The iron doors to the mountain citadel a few miles south of the coast connecting it to Vilpamolan wouldn't budge. Maybe not going in the backdoor was a good idea, after all. Guards hadn't noticed the intrusion yet, and the companions were glad for it, too. Pirate ships sailed about at sea, docking in the massive cave underneath them, and loading off plenty of desirable commodities. Commodities the companions surely would have for themselves. After some pulling on the door with his strong reptillian companion, both with the spell of strength cast on them, Xallithelid decided maybe some noise was needed to bust it open, so he told his companions to stand back and unleashed a mighty bolt of lightning towards the barred off portal, the door itself didnt swing open, instead was knocked off of its hinges. Alarms sounded in the complex. His companions looked at the illithid with angry stares and all he could offer was a shrug and "oops" before he went into the long hallway leading from the door and into the complex.

Cha'Kwe'Tza blinked his eyes to clear the flash from Xallithelid's lightning bolt. The two of them pushing against the iron had done nothing to budge them, and so they had cleared some room. Although it was a way in, Cha'Kwe'Tza wasn't thrilled at the fact that they had essentially kicked the beehive before sticking their hand in for honey. It actually kind of reminded him of a test of bravery from back home involving multiple venomous insects balanced on one hand for a period of time. Deciding he'd introduce the test on another day, Cha'Kwe'Tza pushed forward into the stone lined hallway with the other three in the group, his stone sword at the ready, runes thirsting for blood. The alarms echoing all around drowned out most of the group's noise at the moment, which was beneficial since the soft clicking of his claws along with mixed bead and stone jewellery were muffled. Peering into the deepening gloom of the corridor ahead of them, Cha'Kwe'Tza gestured with his weapon towards a nearby door, "Search now, or search later?"

What had he gotten himself into?  Not once in his life had he stolen anything, but here the lines were constantly blurred.  The pirates stole from someone and now they were taking from pirates?  Did that balance it out?  He was trying to make it work out for his moral code.  At any rate with how dangerous people here could be, he at least wanted to make sure that the group stayed out of harm’s way.  Maybe he’d be able to convince them to return some of it to the rightful owners…?  It was a long shot that he highly doubted.  Well, with his share he’d return it to where it belonged…

No time to think about that though: the door had been all but blasted down and alarms were going off, loud enough that he had to cup his hands over his heightened ears for a moment.  The passageway was dark, but the light glow of his eyes aided him along with his ability to cut his sight through darkness.  Here we go…  His arm lifted up, fingers spread as he let out a wave of energy to cast down around them.  It was a protection spell, and while its effects weren’t permanent, it would hold at least long enough for them to get past the first throng of people without taking fatal damage, “I’ve cast protection, but I wouldn’t dally.” He picked up his pace with them, well aware of the weapons he had hidden on himself, but knew that he’d never use them.  Not for something like this.  No, he’d do his best to avoid any actual combat and instead stick to defenses…after all, they were the ones doing the breaking in.

Chae was glaring as she entered, hugging the wall as she searched her senses for the inevitable approach of the fortress guards. There was no use dwelling on Xallithelid's woeful inelegance, only the tender spark of readied magic on her fingers. Cha'Kwe'Tza spoke, prompting the witch to glance down the hall. Her only response was to meet his eye and nod. Then the darkness of the corridor enveloped her, a cool breeze signaling her invisible progress through the shadows beneath the door.

Already, four heavily armored mercenaries were rounding the corner; there was only time to survey the room for a second. Mismatched chairs and tables littered the large space, old and broken and dusty, perhaps once used as a large public den before the citadel's current residents took over and left it abandoned. Chae noted a pair of cloudy windows, a fire place, and another door on the opposite wall. Then she returned to the first door and opened it from within.

Her attention was drawn to Naota and the holy spell he had cast. The lich had not encountered a healer before, at least not in this lifetime, but she had only read bad things about their magic. But there was no time for further hesitation. She waved her companions down the narrow passage.

"Bottleneck them," Chae suggested sternly. She could only hope that these brutes could fight better than they could plan.

Xallithelid took up his scythe and spiked whip,, but instead of standing to fight, he faded from view. He passed a few of the guards as they ran towards his companions, and entered another room past the one he saw his halfling lich companion look into. Although he would never admit it, he thought the female halfling to be quite… "Cute", as humans would call it. As he peered into the room, he saw a half dozen men, talking among themselves. He could barely understand their accents, but he knew they were talking amongst themselves about who would be getting what off of the intruders corpses. He saw one of them sporting a fancy golden ring, and he decided that one was his. The man and his companions looked incredulously as the flash of light seemed to take the mans hand, but as the illithid faded into view a moment later, holding a bloody scythe, they knew what had happened. The first started to close in, snapped out of the stupor. A chain soared up, and the man held out his forearm instinctively to block. The tanned leather gauntlet and arm bracer was torn to shreds by the hooked spikes on the whip, and he fell back, wreathing in agony and trying desperately to stop the blood from flowing out of his torn arm. Three magical daggers hit three targets, and three more fell, dead or dying. The final had no desire to fight, and attempted to flee. Yellow electricity shot out from the illithid's hand, turning the fleeing woman into a charred, twitching heap. He casually went over to the two men who were down but not dead and finished them with his scythe. He went over to retrieve the ring, and set out to find his companions again.

Cha'Kwe'Tza saw the four armed and armoured fighters come around the corner and roared his challenge to them. Their steps faltered as they probably weren't expecting a group, let alone Cha'Kwe'Tza and Xallithelid. However, Cha'Kwe'Tza wound up charging the four alone as the other warrior in the group faded from view. Using his superior size, Cha'Kwe'Tza slammed into the first guard full force with a lowered shoulder charge, throwing him backwards to the floor. The next one in line tried to swing a longsword at the Reptilian's face, but reflexes honed over hundreds of years of fighting brought Cha'Kwe'Tza's shield up to intercept the blow. The countering stroke brought the stone sword in his hand across, the blackened blade sinking deep into the abdomen of the human. With a dying shriek, the guard fell backwards trying to hold spilled entrails in blood soaked hands. Now that the runes on his blade had tasted blood, a soft and eerie glow started to emanate from them. Striding forward, Cha'Kwe'Tza easily pushed his blade through the chest of the guard he had knocked down, ignoring the wimpering protests. The final guard had turned to flee by this point, and Cha'Kwe'Tza hadn't worked up the bloodlust enough to chase him down alone.

Returning to the first body, Cha'Kwe'Tza knelt down beside it, ignoring the blood that pooled out around his claws in an expanding circle. Around the corpse's neck a heavy chain of gold lay in addition to several gemmed rings. Yanking the chain free, Cha'Kwe'Tza deposited it in the small bag at his waist to trade on another day. Transferring his weapon to his shield hand, Cha'Kwe'Tza turned to the other two with the rings in a blood spattered hand, "You want? You have. Too tiny for me." If a Reptilian could smile like a human, this one would have an evil grin on it's face.

Blood.  There was so much blood.  The smell was almost dizzying and it was all he could do to keep his daemon at bay.  Already his skin was starting to burn hotter, his eyes glaze from green to crimson.  True that the men being slain were ill doers themselves, but he highly doubted that the intentions of his party were particularly noble.  Either way, they were his company and he was being associated which meant that he was just as much of a target as the rest of them.

As the sounds of carnage and bloodshed echoed around him in the close quarters, a man came at him with his blade.  On instinct his fingers twitched to pull up one of his own, but he stopped himself, curling his hands into fists instead.  He wouldn’t let them harm him, but he wouldn’t mortally wound them if he could avoid it and instead flickered out of sight only to reappear behind him.  Each time he teleported to a different place he noticed the lethargy creeping into the man’s movements until he was able to rush him; slamming his fist into his solar plexus.  He’d be fine, unconscious and nauseated when he regained consciousness, but fine nonetheless.  Still, he couldn’t leave him here or he’d end up a sopping mess like the rest of his fallen comrades.  

His eyes closed for only a moment, regaining some of his composure and sending another wave of protection over his companions, though they were doing well enough so far without a boost of it, he couldn’t help himself.  For good measure he let out a gentle wave to heal any of their wounds as well as a boost for their energy.  When his eyes opened they had returned to their natural green hue, and he shielded himself and the man in invisibility before teleporting them both to a much safer location.  It was still within the city, a tavern, but it was surely safer than where they had just been.  Someone would find him, probably loot him, but at least he’d be alive.  He took the invisibility off of him and teleported back, only having been gone for a blink and his eyes widened as a bloody hand extended rings towards anyone that wanted them,

“I’ll take them…”  He moved forward, eyes never leaving his, already unsure of how well he could trust the rest of them…for now he’d give them the benefit of the doubt, towards his life at least.  Uncomfortable goosebumps ran down his flesh as he took up the blood slicked rings and he replaced them into his pocket, hoping he’d be able to find their original owners to return them to.

Half a dozen men were slaughtered before Chae could even attempt to aid her comrades, left only with the low ache of her uncast magic. With a flex of her fingers she dispelled the shadows that she had meant to harness. "The squid has a death wish," she said to no one in particular, grinning.

Her expression faltered at the renewal of Naota’s protection spell. She had managed to avoid it before, but now the sensation of being within it made her rotting skin crawl. 

She distracted herself with a cursory examination of the rings, touching them with arcane senses. They were not enchanted. "Worthless," she decided, leaving them in Cha'Kwe'Tza's hand for Naota to take. It was then she noticed that the healer returned, without the man he had knocked cold. She peered at him curiously, apparently not noticing the flakes of flesh that were slowly lifting away from her hands and neck. The contrast between his kind actions and demonic aura intrigued her. That explained the internal conflict in his aura as well.

"These men are bad," she offered, her attempts at consolation more practical than sympathetic. "This used to be a place of honor and heritage. They slaughtered the people who lived here, or they killed the ones who did. It is a never ending cycle of greed–at least it was."

Then she knelt beside one of the fresh corpses and laid her hands over its head and its heart. A pulse of fell energy rippled through the room, and the man’s dead eyes opened. “How many others?” She demanded.

Her thrall struggled against her spell, coughing wetly, but ultimately it obeyed. “At least two dozen fighters, and half as many bowmen,” it answered. “Garrisoned throughout the other rooms. But there are passageways beneath, with monsters unseen. There is a great evil in this place, deep below. They all succumb. And so will you.” His eyes glowed with a pale green light, magic that was not hers, his lips spreading into a bloody smile.

She did not give him the opportunity to laugh. With the clench of her fist he melted into ash, which she dragged with her skirts as she approached the illithid and the hall beyond. “Let’s find these blasted alarms before our ears fall off. Then we go down.”

((Sorry this got so long. It will be shorter when we get back into combat.))

Xallithelid was going around the corner when a man nearly crashed into him, eyes wide and in a dead run. The Illithid's reaction time alone saved him from being rammed. His hand shot up and grabbed the mans neck, and the half-orc looking warrior's eyes widened so much they looked as though they would fall out of his head. Xallithelid was hungry after all this play, and although this man looked dimwitted and bland, food is food. The illithid's feeder tendrils went up to the mans head, burrowing into his eye sockets and the sides of his head, right under the ear. The tentacles went into his brain and started to drain his life energy. He heard shouts behind him as the man's screaming alerted another group. He heard the clanking of armor and bustling of warriors, but finally his food was drained, a now hollow, empty husk of a man. He decided the other dead warriors would do well to be on his side, so he raised them and sent them towards the squadron that was entering the room. A Tiefling in heavy armor with a spear entered first, but when he saw the illithid, he teleported away immediately. The undead engaged the living, hating the men of flesh and trading blows mercilessly. A fireball took one man in the chest, a volley of magical arrows flying out from the illithid faster than any bow could fling them, an unforgiving wave of missiles that thudded into the armor of two of the men. The last one threw a jagged spear the illithid's way in a last attempt to survive, but Xallithelid was so focused on his magical barrage that as he attempted to dodge out of the way, the thrown weapon buried itself deep into his shoulder. He yanked it out as soon as it hit him, and could feel a searing pain shock him as he tugged it out of himself. He held out his unwounded arm, eyes filled with a burning hatred that promised death, and reddish brown tentacles burst from the ground, wrapping around the man and strangling him. The illithid slowly tightened the grip, and could hear the cracking of his bones. If he had lips they would be curled into a wicked grin. More footsteps were sounding down the hall, a more organized band, no doubt, a group of no less than two dozen, and he heard the clicks of the Tiefling's spear again. "Tricky son of an ogre…" He mumbled as he fell back, soon finding his companions again. The girl said something, swirling ash at her feet, but then the illithid collapsed to the ground, falling into unconciousness.

The way that the young one reigned himself in to keep control told Cha'Kwe'Tza that he wasn't used to this type of carnage. From what he'd heard from many guards and warriors alike, none of these humans seemed to overly enjoy slaughter, and those that did were considered psychopaths. These humans surprised him more and more all the time. Around him the current bout of fighting had finished, and things seemed to settle a bit, excluding the constant clamouring of the alarm bells throughout the hallways. The next few moments unsettled him a little.

The woman named Chae had knelt down by the lifeless form of one of the men he had killed. Cha'Kwe'Tza watched with curiosity as she spoke to the dead man. He was about to question her, as it seemed obvious that a dead man could no longer speak. However, that was exactly what happened next. The body convulsed once and spat out a wet cough before announcing the remaining enemies. It also let onto the evil and monsters that supposedly lurked in the passages below. Once she stood up, Cha'Kwe'Tza noted that Xallithelid had returned to the group. Jumping forward when the Illithid collapsed, Cha'Kwe'Tza checked to see if he was even alive. Looking back at Naota, Cha'Kwe'Tza growled, "You healer, yes? Come help. Looks like spear wound." Moving aside to make room, an arrow whizzed out of the darkness, slamming into Cha'Kwe'Tza's shield.

Mastering his surprise, Cha'Kwe'Tza got to his feet roaring at the just barely visible figures down the hall. A second flight of arrows sped by, a second ramming into the Reptilian's round shield, and one burying itself in a thick scaly shoulder. Ignoring the minor flesh wound, Cha'Kwe'Tza looked at Chae and Naota, "I go kill. Come right back." Before either could say a word to him, Cha'Kwe'Tza was charging headlong into the dark hallway, bellowing for all his might. Quickly enough, he was upon the trio of archers. The clash was short lived as his stone sword tore through the first two in a brutal display of strength. The third was even more unlucky. Although his sword smacked against Cha'Kwe'Tza's side, the human wasn't near strong enough to cut the reptilian, and his life was ended with Cha'Kwe'Tza's jaws clamped firmly around his neck, snapping the man's spine.

Looking around through yellow eyes, Cha'Kwe'Tza saw another group of guards, this set better armed and armoured than the last. Although they had torches to see with, the same light also limited their range of sight. Turning, the Reptilian ran back to rejoin the group, claws skittering on stone as he came to a halt. "More come. Many more. Better weapons and armour too." Taking a moment to gather a few breaths, the warrior spoke again while pointing to the Illithid, "We go now. I can carry if needed." This was the most talking Cha'Kwe'Tza had ever done in this language in one stint. At this rate he might actually get the feel for it, but those were secondary thoughts as he tried to think of a way to not be attacked in the middle of the hall by the approaching warriors.