She then turned around to see whether or not any other soldier made it. She thought she saw the queen up in the front somewhere. She was worried for her. "We should get to the front, to stop the water from running!" But how? Her dark eyes peered to the entrance. There! That's where the water was coming from... along with the lines of plants twisting over each other, going down into the pool. They would have to fight it to get there, but if they could cut it off then maybe they could free the drowning soldiers. When Eriu thought she caught sight of the queen, she looked over to Oceane. "Here, take this to defend yourself with!" she tossed her sword to woman, who readily caught it in her hands without second thought. Eriu turned back to the wavy pool, looking again for any sign of the queen again. When she saw her she kept her eyes focused in that direction. "Go along the edges of the pool ok? Help Queen Luiniel if she needs it," Eriu commanded, flying forth with speed over the water. Vines reached up and outward to catch the fae, but Eriu dodged them as she made her way toward the queen. Reaching her arms toward her she would grab the queen if she would hold on, hopefully being able to carry her across the pool and to the other side. Failed or successful, Eriu landed at the foot of the entrance, collapsed on the ground from exhaustion. Hopefully the queen made it as well.

Eriu breathed heavily as she faced flat on the ground, one arm propping herself up slightly. But, she needed to catch her breath. She was still winded from nearly drowning in the water. "The plant..." she said in between breaths. "It's there..." Close to them at the door was the massive entanglement of vines. "Cut it... We need to also stop the water from flowing..." she said. The other sword still laid in her sheath, but she wouldn't care if the queen took it from there. They just needed to stop the source, and hurry. Before the whole force would perish.

(I'm just assuming she's in the water but she could be on land too, that'd also work.)

Luiniel Ashwin

Orin had explained everything he knew about the creature to the commander on their way there. He had reluctantly rode along with them, despite the fact he wished to walk. He much preferred to venture there by foot, for in fear that the plant may snag or infect one of their mounts. However he continued along with them anyway, still wary about anything and everything around them as they rode, constantly peering back and forth his eyes from side to side along the ground, the earth, the trees. He had tried to gain insight into this attack, however things were still hazy to him. The earth hadn't told him much of anything, other than the fact that perhaps maybe he had a choice. A choice in changing around the order of the way the plant worked. However he was even lucky to find this group, despite the fact that he had been quite a distance away before they arrived. They continued to ride, nothing. Soon, his solemn eyes peered forth, side gazing the commander as the other two forces had headed ahead. He had hoped that this would work, though he did not believe much in the commander's orders. There was only so much they could do. The plant would soon attack them, one way or another. His dark eyes trailed the two groups as they left, a look of perhaps worry if one might have known Orin better. He prayed that those poor souls would need not be sacrificed. Sacrificed into making it stronger. Soon, they were out of sight, leaving the force to themselves. He looked at his own hand briefly that had held onto the rein. The plant knew of him. Somehow. He had to find out what it was. And why. Why did it leave him alive...?

Removing himself from off the horse, the elf landed onto the dirt below. He held the staff in hand, firmly planting it into the ground as he stared off into the distance. Off into the temple that was. It was abandoned, and his eyes were narrowed. What sort of fortress could this be. The horror of what could take place there. If only they knew. Knew what he was sensing. The others seemed to keep at ease a they waited, but Orin was growing ever so tense as he waited. Waiting and waiting. No sign of the other forces. Had they... had they been...? Flashing in his mind of corpses briefed his mind, the faces of those he had rarely seen. No, they couldn't be. They can't be. Not those innocent souls. The growing fear was becoming ever so intense. Everything hung in the air nearly by a thread. Then, the silence hung only for a moment. Before an ear curdling scream was heard from a male soldier, a vine lashed out to snag the man from the incredibly long distance as it pulled him back to the inside. Orin's eyes were widened, almost briefed in slow motion as he spied the flash of green. The vine ever so close to him. Why. Why not him. Again, the feeling in his chest. But, the man himself had been the most front of the group. Still, he couldn't feel not remorseful as the man was but a soldier. A man who had no part in this. A man who would eventually become a minion.

As Shimmer's words rang through the air, Orin did not take a second thought before he himself had headed after the vine. Running dashing as quickly as he could, within any given order. Not to wait. Not to anything. Those other two groups were more than dead. Dashing past anything around him, only perhaps the fallen pillars of the ruins along with the trees, he followed the direction of where vine had pulled to. Was it a trap? Perhaps. But it was the only way. They knew where it was. Where it was leading them to. Entering the darkness of the temple's entrance, it was much more quiet. Much more damp. He drowned out any other sounds coming from the outside, though he heard the running footsteps of few that had apparently followed him. But he paid them no mind as he continued to dash forward, past the walls, past the many rays of sunlight that filtered in. He only heard the sound of his breath as he continued to sprint. Holding the staff with a tighter grasp than before. Just how long, just how fast did the plant extend to? With a determined look, he kept sprinting forward. As if his very life depended on it. He was focused on catching up to it. Were was it now? Why had't it killed him? Why? Why's he alive? Perhaps there was more feeling, more reasoning behind Orin's actions than beneath the eye. He continued to run, over the sounds of running water, dashing from back and forth as his legs carried him forward with every carefully placed step. Jumping across fallen rubble. The fallen statues of the gods. The Goddess of Nature lay facing flat in the ground, cracked as the water rushed through her head. An old, aged statue that hadn't been touched or seen in years. Orin nimbly stepped over the fallen statue, until his next steps brought him into an unexpected hole. Orin fell, his long black hair trailing upward as he prepared himself to land, knees ready to bend.

Landing onto the hard ground below, the wanderer's cloak wrapped around his kneeled form along the crumbled pillars, more running water trickling down into the further crevasses of the temple. Standing upward slowly, Orin did not speak. He did not rush. He continued forward, suspicious eyes gazing back and forth. They followed along the art of the walls, all the elves begging, pleading the Goddess of Nature for bounty. Their old forms were kneeling, looking upward at her with the upmost reverence. His eyes followed along the wall, many, many more depictions being seen. The Goddess of Nature, a hand, a ball of energy. Out flowing from it were babies. Children falling out as they grew up into men. The men being placed along the fields of crops. They fell into the battlefields of war. Spears faced in every direction, before piles. Piles and piles of corpses. The flames. Orin's eyes widened. No, there were just a few dead bodies depicted, placed into coffins and decorated with flowers. Again, the Goddess of Nature was there too. She was taking them away. Away to the afterlife. To death. His head turned, looking upon the other wall which had depicted yet almost the same thing. But it was altered slightly. It was of the other gods, creating and taking away the lives of the other races. Though that one showed more the magical aspect. Showing how the elves received magic, all of their feats. Again, another depiction of them killing each other with the very magic. The gods taking it back.

Despite the curiosity, Orin continued within the quiet halls, only sounds of dripping water and the trickling stream underneath where he walked. He stepped over rough pile over rough pile of rubble. He continued on, the walls further down still covered with depictions, however they were faded. Though he could tell that were of much older beings, even more than him. By centuries of ages and ages long since past. The ancient elves, giving life. Their ways of culture. Indeed this would have made a great archeological excavation, were it not so damaged. It was so ancient, he could feel, however he also could sense that there another force at work. Something to destroy it all. Everything they knew about life, and even death. Could be changed forever. He walked along, the more darker area of the temple growing lighter as more sunlight filtered in. Stepping along the stoned tile, he spotted a small clearing. A once inner courtyard, that had crumbled and now stood within the sun's light, beneath all of the rest of the building that laid above. He continued walking, and spotted the hall that stood off to the left of the courtyard, leading further into the temple if he ventured forward. Which he had planned to do, however as he continued he heard the sound of rumbling. Looking upward briefly a vine shot up, no, multiple vines within the courtyard, shooting up from behind the fallen pieces of the building, blasting pebbles in all which way. With hardly any time to react, Orin defensively held his spear with both hands, pushing it forward in the direction of the nearest vines before him. However it did not help. From beneath him, the ground came up from underneath him, sending him flying into the air as vines directed at him from all directions. They shot at him but one missed, pushing him back onto the ground as he fell face flat. The branches knocked off sideways on his armor, the other pieces broken off, his hair was ruffled and scattered from its bun. His head landed onto the stone face first, skidding as he landed. Dirtied, he grunted, lifting his now partially greyed face from off the ground with gritted teeth.

Other elves started walking into the courtyard. Walking ever so slowly, obediently. Some he had recognized from the ball, he thought. His head placed back onto the ground, his arms widespread along with the rest of his body from the blow. But he had to get up. His spear laid in front of him, but out of his reach. He tried to get up. But with only another frustrated look, Orin's eye rose from the ground, to see his only comrades who have come. He couldn't do anything for the moment. He was shaken, but alive. He had to keep moving. Keep going. But as his comrades had arrived, so did the onslaught of innocent elves. Beautiful ones with long hair and gorgeous dresses. Others dressed in cloaks. Even children, with ears larger than proportion to the rest of their heads. Some were tall and brawny. Most were slender however. They all walked, their primary destination made clear. Toward the others that had entered uninvited. Orin tried to reach for his staff, a shaky hand extended toward it. They were heading toward him as well. From all directions, they came. Dropping from the open ceiling, from behind, from the front. Though some had congregated around certain individuals more than the others. Hastily, gathering his energy Orin grabbed his spear, using it to quickly push himself upward and turn around, as if to defend himself from the onslaught of elves. But they walked slow. Ever so slowly. Once they had surrounded each and every single one of the intruders, they halted.

A voice boomed from overhead. "We are defenseless. Just like you. We are abandoned. Just like you. Don't you feel it too? This world had lasted how it was because there was nothing of support it. Now, there is a chance. A chance for all of us." Then suddenly, the elves began to attack. Orin tried to fend off the ones that were attacking him, pushing them away by holding his spear with two hands, using the long end of the stick to keep them at bay without actually hurting them. Pushing them forward with all of his might, often finding himself slumping forward with full effort with his current injuries. He tried to call out to the others, without actually looking at them. "They're all innocents." He tried to speak. But it may be too late for them. They were elves, just like he and the others there. They might, no, they will get killed here. Just as one of the more violent elves lunged toward him trying to flank him, Orin found himself turning the spear instinctively, aiming its silver blade into the man's chest. Realizing who it was, Orin's eyes widened as he took a step back, letting the first soldier who was previously taken from their force fall to the floor, in a pile of his own blood. Many more elves neared toward him, stepping over his corpse as if he were nothing more than the pile of rubble here.

But Orin couldn't keep his eyes off of the man's ones with long lost life. Another voice boomed overhead. "You fear death don't you. Death, decay. Guilt. Regret. Without life there cannot be death. And without death there cannot be life." Orin angrily shoved another elf away. "Shut up!" he cursed, at the invisible voice from above.

Toward the others, a group of innocents had headed toward them. Women. Children. Men. Those with families. What was going to be their choice? Would they kill them too? A voice boomed over to one of them as well. "Power is feared. But it is not what defines you. Those you loved had tried to help those that are so willingly come to bring harm to them. What is the difference? From trying to save the ones that you love, from trying to survive? This cruel world has no place for anyone that is outside its existence of understanding." It were almost as if it were trying to speak to him directly.

To the woman, perhaps more children have arrived around her than the others. "Trying to purge yourself of who you are, for the world seeks to mend you into a different mold. Deep within, you are capable of love. Love is what is needed in this world. But it cannot exist without understanding." It also seemed to speak to her directly. Then, after it was done speaking, all of them, every single elf attacked.

Rook Thriasi
shaecayrn

Rook had listened in silence to Orin's words of knowledge. Ridden with them to the ruins on his borrowed mount. Once they had reached the ruins he dismounted like many did. Finding security in his own feet on the ground. The first man that was taken had been a surprise and it sent a shock up his spine. The memory of the vine as it slammed into his chest and out his back still fresh in his mind. But suddenly they were attacking. Moving as one unit into the ruins.

It couldn't end well.

And then there were bodies...so many bodies. Voices began to echo from the ceiling. Rook's eyes widened as he stared upward. His fingers trembling against the hilt of his sword. Elves....so many elves. They were surrounded and still the voice rang out. A voice that up until that point he had only heard echoing inside his mind. The attack came suddenly. The bodies rushing into their numbers and causing chaos. He couldn't even unsheath his sword as the others packed against him on all sides. But fire...he just might burn them all to death with fire. His hands itched. Fingers rubbing together with a nervous energy.

He shoved his way past several people until his hand could snatch the fabric of one of the plant's soldiers. Flame shot from his hand to eagerly devour the clothing. And as he kept pushing. More and more fire. It grew. Spreading from one person to the next in a dangerous game of tag. "There are too many!!" He called hoarsely. They had too many soldiers to fight a battle like this in these grounds.