Session 008 - 2 May 1023
Prologue
Gossip and Rumors in Sojenka
28 April 1023 - a sickly, pale green light is seen on the western horizon overnight. It lasts for some hours. Talk in the taverns on Saturday morning is that those who witnessed the light had vivid, lurid dreams of a giant snake-man with a withered torso climbing out of a hole in the ground. The creature seemed to burn with an unholy green flame.
The Street of Temples is busier than usual, with many worshippers bringing sacrifices to their patron deities to quell the nightmares.
29 April 1023 - the musician Carran Vett has taken a residency in The Yellow Bottle, a tavern in Merchant's Borough. the upscale clientele there are spreading the news of his latest composition (a tragic love story about a young Berzerker and a wily Amazon).
30 April 1023 - The Prophets of the Chosen are in the streets, calling for all to repent and follow EELATHOH, the goddess of Evasion and Escape, who will lead all who believe to safety from the coming apocalypse. The Prophets of the Chosen have a new apocalypse every couple of years, so... In any case, there is a crude shrine built near the Forsaken on the Street of Temples, and a raging bonfire has been built, as people sacrifice their excess posessions and prepare to leave the city. There is a small crowd of 50-60 people, dancing and singing.
Part One
Today the Sons of Mithra have decided to go investigate the Crystal Necropolis.
Sikandar, Cassander, Luke
20 Men at arms
Donkey cart
They start early, travel to Samichi and on into the Borderlands to reach the Necropolis in the early afternoon.
They find the remains of an old roadway, much like the Imperial roads to the south.
Along the road are some abandoned buildings, dry-rotted and filled with piles of thin, grey dust.
Beyond the road a wall of fog obscures the Necropolis proper. They decide to scout the buildings first.
In the second building they enter, they awaken a Dust Demon, a semi-corporeal creature animated by Chaos energy!
The Dust Demon shrieks and five of the Heavy Infantry fail their saving throw, becoming paralyzed with fear. The PCs are able to defeat the Demon with holy water and silver weapons.
In the next building, a giant scorpion! Luckily no one is struck by the poisoned stinger.
A sleepflower vine strangles the next building, and a short sword and shield can be seen laying near the trunk.
The weather is turning dark so they begin to set up their bivouac in the abandoned hostel that was home to the scorpion. There is a thunderstorm and rain overnight, no encounters.
3 May
In the morning they can make out some shapes in the fog, in the morning light. They see what appears to be a large stone trilithon at the edge of the fog.
They have brought several hundred feet of rope in the donkey cart, so they drive a stake in the ground and tie a rope to it, prepared in neat coils for unwinding as they move into the fog.
Rather than go through the arch of stone, they go around…
Moving into the fog is an unnerving experience, as small sounds are magnified and vision is limited and variable.
The first feature they find in the fog is an old fountain, no longer running ans splashing water, but the basin is full of orange, stagnant water. They believe they hear the sound of chains dragging on the stone pavers that surround the fountain, but cannot see any movement.
One of them throws a copper in the fountain, the dragging chain continues in the distance.
A second copper thrown into the stagnant pool has no effect either.
Moving past the fountain they come to the edge of the pavers, into an area of dry, bare ground with a dead tree looming overhead. They can hear the chains dragging off to the left (North), but the fog makes it hard to tell.
Beyond the tree there is a patch of dead, dry grass, knee high. In the midst of the grass is a pool of dark water, as still as a mirror, reflecting the image of an old woman floating above it, her legs and the bottom of her chiton fading away to nothing. She looks at the group and whispers, “Go back”.
Luke turns and looks behind, there is nothing there but denser fog. The apparition covers her face in her hands and she sinks toward the surface of the pool, merging with her reflection until nothing remains but a shimmering spark of light.
The Sons move on.
Part Two
The fog swirls around, blocking all vision and reducing line of sight to just a few feet. They move carefully, paying out rope now, as the slack on the coils at the stake has run out. The ground changes from dead grass to rubble, pale cream-colored clay bricks. An enormous statue looms out of the fog, they can only see as far as its waist, it must be nearly 100 feet tall.
It stands to the left of a tall black structure that appears to be a mausoleum. There are immense bronze doors, cast or carved with a bas relief of the Old Gods Nana-Sin and Nin-Hursag.
There are no visible hinges or handles, but a seam can be seen running up the center of the doors. They push, but the doors do not budge.
Luke tries to use his “Turning” power to force the door open.
No effect.
As the party watches, Luke decides to make a rubbing of the strange runes on the base of the statue. While he is doing this, a group of armored skeletons march out of the fog, and battle ensues!
Two skeletons are struck down, and one of the heavy infantry is wounded. Luke then turns his attention to the skeletons and Turns the remaining undead. As they flee they are crushed to powder by the heavy infantrymen.
The rusty armor plates fall apart, and are useless,but the patinated swords seem salvageable, so the Sons grab them up and decide to leave the fog, for now.
They follow the rope back to the stake they pounded into the ground outside the fog. It is now a good 50 yards from the edge of the fog, as though the gray mist has somehow receded.
Glancing at the sun, they can see it is now late afternoon. The greater part of the day has passed while they moved about in the fog, seemingly for just an hour or so.
Part Three
The Sons elect to camp further away from the inconstant fog and the mysterious Necropolis, so they begin to trek south.
A couple of hours later they reach the bank of the river, where a group of horsemen are camped. Two guards with bows stand one hundred yards from the camp, and patiently await the approach of the group. The sons can see 8 tents set up on a low rise against the river. Perhaps two dozen horses are hobbled to the north, grazing.
Dressed in faded purple robes, the men greet the Sons of Mithra, and they have a successful parley. The men invite the group to join them for a rough dinner, celebrating the “Feast of Spineback”.
The men (they are all men, young and fit, of Berzerker extraction it seems) are pleasant, but overly talkative. They do share that they have a monastery to the east, and they are dedicated to the “Lord of Eternal Rest”. Luke is a cleric of Ares, and he takes this to mean that this group follows the teachings of Hades.
The food is delicious, much more so than expected for camp food, and one of the young men explains that “Brother Garbhan was a noble’s cook before joining the order.”
The night passes uneventfully.
4 May
At dawn the whole group is arising and preparing hot porridge for breakfast, which the Sons are invited to join in the repast. After eating the groups go their separate ways, and the Sons return to Samichi in the late afternoon.
Part Four
On returning to Sojenka, Luke reports to his temple. The seniors there are very interested in the description of the mausoleum, the statue, and the doors that would not open. They ask Luke to provide any sort of directions and a map describing their motions.
The seniors explain that the fog is known to distort the perception of distance and time. They also want a copy of the rubbing he made of the runes on the statue. Luke takes the time to provide this information.
The seniors provide Luke with some information as well, in that “the pools are known to have magical properties” and some water should be collected. Also, the fountains are “known to be poisonous” and should be avoided. The seniors offer to provide 10 warhorses as a reward.
The seniors are concerned about the destination of the Death Cult, and what they may be up to.
Luke mentions that the Sons of Mithra are considering returning to the hidden temple of Nin-Hursag. At this, the seniors offer the services of a magic user who has done some research on this temple and its strange history. They will send him a letter and he will meet the Sons when they are ready to depart.
List of requests from the Temple of Ares
Directions to Temple of Nin-Hursag
Map of Temple
Copies of any carvings or writings
Any papers or books recovered from Death Cult going to Temple
DO NOT RELEASE THE IMPRISONED DEMI-GOD!!
If this means wiping out the unknown cult, then so be it.
Will send an allied Magic User with you to aid in overcoming magical challenges
(Dorijan - Kordu Magic User, middle aged (30-ish), Adept of the Jacinth Tower. Wears robes of dove grey with a yellow-orange mantle)
XP Log - 2 May 2023
Grades:
Sikandar - 1
Cassandar - 1
Luke - 1
Liquid Loot
915 GP
6 SP
(This includes 75 GP from the sale of the hastily refurbished antique swords)
Combat and Monster Harvest = 3030 XP
Loot = 915 XP
Total = 3965 XP (1,315 XP each)
Downtime
5 May 1023 - The Prophets of the Chosen are in the streets, calling for all to repent and follow EELATHOH, the goddess of Evasion and Escape, who will lead all who believe to safety from the coming apocalypse. In the evening, just after sunset, they begin to scream and dance wildly! They claim the The Sign has appeared and they begin gathering their meager travel-gear and march out of the city, toward the east.
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