Chapter 13: Underground City of the Demon God

[DadsAngry]

Mako:

Mako waits for the party to move forward and falls into line in the back when they do.

[OGRE MAGE]

Xorxen inspects the bodies, trying to determine if any of their meat could be harvested and possibly dried into jerky.

He is ashamed to continue relying on others for his sustenance in this place.

"The day grows long again, but we are already running short on food. Do we press on after our foe or find a safe spot to rest while we still can?"

[Urson]

Zahra

Seeing Xorxen foraging again, Zahra flushes bright red and opens her pack. I am sorry- I have been so aware of trouble and so un-aware of how you've been doing.

She pulls out her rations and splits them with the masked monk. 5 days iron rations

[SocraticLawyer]

"Let us continue. The enemy knows our strength,
and with our unseen scout we may avoid further ambushes. says Garrin.

If the others agree, Garrin takes a position at the front of the group as they head out.

[ChubbyPixie]

Amethu, surveying the (visible) party, attends to Kiri's wounds before proceeding. From behind his mask, "That is the last of my healing prayers for now"

Cure Light Wounds [1d8] = 6

Kiri looks visibly relieved upon being healed. "Thank you, Amethu," he says. "One more blow like the one I received from the ape-man would have killed me, I'm certain."
He gravitates towards the front/middle as they set out again.

[Scott308]

Loche

Unusually silent (for once) the Pict keeps his sling in hand, ready to use it if more of the enemy are spotted.

[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 Seven. Evening?, 19th day of the month of Yuluk, 1279th year of the Age of Aquilonia






Zahra shares largess from the foodstores of the amazons with their ancestral enemy, Xorzen of Osorus.

Amethu of Uthoth heals the outland barbarian Kiri with the unknowable arcane sorcery of his secret sect. (+6hp)

Then the explorers set out again, continuing their descent into the earth's bowels upon steps smoothed by the uncounted footfalls of several millennia.



Amethu's lantern momentarily parts the infinite ocean of ancient darkness as they journey on for hours through the vast subterranean caverns.

Down, down, down they go.



Suddenly, a monumental arch, hewn from the living rock itself, opens onto an immense cavity under the earth.

Through that majestic carved portal, the explorers of the underworld behold an astonishing, towering city of Verulian magnificence long gone by!



A city under the earth! Older than time imaginable, forlorn, silent and stagnating with the crawling of the centuries.

Colossal cyclopean towers of splendor unmatched, erected before Hyborian men ever walked the earth, fill the brooding ruins of the nameless city with a strange unsettling dread.

All is quiet. Beyond a crevasse, bridged by natural rock and eerily luminous with violet phosphorescence, a lone figure is all that stirs. Filthy and ragged, he shambles aimlessly, his face concealed by a crude mud-caked hawk mask. His meandering footfalls echo in the winding catacomb of the awe-inspiring underground city that utterly dwarfs him.


Actions?





PC Status:

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

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 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."
  Invisibility x2 (Mako): Targets: self and Xorzen

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)

[OGRE MAGE]

Xorxen carefully creeps ahead towards the lone figure, keeping his eye out for trouble as he approaches.

Once he is within earshot, he whispers unseen to his masked brethren.

“The followers of Osorus are indeed widespread for us to find one this far below the surface world. What news from the depths, my long lost brother? Are you well enough to report?”

[Urson]

Zahra
IF the crevasse is narrow enough, Zahra will ready a javelin to throw at the stranger. She'll hold her throw until she's sure she needs to. She'll stay at least 10 feet from the edge.

[ChubbyPixie]

Kiri will observe and ready himself to assist should things go awry. He puts a hand on his short bow.

[Inferno]

DM:

Unseen by friends or strangers, Xorzen quietly crosses the bottomless crevasse atop the natural rock formation that bridges it.

He then whispers disembodied words that only the pale, ragged, hawk-masked figure can hear.

[SocraticLawyer]

Garrin stays near the front of the group, unaware of Xorxen 's movement. "Who goes there?"

[ravenn4544]

Amethu simply stares reverently at the vast and ancient history looming quietly before them.

[Scott308]

Loche

Sling ready, the Pict awaits any movement or sound from the stranger that might indicate hostility. Should anything occur, he lets fly.

Sling of Sutehk (20): [1d20+3] = 7+3 = 10 Bullet Damage S/M: [1d4+3] = 4+3 = 7; Dam L: [1d6+3] = 6+3 = 9

[Pulpatoon]

Tjoruy, wild-eyed and filthy, starts with surprise when Xorzen speaks and bats at the air around his ears as if trying to dislodge something alien. He whips his head around, appearing to not take in the presence of a figure beside him. In a quavering voice, he calls out, "What voices are these? Are the swallows? Are they scorpions? Are they perfumed daughters of the Gods? Are they flames as comest forth from the horizon? Hail, thou who art in the Lost City! May the Guardians of Light and Spaciousness lead you on. O stretch out unto me thine hands that I may be able to pass my days in good company!"

[OGRE MAGE]

Xorxen replies.

"You cant see me, but I am here. I am Xorxen, follower of Osorus. My friends and I seek to overthrow the false god. Will you lend us aid, brother?"

[Pulpatoon]

Tjoruy leaps again at the sound of Xorxen's voice. "AH! False god!" He spits. "My soul hath seen the glories upon the brow and upon the limb of Osorus. Shut ye not my soul and shutter ye not my shade. Oh! Let those beings whose dwelling-places are hidden, who fetter the limbs of Osorus, who fetter the souls of the khu, who shut in the shades of the dead and can do evil unto this vessel—may they do no evil unto me, may they turn away their path from me..."

His voice begins strong, but he seems to lose track of the idea that he was addressing someone, and he ends by mumbling to himself. After trailing off, he recalls Xorxen's question, and says, "Little sparrow or little scorpion, you would bring down a pretender to Light and Spaciousness? You would lift a true vessel close unto the font of the gods? Then I would follow thee."

[OGRE MAGE]

Xorxen tries to discern the riddled words of the loner at the gates of this underground city, eventually responding to the disheveled man again.

"Yes. We would treasure your company and any knowledge of this place you would like to share with us. Now, look to the other side of the bridge and wave my friends over here so we can all discuss our next steps."

[ravenn4544]

Amethu, pauses his reverie for a moment at the conversation and cautions, "remember what happened at the last bridge we crossed - we should be more careful here..."

[Pulpatoon]

At the invisible voice's prompting, Tjoruy peers into the gloom. Spotting the rest of the party, he leaps up on his scrawny, white legs and shouts out, "Who stands upon the horizon? Dog-headed apes? Spirits of Dawn? Bear you the crook, the scepter, the flail?" he dances over to the foot of the bridge, waving the party over. "Come! Come! I have a miracle to show you! A sparrow that whispers in my ear!"