Currently sitting in the tavern our brave adventurers had been frequenting lately, sat Hayato, his table surrounded by a bevy of cute village women as they listened to his tales of bravery (tall tales more like it.). "So there I was, giant, tentacled monster facing me down and all my comrades were down and out. It was all up to me to take down this fiendish foe! So with one might punch right in the eye, the thing went..." Suddenly the ladies looked up, running off as if something scared them off. "Hey, wait! Where are you going? I was just at the best pa-" He stopped mid-sentence as he looked up at the half-orc bar wench that stood above him, giving him a creepy smile. He blinked, his jaw snapping shut and his octopus "companion", Hachi, sliding off his shoulder slightly. "Ah... hi. What, ah... what's up?" He offered a weak smile to her, praying she wasn't "in the mood" for anything. She simply smiled, setting a bowl of a greenish stew before him. Hayato looked down, his nose wrinkling abit as he noticed some of the ingredients consisted of a lizard's tail, a bat's wing, and what may be a human bone. "Oh! Is this... for me?" She nodded excitedly, leaning down to push the bowl a little closer to him. Hayato bit his bottom lip. "Um... say, you know something, this makes me have to go to the bathroom! I'll be right back, promise!" He laughed pitifully as he got up to move towards the facility, the half-orc simply patting his head out of affection. He ran inside, shutting the door, his eyes wide.

"Window, window, window..." He looked around frantically for an exit, then his eye stopped on the toilet. "Hm... you know, instead of a hole in the ground, I wonder if we could work in a series of pipes that go from this to somewhere else, easily disposing of our waste? ... Nah, it'd never work." Finally seeing a small window, he leaped up into it, his shoulders barely making it through. "You'll have to go first, buddy!" he said as he grabbed his octopus, tossing it outside, where it safely landed on a bale of hay. "Now me!" He squeezed out, managing to make it out... only to fall into a thorny bush. "Thorny bush! THORNY BUSH!" After climbing out and pulling some thorns out of person, he grabbed Hachi and placed him back on his shoulder. He looked around, noticing he was now in the alley beside the building. "Who would plant a thorny bush in an alley!?" His head jerked up as he suddenly heard foot steps, turning around and readying himself in case of an attack.

In the alley stands a man in dark robes that seem to cast a shadow on his face even in the light of day. Watching the monk's "graceful" exit from the Inn's window brought a slight smile to his face. Leaning away from the wall, the man strode slowly down towards the grounded monk. A long gaunt hand slipped from the cloak; held out to help Hayato from the ground.



(((This thread, I've decided will be a little more of a play by post style. It's basically the same as what you've been doing but I'm going to add some flavor. If you all don't mind let Hayato and I play it out.)))

Please be wary, my love! I don't trust this man!!!

Wait a minute, why'd you jump out the window in the first place? AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

((Why would you do that!?))

Hayato looked up at the orc as she seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Um, snoogie boogie, why don't you, um... go see if any of my companions need anything? Please?" He flashed her a smile, hoping it'd be enough to get her to leave him be for awhile. He then turned back to the cloaked stranger, his hand extended. "Oh,hey, thanks..." Ignoring his "special friend's" plea, he grabbed the cloaked man's hand to hoist himself to his feet.

Pulling the monk up with surprising strength, the cloaked man turned and walked away. At the entrance to the alley he turned out into the street, looked back and made a motion that said "follow me."

(((Just for reference Tokma Proper has a sewer system... )))

Hayato tilted his head in confusion towards the man as he walked off, then noticed his motion. He shrugged, figuring this person may have some interesting information on... well, something. He slowly followed after him, remembering to exercise caution as he followed the hooded figure. "Hey, where are we going?" He peeked over his shoulder, trying to get a look at his face under the hood.

The cloaked figure bobbed and weaved through the busy Tokman streets. His movements were swift and difficult to predict as they traveled for what seemed an hour. They made thier way past Inns, stores, temples and the like. Each turn brought new sensations rushing at Hayato as he struggled to keep pace.

Suddenly, the figure turns down an alleyway that seems to eat light. It is very dark and rather forboding.

After an hour of trailing him, Hayato began to become fatigued. "Come on, pal! I'm not in the mood for a wild... goose... " He shuts himself up as they arrive at the dark alley, watching him walk onward. He studied it for a moment, slowly, cautiously walking after him. He had a bad feeling about this. Something was up, but he didn't know what. It didn't matter however, because he knew once he ventured inside, there was no turning back, and for some reason, he felt he just had to follow this strange man.

At the end of the alley Hayato found a door. Rather normal in most respects but somehow not normal at all. Unpleasant darkness surrounded it like a cloak. The sounds of the street faded away as he walked towards it and all his attention was drawn to it. Suddenly, the monk noticed that the cloaked figure was no longer around. Had he slipped by?

Hayato proceeded to step closer to the door, as if drawn to it. He looked it over, shuddering abit as a chill fell down his spine. He shook it off, then began to wonder if the man had wandered into here. He slowly reached out, hesitating abit, and rested his hand on the knob, then proceeded to turn it slowly...






.... to the right...

Slowly at first and then very quickly, Hayato was sucked through the doorknob. At least that's the way it seemed. When his eyes opened they beheld a room full of chests. (No not that kind...) Each had a symbol that seemed very similar to a certain something in Hayato's memory. His mind wandered over that for a moment then suddenly a certain key popped into mind.

There were fifteen chests against three walls of the room. Above each chest is a number. They were all the same size and shape, no distinct differences could be noticed. The room is well lit and about 15x15 feet.

Hayato observed the chests momentarily, tilting his head as he looked them over. He scratched his head, then he pulled out the key he had recieved a while back. "Huh. Wonder if these chests have to do with anything? Hmmmm... I get the feeling I only get to open one of these chests... so which one then?" He looked over them yet again, pondering on which one to open. "Well, they say seven's a lucky number... but one's the loneliest number... hmmm, decisions, decisions... " Hayato then closed his eyes and decided to perform an ancient technique taught to him by his father before his demise...


...

...

... "Eenie meenie miney moe..." He covered his eyes and pointed at each one inturn, his finger finally stopping on the tenth chest. He held up the key, then slowly crouched down in front of it, slowly easing the key into the keyhole...

***Everything esplodes!!!!***

Hayato's hand felt as if hundreds of bugs were crawling around on it. As a matter of fact there were. Thousands of spiders dashed out of the chest as he opened it. They were not biting yet just crawling.

"Ahhh!! Spiders!" Hayato swung his arm around to remove the spiders, then he started to smash his arm against the wall in an attempt to crush them. He winced in pain abit, but he was in a panick, trying to ward his arms against his creepy crawly assailants.

As quickly as they were there they were gone. No marks, besides a few bruises, were left to be seen. The room once again sat quiet as stone. The remaining chests sat as if anticipating Hayato's next choice.