Lizardmen RPG - Accepting new players

Xlauax noticed that the priest Xolek-zi and Quas were staring intently down some sort of opening. Xlauax made his way over to take a look as well. As he drew near to the opening his ice blue amulet started to glow greatly, startling himself and the others. Xlauax cried out "G-go f-f-fetch Izqux! T-tell him Q-Qul'toq s-s-summons him!". Without any delay Xlauax leaps through the opening, knocking out the stones in his way (if this requires me to take damage I am okay with that). After that, Xlauax started to explore the room, letting the amulet guide him.

 

As Tiqxoltiq exits his tent and moves towards the fire, he feels a presence. Hurriedly looking around he sees a lone saurus, sitting against a stone with one leg bent, staring into the fire. Next to him is what can only be a young carnosaur, immediately identifiable by its blood red scales. Despite his entrance being clearly audible, the saurus makes no movements, not even batting an eyelid

 

Feeling the surge of blood pumping around his body once again Xlauax swiftly rushes toward the oracle after needing but a glance to realise the discovery and its potential.

Continuing forward the chameleon does not stop to talk with xolek but instead begins to claw his way into the opening. two hands grabbing onto the sharp edges of ancient stone bricks and gravel encrusted mud the skink hauls himself up, the chemicals of combat and survival still infused in his blood the feeling of jagged rocks digging into both his palms and scales is allowed to go unnoticed (-0.1 Wound). As the chameleon further crawls through the opening he is forced to unstrap the Druchii crossbow from his back and pass it to Xolek before continuing on. With the sound of his blades scraping across the blocks beneath him Xlauax struggles to keep the tormenting thoughts of his imprisonment at bay… Enduring the claustrophobic space he eventually crawls out into the uncovered chamber. Now standing once again the air around him is thick and unnerving as if an otherworldly presence is disturbed from its slumber, here in the timeless dark where unknowing mortals trespass on what was buried and thought lost. His spine-tingling an eerie, moving silence slithers across the carved walls in front of him telling only of histories long forgotten.

 

As Xlauax finally crawls his way inside he motions for Xolek-zi to hand him his Vengeance, a frenzied look in his eyes. The priest seems a bit startled by Xlauax's glare but hands the Chameleon his weapon. As Xlauax retrieves it, it almost looks like he hugs it before stowing it on his back. After this Xlauax grabs Qul'toq's amulet and holds it in the air as a light source. Xlauax proceeds and notices that the light keeps growing dimmer and then brighter depending on where he is. Seeing this, Xlauax makes his way towards where the light shines brightest.

 

After several hours of remaining motionless, Tezka blinks. He slowly stands up, with his left arm creating a mechanical humming as the magic that animates it is set into motion. Tezka breathes deeply before slowly moving towards the fire and the flesh of a parasaurolophus laid out in the camp. Picking up a piece of meat, he sniffs it before bringing it back to his spot. Grasping the flesh in his mouth, Tezka violently shakes it from side to side in his maw. After a minute Tezka rears back his head and gulps down the meat. The smell of food awakens the carnosaur sitting next to him, which stretches and sniffs to find the source of the sustenance

 

For a brief moment, Tik ignored the saurus. Moving to the fire, he begins working on blending and warming the components Zuztle handed him into a thick paste. A sudden humming sound from behind him distracts him, but not enough to prevent him from mashing the roots as he turns. "Interesting," he mused softly. "I have not seen one of those in some time. If it does not irritate you for me to ask, is that the gauntlet-type or did you have to have the arm replaced?"

 

Staying still for several moments, Tezka turned his head towards the skink. Finally his jaw opens and he begins to speak. “Replacement was unnecessary. There was nothing there.” His words were deep and unnaturally cold for a saurus, lacking even the faintest hint that there was a living thing making the noise. As Tezka finished the sentence he reached over to the carnosaur which was gnawing on a bone, slowly stroking its scaled flank. Again Tezka appeared to focus on the Tik, although it was hard to tell as his eyes showed no pupils to indicate where he was looking. Again he opened his maw and began to speak
“What brings you to this place?”

 

Hakal stomped towards a strange noise alluring his disoriented senses. His stomach rumbled painfully, but he couldn't discern whether it was hunger, or the anger and anxiety that overwhelmed him when he saw Xlauax almost behead Quas. He always believed skinks and kroxigors were inseparable, and always needed to depend upon each other. It was how he saw life; even with his skink friends long gone to the unforgettable chains of memory.

Without a skink what was a kroxigor? Without a kroxigor what was a skink?

 

Nodding slowly, Tiqxoltiq turned back to the fire and carefully held the mortar over the flames to heat the mash in the container. "Apologies, I rather assumed that a replacement meant you had lost the arm somehow. I am Tiqxoltiq, priest, alchemist, herbalist, and apprentice healer. At the moment, I am assisting our camp healer in making a rather unpleasant concoction." Pulling the mortar back, Tik examined the mixture carefully, then returned to mashing the roots with the pestle. "Apparently our scouts are planning to go hunting for some truly unpleasant and very poisonous frogs for..." he trailed off, thinking for a moment. "You know," he admitted, "they never did tell me why they wanted the frogs. This," he muttered as he inspected the mash again, "is a component of a powerful anti-toxin. A really powerful anti-toxin." Satisfied that things were mixing properly, the priest adjusted his dino-skull-hat with one clawed hand before turning about. "I'm guessing you are new here?"

 

“Yes, I have recently arrived. Curious, I don’t know what drew me here.” Tezka seemingly displayed the slightest hint of curiosity in his words. “As you have introduced yourself, I shall do the same. I am Tezka, last Oldblood of Quetza.” Pausing in speech he turned again and stood up, taking a few steps before making a horrible coughing noise. Despite being somewhat obscured, Tik could see bright droplets of some substance fly from the saurus’ mouth. After coughing up the substance for a full minute Tezka returned to his spot and sat beside the now sleeping carnosaur. “This antitoxin, what is it meant to counteract?”

 

"It is meant to counter the toxins of a particularly nasty poisonous frog, as I mentioned." Frowning, he motioned for the saurus to stay put. "I will be back in just a moment, I need to hand this off to Zuztle." Slipping inside the tent, he walked through the tunnel opening it concealed and handed the mortar and pestle to the old healer. "Zuztle, I know we're in the middle of something, but I may need your help with something. There is a saurus outside who is either ill, injured, or poisoned. I'm going to take a look at him, but I'm going to need your expertise for a proper diagnosis."

"Oh? Wh-what are the s-s-symptoms?"

"So far, a cough with... well, some kind of discharge. I was busy mashing up the roots and have not had a chance to check yet."

"Hmm. This d-does not sound g-g-good. Keep me p-posted."

Nodding, Tik slipped back outside and walked carefully over to the saurus. He held his hands out but pointing downwards, palms facing back towards him. Most lizardmen beasts were trained to recognize that as a sign that an approaching being was friendly. "That is a nasty cough you have," he began carefully. Moving slowly, he pulled a scrap of clean linen from a pouch and used it to wipe a drop of fluid from the saurus' chin. "I am sorry to have to ask, but I must insist you tell me everything you can about what ails you. We cannot afford to have illness run unchecked through our encampment."

 

Tezka looked up at the skink approaching him, and as he did so he gave a small cough, causing more of the bright substance to dribble down his chin and neck. This close it was easier to examine, the droplets appeared to be a viscous substance that emitted a bright white light.
“This is not some sickness. It’s a natural ailment that I have dealt with since spawning. It doesn’t hurt, much.” Tezka made eye contact with Tik, and opened his mouth again to speak “examine what you must, and I’m willing to answer what you require”

 

Curious, Tik tilted his head to one side and regarded the fluid on the scrap of linen. It was a brilliant white and seemed to twinkle and shine as he examined it. He'd never seen the like before! "A natural ailment? If you have had it that long, then I am assuming you would know if it can be passed to others or not. I will also assume that it does not pass to others." Looking Tezka over, Tik frowned. "Would you mind if I listened to your breathing for a moment?"

 

“Currently I am the only individual to bear this ailment, all I have been told about it was that it had something to do with the spawning that created me. As far as I am aware of, it is not able to be spread by natural means” The saurus wiped off a few of the droplets with his armored appendage. “You may listen to my breathing.”

 

Nodding his thanks, Tik pulled a small metal cone from another pouch. Carefully, he leaned in, pressed the cone against Tezka's chest, and put his ear to the narrow end. "Breathe normally, please." He listened for a while, frowning, before letting out a sad sigh. There was a crackle in there that worried him a little, but he'd heard it before. "I think I know what this is," he finally admitted, "and you are correct. It is not contagious, nor is it something we can cure. Still, I had to be certain. My sincere apologies for the interrogation. We have not had a good time in this camp recently." Putting the cone away, he outlined briefly the events of the last month or so, including the attack by the hunting carnosaur, the massive firestorm that burst out of the swamp, and now the skaven boiling up from the depths of the tunnels they were excavating.

 

“It is reasonable to suspect disease, for the rat spawn defiled the spawning pool I emerged from.” Then Tezka listened attentively to Tik and when the events involving the carnosaur were mentioned, he responded without moving his head“do not fear this one, he is a companion who has served well.” Continuing to listen, remaining motionless while doing so Tezka nodded when Tik mentioned the skaven. “Then that is what drew me here. To cleanse the rat spawn with the blood of the stars”

 

Nodding, Tik went on to mention the various finds they had made during their diggings. "As for the skaven, well, they are going to be an issue. They are currently in the tunnels under the ruins. We don't know how many, if any at all, are lurking in the jungle aboveground." Glancing over at the crimson carnosaur, he shook his head. "I do not think your companion is going to fit in the tunnels, but they would welcome your prowess as a warrior down there or up above. If you do go into the tunnels, keep your eyes open for a pair of kroxigor. Hakal is fairly steady, but Quas..." Tik nibbled on his lower lip for a moment, then shrugged. "The Oloq destroyed his kitchen, and he has been a little... odd... ever since. When I last saw him, he was rather out of it and craving blood, so I sent him down to eat a few of the cursed rat-kin."

 

As Tezka heard about and Quas and his kitchen, the saurus made a strange noise, something of a laugh and growl, with a few more droplets splattering out. Standing up, Tezka slowly turned his head to look over at the ruins. “I can probably bring my companion with me, but I will have to dismount.” His eyes narrowed and he continued to speak, still presumably keeping his gaze on the ruins “will the camp be safe if I leave?”

 

"It should. We still have quite a few able warriors topside, both to guard the Starseer and to keep perimeter watch." Calmly, Tik gave the newcomer directions to the tunnels. "Just watch your back while down there. From what we have been told, most of the rat-kin have been what they call slaves, but larger ones were encountered. Good hunting!"

 

Tezka nodded in the direction Tik pointed him to, and then turned to the skink “Will you join me?” Despite the almost total monotone, their was a hint of hopefulness in Tezka’s voice