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Kadri:

She hisses as her leg is slashed, and lets out a muffle curse, then backs up a few steps to see if the wound is something she can tend to.

The Heartwood
Talesan’s Village
Under the Docks
Hasday, the Twelfth Day of Scholar

Cesare, Kadri, Mikal, Bekkah and Rory

A melee is the definition of confusion; a melee in the shadows, beneath the bustle of a village, hidden in corridors barely lit, even more so. Cesare’s crossbow did snap and fire, the bolt, however, crossed the shallow black water towards their new foe, a lizard-creature bearing a ragged wooden shield and a thick rusty sword.

But that didn’t mean that Mikal’s tactics failed – indeed, Kadri’s retreat brought forth a charge by her assailant. Two steps back she could easily take, summoning her own power, ribbons of blackness springing from her hand to wrap her leg, like shadow bandages wrapping tight to stop the bleeding and bank her pain.

Which meant the lizard thing crossed right in front and into the Jvrillian’s arcing blade.

It was like a horseman at full gallop crashing into a low hanging branch. The sword bit into the creature’s throat, dashing through flesh and blubber. The body became a juggernaut rushing forward, the beast’s head also snapping in the same direction when Mikal’s blade continued through thick and heavy vertebrae.

Kadri had said she was good at dodging. It took all her skill to not be run down by the out of control body – which still flailed as if its head were attached – and even more to not be clobbered by a lizard’s things head. But she was not quick enough to get out of the way of the sudden, wide and torrential fountain of black blood that erupted from the shorn neck – first moving towards her and then falling past. The head splashed through the water to the right, to float all rag doll like. The body didn’t stop until it hit the right hand wall and then slid down to a grotesque halt.

Mikal’s tactics were more than sound.

Because it meant that the second lizard thing rushed Cesare, not caring that both Mikal and Kadri were between him and the Rhoni.

Kadri lost her sharp pointy dagger; not because she was soaked in icky lizard blood, but because when she turned to strike she succeeded, all to well, becoming now acquainted with Mikal’s previous annoyance. Her blade slammed deep and true into this new foe, all the way to the crossguard.

And then she couldn’t pull it out!

It did, however, mean he turned his back to Mikal as he charged the diminutive Amberite.

Completely open, it was like practice at a pell. Mikal hit him solidly as he passed by. The creature couldn’t turn around fast enough to even think of parrying Mikal’s follow-thru attack. The first strike had slashed open his back like a fish being gutted , drawing from low to high, drawn back as his sword drew along the creature’s ribs. His second hit, that one arced higher. While it was simply a well practiced blow, the fact that it struck the creature’s head ended it; like a child’s top it spun and spun and twirled until it finally fell on its back and twitched.

And twitched.

And twitched.

For a long moment it was quiet, there in the carven halls.

That there was noise from the darkness; that was a not a surprise. More were coming down the hall, drawn by the roars and sounds of combat, drawn by Rory’s off key song.

They had slain one.

They had fought two.

Kadri’s shadow sight saw them before they stepped into the soft illumination of the lamps.

How would they deal with three?

Cesare

He is getting into the swing of this, his job to draw their attention and lead them past Mikal and Kadri. But he is not relaxing. He knows there are more, he can hear the noises ahead.

Well he still has a rick up his sleeve to avoid the first attack that lands on him. The Rhoni word that will take him elsewhere ready for such an emergency. And he can run, and he can dodge.. hopefull that will be enough to support his role and his friends.

Mikal

As the last one twitches and dies, ha can hear more coming and he grimaces. They cannot deal with an endless number of these things. Eventually either the lizards need to stop coming or they're going to have to retreat.

And this sounds like more splashes than the last pair, so at least two, probably three or four.

Quickly pulling a rope out of his pack he tosses one end to Kadri.

"Tie this tight to the pillar near you, under the water, at ankle height." He says, doing the same to a pillar near him. "Then hide behind the pillar. I will hide behind this one."

He looks at Cesare. "Stand between the pillars and let them see you. Fire at the front ones. Try to get them to bunch up and charge you all at once. Be ready with your dagger. Hopefully they're too stupid to see the trap and will charge straight ahead. When they trip over the rope Kadri and I will hit them from behind while you try to cut the throat of the lead one."

It's not a perfect plan, but then no plan is perfect, and it's the best he can come up with on short notice.

Kadri:

"I can cause a distraction when they come into range. At least one will be perhaps otherwise occupied. I see three coming."

She moves into position. After setting up the rope she waits - and when they come into range, as close as they can get before she thinks she no longer can, she whispers in a mocking sing-song.

"Oh foul and loathesome lizard-thing
Puppet on a string.
Dancing in that special place -
where darkness meets the light -
Dark and light make shadow, and shadow leads to fright."

(Darkblade)

Cesare

He nods, knowing he can use his crossbow initially. His daggers will always be in hand when he needs them [Quickdraw]. He intends to fire as many bolts as he can whilst they are on their way towards him, all at the same target, the one in the middle.

He will always have Elsewhere to fall back on if things get nasty.

The Heartwood
Talesan’s Village
Under the Docks
Hasday, the Twelfth Day of Scholar

Cesare, Kadri, Mikal, Bekkah and Rory

The plan required a tactical retreat; no much of one, one column to the west, the one with the lamp, to lash the rope around. Ankle height for a lizard thing was quite a bit higher than for regular folks, just a little above the surface of the water.

The lizard things were not just fat, but they were big.

The rope was lashed; the sounds of activity eliciting a growling from down the hall and the sound of wood hitting wood – perhaps spear to shield? Kadri and Mikal took their places, behind the adjacent columns.

That hypothesis was proven correct when the lead lizard finally stepped into the light. This one indeed was armed with shield and spear, which he raised in challenge when he saw Cesare standing alone before him.

Well not quite alone; Bekkah, of course, was a few steps behind him, standing quiet in the shallow water. The real question, of course, was whether or not the big creatures were smart enough to realize there was a prohibition against hurting an Atterran.

The first charged … making huge waves and splashes in the water. The noise echoed, and indeed in became a cacophonous din between the echoes and the matching growlfs from his two companions. It didn’t help when the first called out in shock, a deep guttural roar of surprise, as two of Cesare’s bolts slammed home – one sticking through an oddly shaped plate of metal on the beast’s belly, the other driven into the blubber of its right leg.

The wounds only increased the lead lizard’s desire to stomp the Rhoni into the water covered curb. It’s pace increased, and so did that of his two companions. They moved true to Mikal’s predictions, coming in closer, down the central path between the column rows, close on the mace bedecked tail of the one in front.

And then they hit the rope. Or at least the first one did. It went sprawling forward, the splash when he fell face first in the water literally emptying the underground street about him, baring the waterlogged floor tiles and raising a black wave as high as Cesare, blinding him for a heartbeat as he was suddenly drenched.

The water quickly flowedback.

It also provided Bekkah with a scary conclusion. They probably were probably dumb enough to take a swipe at a Healer.

The other two followed suit. It wasn’t the rope that stopped them, but like children playing leap frog they fell over the first lizard. One, the closest to Kadri, it carried something that looked like a mallet, which would have been less of a threat if it wasn’t bigger than the small Amberite. The second, he was armed with a long rusty-sword thing; more like a plate of metal that had been ground with a jagged notched edge and lashed to a tree limb sized wooden hilt.

Ugly but practical.

Kadri stepped in … as far as Mikal could tell she stepped in completely unarmed, waving her hands in fancy swooping arcs. However, her target, back to her, roared in pain as a lashing wound Justas mysteriously opened in its back.

Mikal’s blade, too, got in its un-expected blow, a solid hit that opened up his lizard’s side. Blindly it’s makeshift greatsword lashed back, and while he wasn’t fast enough to parry the blade was long enough to skitter across the top of the water and take a bite out of Mikal’s boot – deep enough to draw blood but not deep enough to sop the Jvrillian.

And this is where the tactics fell apart; or at least did not go as smoothly as one might have hoped.

The problem being that each, each lizard now only had one person to focus on. There would be no more confused back and forth, like a ruff chasing a ball tossed between two children.

The first – by the time Cesare had cleared his eyes – had pushed itself up and was lurching forward to strike at the one who had been harming him. Luckily Cesare had been prepared; he let the crossbow fall in the water as he took out his long daggers, faster than shadows, faster than either lizard or his companion could even see. And certainly faster than the lizard thing, which growled in anger when Cesare’s crossed daggers parried his spear.

Which didn’t help Cesare when the tail lashed back around, the steel mace on its end crushing through his armor and into his gut. The pain slammed away his breath, which was probably why his return blows failed to breach the lizard’s ragamuffin armor. The Rhoni’s second attack, however, hit home, both daggers slashing into the creature, reaching deep into its guts and causing it to spit blood Since Cesare was too close it chose to smash him with his shield, a sweeping move that sent Cesare literally flying. But not too far. He was stopped by a stone column and between the stone and the shield he was badly hurt – he had heard his ribs snap from the lizard’s sheer strength.

The creature loomed over Cesare, raising its spear , as if it were going to pin the Rhoni to the stone floor. It was probably strong enough to do so. But that flamboyant move left and opening, one that let Cesare thrust his long daggers straight up, through the beast’s ribs and then into its heart.

He knew the strike was true by the fountain of black blood.

He knew the strike was true because like a dead thing just fell forward.

Atop him.

Hopefully it would realize it was dead before it realized the Rhoni was squashed beneath it.

Mikal’s lizard-thing drew itself up, and even as it remained on its knees it was as still as tall as the Jvrillian. The problem was the length of its blade; no matter how swift or graceful his attacks were, the lizard thing would always have the first opportunity to strike. It was a blow that needed to be parried before he could return with his own attack.

The Jvrillian moved forward. It was a well practiced move – his shield moving up to block the crude greatsword, his own then reaching to lave a long gash across the creature’s arm, slicing along leather and steel and not just hurting the lizard-thing but bashing off its odd plate vambrace. The attack was not without it’s cost. The power of the creatures hit did more than shatter Mikal’s shield and push him backwards – it split and fractured; the only thing holding it together the band of metal around the rim and the straps that held it o his now useless arm.

This was a very very strong lizard.

It also made the next attacks problematic; they became a sharing of blows. The notched blade slammed into Mikal’s head, but beside a harsh ringing in his ears his helm kept him from being hurt. Mikal took a hunk of flesh out of the lizard’s shoulder. The greatsword opened a deep gash across Mikal’s chest, slashed across his front. His hit cut through the beast’s upper arm to the bone. The lizard-thing’s next attack was significantly less strong, its wounds taking their toll, only glancing along Mikal’s leg and allowing the Jvrillian to finally hack off one lizard arm.

It did not die –well perhaps it was dead – it would eventually bleed out and be unable to even reflexively move. And with only one arm it could not lift its own sword. So it just lurched through the water towards Mikal.

Kadri at least had an edge. When the beast turned on her it looked actually confused. How could this little thing be hurting her? This little thing had no weapon, it was just waving its arms. Kadri waved them about and not seeing anything to parry the lizard thing growled in surprise when the fingers of one of his hands were cut off. This make it very difficult to hold its wooden mallet, meaning Kari was only dazed when it hit her squarely in the head.

It was equally surprised when nothing decided to open up his other arm, a nasty, un-parried cut that parted muscled and tendons. So it kicked Kadri, sending her back towards the far wall. It charged in anger, only to be deftly dodged – the light Amberite moving to the side, which meant the lizard ran straight into the stone. And then, seemingly unarmed, the Korie lady simply passed her hand over the lizard’s back. A small, thin cut mark appeared and the lizard thing simply slid forward down the wall and twitched.

The fight was over.

Mostly.

Kadri’s lizard-thing was still twitching, but that was probably because it was dead and couldn’t see the person who killed I, being face first against the stone.

Mikal’s lizard-thing was harmless, slowly lurching towards Mikal, each shift of movement slower than the last. It would stop. Eventually.

Cesare was barely seen, being splashes of arms and legs from underneath another lizard-thing corpse.

On the bright side, there was no more noise from further down the hall. If there were more lizard-things beyond, at the least they weren’t coming their way.

Kadri

Dance, dodge, twist, turn. A slice here, a slice there..

THIS was how a Kadri liked to fight, if she fought at all.


"I may be no warrior, but who says a little fox can't bite - the dance of small teeth is yet a dance."

She grins a feral grin.

"Take care of Them, Bekkah. I am not bad - and I can take care of my own injuries."

And she helps with rolling the beast to the extend she is able, and applies healing to herself.

Cesare

He struggles under the weight of the creature, hoping that the others will lift it from him. If not, well he does have a way out.

And he is hurt.

It has happened to him enough times that he knows this one is serious. He is always glad that Bekkah is with them, he has respect for her wisdom. But at times like this, more than glad!

Bekkah

She knew better than to get involved. She told Dazi all the time that she had no worries, but that wasn't always true and this was one of those cases. She also knew that her meager skills with a knife were just as likely to hurt herself or one of her friends, as much as a lizard. So with as much dignity as she could muster, she backed up as much as possible, ready to run, if needed.

When it was all over, she rushed over to Cesare to help get the beast off of him.

Then she took stock of their injuries, doing what she could for the worst of them.

"I think if we meet up with another band, we need to consider retreating." she said when she was done. She knew she had some healing left, but she hadn't completely healed Mikal or Cesare.

"When we get back to town, I will look at your injuries again." she said in a tone that made it clear it wasn't a request.

Mikal

Well, the plan hadn't worked out as best as it could have, but then it wasn't a disaster either. Still he knows he is badly hurt and he doesn't complain one bit as the sharp coolness of Bekkah's healing washes over him.

Once he has use of his arm again, and the dangerous chest wound is closed, he helps roll the lizard off Cesare so Bekkah can reach him. All the while he keeps careful watch on the dying lizard as it staggers and finally collapses.

Looking sadly at the shattered remains of his recently painted shield, he promises to repaint his emblem on another one once he gets back to the town above and he drops the shards into the water.

He then sheathes his broadsword and removes his darksteel weapons, short sword and main gauche, and keeps watch as Bekkah finished up her healing.

"We need to get moving while no more of those things are about", he offers.

Cesare

He is relieved to get that huge carcase off of him.. and despite the pain from his ribs he takes deep breaths of relatively fresh air. He is very happy to see that his companions are all OK though Mikal is still showing signs of injuries and he is very happy when Bekkah approaches him.

"Yes ma'am" he grins an agreement to seeing her again once they are back. He feels a lot better now, most of the pain has gone. Certainly he can function again and there is a small girl's life at stake.

"I'll get Rory" he offers, heading back a little way so they don't have to shout.

The Heartwood
Talesan’s Village
Under the Docks
Hasday, the Twelfth Day of Scholar

Cesare, Kadri, Mikal, Bekkah and Rory

Rory’s singing stopped as he heard Cesare approach, the Rhoni a much more appreciated companion than a cavalcade of lizard-things.

“I was a’ruuning out of verses …”

With Cesare’s help he was able to bridge the unseen pit and return up the subterranean corridor. As the two returned – bringing with them Rory’s lamp, of course - the carven halls behind were once again returned to shadow.

As they had waited, Bekkah relaxed. She was well accustomed to her earlier tasks and the halls and water had sparkled white by the spakles of her healing. It was a delicate balance; ensuring she retained the strength to aid them further into the dungeon while making sure the two warriors were strong enough to stand against threatening lizard-things. The problem, of course, was that getting hurt was much more dangerous; now a lighter blow could wreak as much harm as a heavier one.

Kadri, however, was feeling well again; happily her odd attack had served its purpose well. Lizard-things appeared to be easily confounded.

When Cesare and Rory returned, they could push on.

Mikal lead them, deeper down the hall.

Soon there was a break in the unrelieved colonnade. An opening broke off to the right; it was a short corridor and it ended not in darkness but in collapsed rubble. Ahead of them the main street continued, leading deeper into the underground lair. The soft yellow light of another column lashed lamp was a signal that whatever destination there was in this simple labyrinth it was still further to the east.

That said, there was a small room off this small side passage. It was distinguished by a disturbing oddity. On the wall, opposite the room’s entrance, a ladder was bolted to the wall. The ladder itself was wood, turned gray like driftwood. Its upper end could not be seen; the ceiling was beyond the illumination of their lamps and past even Kadri’s sight. Bolted metal angles held the ladder in place, but while many were rusted they were not rusted enough to cause any danger.

This meant one thing.

All things considered, ladder was moderately well maintained.

While they couldn’t tell exactly, Rory from living in the town all his life and Bekkah, from her walk with the High Priestess, were pretty much in agreement.

If this ladder continued straight up, it would rise to the surface somewhere inside of the Fisherman’s portion of Talesan’s Village.

Cesare

He stands for a moment looking at the ladder, working out distance in his head and musing out loud.

"We should check to see if it is bolted this side. That at least will confirm our direction. It does suggest though that it was not a fisherman who took her as coming down this ladder would be an easy option, avoiding those lizards, though likely he would have been seen in the village. And I guess he must have a safe way past those lizards any how.."

Realising he is rambling, he looks at Mikal.

"Worth a climb? Or do we assume that he wouldn't have come all this way to just return to the village?"

Rory

The farmer shook his head, holding his lamp as high as he could. It still did not illuminate the ceiling far above.

"Excepting that the fisherfolk taking Dydd, if'n they came down this way, would have been seen crossing through the Village."

Kadri

"So perhaps then it is not a starting point but a destination? Either way, leaving it an unknown seems unwise."

Mikal

He nods in agreement to all the statements. "Not to mention it could give us a way out if we can't finish here before the tide comes back in and block the door by the sea."

He looks up, then back to Cesare and Kadri. "Do one of you want to take a look? I'd probably be better placed to keep watch down here."

Cesare

He grins at Kadri.

"You want the honour or should I go?"

He offers her the choice. He can climb but she is also lighter than him.

Kadri:

"That I can do. I will take a look. If I scream shout and run be ready to skewer something yes?"

After giving a look and a raised eyebrow to see if there are any objections she starts up the ladder."

The Heartwood
Talesan’s Village
Under the Docks
Hasday, the Twelfth Day of Scholar

Cesare, Kadri, Mikal, Bekkah and Rory

In the end it was anti-climatic.

The ladder may have looked worn, but it had been truly well maintained. For Kadri the climb itself was not difficult; well at the least not for the first twenty five feet. For those below it was as if the fine Korie lass had been swallowed by the darkness. For Kadri, on one hand it was confirmation she was the proper person to take up this task – her shadow sight allowdher to safely continue. On the other hand it was certainly spooky and a little disconcerting.

She had passed the point where falling would just hurt.

That and she couldn’t imagine anyone being able to force a scared child to climb these rungs.

Eventually she could not climb any farther.

Kadri came to a stop; after perhaps forty or fifty feet of climbing. She had hit a ceiling and rafters, but they were wood, not stone. A best she could figure the rafters spanned over a break in the stonework. If this had been a town some time in the past, the raters would have been crossing a section of alley. Right above the ladder was what looked to be a door, the type of thing you might see when climbing to the top of a watchtower.

But two things were missing.

The hinge and a lock.

Based on the fact that the hatch refused to budge, it was pretty certain they were on the other, upper, side.

Listening as best she could, there was since beyond the hatch, as if it opened into a large unoccupied space – like a storeroom or a warehouse.

In an unused space with the lock on the other side, this was no a secret exit from the underground labyrinth.

It was a secret entrance.

She pauses mumbling under her breath for a moment before heading back down the ladder.

"Look a like its a one way trap door for above. The ladder is well maintained so it looks like it's seen use. I took a look through a crack - it looks like a warehouse it has boat stuff hung in it. Sails, nets boxes and crates. Given fisher wives outside, I'd have to say that combined with the boat material leads one to think its a warehouse for the boats. Based on the light coming in I'd say it's longways going east-west, near the water of course. One of the two largest buildings on one side or the other of the central street by the two east most blocks at the pier, I'd say."

Cesare

He is relieved to see Kadri returning, he had been wondering if he should have insisted on going up himself, despite thinking that she had been best for the job. He smiles and nods at her report.

"OK, onward it is then."

He hopes they find the young girl soon. He cannot imagine how her father must be feeling.

Mikal

He pauses at Kadri's report, considering, then turns to Rory. "Do you know the place Kadri mentions?" He asks the man. "I wonder whether Dydd might have been taken up there?"

He glances at Kadri. "Was there any sign of the ladder having been used recently? New scratches or scrapes? Fresh mud or water on the rungs?" After all, anyone who had come through this muck would have left some of it on the ladder on their way up.

The Heartwood
Talesan’s Village
Under the Docks
Hasday, the Twelfth Day of Scholar

Cesare, Kadri, Mikal, Bekkah and Rory

Whether or not Kadri could discern if folks had climbed the ladder recently was a moot point. First, because she could not and second, because the hatch was sufficiently locked and barred to prevent passage.

It made a modicum of sense. If indeed this lead up into the village, the last thing someone would want would be a bored lizard-thing deciding it smelled food in this direction.

Rory simply confirmed Kadri’s earlier speculation.

“Tha lassie is correct; the west end of the village we call Fishertown, because, well that’s where all the fishermen live. And they ‘ave a couple of real big buildings where they store what they need to be takin’ care of the boats, ja? Right about where she described.

“But I’d be wonderin’ what they’d be wanting to come down here for. It’s all dank and wet.

“And full of lizards. Where did these things come from? The closest we have to this are the fish that climb outta the river, but they are natural fish that’s been corrupted by the Forest. These look like they’s always been … big … and lizard-ish.”

This left Cesare’s recommendation the only choice for further exploration.

Onward then.

For a good portion of the time it was a wet but easy walk. If there had been lizard folk here, the ploy to use Rory’s song to pull them down the hall had pretty much cleared the subterranean street. Row upon row of columns were splashed by and in a regular pattern makeshift lamps were hung from rope-wrapped stone. It was only after a good distance had passed that the situation changed.

They had obviously reached their destination but this was not necessarily a change for the good.

The halls opened up; perhaps ages ago this had been a street intersection. It was much better lit; Kadri and Mikal were able to sneak forward to peer around a stone corner and get a good view of the space. The room was wide and deep enough to hold a large group of people, though at the moment it was mostly empty.

But only mostly empty.

A handful of lizard-things were distributed across the room, but something was different. They were not randomly scattered, they stood as if they were at some sort of post. The only one that didn’t was the one off to the far, far right; he sat in he shallow water, quite happily munching – loudly – on a large bone.

On the far wall, flanked by two lizard-things, was a carven black metal disc; it shimmered in the lamplight as there was nary a spot of rust. The bas relief was easily discerned, it was of a large, many toothed shark curled dramatically, its nose almost touching its tail. Encircling the border of the disc was lettering. No one could read it, it was a fine and flowing script with many curves and interlinked letters.

The Rhoni, however, recognized where it was from, remembering his youth and his travels with his family beneath the shadow of the Black Mountains.

It was the writing from the East.

That was when the realization hit. This space was not large enough to hold just any group of people.

It was large to hold a congregation.

Last, however, were the two not-lizard-things. One was a little girl; luckily, being the last in line, Rory had not yet moved close enough to see. The girl was soaked through and through and her simple tunic was torn and stained. She was almost manacled to the wall with heavy chains and thick cuffs. Two lengths of rope were looped through the cuffs and then tied to her wrists. It seems the bindings were originally set for someone much older or at least taller so who ever bound the girl had to jury-rig a makeshift solution.

The other was a young man; perhaps on his twentieth year or so. He did not look happy with his posing, here in the dark water. Resting on the wall beside him was along fisherman’s gaff, they type of nasty and sharp tool used to bring a large fish out of the water and onto the deck of a ship. He was not armored and he leaned against the wall next to Dyddplentyn with his arms crossed.

Kadri:

Someone.

She thought.

Is in need of being brought down. This will not stand. Cannot stand.

She also hold it a hand and catches Rory's eyes, motioning for him to stay back for now.