Telion admittedly noticed when Urs had spoken in a lower voice than before, mindful of what it was he expressed as he seemed focused on the lifeless corpse of the Shambler. Indeed the resemblance to what it used to be was considerably startling, and the bard herself couldn't help but lightly shudder in response to his murmuring. "There... must be something about this place that causes them to change?" Though it was clear she hadn't the faintest idea as to what that was, not that it seemed to bother the rest much when they drew closer to the fold. Rickter did note the unsettled look in Telion's expression, of course, his eyebrows briefly furrowed to her as he glanced at Urs just a moment later.
The conversation didn't slip unnoticed by his perceptive hearing, and almost instinctively the half-breed quietly sniffed the air, while looking as plain as possible about it; to collectively gather whatever scents he could sleuth from the man. Something about him felt off to the wolf, although Ricky wasn't quite sure what exactly. It wasn't that he traced anything unusual in Urs' own scent, but that itself gave him a sneaking suspicion of the man. He did come here unarmed after all and only with... what, magic? He seemed pretty quick to refrain from stepping up moments ago, which indicated he wasn't at all a fighter in any sort of way. Of course, Rickter didn't need to smell the air to pick up on that, Urs' body type would've very well suggested the fact well enough.
No something else flagged the wolf's curiosity, and while Rickter would've normally been a hound for answers, this was hardly the time or place to give into such notions. When the group resumed formation and began to move along once more, Rickter merely remained rigid as he watched the rest begin to move in line. In Cizein was the first to lead on and Pekr briefly shot a cocky grin to the rest of them, namely Rickter, before walking alongside his partner past the mangled corpse of the Shambler. Rickter showed no reaction at all to them, however, and merely glanced at Diamond when she passed by him next. However, it was Urs himself Rickter eyed hard, the wary curiosity still present under the vacant expression he projected to everyone else.
With Telion standing next to him Rickter nodded his head sideways for her to follow, to which she shot him a soft grin before doing as he gestured. Magic huh? He mentally noted as he started to follow along behind them, his eyes cast over the shoulder to watch the stalagmite pillars jutting towards the ceiling.
"Just so that I know what we're workin' with," Cizein spoke aloud to the group behind him as he and Pekr kept walking, "what exactly are you all capable of? What runes do you all possess?"
Telion looked to Rickter once more with a reluctant expression, the wooden staff in her hand gripped a little tighter as she took the initiative to respond. "I have two of them, one is Elementalism, and the other is Negation."
So she can fight then, the wolf noted with his eyes slightly narrowed on her, she must be a decent mage to have made it up here from the south. Rickter then looked past her and Urs towards the two men up front, his tone plain and indifferent when he answered them in his turn. "I only possess the rune for Reavin'." For a moment Telion seemed to admire that about him, as she shot another soft grin that merely perplexed him. Why? Why did she have to be so warm and cheery? He barely understood that about her, mainly because they were in a mildly dark and pretty dangerous place right now. She looked away after seeing that his expression didn't even change, unaware of the fact she was barely phasing him with these gestures.
"Interestin'." Cizein remarked in turn as he glanced back to wait for Urs to answer, which afterward the warrior would look forward sharply as they pressed onward. "Quite the talented group we have." Of that there was no doubt, with Urs' use of Semblance they would navigate the Warrens fairly easily, avoiding any if not all the possible confrontations they'd be faced with. Ultimately Cizein likely aimed to use that to his advantage, as he clearly wanted to head deeper than where the party probably should've gone. Then again the original group they were hoping to find likely went further in than they should've, which was why a rescue team was assembled to move in and retrieve them if at all possible.
While he didn't like the idea of going deeper into the Warrens one bit, Rickter knew it was too late for him to simply back out of it now. They were well within the First Deep and to go back, whether alone or with Telion, likely jeopardized everyone on this wild search. So he simply hoped that whoever these people were, and whatever they went after, was certainly worth the risk of coming so far down to explore these dangerous caverns. More often than not there were instances where the group had to stray from their set path, even so much as diverting into two separate groups for a meter or so, just to avoid more lingering threats as they silently made their way back to a position where the group united once more. Overall it was becoming a bit more stressful than he anticipated, but before too long the First Deep itself started to look less like an underground network, and more like an entirely different world within the underground.
Plant life and even the sound of sentient creatures echoed within the distance overhead, as though they were about to walk out of one strange location and enter a completely different one in it's entirety. "And there it is ladies and gents," Cizein remarked as he and Pekr seemed to visibly relax a bit, "The Second Deep of the Warrens."
"How much father?" The wolf bluntly inquired as they continued to walk, with Cizein glancing back to the lot of them with a grin on his face.
"If we don't find anythin' on them here, then we'll discuss whether or not we're willin' to go further." Pekr seemed to let out a pretty amused scoff aloud at that remark, the two of them still leading onward into The Otherwilds. "For now though, let's stay focused on findin' signs that our research team went through here. They would've had to stop and made camp at some point."
On that, Rickter could agree with, and where there was a camp there were likely trails. While he certainly was no professional hunter or even tracker, the wolf did possess traits that made him well-suited for the cause. Therefore it only stood to reason that once they found something, anything, left behind by one of these members of the team, then he could likely try and track them down to quicken the expedition.
The conversation didn't slip unnoticed by his perceptive hearing, and almost instinctively the half-breed quietly sniffed the air, while looking as plain as possible about it; to collectively gather whatever scents he could sleuth from the man. Something about him felt off to the wolf, although Ricky wasn't quite sure what exactly. It wasn't that he traced anything unusual in Urs' own scent, but that itself gave him a sneaking suspicion of the man. He did come here unarmed after all and only with... what, magic? He seemed pretty quick to refrain from stepping up moments ago, which indicated he wasn't at all a fighter in any sort of way. Of course, Rickter didn't need to smell the air to pick up on that, Urs' body type would've very well suggested the fact well enough.
No something else flagged the wolf's curiosity, and while Rickter would've normally been a hound for answers, this was hardly the time or place to give into such notions. When the group resumed formation and began to move along once more, Rickter merely remained rigid as he watched the rest begin to move in line. In Cizein was the first to lead on and Pekr briefly shot a cocky grin to the rest of them, namely Rickter, before walking alongside his partner past the mangled corpse of the Shambler. Rickter showed no reaction at all to them, however, and merely glanced at Diamond when she passed by him next. However, it was Urs himself Rickter eyed hard, the wary curiosity still present under the vacant expression he projected to everyone else.
With Telion standing next to him Rickter nodded his head sideways for her to follow, to which she shot him a soft grin before doing as he gestured. Magic huh? He mentally noted as he started to follow along behind them, his eyes cast over the shoulder to watch the stalagmite pillars jutting towards the ceiling.
"Just so that I know what we're workin' with," Cizein spoke aloud to the group behind him as he and Pekr kept walking, "what exactly are you all capable of? What runes do you all possess?"
Telion looked to Rickter once more with a reluctant expression, the wooden staff in her hand gripped a little tighter as she took the initiative to respond. "I have two of them, one is Elementalism, and the other is Negation."
So she can fight then, the wolf noted with his eyes slightly narrowed on her, she must be a decent mage to have made it up here from the south. Rickter then looked past her and Urs towards the two men up front, his tone plain and indifferent when he answered them in his turn. "I only possess the rune for Reavin'." For a moment Telion seemed to admire that about him, as she shot another soft grin that merely perplexed him. Why? Why did she have to be so warm and cheery? He barely understood that about her, mainly because they were in a mildly dark and pretty dangerous place right now. She looked away after seeing that his expression didn't even change, unaware of the fact she was barely phasing him with these gestures.
"Interestin'." Cizein remarked in turn as he glanced back to wait for Urs to answer, which afterward the warrior would look forward sharply as they pressed onward. "Quite the talented group we have." Of that there was no doubt, with Urs' use of Semblance they would navigate the Warrens fairly easily, avoiding any if not all the possible confrontations they'd be faced with. Ultimately Cizein likely aimed to use that to his advantage, as he clearly wanted to head deeper than where the party probably should've gone. Then again the original group they were hoping to find likely went further in than they should've, which was why a rescue team was assembled to move in and retrieve them if at all possible.
While he didn't like the idea of going deeper into the Warrens one bit, Rickter knew it was too late for him to simply back out of it now. They were well within the First Deep and to go back, whether alone or with Telion, likely jeopardized everyone on this wild search. So he simply hoped that whoever these people were, and whatever they went after, was certainly worth the risk of coming so far down to explore these dangerous caverns. More often than not there were instances where the group had to stray from their set path, even so much as diverting into two separate groups for a meter or so, just to avoid more lingering threats as they silently made their way back to a position where the group united once more. Overall it was becoming a bit more stressful than he anticipated, but before too long the First Deep itself started to look less like an underground network, and more like an entirely different world within the underground.
Plant life and even the sound of sentient creatures echoed within the distance overhead, as though they were about to walk out of one strange location and enter a completely different one in it's entirety. "And there it is ladies and gents," Cizein remarked as he and Pekr seemed to visibly relax a bit, "The Second Deep of the Warrens."
"How much father?" The wolf bluntly inquired as they continued to walk, with Cizein glancing back to the lot of them with a grin on his face.
"If we don't find anythin' on them here, then we'll discuss whether or not we're willin' to go further." Pekr seemed to let out a pretty amused scoff aloud at that remark, the two of them still leading onward into The Otherwilds. "For now though, let's stay focused on findin' signs that our research team went through here. They would've had to stop and made camp at some point."
On that, Rickter could agree with, and where there was a camp there were likely trails. While he certainly was no professional hunter or even tracker, the wolf did possess traits that made him well-suited for the cause. Therefore it only stood to reason that once they found something, anything, left behind by one of these members of the team, then he could likely try and track them down to quicken the expedition.
