<blockquote class="uncited"><div>*Lud-dub....!*<br/></div></blockquote><br/><br/>For a brief moment, Asulf thought he was getting a bit<span style="font-style: italic">too</span>excited by Sunete's teasing, that his heart had started to race without him noticing.<span style="font-style: italic">Really</span>loudly too, since Laebras seemed to have overheard-<br/><br/><blockquote class="uncited"><div><span style="font-weight: bold">*THWOOOOOM!*</span></div></blockquote><br/><br/>The lupin however, was swiftly corrected by a massive pulse of magical force that rips through the room, catching him entirely by surprise and easily sending him crashing to the ground with a loud clatter of metal-on-stone, yelping in surprise. Not that his cacophonous fall would be that noticable in the rest of the chaos, easily blending into the metallic noise as weapons and armor are thrown about like leaves in the wind.<br/><br/><blockquote class="uncited"><div>*Lud-Dub…..!*</div></blockquote><br/><br/>Asulf groaned, climbing back onto his feet, only to curse, hearing the telltale sound of another incoming pulse. "Take cover!" he called out, bracing himself and using his shield as cover. Even with his preparation this pulse was even worse, his shield doing little but letting flying debris bounce away harmlessly while the pulse hit him like a gut-punch, stealing the breath from his lungs and leaving him feeling weak and numb.<br/><br/>"Ugh.. What in the world.."<br/><br/><blockquote class="uncited"><div>“Ow. I don’t know about you all, but I don’t want to wait and see if those…pulses continue. Or worst, get stronger. I don’t know exactly where the chamber they’re doing this ritual at is, but…we should likely find it. Quick.” </div></blockquote><br/><br/>"Erf.. yeah, no, I'm not waiting either," Asulf said, rising to quickly follow Laebras, keeping his shield and mace at the ready.<br/><br/>The hallways were as empty as before, but far harder to traverse at first, the oppressive dust cloud playing havoc on Asulf's sensitive nose. Much like Laebras he didn't bother with the side rooms as they moved on, checking them only for enemies lying in wait before moving past. They had time to loot and study the place later - assuming they survived.<br/><br/>And as they arrive at a massive pair of stone doors, etched with the markings of the old gods and struck through with fresh blood, Asulf wondered what their chances of that really were..<br/><br/><blockquote class="uncited"><div>Taking a deep breath, Laebras slowly – ever so slowly – pulls on the door-ring, creeping it open just a crack - enough to peek inside….</div></blockquote><br/><br/>Asulf knelt down by the door, peering along with Laebras to see what awaited them on the other side. None of it had been anything he'd expected - the room beyond was<span style="font-style: italic">immense</span>, and so open there wasn't any reasonable chance of getting close before being spotted, at least without magical aid. And he figured they would need it - he could see the cultists from here, overseeing the unmoving forms of those being used in the ritual. There was the succubus, a massive, unarmored fox-man, and the feline mage that had all been mentioned - as well as the imps that Yunni had mentioned.<br/><br/>He frowned. Didn't she also say something about something big, too? He hoped it wasn't hiding somewhere, somehow. Maybe she was lying, hopefully she was lying.<br/><br/>The way the cat kept looking back at the door made him nervous. She might be paranoid, but it'd only take one glance at the wrong time to expose them..<br/><br/><blockquote class="uncited"><div>“Well, they…don’t expect us yet. What’s the game plan? Are we just going to rush in there and smash heads, or…does anyone else have a better idea…? I dunno if we can all sneak in without alerting…well, all of them…”</div></blockquote><br/><br/>"If someone has a way to snuck us closer or is good enough to hit from afar, I'm all game. What I think we need to do is lock down that succubus and the feline first. They're spellcasters, right? That makes them unpredictable and we can't afford surprises," Asulf suggested, looking contemplative. "The imps and the fox-guy are a bit more predictable. And I have a protection from evil spell, I<span style="font-style: italic">think</span>that should keep the imps from actually touching someone."