The Forgotten City XLIII

After hearing the grinding of a machine below them and with Khufu surmising that the cisterns might be connected, perhaps to an underground waterway, Alex, Elissa and the Keb cousins gave up their search of the room and moved at a brisk pace to rejoin the party and exit the chambers with cisterns. While the party formed up on The door to one side, Theo and The Jiam tapped their respective transcendent sources to heal the worst injured in the party. When Elissa arrived next to Kegho he opened the door revealing a hallway with a door, portcullis, another door and a left turn. Kegho surmised the first door would lead to the guard room full of beastmen guards.

He stopped at the portcullis to call over Alex and have him listen as he stared into the gloom of the of stairs heading downward. Alex cocked a keen Oameni ear at the portcullis for a moment and started to shake his head in the negative when he squinted and held a hand up to silence the rest of the group now filtering into the hall. At the very edge of his hearing, distinct but illusive was a low babbling sometimes discordant and sometimes harmonious. "Babbling" he said, and Elissa asked "Like a brook or a madman?" To which he replied "like madmen." Antonious tested the door and found it locked, but Alex made quick work of the device in case they needed an escape route. Kegho continued to the turn in the hallway and saw wider stairs heading into gloom to the right of the hall and an open doorway with the pinkish glow of the lowering sun. Alex mentioned that he had seen chests in that direction while he and Khufu had been using the 'Timetic throne. Ka'ar and Theo had been discussing whether it was wise to attempt to liberate the slaves in their current, sorry state and with Ka'ar distractingly dressed only in an ad-hoc loin cloth. When Alex mentioned chests, Ka'ar offered that that must be one of the outfitting rooms for the slaves for gladiatorial fights. The party moved toward the room, open on one side to the arena and its gathering gloom. The Jiam and Alex unlocked the chests in the room, The Jiam finding two sacks of coins, three golden disks inscribed with solar motifs and a silken rope and Alex found roughspun tunics of linen, one of which he handed to Ka'ar who more adequately covered his nakedness. Khufu found limited gladiator armor in a wardrobe on the far wall and Ka'ar donned that as well.

Elissa tarried at the junction of the hallway eying the door leading to the beastman guard room, and when the door burst open and a spittle flecked guard captain in blue tunic burst out and saw her at the end of the hall she called for Kegho to help her hold the narrow space and braced herself for a charge from the much bigger foe. Riven and Kegho arrived at the turn in the hall and fired at the oncoming beastmen, striking them. Elissa saw the first lock his eyes on Riven who had been so recently and only partially healed from the sacrifice room. She heard the distinctive patter of Alex running down the hallway and shouted for him to hold her position as she moved to intercept the charge at Riven. The beastman slowed his run enough to not get impaled but was still able to hack at her with his axe and also took a sling bullet to the back of his head for his trouble. The Jiam slid into the shadows behind Alex ready to kill any who made it past his Oameni companion.

The second bugbear approached Elissa but missed as Kegho went after the first, but also missed. Theo approached the battle, to pray over his companion, still exhausted battle ecstacy in which he had fought the last group. While the captain contended with Kegho, Elissa put her spear into his ribs, striking a mighty blow. And Alex jabbed effectively at the captain's taint. As Kegho took another swing at the battered captain, he found only thin air as the captain had backed through the press of roiling beastman flesh and headed toward to door that Alex had earlier unlocked. A third, fresh (in the loosest meaning of the term) beastman moved into his place and swung with his axe at Kegho, wounding him. Elissa struck at the second guard, Alex missed the third, and the third again hit Kegho. Elissa and the second guard attacked each other but failed to injure each other though Elissa was able to knock his axe from his hand.

In the outfitting room, Herk and Khufu began moving the chests to create a defensible position for the fighters to fall back to and for Riven to take cover behind and Riven and Antonious joined them. Teleptyon and The Jiam moved toward the stairwell to see if the captain would re-appear between the two groups of the party and heard the thrum of ancient machinery.

Kegho made a mighty blow on the third guard, who fled, his spot filled by another uninjured and wroth beastman. The third guard also headed toward the stairs. The fifth guard grazed Kegho on his initial attack. And Kegho struck him back. Alex was unable to hit him.

Above the grinding of machinery Tele and The Jiam heard feet on stone steps and backed away. Theo stood at the top of the stairs calling for Kegho and Elissa to retreat so they would not be fighting on two fronts, but Elissa was lost in the heat of battle and Kegho would not leave her alone.

Unarmed, the second guard raked Elissa with his filthy claws doing more damage than he conceivably could have with the axe. As she ran her spear into his thigh she lamented that she'd knocked his weapon away at all.

The third guard mounted the steps and locked eyes on Theo who braced himself for battle.

The second guard, startled by Elissa's ferocity turned to flee and she sank her spear below his ribs and ran him through, killing him. Alex attempted to stab the last guard, but missed. Elissa swept his legs out from under him with the shaft of her spear and as he attempted to get up Kegho sank his axe deep into his chest. Elissa stabbed him once more, ending him and urged Kegho to stop the attack on Theo as they heard the uncanny chanting of Teleptyon and the dimly lit hall was filled with light from the tip of his staff as focused Ar swirled around it. The guard charging Theo was blasted down the stairs a tangle of broken bones and rent flesh.