Desert Sands IV: Like sheep, they are laid in the grave

La Compagnia Septentrionale squared off against the dog-faced, reptilian creatures guarding the entrance to the desecrated crypt. Asbjørn grievously wounded one and Alexandru finished it with an arrow from his quiver. The group was glad to have made quick work of their first enemy but were immediately distracted as growling and rumbling gave way to a dogman storming from the entryway to the peristyle to survey the interlopers. He bore a gore-caked morningstar and a great desert tortoiseshell shield.

Theo called out exultantly to the gods of the Ouranic Church, elated at the restored thrum of his theurgical connection, and the gods deigned to grant blessings to his companions. Riven and a dog-faced beast drew taught their bowstrings simultaneously, but Riven was a fraction of a second faster. Though her draw was imprecise it was enough to distract the beast which had set its aim against Ükhilflin. Ükhilflin felled the second creature, freeing the party to focus on the dogman.

Asbjørn rushed up the stairs, ever angry and impetuous while Alex and Riven attempted to fire arrows at the dogman without hitting the surprisingly spry hulking Asbjørn, but they were too cautious and both shots flew wide. Teleptyon hung back, waiting to unleash a bolt of pure Ar, but hoping to reserve his energies for larger foes. At the top of the stairs, the dogman brought his morningstar down onto the barbarian's chest, but the armor of Khab Senout Ahmed-Mehr vibrated with ancient arcane protections. "Sorcery!" he barked, both mirthful and disgusted, before seriously wounding him the jackal. Not to be outdone, Kegho loosed a crossbow bolt into the creature but it was not enough to finish it. Alex fired another arrow and managed to finally kill the thing.

Asbjørn rushed deeper into the crypt while Alex attempted to search the body of the fallen dogman for anything useful, but a shout from Asbjørn being ambushed by a club-strike interrupted him as he entered a chamber with a lit brazier. More dogmen were inside! Ükhiflin rushed up the stairs to join the fracas, but the space was too tight for her to find an opening. Theo realized Asbjørn had rushed into the darkness and lit a lantern. When the ringing in Asbjørn's ears subsided, he realized that three of his teeth had clattered to the floor and saw red. A dogman wielding a spear threw it at Ükhiflin who dodged easily and lunged, pulling the the now-disarmed gnoll to the ground, wounding it in the process. Theo pushed his way deeper into the crypt illuminating more of the space. Asbjørn laid out another gnoll. He continued his rampage and lightly disemboweled a gnoll, but failed to kill it. A mace-wielding gnoll missed Ükhiflin. Alex fired an arrow from the doorway, but failed to strike his target. Theo begins rectifying the gnoll holding a mace with bludgeoning attacks. Alex moved deeper into the room and missed his target. The gnoll wielding a scimitar struck Asbjørn who in turn decapitated him in a decadent show of bloody violence. Kegho entered the room and was able to dispatch the last gnoll with his crossbow. Asbjørn remained enraged and Theo soothed him. When he was calm, he replaced his teeth in their proper slots and demanded that Theo do whatever it was he did to heal him and fix his smile.

The party gathered up what was on the various dead creatures including 24 copper, 4 silver, a bronze Kemian scimitar, an iron morningstar, a tortoise shell shield and a primitive sewing kit.

In the flickering light of the brazier they see a bass relief of St. Georgous depicted as a conquering hero. On the opposite wall an oath was inscribed in Old Rexan "I will fight Chaos in all its forms, and uphold the will of Ator. This I pledge through the honor of my words." Alex asked Theo to repeat it, but to really enunciate it. Having possibly pledged himself to a palladin's code, Theo lifted his lantern and began descending the steps that led out of the room on the opposite side.

Unfortunately for Theo, the landing at the bottom of the stairs was a pressure plate, and a spiked log hanging from two ropes and previously hooked to the ceiling dropped. He held up his hands to block the object to no avail and in the process, his lantern was crushed. Asbjørn pulled him off of the spikes and Teleptyon lit his lantern in the new darkness. Theo healed himself but bemoaned the loss of his trusty lantern. The party decided that Alex would lead through the rest of the hall, but while he searched for pressure plates, trip lines and lasers, a spear was thrown at him from the darkness. He only narrowly dodged the spear by the Lysdar's gift, but was not so lucky when the gnoll charged out of the darkness to swipe at him. As the rest of the group was packed into the hall behind him, he was unable to escape, so he threw a flask of oil at the dogman hoping to keep it at bay.