Dungeon Masters

In the dead of night, the group wandered down a dark path in the forest. Not too long ago they came across two Elves and a Dwarf who had set up camp in a small clearing. They were easily dispatched; Ph'nlew took the form of an Ogre for the battle. Afterwards he took the armor off of the Dwarf and changed form to a burly Dwarf. He put on the armor and, after they took anything that looked useful, they set off.

They walked for a short while. One of them grew tired of walking. "Ph'nlew, where is this castle you spoke of?"

"Just up here," he responded. The path they were on soon diverged, and one path was covered in undergrowth and looked as though no one had walked here for decades. They followed this path for about ten minutes and then came to a castle. There was no moat, but there was a large iron gate in the front and battlements. There were four towers on each of the corners, as well as a large spire in the middle that just barely penetrated the trees.

"Welp, here it is. It's got plenty of rooms, a kitchen and dining area, a prison, and there's even an underground labyrinth that we can use. I think it should work out quite well."





Ph'nlew | Gamzee (Phasm)
Idun | Uzuki Cheveri (Chain Devil)
Lycon | Ruki (Lycanthrope)
Draug | Rarity (Bugbear)
(Sterling said he's making a Wraith so I'm gonna count him here)

Lycon look around the place, poking around the kitchen and dining area. As a general rule, Lycon preferred to keep in his human form as a default unless he was murdering people. Then he preferred to be in one of his wolf forms. Much more intimidating.

"What do we need a prison for?" he asked.

Draug stepped cautiously through the old halls of the castle, scouring in the darkness for a way into the lower levels. A hand placed along his belt and ready to draw his blade should the rooms not be as abandoned as they looked.

"What do we need a prison for?" Draug turned to the source of the voice seeing Lycon peering around what looked to be the kitchen.

"Good for traps and not much else. I doubt you're too interested in taking anyone alive." Draug growled the last few words. "We should map out the labyrinth. I'd hate to die because of a wrong turn in my own home."

Lycon snorted as he figured there was nothing of interest in the kitchen until the stocked it themselves.

"Why would I?" Lycon asked with a snort of amusement. "There is no point."

"Maybe you don't see a reason for prisons, but they should prove useful."

Ph'nlew paced about the room. "We can hold people for ransom. We can torture them, learn things of their civilizations. A wizard might try to destroy this castle, but may hesitate if they know innocents are inside. Human shields, anyone?"

"Feh," Lycon grumbled. "Ya better hope for a kind hearted wizard then. If it were me, I'd just destroyed the place anyways. There isn't any reason not to. Negotions are a messy thing."

Idun held her scythe up in enthusiastic agreement. "I second the torture theory!" she laughed deviously with a crooked smile. "You go and get all kinds of prisoners for me, Ph'nlew!" She licked her bloody lips and cracked her neck off to the side.

Ph'nlew stroke his dwarf-beard while smiling. "Prisoners are just another way to lure more people in here, Lycon. I certainly don't care for holding them or torturing them, but an incentive for their friends and other foolish adventurers to come save them is a great thing." Ph'nlew looked about and noticed a pile of chains in the next room that Idun seemed to have missed.

He pointed at them, "You can control chains, yes? We should make sure we have some of those in strategic places around the castle. We'll need traps and such in here." He continued walking through the castle in search of anything useful.

Lycon wandered around the castle, not quite sure what he was looking for. He never bothered lying traps before finding that it was so much more satisfying to watch their faces when he killed them himself. He tried to think back to the time when he was a traveler and had to avoid traps. However, he wasn't really remembering anything. That life was beyond him and he never bothered keeping old memories from that time. The only thing he kept was his human appearance.

Idun swung her chains around, showing them off. "Traps, you say? Sounds entertaining." She wrapped the chains back around her thin, black-blue body. "Where do you suggest I set them? Around the walls? In the corridors? All over the place?" She laughed out loud. "I'm up for anything as long as it makes the victim suffer."

Draug eyed the devil warily as she played with her chains. "Perhaps I'll help you set some. I'd rather avoid getting caught by your chains because you got a little...excited." He slowly approached her, hand still at his side. "Besides, I can think of a few good places."

"Just so long as it isn't obvious they're traps," Ph'nlew said. The Bugbear began conversing with her, and so Ph'nlew began to wander about the castle. He soon found some stairs that led up. He transformed into an Elf and ascended them quickly. Once on top he came to a small enclosed area with an open door to the ramparts. However, he noticed to his side a closed iron door. He pushed against it and with a bit of effort managed to push it open. Inside he found what appeared to be a small workshop. Beyond that was yet another door, and he discovered that it was a smaller room with a window looking over the courtyard.

He would make this his bedroom, and claim the workshop.

"Please, do I look like an idiot?" Idun sneered. "They won't know what hit em'."

Idun began to wander around the castle, looking for her own room to claim. She saw one room, a room that was small but still comfortable. She stepped in and looked around, observing everything from the medium-high ceiling to the dusty brick walls.

Idun swung her chains in the air and latched them onto the ceiling, forming a kind of hammock mechanism with them that hung from the roof of the room. Then she lifted herself up into it and laid down, swinging back and forth.

"Home, sweet home," Idun snickered.

Lycon climbed up the stairs and found a door leading to a small tower. Pushing the wooden doors open, he found himself in a small, circular room with a single window. It had a perfect view of the night sky, and more specifically, of the moon.

It was a bunch of bull♥♥♥♥ that lycanthropes could only turn during the full moon, but Lycon still was drawn to the rock in the sky. He had a half a mind to howl at it.

In fact, why the hell not?

Forcing the window open, he stuck his head out of the stone window, his brown hair blowing in the wind. He titled his head back and let out a loud howl.

Freaking werewolves, Idun thought to herself as she rolled over in her hammock, trying to block out the creature's howling. Do it again, I dare you . . .

Ph'nlew looked over the workshop. There was an anvil in the middle and a workbench still in working condition. However, they were no tools. Against the wall opposite the bench was a large trough, currently empty.

The next day would require some shopping in town. He wouldn't want to get any adventurers in the castle until they had prepared. Under the assumption that the others had drifted to sleep (or were about to, gauging by the howl), Ph'nlew took to the bed. It was a bit old and decayed, but living underground for so long he grew accustomed to uncomfortableness.

Seeing the others go off to their own devices, Draug walked around the castle halls awhile longer. He doubted he would find any comfort should he come across a bed and decided an empty room far from the sadistic werewolf and devil would do just fine. Coming across what he was looking for far down the hall. It had a small table and little else but a small crack in the wall allowed the moonlight to filter through.

Taking his blade from his belt, Draug set it against the far wall before sitting himself beside it. Closing his eyes and content to fall asleep when he heard a howl echo through the halls. Letting out a low growl of frustration he shifted to a more comfortable position and hoped that would be the only howl for the night as he started to doze off.

This was silly. Idun never slept. She was one of those creatures that didn't know what it was like to close her eyes at night and open them to a brand new day. She could lay there with her eyes closed, but she would be very bored for eight to ten hours. Thankfully, the howling from upstairs had stopped.

Idun rolled around on her chain hammock for a little while, staring out the window at the night sky and trying to keep herself entertained by noticing the little things around her. An hour passed when she started to get really bored. Would it be okay to wander as she usually did? She feared it would upset the creatures around her.

Oh well, she thought with a devious smile. That's their problem, not mine.

She got out of her hammock and left her room, dragging her chains behind her like loose pieces of cloth, the metal making a very low, but still barely audible, dragging sound along the stone flooring.

As she walked down the hall, she looked inside each of the rooms she passed, trying to make sense of the architecture of the castle - she didn't want to get lost, after all. Poking her head into one room, she saw Ph'nlew sleeping in a rather uncomfortable-looking bed. She didn't really understand what he was exactly, but she sure didn't want to take a guess.

Idun continued to explore, finding a few of the monsters sleeping in the rooms around her. It was strange, having living creatures similar to her existing around her, at such a close proximity. It reminded her of the days when she actually lived with other people of her species.

But she wasn't lonely. Not one bit.

Lycon was curled up in a small corner in his dire wolf form. It was cold outside, and Lycon didn't have any sheets or blankets to keep his human form warm. His ears twitched a bit in the middle of the night as he heard the sounds of light chains dragging across the floor.

He growled a bit as he stood up and changed back into his human form to open the door. Looking down the hall, he couldn't see anything, but he could hear the chains dragging around.

Tired and irritable, he pulled his jacket closer and began to stalk down the hallway to "kindly ask" the stupid chain devil to stop making such a racket.

Oh look, it's the werewolf fellow.

Idun attempted what other people considered to be a 'smile', but it ended up looking insane and disturbing - she didn't really care about smiling at him anyway. She didn't want to appear friendly; that would make the wolf think she actually cared.

"Awake too, huh?" she snickered to the wolf. "Do you not sleep, or are you just restless?"