Nomen Infernale XXIV: Cast Your Idols to the Bats

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aving secured the treasure they had found on their last visit to Lakham Tabab, La Compagnia moves deeper into the mine, checking as they go to ensure that they would not be surprised from behind. As they pass into the spiral passage downward, Riven slides the hood of her cloak down and cocks her head "breathing," she whispers. and continues on. As Kegho leads around a curve in the path he sees the giant cave bear they had met the last time they had been at Lakham Tabab. Kegho was grieved by the state of the thing, which had been ragged with the creeping corruption previously, but now as encircled by a blood circle and clearly consumed by miasmatic energies. A third member of the Khemian group they had seen earlier is quickly expiring in front of it. Alex and Riven round the corner and immediately loose projectiles, but miss. Teleptyon hastily fires a bolt of Ar at the poor beast and damages it. Kegho gathers himself and charges with Skullcleaver sinking the bit of his ax deep into its skull. Theo cries out for Bira for a merciful end to the beast's corrupted existence and channels her energy to greatly weaken the zombear. It is terrified, but before it can react, Asbjørn comes into view of the bear, the Rhenlander is horrified as the bear is such an important element of his training and a totem of his clan. He takes this corruption personally, and is unable to process strong emotions in any way other than through his hypertrophic amygdala. He rages at the bear for its own corruption, slipping past it in a blur and stabbing its unprotected flank, killing it.

Though the bear is dead, Asbjørn's blood lust has not been sated and he turns on his nearest companion, Kegho. Alex attempts to slip into the shadows as he too is nearby and Elissa moves to defend him as she can see that he stands out against the rocks he has pressed himself against. Asbjørn sees none of this as his focus is locked on the hulking man with a bloody axe before him. He runs at him, Lullaby raised and sinks it deep into Kegho's abdomen. Theo manages to call out in honeyed tones to Asbjørn and he regains clarity standing before a very annoyed Kegho with Lullaby to its hilt in his side. "Bro, uhh sorry bro, lemme get that." Theo yells for him to stop but Asbjørn withdraws the cursed blade and the trickle of blood becomes a torrent. Theo attempts to staunch the bleeding by mundane means but it is too great and he cries out desperately to Lamos who hears his voice and heals Kegho.

Once Alex is sure that the barbarians are no longer a threat or in danger, he approaches the bear who he feels had been dealt a cruel hand and whispers prayers to Asdona on its behalf before moving on to the expired Khemian. He checks his pockets and finds them empty. Theo had already moved him into a position of repose and closed his eyes. Alex marks his forehead with the Khemian name of the god of the afterlife with dust and says a prayer to Bennos asking him to aid him in his journey forward. Riven thanks Bira that the corruption of the bear had been ended and says a prayer for it while Teleptyon studies the circle and its effects. He tells the party that he is certain that this is the work of necromancers. He assumes this is not the work of the Ma'abar Necrosolistes, but knows there are many who have sought out the secrets of their arts who hide in the desert. Whoever it was, he assures them they were powerful enough to overwhelm the bear and then perform skilled necromantic magics. He worries what they might do if they already have part of the infernal name.

Alex reminds Theo of his desire to purge the crude shrine to the unnamed cyclopic bat god in one of the side halls. Kegho discourages any interference with dark gods, but when Theo will not be disuaded he agrees to go with him to the shrine. They feel pressure in their temples and thei ncursion of dark invasive thoughts, but Theo drives them away with his zeal and Kegho with his aversion to interactions with the gods. Theo chants expurgative prayers to Edius as he washes the walls with clean cloth and holy water. The wall foams and boils as the markings are washed away and the bat's visage is no more.

Alex and Riven then scout the southern storage room and begin checking the barrels which had not been opened. They find aged vinegar and Teleptyon collects empty vessels to fill for alchemical and culinary purposes. He also directs them to collect more drystone that they might gift some to the Rusati. Having collected what they could they followed the path clawed open by the stone monsters and descended a knotted hempen rope deeper into Lakham Tabab.

As Theo's lantern light fills the lower level, the party is startled to find that the mine descended into the chambers of what appears to be a tomb. The walls are inscribed with Khemian-style script, but Alex is unable to decipher the language they are meant to represent. Theo walks forward and as his light carries down the hallway they see doors to chambers on the sides of the long hallway, stairs down to a slightly lower level and a statue of a Keb. Alex grumbles about how many cultures used ancient Khemian writing to convey their own language before setting up to check the first door for traps. "No," Theo said beatifically, "let me." He prayed and his eyes glowed with a fraction of the true sight that allows the gods to perceive the world around them. He checked the doors and the long hallway and saw no traps. He walked closer to the statue before noticing that there was a yellow mold across the lower floor. He wonders about it, but is interrupted by Kegho kicking the first door open while Alex claims he almost had it unstuck. Elissa finds grave goods including a ceremonial mirror set with a sunburst pattern and a black opal and the room also contains a chest of exotic spices. After the northern room was picked clean Riven attempts to open the southern door, but it too is swollen with age. Asbjørn attempts to kick it down, but Kegho is there first, still surly about the earlier stab-wound and looking to assert some dominance. He kicks but the Keb-constructed door is sturdy even at this age. Asbjørn chuckles and takes his turn, but he too fails. Elissa joins in the games, but she too fails. When they step back, Riven is standing there with a crowbar and a quizzical look on her face. She finds a gap and pops the door without trouble. Riven and Elissa enter and find four pounds of salt and an iron band inscribed with Keb script.

While they are searching, Alex grabs Teleptyon by the arm and drags him to the sea of yellow mold. He haunches down and takes a tiny pinch of the drystone and sprinkles it on the edge of the mold. It makes a slight sizzling sound as the desiccant touches it and the edges curl in toward the center of mold sea's mass.