Chapter 22: Underworld

[Inferno]

The Caverns of Thracia, Pictland, the World of Hyboria
Day Eleven. Morning. 21st day of the month of Qrot, 1280th year of the Age of Aquilonia








By lantern and by torch, the explorers of lost Thracia search the defiled rotunda of the fanatical death worshippers. Zahra discovers nothing among the shattered basin and its toppled pillar of human skulls. Nor does Torix find doorways hidden in the darkness.

But spilling out from the torn column of black drapery, Grigor, Amethu and Dahinna behold the broken ruin of a great, overturned statue.

It was Thanatos, the Atlantean God of Death...



...as ghastly and unnatural as the gods in the temple above were idealized and sublime.

In the fresh dust of its rubble is found a smudged footprint, like that of some gigantic reptile!


Actions?


Map:

One square = 10 feet. Lighter areas were visible this turn. All else is from memory.





PC Status:

Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 4/3: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 16/17, Spells: 3/8 1st lvl, 5/5 2nd lvl, Lantern
Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 3: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 32/45
Dahinna: Zamoran Southwoman Thief 5: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 18/25, Torch
Grigor: Zamoran Nomad Cleric/Fighter 3/3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 19/29, Spells: 2/4 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl
Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 3/3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 21/21, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
Torix: Pict Savage Barbarian 3: Move: 12", AC: 2, HP: 28/28, Torch
Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 1, HP: 12/29, Torch
Gnasher: Grigor's Hound: Move: 12", AC: 5, HD: 2+2, HP: 10/11, 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

Upon seeing the statue of Thanatos, chills run up Dahinna's arms and neck and tears of fear spring to her eyes. She backs away, trying to control herself. Taking deep breaths, she squats and examines the reptilian footprint. "What...what do you think it could be?" she whispers to her companions. Her short sword is in her hand, her eyes peering into the shadows.

[Bluetongue]

Grigor

"Well whatever it represents, death and the grave, it will not have us today."

He turns the statue over checking for any relics or runes, inscriptions.

[ravenn4544]

Amethu studies the statue that is unveiled. "It is no surprise to see the statue of Death in this place now. Further caution for us to proceed carefully and preparedly. Perhaps there are clues or relics associated with this statue that may prove to be a boon for our path into darkness."

He too will lend what perception he can to the examination.

[Urson]

Zahra
Zahra joins the people around the statue. How big is the print? And what direction is it pointing?
This explains the missing corpses.
And the gashes in the columns.

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

As much as turning his back to the toppled pillar of skulls discomfits him, the dried carpet of smeared blood leading away into the darkness toward the bridge above the inky chasm with its unguessed horrors below fixes the barbarian's attention and his wide, staring eyes.

[ChubbyPixie]

Kiri will join Zahra in examining the print. He'll begin to compare it to his memory of other creatures they've faced, such as the giant scorpion they fought when he first encountered this group in the pyramid, to try to get an idea of its size. It quickly occurs to him that scorpions have deceptively small feet.

"A puzzle. I wish Grandfather were here. He'd probably know what we face. He was a great warrior in his day," he says.

[jemmus]

Torix
I don't find any other doors into this room. If the big lizard isn't here, then it must have left through the door we came in through.

[Inferno]

The Caverns of Thracia, Pictland, the World of Hyboria
Day Eleven. Late Morning. 21st day of the month of Qrot, 1280th year of the Age of Aquilonia








In the desecrated temple of Thanatos, the priests Amethu and Grigor carefully investigate the broken ruin of winged Death. They find no inscriptions but discover undisturbed a palm-sized door in the rear of its stone base; flush, nigh seamless, bearing a pin-sized keyhole.

Dahinna, Kiri and Zahra examine the smudged reptilian print in the dust. It is a foot long and faces into the toppled statue of the God of Death.

Beyond the chamber's only threshold, all is quiet beneath Cruloc's vigilant glare.


Actions?


Map:

One square = 10 feet. Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory.





PC Status:

Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 4/3: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 16/17, Spells: 3/8 1st lvl, 5/5 2nd lvl, Lantern
Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 3: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 32/45
Dahinna: Zamoran Southwoman Thief 5: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 18/25, Torch
Grigor: Zamoran Nomad Cleric/Fighter 3/3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 19/29, Spells: 2/4 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl
Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 3/3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 21/21, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
Torix: Pict Savage Barbarian 3: Move: 12", AC: 2, HP: 28/28, Torch
Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 1, HP: 12/29, Torch
Gnasher: Grigor's Hound: Move: 12", AC: 5, HD: 2+2, HP: 10/11, 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

Wondering if everything is okay with Cruloc's vigilance, and hoping he will call out if not - "for a Cimmerian he's a stubborn as a mule" (she muses to herself) - Dahinna checks the palm-sized door at the base of the statue of Thanatos.
She observes for several seconds, then begins to check for traps...

[Bluetongue]

Grigor

Checks the back wall, looking for more concealed or secret entrances. If he finds none he will lead Gnasher to sniff out those reptile like footprints. The dog is a Dalmatian type hound after all and may once familiarised with the scent may be able to track the creature or warn us if it approaches.

"Sniff Gnasher. Sniff, good boy, find, follow, track."

[jemmus]

Torix thinks he can be most useful standing guard for the group. He joins Cruloc near the doorway.

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

Cruloc wonders if he awoke something when he cast his sword into the blackness where the corpses of Iago and the Thracians are surely now subject to untold desecrations and consumption.

"Its next meal will bite back," he says to Torix with a joyless smile, hefting his blade.

[jemmus]

Torix smiles. Yes, I hope it likes crow feathers. He glances at one of his two quivers of black-fletched arrows.

[Urson]

Zahra
Zahra moves to a position near the center of the circular room about where the '20' is on the map. She readies her sword and waits for trouble. Her intent is to be a backup for the characters at the door.

[ravenn4544]

Amethu will lend what suggestions and guidance he can to the nature of the lock to help Dahinna manage the strange portal.

[ChubbyPixie]

Kiri will examine the skeleton keys he took from the death soldier, then look to the portal. He'll make sure they don't have some sort of extension the might be suited the pinhole lock.

[Inferno]

The Caverns of Thracia, Pictland, the World of Hyboria
Day Eleven. Late Morning. 21st day of the month of Qrot, 1280th year of the Age of Aquilonia







Beneath the towering columns of antiquity, Torix joins Cruloc's vigil as Zahra moves to support them.

Inside the defiled temple, Dahinna's sharp eyes observe the small door set into the base of the broken icon of the God of Death.

Amethu the masked sorcerer-priest whispers it may be a reliquary of the cult of Thanatos.

Kiri produces a ring of iron keys taken from the corpse of a Thracian warrior. None would fit the tiny keyhole here.

Finding no secret doors in the temple wall, Grigor leads Gnasher to the footprint of the great reptile to catch its scent.

Dahinna's expert examination reveals no lurking deathtraps poised to strike from the hingeless reliquary hatch.


Actions?


Map:

One square = 10 feet. Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory.





PC Status:

Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 4/3: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 16/17, Spells: 3/8 1st lvl, 5/5 2nd lvl, Lantern
Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 3: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 32/45
Dahinna: Zamoran Southwoman Thief 5: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 18/25, Torch
Grigor: Zamoran Nomad Cleric/Fighter 3/3: Move: 9", AC: 1, HP: 19/29, Spells: 2/4 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl
Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 3/3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 21/21, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
Torix: Pict Savage Barbarian 3: Move: 12", AC: 2, HP: 28/28, Torch
Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 4: Move: 12", AC: 1, HP: 12/29, Torch
Gnasher: Grigor's Hound: Move: 12", AC: 5, HD: 2+2, HP: 10/11, 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

Satisfied there are no traps on the small panel, Dahinna retrieves her thieves tools and attempts to pry or figure out how to open the door at the base of the statue.

[Bluetongue]

Grigor & Gnasher

"Can you smell it boy? What is it, where is it?"

If the hound can pick up a scent then that might be worth following as it is a 'live target'. Prints of a 'great reptile'. Are we dealing with a large lizard or a dragon?

He tells the hound to follow the prints, where they go out of the door and up whichever side passage they lead along.

Speaking to Cruloc & Torix by the door.

"Shall we follow along, see where he leads?"