The Forgotten City XXVI
General Summary
Overwhelmed by the troglodyte in the chamber, the party fell back: Alex did a Silivas tumble out past Riven and an attacking troglodyte. He felt the sequence was solid, but his landing was less elegant than he liked. The troglodyte attacked Riven, but she was not in the mood for physical contact and stepped deftly out of the way of its grasp and pulled the door closed behind her. Kegho moved to the door hoping that they would follow into the warren of tunnels outside the chamber, but the door remained obstinately shut.
Theo and Khufu converged on the bleeding and delirious Teleptyon as his world and pain came sharply back into focus with his nose stinging and the vague drowning feeling of a nosebleed. He reached up to pinch his nose to stop the flow as the priests rushed to stop him from panicking. Theo pulled out scroll containing incantations to blessed Lamos and seeing his intent, Khufu began chanting Khemite liturgy to push back the oppressive Reshpu-ness of the squalid hall. Teleptyon's wounds knit themselves together but delicate skin grew over the bleeding edges of the ruins of his nose rather than a new nose growing. Khufu said "Much more powerful theurgies than we can muster here will be needed to restore his face I'm afraid." and Theo responded "Yes, I agree" and they nodded and walked away. Teleptyon followed them into the main hall where Kegho and Alex were arguing about where to go next, and Alex was inexplicably rolling in the half-fermented offal of a slain camel in one of the dead-end hallways. When Teleptyon entered Riven nearly smiled before commenting that he looked like an Aeriscan Horseshoe bat and she thought it was a very good look for him.
Kegho shouted "No. Fight here. Where go!?" as Alex, ran, laughing a little manically down the hall "You all OWE me" echoed back followed by a wet splat sound as Alex had jumped, arms and legs splayed and bloody, and slid comically down the door. When they reached him, Kegho still warily watching the way they had come, the door was mostly open and Alex was wiping himself down with moth eaten fragments of what had one been a proud Rexan uniform.
La Compagnia moved into the chambers south of the second blood-opened door and Kegho had them fan out for views of various hallways to find the most promising to continue down. Khufu and Teleptyon noticed the room they had entered had the motif of a headless man surrounded by creatures. Theo found threadbare robes of white linen with green sashes and moved back to the main hallways to tell the party before moving further into the cave system to explore. Teleptyon surmised that no one would keep a vestry far from their ceremonial chambers. Alex and Riven explored some of the other hallways but found only dead ends. Alex searched some of the niches carved in the rock wall and found a bit of rolled vellum. He tucked it away safely, not attempting to read it after seeing what trouble reading had gotten Teleptyon and Theo into.
The humans and Keb dressed in the fallen Rexan vestments and led the way down the hall with Teleptyon and the wreckage of his face at the forefront. As they passed into the chambers a man called to them "Yayit, comewhy do you dally in the antechamber?" Teleptyon walked forward passing into a space rank with death and roiling miasma. He saw a large stone idol of the headless giant and six ghoul-like creatures dressed in rags that were once fine Rexan clothes and smelling of the grave. As they stepped into the light they found a man in ceremonial robes looking beatific as he supped on the entrails of a writhing leprous man vivisected at the foot of the idol.
"Come, join me in this communion" the man said, somewhat affected by golden lotus. Those wearing robes approached and did their best attempt at faking eating human entrails. He then led them forward to the ceremonial space where a shard of impenetrable darkness pulsed. He looked at Khufu and indicated that he needed the child to sacrifice himself to satisfy this shard of a god made manifest in the chamber. Khufu was offended at being mistaken for a child but remained silent.
Deeper in the warren, somebody screamed. The ghouls hungered but did not pursue. Theo began whispering the ritual necessary to create a temporary sacred space around himself. Riven and Teleptyon vaguely sense that this man is familliar but neither could place why.
Rewards Granted
Hepatitis C
