Chapter 20: The Forbidden City

[hedgeknight]

Dahinna

Eager to see what the darkness holds, and yet nervous as to what she might find, Dahinna follows Grigor and Cruloc, torch held aloft to shed light into the inner sanctum of this great temple. These gods are not known to her, but they are beautiful...if indeed these stone depictions are their true forms.
"Careful Grigor, there may already be traps waiting for the unwary traveler."
Move Silently (43%): [1d100]=7
Hide in Shadows (35%): [1d100]=41
Hear Noise (15%): [1d100]=47

[ravenn4544]

Amethu stays in the light as he examines the ancient statues and tries to maintain his attention on securing the room.

[Urson]

Zahra
Zahra shakes her head. She holds the light up, so that the scouts can see inside the temple- but she stays outside.

[Paladin]

Iago Vazquez de Quesada

"He's not wrong," the pirate says with a grin in the darkness. He follows Dahinna's torchlight inside, shrugging amicably at Cruloc. "But then we drink a bottle of wine, catch our breath, and discover further delights." Iago chuckles and gazes cautiously around at the soaring, defiled statues.

[Inferno]

The Temple Ruins, the Dead City of Thracia, Pictland, the World of Hyboria
Day Eight. Nightfall. 18th day of the month of Qrot, 1280th year of the Age of Aquilonia
Partly cloudy, cool







In the city of the Men who would be Gods, neither man nor god now survives.

The explorers brush back the cobwebs and trespass upon the hallowed ground of the crumbling temple ruins.

Here, the desecration is absolute.



If an altar had once been here, it is now gone.

Shadows part before the adventurers' torches as they edge past nine shattered deities. Echoes are the only answer to their footfalls.

Tense minutes of cautious exploration pass and they discover three fragments of a great mural that once bore the pageant of Thracia's history survive the defilement.



They confirm the boundaries of the sanctum. Another door faces south and the main entrance faces east. Priests of Thracia would have stood here to greet the rising sun, thousands of years ago.

Grigor's second sight sees no evil. But the vengeful ghosts of dead gods feel palpable to all.




Actions?!


Map:

One square = 10 feet





PC Status:

Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 13/14, Spells: 5/7 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl
Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 3: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 41/45, Torch
Dahinna: Zamoran Southwoman Thief 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 15/19, Torch
Grigor: Zamoran Nomad Cleric/Fighter 3/3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 29/29, Spells: 1/4 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl
Iago: Zingaran Southman Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 2, HP: 28/32
Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 18/19, Spells: 1/3 1st lvl, Torch
Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 20/29, Torch
Gnasher: Grigor's Hound: Move: 12", AC: 5, HD: 2+2, HP: 11/11, AT: 1, D: 1-4

PC Magic:

Detect Evil (Grigor): Duration: 12 rounds.

Player Resources:

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

[Urson]

Zahra
Zahra stands watch at the doorway, holding her torch up. She listens intently for any sign of trouble inside the temple.

[Bluetongue]

Grigor

Still holds forth his holy symbols, wary of unseen threats beyond his recognition. Gnasher sniffs, probably relives himself on a pillar to mark his territory.

He checks his surrounds, knowing many places of worship have flagstones which also double as covers for graves. I want to make sure no loose stone hides a crypt from which undead horrors might sneak up on us in our sleep.

He will ask study the remaining mural, hoping to learn something about this place.

Once established that no 'evil' threat imperils us, he will be happy to make camp for the night.

[ravenn4544]

Amethu examines the statues and artwork for any clues as to what may lie ahead.

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

Sheathing his sword, Cruloc quietly collects variously-sized shards of the smashed statues and places them in front of the southern door.

"None shall pass without being heard."

He motions for the others to do the same at chokepoints throughout the chamber.

[Paladin]

Iago Vazquez de Quesada

Iago will follow his comrade's lead and arrange noisy shards arround any approach to the area the party selects to bed down. Perhaps he might arrange a little more where he plans to rest...but who can blame a charming blade for his instincts of self-preservation?

He glances at Dahinna and raises one dark eyebrow. "I think, perhaps, we should stay close to one another. The ghosts of wrathful gods linger in this place." Though Iago's voice is deadly serious, even the stifling gloom can't conceal the playful sparkle in his eyes.

[hedgeknight]

Dahinna

The Zamoran rogue walks up to the second pillar and smiles at Iago's "proposition" for the evening. "Likely ghosts of jilted lovers as well."
She winks at Iago and then walks to the southern door, careful to avoid Cruloc's noise barrier. Holding her torch high, she peers into the chamber beyond.

[ChubbyPixie]

Kiri moves to the north wall to examine the ruined statues there more closely and see if he can guess what sort of gods any of them might have represented in their day.

[Inferno]

The Temple Ruins, the Dead City of Thracia, Pictland, the World of Hyboria
Day Eight. Nightfall. 18th day of the month of Qrot, 1280th year of the Age of Aquilonia
Partly cloudy, cool







In the fallen city of the ancients, the explorers linger where angels fear to tread.

In a desecrated temple haunted by the dead gods of lost Atlantis, Cruloc and Iago add to the defilement by piling the shards of broken icons.

Kiri Khutan examines the remains of sacred sculptures and can identify a ruined god of oceans and a dismembered goddess of love.



Dahinna peers out the southern door into the night beyond, having found the holy sanctum's edge.

Learned Amethu carefully studies the ravaged murals that speak of an older world than recorded history knows.



The scholarly sorcerer-priest of Uthoth traces aloud a tragedy for the ages.

One fragment portrays a legendary war between Atlantis and Valusia, the prehuman civilization of serpent men out of Earth's distant past. Triumphant Atlantis built the colony of Thracia upon the ashes of the serpent man capital. A memory stirs within Grigor of the words of Andronicus of Aquilonia.

Another remnant depicts the gods cursing the hubris of the Thracians. Plagues of bestial monsters befall the city-state but are defeated and enslaved.

A passage reveals the fabled Library at Thracia lies in vaults beneath the temple, in whose ruin they now stand!

The final expanse is of a different style; cruder, more brutal. It shows the destruction of proud Atlantis, swallowed by the seas and the wrath of jealous gods. Inland, Thracia survived though tremors brought low her mighty towers. Atlantis no more, the spirit of Thracia was broken and they descended into nihilism, death worship and chaos.



Grigor's second sight passes away. He painstakingly scours the vast temple floor and discovers no ledger stones of burial vaults but his heel finds a slab that is loose.


Actions?


Map:

One square = 10 feet





PC Status:

Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 13/14, Spells: 5/7 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl
Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 3: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 41/45, Torch
Dahinna: Zamoran Southwoman Thief 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 15/19, Torch
Grigor: Zamoran Nomad Cleric/Fighter 3/3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 29/29, Spells: 1/4 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl
Iago: Zingaran Southman Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 2, HP: 28/32
Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 18/19, Spells: 1/3 1st lvl, Torch
Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 20/29, Torch
Gnasher: Grigor's Hound: Move: 12", AC: 5, HD: 2+2, HP: 11/11, AT: 1, D: 1-4

PC Magic:

None currently.

Player Resources:

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

[ravenn4544]

Amethu finishes reading the tiles and bows his head in reverence. Silent beneath the mask. He speaks. "Grigor, you have chosen well this temple. The ancient writings here speak of our path. It is here...."

[hedgeknight]

Dahinna

"What path? How do you know this is where we were to be?"
The superstitious rogue doesn't like all of this; she doesn't trust it.

[Urson]

Zahra
Zahra has entered the temple, seeing that her caution was excessive. She stops near the altar at the western side of the main chamber, keeping her torch raised high.

apparently, my last post got lost along the way. No matter, the actions were the same.

[Bluetongue]

Grigor

"It is a wondrous dereliction we stand in. The mosaics reflect the testimony of how a nation state falls to corruption. But if I trace the picture correct and my instinct, this temple has vaults below.

Are we prepared to scour them now it wait until we are rested?"

I do think 'rest is best' but am wary of ambush.

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

Cruloc examines his injured arm, bandaged shoulder to elbow. "This requires attention."

"Place broken shards at each entrance, and let us establish a perimeter." He goes outside to the portico and retrieves the firewood. "We rest here, with two sets of eyes open until dawn."

[ChubbyPixie]

Kiri moves over to examine the slab, hefting it mentally, trying to determine the best way to attack it when the time comes. At Cruloc's orders he smiles.

"Large stone slabs to dark basements best left in place while resting," he says.

He'll look for a place to arrange his things for a little meditation, then sleep.

[Paladin]

Iago Vazquez de Quesada

"What is there to fear in a dead city long defiled?" He queries with a glance at the mangled statues. "If these gods had any power, they'd have prevented the desecration of their holy places, yes?" Iago shrugs and assists in collecting firewood. "They are long dead, their treasures plundered and gone." His words are bold, but his eyes routinely sweep the darkness and his hand is never far from a weapon.