Seeing the creature that lurks in the room upstairs, Thurston kneels and pushes Val down too. 

"That's a rust monster" he whispers " I can't believe it. They say that they eat the metal on the armors and shields of the warriors. We cannot let it touch any metal or it will turn to dust..."

 Val tries to sneak forward, but she stumbles as Thurston raises to join her and a loud clank echoes across the chamber as the strange creature turns and starts scrambling towards her. She turns as Thurston identifies it as a rust monster. "A what?!" she hisses.

"It eats metal" says Thurston touching Val's armor " We must take it from distance.." he says, unless... " He gets his shield from his back and says. " I can throw this to his back and when he turns we both go and smash him!!" 

Valen eyes Thurston with frozen disbelief. His mind raced as he pictured such a small thing crumbling the strong steel of his arms. One alternative, however, became readily apparent, "Here, maybe these?" He unslings a long quiver from his back, pulls a javelin, and slides it across the floor. Shield and javelin ready, he dared not make a first move and risk an immediate reprisal.

As the creature suddenly begins rushing towards them, Valaith yanks a javelin from her belt and hurls it at the creature before rushing backwards as far as she can away from the monster. Still feeling weakened from her earlier rage, Val's breath comes heavily and weary as she exerts herself once more. "If you can pin it down, I will attack with my weapons as long as it cannot destroy them!"

Thurston throws Rikkazarik towards the beast, impacting it on the other side and the echo of a distant thunder can be heard. He goes backwards with Valaith as the hammer flies back to his hand. The lingering energy of the thinder seems to surround the rust monster, as if a storm were brewing and was ready to break loose any moment.

" If we break his legs he couldn't come after us... right? " he smiles at her. "Better to hit him hard Valen my friend.." 

Valen hurls a javelin at the monstrous creature, but the sharpened shaft flies wide and the rust monster merely chitters and speeds towards the trio of warriors.

Vark is still brooding as they sit down to rest. He takes a seat a ways apart from the others, his back against one of the now dormant obelisks. But as he closes his eyes to meditate, trying to calm down, the crystal behind him begins to glow again. The red sparks that occasionally arc around his form increase in frequency, but as Vark finds his center the lightning shifts. The erratic bolts begin to straighten out, their random branches now aligning with sharp geometric angles. These crimson forms begin to take on the appearance of a crystalline matrix around Vark, almost as if the obelisk behind him is extending to encompass the warlock. 

The sounds of chitinous limbs and whispered words from the others snaps him out of his trance, and the magical field collapses inward, leaving Vark imbued with even more arcane power. He takes his spear in hand as he gets up, listening to Thurston’s explanation and watching the warriors attempt to attack the insect at range. Without moving his feet, he extends Path Maker towards the beast and his eyes pulse red. A barrage of ruby blasts erupt from the spearhead like a semi-automatic firearm. The first crashes into its flank, the second is a headshot, the third hits the same spot as the first with a spray of ruddy gore, and the fourth knocks the creature off it’s already wobbling legs. “Got it.” 

Aiden's eyes had been crackling with lightning, but it dissipates into the ground as Vark's four blows drop the creature to the cold stone floor. He turns back to the calm and collected half-orc. "You are just full of surprises," he says.

Thurston looks back to Vark and smiles at him.

"That's what I was talking about Vark!" he walks towards him and pats him on the shoulder "Well done my friend well done!" 

He approaches the dead monster and takes out a copper piece. 

"Check this out..." after donning off his own gauntlet he touches one of the creature's tendril with the coin, and it immediatly rust and crumbles into the norscan's fingers. 

"See that? Thank Thor it didn't get the chance to get to our armours or weapons. "Now where's Jex? he should have come back by now..." he says putting his gauntlet back on.

Vark smiles at Aiden and Thurston’s praise. “Didn’t want it to get to you all.” he says sweetly. He turns Towards where Jex went and again a breeze flows from the sorcerer in the rogue’s direction, carrying a message to his ears. “Are you okay? Should we follow?”

Val's shoulders sag in relief as the beast is brought low by Vark; however, she glances over at the young half-orc with slight concern. He could not see it, but he had changed since this Matthew was introduced to him... and as far as Val was concerned it may not be a good change. She shares a brief look with Thurston as she moves further away from this... rust monster. "I hope we do not meet any more of this awful things within these halls..."

Hearing Vark's voice in his head, Jex smiles.

"Concerned for my safety? No need, I will return shortly."

He bounds up the last few stairs back to where he left his companions. A broad grin on his face, he gets as close as he can before stepping out of the shadows. 

"This place is like a maze. A big, empty maze. I have found a potentially promising route though, a walkway, well, sort of a bridge. It may take us where we need to go."

Aiden nods. "Potentially promising is likely as good as we can hope for. Lead on...." he pauses, remembering his outsider status. He was not quite in this group yet. They were quite welcoming to him, which seemed promising considering the vitriol some members treated the other cleric, Valen, with. But he didn't want to push his luck. "...I think." He finishes, looking at the other members of the group.

Jex nods, not really needing the confirmation of the others. He leads the way directly through to the bridge, before once again slipping off quietly ahead.

Illuminated in the dim blue witchlight of the ghostly torches, the broad stone bridge that Jex had described to his companions extends off into the darkness. It is forty feet wide at its narrowest point, with two alcoves on each side that extend that to over ninety in places. At the entrance to each alcove sits an enormous, ancient sarcophagus and the length of the bridge extends one hundred and seventy feet over a cavernous drop to a great door on the far side.

Eyeing the sarcophagi suspiciously, Aiden nods to Thurston, and the two men carefully make their way toward the stone slabs. Suspecting that the inhabitants of the coffins were not as restful as they appeared to be, Aiden concentrates for a moment, then lets out a pulse of divine energy that sweeps across the room, searching for the tainted smell of undeath.

The energy sweeps over the coffins and ... nothing. No undead presences. Surprised, he opens his mouth to let Thurston and the others know it's clear ... and then he feels an aberrant presence. A clicking sound echoes through the darkness, and he looks up just in time to see something big and black pounce down from above! He raises his shield and hammer and says, "Thurston, above!"

Looking back from where he has crossed the room to inspect the door, Jex almost jumps out of his skin as he hears Aiden's warning. Quick as a flash his bow is in his hands as he carefully turns to help his friends. 

Crossing the bridge made Thurston think. The dwarves made sturdy things, solid constructions that last for ages, even if it was mampostery, a suit of armor or a weapon as magnigicient as Rikkazarik. The elves were capable of making things lasts of course, and make them as lasting as their own lifespans... wich was... how long did the elves life again? anyway, he liked the solid aspect of dwarven craft, alas he liked the elegant forms of elvish one. That's why he had started studying both ways of smitting, he was confident that he could make something mixing both of them... elegant but solid... he wasn't sure how to do it yet, but he will figure it out... soon... people used to label him as stupid, he wasn't stupid he just needed his own time to figure out things. And all that thinking made him thirsty. Beer... the dwarves favored beer, it also has a solid quality about it,  while the elves liked wine more. In that he was clear. Mead. The one that his own people disitiled was truly a gift from the Aesir. Odin's beard, he needed a horn of sweet, fresh mead. He reached for his skin and thought that maybe Val would like to  share some with him later so better not to drink all of it now. 

Someone was calling his name. Above? 

Thurston looked up, the skin half way to his lips. 

"Odin's beard!!" 

An enormous ovoid body with six tentacles rears above Thurston and Aiden, where it is seemingly attached to the ceiling. A foul reek wafts down from a dripping maw lined with jagged teeth and the monster rushes to grab both Norscans in one of its thickly muscled coils. Lifting them both into the air, the monster raises Thurston to its jaws and bites down hard on the paladin's armoured torso. One tooth finds a gap in the shining mithril plates, sending a streak of blood running down Thurston's side.

Aiden takes 12 points of bludgeoning damage to vigour, reduced to 6 by DR -> 25/31 Vigour
Thurston takes 8 points of bludgeoning damage and 25 points of piercing damage to vigour, and 1 point of piercing damage to wounds, reduced to 0 and 17+1 by DR -> 23/40 Vigour, 17/18 Wounds, 1 Bleed

Aiden's action.