The hand Kysis has on Mia's shoulder grows tighter the closer they get to that darkened doorway. It's still entirely possible that these guys are good, that he's trying really hard to keep Mia safe. Of course that hope might be short lived, given the carvings that line the room once they enter the house. Stylized depictions of a mammoth crocodile, human shapes bowing on their knees before it.

There is a familiar voice shouting: "MIIIIIIIIIIA!" -- Thesarin's voice, even as the other shavs -- two fewer -- follow into the house. There is an immediate move to roll a massive slab of rock across the doorway, a practiced move that takes far less time than an object that size and weight should take to move. Once the natural light outside is cut off, the temperature in this room and the fetid stink of it, become all the more obvious. Kysis releases Mia's shoulder, a now quite clearly sinister smile on his face. "The Great Mia Riven. Sargarath will feast well."

Alecstazi GM Roll checked dexterity(3) at difficulty 10, rolling 16 higher.

Mia checked dexterity at difficulty 10, rolling 1 higher.

Mia wields heart of the Riverlands Oathlands whitesteel blade.

Mia checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 15, rolling 29 higher.

"On you, perhaps." The Marquessa is no warrior. For all of the battlefields she's stood on these last few years, she's never been known as one, instead spending her time giving grand speeches to rouse her soldiers' blood or working in the healers' tent to staunch it. But one thing becomes abundantly clear as a gloved hand reaches swiftly for the blade hanging from her belt, unsheathing with the soft, hissing 'shink' of metal on metal. Her sword -- beautiful as it is, the diamondplate gleaming with even the faintest flicker of light -- is not ornamental. She knows how to use it. Mia lunges swiftly at Kysis, blade aimed at their 'host' first. There's ANGER in that first thrust towards his gut. She will not be coming along meekly, now.

The blade pierces that tough hide armor, the blade digging into his chest. It is bounced off the sternum, and fails to hit his heart, but from the weird hissing sound and his sudden inability to breathe... something vital has certainly gone wrong. The other shavs gape in horror, at least four of them, the eldest and youngest, all seemingly shocked at the blasphemy of it all, while the remaining three draw their own weapons -- two crude spears and a single bone or tooth dagger. "You will put down your weapon!"

"You will open that door, or my men will burn down this hut with all of you still in it," Mia replies remorselessly, "and you'll die with me. But not as a feast for your monstrous Mother." There's a vicious twist as she pulls her blade from Kysis, ready to plunge it in again. Her voice is harsh. She is not accustomed to being disobeyeed.

Kysis slumps a little, a hand clutched to his chest, his face pale, his breathing labored and wheezing. And there's a weird whistle. It's pretty disturbing. "Take-- take her." He motions towards a darkened hallway. "Stab her if necessarry, but don't kill. Needs to be alive..." He is not doing well, and he seems to recognize this, looking around at the other shavs. More of them have drawn their weapons, forming a semi-circle of sharp things all aimed at Mia. "Where is Lupki?" That is a note of worry in his face. "Why is Lupki not here?" A timid voice says, "She and Zekial didn't make it inside."

Alecstazi GM Roll checked dexterity(3) + medium wpn(3) at difficulty 15, rolling 39 higher.

The group of seven shavs all bristle with their spears and daggers, trying to herd Mia down towards the hallway using short, sharp jabs to the more clearly armored parts of her body. "Go! Move! We will kill you!" There is a sound outside, a shrill cry of a girl's voice, clearly familiar to Kysis as he cries out "Lupki!"

Mia checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 15, rolling 30 higher.

There's a hiss, snakelike, that comes from between Mia's clenched teeth as one of their spears, jabbed into her leathers, manages to pierce through, leaving a first scar on the beautifully worked materials. But snakes have fangs, and hers are quickly aimed at Kysis' throat. She isn't taking a single step further than she needs to in order dig the point of sharpened white metal against his skin. "No, you won't," she retorts through a jaw clenched tightly as the biting sting eats into her skin and her side. "Don't kill. Needs to be alive. Your Mother doesn't eat dead meat, does she? But that's what HE'LL be if you make one more move."

The blade of Mia's sword presses just enough to pierce the skin of his throat, a single dark red line starting at the edge of her blade, rolling over his pale skin. There is an expression on his face, resignation. "You have already killed me, Mia Riven." His breathing is still labored, a pink froth gathering at the corners of his mouth. He looks past Mia to the others. "You know... you know what must be done."

Mia checked stamina at difficulty 5, rolling 11 higher.

In response to Kysis' words, the shavs all seem to revert into some form of stone-faced determination. Some of the younger ones are trying their best to look tough, hands tighten on the grips of their weapons. The tension is thick enough to cut, so when there is a sudden crack of sound coming from an empty hearth, rocks and stones falling and spraying down, several of them jump and one attempts to jab Mia again, but misses, getting tangled in the Marquessa's cloak.

Mia checked dexterity + brawl at difficulty 15, rolling 3 higher.

Mia checked dexterity + medium wpn at difficulty 15, rolling 31 higher.

With Kysis seeming to serve no further use, she simply shoves him, awkwardly, back towards his own people, hoping to knock them all together into a clumsy knot that cannot come at her once. As a jab comes towards her, Mia shifts -- clumsily, giving the slice along her hip, but thank the gods for that long, trailing cloak she so favors in winter. When he stumbles, she swings towards him, the blade cutting into bone with a sickening crunch. "Open. The. Door," she demands. "Or I will kill you, one by one."

Mia checked stamina at difficulty 10, rolling 3 lower.

It starts as a tingle, a cold prickle at the hip, a spreading cold that is probably just the cut, right? Except that tingle is spreading and Mia's vision is starting to blur a little. Just the fight, right? The blood is pumping, she can hear her pulse in her ears, faster, faster, and she notices she's distracted by the sound, following it, getting a little frightened by it. She realizes she hasn't looked back at the shavs in a minute. She sees Kysis sagged against a few of his people, whispering to them. Can she hear anything over the roar of her pulse? The last thing she hears is a stomp, but no sharp clatter of falling stones this time. It is SO hot here... so sleepy...

Mia checked stamina at difficulty 14, rolling 2 lower.

Mia blinks, and blinks, and blinks again. With everything foggy, everything cloudy, and the aching tiredness that has seeped all the way into her bones, there's very little in the way she can do to protest, but prostest she does. "Burn....," she mumbles once, groggily. "Burn." Again. What in all the hells is she trying to say? "Not the Horned.... not you...," she cuts off, groaning at the pain.

The cultists sling Mia over the tallest's shoulder as the eldest tries to get a hand on Kysis to guide him down the hallway. The sound of the clattering rocks draw curses and one of the adults grunts at one of the younger children, "Set a torch in the hearth. They come. Fain, Gia, get her down to the wallow! Hurry!" There comes the sound of approaching footsteps and the man curses, "They must have found a door! Run!"

Mia checked dexterity + brawl at difficulty 15, rolling 8 higher.

Having been unceremoniously slung over some brute's shoulder, feet and arms dangling, and her sword likely collected or dropped, well. There are very, very few options left to her, particulary in her vague state of coherence. But when stripped of all of her dignity, the one option that she has left is absolute indignance, which is precisely what she resorts to. Muttering some incoherent something or other in the pigeon language of the Crownlands tribes, or possibly not even that, Mia squirms once, hard. And then she squirms again. And then in a full fit of defiance, she sinks her teeth into the exposed flesh of one of them, biting down as hard as she possibly can. Survival is a strong motivator. So, apparently, is poorly judged and directed spite.

Mia checked stamina at difficulty 11, rolling 1 lower.

There is a yelp of pain and a sharp jostle of Mia's body as the bitten shav starts to loudly complain. "She BIT me! She bit me! What in all the realms... fuck. I think it's *bleeding*." The shav holding Mia is soundly ridiculed by the others, but the sound of voices behind them is enough to get them to start running. Mia's ride is about to get bumpier and even less pleasant. She can see, sort of, in the blurred vision she has, that Kysis is not keeping up, even with the assistance of another shav. Blood has stained his torso and tails behind him. He is weakly arguing with the shav that is all but carrying him now. With a look of absolute rage, the shav lets go of Kysis, who promptly falls on the floor. And then the man is running towards the rest of the group. "MOVE FASTER."

Mia checked strength + brawl at difficulty 10, rolling 0 higher.

There is an ooph of sound and the shav grumbles, "She's *kicking* too." The angry shav at the back says, "I don't care. Keep going. I'll set up the traps and meet you at the mouth of the wallow."

Indeed, Mia is kicking. She is kicking a very great deal, really, so it's a lot more like flailing. It is not dignified, nor graceful, nor strong. That doesn't mean she's particularly inclined to stop, even if it's going to end up with her cracking her head on the floor.

Mia checked stamina at difficulty 8, rolling 10 higher.

Mia checked stamina at difficulty 5, rolling 9 higher.

Mia checked stamina at difficulty 2, rolling 1 higher.

Mia's head is starting to clear. There's a bit of an ache, like a mild hangover, but she's definitely working through the posion. Her vision is cleared and she's just a little slow on her reflexes at this point. She can see her suroundings -- they've be going down, down, down and the air is nearly tropical in heat and humidity. They reach the end of the hallway and the six remaining shavs pause at the archway leading into the next area. The pair at the front begin to chant and step forward at the same time, heading into the room.

Alecstazi GM Roll checked dexterity(3) + athletics(3) at difficulty 30, rolling 8 lower.

Seconds after the pair enter, there is a loud THWOOP of noise, something large moving swiftly through the air. Then four thuds. The next pair swallow tightly, looking at one another.

Mia checked dexterity + brawl at difficulty 10, rolling 5 higher.

"I said PUT. ME. DOWN," Mia shouts, as loud as she can manage, even over their chanting. Had she demanded that he put her down? Maybe. Maybe not. She doesn't really remember, and even if she had said, was it really intelligible? Probably not. Either way, she emphasizes her point with a very swift kick. Her foot is nearly planted into it anyway, dangling off the man's shoulder as she is. It's mostly a matter of making sure it lands there after she draws her leg as far back as his hold allows. Her boot digs sharply into his groin.

The man doubles up, making Mia's dismount that much easier. He groans, face turning purple as he sinks to his knees. There is a roar of anger from the big guy, but he's next in line to head into the room, so Mia has a clear route to run back up the slope towards the sound of familiar voices.