Chapter 14: The Doomed Undying

[Inferno]

Chapter 14: The Doomed Undying

The Underground City, the Vast Subterranean Caverns Beneath the Great Pyramid
Lost City of Khemsa, Forgotten Kingdom of Verulia, Great Eastern Desert, the World of Hyboria
Day Seven. After midnight?, 19th day of the month of Yuluk, 1279th year of the Age of Aquilonia





Beneath the cold lichen stars, Tjoruy the shambling citizen of the abyss implores the strangers to Pandemonium: "Come to the city, ye who wish to live in horror, in forgetfulness, in darkness, and in death."

The pale subterranean proffers sacred healing with his ominous invitations. (+1hp, +5hp and +7hp to Xorzen, Garrin and Loche respectively) Both are accepted by the explorers who then traverse the stone bridge and enter the brooding megalithic ruins of the inconceivable underground city.



Erected deep in the bowels of the earth, far from the sunlit world of men, the colossal netherworld metropolis possesses an oppressive architecture of grandeur and monstrosity, born of an epoch later than that of the Great Pyramid. Verulia's long harrowing decline can be felt in the very stones.

And the unsettling carvings, likenesses and statues here, of unspeakable interlopers that the outlanders know well from their nightmares and the Verulians from legends gone by, fill them with a nameless dread.



They venture deeper into the vast, timeless necropolis as pitch shadows melt before their torchlight revealing countless cyclopean towers, weathered by the cruel ravages of desolate eternities.

The eerie silence of the ages is deafening. Their footfalls on the ancient stones are the only sound, echoing in the infinite catacomb of unending night.

All they find is emptiness, decay and ruin.



After what seems like hours of wandering though the crooked paths of the dead city, vague shadows suddenly emerge from out of the timeless depths of the labyrinthine streets.

A dozen men slowly straggle forth... faces hidden behind masks of animals... thin naked limbs aglow with the alabaster hue of bleached bones.

Illuminated by the light of Amethu's lantern, the ghostly figures move aimlessly as if in a dream; human flotsam set adrift on the sea of their own shattered sanity. Seemingly blind to the adventurers' presence, they react instead to things unseen.



Their skin crawling with gooseflesh at the proximity of so many wretched madmen, the explorers wonder into what Hell they have strayed!


Actions?


Map:

PCs are within the Underground City. They cannot see anything beneath or beyond it.





PC Status:

• Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 11/14, Spells: 2/7 1st lvl, 2/3 2nd lvl, Lantern
  Garrin Locke: Argosian Atlantean Paladin 3: Move: 12", AC: 3(1), HP: 14/26, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 2/2: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 8/14, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl
  Loche: Pict Savage Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 12/18
  Mako: Khitan Easterner Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 7(5), HP: 6/10, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl, 0/1 2nd lvl
  Tjoruy: Verulian Osoran Cleric 4: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 11/31, Spells: 2/5 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl
  Xorzen: Verulian Osoran Monk 3: Move: 17", AC: 6(4), HP: 8/16
  Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 10/21

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, Tjoruy and Zahra have breathed of the mists): 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)

[Urson]

Zahra
Zahra has gotten more and more tense as the group moves through the city, her hand tightening on the hilt of her sword. When the denizens make their appearance, she half-raises her blade, ready to attack- but then stops when she sees that they appear harmless.

Are we still alive? Or have we wandered into the lands of the Dead? she wonders aloud.

[ravenn4544]

Amethu whispers "Whatever unfolds here... we must soon rest to recover our resources before delving deeper...". He clutches his ancient staff..

[Scott308]

Loche

Guid point. Awright, freish guy, is thare some steid we kin kip nearby? We're bonny hurt 'n' fauchelt, plus th' casters need tae git thair spells back.

[ChubbyPixie]

"Tjoruy, is there any communicating with these city-dwellers? Is there any safe place in the city?" says Kiri, keeping a moderate distance from the throng. "I agree it couldn't hurt to rest, but I don't feel secure here."

[DadsAngry]

Mako:

"If there is no safe place to rest here let us push forward and locate one. My arcane energies are almost completely drained."

[Pulpatoon]

Tjoruy leads the party through the streets. He had begun to walk a little more erect and proud after the battle, but now he reverts to a shambling, scurrying gait, darting across streets to trail along walls, like a rat, until they reach his hovel. "Here, we come upon the place where a vessel, bereft of light and spaciousness, once laid for long days in quiet, unseeing reflection. Take your rest, and eatest thou the food of the black mushroom, and drink of the black water."

After settling his new companions into the squalid dwelling, he sits down and takes some time to lovingly clean and coo over his golden mace, before carefully re-wrapping it in muddy bandaging. "Not for you, the covetous eyes of Zargoth."

[OGRE MAGE]

Xorxen accompanies the group to this strangers abode, taking in as much of the cities surroundings as he can along the way.

"I can take any watch that will work for our spell casters to gain as much rest as they need. Just tell me when and it shall be done."

Once he and Tjoruy are close enough for conversation......

"Just how long have you lived down here, brother?"

[DadsAngry]

Mako:

"I can take any watch that will work for our spell casters to gain as much rest as they need. Just tell me when and it shall be done."

"Now." says the easterner as he finds a sturdy wall to rest upon.
Upon finding a resting place he continues "wake me only for the consumption of food or if I become food to consume."

[SocraticLawyer]

Keeping his sword drawn, Garrin asks, Do we need to deal with those creatures before taking our rest?, indicating the wretched madmen.

Am I not reading this right? It seems like there are some creatures in front of us....

[Inferno]

The Underground City, the Vast Subterranean Cavern Beneath the Great Pyramid
Lost City of Khemsa, Forgotten Kingdom of Verulia, Great Eastern Desert, the World of Hyboria
Day Eight. Hours before dawn?, 19th day of the month of Yuluk, 1279th year of the Age of Aquilonia






"Are we still alive? Or have we wandered into the lands of the Dead?" Zahra wonders aloud.

Long after midnight, beneath the eerie subterranean constellations, Tjoruy guides the explorers through the dark hellish city. Surrounded by emptiness, decay and ruin, they encounter masked ghostly survivors of the once-great Verulian race, now aimless and mad.






It is just as was foretold by Tjoruy... "Come to the city, ye who wish to live in horror, in forgetfulness, in darkness, and in death."

...and by many others as well:

• • Ghorum the Elder had warned them of the underworld city of death and madness. A dying civilization that Time had forgotten, the bulk of its populace spiraling into madness, subjugated by a powerful demon god, now regressed to a subterranean species, addicted to narcotics and living out their lives in weird phantasmagorical dreams. They have forgotten the sun and the moon; that an outside world ever existed. “Alas, the untold promise of a civilization, lost.”
    
    The conjurer of oblivion, Grand Magi Usemhotep of Uthoth had told them with sardonic serenity: "In Verulia's rotting husk, our civilization is lost forever. But we, the doomed undying, go on. In the forgotten remains of our culture, we remain, forgotten. The gods have shown no mercy upon us. Nor pity. Of course, they are right to do so; we are truly deserving of neither."
    
    The fierce sisterhood of Sekhmet. Before she perished, Gronda of Zembabwei told the explorers what Semira, an amazon of the apocalypse, had told her: "This wasteland was once the glorious capital of mighty Verulia, the glimmering jewel of civilization's highest achievements. All gone. Our culture is destroyed... by a demon who fancies himself a god. We shall soon be extinct. We and all our accomplishments shall vanish from history. We are as walking ghosts... a people consigned to oblivion."
    
    ...and what the amazon queen Dendara had told her about Zargoth: "Do you realize the possibility exists that he cannot die? Have you not slept since entering this doom haunted pyramid? Have you not sensed his mind within your very dreams? Have a care, Gronda, trying to understand a thing spawned from the abyss itself."

It was all true. Generation after generation of people without direction or purpose or hope. The pinnacle of Man's civilization reduced to nothing more than Zargoth's store of human cattle.

A great weariness overtakes the adventurers, and Tjoruy leads them through the dreaming lost souls to his ramshackle ruin of an abode.

Then suddenly, the despondent mood is broken by a mirthful, hearty shout. "Ho, caravanners!"
One of the masked relics of men who had trailed them at a distance removes his mask, revealing a sun-bronzed face they know!



"It is I, Cruloc, guard of the caravan you traveled with out of Shadizar.
"Steel and sinew may stand against banditry and beasts, but not against a sandstorm from Hell. I had thought naught but a Cimmerian could survive such an ordeal, but you dogs have proven me wrong!"

His ice-blue eyes scan the group. He smiles with recognition, pointing at Garrin, Loche, and Kiri. "I know you three," And they him. Mako also recognizes Cruloc the barbarian from Zorello's doomed caravan. They haven't seen him in almost two weeks.

"By the gods! What know you of this madhouse?"


Actions?


Map:

PCs are within the Underground City. They cannot see anything beneath or beyond it.





PC Status:

• Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 11/14, Spells: 2/7 1st lvl, 2/3 2nd lvl, Lantern
  Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 2: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 35/35
  Garrin Locke: Argosian Atlantean Paladin 3: Move: 12", AC: 3(1), HP: 14/26, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 2/2: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 8/14, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl
  Loche: Pict Savage Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 12/18
  Mako: Khitan Easterner Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 7(5), HP: 6/10, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl, 0/1 2nd lvl
  Tjoruy: Verulian Osoran Cleric 4: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 11/31, Spells: 2/5 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl
  Xorzen: Verulian Osoran Monk 3: Move: 17", AC: 6(4), HP: 8/16
  Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 10/21

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, Tjoruy and Zahra have breathed of the mists): 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)

[Urson]

Zahra

Zahra had already entered Tjoruy's shelter when the Cimmerian made himself known. She steps out, sword in hand, to see what the noise is. She stays about 15' away from the man.

[Pulpatoon]

Xorxen "Just how long have you lived down here, brother?"

Tjoruy: "A vessel is empty and cannot contain the trickle of time, but my sparrow might know that a day is a mote, and the years layest like dust, and that we are crushed under a mountain of forgotten centuries."

Keeping his sword drawn, Garrin asks, Do we need to deal with those creatures before taking our rest?, indicating the wretched madmen.

Tjoruy laughs. "You look into a glass, and see a dark reflection—we're all mad, down here. You would do as well to slit this vessel's throat, and your own."

When the Cimmerian appears, Tjoruy is beside himself with alarm. "Hush! Bite your tongue! Swallow your breath before it is taken from you!" He races out of his hovel and tries to shoo the barbarian away before he can draw attention to the vicinity of Tjoruy's abode. "Away! Fliest thou! Defile not the silence of this street!"

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

"Gibbering fool!" he snarls. "Is there none among you whose brain has not been addled by the darkness? Or were you born too witless to learn manners?"

The muscled barbarian's longsword is not drawn, but a calloused hand rests on its hilt.

[Pulpatoon]

Tjoruy: "Addled? Aye, the darkness hast teeth that gnaw and bite at a vessel's sanity o'er long years, but thou willst bring upon us teeth sharper and faster to rend our flesh!"

The crazed hermit rushes back to his hovel and sticks his head under a pile of rags.

[Scott308]

Loche

Shh, Cruloc! Dae nae draw attention. Come, let us git intae shelter 'n' we kin speak freely. The Pict looks frantically around, hoping this outburst has not caused anyone to take undue notice of them.

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

Knowing well that when a Pict calls for quiet, his words best be heeded, Cruloc noiselessly follows Loche into the wretched hutch.

[ravenn4544]

Amethu follows, all the while taking in the ancient city....

[OGRE MAGE]

Xorxen is wary of this newcomer after all of the horrible dreams and visions he has had down here already. The hawk masked monk sits in a lotus position on the floor and listens to the conversation intently.

[SocraticLawyer]

Quickly, come inside! says Garrin, who is clearly still not comfortable with the lost souls wandering about.

My apologies, but I must be sure you are not some ruse of the enemy. The paladin attempts to Detect Evil upon the newcomer. Assuming he detects no evil, Garrin says, Tell us, how did you come to this dark place?