Chapter 13: Underground City of the Demon God

[Inferno]

Chapter 13: Underground City of the Demon God

The Tomb of Xuthalhotep and Ankhara, Fourth Tier of the Great Pyramid
Lost City of Khemsa, Forgotten Kingdom of Verulia, Great Eastern Desert, the World of Hyboria
Day Five. Late morning?, 17th day of the month of Yuluk, 1279th year of the Age of Aquilonia





Armed with the blessings of the ages-dead pharaoh and his queen, the explorers ready to descend to the dread underground city of the demon god.

After Xorzen fails to find any secret doors in the treasure vault, Garrin of Atlantis miraculously heals the masked monk with his bare hands! (+6hp)

Then they set off on what might be their final journey. They backtrack through the ancient crypts of the Great Pyramid, climbing into the false tomb via the hole in the wall, opening the towering doors carved millennia ago with a hieroglyphic curse, squeezing past the thin crack in the cyclopean stone work, scrambling over the rubble pile of misplaced broken blocks, under the crawlspace of the stone that didn't fall true, creeping on their bellies beneath the diabolical pendulum blade deathtrap in the hall of statues, prostrating themselves at the feet of the colossal likenesses of Xuthalhotep and Ankhara taking their rightful place alongside the ancient deities of Verulia, and finally they pass through the secret door.

Soon they open the hidden trapdoor set into the floor (at "f"), revealing a rough hewn natural cavern hiding just below the floor, with a rope ladder descending into the cold, ageless darkness.




The Verulians, Amethu, Xorzen and Zahra, know this to be the winding subterranean tunnel down to the underground city where dwells the horrific demon god Zargoth the Destroyer and all those poor souls doomed to suffer forever beneath his merciless yoke.






Actions?!



Map Detail:

One square = 10 feet. Lighter areas are visible, all else is from memory.

Map:






PC Status:

• Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 10/14, Spells: 0/7 1st lvl, 0/3 2nd lvl
  Garrin Locke: Argosian Atlantean Paladin 3: Move: 12", AC: 3(1), HP: 26/26, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 2/2: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 14/14, Spells: 1/3 1st lvl
  Loche: Pict Savage Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 13/18, Torch
  Mako: Khitan Easterner Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 7(5), HP: 10/10, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl,
  Xorzen: Verulian Osoran Monk 3: Move: 17", AC: 6, HP: 8/16
  Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 19/21, Torch

PC Magic:

• Protection from Evil (Garrin): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Garrin.
  Healing Mists of Osorus (All except Amethu and Zahra): All lost HP recovered with 8 hours of sleep. Wakeful rest, or sleeping less than 8 hours, enables recovery of 1 HP per hour. Duration: "months."

Player Resources:

• The Struggle To Survive (the story so far)
  Mysteries Strange and Deadly (player clues and notes)
  Hieroglyphs (the story so far, in images)
  An Age Undreamed Of (maps and realms of the World of Hyboria)

[ChubbyPixie]

Kiri looks around at the others. No one seems anxious to go down first.

“Looks dark. Someone come right behind me with a torch, ok?” he says. Putting his shield on his back, he begins the climb down.

[SocraticLawyer]

Garrin lights a torch and follows Kiri below.

[ravenn4544]

Amethu follows as appropriate - down into the bowels of history and death....

[Scott308]

Loche

The Pict also descends.

[Urson]

Zahra

Zahra joins the parade. Is it possible for her to hold a lit torch horizontally in her teeth? IF SO, she'll do that.

[DadsAngry]

Mako:

Mako follows the rest down and assumes his proper position within the group.

[OGRE MAGE]

Knowing most of the group could be at full health, and all of them could be at full spell capability after another rest period, Xorxen questions the logic of climbing downward into the unknown so suddenly.

However, once he notices that he is the only member of the group who feels this way, he begrudgingly follows along.

[Inferno]

The Fourth Tier of the Great Pyramid
Lost City of Khemsa, Forgotten Kingdom of Verulia, Great Eastern Desert, the World of Hyboria
Day Five. Midday?, 17th day of the month of Yuluk, 1279th year of the Age of Aquilonia



The explorers of the Great Pyramid begin their journey to the underground city of the demon god, Zargoth. One by one they descend through the square hole in the stone floor, and enter an entirely new world.



The difference could not be more startling. Passing through that portal in the floor, they travel instantly from a totally designed environment of peerless engineering and architecture to a natural, asymmetrical, primeval cavern system. From order to chaos; from the pinnacle of civilization to a savage, underground wilderness.

After 200 feet down, they reach a jagged cave floor. The only sign Man has left here are steps carved into the descending rock, worn smooth by the tread of countless thousands.



Hours pass in descent, surrounded by the subterranean wonders of this fantastic underworld realm, through yawning caverns on a scale that dwarfs the Great Pyramid itself. Beneath towering vaults whose roofs escape the light of their torches, they journey on through a cold, limitless land of eternal darkness, finding no sign of life to break the silence and mystery of the vast, strange domain.

After hours uncounted, their ages-worn path enters another colossal cavity and continues alongside an immense underground lake whose water sparkles clear and bright as a sapphire.




Actions?





PC Status:

• Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 10/14, Spells: 0/7 1st lvl, 0/3 2nd lvl
  Garrin Locke: Argosian Atlantean Paladin 3: Move: 12", AC: 3(1), HP: 26/26, Laying Hands: 0/1, Torch
  Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 2/2: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 14/14, Spells: 1/3 1st lvl
  Loche: Pict Savage Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 13/18, Torch
  Mako: Khitan Easterner Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 7(5), HP: 10/10, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl,
  Xorzen: Verulian Osoran Monk 3: Move: 17", AC: 6, HP: 8/16
  Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 19/21, Torch

PC Magic:

• Protection from Evil (Garrin): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Garrin.
  Healing Mists of Osorus (All except Amethu and Zahra): All lost HP recovered with 8 hours of sleep. Wakeful rest, or sleeping less than 8 hours, enables recovery of 1 HP per hour. Duration: "months."

Player Resources:

• The Struggle To Survive (the story so far)
  Mysteries Strange and Deadly (player clues and notes)
  Hieroglyphs (the story so far, in images)
  An Age Undreamed Of (maps and realms of the World of Hyboria)

[ChubbyPixie]

Is this the big lake from the map? I thought we would come down into the city. Hmmm.

Kiri looks out over the lake in all directions, looking for any signs of movement or activity. “If anything is in here with us, it knows from our light where we are,” he says, quietly. “I suppose there’s nothing to be done about it.”

[Urson]

Zahra

Only be prepared.... Zahra kneels beside the lake and bends low to sniff at the water. Is there anything to indicate that it isn't safe to drink?

[OGRE MAGE]

Xorxen revels in the beauty of this subterranean marvel, looking over all the sights that he can take in.

He is also curious about the water, dipping the butt of his normal javelin into the pool to see if that has any affect on its otherwise smooth surface.

[DadsAngry]

Mako:

Mako readies his empty waterskin, waiting for the all-clear sign from Zahra so he can fill it up.

[ravenn4544]

Amethu also stares quietly across the pale lake and into a history that would probably best be left to sleep...

[SocraticLawyer]

If nothing jumps out if the water, Garrin cups some of the water to his lips and sips it. He waits a few minutes, and if he doesn't feel sick or poisoned, he refills his waterskins.

[Scott308]

Loche

Keeping a wary eye cast over the water, the Pict will wait to see if those testing the water suffer any ill effects. If not, he will take the opportunity to refill his waterskin and drink deeply from the lake.

[Inferno]

The Vast Subterranean Caverns Beneath the Great Pyramid
Lost City of Khemsa, Forgotten Kingdom of Verulia, Great Eastern Desert, the World of Hyboria
Day Five. Night?, 17th day of the month of Yuluk, 1279th year of the Age of Aquilonia





After hours uncounted spent descending into the earth, those that would dare oppose Zargoth the Destroyer discover a vast and silent subterranean lake far beyond the boundaries of the Great Pyramid of Khemsa.

They tentatively test the pool's crystal clear waters, disturbing a large school of blind albino cavefish. Finding nothing amiss, the explorers of the underworld slake their thirst and fill their waterskins with the clean cold water.

Once refreshed, hunger and exhaustion suddenly ignite within them. How long had they traveled through this astonishing realm where time has no meaning? How much longer had they to go?


Actions?





PC Status:

• Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 10/14, Spells: 0/7 1st lvl, 0/3 2nd lvl
  Garrin Locke: Argosian Atlantean Paladin 3: Move: 12", AC: 3(1), HP: 26/26, Laying Hands: 0/1, Torch
  Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 2/2: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 14/14, Spells: 1/3 1st lvl
  Loche: Pict Savage Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 13/18, Torch
  Mako: Khitan Easterner Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 7(5), HP: 10/10, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl,
  Xorzen: Verulian Osoran Monk 3: Move: 17", AC: 6, HP: 8/16
  Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 19/21, Torch

PC Magic:

• Protection from Evil (Garrin): -2 to AC and +2 to saving throws against evil, in a 10 foot radius around Garrin.
  Healing Mists of Osorus (All except Amethu and Zahra): All lost HP recovered with 8 hours of sleep. Wakeful rest, or sleeping less than 8 hours, enables recovery of 1 HP per hour. Duration: "months."

Player Resources:

• The Struggle To Survive (the story so far)
  Mysteries Strange and Deadly (player clues and notes)
  Hieroglyphs (the story so far, in images)
  An Age Undreamed Of (maps and realms of the World of Hyboria)

[ChubbyPixie]

“Perhaps we should rest here,” suggests Kiri, frankly surprised that they have not yet been set upon by some nightmarish cave denizen. “We should keep an eye on that lake, though.”

[Urson]

Zahra

Gladly. I agree that the lake is a prime source of potential trouble. She eyes the blind crayfish, thinking that fresh meat would be a welcome change from the dried rations they've been living on.

[ravenn4544]

Amethu is ready to rest and recover spells that may aide them as they delve deeper.