Xalmann was not having a better time with it. In fact, he would say he was having a far worse time, probably the worst time of all of them.

As Shaa dealt with two of the three tentacles that lashed out at them from the enormous worm's beak-like mouth, the third tentacle wrapped itself around Xalmann's waist. Immediately the Lizardman pulled out his axe and tried to hack the tentacle off of him, but the slimy, rubbery thing refused to be severed. The burning hot blade of the axe made the flesh sizzle as it left shallow cuts on the tentacle, but it wasn't enough to stop it from pulling Xalmann off of the drake's back and head first into its maw.

This was, by far, the worst place Xalmann had ever been. And I am not referring to the Arid Mesa, though he certainly wouldn't be going back there again either.

Inside the giant worm's throat, Xalmann's scales heated up immensely and he lashed out with his axe and dagger as well as he could in the slimy confines. It was difficult to move, but he managed to stab his kukri dagger into the flesh around him. The worm froze as its senses were assailed now not only by the horrors of a 9 to 5 job, but also the scene of a burning village of red Lizardfolk. The burning hot scales of Xalmann also charred and burnt it from the inside out. It let out another guttural screech, this time in pain, as it was cooked alive from within. An orange glow emanated from inside its mouth as it writhed and struggled, fire starting the erupt from the cracks in its chitin.

---

Arcane Soul
Heat Cloak
Conflagration
Dagger of Torment

The moment Xalmann is snatched into the bloodish maw, the great, fibrous wings of the artificial drake beat powerfully, distances it from the great worm.

Knight's groaning utterances barely cut through the flapping of massive wings and grinding of stone.

"Conscript Shaa, report: Conscript Xalmann has been neutralized. Recommendation: the enemy is unlikely to pursue us if we retreat."

But it's then that the worm begins to writhe and squirm anew, plagued by infinite terrors beyond the scope of its cognizance. In a visceral spasm, it snaps its jaws shut. Its own tongues are severed, bleeding and plummeting to the earth.

Through gaps between the chitinous segments, licking flames can be seen... just as the worm begins to retract into the earth.

"Conscript Shaa, addendum: previous report on the status of Conscript Xalmann has been dubbed uncertain. Query: what is your recommendation?"

Between the cliffs and the stone, Shaa is in his element - literally. He knows what to do.

"GET ME DOWN THERE."

Knight chirps, and everything falls. The drake immediately swoops down to the earth; the change in pressure is, at once, skull-splitting and gut-churning. Fortunately, it's a brief sensation, as the drake swiftly reaches its perigee, allowing Shaa to dismount. The drake barely slows before ascending back into the sky.

The moment the massive minotaur's hooves touch ground, the earth cracks below him, and the impact sends reverberations through the stone and the cliffside^[1]. The cliff, distraught from the monster's thrashing, is overwrought by the earthquake. Great slabs of scoria come crashing down with enough force to easily sunder a castle wall, and the worm has the terrible privilege of being in one's path.

Its chitin cracks open; the sound is loud and incredible, like steel being snapped in half. The worm's head is whipped brutally to the ground as its broken body is pinned under red detritus. But it isn't dead; like an earthworm, its head continues to thrash and wail even after its lower half is severed.

---

1. Rumbling Tremors (Shaa)

Hang in there buddy, I got ya! Shaa called as loud as he could. Hopefully Xal could hear him and wouldn’t give up. Dodge in the thrashing tongues, Shaa rushes over and calls the stones to hold the worms tongues down. Rocks erupt and grab the writhing appendages and allows Shaa to get in closer.

Shaa looked around for any signs to where the lizard man may be stashed. After looking around for a bit, the notices some scortch marks to one side. Running back to the worms face, he grabs the mandible closest to the scortch mark and tares it down the worm’s body like a ripe banana. Still bound to the ground, it screams in agony.

Eventually the strip of worm flesh reaches the burns. As Shaa tears away at the flesh, he can finally see a hand sticking out of the gooey mass. Shaa reaches in with both hands and tares away at the flesh surrounding the arm to loosen it. He finally breaks enough away to pull the lizard man out of the worm. The smell of charred flesh is pervasive which only incentivizes Shaa to get him out more quickly. As they get clear, it becomes apparent that the worm is not quite done yet.

Are you ok man? Talk to me!

---

Earth Bind 
Bare Hands
Iron Grip
Bulls strength 

Xalmann can feel it as the worm is thrashing around, slamming into the cliff face as writhes from the pain of having its insides burnt to charcoal. He's slammed into the walls of the monster's throat repeatedly as it shakes from side to side. Anyone nearby would have been absolutely appalled by the barrage of curse words he's throwing out if they, firstly, understood the Lizardfolk language, and secondly, the sound wasn't muffled by the insides of a giant worm.

With another slam into the charred meat around him, the creature is suddenly a bit more still then before. A bit dazed from all the tossing about and with some difficulty breathing, the Lizardman tries to take this opportunity to start clawing his way back up and out of the creature's mouth. He twists around to face the other way and begins his forced regurgitation. He's a bit surprised, though, when part of the walls around him is suddenly torn away and he can see a glimmer of light. He feels a large hand grab hold of his own burning hot dagger-wielding claw and stops using the fire magic.

If he's going to be pulled out of the creature, he doesn't want to burn the hand that's helping him. A hand this large can only be Shaa, the Minotaur that had been on the drake with him. This could be his best chance of getting out of here. But, as the hand grips him almost painfully hard, the severed head of the creature begins to move again, lifting its body into the air. The vice grip of the Minotaur doesn't release as the both of them are heaved into the air, Xalmann's arm feeling as if it might dislocate from now holding the weight of Shaa.

Somehow, attempts to rescue him from the worm's insides have become more painful than actually being swallowed by the monster. The Lizardman grits his teeth and lets out a pained groan. He kicks his legs forward, digging his clawed toes into the sides of the creature and digging his axe into it like a climbing pick to help push himself farther forward and out through the exit made by Shaa until the Minotaur can pull him entirely from the creature. However, now the two are left falling through the air, the path they had been on no longer below them. Instead, the worm head's thrashing had thrown it over the side of the cliff and now Xalmann and Shaa were falling directly toward the ground below, at the foot of the mesa, with the front half of the worm still thrashing around in the air nearby.

But soaring through the air with even greater speed is the great, winged golem-drake, ridden by the gallant Knight-bot.

With mathematical precision, the drake snatches Shaa and Xalmann both from the air, one in each fore claw, not slowing for an instant as its path curves back into the sky. Far from the relative ease of travel-flight, the swift ascent is utterly disorienting, and leaves the living passengers with uncomfortable aches in their joints. Or perhaps that's a symptom of being clutched in giant, metal claws.

The machine soars high on filament wings. The wormlike creature comes back into view. The terrors having faded from its animal mind, it contracts and crawls, trying to break free from under the detritus. Just like an earthworm, it seems unperturbed by the loss of much of its body.

But the Knight isn't intent on returning to its mistress quite yet, nor will it allow the worm to remain a threat. The drake's course takes it toward the beast, and that sound builds in the machine's throat - or whatever it may possess - again. From its perforated muzzle, another piercing cone of pressurized water rains down upon the twilightlike chitin of the great worm, cutting through the trunk of flesh like a sword through a branch.

What remains of the thing - barely a head - writhes and squeals with all the agony of slow death. It rears its ugly head one last time with a roar and rattle, then collapses, sending a cloud of dust into the air.

"All units, report: threat neutralized."

From there, the flight becomes smoother and steadier, though still disorienting. Suddenly, the drake releases its clutches on Shaa and Xalmann, depositing them onto the trail once more. Rubble litters it to their left, where the worm emerged.

The drake remains in the air, but the Knight peers down from its iron saddle.

"Conscripts Shaa and Xalmann, query: confirm status. Are you alright?"

"I'd like to know, as well."

Just behind them are Veliky and her squadron. Surprisingly, it appears that there was only one casualty: the horse-bot Veliky was riding.

Shaa rested on the ground for a minute but put his thumb up in the air to let everyone know he was ok. Nice catch tin man. Shaa said the the knight. Remind me to call you the next time I need a worm extraction. Ughhh. He could see the dying worm writhing in its death throws and got an idea. He got up and walked over to one of the more active pieces and placed his hand on it. Pulling a force from inside himself, he manages to drain some of the creatures remaining life force to give himself some minor healing and small energy boost. It wasn’t much, but it helped the aches and slight burns on his hands from grabbing Xal.

It’s days like this I wish I was born an avain. Ha! Shaa stroked his face a bit, wiping off some of the dirt and worm muck that he had gotten all over himself. There weren’t any pools or streams nearby so he was just going to have to be deal with being gritty today. Who knows. Maybe this will make them look more intimidating when they get to the battle. Ugh the battle! Shaa determined to himself that, when it came down to it, he was going to mow down anyone that got in his way. This had been like the suckiest day ever, and he just wanted it to be over. Or at least get breakfast. Or something good. Surely something good had to happen, they were due.

Shaa walked slowly back to Xal to check on him. I’m sorry, I had to pull on you pretty hard. How are you holding up?

---

Vampiric Touch
Solid as Stone

Xalmann stood there, trying to wipe some of the worm's mucus and blood off of him. He was drenched from his short time inside the monster and was disgusted by it. It smelled like blood and rotting meat, probably from the worm's previous meals. There were also some chunks of burnt worm flesh stuck to the Lizard man's scales which he scraped off with his claws and threw away. This whole situation was terribly embarrassing. Maybe this was some karmic payback for being so amused by the Halfling's awful broom flying attempt. He cursed under his breath some more as he flicked some more goo off of his arms with a look of disgust on his normally stoic face.

"I will be fine." he said to Veliky and Shaa once the Minotaur had returned from draining energy from the worm's carcass. He saw that they had a similar ability to one he had gained. He also walked over to the twitching remains of the worm and swung his axe, sinking the blade into the hide. He saw the bruises and cracked scales on his wrist from Shaa's grip healing, the aches and pains all over from being thrown around inside the worm slowly fading. He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the last of his minor injuries fade away and thankfully hadn't sustained anything severe from this incident. Except, of course, the severely horrendous smell now clinging to him.

He had a bit more respect for the Minotaur, Shaa, now. He had expected them to be a powerful warrior from their size already, but he only truly gained respect for anyone when he saw them in battle. Shaa had definitely been helpful in this fight with the giant worm creature and had earned his respect. He was also a bit interested in their ability to heal by draining energy since it was so similar to his own. He wondered how they had learned it. He also respected the drake-riding robot a bit more, even if they weren't an actual person. They had also been helpful in the battle, even if most of the help was provided by their mount. Though he hadn't seen much from the Halfling. He wouldn't respect her just yet.

---

Vampiric Touch
Arcane Focus

The Knight makes a chirping noise in response to Shaa's quip. It's the same vocalization it produces whenever acknowledging one of Veliky's commands.

Veliky doesn't notice, however. She only gives a curt nod to Xalmann and Shaa.

"Good, then we can continue. Lucky for us, although the worm's little tantrum destroyed one path, it created another." She steps past Xalmann and Shaa to show what she's talking about. It's dangerous and unsteady, but it's there, and it's the only one. The remains of the battle - mostly composed of stony detritus but also include the worm's own body - form a ramp like path leading down the cliff. Though perilous, it could cut hours off the journey.

"All units, proceed down the improvised path. And don't fall. Priority Silver. Pawn?"

The unarmed bot produces her dubious broom and hands it down to the tiny commandress, who holds it in her hand and takes a deep breath.

"Meet you at the bottom. Knight, Drizzle, with me. Broom, hover."

At her demand, the broom begins to float laterally in pace. Her lip quivers slightly as she places a hand on the gnarled wood, which sinks gently under the force. Then, with a few pathetic hops and other bouts of extreme awkwardness, she clambers onto the timber steed.

"Go forward."

And it does, slowly and steadily. Despite trying to retain some manner of face, her body is completely stiff as the broom clears the edge of the cliffside. Out she floats, like a child drifting further off the beach. Her eyes are closed, and she hasn't let out a breath since climbing on, until...

"Trot!"

The broom doubles in speed, unsurprisingly but exhilaratingly nevertheless. She's awkward, rigid and clearly frightened, but she is, in fact, managing herself, even steering it by pulling the end in whatever direction she desires. Of course, she's far less graceful than her two drake companions.

Meanwhile, the infantry's on a schedule. All of them, including the jittery dog, march in single file down the rubble-path. If nothing else, they're effective as proverbial canaries.

Shaa turns to Xalmann. Guess that means we’re hoofing it. He waits a moment for a response. Hoofing it…cause I’m a Minotaur….never mind.

Shaa looked at the impromptu path, gutted up a bit and started his way down. Fun thing that hooves are made for rough terrain so he did have too much issue except for some occasional lose rocks. Again, not much of an issue with a burgeoning Terramancer.

It didn’t take long and Shaa was starting to get bored. The scenery was boring. Veliky was busy figuring out her bots and talking to herself about something. How could someone so tiny be that busy. It made Shaa tired just thinking about it. Then there was Xal. He got the feeling that he had earned some points with him which, if saving someone from being eaten doesn’t get you , nothing will. He just didn’t quite understand his motivation still, and Xal wasn’t sharing. Shaa was undecided but willing to keep trying.

The rest of the journey was relatively uneventful. Eventually they came to some well worn tracks that lead to the large, and yes admittedly obvious temple in the middle of the desert.

Ohh bless me, we finally made it.

In the distance, Shaa could see movement in front of the temple. How do you guys want to approach this?

Xalmann just looked at Shaa blankly and nodded. He gave no indication of understanding the joke at all, because he didn't. He also had no response when the Minotaur stopped and explained the joke to him. He wasn't in a very good mood since he was still wringing worm drool from his cloak and scraping chunks of burnt flesh from his scales. Jokes didn't help to raise his mood.

The trek across the dead worm wasn't too bad. It was actually less precarious than the original path had been, though less stable. The chitin was mostly shattered, leaving a road of squishy and slightly slippery flesh with chunks of rock and carapace embedded in it. Xalmann could shift his tail from side to side behind to to help keep his balance if he started tilting one way or the other. He was also used to the slippery, squishy ground of the marshes, so he was able to keep stable enough footing on the creature, especially when he dug the claws of his feet into the flesh a bit.

With the temple finally in view, it was time to come up with a plan of how to infiltrate the temple and defeat the cultists who must be guarding it. It was hard to see much from such a far distance.

"I will scout." Xalmann offered to the others. He hated how that last battle had went. It was embarrassing that he had been eaten by the worm and had to be saved. He wanted to show his worth a little more this time. He placed his hands together and felt a cold shudder down his spine along with the feeling of something inside him leaving. After a moment, a ghostly white apparition of another Lizardfolk with charred black sections of their body and wearing a loincloth appeared next to him. It looked eerily similar to what he had looked like, but with some examination it was clear that this Lizardfolk and Xalmann were not exactly the same. Their face was different and their body was a bit slimmer and taller.

Xalmann spoke to the ghost in the Lizardfolk language for a minute and they nodded back before dissapearing.

"He will be back." Xalmann said to Veliky and Shaa.

The temple is an impressive and towering monument built in the distant past, ages without count, but many of the finer details have been eroded away. It is constructed of white sandstone, and set with a massive set of doors, each ten feet wide and nearly twenty feet tall. No ordinary being could hope to open them; fortunately, the party has Shaa. As well, it isn't the only entrance, as a set of weathered stairs on the left side of the temple leads up to small hole, about 3 feet wide.

But entry into the temple itself is not the foremost issue, for another party has taken refuge in a makeshift camp just outside the main gateway. Five figures loom in gloom, eerily silent, as if anticipating. Three of them are recognizable by the party, by their dark and blatantly sinister robes, as belonging to the same cult that has nagged them so frequently; they're armored and armed, clearly of a higher rank and standing than any others they've seen, save maybe Bart. The sight of the other two, however, confirms the rumours they'd heard. With dark, red skin and long, black horns, a fire burns in their eyes: devils, with devilry to spare. One of the devils wields a massive, iron lance while the other has bladed chains wrapped around its wrists and waist. This is no country club; this group is armed and dangerous, and the air about them reeks of magic.

Reaching the temple, now, won't be difficult, but it's located on a small mesa, with the only approach being a trail from the right. Of course, attackers in flight would be less limited, though significantly more noticeable.

The spectre returns to its summoner and relays its knowledge in a distant, sibilant voice. But, as it's giving its report, it becomes apparent that Veliky is nowhere to be seen. Of course, the ghost cares little. With its wisdom imparted, it fades into the ethereal.

And then, with it gone, Veliky appears from nothingness^[1], without explanation nor even acknowledgement.

"Sounds simple. Difficult, but simple." She points at the approaching trail, which wraps unseen around the mesa before ending at the temple's front. Attackers traversing it would be unseen until they're already within combat range. "Ground forces will approach from there, undetected. Once they arrive, air forces will take to the scene and the assault will begin. Shaa, Xalmann, you can each decide which force you'll be a part of. You know your abilities better than I do."

Her eyes narrow at the massive doorway.

"If they're already here, they could get their hands on the Sol Stone at any moment. We can't waste any more time. Let's go."

---

1. Invisibility

Woah now, Shaa held his hands up You know I am all about going in and punching people but we have a lot of moving parts here and I think we all need to be clear about what the goals are. I don’t need people disappearing in the middle of the battle on their own agendas. If we are going in, we are going in and doing this as a team. Watch each other’s backs, no one gets left behind. Shaa takes a long look at everyone to make sure that they were paying attention to what he was saying. When he was satisfied, he continued.

Here’s how I see it. From talking to everyone, we universally have 3 goals

1. Get inside the temple
2. Find the stone
3. Escape with the stone

Outside of that, everyone seems to have their own agendas but I think we can all agree no one likes the cultists agenda. So, getting the stone means stopping them. Right? Right. We can all decide what we are actually doing with the stone after we escape. Shaa looked over at the group again for any possible issues but it was hard to be sure.

So goal number one, getting in the temple. These guys probably aren’t going to just open the door for us.  Even if we ask nicely. I’m fine with Xal, Myself and maybe knight guy and the dragon mess up the guys out front. Then Veliky can you send some of her other guys around to that hole on the side ? We could probably just smash them all eventually but we don’t know how much time we have left. If everyone is cool with that, I have a plan on how to get their attention….

Xalmann just listened silently to the Halfling as she spoke. Veliky's plan made enough sense to him along with them needing to move quickly. He understood why she had a small army with her. On her own, she wasn't much of a threat. It was her ability to lead and plan that made her dangerous. She reminded the Lizard of his friend, Granth. However, the bandit leader had been much more courteous and not so arrogant and bold. He would have preferred to work with him and his thugs over Veliky and her machines. Even if the machines might be a bit smarter than Boris.

He also listened to Shaa's points. It was definitely true that the cultists wouldn't open the door. The hole in the side was their only way in until someone on the inside could open it. However, the Lizardman didn't trust these machines to handle it alone. There were probably more enemies inside and he didn't like the idea of letting them deal with that. He'd much rather go in with them. He could probably leave the outside to Shaa and some of the other robots. They seemed like a good enough warrior.

"I will go inside. There will be more enemies inside." he said, looking at Shaa.

Part of him also believed this could be a ploy to keep him outside so that the others could grab the stone while he was busy dealing with the demons. He wouldn't let himself be tricked so easily. He wanted that Sol Stone.

A thinly veiled attempt at subterfuge from Xalmann. But that doesn't make his proposition unfavourable. In fact, Veliky finds people to be more malleable when they believe that their plans are working. She nods at both of them, a serious look in her eyes, albeit half-covered by the visor of her cap.

"That works. Of course, Xalmann, that does mean you'll need to ride the drake again. It'll drop you off just behind the temple: not the most subtle maneuver, but I don't think subtlety is going to be prevalent in this operation. Make no mistake, this is an assault, and we'll treat it as such."

The drake shuffles forward, its iron claws gently cleaving trails through the sand. As a unit, it and its rider would be extremely difficult to miss, but it's more than capable of doing its task. The Knight peers down at Xalmann with a single, crimson eye.

"Conscript Xalmann, command: ride with me."

Meanwhile, Veliky glances at Shaa and flashes a subtle wink at him. She hates it. It makes her want to punch herself in the face. But it seemed to work before, and Shaa already knows its meaning. He probably doesn't know dotcode.

"That said, drawing their attention in our favour can still be greatly beneficial. Shaa, what was that plan you had?"

They had their jobs, now it was time to get down to business. Shaa turned to Veliky. What’s my plan? He grinned a grin that was bigger than it had been in a long time. You will see. Stay behind me, watch my back. He turns to Xal. Hey, when the show starts, that will be your cue to get going. Be ready.

As they moved into position just outside of the temple, Shaa finished his stretches and offered a quiet prayer to Ginma.

Earth lord, hear me now. I am one with the earth, my heart is stone. Grant me the strength of the mountains to overcome my enemies. Place fire in my bones to spur my actions. I am the rock. I shall not…be…moved.

Shaa looked back at his companions and nodded. Today was the day.

Shaa smashed his hands together and forced the ambient earth energy into his body. Shaa’s body explodes outward until he has grown into a 30 ft tall beast of rage. Focusing on his training in the fighters guild, a surge of adrenaline courses through him. In a mere instant, he is now in front of the two demons. With blazing speed, he grabs one of the demons by the feet and uses its body to swat the second one into the wall with a sickening crunch. The demons body slides down the wall into a heap. With the first demon still in hand, he grabs its hands and with a mighty pull, rips the demon in half spraying blood and green ichor across the field. RRRROOOOAAARR!

Seeing their demonic companions dispatched so brutally unnerves the mages who start running for cover. Shaa still has a left over demon leg in his hand. Not trusting the other demon, Shaa jumps on the second one until it’s nothing but gooey paste in the ground. RROOOAAARRR!

If that didn’t cause a distraction nothing would.

---

Giant Size
Momentous Cleve
Bulls Strength 
Adrenaline Rush
Improvised Weapons
Stone Giant