The Forgotten City XXVIII
General Summary
They were agreed then, they would approach the Yafwadi encampment from the north. As they closed on the ruined watchtower they saw a swathy Rexan man being attacked by mounted Yafwadi. Odd that he should be out there alone, but Elissa moved to intervene and Riven drew her bow. They saw as a warrior attacked him and the man moved deftly out of the way. One rode up to Riven and swiped at her awkwardly from his mount but still managed to cut her. Another attacked and missed the Rexan man but missed. Khufu put on his most imperious voice and commanded one to dismount and the Yafwadi ghazi threw himself awkwardly to the ground. The Jiam struck at the closest one with his staff and hit him on the head.
In the distance they heard more ululating and the clop of hooves and they hoped to finish the battle before more have a chance to join.
The Jiam swung again, but missed. He slipped into a nearby grove of date palms and readied his sling. Riven shot and wounded an approaching rider while two swung but missed at the strange man. Elissa charged the closest Yafwadi attacking the man but missed him. He turned and struck her while she was off-balance from her charge. Khufu swung his hammer and missed, but Riven killed her target. The Jiam fired his sling, hoping to draw enemies into the trees. The man struck the attacker now distracted by Elissa and grievously wounded him. Khufu and the Yafwadi he was engaged in missed each other. Another Yafwadi appeared but Riven shot and killed him as he rounded the corner. Elissa impaled the rider who had attacked her and sent him tumbling to the ground dead. The man likewise ended the other attacker with excessive violence, splitting him in twain as he turned to flee. Khufu smashed the last one with his smith's hammer.
The man introduced himself as Antonious Ignis, a Paladin of Edius. He touched Elissa's wound as he thanked her for charging in to his aid and the wound knit itself. He explained that he was searching for a certain cleric who had left his order's monastery at the Adza Oasis. The Jiam quipped dryly "Ah another Ouranic zealot. How charming." but Antonius only replied "Another? So you know of Brother Theophilus?"The Jiam attempted to round up the camels which were skittish from battle but they fled into the desert. He sighed and whispered to the winds a small benediction for them. The rest of the group began collecting the possessions of the Yafwadi. They looked naturally to the cleric and the paladin, but Khufu was studying the build quality of the swords, and Antonius seemed disinterested. The Jiam looked skyward and saw vultures circling and they helped him move the bodies to a spot away from the settlement where carrion creatures and the sun would be their undertaker. Elissa closed their eyes, crossed their arms and sprinkled a bit of earth on their foreheads. a bit of earth on their foreheads.
Antonius agreed to help the group clear the encampment so that they could return to the cave where Theo was resting. They approached the ruined watch tower and saw beautiful mosaics. Antonious mentioned they seemed to be Rexan and 400-600 years old based on the style. They entered and found a mix of intact rooms and fallen walls. a lit brazier and hallways. Antonius moved south and was ambushed, struck from the shadows and wounded. The group moved in to assist with Elissa killing the archer quickly, but a protracted fight following with the melee fighter with Khufu, Elissa and Riven each striking him. When it seemed it would be a death of a thousand cuts, Antonious shouted for him to yield and to the group's surprise, he dropped his weapon and went down on one knee.
Antonious demanded to know how many were present and the warrior laughed "There are many. We are like rats and locusts." The Jiam casually walked up to the dead archer next to the warrior and knelt down next to the corpse. His eyes hardened and he muttered some words and he touched the corpse while making unbroken eyecontact with the surviving warrior. The body shrunk in on itself, mouldering and decaying, the bones softened and all that was left was a pile of her belongings and dust. "You were saying?" he asked unemotinally. "There are three in the room to the north and too many to count down below." he jibbered. Riven moved to tie him, and she bound him so that he was surprisingly comfortable for being completely incapable of using his arms. Khufu suggested they should go to the north and Elissa touched the spear to the warrior's back and said "Him first."
The Jiam listened at the door as the group formed up behind her. She heard the chattering of what could be three people talking and pushed open the door and Elissa pushed him through a woman with teeth sharpened hissed as she saw them. Riven said "Tell them what you saw." but the Yafwadi woman only laughed "You are weak and we will deal with you accordingly! We LOVE death." She demanded of Riven and Elissa what they wanted. Elissa plainly stated "Information." and the woman balked "Why would we tell you?" Elissa asked if they had heard anything from the other Yafwadi encampment, for the Ascension had been interrupted and their group had banished bit of Reshpu that had been summoned. The woman wavered, before accusing Elissa of lying.
"An oddly specific thing to lie about, no?" Elissa retorted as she prepared to run a spear through her.
