Struggle for Paruhapta IV: Goeth Down Sweetly

Half of the party remained at camp after Alex and the Keb cousins had convinced them that the anvil in the caverns was retrievable. Elissa agreed to accompany the other half to the manor in order to finish clearing it that with an eye toward taking up residence for their time in the Paruhaptan valley. As they traveled they felt the odd sensation of being watched, but it eventually passed.

When they returned to the garden door of the manor they found that three large constrictors were flicking their tongues and exploring the areas they had previously been. Kegho said "Am not have time for this! Am go other door!" and turned to leave; the rest of the party shrugged and folllowed and they saw much more of the manor across the boulevard than they had on their previous visit, including skulls mounted on posts in warning and signs of relatively recent habitation. Khufu checked to make sure the door had not been disturbed since they had been there last

Khufu then pushed delicately on the great doors decorated with Rusat and Nisat. As they parted weightlessly, Khufu felt a frisson of pleasure.

They returned to the open courtyard, morning light streaming in from above and looked first in the door to the east, where they found a spacious kitchen with plenty of natural light and work surfaces which, though not updated in a few millennia still had a timeless charm that felt contemporary. Theo found more jars, but none bore the marks they were searching for although there was a gentle smell of date sugar on them. To the north was another door, which Kegho opened only to find a gray protoplasm, which sensed the disturbance of the door and came oozed surprisingly quickly toward the barbarian. He slammed the door shut as everyone prepared themselves for battle but the door began to sizzle and sputter as it was dissolved from the other side.

Elissa lit a torch and hoped that fire would do better than the wood and metal of the door had. Khufu chanted a prayer and a simple planishing hammer appeared floating before him, radiating with divinity. He grinned. From across the room Theo muttered "good luck with that," before the hammer missed its target. "Don't worry it happens to everyone," Theo encouraged.

Teleptyon shouted "Kegho boove" and Kegho turned confused to see Teleptyon holding his staff aloft and chanting as fire a narrow point of flame began to orbit the tip. Kegho backed carefully away from the door as the point zipped past his head singing away the hair on his left ear. It made contact and dazzled the eyes of those watching, a perfect expression of flame consumed the grey thing and disappeared leaving a desiccated membrane behind. Theo sang a brief hymn to Aelos noting that it was his day and he had certainly worked great things through the mage, though his thaumaturgy was inherently profane. Teleptyon made a face, but missing his nose it was hard to tell if it was gratitude at the priest's back-handed benediction or disappointed that a fine example of his skill had been credited elsehwere.

Elissa searched the room for a jar bearing a mark and found one, a woman holding a loaf of bread. It rattled and she poured the coin on the floor as Alex had instructed not reaching her hand into the dark jar. A scorpion and three gold coins tumbled out, The scorpion landed upside down and huffily flipped itself over and skittered behind undisturbed crockery deeper in the shadows. "Three coins means bread will be in the third position on the lock." Elissa said to commit it to memory. Khufu nodded while studying the depiction of the goddess. It reminded him that he was peckish and they sat and ate dates before looking at the other jars. Theo found jars sealed with wax and carefully removed and collected the wax for later candle making. When he opened the jar he smelled a molasses sweetness and dipped his finger in to find fine aged date wine and marveled at the skill of the craftsrusati.

Khufu lifted and shook a basket and found it quite heavy, he looked inside and found thousands of silver coins. The shaking had caused a silver ring adorned with a cabochon set with a red gemstone faintly glowing with a warm light. "This must be magic, the wizard should look at it." Khufu said, the warm glow glinting in his eye. Teleptyon indicated it could wait and he needn't exhaust himself over it now, but was prevailed upon to see if it was magic or not. "Of course it is, hmm the shade, if you can really call it that, of the Ar speaks of protection." Kegho bellowed "cowards, is just ring" and put it on. It fit surprisingly well. "Hmm was not that big moment go" Elissa jabbed her lit torch at his thigh. "Woman why you all hurt Kegho!?"but the flame had wrapped itself around his leg and he remained unharmed. "Sorcery!" Kegho said and took the ring back off to make sure it was not stuck like Teleptyon's serpent ring had been. It slid off easily and he put it back on repeating "Sorcery!" a little more quietly this time.

They moved south and found more store rooms, one of them filled with wine presses and amphorae both filled and waiting to be filled. Elissa squat-walked through the jars turning them and tilting them over until she found an Oubasti chugging wine and holding a khopesh slaked in either wine or blood. Khufu smiled and explained at Oubast, the goddess of wine and war. Elissa said "If Alex's is right there will be either five for the bowl of wine or seven coins for the lion." She poured out the contents of the jar and seven coins clattered to the floor." Kegho wailed that Alex had been incorrect but Teleptyon patted him on the back and said "No, that iz seben big guy"

Further south they found another corridor lined with doors, the first had an unremarkable bedroom, too nice for a household servant, but perhaps the right size for a steward.

As Kegho opened the second door in the hall he saw a ragged man wearing a plain brown tunic. He thought to check on the old man, but a low "hnnnnnnnn" as blood stained fingers reached toward him told him his instinct had been wrong.

Everybody Else

While Kegho, Khufu, Teleptyon, Theo and Elissa returned to the manor on the edge of the valley, Riven, Alex, The Jiam, Herk and Antonious made their way back to the small shrine of Xam in the caverns with an eye to retrieving supplies including the anvil. Under the tutelage of Alex, Riven and The Jiam even Herk and Antonious were able to traverse the arena compound silently although they nearly attracted the attention of enemies before the bridge. And were forced to hide for hours in the alcove where the rockthrower had been.

When the guards left after four hours Antonious and Alex argued briefly if Urgul the beastman guard was really flirting with Sharnak or if Ygul and Sharnak were already an item. They continued on.

Herk noted that Riven had done an admirable job of splicing line on the bridge for a non-Keb. In the cavern between the bridge and the forge room, they encountered two giant toads. Hand on the hilt of his dagger, Alex whispered to Antonious that if they survived he'd make him a toad mask if he promised to surprise Brother Theo wearing it. Riven told her quiver to stop snickering and Antonious quirked an eyebrow in confusion.

Before they could come to blows The Jiam half closed his eyes and tuned his voice to the universal sound of the Uculu as it flowed between creatures and whispered "like, chill out my dudes" to the toads, and they were thus chilled. He further chanted words of friendship, and serenity and an ongoing problem with large flying insects, and they did become friends.

Alex attempted to sell Herk on the possibility of riding giant frogs into battle, but Xamherkhepeshef was not quite convinced although suggesting finely crafted riding gear did pique his interest. Riven cut in, deadpan, "You know how Brother Theo will react."

Alex strung together a surprisingly competent set of curses in ancient Khemian that Herk mostly followed. "He'd even kill them."

Riven shook her head emphatically before repeating hymns of Bira and and of Maya about being unsporting and causing unnecessary harm to creatures without cause and then pointed to La Dona sticking her nose near the nearest toad's nostril and them sniffing each other tentatively: "Not a threat, not food, not sport. It would make the goddesses" she looked briefly at her quiver and nodded "exactly Demetrius, sad."

"You make a compelling case," Antonious said "but who is Demetrius?"