Chapter 27: The Tower of the Ancients

[hedgeknight]

Asterion

As others take precautions, the ranger gets a little closer to Amethu, his back to the mystic, watching for trouble as he scries for answers to these statues. "Be careful not to crack that mirror with your rugged good looks, Cimmerian," he hisses with a smirk.

[Inferno]

The Ancient Marble Tower, The Ruins of Thracia, Pictland, the World of Hyboria
Day Twenty-five. Late Morning. 3rd day of the month of Ublex, 1280th year of the Age of Aquilonia







Surrounded by ghastly surreal mutilations, an alarming suspicion slowly descends upon the invaders of antiquity.

If these are not statues carved, but piteous victims turned to stone, then to judge from their attire they were once the Thracian acolytes of Aphrodite, and were petrified several millennia ago!

Undeterred, the adventurers eagerly prepare to face the possibility of a similar dread fate!

Cruloc readies a small hand mirror, bartered for in the fort at the furthest edge of the Aquilonian empire. And Torix throws open the next trapdoor!




Only Amethu counsels caution. He weaves a subtle incantation of Verulian magic and impossibly projects his mind downward into the tier below!




The sorcerer-priest's disembodied consciousness soon encounters another living mind whose thoughts are spoken in Ancient Atlantean! Blind, he feels his way along a familiar wall to urgently bring food to some cruel, terrifying being that rules over him without mercy. He tries hard not to think of that fearsome entity but memories swarm unbidden, of horrifically having his eyes put out!



That glowing iron rod was the last sight he ever beheld. The pain, the horror and the anguish never leave him.

The frightened mind hurriedly descends a winding stairwell by feel, and leaves the sphere of Amethu's astonishing sorcery, breaking the spell!

In a whisper, the masked wizard shares his discovery, and what dire future might lie in store for them all.


Actions?!


Tower Map:

Tower's diameter is 35 feet.



PC Status:

Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 4/3: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 14/17, Spells: 6/8 1st lvl, 4/5 2nd lvl
Asterion: Argosian Atlantean Ranger 4: Move: 6", AC: 4, HP: 34/34, Torch
Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 41/54, Torch
Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 4/3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 16/25, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
Torix: Pict Savage Barbarian 4: Move: 12", AC: 2, HP: 37/38

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)

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

Argossean jocularity falls on deaf ears as pale lips spew unknowable verses and red irises vanish beneath fluttering lids. Cruloc feels his gorge rise. Cimmerian loathing of witchery is ancient, bred into the marrow of their stock, and stubbornly lingers despite the score of mercies and boons the albino has granted him. He recoils as if from a serpent's hiss, bracing for the soul-blasting gift of strength wrought by Amethu's incantations to again swell his thews, driving him to roar like a bull-god and hew men like grain.

Abruptly, defensively, he thrusts the gleaming surface of the silver mirror forward toward the sorcerer-priest, his head turned aside, frame coiled, and shoulders hunched. "Not this time, enchanter," he growls. "Silver summons wenches and wine. Mayhap it turns back wizards' tricks too. I'll wager you're a terror with limbs made broader than breadsticks!"

[ChubbyPixie]

"There is one of us that has no fear of being turned to stone, as these people surely were, and he's standing right there." says Kiri. He points to the empty space to his left.

"Perhaps we give him the mirror and send him ahead."

Kiri casts Unseen Servant.

The upside down visage on Kiri's amulet looks more surprised than usual.

[ravenn4544]

Amethu sighs quietly behind his mask at the sudden outburst from Cruloc and his aversion to sorcery. Some journeys take longer than others, he thinks. Some even longer still....

He is pleasantly surprised by the solution Kiri brings forth. "Indeed, your magical servant should do quite nicely in helping us root out the next challenge!"

[hedgeknight]

Asterion

"A blind servant of sorts, you say? Blinded so he can serve...without becoming stone! Damnation! We're about to be in a tight spot here, my friends."
He grips his spear a bit tighter and watches as Kiri weaves some magic of his own.

[jemmus]

Torix stays clear of Kiri's demon, ghost, spirit or whatever sorcerous thing it may be.

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

When age bends the spine and sickness eats the marrow, no pyres burn in Cimmeria. The feeble and the dying are swaddled in furs, handed cold steel, and cast into the white silence to stand, fall, or vanish beneath the snow.

"Grandfather," Cruloc whispers, and eyes like weathered glass study the barbarian, noting the concern in his aspect. "You need not cross the ice."

A smile creases the old man's face, and he accepts the mirror, whose reflective face Cruloc is careful to tilt down and away from the elder, knowing well that mirrors drink souls and give nothing in return.

"A torch to light your path," he adds, softly pressing the burning brand into a withered hand. "I have more than a Zing—" Cruloc's words catch in his throat. Grandfather is touching his own face, the tips of his fingers pausing on brow and cheek, chin and temple.

"Aye," he nods. "Moles."

[Inferno]

The Ancient Marble Tower, The Ruins of Thracia, Pictland, the World of Hyboria
Day Twenty-five. Late Morning. 3rd day of the month of Ublex, 1280th year of the Age of Aquilonia







Surrounded by what might be the tortured dead of another age, Amethu quietly shares visions of horror and agony; surely an omen of what Fate has in store for them all.

Undeterred, the delvers of the distant past prepare to continue their descent deeper into the mysterious tower!



Suddenly, Kiri Khutan proffers a clever stratagem. The mountainous mystic calls upon the ghost of his venerated ancestor to bear Cruloc's hand mirror before them!

(The range of Unseen Servant is 30 feet. The tower diameter is 35 feet. If Grandfather leads the way, does that alter your marching order?
And Pixie, I'll need the specific commands given to Grandfather please. Thanks!)


Actions?!


Tower Map:

Tower's diameter is 35 feet.



PC Status:

Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 4/3: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 14/17, Spells: 6/8 1st lvl, 4/5 2nd lvl
Asterion: Argosian Atlantean Ranger 4: Move: 6", AC: 4, HP: 34/34, Torch
Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 41/54, Torch
Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 4/3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 16/25, Spells: 2/3 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
Torix: Pict Savage Barbarian 4: Move: 12", AC: 2, HP: 37/38

PC Magic:

Unseen Servant (Kiri): Duration: 89 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)

[jemmus]

Torix stands stock still, silently listening for sounds of any events in the space ahead.

[ChubbyPixie]

Kiri ties an empty sack, bandana style, around his head, ready to be lowered over his eyes. He hands a torch and the mirror to Grandfather. "No need for us all to go down," he says to the party.

"Listen to me Grandfather, this is important - not a game. ...Please be serious for a moment, this is not the time for foolish antics." He waits for a moment for the old man to settle down. "Good. I want you to go ahead of me with the torch held aloft and the mirror just below, pointing forward. You will locate... are you going to stop fidgeting and listen? This instruction is critical. Ok. You will turn and weave about until you locate... a creature... or a person of monstrous aspect. You'll know it when you see it. Your goal is to get the creature to look in the direction of the torch and thereby view its own reflection in the mirror." He pauses with an exasperated look. "Yes, Grandfather, armpit farts are funny, but please, let's wait for that until after this task is completed. Have you understood? You must get the creature to look in the mirror."

He moves to the top of the stairs, Grandfather in front. Just before descending, the old man looks gleefully in Cruloc's direction and winks.

Kiri will descend just far enough to be "around the corner" of the stairs relative to the floor below as Grandfather moves into the room. Once there, he'll lower the blindfold into place after placing one of his unworn arm guards on the floor 5' in front of him and readying his trident. If the arm guard makes a noise, he will stab into the space above it.


If there's a door down there, he'll try to open it, and instead of hiding around the corner, he'll do all of the action above, but use the door as a barrier, stabbing if he hears it open.

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

A hunter's instinct drags Cruloc's eyes to the chamber's fringe where shadows pool like ink. He half-expects a nest crouched in the gloom, for the old man capers like a mother partridge in a desperate ruse to lure wolves from her clutch. Grandfather's arm even flails in the manner of a broken wing, but no fowl native to Cimmeria ever gave such a call - a loud squelching sound like entrails dragged across stone.

"Spiders must indeed be the fare of Kambujans," he reasons. "A bird with bowels so thunderous is surely full of wind and nothing else."

[jemmus]

Torix hadn't before known that a supernatural imp or spirit could have a sense of humor. He stands behind Kiri, ready to raise his blindfold.

[Inferno]

The Ancient Marble Tower, The Ruins of Thracia, Pictland, the World of Hyboria
Day Twenty-five. Late Morning. 3rd day of the month of Ublex, 1280th year of the Age of Aquilonia





Armed with Cruloc's suspicion, Amethu's information, and Kiri's plan, the explorers of the pale tower once more descend!



Following a torch and mirror that seemingly hover of their volition (at 'g'), Kiri is surprised to see a cold light emanating from somewhere beneath them in the stairwell! And their torches start to leap!

With caution, they descend further and discover the source. Set into the curving wall appears to be an alcove holding a thin vertical seam of bright blue light! With the ingenuity of the ancients, cunningly hidden cracks, that the adventurers could not detect when they scaled the tower's surface, permit daylight and fresh air to enter the tower here.

The explorers of ancient history continue downward and, at the bottom of the stairwell, find a wooden door left wide open. All is silent. Kiri dares to peer in and finds an exquisite antechamber, devoid of life and seemingly cut from one giant block of marble.



Set into the walls are three more identical doors...



... except each of these have been left slightly ajar.

The air is fresher here, and carries upon it the subtle perfume of flowers and honey.


Actions?!


Tower Map:

Tower's diameter is 35 feet.



PC Status:

Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 4/3: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 14/17, Spells: 6/8 1st lvl, 4/5 2nd lvl
Asterion: Argosian Atlantean Ranger 4: Move: 6", AC: 4, HP: 34/34, Torch
Cruloc: Cimmerian Northman Barbarian 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 41/54
Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 4/3: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 16/25, Spells: 2/3 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl
Torix: Pict Savage Barbarian 4: Move: 12", AC: 2, HP: 37/38

PC Magic:

Unseen Servant (Kiri): Duration: 88 rounds, Torch

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]

Asterion

His torch wavering by the outside breezes, the ranger enters the room, giving each of the three doors a cautious gaze. He jerks his head to his companions behind him, beckoning them to enter the room. Moving slowly to his left, Asterion crosses the chamber and approaches the wooden door left ajar. Holding his torch high, he glances inside.

[jemmus]

Torix raises the blindfold from his eyes, but doesn't untie it or put it back in his shoulder bag. He follows Asterion into the room and to the open door he's before, glancing into the other two doorways along the way.

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

Shafts of desert daylight pierce Cruloc's eyes, and a riot of exotic fragrances assault his nostrils while he is jostled by fat merchants, silk-clad dandies, lithe-limbed dancing girls, and ragged urchins. In Zamboula's alleys of canvas, wood, and mudbrick, a clamorous tide of voices shouting in ten tongues rises above the press of sweaty bodies and echo discordantly off the looming, sun-blasted walls. By day, the doorways lining the bazaar yawn wide, drawing in the curious and exhaling heat, but when darkness coils over the city, iron bolts seal them shut, and the rare portal left unbarred gapes like the open jaws of a crocodile.

Snapping to, he blinks and shields his eyes against the unexpected daylight, and the world rights itself. He is again with his companions, a no-less variegated crew than the dark-skinned Kushites, swarthy Shemites, and hawk-faced Turanians that throng that lawless sprawl.

"Ishtar's skirt!" he barks. "A lackwit who follows the scent of perfume through an open door courts a broken purse — or a broken neck!"

[hedgeknight]

Cruloc - "Ishtar's skirt!" he barks. "A lackwit who follows the scent of perfume through an open door courts a broken purse — or a broken neck!"

"Then it's a good thing you're with us, Cimmerian!" the ranger says over his shoulder, glancing back at Cruloc with a wink and a smirk.

[ravenn4544]

Amethu listens for any movement in the darkness ahead. Something lies in wait, that is sure. He tils his visage down so that his mask may provide some visor-like protection for what could be ahead.

[Yrkoon]

Cruloc

"The shades of this city should flee in bootless terror with foreknowledge that your wit cuts deeper than your blade," Cruloc parries.