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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ralts Bloodthorne" data-source="post: 2063592" data-attributes="member: 6390">The friends entered the jungle, the experienced Ruby Jaguars quickly gaining upon the teenage children. Burrows kept falling behind, and, exasperated, Namala hefted him like a sack of grain and carried him deeper into the thick jungle. They chose speed over stealth, knowing that thier meager skills gave them no chance to lose the soldiers that had been blessed by the God King and were now bent on returning them to the priest.Toward noon, they had travelled farther than they had ever been from thier village in thier life. Burrows complained constantly of the bouncing of Namala's hips, until the young woman lost her temper and slung him against a pile of vines.Which stopped him dead and bruised him instead of enveloping him.Curious, Spot reached forward and pulled, revealing a hideous statue of a beast headed man carrying a crooked staff. It had gaping jaws full of sharp teeth, and beady eyes that judged thier souls. (Failed Willpower check, are now considered shaken until further notice) They stumbled back, then skirted the statue carefully, watching it for signs of life. After all, did not the statue of the God King come to life each solstice and during trials?Beyond the statue, hidden by the Bhubhu Trees (think a jungle version of the Joshua Tree) was a stone building, vines draping it, and black doors covered with thick moss upon them closing off secrets.A House of the Dead.Fearful, but realizing they would need shelter from the oncoming night, and hopeful that the Ruby Jaguars would not enter, Spot, Burrows and Child gathered thier courage and moved toward the House of the Dead.Pulling on the moss grown metal caused the vines to fall away, and the mold to collapse like a curtian, and although the staring faces of long dead Ancients engraved in the metal judged them, they gritted thier teeth and finished pulling open the door.Inside, the could see pillars rising out of the pool of stagnant water that had pulled into the depression that steps led down too. Birds flew from inside the building, thier cries alerting the Gods that they had intruded upon a house of the dead. On the far side of the long room, a large man with the head of a hawk could be seen, his eyes gems that glittered and gazed into thier souls.Namala led the way, carrying Burrows, with Spot following, heading through the water, watching for snakes, and climbed the steps to where the Bird-God stood in silent judgement. Outside, Child watched for any sign of the Jaguars.Looking around, Namala spots two rectangular holes in the walls, a doorway far different than the triangles that she is used to. Curious, she enters the one on the left and begins poking about the debris with a stick, killing the rainbow snake that lunges at her. Spot enters the one on the right and uses a stick to move around the debris, killing the Jade Spider that leaps at his face, spitting venom.Together, they find three metal robs with Godrunes inscribed on them, and six smaller metal rods. Namala is excited, as she has never seen metal that shines like the sun, but is cool to the touch. She is fascinated by her own reflection.They take thier newly found booty toward the outside just as Child rushes in and tells them that the Jaguars are coming. Screams erupt from the jungle as the Jaguars see the Beast headed man, and they flee from the sight of such a terror. (It's a statue of Set, BTW, inside the building, it's a statue of another Egyptian Pantheon god)Glad that the Jaguars are gone, they make camp for the night. While everyone else is asleep, Spot takes his bronze dagger and enters the House of the Dead. Crossing the water and climbing the statue, he works loose and removes the left eye of the statue.And is hit in the face with a spray of acid. With a scream, he hits the floor and begins writhing around in agony. Namala rushes to his aid, and brings him outside the House of the Dead, the stone still in Spot's hand.Spot swears that all God's will be crushed beneath his bare feet, and vows to throw down all of them, starting with the God King and moving up.Child has still not moved, and is staring at the fire, his face dreamy.Night closes in with Spot badly wounded from acid, and Child in a fugue state. They are alone, without food, and only a bronze dagger between all of them.</blockquote>

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