I took the oppertunity this break gave to empty my bag of the broken lamp, setting the intact metal base aside, as that is perfectly servicable. My new little friend watches curiously, possibly unused to seeing a lamp with a glass wind cover, the one currently lighting this area being more of a clay diya, mine being a chimney lamp with a handle on the side. I eyed the glass, considering if I could use it in any meaningful way, the shards were sharp, and broken glass is infamous for stabbing peoples feet of course, but would that ever really matter down here? A monster would likely just ignore it, and an undead just wouldn't give a singular shit if you stabbed it with a sword, never mind stepped on glass. In the end, I decide to just leave the glass, where it is on the ground, and pack up what remains of the lantern.

I look over to the little Fae, which I'm calling them now until further notice, and try to motion in such a way to ask if they will be coming with me. Apparently I'm not doing a very good job, as they just tilt their head, and remain sitting. I begin to walk away, and look back at them, and jerk my head the way im going, finally seeming to get through my intention, as they walk over, holding their chest, and climb up my leg to my shoulder, perching themselves there hidden under my hair. Good lord that feels weird, not helped by the sensation of four tiny claws digging into the back of my neck.

I head off, back to the path of eternal webs as far as one could see. Now a little less lonely.

Having no idea if the Fae could see in the dark, given I found them near a lamp I suppose not, I kept myself alert, turning my head from side to side, scanning with my eyes on the area around me. The far side of the tunnel the lamp was in has opened up into another room, but I couldn't see anything on the central pedestal. I walked further into the room, and examined the pedestal, thinking that the item may be invisible to me in the dark.

While my darkvision is sharp as a needle, I can not see colors, only shades of white, grey, and black. Generally I can guess what the color will be by the exact shade of grey, but if two items were the same color, sometimes they could seem to be the same thing. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case. Nothing was on the pedestal, but this close I could make out the slight silhouette of something round in the little amount of dust, maybe a shield?

The Fae peered out of my hair, maybe looking down at what I was looking at, maybe they could see in the dark. They dropped down silently in the silhouette, crouching to examine it. Their antennae swung forward, tapping the surface, before they looked at me and tilted their head, the feather-like appendages still tapping the stone. Shrugging, I scanned the room again. Could somebody else have taken whatever this was?... Assuming I'm not the only person down here, outside of Fae since they're with me right now, maybe this particular item wasn't for me?... But then why would they put them down here if anybody could take these items? As much as a magical item could change itself to fit the one wearing it, the general shape will stay the same. For example, a helm could fit any humanoid head, but unless it had some holes already present, my horns would get it the way.

That being said, I would need those holes in my helm, and if tail armor is included, literally no one else I know of would be able to use that. But... what if a monster picked up the armor? Certain monsters collected anything they shined, or was brightly colored, but others actually have enough intelligence to realise something was armor, or a weapon... This armor dosen't really shine, so something out there must be using my armor... Fuck...

I gently place Fae on my shoulder, and continue on my way, out the far side of the room. Now, considering the dire strates, might be as good a time as ever to figure out how to fight with my tail... considering it's length, I could use it to trip humanoids, maybe even an animal if I yanked hard enough, but that is about it... Bringing it infront, I see how far ahead of me it could reach, roughly four, maybe five paces... pretty good reach for a melee, causing me to be mildly frustrated that I hadn't trained to use my tail in a fight before. I could spend all day blaming my instructors about that, but in the end how would they know how to fight with a tail, when they themselves didn't possess one?

My tail didn't have a barb, or even a spike or stinger, ending much like the tail of a lizard, with a small rounded point. Though it is prehensile, unless I am deliberately moving it in such a manner, it will move about more then an excited dogs. My focus on the moment slips a bit as I recall Azrael saying that even when I try to hide my emotions, he could read them by my tail. It was quite frustrating since I had spent several weeks learning to act, only to be done in by my tail. A smile tickled my lips at the memory, I was such a trouble maker as a kid, so such a skill would have been handy, if only I could control my tail as I could my face.

My focus returned, and sure enough, my tail was back to swaying behind me. I sighed, and went back to staying alert for leaping spiders. The tunnel out of the room was short, and led to a much larger room filled with webs, and worst of all, adult giant spiders. Thousands of eyes turned twoards me, as their back legs tense... Fuck this! I turn and flee back into the tunnel, before turning around, and screaming a spell.

"Cavea Principalis Terrae!"

A wall of earth rose up aroud me, blocking the room of spiders like a quark, but on the flip side I am also trapped in close proximity to hundreds of spiders with fangs as long as daggers. Definitely not good. I began to hear scratching on the side of the earth cage, on the wall which blocked off the large room. I felt on my shoulder to ensure Fae was safe, finding her tucked deeper into my hair, quivering. Sighing in releif, I turned my thoughts to solving this predicament. I probably should have used a different spell, but I know no other earth spells that an make a wall...

Mud Shot was a weak attack spell, but could blind people if it hit the face.

Mold Earth was a general ground control spell, but would not work on stone, or metal, the army trained to use this in order to form fortifications, trenches, and foot traps. While one could make walls out of this, it is much slower, as the moving earth was akin to honey in speed.

Rock shot was about as powerful as a sling shot, but was one of the few spells faster than a weapon that did the same thing, since you didn't need to build up rotational speed to launch the stone.

The last one I know is Earth Pulse, which can knock things over in a radius around me, the closer the more likely, as the earth itself ripples like water.

Given the fact I have already blocked off the tide of spiders, I should use Mold Earth to build a wall between us... but that dosen't work on stone, and this tunnel is almost exclusively stone... I look around at the stone bricks that make up the walls, and the cobbled stones that make up the floor... Maybe there is dirt behind these stones? I try it, not like I'll be worse off if it dosen't work.

"Movens Terrae"

Nothing seemed to happen in the tunnel, but I could feel something underfoot where I was focusing, having figured the cobbled stones would be easier to move then the bricks. I tried to force it between the stones, causing the floor to begin to buldge slowly. Even as hard as I was moving it, this was like trying to shift around a ball of honey into the shape I wanted, but as slow as it was, I could see the cracks between the stones widening, dirt and some sand seeping between them. With a loud crack the motar between the stones gave away, the soil pulling the stones, motar, and gravel that sat beneath, slowly along up the earth cage wall.

Finally, it presses itself agaist the wall, packing tight into a solid dirt wall. Heres hoping that spiders cant dig.

Since I already put this up, I decide to take another break to still my pounding heart, pulse in my ears. Fae gently drops to the ground, and collapses, seemingly as panicked as I was, gently stroking one antennae. Agreeing with the sentiment, I collapsed as well. Looking under me, the floor was now a mass of soil, sand, and gravel, with a few outcroppings of what I guessed was ore. That being said, there was no way I had enough magic to use this spell enough to get to the surface faster then it would take for me to run out of air as the dirt piled high in these tunnels. Besides, that is assuming I can even get all the way to the surface, which is very doubtful given the fact I was abducted by an organization...

Given the oppertunity, I take a swig from my water skin, and offer some to Fae, but surprisingly they refused. Maybe they arn't thirsty yet... well, it is running a little low already anyway. Hopefully I can find another fountain before too long... Standing, I drop the earth cage, and listen to see if the spiders keep coming.

I hear scratching, but it seems to not be getting any closer, at least not by much. With a sigh, I gently place Fae back on my shoulder, and walk away, trying to avoid any path which may even remotely lead to that room, giving it a wide berth like a million dragons.

I manage to find another pedestal room, but this time it has a pair of gauntlets, which in a similar fashion to the greaves, has clawed fingers, and goes all the way up to my elbow. Said elbow having a knob like the knees, and the knuckles having a singular spike each, as long as the thumb is wide, jutting out over the middle fingers. This could be very helpful.

Fae looks at me like I'm insane, as I put them on, a similar situation to the greaves and sword occuring, as the gold turned a dark blue, and my reflection showed up on the surface. I test the feel, finding the articulations to be almost as natural in their movement as my normal arm, with metal covering almost every inch of skin, the joints linked by chainmail. I hadn't taken the time to examine the greaves quite so closely, but these gauntlets were intricate as an art piece, the metal sitting atop leather, which was lined with a silken cloth, hopefully better at absorbing shock then the greaves.

Looking at Fae, I motion in an attempt to ask her how they look, a smirk tickling the corners of my mouth. Of course they didn't seem to understand, confusion accompanying their look which very cleary showed they thought me insane. Hopefully this dosen't mean the equipment is cursed...

I punched the wall to test if the shock would hurt, and instantly break a finger, specifically my pinky, as the spike causes my fist to jerk sideways. Clutching my hand, I hiss in pain, realizing that Fae is now looking at me as if I'm an idiot, a definite strike to my ego. Removing the gauntlet, I feel my pinky, discovering that it is dislocated. A sour look crosses my face, as I try to relocate it.

Crack!

Covering my mouth with my forearm, a silent scream sticks in my throat as I hold my pinky a little longer, as if it may just fall off. Still, I couldn't stop the split second before I covered my mouth, where a small cry escaped. Fae was tilting their head, but I couldn't make the expression out, choosing to think that this look was of concern.

My pinky swells to twice it's normal size, and is likely to remain like this for a number of hours. I am such an idiot.

I had to change the moss on Faes chest twice, but on the third one I noticed that the bleeding did not start up again, allowing me to see the exposed muscle underneath their exoskeleton. Oddly, it was green, like a bugs... well not all that strange I guess. This application of moss should be the last one, allowing the wound to close in the open air, otherwise the moss could get caught in the muscle, potentially causing issues in their function. Especially on someone so small with such a large wound.

I had read somewhere that some fish scales could be used to replace flesh, but I didn't know if that applied to Fae, as the different fae subraces could have drastically different biology. Dryads, for example, were basically just humanoid trees in the appearance of enchantingly beautiful women. No blood, in it's place was sap, bark instead of skin, and flowering branches in place of hair. Either way, it isn't as if I have access to such fish.

My eyes scanned this new dome, hoping for a fountain, but no such luck... Instead there was a weird dial wheel, runic letters along the outside rim, and a diorama of what I would guess to be a city state. The fortified city seemed to be of an older aesthetic, with two seperate, short, wood reinforced earthworks playing the role of walls, and a stone keep set off to one side of the city, sitting atop a hill, connected to the secondary earthworks by a walled path. The secondary earthworks made it clear that the original settlement had been a motte and bailey.

Fae lands ontop of the strange dial when I walked over to observe it, and crouched down to observe it, looking like a giant by comparison. As they walk around the diorama , I get a good view of them walking, sort of like a horse or cat really... Turning my attention back to the dial, I examined it, but while I could identify the runes, reading them was a whole different matter, especially since I couldn't make out individual groupings...

Sighing again for the up-teenth time today, I examine the diroama once more, seeking clues in the small city. Amazingly, I could make out even the cutlery on the tables, and the wrinkles on an old ladies face as she stood infront of her home. Finding nothing, I just try poking the runes, figuring they had to have some sort of trigger.

The runes refused to react... what if I channeled some magic into them? Success, Laguz (flow) was now glowing a bright purple, then Inguz (change), and then Dagaz (hope), the third one finally causing a reaction in the dirorama, as the forms on it began to move, as if decades were passing in seconds. Before my eyes the city state grew into a bustling mega city, with great feats of architecture such as what looked like a massive bronze man, being built and then dismantled as the image progressed. But the end was quite dark, as the city was rendered ruins, reclaimed by the earth and becoming one with the hill once more, before another city state was built atop it. Looking back at the runes, three different ones were now lit.

Jera, Eihwaz, Perthro... cycles, death, and fate... Quite a dark message...

Fae looked up at me, having watched the progress of the diorama as well, but rather they seemed excited... maybe they didn't realize the message?... Oh right, Fae can't see the runes... could they even read them?