"Scholars or pilgrims, it makes no difference."  The undead guardian answered Bunny, "You made the appropriate offering when you entered; my directive dictates that you are lawful visitors.  So long as you continue to act lawfully."

"The Corrupters are minions of Jerilith, King of Demons and Lord of Madness."  The guardian said in answer to Zassil, "My Lady Xyn is his enemy; his followers seek out Her places of power to corrupt them away from Her and use them for unlawful purposes.  I do not know their numbers, but there are two more levels to this tomb.  You can expect to face more demons, and even other guardians who have been corrupted away from Lady Xyn."

A sense of readiness lifted from the gun toting Guyverite.  It brought a smile to her face, relaxed with relief.  "Well, then, Ah do believe we have someone who would be very interested in speakin' with you," she said in address to the skeletal guardian.  "Am Ah not right, Lissa?" she added with a wink.

"By the by, Ah am Bunny Cotillion.  May Ah enquire as to what y'all's name mahght be?"

She crossed to the bodies laid out where they had fallen around the sealed stairwells.  "Lords a' Lypton," she exclaimed under her breath.  "More bodies of which to dispose."

As the echoes of last sounds of battle were just falling away, Lissa glanced over at Bunny and Zassil conversing with the tomb guardian.  Still cradling her musket in the crooks of her arms, the blonde scholar wandered closer to join the discussion - especially since her name was mentioned.  She was still breathing hard from the exertions in the noxious cloud just moments before.

"Hmm..." Lissa gave the assembled a slight `deer in the headlights` look before regaining her composure, "Well... yes.  I'm Lissa.  Lissabytta D'Argento." though she hardly expected the guardian recognize her lineage, "And I do have a lot of questions to be asked.  Too many."  A slight self-deprecating smile touched her burgundy lips even as her mind raced, knowing as she did that there was likely not much time.  Lissabytta looked thoughtful for a pregnant moment before speaking, "Um, let's start with your name and your demesne, guardian: how far from this room may you venture?  We thank you for your aid and like you seek to purge this site of the Corruptors."  It was the honest truth as the barrow couldn't be properly studied with demons running about freely; she unconsciously brushed an errant lock of hair from her face.

Her fingers started to dance to reload her musket even as Lissa mused aloud, addressing the skeletal guardian, "I would love to know more about you and how long you've been sequestered here, but I fear that may need to wait until later."  Having finished reloading for the moment, she unslung her pack and pulled her journal, pen, and pencil from it.  She started to sketch the layout of the barrow quickly with charcoal, then turned to page for the guardian to see.  "We are here ..." she pointed to the large room and stairs, "those stairs lead down, but what do the next two floors look like?  Can you describe them for me that I might draw them out?"  She readied her hand to see if a bit of forensic science might be involved.

Another thought (or two) occurred to her, "Will other stairs on the lower levels also have mechanisms to close them?"  Then Lissa paused thoughtfully, "You mentioned other guardians below, is there a way to tell if they've been corrupted?  Or a sign that they might be able to help us?"  A secret handshake... anything.  Lissa figured that it never hurt to ask.

Even as she worked with the guardian she was studying him, his attire and weapons or speech patterns might give a clue as to where in history he might be found.  Lissa didn't dwell on the details too much, but it was a tantalizing window into the past.  She marveled at just what the skeleton might be able to tell them, if given the chance.

---

[OOC:  @Xand just let me know which Knowledge specialties are appropriate (and roll, if you'd like - especially for expedience sake) as Lissa tries to suss out anything she can about the barrow's layout (especially the lower levels), the guardian's history, and if it knows anything more about the enemies we might be facing.]

"My mortal identity was relinquished upon accepting the duties of caretaker."  The gaurdian answered, "My name no longer exists; such is the way of things."  It continued as it was asked further questions, "I am responsible for tending this top floor of the barrow and can travel freely throughout.  My duties are to tend the dead, protect from intrusion and desecration, and interact with lawful visitors."

It looked at the rough sketch that Lissa drew, but made no attempt to add to it.  "The next floor houses the interred bodies of nobility and companions to my Great Lord.  I do not know what it looks like, as I was never intended to venture further down.  I do know that the two guardians below were wrapped in linen and given power different than my own.  I do not know if they have been destroyed, corrupted, or imprisoned by the Corrupters.  If they are corrupted they will ignore the orders of Lady Xyn and attack on sight, much like the demons themselves.  If not, they will recognize you as Lawful visitors as I did."

"These stairs are the only ones to seal closed.  The stairways located elsewhere on this floor instead are protected by traps."

"Ah have little doubt that your Professor Clarke would love to conversate with our new friend here, Lissa."  Although still listening, Bunny had taken it upon herself to stroll to the far side of the chamber in order to inspect the wall for a secret door mirror to the one that the had entered from.

"That said, Ah think it best to continue onward, don't y'all think?  Makin' sure that the rest of this ... uh ... floor," she added, using the same word that the skeleton had, "is safe before letting The Professor have free rein.  Should be easier now we have our friend here to warn us of, like he said, traps."

"Maybe Professor Clarke can come up with a name for him ... her ... them, as well."

"Lawful, of course." Lissa dutifully noted, then adding after a contemplative moment, "Symmetry in all things."  She began to rough in her own render of what the other side must (sort of) look like based on what they knew.  A curt nod acknowledged that Bunny was thinking along the same lines in her inspection of the other side of the room.

"We should verify the rest of the floor is clear." the thin archaeologist agreed, then added, "And we need to be quick about it, we cannot leave these stairs unattended.  Presumably, the mechanism can be worked from the other side."  Her brow furrowed for a moment, "And those Dretches... and presumably their masters .. can and will be summoning more Dretches..."

It was obviously a prospect that Lissa wasn't all that enthusiastic about.  They needed a plan for better crowd control, especially around the choke points like the stairs.  "Unfortunately," Lissa lamented, "I don't have much in the way of mundane or magical offensive weapons that affect a large area."  The hopeful rise in her tone at the end of the statement, made it clear that she hoped that one of the others might have such means.  "I do have one scroll of Grease and a hornful of gunpowder...." she mused aloud, "so, I might be able to pull of a time thing in a corridor or some such.  But most demons are resistant to fire."  With did limit the usefulness of the gunpowder or explosions.

At the mention of linen wrapped defenders below, Lissa turned to regard their skeletal ally with a critical eye.  "Linen." she deadpanned, half-asking - but more simply verifying, "Like ... used to wrap mummified remains?"  The blonde scholar reiterated, "At least two mummies down below... possible corrupted."  She exhaled deeply, blowing an errant lock of blonde hair from her face while doing so - and letting the fact linger in the air.

"Did you serve the Great Lord in life as well?" Lissabytta asked the skeletal guardian casually and turning to other topics covered, as she sketched further in her journal and thought about a name, "He must have had a great number of retainers in both life and beyond; and a moniker which might echo through the ages to warrant a three level barrow."  Anything that the tomb guardian spoke of she tried to collate and cross-index with what she knew of the area and path of the necromancers.  A light smile touched her lips, "You a stalwart defender, may we refer to you Xynlexios - Xyn's defender, in the old tongue, I believe."

"I'd wait on calling the Professor."  the blonde scholar responded thoughtfully to the Guyverite's proposal to bring Clarke in at this point, "There will be time enough afterwards."  Or it would remain unsafe, if they perished trying to cleanse the tomb.  Either way she didn't want her mentor in that type of immediate danger.

Zassil listened impassively, but attentively, to the undead guardian's reply and then as the two women continued to speak with the creature. He kept his ears alert and his eyes kept sweeping the blocked stairs and the room's exit as well, just in case.

Since names were apparently being given, the dracil quietly said, "I am called Zassil."

He glanced at Lyssa, "I think some of that can wait until we've made this place safe for lengthy discussions maybe?" but she'd already seemed to come around to that on her own so he shrugged.

He gave a nod. "Fine. Let's go."

"The lower layers of this barrow were never intended to climb out of their appointed place,"  The undead guardian said to Lissabytta.  It gestured at the closed stairways, "There is no way to open these seals from below."  It nodded when she mentioned mummies, "One was a mighty wizard and companion to our Great Lord; the linens that wrap its body are covered in runes of magic.  The other a champion whose strength was enhanced to mighty proportions in his second existence."

"In my mortal life I was my Great Lord's most loyal retainer.  Through my Lady Xyn I was granted the honor of an eternity of service protecting his tomb and guiding pilgrims that might visit."  The undead continued, "My Great Lord was a mighty conqueror who forced all the known world to bow to him during his life.  Orcs and men both called him master."


"I will respond to the name Xynlexios," it responded to Lissabytta; making no motion.  "To facilitate ease of cooperation."  It looked to Zassil and nodded slowly in acknowledgement, then across the chamber to Bunny, "The lever will open the way to the other half of the tomb.  It will lead to a burial chamber with four sarcophagi and a door.  Behind each door is a hallway with traps which leads to a stairs leading down to the second level of this Barrow."

"Well, that's somethin' of a relief."  Bunny pulled the lever triggering a grinding of ancient rock against rock, and opening a passage to where a body might assume the leftward door from the Altar Room would have lead.  "Meanin' about those - what did you call them, Lissa?  Dretches?  About those Dretches.  Ah got the feelin' that there was to be no end to them."

She put herself in the access way, and poked her head out the other side, looking first up, and then down the corridor outside.  "Why don't you come with us, Xynlexios," she called back over her shoulder.  "Maybe you could point out these traps of which you speak.  Doesn't sound like this level is quite ready for the Professor yet."

She nodded ruefully to Bunny's assessment concerning the Dretchs' numbers, "The loathsome creatures self-summon... so, their numbers could be nigh infinite below."

The talk about the dretches reminded her of something.  She pulled her cold iron dagger from its sheath and handed it - pommel first, of course - to Zassil.  "I believe this blade should cut through their steely hides, big guy." Lissa explained, "I know that it is not large, but it is cold-forged iron which is anathema to demons.  At least, that is the theory."  She smiled slightly, "I suspect you can put this to better use than I ever could."  Even the smallest blade in Zassil's hands was potentially deadly given his size and musculature.

Lissa's brow furrowed for a moment as Xynlexios described the former life of the Great Lord.  Her eyes opened wide when a particular thought occurred to her.  "Markul." the blonde scholar ventured, tentatively at first, "The Great Lord buried here is Markul?"  Her husky contralto was tinged with both excitement and trepidation once the name had been uttered.  She couldn't for the life of her recall what the tomb guardian's former moniker might be, but as Xynlexios had already stated that they'd disavowed their previous life it mattered little.

Even if it bugged Lissabytta a lot.  She'd have to confer with Clarke later, but was glad the Professor wasn't here now.  He'd love to study Markul's tomb, but given the area wasn't secure there was no chance that he'd should be put in such danger.  She nodded in agreement with Bunny's similar assessment concerning bringing (or rather not bringing) Clarke in for now.

"Uh," she started when Bunny invited Xynlexios to accompany them, figuring that the guardian had already stated it was tied to this area.  But, then thought better of saying anything.  It probably didn't hurt to ask and Xynlexios seemed forthright enough to refuse as required.

"I have so many more questions for you, stalwart guardian." Lissa noted as she stood to follow the others, but knowing that this was not the time to bombard Xynlexios, "I hope that I will get the chance to speak with you further, when things are not so rushed nor so dire."  She bowed in what she understood to be a relatively good approximation of what the traditional Xynite supplication would be - touching her hands to her forehead, then chin, then pointing them downwards.

The tomb guardian, dubbed Xynlexios,  acknowledged Bunny by moving through the concealed door which had been opened.  It conversed with Lissa as she talked, "Yes, my Great Lord Markul will continue to be honored here for all eternity.  The most favored champion of Lady Xyn, he recognized that all things eventually decay into loss; even his own mighty empire.  But this place will endure as long as My Lady Xyn gives it Her Blessing."

Through the hidden door, you enter a hall identical to the one on the other side of the tomb.  To your left it no doubt returns to the entry shrine.  Xynlexios leads you right, to a burial chamber with four sarcophagi and a door exiting it.  A mirror of the burial chamber you saw on the opposite side.

"Speaking to visitors is part of my purpose."  The undead answered Lissa, then opened the door from the chamber.  A narrow passage was revealed, "But more pressing matters exist.  Through here the passage is riddled with hidden traps.  I can show you how to deactivate them, but once shut off they will cease being a deterrent for whatever corruption lies below."

---

Key: S = Statue  A = Altar  ss = Stairs  B = Bunny  C = Claissa  N = Niri  L = Lissabytta  M = Merrick  Z = Zassil   r = recessed tomb   e = empty recess   P = Sarcophagus   & = Secret Door  l = Lever  t = table   u = Urn   ? = Tomb Guardian  O = Dretch   m = Lissa's Musket   W = Wolf   xx = Sealed Stairs

Zassil glanced at Bunny when she mentioned the level not being secured yet and he gave one emphatic nod of agreement. "Indeed."

He looekd at Lissabytta when she addressed him, eyeing the knife a bit. He gently took it in hand, then turned slightly away from her to test the weight and balance of it. He held it in the hand that didn't contain his morningstar and it was clear to see as he moved both that he was actually trained to use more than one weapon at a time - which made some sense, since he often did use one set of claws along with the morningstar.

He turned back to her once. "Every little bit helps, doesn't it?" There was a slight emphasis on 'little bit' as if a joke regarding the weapon's size. "Thank you. I shall endeavor to keep the evil away from you with this."

To the guardian he said, "Well, we will be attempting to be what stops the Corruption below rather than the traps. Go ahead, sir."

"Hold on there."  A thoughtful frown had settle over Bunny's face.  "Let us not be hasty here.  What Ah am hearin' is that these traps, and possibly the ward on the door to the main altar room, have kept whatever is down there in place for hundreds of years.  Do Ah have the right of that?  And if Ah do, then what is one more day in the face of all those centuries?"

"My point is, that in fightin' off the Dretches, Ah have exhausted many of the most powerful preparations that Guyver has afforded me.  Furthermore, we now have, through our new friend Xynlexios here, added intelligence of what we will face down below."

"What say we leave these traps in place."  And if there had been any doubt as to which direction her proposal had been leading, she added the physical to the metaphorical by taking a few steps back up the hallway.  "We can spend the day with Professor Clarke catchin' him up on what we have found.  He can explore the altar room.  Then, tomorrow, we can take down the traps and go below.  We will be much better prepared then for having taken things more slowly and carefully."

"What do y'all say?"

Claissa had mostly been keeping a lookout, but she did introduce herself to the nameless figure. "Nice to meet you, I'm Claissa and this is Niri. Yes, I think that's a good idea, Bunny."

Almost as though it were on queue, a voice faintly reaches the party.  Francisca's; echoing through the tomb and likely from the main entrance.  "Hey!  If you guys can hear me; you're going to want to come up and see this!"

The skeleton, Xynlexios, hears as well.  It turns to Bunny, "One day makes little difference.  What is trapped underneath us cannot escape the tomb if My Lady Xyn does not will it."

Zassil hesitated, slowly looking back over his shoulder at Bunny. His great draconic face frowned a bit. He seemed torn for a long moment before finally relenting. "Fine. I suppose there is wisdom in patience." He harrumphed and moved back.

The dwarf's voice was a surprise.  Not that there seemed anything necessarily alarming in tone or content, but anything unexpected that arises while in a tomb filled with demons and the undead had a certain understandable potential for causing consternation.

Bunny flashed the others a worried look.  "Wonder what's goin' on."  Already backpedaling for the entrance, she called to the tomb guardian, "Can you follow us as far as the Altar Room, Xynlexios?" she called.  She did not, however, wait for a reply.  At a swift trot, the gun-slinging Guyverite retraced their steps, crossing back through the long room where they had halted the outpouring of dretches, and exiting through the door to which they had already broken the seal.

"What's up, Francisca?"  With hand on the butt of her pistol, Bunny slowed as she ascended the stairs from the Altar Room, rising up into the den of the now dead drakes.

"Bunny!  Good, I was worried you were too deep to hear me."  Francisca was at the top of the stairs.  She stepped aside and gestured out the entrance, into the daylight, "Well, I don't know how else to put it.  The Fey have come to visit."

Out in the open field between the barrows, you could see Professor Clarke conversing with a pair of Fey that looked human from the waist up, excepting a pair of small horns atop their heads.  From the waist down they appeared to be deer or goat, with hooves and a small tail.  The male had a chiseled and athletic physique, wearing nothing except a belt that carried a small sword and a set of musical pipes.  The female had long, autumn red hair and wore a simple, white summer dress.

More Fey creatures were clearly present outside, "I don't know how many are here, but they seem friendly.  The little one we met, Ditty, is here too.  These must be their people."  The dwarf didn't seem to know what to do with the situation.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:15, Fri 01 Dec 2023.

She raised up a hand in a quiet greeting to the little grig who had been their first acquaintance in this area.  Aside from that, however, Bunny remained with the dwarf as the others behind her emerged from the tomb.

"They say anything about what they want, Francisca?" she asked.  "Not that they necessarily need to want something.  Ah take it that they know we killed off the drakes.  That much is only obvious.  Even if they didn't have someone watchin'."

"Speakin' of which," a casual but concerned look over her shoulder indicated something back inside the tomb, "Ah hope they don't start warrin' with the sprites back there.  Ah would hate to have to get in between somethin' like that."

Zassil followed Bunny back towards where they had been before, where Francisca was calling from. One eyebrow ridge lifted as she spoke. But then he heard that Ditty had returned. He smiled slightly. "Is she now? Interesting."

He had put his morningstar - and the lent dagger - away already, but he slowly stepped outside, so as to not alarm anyway, still smiling. He didn't move too close yet, wanting to give them a chance to see him and react - but he looked for Ditty.

"They seem happy, that much is plain."  Francisca answered Bunny, "The two sprites are skittish, but that seems normal to me.  Those ones that Professor Clarke is speaking with, the two fauns, appear to be the leaders of the Fey here."

Meanwhile, Ditty waved back at the group.  As the party began to emerge from the depths of the barrow, the tiny grig approached the pair of fauns.  Their talk with the professor was interrupted as Ditty pointed out the party's arrival.  They turned towards you with bright smiles.

"Oh there you are!" Said the female faun, "Ditty has told us so much about you.  Especially about Zassil the Nice Dragon.  It's so nice to meet you!"

The male faun followed up, "We found it hard to believe when we were told that a group of people and another dragon had promised to defeat the dragons who lived here.  But Ditty wouldn't make up a story like that, so we had to come and see for ourselves."

The mood of the Fey seemed celebratory.  Numerous creatures gathered around as the fauns spoke to you, each wanting to get a look at the party; and especially Zassil.  There were more grigs like ditty, tiny green creatures that looked like elves with dragonfly wings, a pair of seemingly bipedal toads, a trio that looked like young girls wearing mushroom hats, and a few gnome-sized men and woman with butterfly wings.  A diverse menagerie of unusual and fantastic creatures were looking at your group as though you were the strange and wonderful ones.

"But after getting here," continued the male faun, "It's clear that you did exactly what Ditty told us.  We were just talking with your Honored Elder," you get the feeling that the title 'Professor' doesn't translate well to the Fey, "and he confirmed it."

The female faun thanked you, "We can't thank you enough.  Many of us can't fight things like dragons, even if the grigs and atomies were willing to try.  It was all we could do to convince everyone to stay hidden."

Zassil's smile widened when he spied Ditty and when they were noticed he spread his arms and gave them all a low bow of respect. He snorted quietly in amusement at 'Zassil the Nice Dragon'. He had apparently made an impression.

He slowly stepped forward after they were acknowledged. He first said to Ditty, "It's a pleasure to see you again, Ditty." Then to the others he said, "It's wonderful to meet you all."

To the male faun he nodded. "I'm sorry you've had these drakes around causing trouble, but they will no longer."

It was nice to see folks so happy.  It was nice to feel the sunshine, and to be under the blue sky once again as well.  Bunny a final look behind her at the door to the barrow before leaving it behind.

"Ah think we need to talk," she said, trying to keep the conversation confined to the two fey folk leaders and Lissabytta's Professor Clarke.  "Y'all need to know what else is down inside that there barrow.  And, maybe you might be able to tell us something as well.  If y'all keep oral traditions and such."

"Oh?"  The male faun responded to Bunny, "You sound serious.  Is this about the sprites who lived here with the dragons?  You need not worry for them, we won't begrudge them their ways.  As strange as they might be to us."

The female faun shooed the throng of gawking Fey, "Go on now, we need to set a celebration for our guests of honor!  Who is going to make the feast and the music if everyone is here watching our friends?"  Her voice was gentle and not at all commanding, but the group dispersed to give you all room to talk.

"We were actually going to offer the sprites to come and join the rest of our community."  She continued, "So that they won't have to take up with the likes of those cruel dragons ever again."  The female faun smiled past you and waved to where the pair of sprites peeked out from the barrow entrance.  The two tiny Fey darted back out of sight, "The poor dears are ever so skittish."

A loud set of clanging footsteps announced the arrival of yet another of the Fey.  It looked like an old man bent with age, more gnarled and knotty than an oak tree, and wearing a pair of loud metal boots on his feet with a red cap on his head.  A long white beard nearly scraped the ground ahead of him.  He had a large sack carried over one shoulder and several curved knives in his belt.

"She don't mean the sprites."  The new arrival had a gruff voice, bordering on angry, "You want to talk about the undead, eh?  Or was it them demons what moved down there with em?"

Feverish sketching, Lissa wrapped up scribbling in her notebook.  Once the immediate danger had subsided and the group had established that they were not going to push further into the barrow tomb, her scholarly instincts had kicked in.  She was trying record things in her notebook with charcoal and ink.  Already, a rough sketch as well as a few of the carvings, motifs, and runes on various objects had been roughly rendered in the first few minutes.

When the call from Francesca came down, she waved off the others with an "I'm coming... I'm coming..."  But, of course, she was a few minutes behind.

Trundling up the stairs with her pack strapped to her back and  her book and charcoal in one hand, Lissa squinted at the daylight streaming through the entryway before pushing out into the clearing.

It took her a moment to take in all of bustle and activity that seemed to fill the area.  She'd started towards the Professor, but then stopped by next to Bunny and Zassil (and Ditty and the fauns).  Having come in at the tail end of the conversation, she prompted eagerly, "What'd I miss?  Is there going to be a party?"

But, of course, she had an opinion on the 'Dark Fey'.  She nodded in agreement with female faun, "They only lack the Light to show them the way." seemingly agreeing with the idea of inviting them to join the larger community.  "I will note, though." the blonde scholar ventured, "that they guard the ... offspring, the eggs of the drakes."  She seemed thoughtful, before a slightly mischievous smile touched her lips, "This will give you the chance to raise your own dragons."

Lissa also felt compelled to warn them, "And our former companion, Lucille.  She's bent on destroying the eggs.  So, they must be protected from her ilk.  I don't like the thought that true innocents may be slaughtered for what their parents did."

The words of the older, gnarled fey turned Lissa's eyes and attention towards him.  She nodded, "We do need to talk about them.  We have started to open the passaged into the barrow.  It was only a matter of time."

She motioned to Clarke to come towards her, leaning over to Francesca to hastens her mentor's arrival to the conversation.  "We pushed into a portion of first level and there were many demonic dretches there." Lissabytta started to narrate, "Only the Fox's Fortune allowed us to escape alive.  The creatures are down ... and likely multiplying on the lower levels.  There is a tomb guardian there, one that know much of the layout and can help to a certain extent.  But, he is limited and worships only Xyn."

"He speaks of a mummies and his master below." she noted, "And warns of the Corruptors below, which presumably are the demons."  She withholds the name of Markul, at least until, the Professor joined the conversation.

"I am Lissa." she (belatedly) introduced herself to the elder fey and the fauns, "Can you help us understand more about what is down there?  What do your people know of the barrow and its contents?"