Tracks In The Desert

[Karaunios]

Akhilleus curses and rushes to Xenos' aid.

Broad sword (one-handed) - To hit: [1d20+2]=2+2=4; Dmg: [1d8+3]=5+3=8

Broad sword (one-handed) - To hit: [1d20+2]=15+2=17; Dmg: [1d8+3]=6+3=9

Broad sword (one-handed) - To hit: [1d20+2]=7+2=9; Dmg: [1d8+3]=8+3=11

Broad sword (one-handed) - To hit: [1d20+2]=18+2=20; Dmg: [1d8+3]=8+3=11

-4 to attack and damage from poison.

[Rex]

Drest

Drest attacks the slave attacking Xenos.

Short Sword [1d20]=12 to hit [1d6+1]=1+1=2 damage

[Bluetongue]

Valkrina

Completes the bloody pile in on top of Xenos and the feasting slave.

Valkrina: Spiked Spear [1d20+1]=16+1=17 [1d10]=8

[The_Wanderer]

The slave being piled on is different than the blowgunner guarding the escape, right? Just trying to tell if there are any more targets in the room for a sling stone.

[OGRE MAGE]

The slave being piled on is different than the blowgunner guarding the escape, right? Just trying to tell if there are any more targets in the room for a sling stone.

The final blowgunner was ran through by Val, so other than the slave under the pile, there are no more targets in the room.

Unless he would like to chase the priests down the stairway?

[The_Wanderer]

Cyril does not in fact charge down the dark stairwell. Instead, he drags Xenos away from the scuffle and then kneels next to him, gently slapping the man's face and saying, "Stay with us Xenos, this doesn't look fatal but stay with us none the less."

He looks up at the others and says, "Down two, I don't see how we can push on. Perhaps we call for an orderly retreat and live to raid another day?"

[Rex]

Drest

"Not many places to retreat to, best hold up close by where we can defend ourselves and get some rest."

[OGRE MAGE]

The Lovely Room Of Death
Ruined Warlords Palace, Late Afternoon

The final slave eating Xenos is stabbed and hacked viciously, adding to the macabre blood bath scattered about this room. The odd robed priests who fled down the steps do not return, leaving the stench filled room void of anything else to kill. Unless the pair of chained captives are an option, that is. The pair roasting over the spit already look beyond aid, but the pair secured to the trusses remain semi-conscious. And that is better than we can say for our friends Snorri and Xenos, who are both currently unable to function on their own. One thing noticeable is the two colored stones that were orbiting around the head of Xenos have now fallen to the floor, just as he did after getting smacked.

Finding only bones, gore, rusted carving utensils, dead bodies, flies and stink inside this former kitchen, the group is faced with the dilemma of how to deal with a pair of downed friends in this obviously inhabited area.

Actions?

Xenos AC:6 0/12 1st:2/2 Unconscious
Akhilleus AC:4 19/32 Poisoned (-4 on attack/dam rolls)
Drest AC:7 3/16
Cyril AC:8 4/5 1st:1/3
Snorri AC:4 -1/11 Unconscious
Valkrina AC:7 12/16 1st: 1/2 IA:54

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[Rex]

Drest

"Maybe we could hide in the pit with the dead scorpion while we rest?"

[Karaunios]

Akhilleus

"Aye." He says to Drest 's comment. "There's no way we can make it back through the desert in our current state. I don't feel quite well myself. Let's try to get strong in the initial room. They've already lost many of their own. Let's bring these two prisoners with us and set a guard. I'm sure they can tell us more about this place.

Help me with them, with Xenos and Snorri. And someone please keep an eye on that stair. We don't want any surprises from these mad priests."

The warrior gets the two stones that Xenos was carrying and let's them float around him. Hell give them back to the warlock once he can carry them again.

He will help the captives up and try to look for a way of unchain them.

His eyes are focused on the stairs though.

The sooner they get from this horrendous "kitchen", the better. He feels like he could vomit.

[Rex]

Drest

Drest helps to clear everything/everybody out and back to the initial room.

[Bluetongue]

Valkrina

Hiding in a pot not a good idea. Easy to get surrounded. The best option then taking over the hovel used by the slaves that left.

She wonders if some of those might actually try to return too. But there may be enough bunks and leftover garb to change out of bloody clothes.

While the 'kitchen' is sorted and the other victims released, she will guard the stairs.

[The_Wanderer]

Cyril

"I worry about us being able to recuperate much here in the ruins but I see your point about our injured colleagues."

Cyril moves to the bound slaves and attempts to untie their bindings. He addresses them in common saying, "Be at ease. Come with us."

[OGRE MAGE]

The Lovely Room Of Death
Ruined Warlords Palace, Early Evening

While Snorri and Xenos are dragged back into the open courtyard area, Cyril unties the bound humans in the hellish kitchen. One of them, a male, is on the verge of unconsciousness, while the other still has a bit of life left in her. "Who are you people? And what do you intend to do with us?" She bursts into hysterical tears when she sees the two dead men still roasting over the fire.

When nothing comes back up the stairway, the group reconvenes with their unconscious friends in the courtyard, where they continue to discuss what to do next. By the looks of the sky overhead, they don't have many hours of daylight left to decide. Valkrina suggests they sleep in the vacated area where they found the first group of slaves. The woman looks at her with a glare that could melt ice. "And what happens when the snakes come? Huh?"

Actions?

Xenos AC:6 0/12 1st:2/2 Unconscious
Akhilleus AC:4 19/32 Poisoned (-4 on attack/dam rolls)
Drest AC:7 3/16
Cyril AC:8 4/5 1st:1/3
Snorri AC:4 -1/11 Unconscious
Valkrina AC:7 12/16 1st: 1/2

[Rex]

Drest

"We haven't been here at night, tell us about these snakes."

[Bluetongue]

Valkrina

Searches around the old slave quarters.

What can she find?

[Karaunios]

Akhilleus looks for something that could be used to bar or block the doors in some way.

"We came to explore this place. Never expected to find... This. We're not like them, we can assure you of that." He waits for her answer to Drest's question.

[OGRE MAGE]

The Ruined Warlords Palace
Open Courtyard, Early Evening

Akhilleus works on wedging closed the door into the stables, using the rubble around him to jam between the door and the old wooden frame. He joins the others gathered in the open courtyard.

The woman who watched as her companions were cooked and eaten, and who was about to be eaten herself, continues to stammer. "YES! The snakes. They will come for us in the night. Jeoffery warned us to be wary of them. He could keep us safe. But now he's dead. EATEN ALIVE!!!"

The three doors down the main hallway remain unchecked, as does the vine strewn stairs area to the west of the courtyard.

Valkrina moves into the initial area you entered to check the rooms the slaves were staying inside. She spots two young men at the top of the ruins scamper off into the distant sands, obviously watching and waiting above for the coast to clear. Inside the dilapidated rooms she finds pure squalor. The sand underfoot is filthy and damp, littered with ruble and spent coals from a tiny firepit. Ratty sleeping blankets cover the floor in the north, and the arrow slits that line the outer walls have been grouted over to prevent windblown sand from accumulating inside. A grotesque ivory statue with a profane mass of eyestalks and suckered tentacles has been left behind by the former tenants, sitting atop an old chair. A horrifying sketch drawn on the north wall was obviously done in charcoal, likely scavenged from the now cold firepit.

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The area to the south contains more rubble and trash, with old pots and urns filled with stinking, fly covered human waste. A rubble filled passage leads to a fallen tower in the corner, the stairs leading down now jammed with rock and rubble from the collapsed floor above.

Actions?

Xenos AC:6 0/12 1st:2/2 Unconscious
Akhilleus AC:4 19/32 Poisoned (-4 on attack/dam rolls)
Drest AC:7 3/16
Cyril AC:8 4/5 1st:1/3
Snorri AC:4 -1/11 Unconscious
Valkrina AC:7 12/16 1st: 1/2

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[Rex]

Drest

"Is there anything anyone can do for Snorri or Xenos? If not we may not make it through the night. Best to get ourselves holed up somewhere we can at least try and defend ourselves without getting surrounded."

[The_Wanderer]

Cyril

"I will not be able to do anything else for our fallen comrades until I commune with Azathoth tomorrow morning. Especially with word of these snakes at night...I agree. This place seems indefensible. Being caught on the open sand is not much...I suppose it depends if we believe we can get back to Xambaala tonight."

I was trying to piece together the timeline...it was a short distance from Xambaala to the oasis then about 1 mile to the site where we found evidence of cannibals, then another mile until the boulder with a mind of its own, then about 3 hours of searching to find the fortress. Does that mean it's early afternoon? To me that means if we were all moving at full speed, we could get to Xambaala by nightfall. Of course we are dragging 2 unconscious bodies with us so...that math doesn't exactly hold up.