After his first, albeit brief, foray into the dead city, Cha'Kwe'Tza had learned a few things about the area. The masses of undead were much larger in their numbers than he originally had anticipated, and his hired troops were ill suited for combatting foes that were almost immune to mundane weapons. Now having snuck back into the dead city of Aysut, the scaly warrior made his way from his hiding spot in the shadows by the gate and darted across an open concourse towards an open doorway, his assortment of trophies and jewellery making a soft clatter to match his clawed feet on the stonework. Once into the door, Cha'Kwe'Tza made his way through to the rear of the building which seemed to be some sort of merchant's storefront.

Pushing open the rear door which hung from its hinges in a broken mess, Cha'Kwe'Tza bared his teeth slightly as the old hinges squealed with displeasure. Stopping for a moment to listen for anything approaching, the warrior could only hear the faint and distant clacking of skeletal bodies from some of the nearby residences. Feeling that it was safe to move, he moved quickly from the door and made a turn down an alley. Between the buildings flanking him, Cha'Kwe'Tza could see the top half of a giant pyramid rising above the rest of the city ahead of him. Having gathered enough information from the Aestas outpost where he had left his men garrisoned, he knew that this was where the source of power was that needed to be destroyed.

Meeting some resistance, Cha'Kwe'Tza was able to smash most of it aside fairly easily. Frail skeletons were no match for his massive strength and  enchanted weaponry. What blows did land against him simply bounced off his dragon-like hide, or were not sufficiently powered to fully pierce it. A minute or so after first contact, Cha'Kwe'Tza stood amidst a pile of bones and dropped weapons. Taking a moment to remove a small blade that had lodged in the heavy scales of his hip, there were just a few drops of blood as he discarded the weapon with a small clang, the blade skittering over the stone street. Claws clicking and trinkets rustling quietly, the large scaly warrior set off towards the pyramid once more.

She had first noticed him while lurking around the outpost, trying to decide just what she wanted to do.  There were trinkets aplenty in there, according to the rumors, and Sylvi was always looking for more shiny things.  When he had set off towards the city with the massive pyramid, she had decided to follow him in her natural form, given that her human form was somewhat conspicuous.  While the lizard-man seemed to prefer smashing his way through the streets, Sylvi had decided to take a more subtle route to the pyramid.  She still followed him, staying quiet on her cats' paws.  She blended in with the shadows, and watched him fight with bright green eyes.  He was able to take them out with ease, though not completely without being harmed.  Following a somewhat noisy fighter could have its advantages, mainly her not being noticed. 

They kept moving towards the pyramid, and Sylvi kept an ear out for any more patrols.  She wasn't sure how keen the lizard-man's hearing was, but she certainly had no wish to get him killed.  It wasn't that she was altruistic, it was simply a matter that they would be more likely to survive if they worked together, even if he didn't know it.  She could hear shuffling heading towards them, and decided to make her move.  She had already scouted the city a bit, and Sylvi had found a way that most of the patrols avoided.  She wasn't sure why, but she also knew it was a good idea to not attract too much attention.

Darting out from the shadows, Sylvi made certain the lizard-man saw her, and headed for an alleyway.  Then she sat down and stared hard at him, meowing to get his attention.  She headed into the alleyway once for a moment to make sure it was still safe, then back to the entrance to see if she was being followed. 

As he made off towards the pyramid once more, Cha'Kwe'Tza noticed the form of a small cat in the corner of his vision. It was headed towards a different alley than the one had had emerged from, and he was about to turn back to the great building in the city centre when it made a slight meowing noise. Tilting his head slightly to the side as he looked at the small feline through yellow slitted eyes, the large warrior watched as it spun and walked quickly down the alley a short distance before turning and coming back to the entrance. Approaching the opening in front of him, Cha'Kwe'Tza transferred his glaive to one hand. Kneeling down a step away from the cat, he reached out with a large scaly hand and gently scratched the back of its neck before standing and walking down the alley.

A short time later, Cha'Kwe'Tza had made his way to another alley mouth. Standing a few meters back from where it met the street, Cha'Kwe'Tza stood in the shadows as best he could considering his bulk. Observing the gaping entrance to the pyramid, there was a mixed group of undead containing both skeletal and zombie forms, but they numbered no more than a handful. Patrolling in a lazy oval around a poorly walled courtyard, a much large undead loomed. This one dwarfed even Cha'Kwe'Tza in height, and dragged a curved blade as long as the scaled warrior was tall behind it. Poking his head out of the alley and looking to his left and right, Cha'Kwe'Tza didn't see any additional undead creatures to cause a commotion. At as best a crouch as he could manage given his physicality, the Reptilian moved as quickly as he could without creating any unnecessary noise, although some of his fetishes and trophies still jingled slightly.

Taking a moment to study the large undead construct from his new vantage point, Cha'Kwe'Tza couldn't determine if it had any overt weaknesses, but did decide that he was going to try and destroy it before entering the pyramid itself. Adjusting his grip one the polearm in his hands, Cha'Kwe'Tza charged from his new hiding spot, blade held ahead of him. The few minor undead were destroyed within a few seconds as their decayed minds were unable to track his savage speed. The big one however, was not so easily taken down. Cha'Kwe'Tza's first two strikes to the creature's legs did little to slow its movement. Giant blade being hefted in a skeletal hand, the construct brought it down in an arc intended for Cha'Kwe'Tza's head. Glass bladed glaive rising to meet it mid-strike, the warrior cut the last two feet from the old, rusty and bloodied blade. An impact from a large bony fist sent Cha'Kwe'Tza sprawling, losing his grip on the glaive. Rolling sideways to avoid the large blade slamming into the ground, he jumped to his feet and pulled his stone sword from his side with a low, guttural growl.

She purred appropriately when the back of her neck was rubbed, and continued to follow the lizard-man at a distance as he headed down the alley.  He was heading where she wanted to go, and having a large companion was good thing for her kind.  Once they got closer to the pyramid, Sylvi chose to head for the rooftops, preferring the higher vantage point to see just what was going on.  She could still hear the lizard-man moving around somewhere below too, he had a distinctive noise to him.  The decorations on his body were a curiosity, and enough to keep Sylvi interested and following.

But the massive construct guarding the entrance wasn't the easiest thing to fight, even for her newly appointed companion. When he went sprawling, Sylvi went into action.  While she hated to give up the safety and speed of her feline form, she had let to learn the secret of casting spells in it.  And something she had learned was while most undead were hard to kill, they were not often immune to fire.  Carefully balancing on two feet, Sylvi quickly wove together a fireball and whipped it across the plaza straight into the construct's helmet.  While probably wouldn't blind an undead opponent nearly as well as a life one, the desired affect was still achieved.  It seemed to let out a wordless scream, and flailed around, searching for the source of the fireball.

She had already started moving through to help the lizard-man to his feet.  But he was already standing by the time she got there.  "I help you, then we both get into the pyramid, okay?  I think our goals are the same," Sylvi said quickly, using the trade tongue of Adeluna.  It was close to a common language as the world had, and if he didn't understand the words, Sylvi hoped that he understood her tone and accompanying hand gestures when she indicated the pyramid.

Fully prepared to side step a downward swing, Cha'Kwe'Tza was a little surprised when a fireball streaked overhead, slamming into the helmed head of the undead being in front of him. This caused the creature to flail wildly, forcing the scaly warrior to get fancy with his footwork as he took advantage of the construct's otherwise distracted attention. Closing the distance, his stone sword lashed out with his great strength behind it, smashing through the knee joint as he passed between the legs of the toppling form. Tail curling close as he turned to face the exposed back of his foe, Cha'Kwe'Tza hefted his sword in both hands and brought down like an executioner would an axe. The blade carved down, snapping through clavicle and then ribs with a repeated cracking like a tree being felled before it passed out the bottom of the torso, just above the hip bone. What would be a certainly fatal blow to a living creature, did seem to be enough to destroy whatever magical bond held this creature in its state of undeath.

So focused was he on taking his opportunity to attack, that Cha'Kwe'Tza hadn't noticed a human looking woman moving up to him. She had green eyes that didn't quite seem natural to him, but who knows with humans. He knew he was pretty far off from what any of them would call "normal". She was pointing up towards the pyramid, and speaking to him. It had been awhile since he'd used the common tongue, and even then, his mastery of it was very far from perfect. Nodding, the warrior spoke in a deep voice," Yes. We must destroy undead in…inside." Returning his stone sword with its still darkened ruins to its place at his hip, Cha'Kwe'Tza retrieved his glaive before moving alongside the girl and moving towards the large opening at the base of the pyramid.

[For some reason, I'm imagining this thread happening mid-evening while the sun's going down, so the shadows are starting to creep across the city.  I don't know if that will affect your post, but I wanted to let you know.]

At least he didn't attack her, Sylvi's appearance often led to misunderstandings.  At least among humans.  But her violet hair probably didn't even register as strange to the lizard-man, and she decided to take it in stride.  He was certainly quite the warrior, and his aid, voluntary or not, would be extremely helpful to what she wanted to get out of the massive pyramid.  She certainly wasn't bothered by what he was, and she felt relieved when he stepped close when he agreed to her proposal.  It was much better for her, since Sylvi wasn't much of a warrior.  "I'm Sylvi, what can I call you?" she asked, knowing it was better to have a name she could yell instead of just calling him 'lizard-man'.  They headed towards the pyramid, her green eyes starting to shimmer so that she could more easily see.  Her ears would have been swiveling had she been in her feline form, but Sylvi knew she would need her casting abilities.

It was quiet, and at first she wasn't entirely sure why.  Glancing at the footprints in the sand, she realized that most of the tracks were leading out and into the city.  So most of the mummies and other undead would be out on patrols, that was good.  And helpful to both of them.  She murmured "I think most of them are gone.  Though maybe the racket from the big one will bring some back.  We should probably be quick about whatever you're after here.  I'm just interested in whatever artifacts might be helpful", wondering how he would respond to her goals.  if they were similar they could at least work together for awhile.  If not, well, she would still be willing to help the lizard-man.  Given all the trinkets he wore, it was likely Chalky would have interest in some of the same things that she did. 

There was a room to the left full of torches and shimmering with a soft metallic light.  Sylvi was drawn like a moth to the flame, and stood for a few moments with her mouth agape at the room full of treasure and artifacts.  Coins, small statues, jewelry, weapons, all kinds of things were just laying around.  And her greedy side almost overtook what there was of her good sense.  But she paused, just long enough to really look at the room.  And there were small runes on the floor, things that she was certain were magical traps.  Or even just mechanical traps.  Either of which were bad.  She could sneak around, but her friend wouldn't have such an easy time.  "So… shiny things?  Or do you want to go further into the pyramid?" she asked her friend.  But the issue was decided for Sylvi when she heard a large number of footsteps shuffling into the pyramid from not too far away.  The room was definitely big enough to hide in, but she wasn't entirely sure if Chalky would be able to sneak in without setting off any of the traps and alerting the undead headed into the halls again.

[[That's fine]]


"Sylvi…I am Cha'Kwe'Tza…If name is difficult, Old One will do." Using most of his language skills, the big warrior moved with the violet haired human into the opening of the pyramid. Looking around, he saw mostly smooth stone making up the floors and walls with carvings and glyphs etched into them at what seemed like random intervals, although there could be a number of reasons for them. Not all pyramid building cultures were like his own. In fact, his was the most unique in comparison to the others that he had come across in his travels. Sylvi speaking beside him brought his attention back from one of his rare tangent thought processes. "Yes. Fast is good. I come for magic weapon. Maybe gold. Rest can be yours." Aside from occasionally buying what he couldn't find in the natural world, Cha'Kwe'Tza had little use for vast amounts of money, and he was sure that his apparent indifference to wealth in coins showed.

A short way into the pyramid and a room on the left seemed to catch his new found partner's attention. Stepping into the doorway that led within, Cha'Kwe'Tza saw that there were all manner of things strewn about the room. Golden busts of human heads, statues big and small, and piles of gold and jewels. What really caught his eye though, were three display cases front and centre on the far wall. They stood just taller than he was, and square enough that Sylvie could perhaps fit in the main compartment if she hunched over a little. Whatever was held inside the cases was shrouded by a nearly opaque green glow, seeming to come from the interior of the case itself. About to step further into the room, the sound of shuffling feet from somewhere else in the structure met his ears. Turning back and looking both directions down the hall, he didn't immediately see anything coming into view. Wary of anything that would approach and accost them, Cha'Kwe'Tza turned to Sylvi, "Yes…Shiny. I go look at noise. You grab what wanted. Back quickly."

Leaving the room, Cha'Kwe'Tza turned to his left and moved further into the pyramid, making his way down the hall as quietly as his claws and totems would allow as they clicked and clattered. The next opening in the corridor was a intersection of four paths. One lead back, the one ahead and right kept on in the same plane, where the one on the left was a ramp that rose to what looked like a flat landing. The warrior could not see what was beyond the landing. Waiting for a moment, the noise seemed to come from his right. Taking that path of the intersection, he kept close to the wall. The sound of clattering feet suddenly grew loud, and a group of a few dozen minor undead scuttled across the hall ahead from left to right, not seeing Cha'Kwe'Tza at all. Wanting to see where they were going, he moved quickly after them. What he wasn't counting on, was a second group following behind. Skidding to a halt just before middle the second intersection, Cha'Kwe'Tza prepared himself for an assault. He had enough time to identify that the undead were actually armoured, and that they were being led. The figure that led them was dressed in flowing, tattered robes, and it raised a hand towards the scaly fighter as the sound of heavy wind filled the hall, throwing Cha'Kwe'Tza at great speed back down the hallway about eighty feet, just to slide the last twenty or so to the base of the ramp. Having held onto his weapon, Cha'Kwe'Tza used it to assist standing and roared his defiance back down the hall.

It took her a few tries, but Sylvi was carefully able to repeat the name.  All her time spent studying arcane and ancient languages paid off occasionally.  "I think I will stick with Old One if there's danger, I can say that much faster.  But thank you for telling me your name, Cha'Kwe'Tza," Sylvi said.  It seemed like a good idea to show respect to the large warrior, and she really had no intention of antagonizing him.  Besides, he could be quite a valuable ally for her.  Time would only tell, and there were more immediate concerns that the demon had on her mind.  She nodded in agreement at his proposal, she had little use for weapons.  And there was plenty in here to share.

Taking him at his word, she started to shove things into the sack that had become quite invaluable.  While it was an obnoxious shade of red, Sylvi had yet to find a limit to what she could hide in the large sack.  A pile of coins went in first, followed by a choker, a coil of silk rope, a fancy looking mask, and a number of other interesting looking artifacts.  Some she planned to keep, others she would sell.  A tiny ghostly kitten emerged from somewhere, rubbing on her ankles, and Sylvi couldn't help but smile at the poor creature.  Who knows what had happened to it to cause the current state, but it seemed to like her.  And a ghost kitten could make for a good companion. She stroke its head, and was considering a name when she heard Cha'Kwe'Tza roaring.  She shoved a final thing in the sack, some kind of potion in a large vial, and banished it off to the netherspace where it would be safe, and she wouldn't have to carry it.  She scooped up a handful of throwing stars from a dais, curious about why they felt like metal, but were cool and somewhat translucent.  Then she went to see what all the fuss was about.

For a few moments, she considered abandoning the lizard-man, given that he was in between two groups of undead.  But Sylvi had taken a liking to Cha'Kwe'Tza, and she would rather not see him torn to pieces, considering she could help.  She moved in after the second group of undead who were just starting to move in towards her new friend, and Sylvi took careful aim with the throwing stars.  She knew that she would only have one shot at surprising the hordes, then she would have to contend with them attacking her as well.  Three stars went flying, three heads clattered to the ground, and three skeletons collapsed.  Well, that was interesting.  Sylvi was ready to run if she needed to, but she had given Cha'Kwe'Tza a chance to attack while most of the undead, including the robed one turned to see what had happened.