Ask Exploring the Unexplored

[Renfry]

Renfry was surprised when he practically punted the door down, a combination of his physical strength and the Force making quick work of it. She jumped slightly at the sudden and unexpected noise, but released her grip on her lightsaber to let it flop back against her hip. She looked over at him and gave him a face that said "well that works too."

The next thing that accosted her was the smell. It was the smell of death and rot, and she couldn't quite stop the Ugh that escaped her lips as she did covered her nose.

He lit up the room and once again she didn't say anything about it, having previously noted his slight struggle. She was glad to see him continuing to practice, and she knew he wouldn't have given her a hard time either.

On the other hand, his "ladies first" comment would probably earn some sass. It simply had to. Just pretend I'm not a lady, she said. Maybe then you'd actually fall in love with me, she mentally grumbled but didn't say aloud. Besides, I don't think I really strike anyone as the "lady" type, she said.

Nevertheless, she took the first step into the room. Nothing sprung closed on her which was good, but there was something off in the room and it wasn't just the smell.

I wonder if I can summon him back, she said, knowing such summonings were far easier on worlds like Dathomir and the Twin Worlds, but thinking she might be able to pull it off anyway to get them some answers. She, of course, mentioned necromancy as casually as having bacon for breakfast.

She started poking around, continually glancing upwards like something was going to lunge down from the ceilings at them at any moment. She picked up a book out of the skeleton man's hands and looked at it.

I've barred the door, but cannot hold them for long. The ground shakes. Drills, drills in the deep, she said. I cannot get out. A shadow moves in the dark. I cannot get out. They are coming, she said, noting how the writing scrawled off at the bottom of the page. She looked up at Emryc.

Well that's ominous, she said.

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc heard Renfry’s remarks and gazed ahead through the doorway, his expression remaining largely unchanged, “I’ve sampled enough of you to be unable to think of you as anything but a lady,” He stated flatly, that baritone rolling with its usual marbled smooth finish.

He listened as Renfry read off the journal entry. He paused for a moment, thinking over things and even considering the suggestion to bring him back to life. Emryc glanced over at Renfry after a moment, “He activated something in here. Right in here,” He began to look around them, using the orb to light the room, “And whatever switch he pulled unleashed...something. Something he wanted to keep out.”

The half Sephi kept looking around, wondering what it was that could have been so bad for the man to have kept the door shut and die in here. He wasn’t too keen on unleashing that on himself, but the place had his curiosity now.

He passed the light over the wall, pausing as he found a few levers protruding from the wall. They appeared to be hastily yanked back from a position they were in last. Right away he could tell the design was similar to the ones they saw earlier. There were four to represent the directional points.

“This will probably give us the answer...but it’ll be a pain in the ass,” Emryc grimaced, looking at Renfry to see what she wanted to do.

 

[Renfry]

She bit her lip as he talked about his "sampling" of her. Not recently, she grumbled. The thought left her mind lingering for a moment and then left her wanting. Good thing the smell was a mood killer or else things might have devolved from there.

I don't have any idea what to do with those, she said, motioning toward the levers.

He's been dead in here long enough that whatever was here that trapped him inside should be long gone, right? she said, looking over to him with a quirked eyebrow. That was probably some wishful thinking, wasn't it?

Rather than start pulling levers, she simply walked back outside and stood there for a moment, breathing in the semi-fresh air of the cave and thinking.

But he's still decaying, so he's... what a cave diver like we are? she mused aloud. He knew her well enough to know this was what she did when she was trying to work through what to do.

I'm just going to start pulling levers, she finally said, spinning around and doing exactly what she said. She stood there looking at the lever for a moment before reaching out and pulling one. There was a loud, screeching sound but nothing else seemed to happen.

I don't know what that did, she said.

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc followed Renfry out of the room and then back in when she began to pull a lever. The gears resounded and he eyed the rest of them, “They represent the directions,” He remarked, recalling the drawings he had seen earlier. He reached over and began to pull the other levers, ensuring they all pointed outwards like the four directional points on a compass.

For a moment there was nothing but silence, the sound of machinery whirring once more. The ground beneath them began to rumble after a few seconds. Emryc looked around curiously, half pondering stepping off what was revealed to be a platform that they stood on. He glanced over at Renfry, but he knew she wouldn’t back off.

“Fuuuuuuuuuuuck,” Emryc’s voice echoed as they descended down into darkness into who knew what. The half Sephi despised being in the dark, and he called upon magick again to illuminate around them. His sensitive ears could already make out some noises coming from below.

“I think we’re about to find some company…”

 

[Renfry]

She was glad he seemed to know what was going on as he pulled some levers and the platform began to descend, floating downward and letting the body that had been leaning against the wall fall downward, sliding off the edge of the platform and falling into the blackness below. She didn't hear a clatter, which meant it was likely a long way down.

Further it descended, and Emryc seemed to hear or sense something she didn't, though a quiet discomfort in the Shadow settled over her.

As the lift reached the lower levels it came to a stop. The darkness down here was only banished by the glow of Emryc's green orb, and she squinted slightly against the darkness before adding one of her own orbs as well to provide additional light.

Out of the darkness, an individual lunged at Emryc, stabbing with many legs. From the other side, Renfry was also assaulted by a large, green skinned (or was it the tint of the orbs?) with tusks and a massive axe, swinging to take her head off as she only narrowly ducked under it, close enough that the wind of the blade whipped up her hair as it passed.

They were clearly not of the same species, but seemed to work in tandem, clearly well-acquainted with one another.

 

[Emryc Thorne]

As the woman or whatever lunged at him, Emryc’s eyes widened at the sight. He saw the giant legs which looked like spider legs and his face went white.

“NOPE!” He bellowed declaratively, “Switch with me switch with me SWITCH WITH ME!” He practically screeched as reached back, grabbed Renfry by the shoulder and spun them both around so they swapped places. This put his back against Renfry’s while he faced the brute with the axes. The sight of the new monster caused Emryc to heave a sigh of relief as he narrowly dodged a blade to the face.

The half Sephi sent a blast of the Force at the monster’s torso, sending it sailing back. It sounded like it collided with something. Emryc raised the orb of light to reveal many moving shapes in the room, his eyes widening at the sight.

“Shit.”

He barely got the word out before the entire horde charged at him, the room barely lit up with whatever light filled in from above. Emryc unleashed another blast with the Force, but he reached down to draw out his saber, knowing he would have to cut swaths through the group.

 

[Renfry]

Renfry had never seen Emryc have so... visceral a reaction to something before. She had also never heard him shriek before, funny as it sounded with his normally deep voice. He spun her around and... okay, the woman was a little bit disturbing, but compared to some of the things they had seen? Or her own abominations? Actually, it was almost like that, wasn't it? But different...

She released one of the orbs into the woman's chest as her extra legs came stabbing in, narrowly avoiding skewering the Nightsister. She looked over to the pulsing masses beyond, face twisting up in horror and disgust.

What?! she all but screamed. She was on the verge of reaching for her own lightsaber, but ultimately decided she was more useful without one. She looked over and spotted an alternate route that didn't have them fighting dozens of... whatever these things were. She saw another with horns, one with wings, some with animal-like features. It all reminded her of abominations, but they weren't. Somehow she could just tell.

She grabbed Emryc by the arm and half-dragged him toward the other route. Come on! she said, hearing the ruckus behind them. It was a language she didn't recognize, almost guttural in the way it sounded. Twisted and misshapen.

She summoned an orb of light once again just in time to see the decline in the floor ahead. And it was a sharp decline. She went sliding and tumbling down the stone, bruising and scraping as she went. Whether Emryc had managed to avoid it remained to be seen, but at least about halfway down she was able to summon a bit of Force to buffer her landing. She still groaned quietly as she pushed herself back to her feet, feeling as if she'd just been thrown into a tumble dryer. But at least whoever was above was hesitant to follow them down into the blackness. Unfortunately, they would still be hunted until they could find a new exit.

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc would have liked to have done some smooth dueling moves with his saber. However, he was really just frantically waving it around at this point attempting to slice through anything he hit. The low lighting combined with his already less than stellar eyesight did him no favors. He half considered tapping into Force Sight so he could focus on just the shapes.

At a certain point, Renfry was screeching something and grabbed him by the wrist. The half Sephi half stumbled behind her, waving his saber behind him to cut at anything that followed.

“Why don’t you ever do research before dragging me to these fucking places?” He yelled as they ran, “Nine years, Renfry, nine and you just-” He turned right in time smack his forehead right into a low archway he couldn’t see in the dark. His height was not at all conducive to ancient hidden places. Emryc was largely dazed, his eyes watering from the collision as he also unceremoniously toppled over.

His heavy form tumbled with Renfry as they rolled down into a heap. She may have used the Force to buffer the landing, but it likely did little to save her from getting the wind knocked out from having the half Sephi’s massive form land on top of her. He attempted to catch himself by his hands on either side of her, but his reactions were slower from that head collision.

Emryc groaned softly as he rose slightly and glanced down at her. With a bit of a struggle he finally rolled off, reaching a hand over to lift her to her feet. The half Sephi rubbed his head, dusting himself off.

“Who takes over if you die doing something stupid like this?” He blurted out randomly out of the blue, “How am I supposed to explain that to the Sith Empire?”

 

[Renfry]

When Emryc landed on top of her, she let out a very un-feminine grunt as the air was forced from her lungs and she took several attempts to gasp in. Emryc alone would have smushed her, but with all his boxes of clorox wipes and whatever he had in that behemoth of a backpack just made it worse. She felt like she had just died.

You... didn't... know... either... she said, some things never changed and despite being quite literally gasping for breath, she was going to stubbornly argue against his accusations.

She was still gasping as he helped hoist her to her feet.

Her mouth dropped open slightly at his question. I don't know, it's not like I have an heir. Guess you'd just have to take over, she said, so you better keep me alive, she grumbled, knowing full-well how much Emryc wasn't interested in taking over the Empire.

She half-limped, half scurried along away from the slope, hoping to find somewhere they could hide or escape to. I guess we know what he was trying to get away from, she said. Some sort of underworlders living down here, and they weren't friendly.

They continued on for a bit before a glow seemed to appear from around the corner. Not the glow of fire or people, but a faint blue glow. With great care and light footwork she made her way forward, finding a mixture of strange glowing stones in the walls and a weird, fungus-like plant that gave off its own light down here.

She continued slowly forward as the tunnel opened up into a much larger, open chasm. Hundreds of feet up and across, it was filled with... stone buildings? The whole area was lit and glowing with the glowstone and mushrooms. Beings could be seen milling all about and she wondered what exactly they had stumbled upon down here?

And beyond it all, she could feel the darkness of this place, whispering to both of them.

 

[Emryc Thorne]

In truth, Emryc had forgotten about his own backpack for a moment. It was a wonder Renfry didn’t crack a few ribs from having almost 300 lbs of weight topple on her. Her cushioning of the Force was likely the only thing that spared her.

There was a visible look of distaste on Emryc’s face at Renfry’s words, “That’s a very dirty way to have me go out of my way to keep you alive,” He muttered dryly. Though it was in humor, he couldn’t but reflect on the words. He knew he would go to any lengths to protect her, but this was perhaps the first time he bluntly admitted it to himself. Ever since the deeper merge with Raze, he had an easier time boldly accepting his line of thinking or his decisions. On the flip side, he was also keenly aware of what Raze would do in any given situation. Raze was as detached as ever as a being, rejecting any of the humanity that had been cultivated within Emryc.

“The traveler looked unassuming,” He remarked as they walked, “How did he even manage to make it back to the room?”

As Renfry carefully navigated her way around silently, Emryc sighed. He moved far slower and made progress glacially slow for them both. A man of his size sounded like an army arriving at any given moment. Having him right next to Renfry when she was being discreet was largely worthless. He took his time, softening up his heavy footfalls as much as he could. He also had to muffle the sound of his clorox wipe boxes and camping equipment clashing together. Emryc still took the time to give Renfry a look that suggested he was contemplating flinging her over the edge and into the chasm.

They arrived near an edge and Emryc squinted his half Sephi eyes into the distance.

And he couldn't make out jack shit. He sighed and pointed to a path that led the way down around the chasm. He could make out small fires and the consistent clanking of metals. He could sense life through the Force. Emryc grabbed Renfry by the bicep before they went further.

“If this is an uncontacted group of beings, we need to preserve them. We should do our business and leave without disturbing them if possible,” He almost sounded excited, “In fact, perhaps we can set up camp nearby and observe their daily habits. I’ve even brought an extra datapad to log their activities and-” Emryc continued for the next five minutes with a very detailed and thorough plan, all while whispering excitedly in the dark.

 

[Renfry]

Renfry just shrugged as Emryc asked how the man had managed to make it back there. Maybe he was more than he appeared or maybe it had just been blind luck... or unluck.

Even as he clunked along, the Nightsister couldn't help herself from being all predatory stealth, though she silently wondered if he was leaving a trail of clorox wipes behind them for the locals to follow.

Her jaw dropped open slightly as she looked out over the area. It was beautiful and haunting all at once, a captivating terror. Her eyes kept sweeping over it when she felt Emryc's grip on her arm. She didn't expect... the excitement she heard in his voice. She couldn't help but smile in the darkness, being taken back to nearly a decade ago when he gave an hours long spiel about the history of the Sith. It had been very informative for her.

Okay, okay, okay, she whispered about a minute and a half into his exposition on what he'd termed "The Plan." This was probably not the best place to outline the entirety of The Plan.

Yes, see, this was all part of The Plan, she lied, knowing full-well he would know it was a lie.

She turned and frowned in the dim light, sticking a finger up in his face. But Emryc Thorne, if I get killed down here observing your new people - who we are not going to name "The People" by the way - not only are you going to become Emperor, but I'm going to haunt you until the end of your long sephi life, she said, turning once again and heading in the direction of an upper ledge that they could set up camp on.

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc gave her a dirty look, but he realized quickly enough now was not the best place to have an anthropology lesson. He followed along as she led to a different ledge that appeared flat and undisturbed. It also offered them a bit of space from the dwellers of the ‘city’ below. As soon as they arrived, Emryc set his heavy backpack down to open it and draw out macrobinocs. He gazed through them, flipping to night vision mode.

“It’s a full blown city,” He remarked as he spoke, “You have what appear to be upper class citizens which look like that female spider thing that attacked us...and others dressed far more drab and military like the beasts that chased me,” He was silent for a few seconds as he panned the binocs across the city, “There’s what appears to be a temple of sorts and it has a spire just like in some of the drawings above. It might have what we’re looking for,” The problem was that they would have to navigate their way to said location without being attacked by the entire city.

Emryc glanced over at Renfry and eyed her curiously, “How powerful is that amulet of yours?”

The half Sephi’s heart was sinking rapidly. He was an abysmal choice to come along on a stealth mission.

 

[Renfry]

As they made it up to the ledge, Emryc pulled out some nightvision macrobinocs and started looking over the chasm. She didn't have nightvision macros, so she pulled the straw out of her backpack and started sucking down some of the water in her backpack instead.

Fortunately, she was getting a full blow-by-blow of what was going on by Emryc as he excitedly looked at everyone below. So spider-women were the upper class, that was good information to know.

Pfft, that amulet's just so I can be lazy, she said. You've got the real deal here, she said, rubbing her hands together as if she was about to work her magic... get it. Work her magick.

She backed up from the edge further, fingers glowing slightly green as she waved her hands through the air. Traces of the green followed her fingers through the air as she focused on a quiet incantation.

When Emryc looked down he would be horrified to see that he now looked like one of the spider women. Renfry did the same for herself, making herself appear like a spider woman as well. Voila! she declared excitedly. The spell will wear off after an hour or so, so we should get going, she said. While it could be reapplied, she was also confident that Emryc didn't want to A) look like this or B) look at her while she was like this for any longer than necessary.

She started creeping down the other side, coming to a stop over a small drop that would lead them into the backside of the city, dropping into what looked like someone's backyard.

She moved toward the gate at the far side and moved into the streets in a way that was entirely her: fearless and confident everything would work out.

She frowned slightly to herself as she headed down the street, hearing the hissing sounds the people made that seemed to pass as a language here. Soooo, they would need to avoid having to converse with anyone.

In the distance, the temple rose up into the air above the cavern. The street began to clear as a trumpet sound echoed. Renfry followed suit as someone was literally carried through the streets by many of the green-skinned military-type men.

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc looked down at himself and abruptly squirmed and shifted uncomfortably, “Not a chance!” He hissed at Renfry, “Make me look like the other things instead!” No force in the galaxy could convince him to pose as anything that looked remotely arachnid, even if it was for pretend. He was far more satisfied when he looked like the brutish orc type thing. It was probably the first time in his life he could be classified as ‘ugly’ and he couldn’t be more thrilled. Emryc pointedly avoided looking at Renfry, steering clear of her creepy extra appendages.

As they made their way through the streets, Emryc could hear the hissing. Fortunately, the greenskinned beings seemed to only make grunting noises. The half Sephi looked over curiously as a tall spider lady approached Renfry.

“Ssssisiisi szaaasssiiiss?” The woman asked, crossing her arms with a slightly irritated look on her face. Emryc more or less minded his own business, but he saw his opening. He quickly fell into step with what appeared to be a procession, slinking in between two of the soldiers and walking in line. Renfry had her challenge to deal with, but Emryc was discreet for now playing the dumb soldier.

 

[Renfry]

It took almost two full minutes of the two of them arguing before she finally changed the illusion surrounding him. She insisted that it put them at a disadvantage but he wasn't having any of it. She finally got tired of arguing with him and just changed him, making him a particularly ugly orcman.

She promptly "reached out" to him with her fake spider limbs just to see what kind of reaction she would get from him. It was far too entertaining to pass up this opportunity.

Renfry just kept making her way through the crowd when she was cut off by... someone. She could just feel Emryc's smugness as she looked up at the spiderwoman in front of her. She didn't know what the woman had hissed, she couldn't just use an easy mind trick, so she did the next best thing.

She reached moved her hand slightly and reached out to the Shadow, making the woman's body overload and collapse, appearing to faint on the ground. Aaaand Renfry just slipped on down the street.

Easy, she congratulated herself, looking out and realizing she had no idea which orcman was Emryc anymore. Oh, come on, Emryc, she thought to herself, wanting to groan loudly but not wanting to give herself away.

She kept creeping through the street, trying to keep out of the way of anyone else who might want to hiss at her.

Eventually, she managed to make it to the temple area, stopping and trying to stay out of the way as she looked for Emryc. And then she got distracted by the markings on the temple. It was a language she, of course, didn't recognize, but she almost felt like she could have understood it. As if the translation was on the tip of her tongue. It was an odd sensation.

As the two of them met up, they were almost immediately approached by another spider woman, although this time the results were not what either of them expected. The woman didn't say a word aloud, but her voice echoed in both of their minds, imparting thoughts without true words.

I knew you would come. I dreamt of your arrival, outsiders. Follow me into the temple, there is something I must show you, she said, turning without further explanation and heading inside.

 

[Emryc Thorne]

The reaction Renfry got from reaching out a ‘limb’ was almost losing her real arm as a result. Hopefully she would know better than to sneak up on him with those creepy appendages again. The half Sephi despised spiders and anything with too many legs, and his discomfort showed in his body language. It was perhaps the only subtle clue that would tell Renfry which orc man he was. Anytime a spider being ventured close, one particular orc visibly recoiled.

The woman that passed out on the street caused a scene as groups of the beings began to gather around her. There was a lot of angry hissing and a random orcman was pointed out. He was then marched over to a place that looked as if it were meant for public executions.

Emryc was still staring towards the orcman and his fate when the two of them were approached by a spider lady that spoke Basic. He didn’t move a muscle at her urging, face scowling as he crossed his arms over his chest. Out of the corner of his eye he could already spot Renfry beginning to move. With a moody expression, he plodded along behind her.

The temple was largely vacant, a cold and dark chamber carved out of the spires under the cave. Emryc followed along the damp and dark room, led through a tunnel that ended in another smaller chamber. This one had countless carvings and drawings on the walls. The spider lady walked towards the giant mural, standing near a depiction of two figures. One was very tall and broad, the other was a smaller, feminine figure.

“You ssssee, I carved what I ssaw,” The woman spoke. Emryc stared at the drawing, very eerily reminded of the vision he and Renfry had many years ago of standing side by side on a summit. The sight sent a chill down his spine. The half Sephi turned to the woman at once.

“Who are you?”

“That part issss not important,” The woman said with an elongated hiss when she pronounced her s’s. She walked towards other parts of the drawings, “Our people were banished to the underground many, many centuriessss ago. Ssssince then we have been attempting to find our way to the ssssurface even though legends ssssay the bright light above will blind usss. We have never found a way until an outsssider ssstumbled upon the gate. He managed to find hissss way in but the Ssssavages got to him firssst,” She paused for a moment before she looked at them both, “You ssssee, my dreamsss foretold two creaturesss of dessstiny. One to show my people how to see without eyessss and the other to show usss how to appear asss if we belong on the sssurface.”

 

[Renfry]

Renfry's jaw dropped as they made it into the woman's domain, looking at the carving she had made of the two of them. It was so long ago, and certainly not on this world. There was no way that she could have been there or seen it, but the resemblance was uncanny and undeniable.

Emryc asked who she was but they received no real answer. A sage or Shaman, then, Renfry decided. It wasn't uncommon for Force-sensitives in "primitive" cultures to take on the role of a Shaman, religious leader, or sage. Renfry was quite familiar with the concept.

So she wanted them to leader her people out of the pits under the mountain? That seemed like something they might be able to do, but nothing happened for free, and this sounded more than a little dangerous.

She flicked a glance over to Emryc and even with her disguise it was clear that she was giving an "I'm not sure about this" look.

You mussssssst find the Light of Sssssssala, she said. It issss hidden in the cavessss beyond the passssss, but it issss ssssssaid to be guarded by the Abyssssss Walkersssss, she said.

She walked to the far side of the temple and motioned toward another tunnel out of the chasm. I would go with you, but I mussssssst remain here or people will become ssssssuspicioussss, she said.

After only a moment more the two were left in their own space again. Renfry looked to the tunnel of the "Abyss Walkers" and then back at the temple.

So it's weird that she dreamed about us and all, but should we be doing this? she asked suspiciously. She was well known for often leaping before she looked and plunging into danger and excitement just for the adventure of it, and there was still that temptation. Maybe she was trying to temper herself, and yet she could feel that draw. It whispered to them both, drawing them in like a magnet toward semi-dark cave.

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc glared at Renfry when she asked her question. If she looked close, she would be able to make out a slight twitch in his left eye and a pronounced vein near his temple.

“The time to ask that,” He said through gritted teeth, “Was before we ever stepped into the cave above ground, not right now when you look like a D list celebrity from Hallo’ween Part 3 and I look like an extra from a fantasy Holomovie,” It was clear he was beyond frustrated. The normally stoic man was usually level headed and cool, but being around so many spider ladies put him sufficiently on edge.

The half Sephi turned and began to walk in the direction of the Abyss Walkers. It was clear the path was long and would take them a while. They likely had to venture past where none of the civilians would go. Visibility was near nonexistent, and he used magick to light the path.

“Anything lurking down here will be very sensitive to light,” Emryc explained quietly, “They will have a heightened sense of hearing. Our weapons will be light and creating confusion by tapping on surfaces or creating echoes.”

Emryc paused to scowl at Renfry again, “You owe me for this bullshit,” He growled at her as he kept walking. At some point he stepped into a nasty puddle of some sort. Without saying a word, he once again glared at her as if it were all her fault.

 

[Renfry]

Renfry's head bounced back and forth slightly like a metronome in a tic he would recognize as one she didn't when she was thinking or weighing her options.

Onward we go, then, she said, rolling her eyes as he looked like he was about to blow a forehead vein in frustration. She wasn't sure she could say she was having a "great" time, but she was having a "good" time. It was exciting, they were learning new things, and she didn't really understand why he was so moody.

She nodded along with his assessment of the situation and how they could defeat whatever was down here. We might even be able to deafen them as well. Voice amplification might be able to overload their sensitive ears, she said, and immediately realized that might not be preferable for his sensitive, cute, pointy little Sephi ears.

She smiled almost girlishly as she looked back up at them before clearing her throat and looking back ahead of them.

Excuse me! she objected, wagging her finger in the air. No, no, you like old societies too! You were as excited to come here as me. You don't get to blame me for this one, she vehemently objected. It was quite clear that this was an argument he wasn't going to win even if it came down to an argument with her saying 'no u.' She wasn't above being petty at times.

They kept walking for quite a distance, the darkness of the tunnel seeming to stretch on forever, and yet something continued to tug at the back of her mind. She felt like whatever this Abyss was, it wasn't something to be toyed with lightly.

They walked for long enough that the illusion finally wore off - likely much to Emryc's joy - and she once more returned to her regular Nightsister-self.

Eventually, the pair came to another overhang and she came to a dead stop. Below, a single being was wandering the tunnels. Whether he was human or simply a set of animated armor wasn't even clear, but whatever it was didn't seem to have noticed them despite their lights. Were they entirely blind perhaps?

She turned to Emryc and pointed emphatically, not willing to say a word or even breathe lest they draw the attention of the "Abyss Walker." Or at least that was what she assumed it was and she wasn't sure she really wanted to find out why they were named that.

 

[Emryc Thorne]

Emryc stared at her blankly as she attempted to make this sound as if it were all his idea. As a politician, he had to marvel at her obviously manipulative tactics. He made no comment, shaking his head before he kept plodding along. Renfry’s illusions were all too convincing and he kept shifting to the side to avoid bumping into one of her spider legs.

He was relieved when the illusions finally wore off after they had been walking for a while. The half Sephi was back to his charming and inconveniently tall self. He paused as they arrived at the overhang. He rubbed his chin in thought, “I wouldn’t mind collecting that armor,” He remarked appreciatively through the Force.

Emryc purposely used the Force to manipulate away the lights they both had. They were thrown in complete and pitch darkness. The half Sephi grabbed Renfry’s hand and placed it around one of his wrists. Though darkness gave him anxiety, it wasn’t so bad when he knew about it in advance. He began to rely on his skills with Force Sight, which he all but mastered after being completely blind for a while.

The half Sephi guided Renfry slowly down a path that led closer to where the walkers were patrolling.

“There is a small army of them,” He explained through the Force, “We have to be completely silent and move carefully,” He couldn’t place what it was, but something told him these ‘walkers’ were exceptionally powerful and could overwhelm them in moments.

Emryc relied on Sight to make out obstacles and shapes, spotting a narrow path. He tugged Renfry in as he planted his back against a wall. He placed an arm across her torso to signal her to stay perfectly still. A soft clanking could be heard as a walker began to pass by them. The being smelled of death and decay, drawing a rattling breath. It was clear they relied on sound, but the walker paused near the half Sephi and began to sniff.

Emryc’s jaw tightened as he remembered his cologne.