Struggle for Paruhapta I: Groping in Darkness

As they stepped out of the service tunnel into the valley proper, The Jiam breathed deeply of the valley's air, laden with the smells of plants growing, dying and decaying and heavy with the humidity that created. Instinctively he meditated on the threads of uculu that connected the space and in the verdant jungle he felt more of the green side of nature than the desert had been able to support, but the red, uculukem, was also ever present. He cocked his head and noted that for all the life he could sense there was virtually no sound in the area. Before they left the shelter of the tunnel they ducked back in the shadows to let giant centipedes languidly slither by.

The Jiam began making an assessment of the local flora and found little of it that would be edible but gathered fronds and strong branches plenty to build a lean-tos for the group. While setting up the camp the near silence was disturbed by the buzzing of giant insect wings above the tree line, but they never became visible.

Riven, Alex and The Jiam offered to scout ahead while the rest of the party made themselves as comfortable as possible as they could be with Khufu poking at the nearby ravine wall and talking about the improbable strata present.

Past the tree lined ravine the way opened onto a low, broad building with mud brick construction and high windows. They skirted to one edge of the building and Alex used his mirror to check the corner and saw a broad, empty boulevard heading north further into the valley and a second building of the same construction as the first. He listened but still heard nothing notable. Riven meanwhile noticed the moist, loamy ground had few tracks in it which surprised her but she did find one snake-like trail which seemed to match the size, weight and positioning of the ophidian sorceress. She groused that with scales the sorceress probably did not even have to deal with humidity-related frizz, but when The Jiam asked her what she said she stared blankly at him and said nothing.

Alex scaled the wall to look into one of the high windows, but some of the mud brick crumbled making more noise than he would've preferred. He looked and listened at the high window but saw nothing and still only heard uncanny quiet. They pressed on around hte left of the building, but when they came to a narrow path turned back to the party.

They rested a day and a night. As the sun set over the valley they heard the natural sounds they had been missing echo through the place. frogs croaked in the water ways, birds chirped and things scampered in the underbrush. More concerning was a soft chanting floating on the wind. When the stars were high overhead Teleptyon studied the stars and his astrolabe and celestial sphere before declaring that it would be very dangerous to enter the building they had found, but also very rewarding. Kegho quipped that it was no different than everything they did.

On the following morning, relatively well refreshed and with Theo, Antonious and The Jiam performing blessings and healings, the party moved toward the boulevard and to pass between the two buildings they had lightly scouted. They found a door to the left and in an alcove Alex spotted an inscribed obelisk. The party cautiously moved down the boulevard seeing a door to the right, and one to the left before reaching the obelisk tucked against the right building. Alex skimmed the text and said "oh, someone was cursed here. I'll need a few minutes." and took out a small chunk of chalk and began making marks on the obelisk. The rest of the party waited for him to finish but he waved them off saying "just don't let me get killed." The rest of the party spread out in pathway noting the geometric patterns of the tiled walk way and a third door to the left.

"High risk but high reward" Teleptyon laughed nervously, his voice cracking slightly as he moved behind Kegho. "Sally forth."

Kegho scowled and sighed deeply.