Surprise was clear on Granth's face, though he did his best to conceal it using his hood. The bandit king flicked his glance from the man that had tried to kill him to the prisoner that had saved him. He was quiet.

"Alright," the archer answered, nodding at Mariana. "I'll add that to my schedule."

Granth moved on past Mariana, heading toward the bleeding lizardman. He looked him over quickly and only saw the one major wound. It was a dangerous wound, but it could be healed properly with care over a length process.

Unfortunately, Granth didn't have the luxury of time. The cult wizard was wounded, sure, but not felled, and it only took one man to deliver a message. Granth came to a quick decision.

"You've cauterized a wound before," the masked man told Xalmann, eyeing him seriously. "If we don't get moving now, the cultists will muster up a proper defense before we arrive. The faster we move, the less time they have to prepare."

The archer didn't waste any further time. He snapped his fingers to the wolf, and it came rushing on behind him, and Boris came running on up alongside him, too. Granth didn't slow down to wait for the wounded, either. The hunt was on.

Mariana would either live to regret the decision to save Granth or manage to take him to justice when he has even more of a reputation. That would gain her some serious glory, and was well worth the risk. Not to mention she was afraid to be left alone in a forest full of spiders and dead bandits...

Making her way to Xalmann's side again she looked at the bleeding wound. He had some resolve to keep going despite a wound like that, if she had any medical knowledge she would've stopped to help him. Instead she followed Granth, slowing to allow him to catch up to her. 

"You fight well... I've never seen someone light on fire like that before..." Her voice was respectful, excited even.

She quietened down as they continued through the dense mist. The trees seemed to move and shake as they passed, likely due to more spiders awaiting an opportunity to ambush them. Mariana shivered, almost tripping over a pile of bricks as they entered the outskirts of the ruins. The mist was lessening but still limited their vision.

The crumbled structures had trees and brush growing out of and over them, only some were still visible and all had long since been abandoned to nature. Spider webs crisscrossed between pillars and some signs of human activity, tracks and some trash, indicated this was an actively used trail. They had found the correct place. Their progress was slowed by the mist though and despite their best efforts Mariana was certain they'd be walking into a another ambush.

She held her Halberd at the ready, trying to keep her eyes peeled for anyone getting close to them.

Xalmann gritted his teeth and steeled his resolve as he pulled the leg of his leather pants up to get clear access to his wound. His hand started glowing more brightly than the rest of his body and he pressed a fist to his own thigh. It burned horribly. The pain gave him flashbacks to when he had thrown himself into the fire at Dagon's orders. He held his fist down until the stream of blood came to a stop. He would need treatment later, but he was no longer in danger out bleeding out.

He wanted to stand up immediately and follow his allies to the battle, but he needed a moment. He remained kneeling and took a few deep breathes to regain his composure. He had endured worse pain, the same pain of burning, but on nearly his entire body. This much wouldn't be enough to take him down. But, he was absolutely furious. He needed to take a moment to calm himself down. That ice wizard would pay for making him have to experience that pain again. His scales seemed to glow just a little brighter as he rose and followed after the others.

He walked up behind the others through the mist. He kept a small distance from them, his axe and dagger in his hands. He looked around at the ruins in front of them. He looked to the side and saw what remained of a wall with an archway in it. There, he saw a figure peaking out at them.

"There! The door!" he called to the others, pointing toward the door with his axe. He started moving toward it, but he was still a bit slowed down by the pain in his leg. The man poked out of the door again, aiming a crossbow.

An arrow zipped out from the group towards the door. The cultist with the crossbow pulled behind the stone archway in time to avoid getting impaled by it, but not enough to prevent his crossbow from being broken by the shot. The man cursed and threw the weapon down.

"No quarter!" Granth shouted at the top of his lungs.

Boris and the wolf rushed on ahead of Granth, making their way for the hiding spot Xalmann pointed out. But more cultists appeared elsewhere, about seven of them, armed with spears and curved blades. Apparently, they'd gotten enough forewarning about the group to prepare for Red, as it was very specifically the spearmen who were readying to face him, knowing the length of their iron-shod weapons would keep his fiery aura at bay. Those with swords, meanwhile, were rushing toward Mariana.

Three against seven wasn't the best of odds, but Granth had a bow and the wretches did not. He lifted it up and let loose a pair of arrows, and in quick succession put down one of the swordsmen nearest to Mariana and one of the spearmen facing Xalmann. But Granth was troubled; he knew there was still a wizard hiding somewhere in the ruins, after all. Why hadn't he made his play yet?

Granth decided he wanted to be sure Xalmann had the right tools to face that wizard.

"BORIS!" Granth shouted out to the thug. "Go help Xalmann! The wolf is fine alone!"

Boris turned his charge away from the lone cultist and instead directed his movement toward the lizardman, bringing his mace to the battle... as well as his torch, and more importantly, the flame on the torch which Red could manipulate.

Mariana saw the crossbowman, ducking slightly before an arrow flew over her head from Granth's bow towards him. She rose back up as the cultists next group rushed out to engage them. Mariana would have no trouble fending off swordsman, spearman would be a slight challenge though. Her worry for herself was replaced with worry for Xalmann, he'd been injured earlier and the flames he emitted wouldn't reach the spearman. She would need to act a bit more recklessly to keep him standing.

As the swordsman tried to surround her she whirled the halberd around herself, they halted and looked to one another unsure of how to approach. Granth's arrow took one down and she had better odds at hand. She feigned a swing of the bladed edge towards the cultist to her front before switching her grip and spinning around towards the cultist at her rear who had advanced to attack. He gasped as he realized the ax head was about to slam into his gut and hopped back, not in time to avoid having his stomach split open deeply. He fell as blood poured out, clutching his stomach.

Mariana then, spinning to keep her momentum up, moved to help Xalmann.

"Watch out!" The swordsman pursuing her screamed to his fellows

Mariana swung her halberd out as the spearman closest turned and braced himself by raising his spear's haft to block her. The halberd's momentum struck it hard and, though he managed to stop the blow and Mariana's momentum, the force swung him into Xalmann and he promptly burst into flames. 

Just as she was about to say something heroic a shooting pain erupted from her left shoulder. A sliver of ice had pierced through it and now jutted out from it. She turned her head to the source of the ice spike and saw the wizard from earlier now riding atop an enormous spider fitted with a strange saddle. The spider climbed a tree as the wizard hung, strapped firmly in, from its back. He readied another spell from the tree tops as the spider's venom dripped down from above.

Xalmann deflected incoming spears with his axe and dagger, frustrated that they had chosen weapons specifically to counter him and by his injury slowing down his movement. He used his axe to smack a spear high and tried to rush under it toward the man wielding it, but two more spears came to the man's defense and forced him back. How aggravating. As he tried to find an opening to take down one of the spearmen, Boris came over, a torch in hand.

Xalmann took advantage of the flame, reaching a hand out and willing the flame to fly at one of the spearmen. The man seemed to be caught a bit off guard by the sudden projectile and took it directly to the chest. He dropped his spear to start patting out the flames that clung to him. It wasn't enough to do more harm than a few light burns, but it was a perfect distraction. Xalmann rushed in, deflecting the spears that came from either side with his axe and spear, he kicked the man directly in the stomach and sent him flying back.

Now that the fight was two on two, at least for the moment, this would be much easier. The one of the two remaining spearmen suddenly burst into flame behind him after being kicked into range of his fiery aura by Mariana. He swept the man aside with his tail, sending them toward the last remaining spearman. The spearman jumped to the side to avoid the burning, still screaming, body of his ally. As he jumped to the side, a mace suddenly caved in the back of his head. The man dropped to the ground, Boris standing behind him.

Xalmann moved to finish off the spearman he had kicked that was starting to rise from the ground, but he suddenly heard Mariana scream out in pain. He turned to see a shard of ice in her shoulder, and the wizard harnessed to a giant spider in a tree. The fury in his eyes grew brighter as he eyed the wizard.

Granth took a quick head count of the remaining opposition on the field: one wizard, one swordsman, and one spearman on the ground. The latter two opponents were not much of a threat alone, but the wizard riding a giant spider was a grave threat indeed.

Thankfully, Granth's lackeys were always ready to take advantage of distracted foes. While Xalmann and Mariana stared at the wizard, Boris stepped over and finished off the fallen spearman with a loud CRACK! as his mace shattered the man's kneecap and then his ribs. Then another scream rose into the air. The swordsman had been sneaking on Mariana to stab her in the back while she wasn't looking, but the wolf rushed out from nowhere and tackled him down, ripping at his throat. It was not a pleasant sound.

Thus, only the cult's wizard and his arachnid mount remained. That was more than threat enough on its own, however.

Granth fired off a pair of arrows at the wizard, but he conjured up a magical shield of ice to block the shots just as he had before. The spider skittered along the canopy up above, then leapt down at Granth even as the archer tried to back away. The spider was far quicker, and Granth found himself tackled to the ground. He let out a furious scream as those huge jaws clamped down around his waist, injecting his body with venom.

"GET THIS THING OFF ME!" Granth shouted, not able to see the wizard on the giant spider hurling offensive spells at his allies.

Mariana's vision blurred as the pain from her shoulder grew in intensity and blood began to pour out, mixing with the melting ice as it did. First aid would have to wait though, Granth was being eaten by a massive spider. If it wasn't for the feeling of faintness from the blood loss she was suffering she'd have been terrified of the thing. She hoisted the halberd up onto her shoulder with one hand and jogged towards the spider.

The wizard atop its back, seeing her approach, waved his hands and a swirling mass of water formed around them. He then shoved the water towards her, it formed a 3 by 3 foot wave in midair and rocketed in her direction. Mariana threw herself forward, landing prone as the wave crashed by over head and demolished a section of wall behind her. She pulled herself back to her feet and continued forward, raising the halberd as Granth continued to cry out in agony. 

The wizard cursed aloud before waving a hand towards her as a white glow formed around it. He closed his fist tightly before quickly opening it. As he did so Mariana felt the ice in her shoulder contract before expanding violently into dozens of tiny shards that stabbed into her shoulder from within and along her face and neck. 

She fell to the ground nauseous from the pain, dropping the halberd and covering the now much larger wound. Blood dripped from the multitude of small puncture wounds on her face, neck, and arm as she tried to put pressure on them to stop herself from bleeding out. She looked towards Xalmann with a fear filled face.

"Sa-save...him!" She managed to groan out. 

She would be able to last at least until Granth was safe, then maybe Xalmann could use that fire of his to cauterize the wounds... The thought of the pain it would cause was almost worse than that of dying here...

Xalmann was furious. He watched Mariana fall to the ground, wounds all across her neck and face. The wound in her shoulder was serious, but he had no time to help with that while the wizard and their giant spider mount were still a threat. He couldn't carelessly approach the wizard with Mask pinned underneath the spider, he might burn his friend.

Thankfully, Boris didn't have such a problem. He ran at the spider that was on top of his boss, his mace ready to swing down. The wizard looked toward the large man and started summoning another icicle to impale him.

While the wizard was distracted, Xalmann quickly stowed his axe and dagger on his waist and picked up two of the spears from the dead spearmen around him. He took aim and threw one of the spears directly at the wizard, but the wizard noticed in time to conjure up another ice wall to defend himself. However, he was unable to see the second spear that Xalmann threw directly at the head of the giant spider peaking out from behind the ice wall.

"What?! Dammnit!" he heard the wizard shout from behind the wall as the spider screeched, the spear protruding from one of its eyes. It backed up to get behind the wall, but Boris managed to swing his mace sideways directly into the monster's face. The spider's blood oozed from it, soaking Mask beneath it as it backed away past the cover of the ice wall, ignoring the protests of its rider.

"Attack him! Useless spider!" the wizard shouted as it retreated, bringing him along with it against his will.

Now that the spider was away from his allies, Xalmann charged toward the pair, pulling his axe and dagger out again as he ran. The wizard, still angrily trying to get the giant spider back under his control, didn't notice Xalmann until he felt the heat starting to singe his robes. The spider screeched again as its hair began to smoke and sizzle from the heat coming off of the approaching Lizardman.

The wizard threw up a hand to conjure another protective wall of ice, but a thrown dagger impaled itself into his shoulder and he froze with a look of horror on his face. The spider he was riding completely burst into flames, engulfing the spider and its unmoving rider.

As the spider and its rider were engulfed in flames, Granth stumbled up to his feet and pulled his clothes away from where he was bitten. The wound was going to flare up badly, that much was obviously; it was already beginning to swell. But with a glance across at Mariana, Granth could tell her wound was even more severe. Granth himself was in pain, but he was used to much worse wounds. The woman was delirious from hers.

"Boris," Granth grunted out between clenched teeth. Venom coursed through his veins as the big man rushed up to the bandit leader. "Help me walk over to the nob. Get my kit open."

Boris nodded. The burly man grabbed his boss and helped him walk over to where Mariana lay. Granth grimaced as he crouched on down, and as Boris handed him his bag of medical supplies, Granth quickly got to work stymieing the flow of Mariana's blood.

"Best thing you can do is stay calm and keep still," the archer told the woman firmly. "You ain't gonna die. Boris, prop her up; don't want her head down low, now."

The process wasn't particularly fast, but Granth clearly knew what he was doing. With all the cultists dead, there was no more need to rush on ahead as there had been before. Granth made sure Boris applied pressure to keep the blood from flowing out while the wounded archer applied a foul-smelling green paste around Mariana's wound and bandaged her carefully. Only once he was done did he attend to himself... though his calm state kept the venom from working too quickly.

A few minutes later, Granth was finished taking care of both himself and Mariana. He was no expert, but it was good enough, the work of a survivalist. They'd live.

Granth then pulled himself up to sit on a large block of stone, beckoning for Xalmann to get closer. He breathed heavily and held up a jar of poultice.

"Let me deal with you proper, now," Granth grunted. "That cauterization ain't something we want to leave like it was. Once we're done, we'll take a look around and find out what in the gods' names these spider-lovers were ready to die for."

Mariana watched the final confrontation full of anxiety. If Xalmann fell it would be up to... Boris...She didn't think he would be much use in saving the three of them from an ice wizard atop a giant spider. He proved her wrong though, delivering the blow that sent the beast into a retreat and allowed Xalmann to burn the both of them alive. She'd have thanked them if she wasn't forced to be here in the first place...

Watching the wizard burn brought a sadistic smile to her face, it was hard not to be satisfied when the person who tried to kill you died.

As Granth tended to her wounds she pulled part of her shirt into her mouth and endured the pain of it all.

"I don't suppose you have any official training? This is impressive first aid for a... never mind that, just thank you."

She was leaned up against a tree trunk allowing herself to regain composure and surveying the corpse strewn ruins when she noticed something odd. After a few moments more she rose up and walked over towards one of the corpses. His clothing had been ripped and the skin of his back lay exposed. Upon his skin was an intricate tattoo. She pulled a small knife from her pack and sliced the shirt off completely. The tattoo was a mix of symbolism and words scrambled together. 

"Ig-ikh...no'rdrin alan, ket romu solar... That mean anything to -!" She stopped and jumped as the ruins groaned and the ground beneath them shook.

A wall near the corpse had opened to reveal a passage way leading down into the earth, below the ruins. It seemed they had been using some sort of ancient magic passcode to enter and exit, likely taking it on as a motto of their organization. Whatever was inside would definitely be of either value or significance to them.

"Granth, Xalmann, ...Boris." She raised her right arm to point at the newly formed doorway with a reinvigorate smile on her face, things were looking up again.

Xalmann sat in front of Mask, his pant leg pulled up to allow them to treat his wound. He was reminded of times in the past when the man had treated his wounds with that same green slime. It smelled terrible. He had been covered nearly head to toe in the stuff when Mask he had awoken after the first time Mask had found him and treated his burns. Now the awful smell was almost comforting. When the medicine was finished being applied by Mask, Xalmann took the bandages and began wrapping them around his leg.

Normally, he would simply let Mask do this for him as he had let him apply the medicine. However, he was still a little angry at Mariana calling him a pet. He allowed Mask to apply the medicine since his scaly claws were ill-suited to the task, but he could wrap himself with bandages just fine. He could treat his own wounds instead of being cared for like a child. Like a pet. As he bandaged his leg, he looked up at Mask. "My tribe has a saying. The smaller spider has deadlier poison. That spider is very large" he finished with a slight smirk and a glance at the giant spider's remains. He thought about mentioning that Mask had been referring to him as Xalmann instead of Red, like he usually does. He wondered is Mariana's words had affected his companion as well.

As he was finishing with the bandages, the ground shook and a loud groaning came from behind him. He stood and turned, pulling his axe from his waist, but saw it was just Mariana opening a passage into the ruins. He relaxed and put the axe back onto his belt. He walked over to the charred corpse strapped to the back of the burnt remains of a giant spider and pulled out his dagger before walking over to the new entrance to the ruins.

The inside of the tunnel was dark with stairs leading down below the ground. His hand began to glow, lighting up the tunnel a bit. He looked back at the others before beginning to walk down slowly, glancing around for any remaining cultists or traps, the other following behind him.

There were no traps or hidden cultists as they went deep into the ground. They entered a large room. There were several puddles of water on the ground as water dripped from the ceiling. In the center of the room was a giant stone sphere with intricate patterns carved into the surface. It was on top of a pedestal that resembled eight spider legs grasping it from below. There were several stone tablets on the ground around the sphere with strange writing on them. Xalmann moved his hands closer to the tablets to take a look at the writing.

"Ain't had official nothing," Granth replied gruffly as Mariana asked her question. "Know what my pa taught. Worked with some deserters from the army, too; learned a bit of medicine from them. The rest I learned myself. Experience will teach a hell of a lot more than books."

Granth didn't have much more to say. Perhaps he should've thanked her for saving his life, but he knew she wasn't exactly a willing participant in their venture, and he wasn't exactly a sensitive man. So, he said something else instead.

"You fight pretty good for a nob, lady."

Granth really needed to learn how to offer compliments without them being backhanded.

While Granth's attention was focused on Xalmann's wounds, however, a sudden rumbling caught Granth's attention. Apparently, the mercenary woman had found a secret entrance to the cult's hideout. That was yet another reason to feel vindicated about bringing her along. Granth followed the others on in, waving for Boris to follow.

While Red went to inspect the writing on the tablets, Granth went for the obvious centerpiece: the patterned stone sphere. After touching it to be sure it was real, Granth gestured for Boris to pick it up, and the huge fellow managed to lift it off the pedestal with only some difficulty. Slowly, he set the orb on the ground, and Granth turned back toward the group.

"Guess we found what the bastards were guarding," he mused aloud, rubbing his chin through his mask. "Right. Doesn't seem to be much treasure here. We'll take the sphere; you lot can do whatever you want with the tablets. Mariana, you're officially a free woman."

The comment about her fighting skills was actually taken in stride. It meant she seemed both noble and skilled, which was exactly how she wanted to appear. Granth hadn't said he appreciated her help or even thanked her, but that wouldn't have suited him anyways.

As the group descended into the ruins Mariana traced her finger along the wall, layers of dust long undisturbed sat upon it. Whatever they had down here, they didn't visit it often. Coming into the chamber she smiled at the giant orb in the spider like stand.

"Very fitting, though now I wonder what came first, the spider orb in the spider castle or the spiders themselves..."
She placed a finger on her chin as she examined the room further.

Xalmann stepped over to a set of stone tablets with ancient writing on them. They seemed to be a series though she could see no order. Upon Hranth claiming the orb she felt some trepidation, if these items were kept together they likely were a set...

"Actually... I think we may be stuck seeing more of one another for a while longer." She stepped in front of Boris and door, looking to Xalmann next.


"These items were in the same hidden room, devoid of anything else, they're most likely a set. If we seperate them, we'll each only have half of a clue..." with her case made she could see clearly the vexation of her companions, she hoped they'd see this through and not wander off settling with what they got. This was not her version of treasure...

"I don't know about you all, but some tablets and a big stone orb don't seem like they're going to make us much. But, I'm sure they'll point us to some hidden motherlode, if we decipher them...or find someone who can." She smiled a prideful smile, this could be the kind of adventure that would make a name for someone.

Xalmann squatted in front of the tablets looked over them, trying to read them. They were in a language he didn't know and something about the writing seemed off. He listened to Mariana as she spoke. He didn't know what the words meant or what they could lead him to, but if the clues to find it were being held in such a secretive, dangerous place, then it must be something equally as secret and dangerous at least. It might be dangerous. But it also could be powerful. Something powerful enough to help him kill Dagon. To help him kill a god. He had to go find this treasure, but first he needed to find someone who could translate these tablets.

He stood up and walked over to the giant orb in Boris's hands. He looked it over. It didn't seem to have any writing on it, even writing he couldn't understand. Perhaps this orb was just a decoration? Or maybe it was made to be another kind of clue for the treasure the tablet lead to. Maybe whatever the treasure was, it resembled this sphere.

He walked to Mask and put a (no longer glowing hot) hand in his shoulder. "We part ways again" he said with a slight squeeze to Mask's shoulder.

"I will find the... hidden motherload" he stated as he turned to look at Mariana directly. "You will join me?"

He wasn't the best at speaking to people, and if he wanted to find a translator for these tablets, he would need to do that. Mariana like to talk, maybe even a little too much, so she would be helpful on this journey. She also seemed very interested in the treasure already. But he knew his friend was busy with their gang and likely wouldn't want to join this adventure, so he gave him his farewell gesture.