Thiy and Artaxes' Excellent Adventure!

[ian_scho]

OOC - Search (1d20-1=8) A random d20 (1d20=9)

Thiy nods at the search suggestion, but Artaxes gets into the tent first. He seemed quite animated at the prospect of a bit of torture. The canvas tent is small and cramped and the nun is not enthused at sharing such a small space with the man. "I'll search the surrounds." she whispers, and leaves him to it. She does the best she can yet the only thing she finds of any interest would be where he buried his own faeces. The bizarre lizard had placed a symbol made of sticks and twine on top, presumably to either protect it from evil spirits or to inform them not to go digging around there. It would be a new symbol that she would not easily forget.

"Nothing." she states to Artaxes. "And you'll get your dose of flagellation with the prisoner." she adds. "Causing suffering to others isn't really my thing." Thiy lies. "But I can work wonders with some bamboo and rope."

Thiy had suffered more than enough degrading 'ceremony' from her seniors at the order. It was not torture, she could admit. But it was dehumanising. That thin line they took with both her and the other initiates was, she came to realise, genius. She had even been allowed to start training other acolytes before the nun had left her order. It was an experience which had been both between the thrilling and the tedium. New knowledge was gained yet she also lost a part of what she once was. She understood it's final goal, however. And was certain that she would not be turning her back on her path.

[raixel]

Thiy looks around the lizar's tent, finding nothing of note but a strange symbol of sticks and twine a few feet away from the gauzy circular structure. Perhaps he left a message for his compatriots buried here? Grabbing a nearby piece of bark, she digs under the symbol. The smell rising up from the brown matter buried a few inches underground tells her that if it was a message, it was very odd one indeed. She hears a laugh behind her and turns around to see Ktch'klik watching her. Although he has no expression on his alien face whatsoever, she can tell he is amused.

"Before you ask, no I have no idea why the crazy would put a mark over his night-earth. Perhaps he is proud of it? I'm just glad you found it first, otherwise I'd be digging it up instead." the spider says, the inflection in his artificial voice showing he is just teasing and seems to enjoy the monk's companionship.

"I'm going to go with Artaxes and help him. I sensed the disturbance in your being at the though of hurting the traitor, and came over here to speak to you. And I saw flashes of pain in your past, again. I think I understand why you dont want to be there. It is good that you are turning from that darkness within. Unlike your kind, what little I have seen anyway, my people kill from the second they take their first meal less than an hour after hatching. It is our nature, as we must eat a certain way, we cannot consume flesh the way you can. So, unlike your kind, which must be trained to Death, my people are born in it. Although I do not enjoy the thought of harming sentients, Sssarr chose to spin the web he did, with his actions. So, I must cut his web, lest it ensnare the innocent." The spider dips his thorax in a kind of odd bow and leaves the monk to her musings.

"By the way," he calls as he walks away "If you want, I could help you with that garment you were making. I have no silk left today, I used everything I had to catch that fool. But tomorrow I could make you some thread so you could get out of that soiled cloth you wear. If you want."

Thiy sits for a second after the spider-man leaves, watching Zosar's slow crawl across the sky. She can hear the sounds of two guards patrolling around nearby. They see the monk watching them and nod respectfully. It seems word has already spread among the guards that it was the humans who stopped the traitor. The monk jumps as a wet snuffling sound comes from right next to her ear. She whirls around in a crouch and nearly trips over her pig. The swine looks at her, tiny blue eyes shining purple under the light of the dark moon. It *oinks* happily when it sees her face, and snuffles at the scat-hole, obviously interested in the scents there. Her backpack is still attached to its collar by the length of rope, and judging from the plowed up trail behind it, the pig has been dragging it around the tent area for some time.

The guards nod to Artaxes as they leave. They seem to accept the mercenary as a fellow fighter far more than they did when the humans first joined the caravan. Ktch'klik says "wait for me, I will be right back" and follows Thiy out of the clearing. The pinned lizar glares at the human, and Artaxes whirls suddenly and plants a roundhouse kick firmly in his scaled stomach. Air whooshes out of the traitors lungs, and he slumps forward in his bonds, gasping pitifully for breath.

"Yes, I think an eye will do just fine." Kassah says casually to the human. "Lets take him into that stand of trees over there. That should screen him from the other passengers. I'll have a couple guards patrol that area." she remarks, pointing off to the edge on the farthest side from where the passengers are currently sleeping. "Lisss, Naath!" she calls. Two large lizar, one a hulking reptile with pale green and orange-striped scales carrying a spear with another weapon's hilt poking up from his back, and the other a very thin white-and-black blotched bow-man(lizar?) walk up. They salute the pathfinder and nod respectfully to Artaxes, then wait for orders.

"Stand guard while we...talk...to this traitor, over there" she says, motioning to the place she indicated earlier. "This human is a good fighter, and has agreed to help us with making sure we find out what happened." she tells them.

The two guards salute again. "Yeah, Hssilaa briefed us on what happened." the muscular one says, leaning his spear against a wagon and unstrapping a much used double bitted axe from his back. His translated voice is gravelly, and with a hint of Viborg street-accent mixed in. He turns to Artaxes. "Thanks, human. I have never met one of your kind before, but I am pleased to meet a fighter such as you." he rumbles. He grabs his spear in his other hand and the two walk over to the indicated area and take a guarding stance, spears planted in the ground in case they need them.

Ktch'klik returns and says "Lets do this." He looks at the still-gasping Sssaar and chuckles slightly "Well, that takes care of worrying about him running. I can't use my spinnerettes anymore today, but I brought a coil of rope I was taking to sell with other goods from Arachnia. It should hold him while we search him, and it should prevent him from squirming too much afterwards. Let me just free him, Artaxes, you hold him down once I release the web." he says as he hands the coil of silk rope to Kassah.

Artaxes gets ready as Ktch'klik brings his mandibles to the web right next to Sssaar's torso. The still-coughing lizar squirms, trying to wrench his pinned body away from the fangs hovering inches from his chest. Ktch'klik thwaps him solidly on the head with one of his long arms. "I'm not going to bite you, you coward. But, if you keep squirming, I might slip." The traitor freezes, although Artaxes can see his eyes still burning with madness and fear. The spider man's fangs twitch, and Artaxes can see the clear venom running off of them. When the venom touches the webs they begin to dissolve in a jelly like substance, which Ktch'klik shovels into his tiny circular mouth with his pedipalps. As soon as Sssaar's torso is free, he jerks like he is going to try and escape, but Artaxes quickly pounces on him and bears him to the ground, pinning his arms behind him.

Kassah hog-ties him easily. "It is a good thing part of being a pathfinder is learning how to tie different knots. This is a game-carrying knot. I never thought id be using it on a caravan passenger," she remarks as she trusses the squirming lizar up. Ktch'klik finishes eating the web and stands up. "I'll carry him" he says, hoisting the bound form easily with his four arms. The three walk over to where the guards wait. The two lizar salute again and part to allow the small group past them into the trees.

The traitor is dropped so he is propped up against a tree, with his legs bent backwards at a seemingly akward and painful angle from where they are tied to his arms. Artaxes quickly pats him down, but doesn't find anything obvious.

"No matter," Ktch'klik says when he sees Artaxe's search come up empty. "I'm sure he'll be happy to tell us everything soon. Now, where should we start?"

"Artaxes said the eye is always good. Lets start there." says Kassah, motioning to Artaxes to begin.

As the human steps forward, Sssaar seems to realize that this is no bluff. "Chaos take you!" he hisses maniacally, all trace of sanity leaving his face.

"Yes, you said that earlier, or something close enough. But that still doesnt answer the question. Who are you working for, and why the disks?" Ktch'klik says menacingly.

The traitor just glares at the three. Kassah shrugs. "His choice. Go ahead, Artaxes."

Woo! Torturing! Have fun! And Ian, Thiy is welcome to do whatever. Wander around, go to sleep, chase the pig.

[oh_brother]

Despite what he had said, Artaxes did not enjoy torturing. When a campaign was over he had to return to normal life - a farmer, a husband, a father - and to look his loved ones in the eye. Still, sometimes there were no options, or at least no acceptable ones. He would not let the enemies of Viborg prosper simply because he lacked the courage to do whatever was needed.

"Ok, lets do this the hard way" he said with a shrug, accepting a knife offered from one of the lizars. "I may not be the best at asking questions, but I am damn good at getting answers."

"Now, before we start, do you have a favourite eye?" he began as he knelt down beside the prisoner. "Because I am a reasonable man. If you particularly want to hold onto one we can do that, no problem. Of course you can hold onto both, too. You just have to talk. And believe me, you will talk anyway. It just depends how much you want to endure before we reach that point."

So one last chance, if not then Artaxes will start. Don't worry, I won't do any descriptions, probably best to leave that to people's imaginations! Or maybe just a simple "Out, vile jelly" a la King Lear.

[ian_scho]

"Yes. Thank you for your gift. When I get out of this foetid swamp I could bathe once more." was all she could say to Ktch'klik. She passed on commenting on the thought that it was the first being she had met who happily consumed it's own bodily excretions. It was a fascinating creature. So in tune to death.

Thiy was never an enthusiastic student in the arts of torture or inflicting harm on others... Unless there was a lesson to be learned. That is what makes her different from the others she associates with. Her own personal hell had a reason to it, and a path to follow. She was still walking it, still learning. Thiy watched the others take the traitor to the edge of the swamp, and then inside they went.

She looks down to the pig. Some of her most unbearable suffering was experienced in a room with her master... And his pig. The sound of it snuffling around on it's chain had some how alleviated the pain she would bear. With that in mind she picked up it's tether, and followed the rest into the swamp. She would become a spectator, nothing more. It would not be the first time she would see the death of a tied up creature during a hushed gathering. The pig was comforting, and the following few minutes would be interesting.

[raixel]

Artaxes holds the knife up to Sssaar's eye as he speaks, turning the blade so it flashes purple in the dark moon's light. Although lizars don't sweat, the traitor's fear is obvious. "You. You wouldn't. My Lord protects me. You wouldn't dare call down His wrath." he says defiantly, turning his head away from the sharpened blade.

Ktch'klik spreads his mandibles and pedipalps apart, showing his tiny remora-like mouth ringed in sharp white teeth. A sharp black chitin hollow tube,easily big enough for THiy to fit her thumb in it, extends out of his mouth a few inches. The spider-man leans forward until the tube nearly scrapes the traitor's eye. He holds it there for a bit, as if threatening to pierce the golden iris, before retracting it. "Oh. I think he would. And if he doesn't, I will. So, I'll repeat myself, just this once. We'll start with an easy question. Who are you working for? And if you don't answer, I can tell you, you wish you would have."

The traitor looks wildly around at each person nearby, as if trying to gauge how much he has to tell. Only the snuffling of Thiy's pig and the quiet calls of night-insects break the tense silence. Finally he says "The Discordant one. He of the MIrrors, The High Lord of Chaos."

Ktch'klik nods "See. That wasn't so hard. You get to keep your eye. For now. Answer our questions, and maybe you won't lose it at all. But, I highly doubt The Chaotic One himself is giving you orders. So, where are you getting your orders? And what is the purpose of the disks, and those rats?"

Sssaar looks away, his scaled lips pressed tightly together. "Chaos damn you to His Abyss." he says through gritted teeth. He raises his face to the sky, as if searching for something in the scuttling clouds and winking stars.

"Take my pain these unbelievers bring to me!" he suddenly shouts maniacally, his gold eyes burning with madness. "Cloak it in your fire! Burn it from me as you burn their souls from their bodies! With my pain, you rise! Trap their pathetic lives in your mirr--"

His insane ranting is interrupted as Kassah rushes forward and cuffs him solidly across the snout with her blade-pommel, drawing blood from his nostrils. "Shut up! We will have none of your disgusting blasphemy!" she shouts angrily.

The insane lizar subsides, although his eyes still burn with madness. His tongue slides out and he licks the blood dribbling down his face, glaring madly at his captors. "Such sweetness..." he mutters to himself as the red fluid touches his tongue.

Ktch'klik shakes his upper body in a decent imitation of a humanoid or lizar shaking their head. "I had hoped to avoid this," he says quietly, turning his multiple dark-red eyes towards the mercenary. He then turns completely around and looks at Thiy. "Are you sure you want to see this?" he asks her gently. "No one will think less of you if you dont."

Even though his form is completely alien, it is obvious the aracnid is upset at the thought of harming the lizar willfully. "He is a wild animal. He must be stopped. His kind could harm others and we must know what they have planned." he says quietly.

He faces the traitor again, who is struggling with the rope, his face frozen in a mad rictus grin. The humans can clearly see the pale blue silk is slowly being stained red as the mad creature struggles, pulling on the rope until it cuts deep into his flesh. "Let it be known that we take no pleasure in doing this. Let it be known that you have brought this upon yourself with your weaving." Ktch'klik tells Sssaar.

The spider raises all four arms to the sky. "Before Lord Arach¿sa, before all the Lords of Balance, we ask your blessing and forgiveness as we stand against the forces of the Darkness. Forgive us as we spill the blood of sentients. Know that we do this without joy, to protect the weaving of the Lifesilk." he cries. Afterwards he lowers his arms and turns to Artaxes.

"Go ahead. Take his eye." he says, grimly.

[oh_brother]

"Maybe you don't want to see this, sister" Artaxes said to Thiy, unaware that she had probably seen far worse before. "It won't be pleasant".

He nodded at the spider's words, and using his left forearm he held the creature's head in place against the earth. With his right hand brought the knife closer and he coldly and calmly proceeded to remove the eye, with no emotion registering on his face.

"That was just to show that we are serious" he said grimly, starting into the lizar's remaining eye. "It just gets worse from here. Do you want to talk now, or would you like some more pain first?"

For some reason "Stuck in the Middle with You" is playing in my head

[ian_scho]

Thiy scratches under the chin of the pig thoughtfully. Neither enjoying nor appalled by her companions actions she starts to wonder what the effects of seeing so much violence can do to something of the porcine species. "You carry on." she states wistfully "This pig has witnessed far worse."

She had suffered what felt like a thousand bites caused by thisidiot yet she felt neither anger nor fear from him. He was a tool sent by someone more powerful than they could possibly imagine. And what her colleagues were doing would probably make little difference to the outcome of things. Thiy knew. She knew that change was coming. Had seen it's machinations first hand. She was appalled yet was already preparing herself for the tumultuous changes that will one day occur to these lands. It was inevitable and Thiy had already accepted the suffering that people like this 'traitor' was bringing.

A whimpering noise had started. This may not take long after all. "What about you, pig? Will you rise to the challenge of a new future?" It's eyes like gimlets[*] shone back at her.

She hated that pig. She also needed it.

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimlet_(tool)

[raixel]

The lizar shrieks in agony as Artaxes completes his gory task. Soon it is over, and the lizar peers out from only one golden eye, the other a bloody ruined socket. The creature wails in pain for some time then stops, suddenly and eerily. "Disk of bone, disk of pain. Disk of bone, disk of pain" he begins to sing in a strange high pitched voice. "Orb of eye, orb of night. Orb of bloody light. Disk, orb, disk orb."

He focuses his remaing eye on the mercenary, and oddly the empty socket seems to focus on Artaxes too. You can take my eye, but He will take your soul. My souls in a mirror. He protects it, until He doesnt anymore." sings the insane wretch.

Sssaar again points his snout at the sky. "Did I please you, Master? Will you release me? I followed the orders of Your Scion. Can I go home yet?" He looks down at the ground, and then his mouth twists in a grimace of pain.

The madness leaves Sssaar's eye somewhat, and he appears sad. "My family. So long, since they were taken. Hassara, my strong kakkiss. Watch over your mother." He sighs sadly, then again looks at the crowd watching him. "Quickly. Before He takes me again. The pain you gave me cleared my mind. But I can feel His power returning. His people, they are preying on those who wont be lost, noticed. Whole families, replaced with His will. The bodies are just shells, the souls in His grasp. Working His will. Quickly, under my shirt. You w..illl..seee". He seems as if he is going to say more, but even those last few words were a struggle. He stares at Artaxes helplessly for a few seconds, mouth working as if trying to form words. Blood runs down his neck as he bites through his lips and tongue with the effort of trying to speak. Then he jerks his head sharply back and forth repeatedly. A high-pitched chuckle bubbles out of his mouth, and again he starts struggling with the ropes to the point of injuring himself.

His blazing eye focuses on the monk. "I see His mark on you. You willingly carried it. He will call you back...you can never escape." he shouts to her.

Kassah looks horrified. "What in SAR..." she mumbles quietly. Ktch'klik puts an arm on her back in comfort briefly and then takes a few steps towards Thiy. "Are you alright?" he asks the monk, reaching one hairy arm out to her in comfort.

"And you?" Kassah asks Artaxes. "Are you alright after what you did? Do you need a minute?"

The pathfinder looks at the humans. "What did he mean by "under his shirt"? There's something under there? Do you want to look, or should I?"

[ian_scho]

Thiy remains relatively unmoved by the show. At least on the outside. She had seen beings possessed and enchanted or even suiciding themselves in acts of worship. It was unnerving until you understood what was going on. The lizar, it would seem, had freely given himself up for the Master. The flow of pure energy channelled through him would have either driven himself insane or at the very least have severely changed him to become a shell of his former self. THAT was what Thiy was trying to avoid. Little by little she was learning and using the power to perhaps one day become powerful herself. She would be patient, however, and definitely not risk herself with actions of heroism or selfless devotion.

She wondered if the lizar was referring to the symbol of SAR.

"I am fine." Thiy replies, politely attempting to avoid contact with Ktch'klik. "Truly the magic this lizar has unleashed has driven him insane." And with that she stands up and moves towards the lizar. "I will be more than happy to remove his shirt. I wonder if the symbol of SAR is present on his chest?" So she starts to remove his shirt with the sharpened edge of a shuruiken. If he has been marked, it will surely be present.

[raixel]

Waiting on OB. I'an, i'll give you a brief update in a little bit if he doesnt show.

[raixel]

Ktch'klik seems to understand that the monk does not like physical contact and makes no attempt to touch her, although it is obvious by his posture, if not his expressionless (or at least lacking anything the humans recognize as expressions) face, that he wants to nake sure she is alright. The spider seems to have taken aliking to her, similar to the way THraxxiss is watching out for Artaxes.

He muses over what she says about the SAR symbol and nods. "Good idea. If he gives you any trouble, I'll hold him for you." he tells Thiy as she steps towards her.

The pig stays where it is, watching the proceedings for a few seconds, then apparantly grows bored that no one is producing food and begins to root around the ground at its feet, ocassionally snapping up some inch long crawling bug.

Sssaar tries to twist away from the monk's reaching hands. But he is securely hog-tied and braced against the tree and just falls over so his chest points to the sky and he is laying on his arms and bent backwards legs. The position looks incredibly uncomfortable and the insane lizar whimpers in pain.

He fixes Thiy's shiruken with his eye and giggles maniacally "Cut my heart out, will you stained one? Pointed to the sky, I will fly free." he cackles as Thiy grabs a fistful of his tightly laced vest.

"By Makanasshht, that DES-blasted giggle is grating on my scales! I sure wish hed knock it off!" curses Kassah to no one in particular.

Even though Sssaar attempts to twist his torso away from the monk, he can hardly move inthe position he is in and the razor-sharp steel slices easily through the coarse-woven fabric. As the monk suspected, directly in the center of his chest, there is a giant raw scarred area in the shape of the SAR symbol. The lines that make up the symbol are easily a half-inch thick. They appear angry, red and barely healed. There is no scales over the scar, and the pnes on either side look oddly shriveled and twisted.

Roll a spot, please.

[ian_scho]

OOC - It's been good that things are quiet at the moment - having a busy week thus far!
Search check, with INT modifier (1d20-1=12)
Congrats Raixel, 1000 posts.

Thiy pursed her lips and inhaled at what was in front of her. "It is the symbol of SAR" she pronounces and then feigns a somewhat disgusted look. Although to be truthful, she really wouldn't want to be marked like that. There is a difference between a servant and a slave. "I'm sorry but I don't know what you people should do with him. If it was up to me I would push him naked into the swamp and keep on moving. There is nothing you can do for him. He is lost to all hope." She then recalls that they thought of taking him to some wizards for some 'testing'. In her experience all that the wizards will achieve is to infect themselves by the objects that they are observing.

"It will be wise to keep the traitor separated from the rest, at least. Perhaps tethered to the last wagon in the train."

[oh_brother]

Artaxes took the crazed lizar's reference to Thiy's marking literally. Glancing over at the nun he shook his head "I cannot see any mark on her. And I have two eyes." He dismissed Kassah's concern about his well-being. "Don't worry, I am fine. It is not my first time".

He cocked his head to one side as the traitor spoke lucidly. But what caught his attention most was the fact that pain had allowed him to break through the dark ones mind control. In addition to storing that fact away for future use he decided their best option to get more information lay in inflicting more pain.

"You heard the thing" he said to the others. "Pain is setting him free. We need to continue." Putting the knife away for now he drew back his fists and began punching the creature in the face, switching over to the stomach from time to time. "Who else is under his power?" he shouted angrily into his face during the occasional lull in activity.

He stepped aside to let Thiy examine the body, nodding when he saw the Sar symbol. "The ones who attacked our camp had that symbol on their foreheads. They were able to continue fighting from wounds that should have put them in the ground."

Sorry for the delay. I was away for the long weekend, and yesterday I did not realise that the thread had been updated!

[raixel]

Woo, thanks! I talk a lot. Two years minus 6 months and 1000 posts. Ooh, better start thinking of my custom title!

Artaxes works the traitor over with his fists, punching the tied wretch and occasionally barking a question. Sssaar continues to cackle and giggle madly, stopping only when his breath is forced out by a well placed punch to the gut.

In response to the mercenaries question he giggles and says "Everywhere...His eyes are everwhere. You can't close them. Only He can." Snarling, the mercenary draws back and socks the crazed lizar in the face, hard. There is a crackle of bone and a spray of blood, and Sssaar's eyes go blank from the force. "One more, in the camp..." he whispers before slumping unconcious from the powerful blow.

He is out for a few seconds and then awakes, all trace of sanity gone and against spouting nonsense in a sing-song voice and cackling to himself. Artaaxes steps back to allow Thiy to cut open his vest with her shiruken.

See above post

Looking closer at the raw oozing scar, Thiy notices that the lizar's skin in the center of the circle that makes up the SAR rune is slightly raised and puffy. The scales and skin in the area look normal, not red or inflamed like the scar itself. It is almost as if something is causing the skin in that area to be stretched and bulging outward slightly.

Ian, you could further examine the scar, and/or announce your findings, in which case anyone else could examine it too.

The mad lizar's remaining eye rolls around in its socket when the symbol is revealed. He again giggles madly as he spits and curses.

"My soul is revealed, my secret soul. His power, His mind. I am but a puppet for His fire, as you all will be. All consumed, torn apart in His gaze! You can't stop him! Bow before Him, and in His terrible mercy you will be spared. But He will not forgive the abuses of one of His loyal insects, oh no. He will crus-" There is a resounding *crack* as Kassah brings her spear-butt down on the back of his skull, knocking him senseless.

"I'm sorry. Well not really, but I couldnt take his blasphemous ranting any longer. Hopefully he'll stay silent for a bit" says the pathfinder, visibly upset by the depths of the creature's madness.

Ktch'klik nods at the mercenary's comment about the SAR symbol. "Yes, I spoke with Thraxxiss about that while you were on watch. He is alarmed and wishes to tell his collegues at the Runescholar's Circle about your findings. The Chaos-worshippers apparently have channeled into some of the power of the rune to allow their warriors to survive untold injury. If they could imbue a large number of warriors with this power, the results could be catastrophic."

The spider clacks his mandibles when he gets a good look at the rune apparently cut or burned into the traitor's chest. "By Arach¿sa's Tapestry! Artaxes, you said they had it on their heads? And Thraxxiss was saying he believes it has to be on the head to be able to over-ride the signals of the life seat(brain) to keep the warrior fighting. Then why put it on his chest? Unfortunately I am not a runescholar and your guess is as good as mine. And yes, like Thiy said, I am tempted to dump him tied up somewhere in the swamp. Preferably in a catch-slime pit, or near a lasstiir den. But, I also think it is important to take him to the runescholars, so they can strip his mind with their magic." He turns to the monk and clacks his mandibles. "Don't worry, From what I understand, it isnt a pleasant procedure. They usually only use it on condemned killers and traitors. The victim is usually left an insensate mindless husk."

Kassah stands nearby looking concerned, as if she just remembered something. "Ktch'klik, I hate to interrupt, but we have a bigger issue. He mentioned there is one more in the camp. Now, I am at a loss to proceed. As I said before, we pathfinders are trained to deal with brigands attacking, but not insane infiltrators. And the fact that he seemed so normal until he was revealed. So, the question remains, how do we find this traitor? Should we just let them continue, and maybe we could find out their plans, goals, or if they report to anyone? Or do we just try and find them immediately?" she wonders aloud.

Ktch'klik looks aggravated at the revelation, and his fangs again start forming little beads of poison at their tips as he clacks them together. "I say we catch the traitor immediately, and give him the same treatment." he says coldly.

"Yes, but how? Search every single passenger? Besides, if the other traitor saw that we caught Sssaar, they might have already divested themselves of any incriminating evidence." the pathfinder replies.


She looks to the two humans."How about you? Perhaps as mercenaries, you have experience or knowledge of how to deal with something like this?"

[oh_brother]

"This is an emergency" Artaxes responded to the question from Kassah. "I am not going to sit around and wait for another attack. Especially as whoever else is hiding here will be fore-warned by what just happened." He was now back on his feet, his voice confident.

"I say we wake everyone up, get them together in a central location. We check them for scars -" he gestured to the lizars deformed chest "- and we if we find nothing we search their possessions. I don't care if it inconveniences people. Those of us who did all the fighting here were inconvenienced enough when we were saving everyone's hides" he pointed to the wounds of the people gathered around to emphasise his point. "I am not going to let some mouthy lizar who slept soundly while rats were materialising from the air tell me that he does not feel like being searched."

"And that starts with us." Unbuttoning his leather armour he showed his chest, free from any brand or tattoo.

[ian_scho]

Thiy's observation of the treacherous Lizar found something that might be of import. "Look" she points to the centre of his chest. "There is a small blister if you look carefully in the epicentre of the rune."

It was at that moment Artaxes was bad mouthing their saviours, had removed his shirt and was showing off some of his vomit stained chest. Men were always doing it. Chop down a tree? Take your shirt off. Go into a fight high on mushrooms? Take your shirt off. Whip yourself silly into a fanatical frenzy. Better take your shirt off! Thiy was more than happy to de-robe but just not in front of him.

"Artaxes. You look marvellous without your sark but could you do something useful and try to pry off a small portion of this guy's chest with a dagger? No need to be excessive but I'm wondering if these Runescholars would thank us for just taking them a small magical artefact instead of a bloodied pulp of a blind, frothing lizard."

Thiy's only suggestion to Kassah was to not divulge the information they had learnt here to their fellow passengers or coach-guard. To catch the devious required a more unscrupulous approach. Perhaps they could use the traitor here as bait? His accomplice may well have their hand forced if they knew that Sssaar was to be handed over to more powerful parties. His scar should not be known throughout the camp.

[raixel]

Holy shit Ian, I snorted gatorade out my nose again at the whole "men" thing! I'll let you guys decide what you want to do, if Artaxes wants to try and cut into the traitor's chest or what you guys want to do since you seem to have different ideas. Go ahead and discuss it IC'ly, Ill just add flavor text until you come to a decision.

Kassah looks surprised when the mercenary removes his shirt. Both Ktch'klik and her look curiosly at his bare chest.

"What are those?" she asks, pointing to his nipples. "Is it some kind of scar? Or some kind of strange scale? But why only two?"

Ktch'klik looks down at his thorax and abdomen (He is bult kind of like a thri-kreen, only spider shaped, with a rounder and not so long abdomen, four lower legs instead of two, a wider and more squat thorax and a rounded head with no neck coming out of the top of the thorax, like the Champion from CSB), completely bare except for the crossed bandoleers that he keeps his knives, pouches and other small objects on. He reaches behind himself with three arms and unbuckles his bandoleers so the humans can clearly see the spot where his four upper arms join on his thorax. Then he uses his other arm to stir the thick short hair there and clearly show he has no scars or brands beneath the fur.

"As you can see, I am clean" he says, as he replaces his bandoleers.

Kessah starts unbuckling the shoulder straps that hold her chitin and leather armor together. "Ktch'klik, can you get the side buckles? There are two on each side." she asks him. The spider nods, and with his four arms, the stiff formed leather with riveted yellow chitin plates seperate quickly.

The pathfinder steps out of her armor and lifts her plantfiber tunic over hear head, baring a navel and nipple-less torso covered in tiny coin sized dull yellow scales that shade to green on the edges of her chest where they meet with her green back-scales. It reminds Artaxes of the bellies of the lizards that used to live in the fields around his father's farm when he was a boy. Thiy, growing up in the city, has never seen such a thing. Unlike the tortured insane lizar still tied up nearby, Kessah's chest scales are perfect, shiny and smooth. Thiy reflects on the difference between Kessah's chest and the shriveled, peeling and scarred scales that surround the ugly raw SAR symbol.

"I too, have not sold my soul to Disorder." she says, as she steps back into her armor and begins tightening the straps. After this is done she calls to the two guards, Liss ans Naath, who stand a few feet away at the edge of the caravan's clearing to make sure the group isnt disturbed. They nod, obviously havng heard the entire conversation and put their weapons down.

The two come over and quickly unlace their leather armor, which the humans note is made in a similar fashion to Kassah's, but with less chitin, and held together with laces and not buckles. One they lacings are loose, they lift the armor and tunics over their heads, revealing similar featureless and unmarked torsos to Kassah's.

"Thank you." the pathfinder telss them as they lace themselves back up and retrieve their weapons.

"Well, thats everyone except for Thiy." Kassah says. It seems the lizar have no concept of body-shyness about their chests. Thiy realizes it makes sense, considering the fact there isnt anything there to be shy about. But now Kassah, Ktch'klik, and the two guards are looking at her expectantly.

[ian_scho]

Thiy sighs. Turn around will you Artaxes? The nun had spent a fair amount of time with other races and understood that they didn't understand her sensibilities. Indeed she had been through some initiation rituals that involved hot coals, some freshly applied tallow and a lot of screaming in your nakedness. When she was confident that the fighter had his back turned she dis-robed to show her thin frame in it's entirety. She was fortunate that they could not read minds, however.

OOC - Post more later

[oh_brother]

Artaxes becomes slightly uncomfortable at the attention his bare, though somewhat hairy, chest is attracting from the gathered crowd. "They are...things that mammals have" he replied somewhat unsatisfactorily to Kassah. In truth he had no good explanation for why he as a man had them at all, and so was unable to provide further details. "They are not scales, they are...they are...well whatever they are they are not scales." Satisfied with that explanation he nodded to himself and examined the other various creatures for any marks.

At Thiy's suggestion to remove the lizar's scar for easier transport he quickly whipped out the knife again. "Sure thing" he said, as he knelt down beside creature. "You okay with that?" he asked, looking over at Thraxxiss. "Or would you prefer the body whole? If you want to interrogate him, it might be best if he was in as few pieces as possible" he added with a slight grin.

This distraction also had the benefit of allowing him to turn away from Thiy, giving her the chance to be checked by the lizars for distinguishing marks. He spoke to the group without looking around "We could use him as bait, sure." he said to Thiy. "But I still think we should check the passengers. It will cost us nothing, other than mildly irritated travelling companions, but could get us to the traitor straight away. And if anyone puts up resistance and refuses to be examined we have reason to suspect them."

[raixel]

Waiting on Ian, but I'll post some more flavor text.
Kassah blinks at Artaxes' fumbling description of his nipples, then looks confused again as the mercenary is asked to turn his back, and the monk's torso is revealed.

"You have them too!" she says in surprise. "But yours stick out slightly, and are bigger!" She walks up and examines the monk's breasts in close proximity.

"Ohhh, I see." she says, after peering at Thiy's chest from a few inches away. "I remember reading about this. Mammals have them, to feed their young because their young come out without an egg. I saw them on a swamp jackal once, they hung down her chest, and her pups bit them. But then why do the human men have them? Do the men feed the young too? Male lizar don't have a drikk'ssa, only the females." She seems disgusted by the idea, at having live young and then sticking it to your chest to feed it. Or perhaps its the idea of men having a drikk'ssa, what ever that is.

"I heard once, about a thing called a "vampire" that feeds off blood. Maybe its because it never got enough food from its mother, and it needs to drink the blood to make up for the blood the mother would have fed it from her...feeding things." she says while gesturing to Thiy's breasts.

Apparently satisfied with her explanation, she turns around and says "Well, we are not marked, so everyone in here is trustworthy. I do see that his scales are oddly distorted there, like you said. This is odd. I wonder why. It really looks like there something in there."

Thraxxiss, who had been fetched by one of the two guard when the SAR mark was revealed nods to Artaxes when the fighter pulls out his knife and questions him about the wisdom of cutting at the mark. "Do it. As long as he is still alive after. This is a disturbing development, and the ruling nobles and councils of all the races of Zaangaard should be alerted."

After he finishes speaking, the snake-man undoes the knot of the soft cord that holds his arachne-silk robe belted shut and reveals his chest. Like the lizar's, his chest is nipple- and navel-less. However, where they have many small scales, his chest is made up of single horizontal scales about a hand-span wide, a pale sea green in color and stretching from side to side across his front, slightly overlapping. They flex as he bends his shoulders back, showing a sliver of the pale and nearly translucent skin between them.

Ktch'klik nods as Thraxxis replaces his robe aand ties his belt to hold it closed "Well, I would have never doubted your loyalty, old friend." the spider says quietly.

Kassah looks around at the assembled group. "well, everyone here has been verified. Regardless of if we choose to wiat or act right now, we should not let anyone know about whats going on until the second traitor is safely in our hands." She looks at the ksy, Zosar's purple tinged light still visible but waning as the small moon sets. "The RA orb awakes soon, and begins its journey in about one bell. The second traitor may not be aware of Sssaar's capture yet."

[ian_scho]

Thiy appreciates the sight of Artaxes back and is now already dressing herself once more. She waved away Kassah's corporeal question as something unimportant, as it was. "They are used for both feeding the young and attracting a mate... It's a similar attraction to that of flies gravitating towards a rotting carcass." she helpfully added, attempting to explain the nuance of female attraction in relation to her own experience and terminology.

The nun then moves over to Artaxes to observe the proceedings. She had been at a distance before as a casual observer but now this was truly interesting and something she could learn from. "Perhaps this next brief period of pain and suffering will help you, Sssaar." she added hopefully. The lizar will never truly be returned to what it once was but the force of having one's own will power back was not to be underestimated. It could also turn out to be a rather uninspiring wart, however. Which would make Artaxes a somewhat over-enthusiastic nurse.

[raixel]

Kassah nods at the monk's explanation. "Ahh, it is interesting how the males of so many species are alike." she chuckles.

OB, if you are going to cut the SAR symbol, please describe how you do it. It is about 5-6 inches across at the widest point with half inch thick line, right in the center of Sssaar's chest (on a human it would be right between the nipples) The center of the "circle" of the symbol is raised about 3/4 inch, but the scales amd skin in that area look normal. The lines that make up the symbol are scarred (as in not weeping or bleeding) but look red, puffy and inflamed, like wound or burn that didnt heal quite right. The scales directly next to the lines are withered, dull, and flaky-looking as if they are in the process of peeling off painfully.

[oh_brother]

Artaxes saw little of interest in the centre of the scar, but it seemed to be exciting those around him. Shrugging, he put the point of the knife into the flesh, just to the left of the central bump, drawing a bead of blood. Pushing in deeper he cut around, lifting up a flap of flesh and scales to check if anything was buried underneath. Now using the edge of the knife, he continued to cut in a circular fashion.

So going to remove the raised middle part. Checking underneath to see if anything is buried in the flesh.

[ian_scho]

Thiy cocked an eye to Kassah as she laughed about the similarities of the male of the two species while simultaneously one human male was inflicting much pain and suffering on the other, effectively returning the favour. These sort of moments happened to Thiy a lot. It was why she was working to improve herself, in order to improve the world around her - possibly via mass castration or whatever means it took.

"Fantastic knife-work, Artaxes. I suspect you've slaughtered more than a fair share of hanging upside-down swine in your time." Again, another ritual or training she had to undergo herself was to cut the throat of various animals and not quite so animals for slaughter. It surprised her that the simple action weeded a few of the more churlish acolytes out of their path to more profound training.

[raixel]

As Artaxes cuts around the inside of the circle branded on Sssar's chest, the unconcious lizar stirs a bit and moans. His nictating membranes and eyelids flutter slightly, but he remains knocked out. The mercenary lifts the flap of skin and tissue he has cut and to his horror sees something in there, resting bout an inch deep and slightly smaller than the circular part of the SAR rune scar. This must be what was causing the outward projection of the traitor's skin.

It is streaked in blood and gore, but from what he can see of it, it is a smooth silvered glass-like surface wedged deep within the flesh of Sssaar's chest. It is reflective enough to show a dim image of movement as the mercenary moves his knife. Perhaps if it was clean, it would be reflective enough to act as a mirror. It appears slightly humped, and reminds everyone looking on of a flattened turtle shell or carapace a few inches across. Coming out underneath it, the mercenary can see eight half inch-wide tendrils of some kind that are made of the same reflective substance. The tendrils are spaced radially around the flat part and project outward for about an inch before pointing downward and digging deeper into Sssar's chest.

Ian, roll a knowledge religion and read the appropriate text and the text above it as well.

Under 10:

Spoiler

As Thiy looks at the odd thing, a memory of her training as an initiate in the mysteries of Chaos flickers to the surface of her mind. The thing resembles a mirror. She remembers mirrors are sacred to the Chaos and the follwers of the disbalanced one. Most chaos-worshippers carry small mirrors in jewelry or sewn into their clothes as homage to the might of the High Lord of Freedom(as those who worship Chaos refer to him). And the altars upon which sacrifices are performed are a flat mirror resting on a black stone block, the mirror inscribed with the eight-pointed star of Chaos. Or if that isnt feasable due to monetary or secrecy constraints, a small mirror is laid under the sacrifice before the ritual begins.

10-15:

Spoiler

She remembers being told about how stupid misguided "heroes" tried to stop His last rise but became easy prey for his minions and brought before His Majestic Form.The Lord of all Freedom trapped the weak being's life essences inside some of his sacred mirrors. There they sat, frozen in the sacred glass. Until the ghost of some fool who was a follower of the weak Key(what Chaos-worshippers call the Grey Lord) freed a few of them using some kind of magic.

16-19:

Spoiler

Right before she left, Thiy remembers overhearing some High Priests of her group visiting with another High Priest from a different group. Apparently, a vision had been recieved from His Chaotic Majesty instructing how to trap souls and essences within His sacred mirrors. Lord Chaos then ordered this knowledge to be spread among all the various Chaos-worshipping cults and sects. This ritual wasnt easy and no where near perfect. It took at least a couple High Priests to even have a chance of success and was nearly as dangerous to the beings performing the ritual, as one slip and the cultist would be in the mirror and not the victim. Or even if the ritual was flawless, the amount of mana needed to power such a gross violation of natural balance was beyond any individual mortal and even sometimes a group of powerful priests, leading to all sorts of horrific accidents. Such was the ways of Chaos to weed out the weak. Thiy buried this information deep within her mind as soon as she heard it, as if the High Priests found out she had overheard, she would be subject to death by slow evisceration for the glory of Chaos upon a sacred mirror.

Nat 20:

Spoiler

Perhaps the priests finally perfected the ritual. What if it was possible to steal a being's soul but not their body and have their body be an automaton-like being serving the interests of the Chaos-worshippers, with the soul a helpless prisoner inside a mirror somewhere? Or even the essence of another creature from the Plain of Infinite Chaos(aka the Chaotic Abyss, the home/prison of Lord Chaos that the Grey Lord is the key to) could be placed within a body, changing the body's nature and mind as the essence of the vile being merges with the "host" and remakes it.

Thraxxiss steps forward and peers at the odd thing. "What in Ssha's name is that?"

Alright, so youve got an unconcious tied p lizar with a hole in his chest and something shiny stuck in it. What do you do? If anyone is going to try and pull it out, I need a dex and a str

[ian_scho]

OOC - Knowledge Religion (INT -1, Trained +2) (1d20+1=5)

Thiy had spent many hours studying under poor light with poor company. Much of the time was spent, however, looking for a few extra calories as they gave the acolytes the lightest of diets. Sometimes she would study, other times she was forced out of hunger to be scratching around for food. This time the sum of her knowledge of the artefact consisted of 'small and shiny'. The chaos worshippers liked shiny things, and here was another of them only surrounded by a SAR symbol. She decided to make a pronouncement.

"I fear that this is one of the dark one's handiwork." and tries to pull a wan look about her, as if exhausted from the examination. "We should try to remove the artefact. We may kill the traitor in the process, or we may liberate him. Either way... We'll be in a better position than before. Artaxes, if you want, I think you should have a stab at this one."

[oh_brother]

Artaxes grunted in acknowledgement of Thiy's request. "Don't worry. I have gutted enough animals to know how to get this out. He won't feel a thing. Or no more than necessary, at least." He continued talking as his knife sliced into the flesh, cutting around the lump with practised ease. "I will make sure he makes it alive to the runescholars".

Dex was 18 + 2 = 20, Str was 14 + 3 = 17.

[raixel]

As soon as Artaxes' knife touches near the odd object the radial tendrils start to flex as if they are trying to dig their way further into Sssaar's chest. Artaxes is only surprised for a second and deftly cuts around the grasping "legs". In a few quick motions he ha cut around the odd shiny thing, giving the flailing tendrils no purchase in the lizar's flesh. He cuts deeper and realizes that some of the tendrils are gripping Sssaar's breastbone. Once he cuts away all the flesh, he grips the raised carapace like mirror that makes up the center of the object. As his fingers contact it, he feels movement as the four legs grip the sternum even tighter, but the mrcenary's quick cuts have prevented the non-attached tendrils from getting a hold on anything. The unattached tendrils open and close spasmodically with a clacking sound as they mindlessly try and dig into the lizar's chest.

The mercenary pulls hard and there is a sucking noise as the thing comes loose, the attached legs stretching as they try to maintain a grip on Sssaar's sternum. Now that everyone can get a good look at the object, they realize it looks kind of like a tail-less horseshoe crab made of mirror, with 8 long "legs" projecting radially out from underneath it. The legs are jointed like a crabs, and mirrored as well.

Finally, with a loud scraping sound the attached tendrils lose their grip on the unconcious lizar's breastbone and pull free. Artaxes is left holdng a palm-sized mirror-thing, the tendrils on the bottom of it spastically opening and closing as they seek to find purchase on something.

Even though he is unconcious, Sssaar screams loudly and his eyes fly open. He stares blankly, his eyes unseeing as he screams out each breath, stopping only long enough to inhale before again releasing that breath in a high-pitched keen, loud enough that the nearby night-creatures have silenced. He starts to convulse, as if having a seizure, and frothy blood appears around his mouth, probably from biting his tongue. Or something worse.

"By Makanassshht!" Kassah cries as she rushes to the screaming lizar's side, either trying to aid him or silence the screaming before the whole camp is alerted, the humans cant tell. "What in SAR is that thing?"

"What in SAR, indeed." Thhraxxiss remarks drily as he rushes to aid Kessah.

Artaxes shifts his grip on the shuddering thing in his hand. Looking at it closely, he sees that it is featureless and smooth, and appears to be made out of highly reflective molten silver. Through the blood and gore, he swears he can see a face on the back of it, a face that isnt his. He will have to wipe it off to tell for sure, and that task might be hard to do, as the thing is quite strong.

Thiy's pig, who until this time had been standing with the monk watching the whole process quietly, begins to run around the monk's feet *squee*ing loudly, probably disturbed by all the commotion. It apparantly is terrified of the thing Artaxes is holding, and after running around ineffectively, tries to dive under the monk's robes.

Ian, youve got a pig trying to hide under your skirts. Make a balance check, please!

[ian_scho]

OOC - Balance check (1d20+4=10)

Thiy was once wandering why she was training walking up and down a rope. The thing wasn't tautly hanging between two pegs up in the air, but just pinned to the ground between two pegs. Why? She asked her fellow hobgoblin acolyte. Because we're supposed to be hanging by our nipples walking a tight rope over lava? He suggested. It was then their trainer woke up from whatever concoction he was currently inhaling. Because you are all useless swine! He barked at them.

And here she was. Practically falling over her pig, and she can feel his tether shift under her feet right now!

[raixel]

Kassah and Thraxxiss finally manage to shut Sssaar up by pinching his mouth shut, although the insane lizar still keens in his throat. Thiy windmills her arms and stumbles as her swine seems to think she is the ultimate protector and tries to hide from the loud noises by diving under her monk's robes.. The unstable slick footing of the swamp is too much, and she finds herself sitting flat on her ass, a tiny pair of blue eyes staring at her, with a look that seems to say "What are you doing down here?" The pig nuzzles her face with its mobile wet snout, grunting happily.

Ktch'klik walks over and shoos the pig away, the swine's instinctive fear of the large arachne overriding its love of Thiy. The spider holds a hand out to the monk and offers to help her to her feet.

"You are trained in the ways of belief, are you not? Would you have any knowledge to help this poor tortured soul?" he asks the monk while gesturing to the screaming Sssaar.

Alright, so Artaxes is holding a clacking crab-mirror, Sssaar is screaming, Thiy's getting knocked on her ass, the pig is afarid of Ktch'klik, Kassah and Thraxxiss are trying to shut Sssar up, and Ktch'klik is trying to make sense of it all.

Fun times!