Chapter 20: The Forbidden City

[Inferno]

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







In disquieting awe, the pilgrims to Thracia survey the vast specter of a city.

Ignoring the rockfall beneath the cliffs, they quickly enter the monumental vestige of lost Atlantis. Eyes wide, hands on hilts, they race the setting sun.

Their echoing whispers and footfalls are the only sound to disrupt the ageless ruins. How many centuries have passed since mortals last walked here?

Among the peerless architecture that survived the ravages of time without measure, so too endure many masterful sculptures.




To judge from their art, legends of the Atlanteans are true. They held mankind as the center of the universe. And that is how they depicted themselves: idealized, perfect, enlightened, proud.




Greater than the gods.

Yet beset on all sides by heinous monstrosities and ruinous curses sent by the gods who were jealous of these sublime Men who dared challenge Olympus itself.




As darkness devours the city, the explorers reach the ruined temple of the ancient world.






Actions?! (and light sources, please)


Map:

X marks the adventurers' position.





PC Status:

Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 13/14, Spells: 6/7 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl
Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 3: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 41/45
Dahinna: Zamoran Southwoman Thief 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 15/19
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: 28/32
Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 18/19, Spells: 1/3 1st lvl
Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 17/29
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)

[Paladin]

Iago Vazquez de Quesada

"Never would I believe men capable of such wonders," Iago admits in a rather subdued tone as they approach the temple. "Surely these were giants. Or gods. Or demons," he adds under his breath. He gazes up and up at the fluted columns and intricate carvings. "Sorcerers, wizards, or great heroes of old. Shall we see what perils and treasures await us within?" He approaches the steps intent on ascending into the gloom within, pausing only to scratch his chin and glance over his shoulder with a self-conscious grin.

"Sooo...does anyone have a torch?"

[ChubbyPixie]

Kiri pulls a torch from his pack and holds it up.

"I never leave civilization without one," he says.

[Urson]

Zahra
Zahra pulls out her last torch and her tinderbox, using it to light her torch and Kiri's.

We should scout a secure spot- everyone is exhausted.

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

In his advance toward the temple, Cruloc stoops now and then to pick up burnable detritus which can be used to build a fire.

"A Cimmerian has no use for warmth. But the flames may keep the night creatures at bay."

[Bluetongue]

Grigor

Touches the temple pillars and the frame of the main entrance, putting his fingers to his lips to kiss. A gesture of respect for the faith worshipped here.

I bring to mind the stature pictured of the man vs snakes and remember back in the fort, someone spoke of 'snakemen'. (It was why I memorized snake charm).

Is there anything about this temple which would indicate an ophiologic or herpetological worship.
(Snakes specifically).

Is this temple open to the sky or covered? The gyspy carefully walks into the temple court, wary of guardians, both physical creatures lurking or spiritual entities watching on as we trepass.

[hedgeknight]

Dahinna

The rogue follows her companions closely while also trying not to gawk too much at the magnificent ruins and sculptures. Without thinking about it, she finds herself behind Iago...and a part of her longs to be close to him. Then her mind flashes back to the scene on the cliffface...and what he could become in a moment of weakness.
Dahinna shakes herself, removes a torch from her back and lights it, and then follows the others deeper into the temple.

[ravenn4544]

Amethu too follows the group. His thoughts stray not to leadership and guidance but awe of the works of the ancient age.

[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, breezy







Deep in the savage wilds of Pictland, the adventurers enter a dead city, all that remains of the Atlantean apocalypse.

They stand before a monolithic ruined temple sanctified to gods unworshipped by Men for millennia untold.

Aeons dead, its desolation appears complete. The ancient dread of vanished empires pervades its dark immensity.



The explorers of Thracia get torches alight and advance, the gloom of nightfall fleeing before them. Cruloc trails, gathering what little kindling hasn't already been taken for harpy nests.

They approach the long perimeter of the temple ruins, warily creeping between the eleven towering pillars that face north. Beyond the trunk-like columns is a great wall, originally devoid of design. Now the stones bear man-made gouges, signs of a defilement carved long ago.

Grigor's questing eyes find no serpentine motif here. The ground between the columns and the wall is open to the heavens. Beyond the wall, none can say.

A doorway in the wall stands open on their right.

All is quiet as a tomb... the tomb of dead gods.


Actions?!


Maps:

One square = 10 feet



X marks the adventurers' position.





PC Status:

Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 13/14, Spells: 6/7 1st lvl, 3/3 2nd lvl
Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 3: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 41/45
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: 4/4 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: 17/29, 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)

[hedgeknight]

Dahinna moves up beside the pillar opposite Iago. She glances at the Zingaran and says, "We good?"
She peers into the darkness between the pillars, waiting.

[Paladin]

Iago Vazquez de Quesada

Iago follows Dahinna's searching gaze into the gloom of centuries, his skin crawling with mingled fear and excitement. He sends her a look, head tilted and eyes alight. "Sí, lovely one. Perhaps we may not be once we trespass upon the silence of these elder gods. But for this moment?" He admires the thief's beauty and shakes his head, returning his gaze to the temple interior. It is good." Iago flashes a crooked smile in the near-darkness and follows the bobbing torchlight into who-knows-what.

Edit: I realized upon a more careful second reading that no one has yet ventured inside...so there is no bobbing torchlight for him to follow! My apologies. I will have him linger on the porch with the others, in that case.

[Bluetongue]

Grigor

Will call Gnasher to heel and stay quiet. He also sorts out s few holy symbols and holds the most relevant one, perhaps an ankh design or some Thracian design.

"I will see if the gods favour us and foreshadow our steps with insight." he says and casts Detect Evil, scanning the temple and the darkness beyond the door for abominations and infernal traits or creatures.

[hedgeknight]

Dahinna

At Iago's words, she feels her heart flip-flop and hopes he doesn't see the relief on her face. She follows Iago into the temple, trying to keep her mind on the dangerous situation she and her companions are now in.

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

Cruloc's imagination seethes at the unwholesome scale and antiquity of the time-worn columns of the temple, which thrust upward into the inky dark like bony fingers scratching at a coffin lid. His eyes search their smooth time-blasted faces for clues as to the nature of their creators. Cimmerians may have been little more than tree-dwelling apes when these collonades were ages ago hewn from the surrounding cliffs. Lost in wonderment and mounting trepidation, he scratches himself.

"The porch," he whispers, as if wary of waking the spirits of the men who once frequented this place. "Let us encamp outside by a roaring fire. If I sleep under a roof, it should be low enough to see."

[Urson]

Zahra
Zahra relaxes slightly. The stonework, plus the darkness, creates an illusion of being back in the corridors of the Pyramid. She moves over to the doorway and raises her torch to get a look inside. She will NOT cross the threshold.

[ravenn4544]

Amethu expends some of his precious healing prayers on Zahra. He is content to let the stronger lead, for now, as he contemplates the ancient structures around him.

Cure Light Wounds [1d8]=3

[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, breezy







The pilgrims to that which the Picts call the Forbidden City of the Dead cautiously approach the immense temple ruins.

The priests pray to their gods as they trespass upon this crypt of Other Gods. Amethu blesses Zahra with divine healing (+3hp). Grigor's orisons beg that he be granted the power to see evil for what it is. His prayers are answered and his searching eyes find no supernatural malevolence lurking within the columns and stones of the megalithic tomb of a forgotten pantheon.

Arms full of firewood, gut full of dread, Cruloc whispers that they should stop here. But the explorers edge ever closer toward the fathomless darkness of the open door.




Zahra brings her toes to the precipice of the threshold and no further. From behind her, Grigor peers through the confined aperture of that portal and sees no evil. The amazon holds her fiery brand aloft and discovers the temple to the gods of Atlantis has long ago been defiled.





The pairs' wide eyes scour the lit fragment of the sanctuary but nothing returns their gaze. Past a thin veil of dusty cobwebs, they see sacred statues of deities broken and desecrated.




What remains of the shattered sculpture reveals that the gods of Atlantis appeared human, unlike the alien, animal-headed pantheon of Zahra's Verulia, or the spider god of shadowed Zamora.

Believing themselves the center of the universe, the apex of all creation, the Atlanteans were the first civilization to depict their gods in their own image.




Broken and defaced murals upon the sanctum walls seem to portray tales of long lost Thracia of old.





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
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: 23 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
Good- there is no obvious danger there. Let us set up a tripwire- or other booby-trap- across the doorway, in case something comes out later. Beyond that, we should camp and rest.

[Bluetongue]

Grigor

"While I have blessed insight, I will continue to root out any evil that lurks within."

The gyspy priest will enter the inner courts, touching the frame of the portal as if some hidden 'mezuzah' were inscribed upon. Then crossed the threshold sticking to the west (right hand) wall.

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

Cruloc dumps the firewood on the portico. Muttering a curse, he reluctantly accompanies Grigor into the ominous stillness of the temple - his muscled back to the wall, a yard of steel in his calloused grip.

"In and out, cleric - like a Zingaran marriage consummation."


OoC: If Grigor has no light source, Cruloc ignites a torch.