Descending the Temple Depths

Deoring, spooked by the skeleton seemingly coming to life, panics and starts hacking at it with his sword.

"Hey Albert, do you have some water I can drink? I'm feeling really queasy from all those mushrooms."

Roald, still with his hand on Deoring's left shouldersees something moving in the corner of his eye. He feels Deoring's muscles tense up as he starts hacking at something.
''What the...''
From his position behind Deoring, Roald can't reach the thing.
If I let go he will probably fall, if I hold on, I can't help him
Still holding on to Deoring he draws his sword, making sure it doesn't affect the movement of Deoring's sword.

'' CAPTAIN! WE NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE!'' he shouts.
'' WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!''

'' Try to fend him off as long as you can Deoring. Help is on the way.''

"Say, captain, ..." Albert says as the captain comes over to offer her water to Dirk. He's still speaking quietly, keeping the conversation between the three of them. "Remember that horned wolf we saw in the main hall yesterday? It turns out Dirk saw it as well, earlier today, when the bell tolled. And I saw it in my head just now when I touched Dirk's machete." He looks at the machete again, wondering what caused that reaction. "I'm starting to think that symbol is more important than we first thought."

He turns his head to Dirk again. "Dirk, you were looking through some old books and papers earlier. Did you spot that symbol anywhere on them? If so, we might need to go back for that information. We need to know what we're dealing with here."

Rook continued to shift uneasily on the foot weighing down the stone trigger. He watched with worry as Roald and Deoring continued to approach the doorway, straining to make out any details in the dim light.

"Big thanks captain, these mushrooms are doing a number on me." Dirk tries his best to force the water down his throat, taking in as many sips as he can muster, working against his gag reflex.

After Albert walks up and talks about the horned wolf, Dirk responds; "Well Albert, all those old ruined books and papers before had no illustrations. I really don't know much about that horned wolf, and to be honest it's the first I've even heard of a concept of a horned wolf! It's all quite spooky if you ask me. . . Woah now!" Dirk suddenly started to lose his balance, but the captain kept him from falling over. "Thanks again captain.

Dirk giggles at the bell pun and takes a swig of the water. Mid-swig, he sees what's happening and tries to swallow down the water faster!

Albert Quickly grabs his broomstick when he hears Roald calling for help. "Hang on, we're coming!" He follows the captain to where they can see what's going on near the door. When he gets there, it's not very clear what exactly is happening. "What is Deoring hacking away at?" Is it the vegetation or something underneath, maybe?

He hesitates to do anything about it. Knowing that there could be traps all over this room, and unsure about what he's dealing with, Albert decides to assess the situation before acting.

Deoring, still in panic mode, continues to hack at the rising skeleton and will continue to do so until someone stops him or something radically changes.

Albert Nudges Asha. "Come on, we've got to go keep Rook safe!" He hurries over to where Rook is standing, trying his best to follow his footsteps, or at least an approximation of them. Once there, he puts his foot on Rook's to make sure it's not going anywhere, and he holds his broomstick horizontally in front of them, ready to ward off any attackers. "Guard the other side, Asha. We'll show these things they are no match for us!"

"What are you doing?" Rook hissed. "Walking dead men or no, you've just exposed yourself to the target zone of any trap that lies here. If we move, we may both die, instead of just one. You should help them, or else run for it!"

Deoring continues to hack at the rising skeleton, but not quite as recklessly. He has noticed Roald’s reassuring hand on his shoulder, and that is helping, but he’s still frightened by this living skeleton.

Deoring says to Roald, "It’s a skeleton! And somehow it’s alive! I am trying to hold it off! I keep striking it but it is still rising up!"

He sees Roald’s glowing blade. "Your sword! It’s glowing! Help me - maybe you can slay it with your glowing sword!"

''Another skeleton!?'' Strangely Deoring's words don't frighten Roald as much as he would expect. Is it experience? Or is he already growing accustomed to the strange things that are ''living'' under the temple. Maybe it's the reassuring glow of the sword, knowing there's something out there watching over him.

He shouts out to the captain and everyone that is rushing towards them. But this time in a less panicking tone. ''IT'S A LIVING SKELETON''

'' Ok Deoring, I'll try to hit it, but I can't reach it from here. I'll have to reposition. This also means I will let go of you, so watch your footing and balance.
He lets go if Deoring's shoulder and looks over his own shoulder.
He sees the captain coming over to his right side. ''CAREFUL CAPTAIN, MIND THE TRAPS! USE OUR STEPPING STONES''
Roald takes two steps to the left to get round Deoring. As he sees the skeleton he too starts hacking away trying to hit the moving parts first.