Chapter 20: The Forbidden City

[Inferno]

Chapter 20: The Forbidden City

The Ruins of Thracia, Pictland, the World of Hyboria
Day Eight. Late Afternoon. 18th day of the month of Qrot, 1280th year of the Age of Aquilonia
Partly cloudy, warm







Astonished and agape, the adventurers have found at last the object of their quest: that which the Picts call the Forbidden City of the Dead, and what they believe to be Thracia, the lost colony of Atlantis!

Long ago in vaults buried deep beneath ancient Thracia had existed the largest library on Earth. Verulia's lost past would be found in these ruins, along with treasures beyond imagining.

At cliff's edge, the disbelieving pilgrims peer down into ruins weathered by the cruel ravages of desolate eternities; vestiges of the greatest civilization ever known.



It seems incredible that human hands could have shaped this city, and certainly it was beyond human power to have overthrown it. If mighty Atlantis could not survive, how could any society of Man?

Zahra's pale eyes note a few surviving structures of seeming import, west of their towering vantage. Amethu sees no sign of life in the City of the Dead. No movement. No sound. Now that he thinks of it, not even the drone of insects nor the song of birds.


Actions?!


Map:

(X marks the PCs' position)





PC Status:

Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 14/14, Spells: 7/7 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl
Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 3: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 45/45
Dahinna: Zamoran Southwoman Thief 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 19/19
Grigor: Zamoran Nomad Cleric/Fighter 3/3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 29/29, Spells: 4/4 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl
Iago: Zingaran Southman Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 2, HP: 32/32
Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 19/19, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl
Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 29/29
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)

[ChubbyPixie]

"How do we get down?" says Kiri, "I mean, besides magic. I don't have enough for all of us. Do we possess enough rope to scale down the cliff? Or do we follow the ridge until we find an entry point?"

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

Glad to be clear of the morass of seemingly endless vegetation, Cruloc relishes the opportunity to descend the cliff using naught but his hands, feet, and wits.

He looks doubtfully at the pasty Amethu.

[hedgeknight]

Dahinna

When she realizes she is holding Iago's hand...and he's not pulling away...Dahinna lets go and looks around at her companions, slightly embarrassed, but not enough to keep the smile off her face. She somewhat shakes herself back to reality and Kiri's comment about how to get down to the city.
"Perhaps there is a path along the rim. Should we search for one before using ropes?"
She's not worried about climbing down, but she can't say she isn't for some of her companions. Dahinna walks over to the ledge, as close as she dares, and looks around, hoping to see some way down.

[ravenn4544]

Amethu looks upon the ancient ruin - still unable to believe it is here. But there is doubting the senses - an ancient ruin that matches the description of Thracia lies before them. Let ancient Verulia yet live again...

He scans the rim as best he can and agrees that climbing down is not desirable. He looks to the left and points at what seems to be a stair like crevice. "Perhaps we should investigate that and see if can provide a safer way down?"

[Bluetongue]

Grigor

studies the temple ruins. : Crevasse it is then." He goes to where Amethu pointed a potential place to scramble down out. Maybe Cruloc, in the absence of any dwarves might have most knowledge on how viable the way is and the risk of rockfalls and unsafe ground.

[Urson]

Zahra
When Amethu looks left, Zahra looks right. She walks along the edge for about 20', looking for any sign of a safe (ish) way down. If she doesn't see anything, she'll go back.

[Paladin]

Iago Vazquez de Quesada

The rogue chuckles under his breath and sends Dahinna a wink before approaching the edge to gaze down. He notes what looks vaguely like a stairway and nods at Amethu's suggestion to explore it. "Off we go, amigo. Let us see what riches lie before us...and what guardian broods over these ancient stones."

[Inferno]

The Ruins of Thracia, Pictland, the World of Hyboria
Day Eight. Late Afternoon. 18th day of the month of Qrot, 1280th year of the Age of Aquilonia
Partly cloudy, warm






Before the breathtaking cadaver of empire, the explorers scan for a path of descent.

They spy a switchback trail carved into the living rock of the towering cliffs to the west. (near X)



The adventurers circumnavigate the dizzying rim of the canyon.

The monumental, eerily-deserted ruins are as quiet as a tomb.

They tread high above a desolate amphitheater in the southwestern crevasse...



... and then venture north to the trailhead of the cliff-borne path, the gateway to a distant age long gone by.


Actions? (and marching order, please)


Map:

X marks the PCs' position





PC Status:

Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 14/14, Spells: 7/7 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl
Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 3: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 45/45
Dahinna: Zamoran Southwoman Thief 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 19/19
Grigor: Zamoran Nomad Cleric/Fighter 3/3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 29/29, Spells: 4/4 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl
Iago: Zingaran Southman Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 2, HP: 32/32
Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 19/19, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl
Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 29/29
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)

[Urson]

Zahra
Zahra has focused on the ruins as the group treks, watching for signs of life and movement.

I am not skilled in the wilderness, so I should stay in the middle or the rear.

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

Cruloc peers over the edge, thoughtfully assessing the switchbacks and the integrity of the trail. He signals his judgement with a grunt.

"We scramble down the slattern's crack. But have a care - unlike in Shadizar, there is no soft landing at the bottom."

The sure-footed Cimmerian starts cautiously along the path, then stops and turns to the party.

"Happily, the worst you are likely to catch here is a tumbling rock to the side of the head!"

[hedgeknight]

Dahinna

"I love how Cruloc is always so positive," says the Zamoran rogue, falling in line near Zahra. She glances at Iago, wondering where he will put himself as we descend into the forgotten city.

Should we assume the same marching order as we had when traversing the jungle?

[Paladin]

Iago Vazquez de Quesada

"My mother reminded me often that I had only rocks in my head, so perhaps I'm suited for this terrain." He shrugs and falls in behind Cruloc, trusting the barbarian's catlike reflexes to lead them aright.

Iago peers into the silent ruins with quiet fascination. The rogue's normally one-dimensional mind is forcefully expanded to entertain dreams of more than gleaming gold and well-built thieves. Ancient secrets? Forbidden magics which brought down the wrath of the elder gods? What wonders and what terrors lie hidden here?

[ChubbyPixie]

Removing his rope, Kiri summons Grandfather to help tie the party together for their descent, taking a place in the middle where his prodigious strength might best serve them in case of a fall.

[Bluetongue]

Grigor with Gnasher at his heel follow behind. He might be the last in place then and he walks with his shortbow in hand.

[ravenn4544]

Amethu also follows. He is cautious about the trail, but his eagerness to enter the city is unmistakable.

[Inferno]

The Ruins of Thracia, Pictland, the World of Hyboria
Day Eight. Late Afternoon. 18th day of the month of Qrot, 1280th year of the Age of Aquilonia
Partly cloudy, warm






The shadows grow long as the pilgrims to Thracia descend into antiquity.

Roped together by invisible hands, they trod single file upon a thin and perilous path carved into the looming cliffs.



All is still.

With every step, the explorers venture deeper into time itself, inexorably toward an age ancient and unknowable. What lost secrets have survived the unending ravages of eternity?

Halfway down, they begin to hear something...

soft like a distant memory...

the sweet, lilting voices of women...

singing a melody haunting and beguiling...

entrancing... enticing...

impossible... to resist.

Actions?! (All male PCs, please Save vs Spells to act freely! Wisdom modifiers count.)


Map:

X marks the PCs' position





PC Status:

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

PC Magic:

Unseen Servant (Kiri): Duration: 32 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)

[Bluetongue]

Grigor

Grigor save vs spells 15 [1d20+1]=13+1=14

The harmony evokes certain feelings in him as he treads the path. He seems quite taken with it and looks for the source of the aria. If he could, he would respond in some echoing verse.

Gnasher just howls along.

https://youtu.be/qRl6_4uWsjc

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

"Hearken!"

Save vs. spells (16 req.) [1d20]=9

Cruloc stops short. His scarred musculature is taught, sensing danger. Yet after a moment, he relaxes and smiles broadly.

"'Tis the call of the fabled Cimmerian woodland virgins! Perhaps we should bandy with words a while, yes?" He tugs gently on the rope, encouraging his fellows forward.

[ravenn4544]

Amethu stands transfixed as the voices of ancient verulia rise out of the cavern and swell his heart.

Save vs Spells (12) [1d20+3]=1+3=4