Nomen Infernale XLIX: You Walked Among the Stones of Fire

General Summary

A low whistle escaped Alex as he studied the clay mark on the hempen seal on the double doors. "This is not a place of honor," Alex intoned, but only Riven and Elissa were listening. Teleptyon muttered to himself before the grotesque violet eye on his forehead opened and he saw the distinct glowing of the pool and of Alex. Theo knelt down to fill his aspergillum and called Kegho over. Kegho was hesitant as he was whenever the priest invited his gods to attend to him, but came close anyway. Theo began flicking the aspergillum at the Steppelander and it was all Kegho could do not to hiss and run away from the splashes of water. Theo checked the barbarians face, but saw no improvement. Regardless, Kegho felt good after contact with the water. Asbjørn, seeing the vigor of those who drank decides to take a scoop of water himself and feels it spread through his limbs.   When Theo looked up from studying Kegho's face, he saw Riven and Alex discussing removing the seal without breaking it. Alex had introduced the topic theoretically, but Riven's nimble fingers had twined themselves deftly between the fibers. She handed Alex the clay and hempen seal. He shrugged and put it in his bag as Theo stormed over scolding them for disturbing a Rusati building when they were simultaneously seeking the Rusati's help. They argued for a while about whether they knew enough to find the Rusati Oasis and whether the crypt might provide that information. Eventually they prevailed on Teleptyon to use his astrolabe to tell whether they would find the city without entering the crypt. He drifted into a meditative place with ink and paper and the astrolabe before him while Alex and Theo bickered over the inevitability of entering. When they realized he would be like this for a time they set about cooking and setting up camp. The night passed without incident.   After a night of meditation Teleptyon's eyes snapped open and a voice his and alien droned out "Every lock has a key, and the key is needed to open the lock. You may find a lock open or un-open. Sometimes if you have no key,  you must break the lock."   "Sorcery!" Asbjørn spat. "Why no gods speak plain" groused Kegho. Theo accosted the wizard "So does that mean THIS is acceptable!?" while he shook the sheepish Teleptyon, who replied "I only speak the words the Ar reveals, sometimes the meaning is clear and sometimes not."   Alex whispered prayers to the Khemian gods of the gates of the underworld he had overheard while loitering in the temple district of Anekhsemeru and a prayer to Dhureus and opened the door and was about to step through when Theo rushed past him and attempted to block his way. He glowered at the small legitimate business Oameni, but Alex was enraptured by the murals that lined the hallways. He saw human and Keb warriors being led into battle by the Rusati, all of them led by a Rusati lord. On the right he saw kings of men and Keb kneeling before a Rusati lord, a male by the looks of his tall stature and taut buttocks and as Alex rattled off the names and nations of the kings he said "Adom-Shai. On hearing the name so deeply associated with their journey Theo realized that they might have been led there by Gerdia. He stepped back and allowed Alex to study the murals.   While the murals were blended masterfully down the hallway each side had three major motifs. The second panel on the left showed the combined armies in a pitched battle with ghuls. The right showed the Rusati lord holding aloft a scepter with a beam of light cast over a city half hidden in shadow and half brightly visible. Teleptyon studied the image and though he could not think of an analog in his learning he declared that it would be a very powerful working of the Ar indeed to hide a city. A door was near this panel. The third panel on the left showed the Keb building what appeared to be the building they were currently in except it was surrounded by lush jungle instead of arid wasteland. The last panel on the right showed a procession of Rusati mourners carrying a sarcophagus.   Having studied the mural Alex came to a door at the end of the hallway. Riven who had followed behind had stopped and checked the door near the Rusati king holding the scepter to see if there were any powders, wires or latches which might be a problem. She found that it seemed safe, but stuck which prompted the barbarians to taunt each other about times the other had failed to kick down a door. With a look that might be described as glee, Riven slipped her trusty crowbar from her belt and  and while Alex began to check the door at the end of the hall they discussed going through the door on the right first and returning to the door at the end of the hall, but as Alex began to do the same at his door, Theo became impatient and charged through it abruptly almost toppling the Oameni over. Alex entered the room slightly behind Theo and they saw a two pillars at the foot of a pool with a walkway on either side leading up stone steps to a raised platform on which sat an empty throne. As they rounded the pillars on either side two 7 or 8 foot statues of Rusati warriors stared balefully at them from either side of the throne. As they approached the eyes began to glow red.   The rest of the party comes quickly behind but the way is blocked by the narrow path and the statues march forward toward Alex and Theo. Asbjørn fires a bolt at one of the statues but missed. The statue on the left reached Theo and loosed lava from the tips of its fingers. He was scalded but brought his mundane mace on the statue's head in a mighty blow as a web of cracks spread from the site of the strike. Alex loosed a bullet and missed. Riven hit, but the arrow chipped at the outer layer of the stone and did minimal harm. "Fucking Derek" she mumbled before pulling out the next arrow. Teleptyon looses a bolt of Ar which wove its way between his companions to crack the state on the right. Alex moved back and loosed another bullet which struck the statue on the right, a small web of cracks spreading on its shoulder. Another arrow from Riven only chipped the statue and she apologized to Derek for having been too hard on it. Theo was hit by another blast of molten stone, but still managed to strike the statue leaving chunks of it missing from its face and neck. Elissa  Keg decided he will be unable to get around the priest who is focused intently on the leftmost statue and cuts around the pool to strike the rightmost statue, but even Wraithcleaver has difficulty with the task glancing off the stone and creating a chip.   Teleptyon saw how deeply damaged the statue on the left and Theo were and looses another bolt of Ar exploding that statue and preventing more harm befalling their priest.   The statue facing Kegho raised its arms and sprayed his bare chest with molten stone.