Nomen Infernale VIII: Stone Devils and the Demon Bear

La Compagnia had been badly battered by their encounter with the stone skinned monsters from deeper within The Mines of Lakham Tabab, but there were only two ikhoni left, with one badly cracked from repeated attacks. Brother Theo turned the Hammer of Ator against one of the ikhoni as it dove at him. The ikhoni's claw connected just as the Hammer crushed it to dust. The party feared that the cleric had been slain, but the monster's claw had merely caught the skin of his scalp. Brother Theo was dazed and it looked like a grisly mess, however, he would survive. Having reached the limits of his ability to commune with the divine, the Hammer blinked out of existence.

The remaining ikhoni having seen Brother Theo's command of this hammer saw him as the biggest threat and set upon him. Before Maya's servant fell to the attack, the still enraged barbarian, Kegho, thrust Skullcleaver sailing in an arc through the air, which neatly bisected the creature. Both halves hung in the air, briefly confused, before they both crumbled to dust.

Though all of the threats to the party were now vanquished, Kegho was still in the thrall of his blood-rage. If he could not subdue his fury, he would be moments from obliterating one of his companions. Fearful of being the target of Kegho's rage, with a quick meditation of the paradox of vision, Teleptyon disappeared before Abet's eyes to the Medjay's great consternation. At the same time, the quick-witted Alex, his diminutive oameni form still hidden in the shadows, launched a rock from his sling to ricochet down the newly-opened passage in the hopes that Kegho would believe more enemies were in that direction. The rogue's ruse was successful, as Kegho charged down the dark passageway intent on murder.

After nearly being scalped by the ikhoni's claws, Brother Theo had now recovered from his daze and called honeyed words, laced with the grace of Maya down after Kegho to soothe his rage. The iron grip of his shame-fueled rage relaxed as his psyche was flooded instead with tranquility. Brother Theo then began praying for the blessings of Lamos upon himself and was brought back from the brink of death. His illusion ended, Teleptyon blinked back into existence, as Brother Theo approached the greviously wounded mage to apply his skills in chirurgery to staunch Teleptyon's bleeding. Abet considered the state of the party and suggested that resting outside of the caves might do the group a world of good.

They exited the caves looking rough. The company's porter and camel-tender, the young Zahur, was so shaken by their state that he immediately began preparing a meal for them as they staggered from the mine's entrance to their camp. Brother Theo blessed the meal and then worked diligently to heal those in need before retiring to his bedroll, exhausted. Meanwhile, Asbjørn called upon his experience as a nomadic warrior of the forests of North Rhenland to set about reinforcing the camp by creating an ad hoc alarm system of dried sticks spread around the entranceways to their raised position while Alex, Abet and the Palesian Scout, Riven, went foraging for useful material. Although Abet was also interested in seeking out what made the large bear tracks they had seen on their way in. Unfortunately, all of them failed in their respective goals.

As night settled on the camp, Riven took the first watch. The group's two camels became distressed as the Scout heard the heavy thudding of steps in the distance. To her horror, soon the steps were crunching on the branches Asbjørn had laid out and what appeared to be a giant cave bear was in their midst! As she saw its terrible form approach in the shadowy light of the campfire, Riven noticed that it was mangy and sickly; its eyes were large with pain as it frothed at the mouth. Riven quickly fired her bow but merely grazed the bear's ear. The furious she-bear swiped at her twice, its large paws connecting both times, tearing wounds into both of her shoulders. Teleptyon fled into the mouth of the mine to cower and Riven retreated toward the main camp, as Asbjørn rushed the bear to cover her retreat. Alex again slipped into the shadows, hoping to get behind the bear and strike its unprotected backside. However, the bear decided better of engaging Asbjørn and charged at Mercy instead, beheading the hapless camel in one clean strike. As the bear raced away from him, Asbjørn struck at the regular "bjørn" and sliced its thigh. At the sight of the carnage, Zahur's courage failed him and he fled into the night.

Despite his physical and spiritual exhaustion, Brother Theo managed to successfully channel Bira's command over wild beasts into his frail physical form before he lost consciousness and charmed the bear, which now became deeply committed to protecting the unconscious cleric.

Now that it was closer to the smoldering fire in the camp they could clearly see patches with blued skin showing where the corruption of this land had caused its fur to fall out. As it attempted to rouse Brother Theo, Kegho and Asbjørn quickly discussed whether it would be safe to attack the bear while she was nuzzling the priest. Over Asbjørn's protests, Kegho decided instead to get the she-bear's attention. Alex wondered aloud how much such a magnificent bear could carry and if it would not be a more secure guardian of their possessions than a mere camel; however, Kegho, using his knowledge of animal handling, was already yelling at it in Ashkuzi "Kel! Qalme!" (GO AHN GIT!) as he threw some dried fish away from the campsite. The bear whined and took a longing look at Theo before scarpering off into the night.

The danger seeming to have subsided, Asbjørn stalked into the night to retrieve Zahur and came back heaping abuse on the lad who had soiled himself in the commotion. The unfortunate Mercy had fallen on her side after the killing blow and Alex encouraged everyone to clean up and salvage anything related to the camel lest they attract further unwanted attention during the night. When the barbarians moved her they found that the ancient Khemian couch had survived the encounter and a weary cheer went up from most of the party.

Alex reluctantly took the second watch of the night, which passed uneventfully, and Kegho took the last watch. As the winds shifted the Ashkuz horseman heard a low thrum and a shadowy cloud in the distance. A swarm of carnivorous loctus, known as zulchamwi in the Khemite tongue, descended onto the camp, perhaps attracted by the scent of carrion.

Kegho woke the party and Zahur scrambled under Chastity and hid. As the cloud of insects bit and stung, Alex ran for the fire to grab a brand, as Kegho and Riven swung their swords, vainly swatting at the small, nimble insects. Asbjørn fed the campfire hoping that the smoke would drive them away, but they were far from the fire and Asbjørn was close. The Rhenish warrior choked and was driven from the cloud of acrid smoke. Zulcham worked their way under Kegho's armor as he ran from the swarm, dropping to the ground and crushing them.

Characters begin next session sleep-deprived.