Although she only caught a glimpse of the creature before becoming spellbound by its mutterings, Tebati knew exactly what it was. The skeleton on the floor of the room told a story of the undead's origin.
This creature is an Allip, the spectral remains of someone driven to suicide by madness. This result reveals all undead and incorporeal traits.
Though it can cause no physical harm, an allip's touch can drain away a victim's willpower. Also, an allip babbles incoherently to itself, and those who hear this babble can become hypnotized. Allips cannot, however, speak intelligibly.
It is dangerous to try to connect mentally with an allip, be that through thought detection, mind control or telepathy as an allip's mind is so tortured as to damage any other mind that touches it.
It seems likely to Tebati that rather than face death from starvation and thirst, the victim took his own life.
"It was an allip," Tebati says, looking down at the skeleton, "what was left of that unfortunate after being driven mad by awakening alone and imprisoned. Suicide no doubt seemed a pleasanter choice than death by hunger and thirst, but the soul was trapped yet again, this time in undeath. Allips can do no physical harm, but their taint can drive the living to the same madness to which they fell prey. It didn't touch any of you?" she asks, anxiously looking to Kieran and Qhude.
"Well that was, interesting. Everyone all right?"
After the priestess speaks.
"Oh dear, it does look like the doors only open from the outside. That was... horrible."
"At least it's gone--it won't come back, will it?" Ansha asks. After a few moments' observation of the room, she murmurs 'aha!' and moves to drag the skeleton across the hall toward the occupied machine and hook its skull up to the appropriate indentation.
"It should have been absorbed into the sea of souls now," Tebati answers. "It can no more return than you could retrieve an individual drop of water from the pool of the fountain." She watches Ansha desecrate the remains, rolling her eyes and shaking her head at the elf's single-minded experimentation.
Qhude shakes his head at Tebati's question before sharing her surprise at Ansha's antics. Taking a deep breath he resolves to let the elf's desecration stand for the moment and focus instead on the allip's room. Musing "I understand this place less and less. Three rooms... two made prisons and a third that steals a life just as plainly. A strange way to honour them..."
She shrugs. "They were all on display ... or in storage until a needful time. But the Order did not flee this structure in a panic; they marched out and took the time to set their traps and guardians. Why would they leave those they wished to honor to such horrible deaths rather than wake them to join their exodus? Unless they expected to return before their magic failed ... or they overestimated their arcane prowess."
"A strange sort of man who locks himself in a cage rather than live."
"They were soldiers," she points out. "They did as they were told," she looks down at the skeleton, "... until there was no one to tell them what to do anymore."
There is a look of thoughtfulness as Qhude digests the likelihood that firstly the men were asked to welcome oblivion, and secondly that they accepted the same. From the slight hint of steel that tenses upon his face, it would be clear that the Bas'o does not look with favor upon either of the thoughts.
Ansha unceremoniously dragged the ancient skeleton to the metal device containing a Mwangi in stasis that likely predated Earthfall. The bone was brittle and most of the body shattered from the rough ministration; but Ansha was able to insert the skull into the area marked "receptacle". It seemed to be held in place by the device itself, exerting a small amount of force onto it.
"A strange sort of man who locks himself in a cage rather than live."
"Strange..Just like us."
"Still time for existential musing later. There seems to be one of these soldiers left. Should we wake him or let him join his comrades when the magic fails?"
"Let's see what this does, first," Ansha says. Skeleton attached in place on the machine occupied by a preserved Mwangi, Ansha throws the lever labelled "Sensory Extraction."
Ansha cranked the lever. In response, the metal device hummed for several moments and an aura of soft blue light seemed to emanate from the top of the skull for several moments, illuminating different aspects of the skull.
And then it crashed back to the ground and shattered, the device having released it. A voice, apparently coming from the device itself, spoke in a harsh tone.
Unsuitable Receptacle
Above and around Ansha and those with her in the room, as the metal device quietened once more it seemed that her meddling had taken its tax on the veins of magic on the walls and ceiling of the room. Pulsing lines of red began to grey, as though the magic had been drained by what Ansha did.
"What did it say?" Tebati demands from the door, still unwilling to enter the room whose door only works one way.
Ansha grimaces as she notices the veins of magic fading. "So much for that idea," she says absentmindedly. "Well, it was worth a try...."
"Apparently a bare skull isn't a suitable receptacle," she answers Tebati. The mind-wipe feature might be useful. In the future, anyway... she thinks, throwing the lever labelled Awaken instead.
Qhude reacts as Ansha throws the first lever, hands first going to his weapon before realising the source of the commotion. Before he has a chance to speak or act, the elf has already thrown the second lever. Snarling the bas'o rushes up to her, taking grip of her shoulder and forcefully spinning her around to face her. Qhude then barks "What have you done?"
"Science," Ansha says calmly. She tries to shrug Qhude's hand off and glances at the stasis-table to see what, in fact, she had accomplished.
Qhude's hand is not so easily cast aside as his grip tightens and he growls "Do not treat me as a fool... explain yourself."
The lines of magic leading into the device atrophied further as the force field surrounding the Mwangi seemed to disappear in an instant with a loud CRACK, as the man's eyes snapped open with a sudden, fierce gasp, looking about frantically.
Ansha looks to Qhude. "That," she says. "It seems we've awakened him. Perhaps he'll have answers on how to get out of here."
Addressing the frantic-eyed Mwangi, she asks in Azlant, "Nobet nimvardum?"
The man tries to rise, but wobbles unsteadily before pitching to the floor instead where he proceeds to vomit. He looks up as he wipes his mouth, clearly confused and disorientated. His eyes flit across the group before settling on Ansha.
Qui ... sunt te? Quare ergo me valere?
"Sum Ansha, et compatriati est. Procedo vidi te...casa. Simul, adesse precedet murum arcanum," the elf replies.
"Do you speak Taldane?" she asks in Common, then continues in Polyglot, "Or Polyglot?"
As the man struggles to comprehend and shake the cob webs from his long dormant mind he grabs hold of the table and hauls himself to his feet. He replies in Polyglot, Did the Order send you? How long have I been asleep? What about the others? Have you woken them as well? He watches Ansha with curiosity but seems to direct his questions to Tebati and Qhude.
"Time has not been kind to the others on this floor--they are all long-dead, the magic of their...preservation devices spent," Ansha replies, dodging the issue of whether they were with the Order.
A flicker of remorse registers momentarily upon the man's face before being replaced by determination. I must see them! He makes to head for the door but finds himself unable to steady himself and leans back upon the table to keep from falling again. Exasperated he asks How long have I been out?
Ansha shrugs. "Centuries? Millenia? We're not sure."
His eyes narrow at the revelation. Why are you here? Who sent you?
His desire to remonstrate with Ansha is forestalled by the sudden recovery of the mwangi upon the table. Qhude takes his guisarme and levels it in front of the man's chest in a clear show that he is asserting himself as dominant. He then speaks in a level voice "I will not hurt you unless you give me reason... so do not move from where you stand." holding pose and allowing those with more words to use them to gain enlightenment on the situation.
Akirra looks at the guisarme without fear but rather disappointment. Not the Order then. Your threat is unneccessary. I am too weak to physically resist and wouldn't tell you anything even if I could. My memories have been taken from me to prevent just this sort of thing.
Ansha hesitates and looks at the others before speaking again. Sighing at Qhude's aggression, she says, "As far as we are aware, the Order has not existed in centuries. We are here investigating this place after it suddenly reappeared, at the behest of a...local power."
Your answers lack candor elf. What are you trying to hide from me? If what you say is true, and the Order no longer exists, then I have outlived my usefulness.
As an afterthought he adds, What do you mean by "reappeared"?
Ansha gives the Mwangi a dim look. "My name is Ansha, human. This ziggurat has not been seen in ages, and the illusions cloaking it recently broke--hence, it 'reappeared.' Since your Order no longer exists, make yourself useful and help us find a way out of here."
She turns on her heel and exits the chamber, walking over to the fountain and pausing to study it.
Akirra watches as Ansha leaves. Surely she is not in charge is she?
Turning to address those remaining he remarks, That makes you mercenaries then? Who pays you to delve this installation? Do they fully appreciate the implications of these actions?
Tebati is watching the awakened man warily through narrowed eyes. She chooses to answer only the last of the questions he poses. "No, none of us do, largely because whatever remains of your 'Order' refuses to talk to us, preferring to slaughter our entire encampment rather than explain themselves." She gestures to the still-vigilant Bas'o. "Hence, Qhude's caution."
Akirra raises an eyebrow at Tebati's mention of the remnants of the Order. So they do still exist! he thinks to himself. They attack you and your employers? he asks furrowing his brow in thought.
Looking back at Qhude, Akirra raises his hands peacefully. I am here and you have my word that I will not try anything untoward while we talk and try to determine if we are adversaries or not. If we are, then I would ask for a warrior's death.
He watches the Bas' o for a sign. I still retain some insight into the history and purpose of this structure although many specifics are denied me due to the procedure.
She cocks an eyebrow. "And yet you remember this 'procedure' and its purpose? Why were you entombed here? Did you know the men in the other devices?"
A blank expression on her face, Ansha realizes as she hovers and studies the fountain that there is a corridor down here to leading in opposite directions. Mentally kicking herself for her obliviousness, she glances up and down the hallways.
I do not specifically remember the procedure, no, but I do the purpose. And I did know them yes, but again the specifics of those relationships elude me... Akirra is obviously irritated by the effects upon his memories.
She watches him for a few moments longer. "The magic of the other two devices failed at some point over the centuries," she tells the sleeper a little more gently. "One of your comrades spent what remained of his life fruitlessly trying to free himself from his prison. The other despaired and fell on his own sword. Why were the three of you abandoned here when your fellows abandoned the structure? Do you even know why they left?"
Qhude's guisarme is still readied and at hand, though the point dips from chest to near navel. Qhude poses a single question "What sort of ibutho allows his master to inkumbulo-khubaza and lock him in a cage?"
We were left behind to guide the Order upon their return. To re-familiarise them with the structure and its vagaries once our memories had been restored by one of the Order's mages. That seems unlikely now... Akirra's voice trailed off as the reality of the situation sunk in.
Shaking off the thought he continues, This structure protects things best not disturbed. We were a contingency. What we hide away from the world is powerful and evil and it should stay locked away.
Answering Qhude directly Akirra adds, I did it because my indaba asked for volunteers. It was a great honor! I did it to protect my people! My umkhaya! Would you not do the same for your igazi? Your uhlobo?
Suddenly jolted by something Tebati said Akirra asks, Did you say three? There should have been four of us! Maybe another one us yet survives?
Tebati meets Kieran's gaze and mouths the word 'honor' with a roll of her eyes.
"There were three," Tebati says firmly. "You, two dead, and an empty cell with a device which seemed unused. See for yourself." She steps aside to let him exit his prison for the first time in untold centuries.
Akirra stands pat, Qhude's weapon still levelled at him. Did I say something that amuses you?
Qhude takes a step back, allowing Akirra to move and walk before him. To his explanation he grunts dismissively "No... I will fight and die if needs be... but I would not rob myself of my life and mind for nothing."
Did I say something that amuses you?
She smiles enigmatically. "We were speculating what the purpose of these devices were before you awoke. I suggested you might have been preserved to honor you."
Then you and I are different, Akirra shrugs at Qhude. I am still here, and I too will fight, and die if need be, to do what needs to be done. Whatever needs to be done. Akirra says the last part with obvious conviction.
That the Order failed in their attempt is not a condemnation of my beliefs. Some things are worth more than one's own life. What I have done, and what I have yet to do, is not for nothing, as you say.
You do what you do for coins or trinkets or what not and I for other reasons. Neither is right or wrong. Better or worse. It just is. What I don't do, is dismiss the rights of others to make their choice.
Akirra begins shuffling towards the hallway, his movements beginning to show some degree of recovery. To Tebati's last remark Akirra remains silent, his thoughts entirely his own.
Making his way to each chamber in turn, Akirra looks in and surveys the scene. At the empty chamber he pauses to ask, What makes you think it was unused?
Tebati shrugs and looks toward Ansha at the end of the hall. "No one is in it, and the magic is still functioning?"
Inspecting the fountain, Ansha came to the conclusion that at least the group would not die of thirst anytime soon. The water seemed to be coming from the very external walls of the structure and seemed to be pure and fresh; even a little chilled. More magic was no doubt at work here.
The corridors extended to both the west and east, right up to the corners which both led north. The picturesque mosaic style flooring continued and set every several feet along the south wall were small, carved alcoves; each bearing a statue and plaque. There were several doors leading north running along the internal wall. Many of them bore engraved plaques of a similar style to those that had their writing erased that the group had already discovered. At this distance, it was hard to tell if they bore writing or not.
Before moving on, Qhude returned to the entrance to test the field of force that prevented their passage... just to make sure it was there.