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The Underground City, 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. Midnight?, 19th day of the month of Yuluk, 1279th year of the Age of Aquilonia






In a land of night without end, the blood-soaked carcasses of the beastmen have become deathless necromantic horrors beyond imagining! These chilling abominations against gods and nature set a grim shiver upon the adventurers' spines.

Tjoruy, the shambling subterranean denizen who has never seen the light of the sky in his entire life, holds forth the symbol of the god of the sun, the moon and the stars! The very same symbol as the oracle of Osorus, scored upon the flesh of the outlanders, Garrin, Kiri, Loche and Mako.



The wretched living dead recoil in agony and fear before Tjoruy's golden ankh! But before they can escape into the cavernous tunnels beyond the underground city, the macabre simian horrors are struck down by the bludgeoning staves of Amethu and Mako, and cut asunder by the whistling blades of Garrin, Loche and Zahra!

None are left that live. The siege of the underground city is ended, the adventurers are victorious! The adventurers, and the pale stranger who aided their attack against the cruel tyrants of this strange land.

All is quiet, save Loche's monstrous bat steed that screeches and struggles to follow its fearsome kin. The Pict is forced to dismount or fight the gigantic chiropteran's will. (Wisdom check on 1d20 every turn if you wish to attempt the latter)

Across the natural stone bridge, the timeless ruins of the underground city silently wait with the patience of eternity.




Actions?!


Map:

One PC marker = 5 feet. X = Dead.


Non-required Reading (rolls and rulings):


PC Status:

• Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 11/14, Spells: 2/7 1st lvl, 2/3 2nd lvl, Lantern at feet
  Garrin Locke: Argosian Atlantean Paladin 3: Move: 12", AC: 3(1), HP: 9/26, Laying Hands: 1/1
  Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 2/2: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 2/14, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl
  Loche: Pict Savage Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 5/18
  Mako: Khitan Easterner Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 7(5), HP: 6/10, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl, 0/1 2nd lvl
  Tjoruy: Verulian Osoran Cleric 4: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 11/31, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl
  Xorzen: Verulian Osoran Monk 3: Move: 17", AC: 6(4), HP: 7/16
  Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 10/21

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, Tjoruy and Zahra have breathed of the mists): 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."

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)

Zahra

Zahra stands on the natural bridge, studying the city from a distance. She's specifically looking for light sources and signs of movement.

Xorxen checks over the dead bodies before tossing them into the bottomless chasm so they cant be raised up again to haunt the team further.

Then he climbs back up on one of the elevated supports to visually search the area along with Zahra, but from a higher vantage point.

Tjoruy follows Xorxen around with a look of desperate wonder on his face. "My sparrow-scorpion! I can see your voice! It has taken form of light and spaciousness!"

Garrin helps the others search and then dispose of the bodies of the slain enemies.

With that task done, he urges his fellows. Let us put this bridge behind us, friends. We don't want to be trapped here again, should enemy reinforcements arrive.

He also Lays Hands upon the most injured member of the group, Kiri.

Amethu picks up the lantern and follows along.

Zahra
Zahra nods and moves closer to the front of the group. Her enchanted blade is light and steady in her hand, an extension of her arm.

The Underground City, 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. Midnight?, 19th day of the month of Yuluk, 1279th year of the Age of Aquilonia






Halfway to Hell, at the doorstep of the underground city, the victorious adventurers dispatch their foes, regroup and recover.

Xorxen and Zahra scan the cyclopean ruins for light and movement. They find both. The same phosphorescent lichen that illuminates the bottomless chasm with cerulean luminosity infests the towering vaults of this great cavern, lending a cold eerie cast to all things in this twilight netherworld.



In the distance, vague, shadowy shapes move slowly, deep within the labyrinthine pathways of the tomb-like city. Perhaps a half dozen of them, they do not move in concert. No alarm sounds. No more priests or beastmen amass to defend the silent city of the ancients.

Loche cannot control his fierce bat steed any longer.



The nimble Pict leaps down from the gigantic snarling monster before it flaps off in the direction whence it came.

Garrin, scion of Atlantis, miraculously heals the wounds of the mountainous mystic warrior, Kiri Khutan. (+6hp) Then he advises that they enter the city. The pilgrims to Pandemonium gather their things but none yet enter the strange forbidden city under the earth.

Forgotten in all this is the bizarre masked subterranean denizen who came to their aid against the creatures of Zargoth. None give him thanks or even address him and he can only stare at the outlanders in astonishment. Then he notices the holy symbol of Osorus scored upon the flesh of Mako's hand.


Actions?


Map:

PCs are at the easternmost edge of the Underground City. They cannot see anything beneath or beyond it.





PC Status:

• Amethu: Verulian Grand Magus Cleric/Magic-User 3/2: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 11/14, Spells: 2/7 1st lvl, 2/3 2nd lvl, Lantern
  Garrin Locke: Argosian Atlantean Paladin 3: Move: 12", AC: 3(1), HP: 9/26, Laying Hands: 0/1
  Kiri Khutan: Kambujan Easterner Fighter/Magic-User 2/2: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 8/14, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl
  Loche: Pict Savage Thief 4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 5/18
  Mako: Khitan Easterner Illusionist 3: Move: 12", AC: 7(5), HP: 6/10, Spells: 1/2 1st lvl, 0/1 2nd lvl
  Tjoruy: Verulian Osoran Cleric 4: Move: 9", AC: 3, HP: 11/31, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl
  Xorzen: Verulian Osoran Monk 3: Move: 17", AC: 6(4), HP: 7/16
  Zahra: Verulian Amazon Fighter 3: Move: 12", AC: 3, HP: 10/21

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, Tjoruy and Zahra have breathed of the mists): 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."

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)

Loche

That was...interesting. Ne'er thought a'd hurl a giant demon-bat. Awright, freish guy, ah jalouse we kin trust ye, huh? Mah name's Loche.

"Thank you Garrin," says Kiri as he bows slightly, palms together. "I believed you would be finishing the quest without me, but happily I still live. MAAKO!" he exclaims, suddenly,"We will make a warrior of you yet. Your bravery and martial fury was impressive. It is you that defended me in the end." He says this with a smile, but seems sincerely impressed.

Amethu will walk alongside the newly found Verulian Cleric. He will start with venerating the Verulian history and legends and then inquire about his story and what can be learned of this ancient city and its dangers.

Mako:

Mako approaches the newcomer.
"Greetings Tjoruy, I'm Mako practitioner of the arcane arts. How have you come to be here in this underground city? Are you lost?"

Tjoruy: "Lost? A vessel might be lost, sent tumbling, spilling its contents until, empty and forgotten, it landest in a dark place. How the empty vessel must long to be filled! Sweet wine of memory! How would it taste upon dusty lips? But there is still the light of Osorus, even in the dark. Slake, slake your thirst. Sing a hymn of praise to He who risest like unto gold, and who dost flood the world with light."

As his mutters become a warbling, pitchless singing, he weaves his way among the party, putting his hands upon their heads with reverence. He heals Xorzen, his sparrow, and also Garrin and Loche.

Pointing to the dark city, he continues, "Oh ye doorkeepers, behold the darkness and the forgotten city! A tomb paved in shadow and hallucination, ruled over by He who is death to the Eye that gazest upon Him, death to the Soul, to the Body, and the Name. His servants feast like locusts in its streets, carrying the choicest prey unto the very Island of Death. Come to the city, ye who wish to live in horror, in forgetfulness, in darkness, and in death."

Xorxen nods his thanks to Tjoruy for healing them.

"Friend. What are those shapes moving around in the city? How far have you been inside? We could surely benefit from any knowledge you could share about what goes on in there. Any secret entrances that no one else knows about?"

Zahra

Zahra joins the others near the new arrival. Thank you for your help, she says. She listens closely to the discussion, keeping a wary eye on the city.

Loche

The Pict thanks the cleric for the healing he received. Ta. Ah jalouse we'll keep ye.

Thank you, my mysterious friend, says Garrin to Tjoruy. He waits to see if the new stranger provides any additional insight.

Tjoruy: "A vessel might dwell for long years in the sunless city, given to dreams, wreathed in dreams, trailing dreams and wakefulness. A vessel might endure by drinking of the black lake, and eating of the mushroom forest. But attend ye unto those distant figures—they can be but lost and dreaming Verulians, or the wicked priests of Zargoth who would prey upon them. Leper-skinned apes attendeth the priests of the Name-Eater, and any they doth seize upon shall be transported across the starless sea, unto the Island of Death, and thus pass from memory."

Right, says Garrin. Well. It'll be good to have you along. Thanks, he adds weakly. He is still trying to figure out if he's been insulted.

Loche

The Pict seems confused by the stranger's odd words. Whit th' hell does that mean? Ah cannae ken a pumpin' thing he's saying. A'm oncom tae rethink this hail keeping him business.

The irony of his comment is completely lost on him.