Valheecius Dig Site.

Raena, in turn, moves back to the camel to unpack the large sack carrying her armour. She doesn't bother wearing more adequate clothing before wearing the armour: the padding normally worn on the body has been brilliantly fused with the armour, offering a layer of padding whilst skipping an entire step of the long process of putting full plate on. The tradeoff is that it's much less comfortable that way, but Raena's never been one for comfort over efficiency. She assembles the armour upon herself remarkably quickly, her fingers deft and trained after years of having to dress herself in armour without the help of a squire or assistant.

Finally, she straps Her weaponry onto her person, first the flamberge and buckler onto her back, then the gladius on her hip, and finally the faded heavy orange cloak filled with concealed inner pockets carrying everything from over a dozen throwing knives to first aid materials. She nods to Hirhan. "My preparations are complete. Whenever everyone is ready, I am too," she says, a determined edge to her voice.

After a stretch, Wendamari joined Raena's side.

"Yep, good to go!"

The trenches were far creepier without the blazing sun above. The desert was cool now, perhaps even cold. The only sources of light were the waxing moon above and the orb of light Hirhan had summoned to float above the party. They would soon come again to the entrance to the ruin. In the dark the wards were more visible; scything through the air in twisted patterns and strange glyphs as they cast their pale cyan glow. Hirhan spoke.

"Before we enter, I would like everyone to put one of these on."

He would reach into his bag, retrieving a jumble of simple copper diadems which he held aloft.

"Once I had learned that daemons might be involved I created these simple pieces. Theoretically, as long as they stay on your brow daemons should not be able to possess you, or use your body as a vessel. That is, unless they are able to maintain physical contact with you. Don't let them do that."

He would toss each of them a diadem, keeping the last one for himself. As he wrenched his headpiece over his forehead he would continue to mutter. The wards flashed, their green light turning darker and bluer.

"Now, no sense in waiting around. The wards are attuned for each of you now. That is, if I die you will still be able to leave this place. Lets hope it doesn't come to that."

The pit leered menacingly. Hirhan's orb of light dropped down into it, illuminating the ground.

"Quickly now, before the element of surprise is lost. Who's heading down first?"

"Seems silly to go alone." Wendy said as she put the diadem on, "I'll go with you!"

The first wave of adventurers would land hard on the stone floor of the ruin, the sand beneath their feet muffling their descent. A rope ladder would fall behind them moments later, along with Hirhan, who immediately slid on his lenses. His rod was already in his hand, the implement's sides glowing faintly as he sustained his light source.

In the light of the orb the interior of the entrance was visible. This was once a catwalk just under the top of the fort's battlements. Along the outer wall long notches had been carved into the walls, allowing sand to heap in regular intervals along the floor. Arrow slits. The corridor would continue for about twenty meters on both sides, rounding corners at both ends. They were evidently somewhere along the middle of one of the fort's outer walls. Most fascinating was what was on the inner wall. It was mostly open, consisting of a few thick columns that opened out into an open courtyard. The sand above held aloft by a still-active ward. Evidently whomever had built the fort had equipped it with a remarkably powerful magical shield to protect the central courtyard from above. If there had been shields elsewhere they had been long since destroyed: the burial of the fort's outer walls was testament to that. The seal wasn't perfect, however. In places the shielding had cracked, allowing sand to pool in heaps randomly throughout the courtyard.

The courtyard was a rectangle, with the shorter sides parallel to where the party had entered. The rightmost wall differed from the others, as it featured a keep which jutted out into the courtyard. In the pale orange light of the shielding wards decommissioned ballista could be seen squatting on their emplacements. Most intriguing of all was the vast stone ring embedded upright into the stone floor of the room. The ring was incomplete, as the monolithic circle has fractured near the top. It was constructed of a glassy stone of the deepest black, and was etched by sigils and strange markings. Steps led up into the ring's hollow core: this must have once been a portal.

Present were two odd smells. First was the smell of dried blood from before, which was expected. Odder was the ozone smell: it was like standing outside during a cataclysmic thunderstorm. No enemies were visible yet, but in the silence that followed the party's descent the sound of chiten clicking across stone could be heard faintly to the left and right of the courtyard, and in the tunnels off to both sides. The hunt had begun.

Ralf was the last to jump down into the area after putting on the item Hirhan gave him. He drew his sword and kept a vigilant eye on his surroundings.

"Wait Wendy," Ralf cautioned, "Hirhan, see anything out there?" Ralf knew from experience Hirhan could detect magical sources. Likewise, he knew of Rani's abilities. "Rani, what about you? Do the elements tell you anything?"

"Wowee Zowee! What a place!" Rani was looking around the ruins amazed at the wards keeping the place together. She tried to use the earth element to detect things, but she got a lot of interference. "There be a lotta things crawlin' around here."

Then Hirhan announced his findings. She retreated back to the others, seeing the creature she begins to conjure a fire spell with her guantlet but it interrupted by it's screech. She covers her more sensitive ears, "YEEk! Shut dat thing up!"

The beast impaled itself onto the spikes, it's body sinking into the hardened ice with almost comical ease. The creature screeched in pain, flailing it's arms. Then a change occurred. The thing's body reformed around the spikes, the flesh bubbling like a slick of pitch before solidifying anew. It would scream again as newly grown bone sheathes wound puncture through it's skin again, forming a line of large ivory spikes where the ice had fallen.

"Don't ever underestimate daemons."

Hirhan would say in a bored tone as he readied a hex.

"Ever."

Three more rounded the other corner.

Wendamari had bought time for Rani to cast her magicks again. She had positioned herself to the far right of the party, getting into a clear vantage point of the nearest corridor to her the creatures were coming from. From her Flameburst Gauntlet, Rani would throw a Lava Lash at the corridor, a molten orb that once hitting the wall of the corridor explodes into fiery splash damage to hit multiple enemies close to the blast.