Opelenean Nights III

 

Session Thirty-Four

The party was on the verge of attacking the Malatath. Suad suggested before they plunge into battle that they explore the crypt one last time, whilst his divination magic was active to detect secret doors. For twenty minutes the party marched to and fro within the crypt, exploring every crevice and corridor, to no avail.

They might have reverted to their foolhardy attack on the massed undead had Shikra not asked Barnabas for ideas. The bat-like familiar had a different spatial sense of the crypt because of its aerial echolocation. “Have you looked up the endless tunnels?” it squeaked. With his spell soon to expire, Suad raced from pit to pit, in each one spotting a secret door above. “There’s an entire level above us!” he cried. Getting to one of those secret doors would be no easy task, though, for the wind whipping through the tunnels was prone to hurl debris onto climbers at high velocity. After brief deliberation, they decided to try for the secret door at the top of the southern pit, which seemed to have the least dangerous debris. Zoya led the expedition, scaling upwards with a rope belayed behind her. The rest of the party followed successfully, though few escaped damage from debris and falling objects.

At the top, they confronted a room filled with the scintillating glimmer of a million beams of light. Visibility was merely a foot, as the beams were so bright as to burn the eyes of those who gazed at them for too long. Wary of traps, Shikra summoned her berserkers to lead the way forward. Each berserker took a different route. The first of these was burned alive. The second was disintegrated. The third was frozen. The fourth was teleported behind them, down the endless pit. The party realized that some, but not all, of the beams of light were deadly – and so began a terrible process of trial and error, with every error sending a summoned soul back to the darkness. Eventually the party concluded that the way ahead would demand low-crawling fifteen feet forward and right; standing up and advancing to where the walls angled inward; jumping to clear a beam 1’ high; then laying back down and low-crawling forward another 20’ to ancient stone steps that ascended from t he chamber.

Zoya was the first person to make it through alive. Dripping with sweat, she crawled up the steps – and stopped in horror. The Efreeti Pasha waited beyond, his gigantic figure looming down as if waiting to see if any foolish adventurers would survive his terrible trap. In his hand he clutched a stoppered bottle – the very bottle that their crystal ball had shown holding Shadalah!  She fell back to warn her friends. Knowing that the efreeti pasha could hurl devastating area-of-effect spells at will, they decided they had to split the party. The first wave would be led by Mahmud, who was immune to the efreeti’s powers because of Cyclone of the Four Quarters. His attack would be supported by Suad and Zoya, both invisible. Ethlyn, Rakh, Sapphira, Senef, and Androcles would be in the second wave, while Umar, Ceara, Dornethan, Shikra, and Balen would be in the third wave.

Complications immediately ensued. When Mahmud reached the top of the steps, the Efreeti Pasha had vanished, and a dozen wraiths and spectres loomed there instead. Mahmud’s charge came to a screeching halt – where was his foe? Cyclone of the Four Quarters continued to roar in Mahmud’s hand, and he decided to press on! A moment later Suad’s magic dispelled the illusion that hung over the room, causing the undead to vanish and the evil genie to be revealed. Seeing only a pair of foes, the genie raised its hand and brought down a ball of flame into the scintillating room where the second wave was waiting. Ethlyn, Rakh, Sapphira, Senef, and Androcles went down.

Mahmud began striking at the Efreeti, but its huge size and magical protection made it hard to hurt. The Efreeti forcibly fought back with its great fists. As the genie struck each blow, the sheik’s amulet around the paladin’s neck began to glow and deal damage back to the monster. As the creature winced in pain, Suad knocked the bottle in its hand open, freeing princess Shadalah! She crawled towards the exit in terror. The enraged Efreeti incinerated Suad with a pillar of fire. Then the genie slammed Mahmud again. This time his amulet could not protect him. He went flying backwards, on the verge of death (1hp). Balen rushed forward, surrounded by the protection of a ward against genies, and gave Mahmud a chance to get back on his feet and lay on hands. While Mahmud was recuperating, Zoya stabbed the creature from behind, sprayings its hot ichor everywhere. Before she could escape it pounded her into the ground, then sent a ball of flame onto Umar and Ceara.

Mahmud steeled himself for one final charge. “Even if you could strike me down, I shall only be sent back to my home plane,” taunted the Efreeti Prophet. “Even your Prophet could not destroy me!”  


“The Prophet didn’t have Cyclone of the Four Quarters!” shouted Mahmud. He charged, leaping upward and bringing the magical blade in a 360-spinning arc. Wind, fire, earth, and sea combined to cleave into the genie. The Pasha howled and vanished in smoke and sulfur. Victory was theirs! But at such terrible cost! Rakh died of his wounds, praying to Imran next to his friend Mahmud. Umar and Ceara had taken grievous injuries and died in agony. Zoya, too, bled out from agonizing wounds. Androcles was dead before the party got to him; only a torso even remained, his legs having burned off. Of Sapphira, there was merely mangled bones and burned flesh; of Ethlyn, a red stain and bone shards. Senef might have been able to use the miracle scroll to save everyone, but his eyes had been burned out by the fireball, and he could not see to read it. He died with no one able to heal him.

There was no way to get the bodies of the fallen through the beams of light and down the endless pit, so the party left the bodies of their friends behind to take Princess Shadalah to the Oasis of the White Palm. Their upward passage stirred the interest of some terrible creatures in the well beneath the amphitheater. Shikra calmly reached into her bag of fantastic creatures and dropped a sea serpent into the well. This solved the problem. “We don’t have time for this right now,” she muttered.

During the trek, they noted a curious fact: By placing Mahmud’s amulet on Shadalah’s palm-glyph, a curious message became visible: “city of the phoenix over the house of set where sleeps salvation there speak atmopryeetno”. Suad recognized the former as the city that Al-Sindor had founded in Opelenea, and the latter as the name of his djinni vizier.

A day later, overwhelmed with mixed emotions, the Fated reached the Oasis and presented the Princess to the Sheik and his son, Hassan. The betrothed were tearfully reunited and the grateful Sheik poured out gold and silver and silks in reward. His most treasured gift, however, was ordering his cleric, Nadron, to read from the miracle scroll: “I beseech you, Imran, to return the Fated to us here in the White Palm, spiritually and physically whole.” Imran’s purposes were well-served by this, and the fallen of the Fated appeared, there in the shade of the White Palm which Al-Sindor himself had planted.

Alas, greed ever grips the heart of men, and the Fated could not help but recall that Badr al-Mosak was said to have been the greediest man who ever lived. Where was his fabled treasure? Clearly it must lay beyond the Efreeti’s chambers! The Fated set out to the Crypt again, arriving on the evening of the 7th of Innelen. By 6:30pm they had gotten back to the chamber of scintillating beams. Here, Balen and Androcles proved the value of Imperial siege craft, cunningly rigging a set of pullies with enough strength to carry a sack of gold on rope across the room of beams. The ceiling, it turned out, was not guarded by any deathly lights!

Advancing past the Efreeti’s chambers, the Fated came upon what they had sought: the fabulous treasures of Badr al-Mosak. Hundreds of pounds of silver, gold, and platinum. Ornamental masks, magical weapons of crystal and armor of golden chain, gems, and jewels… And the Star Gem of Shah-Pelar on a pedestal in the center. The way in was heavily trapped – much of the floor was an illusion that gave way to a pit of acid. Careful prodding finally led a pair of berserkers to the pedestal. They lifted the fabled Star Gem from its pedestal – the pedestal rose an inch as the weight of the gem was lifted – and beams of power filled the room. Instantly the berserkers within were petrified. The Fated nearly fainted with shock; had any of them been in the room… Wazir, the most accurate member of the party, quickly made a bundle of coins about the same weight as a star gem and tossed it into the room. His aim was perfect; it landed on the pedestal and pushed it back down, turning off the deadly beams.

That was the last of the traps that the Fated encountered in the Crypt of Badr al-Mosak. Soon they were buried in their body weights in coin, showering in silver, playing in platinum. They were rich! Moreover, some of what Badr al-Mosak had entombed were fabulous items from legend. Suad unrolled a beautifully woven Opelenean carpet and, speaking the word “soar” in Old Opelenean, began to glide about the room. It was a flying carpet! He also claimed a marvelous wand capable of detecting traps. Shikra found an obsidian wand tipped with a skull, a wand of ear, and a brass ring stamped with the symbol of elemental air – a fabled ring of djinni summoning!

Laden with treasures from the ages, the party made the trek back to the Oasis of the White Palm. 

Fantastic! I was re-reading this adventure not too long ago in preparation for my own campaign. It’s great to see it played out.

 

Session Thirty-Five

Flush with cash from their success at the Crypt of Badr al-Mosak, the party relaxed in the Oasis for the next week. During the week, Senef’s spiritual communion confirmed that the Temple of Set below the Oasis was connected to the nether planes; the party had the entrance sealed up, as their experiences in opening such gates had so far been quite dismal.

On the 13th of Innelen, Hassan and Princess Shadalah were to be married, and the Fated, as heroes of the hour, were invited. The party presented the bride and groom with a marvelous gift – a 6,000gp diamond placed atop 60,000 silver pieces. Zoya wept tearfully at the wedding, largely over the size of these gifts; but the generosity was well-calculated, having been exiled from the Imperial lands to the north, having a secure relationship with the Sheik seemed vital. The Sheik, patriarch of a gift-based culture, had to reciprocate and so he awarded the party with ownership of the Sandvoyager’s warehouse and compound.

At the wedding, the Sheik’s aunt, Najma, visited them. “It is not fitting that so many promising young men be left unwed to cause trouble! The Sheik has sent me to find a first wife for each of you.” Ethlyn immediately spoke up. “What about me? Do I get a first husband?” The eagle eyes of the predatory matriarch gazed at her. “I didn’t realize you were ready to give up your decadent lifestyle and settle down for child-rearing. I’ll let the Sheik know to get you a good man…” Ethlyn demurred. Mahmud, however, being Opelenean by birth, found the idea of marrying into the Sheik’s tribe appealing, and asked for a suitable companion be found, “intelligent, curvy, with nice hips, and knows how to use a sword!” With love in the air, Dornethan blustered and bothered Rakh until he convinced the Thrassian to give him the philter of love they’d found in the Crypt. Meanwhile, Rakh had found a strange attraction growing with the slave-girl Kerina, whom he was teaching to sword-fight.

On the 14th of Innelen, the party departed the Oasis to seek out the City of the Phoenix. They had traveled only a day-and-night from the White Palm when they were ambushed by a sorcerous sphinx. The great beast unleashed a scouring wind upon them that slew a half-dozen of their camels, and badly wounded several party members. A camel fell on Wazir’s head, cracking his skill and addling his brain, and Balen had several torn tendons and ligaments. Seeing the the party was still in fighting shape after its ambush, the sphinx took wing to escape. Rakh was having none of it – he leaped onto Suad’s flying carpet and soared into the air, where he tore the sphinx to pieces.

After defeating the sphinx, the party decided to search for its lair. Even with Suad’s crystal ball and flying carpet, this still took the better part of several hours. The lair turned out to be a crumbled Zaharan ruin with broken statues and shattered columns, barely visible under centuries of sand. Within the party found silver and gold coin, rolls of silk, engraved tiger teeth, emerald stones, several potions and scrolls, a spellbook, and two treasure maps to the Howling Emptiness. The first led to “The shrine of the Zeolites / Where burn the fires bright”; the second led to “The pool of azure hue, whose waters renew.”

With Balen and Wazir temporarily incapacitated, the party headed back to the Oasis. Rakh Sphinx-Bane was not above boasting, and Kerina was quite impressed by his bravery. “Do you still have the philter of love?” she asked. “We should drink it to seal our love forever.” Rakh immediately went hunting for Dornethan to get the potion back, but Dornethan was hunting Ceara to get her to drink it. Balen, a professional military man, tried to stay above the shenanigans, but when Suad suggested this was because the fire-mage was so…flaming… things degenerated.

The bickering was still going on when the party departed again the next day, again intent on finding the City of the Phoenix. Their south-easterly trek was interrupted after a few leagues by a panicked Barnabas. “Most wicked and voluptuous mistress of darkness,” he squawked. “I have espied a large village of orcs a league from here.” “How large?” “It as bounteous with orcs as your chest is bounteous with... bounty.. 300 or more orcs.” Zoya volunteered to scout ahead to see what had the bat so flustered.

Shrouded by an invisibility spell, an elven cloak and boots, and her own innate stealthiness, Zoya crept towards the site of the village. It was, if anything, larger than Barnabas had reported – at least 300 orc warriors, plus an equal number of orc-wives and twice the number of brood. There were ogres, and a troll, too. The village’s “buildings” were just camel-hide tents, but they were surrounded by a rampart of sandstone and rock, and the vile banners of nine warbands fluttered. The village wall looked newly constructed – some incursion from the Waste to the south.

The Fated toyed with the idea of attacking the village by themselves, but they decided on a more strategic approach. Returning to the Oasis, they recruited three score camel archers from the tribe and brought them forward near dawn. Suad and Balen took to the heavens in their marvelous magical carpet, taking a place well outside of bowshot above the orc village. And then Senef begin a great and terrible spell – the calling of a dragon. As his chant ended, Marduthiamak, a dragon of the earth, erupted from the sands. I will serve you, for a time, the copper-hued dragon announced. “Go to the orc village to the south-east of here. Slay every beastmen there,”  commanded Senef.

The Fated had timed their attack perfectly – just after dawn, as the nocturnal orcs were settling down exhausted. Dozens of orcs died still asleep, scorched by the dragon’s breath. Dozens more died to its claws as it cleaved and rended through them. When the shaman emerged from his yurt, Balen fireballed him from above. Orcs that tried to flee the fortress found squads of camel archers everywhere, peppering them with arrows. It was a slaughter. 275 orcs were killed in the fort or trying to escape; another 275 were captured. Only about 110 orcs escaped the abattoir…

And now it was time to loot! 

 

Session Thirty-Six

Looting the orc village took the rest of the day.  The party gathered some 12,000gp in trade goods including dozens of gazelle horns, jars of rock oil, bags of coffee, bottles of Opelenean wine, barrels of Kemeshi beer, and bundles of camel pelts. They also gathered about 8,00gp in coin, gems, and trinkets, and a few magical items including a Zaharan axe. The Fated gave the camel archers much of the coin.

Back at the Oasis, the Fated turned over their orc captives to the Sheik. The Sheik, in turn, left it to Mahmud to decide their fate. Just as the path of the sun is fixed and unchanging as it moves across the heavens, so to was Mahmud’s inexorable sense of justice. The more morally flexible tribesmen were outraged – “Mahmud is too rigid,” “Mahmud does not know when to bend” – but the paladin did not yield: The orcs were slaughtered and their placed on stakes in a radius around the Oasis by Mahmud Orc-bane

After distributing the trade goods to the tribesmen in a great feast, the Fated set out for their third trek to the City of the Phoenix. This time, they reached it. Zoya scouted ahead. Much of the city was in ruins, its once-proud buildings reduced to collapsed mud brick strewn below dunes of sand. Some structures were still intact, though – much of the great walls, a citadel, and a mosque near the center. The former palace was also visible, though mostly buried beneath a tell of sand. Invisible and inaudible, Zoya dodged giant scorpions near the mosque, and bypassed a sinister old graveyard, eventually exiting by climbing over the tell.

While Zoya navigated through ancient ruins, some other shenanigans were afoot back at camp. Barnabas used a prestidigitation to steal the philter of love from Dornethan, and delivered it to Shikra. Shikra, meanwhile had used her alchemical skills to disguise Suad’s potion of telepathy as a philter of love. (Sadly, the alchemical disguising process was not perfect, but what were a few side effects among friends? Even if the friends didn’t know what those side effects were going to be?) Barnabas carried the disguised potion of telepathy back to Dornethan and attempted to place it back in his pack. But this prestidigitation was not successful, and Dornethan felt the bat’s fumble. Assuming that the bat was stealing his potion, Dornethan went into a rage and charged at Shikra, attempting to grapple her. Somehow, the slow, weak warlock managed to fight off the assassin, leading to chortles from the other party members that he had been “bitch-slapped”. Only Zoya’s return ended the brawl as she restrained her henchman.

The next day, 19th Innelen, the party headed into the City of the Phoenix. As they crossed the city walls, they were confronted by a genie, who demanded they state their purpose. “We are here to call forth that which Al-Sindor placed here!” said Senef. This was, unfortunately, the wrong thing to say. Four other genies appeared, armed with composite bows. A fierce fight ensued. Balen dealt deadly damage with a fireball, but succumbed to arrows a moment later. Rakh, in a berserk frenzy, began hurling his Zaharan axe at the sky born genies. Strangely, each time he threw the axe, it slowly dragged itself across the sands and returned to his hand – was it an axe of very slow returning? Actually, Barnabas the bat was invisible and using prestidigitation to drag it back each time.

Advancing forward, the party came upon the feet of a once-great statue. “I am Al-Sindor. Witness my great works!” a carving at the feet said. Here, Mahmud spoke “atmopryeetno”, the magic word that would summon Al-Sindor’s promised weapon of law. But nothing happened. The Fated decided to try speak the word again at the mosque.

Before the party could advance again, a score of genies arrived. Flying invisibly overhead, they launched a rain of arrows.  Mahmud’s amulet of detection didn’t provide nearly enough warning to avoid the ambush. Withering bow fire from the magical monsters left Shikra bleeding on the ground. It was clear retreat was the only option. Balen managed to throw a phantasmal force to screen the retreat, and the Fated fled… and kept fleeing for a league.

The Fated had destroyed an Efreeti Pasha. They were not going to let a few dozen lesser genies stop them. On the 20th of Innelen, the party decided to strike back. Senef summoned up a gale-force wind that swirled about him. The wind’s force was enough to turn back arrows and ground flying creatures. Better still, it raised up a great cloud of dust that limited visibility to only 20’, and helped reveal any creatures attempting to lurk invisible creatures within. Packed tightly within the dust cloud, the party advanced into the ruined City of the Phoenix.

As they reached the city’s mid-point, the genies attacked. Their onslaught came from every direction at once. But Suad had a surprise waiting for them: A 10-headed hydra, summoned with a scroll. Between the hydra, Mahmud’s genie-slaying prowess, and Rakh’s hasted frenzy, two waves of genies were slaughtered.

Dust still swirling about them from gale-force winds, the party made it to the mosque. There they were confronted by another half-dozen genies, with a genie champion and genie sorcerer in command. As the fighting began, Mahmud spoke the word of power: atmopryeetno. The ground trembled, and everyone fell to their knees. Everyone save Mahmud and the hydra, who wreaked havoc on the fallen genies. Then thunder struck from the heavens. The roof of the mosque shattered open.  And the Vizier of Djinnis appeared, summoned by the ancient magic of Al-Sindor…

Session Thirty-Seven

The Great Djinni Vizier gazed down at the mortals who had summoned him. He paused. “Lo! What mystery is this? Where be the Evil One whom I have awaited? Has you circumvented what was Fated?” “We slew him, your Eminence,” responded Senef.

“A thousand years ready to confront and now I am denied the hunt? He is banished to the Sphere of Fire, and your circumstance is hardly dire. The link to his Summoner is alleved. By what means hast thou accomplished this deed?” “Well, I stabbed him with my sword. It’s called Cyclone of the Four Quarters. It was made after Al-Sindor’s time to kill genies. It was, you know, the back-up plan,” explained Mahmud, somewhat worriedly.

“The blade thou carry is an abomination – a hole in the Logos, a tear in the elements of creation. Remove it from my sight, lest I cast thee into the blight.”  “Sorry,” said Mahmud, who retreat. Senef coughed. “There are several other threats to the land that we could use your help with,” said the shaman.

The Great Djinni shook his head. “With the Evil One banished, my long servitude is fulfilled, to return never hence. But for thy deed, I must recompense. Ask of me one wish for thee.”

A wish! Mightiest of mortal magic! An opportunity to change the world for good or for ill. But how? “Excuse us, your Eminence, we will need a moment to discuss,” said Senef. The Djinni gave them until sundown. It ultimately did not take long. Wishing for direct attack against their foes seemed too risky. Wishing for forgiveness by the Empire seemed too indirect.

“I wish that the most valuable treasure hoard in Opelenea be brought to us!” said Mahmud. “As you wish!” said the Djinni. And, behold, it was before them – platinum and gold, gems and jewelry, and magic items abounding. When the party examined these items, Suad and Ethlyn recognized them. “These are the weapons and armor of Eranth Bellos, the great hero who fought with Al-Sindor. He vanished in an attack on the undying wyrm Utuk Xul, who slumbers in the bottomless pit of the Howling Emptiness.”* [*A pit the party had visited in Session 28]  

Balen and Mahmud soon discovered that Eranth’s blade, Drakoneus, was sentient, and it recounted the tale.

“Eranth Bellos came to Opelenea during Al-Sindor’s great crusade. Here he met his friend and companion, the wonderworker Ishmerai ibn Bakr. Together they fought alongside the Prophet to Opelenea against the Efreeti Pasha that the desperate Zaharans unleashed on the land. In time they were victorious. When Pazar sunk and Moradask was sacked, many ancient books of Zaharan lore came into their possession. Ishmerai became enthralled with a tale he read in Zaharan myth, supposedly told to Uragasi by the ancient dragon Krios. It spoke of an undying wyrm called Utuk Xul, who slumbered in a bottomless pit in the Howling Emptiness, with treasures and wonders from an age undreamt of.  Pride and greed inflamed, Eranth and Ishmerai departed for the Howling Emptiness and sought out the Endless Shaft thinking they could destroy Utuk Xul. I was forged for the destruction of dragons, and a dozen of these beasts had Eranth and I slain together. But no such dragon as this had we ever faced. My powers were not enough. Eranth died to the dragon’s terrible bite and Ishmerai to its fetid breath. For a thousand years since have I cursed my name and wept bronze tears for shame that I failed my purpose and my master. But now I shall have revenge! For Utuk Xul has the power of an archmage, and surely he shall scry the location of his treasure and come for it! Then we shall slay him!”

The Fated knew that a loose pile of treasure in the City of the Phoenix was no place to fight a dragon. They decided to transport it to their underground lair in the Oasis of the White Palm. But how? Shikra had the way – bringing forth her ring of djinni summoning, she brought forth a lesser genie and commanded him to carry the treasure to the Oasis and hide it in the vault below, concealed with illusion. Such was the djinni’s power that this deed was done in an hour and a half – before the party had even returned to the Oasis!

The Sheik was in awe. “A djinni has brought great treasure to this Oasis! How can this be?” The Fated hurriedly explained it was their reward for defeating the Efreeti Pasha, and silenced his protestations with huge sums of gold. They then set about working on a defense for the Oasis – Repeating Ballistas. Balen, an expert in siegecraft, found that the Djinni could create wooden objects on command, and so within a few minutes, four of the Empire’s elite artillery weapons were at hand.

At nightfall, working from a telepathic image from Drakoneus’ metallic mind, Suad used his crystal ball to scry on Utuk Xul. The great dragon was already at the City of the Phoenix! His mighty wings cast a terrible shadow over the palace. His rotting hide was a purplish-black, his flesh pitted with open wounds unhealed. In places, bone was visible. His was a terrible visage.

When dawn broke, the party was summoned to the Sheik’s tent. A strange being was in audience with the Sheik – an androgynous man in voluminous robes concealing his entire body. Suad instantly recognized it as a Child of Nasga, like they had fought in the Howling Emptiness. “Great Utuk Xul seeks only the return of his treasure hoard. If it is returned promptly, he will spare your Oasis from annihilation,” the creature hissed. The Sheik was already under its charmed controlled, and Suad soon fell under it. “My friends will do this, of course,” said the Sheik. “Yes, we’ll have it to you in two days,” said Suad.

The creature slithered away, leaving the stunned group to decide what to do next. Senef’s first step was to dispel the charm. He then began to divine some options. What happens if we return the wyrm’s treasure to him?” The direction the wind will blow may change with the breath of diplomacy.” What happens if we fight the dragon? Ammonar welcomes his martyrs home. What happens if we kill Utuk Xul? From the canopic jar, vengeance comes from afar.

“He’s…a dragon lich!” sputtered Shikra! “We will all die! I have said this before, but now I really, really mean it!” said Suad.

So it was that on the 22nd of Innelen the party humbly presented itself to Utuk Xul’s vizier, returning their wished-for treasure as well as offering up a valuable scepter and silver necklace as tribute. The Child of Nasga, accepting the tribute, gazed at them with its sinister snake-like eyes. “Is this all you offer Mighty Utuk Xul for your crimes against him?”

Shikra stepped forward and produced The Skull of Garath, the evil artifact they had found in the Temple of Set. “I offer this prized relic.” This evil offering saved the Fated, and perhaps the Oasis. “It is accepted. Go now and tell your Sheik that this City is now claimed by Utuk Xul. Let none intrude upon his domain, save to bring tribute each month.”

“Overall, I think that went well,” said Suad. 

Nice. That seems like the kind of trouble my players would get in to. Did the Fated get any XP for taking Utuk Xul’s hoard back to civilization, however briefly? I know I would have to face that argument in a similar situation.

“I wish that the most valuable treasure hoard in Opelenea be brought to us!” said Mahmud. “As you wish!”

As I read this, I was reaching towards the screen, slo-mo, shouting ‘Noooooooooooooooo!’, as I imagined behind the screen the players all reaching out in unison to press the big red “Give Me Trouble” button.

I was thinking the same thing.

“Here’s the most valuable treasure hoard in Opelenea being brought to you… by the most ancient evil in the land!”

You have to be impressed by the fortitude of the party though. When you get a Wish offered to you and somehow, it turns out that you end up giving treasure away instead of gaining treasure, you might wonder if adventuring is not really your thing.

But they keep on keeping on…

They got the XP, yes. They brought treasure back to civilization.

We allocated all the treasure, gave out the magic items... up until late in the session, they were planning to fight Utuk Xul.  

I do wonder what I'll do if they kill Utuk Xul and take the treasure. That seems like an interesting loophole...

Session Thirty-Eight

When they got back to the Oasis of the White Palm, the Fated realized that the Sheik was still under the sway of Utuk-Xul. “My friends, thank you for the wonderful briefing on the status of my friend, the Vizier of Utuk-Xul,” said the Sheik. “Did he say when I could pay him more tribute?” The Sheik’s son, Hassan, pulled Mahmud aside. “What is wrong with my father? How can you save him?” “We’re not sure what to do,” explained Mahmud. “We’ll think of something soon.”

The Fated did not linger in the Oasis to sort this out, instead setting out immediately to explore the Desert of Desolation. Following the ancient map they’d found in Al-Sindor’s library, and battling past a gang of five trolls, they came to an unfinished Zaharan pyramid. The structure had never had its final outer surface built, so it was still stepped, like a ziggurat. A tunnel gradually descended downward from the surface into the pyramid, intersected mid-way by a shaft that led downward from one of the steps. Senef explained that the tunnel was used during construction of the pyramid, and would have been sealed by dropping a great block of stone down the shaft when the pyramid was finished.

The party resolved to explore the ruin. Shikra promptly summoned a pair of berserkers, and these intrepid warriors were sent forward into the tunnel. They got as far as the intersection with the shaft before being torn apart by ghouls that dropped from above. Seeing the hideous things scamper off into the darkness, the party decided to approach with great caution.

They made it past the shaft without attack, finally reaching a three-way intersection. The path forward led deeper into the pyramid, while to the left and right it branched into alcoves, obviously intended as smaller tombs and chapels. These were smeared with filth and blood, for they had become the lair of ghouls – many ghouls. Many, many ghouls. The dungeon exploration turned into an all-out battle as cannibalistic undead descended on the party from every direction.

The party might have been overrun, had Balen not evoked a new dweomer, a circle of protection which kept the undead at a 10’ radius from him. Shikra used her dark arts to take control of the nearest undead and forced them to fight their own. Then Mahmud, Androcles, Rakh, and Sapphira waded into battle, cleaving down the left and right hallways leaving a line of bodies in their wake.

The fighters had just driven the enemy back when a Great Ghoul Sorcerer revealed himself, hurtling a bolt of lightning down the corridor from down the darkened tunnel. The fighters pursuing the ghouls were outside the blast area, but the rest of the party was struck. Suad, Zoya, Ceara, Ethlyn, and Wazir were all incapacitated instantly, while Balen, Shikra, and Senef were badly hurt.

Balen responded to the attack by blasting the Great Ghoul Sorcerer and his bodyguards with a fireball. That was insufficient to destroy it, so the fighters regrouped to charge the Great Ghoul. Androcles was paralyzed by the Sorcerer’s bodyguards, and slain a moment later, and Rakh was left paralyzed as well, though Sapphira managed to drag him back to safety. Balen sustained a barrage of magical fire, while Umar and Dornethan fired missiles. Eventually the Great Ghoul Sorcerer was slain along with his minions.

The aftermath of the battle proved not nearly as dire as it had seemed during the thick of the fighting. Androcles was dead, and Wazir had lost a leg, but the rest of the party suffered no more than minor scars and, in Suad’s case, a missing finger. The mage promptly declared himself “Suad Nine-Fingers” and turned towards searching for loot.

The Great Ghoul had accumulated a substantial treasure pile. The Fated surmised that he must have been raiding Zaharan tombs and crypts for years. Of particular interest was his library of ancient tomes. These were partially damaged from Balen’s fireball, but fortunately the Great Ghoul’s spellbook was intact, and it had several never-before-seen spells: Fist of Stone and Pillar of Sand. The Great Ghoul’s library also contained notes on his various magical items, including a wand of paralyzation and an amulet against crystal balls and ESP.

With this rich trove, the party marched back to the Oasis of the White Palm, returning on the 24th of Innelen.  Senef turned his healing arts towards restoring Androcles and Wazir. Though a shaman, Senef was an apostate who had learned the Empyrean spell restore life and limb. Androcles was restored, but perhaps Senef’s shamanism bled through, for it was a partial reincarnation – and it seemed the incarnation was neanderthal, for Androcles returned brutish, hairy, and ill-visaged. Wazir was next. He returned outwardly normal, but his connection to the divine was severed, costing him greatly in spiritual power.

Despite seeing these worrisome complications, Balen asked for Senef to heal him as well. The war-mage had taken several maiming wounds that left him aching and slow, and he wanted these cured. This cure went quite well; Balen was shaken a bit by the trauma, but would be fit for action within a fortnight.

While their comrades were recovering, the rest of the party turned towards other matters. Shikra and Suad began studying the many books they’d found in the Great Ghoul’s library, and added to their repertoires.

Senef began proselytizing within the Oasis. With his ability to call dragons, raise the dead, and cure disease, the Besherab nomads soon fell in awe of the shaman, whom they called “Speaker With Dragons” and “Voice of the Desert.” 143 converts adopted his faith.

Zoya sent funds and missives to her spies in Ber-Gathy. 10 days later, she got back quite interesting reports. Bathsheba reported, “The Emperor in Aura is near death. He is not expected to survive the season. When word reached Alakyrum, the Exarch of Opelenea began calling up his legions.”  Kavus reported, “I have continued to listen for reports of caravans lost in the Howling Emptiness. A total of four major caravans have now gone missing!”

Mahmud decided to seek a cure for the Sheik. His first plan was to have Senef dispel the charm, but this failed miserably – twice. The Sheik came to say Mahmud, deeply troubled. “My friend, I fear Senef is in league with our enemies. He has twice tried to ensorcel me, and only my iron willpower has saved me from his enchantments. Something must be done!” whispered the Sheik. “Ah…I shall handle it, Your Eminence,” said the confused Paladin.

Mahmud now asked Suad to attempt to dispel the charm. Suad approached the Sheik. “Your Eminence, Mahmud sent me. He fears that Senef has cast a spell upon you. May I have your leave to dispel it?” “Of course, my friend.” This time, the dispel was successful. Clarity fell over the Sheik’s features. “No! I have been charmed by Utuk-Xul. But that means my friend Mahmud has also been charmed! Come quickly…”

The Sheik hastily grabbed Suad and dragged him to the paladin’s presence. “Free him of this sorcery now, mage!” Suad obligingly “dispelled” Mahmud. “Ah, thank you for rescuing me, Your Eminence,” said Mahmud. “No, it is who must thank you,” said the Sheik. “Had you not sent Suad to me, we would both still be charmed!”

“I am not ungrateful. My friend, it is time I introduce you to the wife I have selected for you…the lovely Alia.” And here our chronicle must temporarily halt in the interest of modesty, for as to the intimacy between husband and wife, even Imran’s light must not illuminate it.

Fist of Stone                         Range 150’

Arcane 1                                    Duration: instantaneous

This spell blasts its target with a fist of solid stone conjured from the elemental sphere. The target suffers 1d4 points of damage per level of the caster. A successful saving throw versus Blast reduces damage to half. 

Pillar of Sand                         Range 120’

Arcane 2                                                Duration: 1 turn

The caster brings a pillar of solid sand (sandstone) into existence. The pillar of sand can be as large as 1,000 cubic feet. It cannot have a diameter of less than 10’. The pillar of sand must always be conjured in contact with the ground. If the caster desires, the pillar can bond itself to any surrounding nonliving material if its area is sufficient to do so. Its most common use is to create a raised dais or perch for archers, or as a “plug” to fill doors or hallways.

The caster can also create the pillar vertically resting on a flat surface but not attached to the surface, so that it can be tipped over to fall on and crush creatures beneath it. The pillar is 50% likely to tip in either direction if left un-pushed. Creatures can push the pillar n one direction rather than letting it fall randomly. Pushing the wall in one direction requires a successful Open Doors proficiency throw. Creatures with room to flee a falling pillar can do so with a successful save versus Blast. Creatures of ogre size or smaller that fail the save take 10d6 points of damage. The pillar cannot crush larger creatures.

Once created, the pillar of sand will last for 1 turn, or until dispelled. The pillar may not be evoked so that it appears where objects or creatures already are.

Session Thirty-Nine, or "The Punishment Continues"

Whilst Mahmud was enjoying conjugal relations with his new bride, Bechir was dispatched for Khaibar, laden with gold, with orders to return with holy water, laboratory supplies, and precious books. The Fated had decided that if the Oasis of the White Palm was to be their home, they may as well have a home with a workshop and lab!

The next day, 8th of Nethelen, they departed for another of the Zaharan ruins marked on their tattered map. They were regrettably waylaid en route by a basilisk, which petrified Balen before being dispatched. Losing Balen forced the party to retreat back to the Oasis. From there, Zoya and Ceara flew by magic carpet to distant Alakyrum. This journey, normally measured in weeks, took them but two days.

At Alakyrum, Zoya hired a spy master named Abiram, and ordered him to recruit spies for her throughout the city. She and Ceara then headed to the shop of Urabi al-Chukri, where a quick outlay of gold secured the purchase of a scroll of stone to flesh in an annoyingly fancy scroll case. So equipped, Zoya and her loyal henchwoman headed back to the Oasis. The return flight turned out to be quite treacherous, as over the Desert of Desolation they had to evade both wyverns and gargoyles. Zoya was heard muttering something about “flying the friendly skies” as the carpet landed.

Balen was returned to his normal, soft and fleshy, form on the evening of the 13th. At dawn the next day they set back out into the Desert of Desolation, reaching the nearby ruins at mid-day. They set up a camp some distance from the ruins, and after resting and recovering, began to investigate them.

The ruins proved to be an ancient temple to Sakkara, Mother of Monsters, and her daughter Ninzagga, Princess of Assassins. Most of the temple was in ruins, with just an understory remaining. Hieroglyphic inscriptions at the top of the temple read “This is truth: That all is governed by the movements of the stars, which are eternal and unchanging. That the light of the stars is hidden by the false light of the winged sun is the first of its blasphemies.” Even Shikra and Suad were disturbed by these dire words. “How wrongheaded do you have to be to complain about the sun? I mean, really. The Zaharans are all, damn you sun, with your light!”

The party dispatched berserkers to head down the stairs to investigate. They reported backward that the there was an antechamber filled with statues of Sakkara and Ninzagga, beyond which was a four-way intersection. The statutes held marvelous golden scepters, quite valuable. These were soon claimed in the name of Imran, and the statues destroyed.

Heading into the dungeon, the party headed right at the four-way intersection, and came face to face with a war party of six Thrassians in ancient Zaharan battle-dress. These creatures proved formidable combatants, and the party was hard-pressed. Their situation grew worse when hideous scorpion-spiders emerged from the northern corridor and began to hurl acidic venom into their flank. Balen unleashed Earth’s Teeth on the spiders, slaying several, but Rakh and Ceara went down to poison before the fight was won. Only Senef’s prowess at healing avoided calamity and got the two heroes back on their feet.

During the fighting, Suad had managed to sleep one of the Thrassians, and this being was quickly tied up. Leaving him aside for the moment, the party decided to see what the Thrassians had been guarding. Faced with a choice of heading north or south, they chose north, and marched down a lengthy corridor that terminated in a sealed stone vault flanked by four golden urns. These urns were filled with the desiccated bodies of locusts. The party sent some summoned heroes forward to investigate, and these unleashed a veritable undead plague. A few seconds later, a thing staggered out of the insect plague, a thing of gore and bone and gristle, that might once have been a hero.

To deal with this hideous threat, Senef called upon the great spirits of the earth to send an insect plague of his own. Living locust swarmed on dead locust, and the entire passage way was filled with a million gnashing and gnawing insects. In minutes, the corridor was a landscape of carrion.

Though the way forward was now clear, their efforts had exhausted the Fated, and they decided to retreat to camp. Ethlyn gathered up the golden scepters from the fallen statues, while Suad tugged along their Thrassian captive. Upon reaching the tents, Suad unceremoniously placed the helm of alignment change upon their captive. As its addled brain began to become inspired by notions of law, justice, and liberty, the Thrassian began to talk.

I was a servant of Navana, mistress of the Tower of the Worm. She sent us here to assist the undead priest Laukshar the Leaking in guarding the Sarcophagus Legion for the time of the Awakening,” the Thrassian explained. “What is the Sarcophagus Legion?” asked Suad. “A great force of hundreds of undead, in sarcophagi below the temple who will awaken should any disturb them,” it explained.

“Is there treasure in the temple?” asked Zoya. “Much treasure, but any who take it are cursed and ruined. Their flesh will betray them, and they shall rot as if dead.” “Oh damn,” said Zoya, as her fingernails peeled off. “That would be the curse,” said Senef, eyeballing the golden scepters that erupted from Zoya’s backpack. Zoya gazed at him with eyebrows raised expectantly, as her eyes began to leak puss. “Well, aren’t you going to remove the curse?” Senef looked almost embarrassed. “Er…perhaps if I were a cleric, but shamans can’t remove curses…”

The party erupted into chaos. Would Zoya still be pretty? Had she written down the names of her spies? Could they rush Zoya to Alakyrum for treatment? “The curse kills within hours,” hissed the Thrassian. Zoya stared into the desert sun, contemplating her own mortality, as her toenails began to bleed. Then Shikra said, “Oh, you know, I have a scroll of remove curse. Should we use it now, or wait until things get bad?” “Mebbe uth it nob” said Zoya, as her tongue degenerated into gangrenous ooze. And so did the warlock Shikra save the thief Zoya from a fate worse than death.

After these travails, the party rested for the night. The morning of the 15th Nethelen, the party decided to assault the temple again to deal with Laukshar the Leaking. As they prepared, Senef reached out to the spirits. “What will happen if we assault the temple?” he divined. Death lurks in the hieroglyphs, came the ominous warning. “Nobody touch any hieroglyphs!” said Senef. “Hieroglyphs are bad.”

So warned, the party marched forward to the stone door that led to Laukshar’s chamber. They formed up, read for battle, everyone ready to fire weapons or spells into the room beyond. They opened the door…and triggered the glyphs of death inscribed therein. Virtually everyone fell: Balen, Zoya, Rakh, Ethlyn, Sapphira, Dornethan, Ceara, Wazir, and Umar. Only Mahmud, Suad, Shikra, and Senef were still standing.

Desperation gripped the survivors. Shikra sealed the door with a spell, to give the rest of the party time to drag the dead out of the complex. The bodies had just reached the sunny sands when the door began to open – the wizard lock was dispelled. Senef had no choice but to unleash an insect plague again, and hope that the enemy had no way through. Whether he could not, or would not, Laukshar did not pursue through the insect plague. Shikra brought forth her ring of djinni summoning and called on her servant to begin to carry the dead back to the Oasis. By nightfall, the demoralized band were back at the Oasis of the White Palm.

Now came the terrible task of restoring the fallen. Wazir returned easily and seemingly unaffected. Ethlyn and Zoya came back exhausted, requiring two weeks of bed rest, but both feared lingering spiritual effects. Rakh, Dornethan, and Umar paid a heavy price, their souls having to be dragged back from the afterlife in a brutish fashion that lessened their connection to the divine (-3 WIS!) and left them utterly exhausted (30 days rest). Balen, Ceara, and Sapphira did not come back at all – and so Senef resorted to reincarnation.

Sapphira reincarnated as a male Nicean thief, a scruffy, lank, and in every way unimpressive character. Ceara, formerly a Tirenean male who had reincarnated as an elven spellsword, now reincarnated as a Southern Argollëan female fighter. Then Senef turned to Balen. All were shocked when the hard-bitten warmage returned as a comely female Elven spellsword. “I always knew I was meant to wield a sword,” said Ballena.

Session Forty

With so many casualties, the Fated were in disarray. They decided to wait for a month in the Oasis of the White Palm to give their party members time to fully recuperate. When Bechir returned to the Oasis with the part’s alchemical and research supplies, the arcanists seized the opportunity to engage in magical research.

Ballena began work on a new spell. The work was not yet complete, but the spellsword promised great things when it was ready. Suad identified various items for the party, figuring out the workings of several magic items they had never identified, including Shikra’s brooch of shielding and a curious statue which provided enough bread to feed ten men. Shikra pursued alchemy, formulating a potion of invulnerability from three phase tiger pelts, and experimenting with a potion of climbing using five huge tarantula mandibles.

Soon it was time for the Festival of the Reaping, the annual celebration of the arrival of the harvest. During the Festival, a fire is kept lit all night, every night, while little children are known to run around “playing at Reaper” in the shadows. Suad performed great feats of illusion each  night, greatly impressing the villagers. Ethlyn befriended the children of the Oasis with gifts of candies and trinkets. Mahmud attempted to go shopping for festival supplies, but his wife, Alia, instead that as first wife this was her place, and handled all the domestic affairs.

After a month of luxurious living (11,800gp living expenses), the Sandvoyager’s Guild quarters were transformed, with beautiful decorations, silk hangings, and cushions everywhere. Many of the local villagers were being employed as servants and the wealth was attracting traders to dare the desert.

Along with the traders came reports from Zoya’s spy network:

·         Heydar (Ber-Gathy): “A riot broke out in the Old Quarter as soon as the legion moved out. There’s no love for the Empire here.”

·         Abiram (Alakyrum):  “The Patriarch of the Great Mosque has been having clandestine meetings in his chambers, but I could not discern with whom.”

·         Bartimi (Alakyrum): “The Butcher has left Tavic Marcello, Sacker of Cynidicea, in charge of Alakyrum.”

·         Cainan: “The great hero, Abdulla al-Rassan, last of the Swords of Imran, is leading a cell of rebels seeking independence for Opelenea.”

Amidst these reports also came word that several of her spies were caught, but none faced charges worse than eavesdropping.

It was by now the 9th of Vinethelen (early fall), and the party decided it wanted revenge on Laukshar the Leaking for the hideous blow he had dealt them at the Tomb of the Sarcophagus Legion. They had done some reconnaissance via magical means, and interrogated their Thrassian captive-recruit. The latter, having been converted to Lawful alignment, was illuminated in the Light of Imran and given the name Mohammed by Mahmud and Rakh.

They arrived at the Tomb on the 10th. They decided to approach cautiously, wary of glyphs of death. This wariness proved wise – six summoned berserkers died in agonizing ways to traps laid by the malicious Laukshar. Neverthless, the group pressed on, deeper into the Tomb, until finally they confronted the hideous being.

Laukshar was covered in gaping wounds and rotting festers. Flies swirled around him like a tempest of filth, and these creatures were his to command, swarming over various members of the Fated and paralyzing them into inactivity. Worse, Laukshar was a powerful necromancer, and he had brought back all of the creatures that the Fated had slain in their prior battle – the serpent-scorpions were at full strength, and the Thrassian guards were now skeletal warriors.

Ballena dealt with the spiders by unleashing a devastating fireball onto them, but a moment later Laukshar’s insects swarmed her and she was unable to cast again. Laukshar himself then began to cast a deadly flame strike from behind his wall of guardians. This spell might have wrecked the party, had Androcles not somehow managed to toss his magic sword past four Thrassian skeletons and into the mummy, disrupting his casting. Realizing the danger, Mahmud plunged forward in a bold over-run that carried him past the Thrassians and at Laukshar, where he dealt a rain of deadly blows. Rakh behind him cut down the undead Thrassians.

With Laukshar destroyed, the party fell back from the dungeon. Several of their number had been poisoned by the skeleton-scorpions, but Senef’s healing arts were able to treat them. The next day, they re-entered the Tomb.

They approached Laukshar’s lair warily. They soon found themselves in a stone vault adorned with complex hieroglyphs on all sides. The party was terrified these might be glyphs of warding, until Ethlyn managed to decode the writing and reported it was some sort of spell formula. Shikra and Suad soon realized that the walls contained the formula for dozens of necromantic spells – the vault was a spell book, graven in stone! This was a great find, but none of the party felt comfortable spending weeks in the vault recording the spells.

The Fated pressed onward and soon found Laukshar’s lair. It was as awful as the creature itself: Surrounding a statue of Ninzagga were countless decapitated heads, each a zombie blinking in endless torment. Mahmud and Rakh gave mercy to these poor souls, then destroyed the statue and poured holy water on the area. Meanwhile, Suad’s divination revealed a hidden compartment in the lair, rife with old temple treasures, and these soon found new ownership.

As the party made its way out of the dungeon, Suad’s spell revealed a previously unseen secret door. Shikra ordered one of her berserkers to investigate. The warrior called back, “there’s a long natural staircase… it leads to a huge cave with a bubbling pool of mud – there’s niches in the cave walls, with some sort of statues – AHHHHH.”

The Fated pondered their next move.

I’m trying to read through the actual plays for Opelenean Nights. I’ve already done the first thread, but Opelenean Nights II seems to be broken. Is there anyway to read them? I very much enjoy this tale.

Session Forty-One

The Fated descended down onto the underground chamber beneath the Tomb of the Sarcophagus Legion. It was a huge cave dominated by a bubbling pool of mud – there were niches in the cave walls, lined with gemstones, each niche populated by a jackal-headed gargoyle. As the party advanced into these chambers, Shikra sent her berserkers ahead to wade into the mud-pool.

The bubbles, it turned out, were caused by the mud being boiling hot, a state of affairs that left the berserkers screaming in agony as their flesh steamed off their bones. Sadly, the gargoyles decided to use this occasion to animate and attack. They were perilously tough, and Saphokos lost a hand in the fighting.  By the time the gargoyles were defeated, the berserkers had finished dying in horrible agony and vanished back to…wherever summoned berserkers come from.

Zoya soon set about prying all of the gemstones from the niches, a 12,000gp value. Shikra was convinced that the mud pool held further treasure and tried to convince Androcles to wade in to investigate, hinting that he’d be better off dead than living as a neanderthal. After much wrangling, Senef resolved the question by spirit-walking into the mud pool, discovering it was nothing more or less than a boiling pit of mud heated by the earth.

Heading back upstairs, the party returned to Laukshar the Leaking’s lair, to investigate a hidden compartment they’d previously noted. The compartment was filled with platinum pieces. Shikra summoned berserkers to gather all the treasure. Sadly, the first of these hapless servants expired when a hidden trap in the treasure pile sliced off her arms. Two more berserkers died in dismembered agony before Ethlyn got frustrated and jammed the trap with a big piece of rock. Clearly, the horrors visited upon the Fated must have left them callous about life and death, for they were allowing their servants to suffer horrendous pain rather than be bothered to check for traps. In any event, once the trap was dealt with, the platinum treasure was quickly scooped up, along with a mysterious scroll that purported to transport its reader(s) anywhere in the world, by way of the Land of the Dead…

Thus reminded of the dead, the Fated decided to investigate the actual crypt wherein lay the Sarcophagus Legion. This vast vault held over 500 sarcophagi. But what did the sarcophagi hold? Skeletons? Zombies? Wights? Mummies? Worse? What would happen if the Fated were to desecrate the vile altar that overlooked the grim cemetery? The altar desecrated awakens centuries of foes for the Fated, warned the spirits.

Despite this dreadful warning, the party seemed intent on destroying the altar and awakening the slumbering undead. Normally Suad, as the voice of wisdom, would counsel against such things, but he had recently discovered a new use for his crystal ball “You must teach me ways of pleasure such that my husband never strays,” he heard the beautiful Princess Alia say, as he scryed her tent. “I will teach you such secrets as no man may ever know, for it would turn even the most pure of heart to depravity,” said her hired instructor, a famous Alakyrum concubine…

Shikra, uncertain of the right path, decided to contact certain dark powers which she dared not name. Channeling her black arts, she reached out, risking her sanity and soul. When her meditation undead, she reported back that “If we attack the Sarcophagus Legion, it will awaken other undead in this complex, but if we attack other undead in this complex, it likely will not awaken the Legion. Moreover, fire will do little against the Legion; we would need magic.” These revelations persuaded the Fated to leave the Sarcophagus Legion at rest – for now. The party headed out to rest and explore further tomorrow.

On the 13th of Vinethelen, they re-entered the tomb, this time heading towards the so-called Tombs of Kings in the northern half of the complex. Knocking open the door that sealed this section, they sent their berserkers ahead to explore. As these mujahedeen strode forward, sarcophagi opened in hidden alcoves, and countless millions of locusts began to spill forth. More and more and more… Fireball could not kill them all. Sleep spell could not stun them all. The Fated fled desperately, sealing the door behind them. Again the excruciated wails of the summoned berserkers rang through the halls as their living flesh was devoured by the monstrous insect swarms. The very stone of the tomb-door began to crack under the pressure of the chitinous armada. Then in a blink Shikra knocked the door open, and Ballena and Suad unleashed more fire and sleep…the insectoid assault was ended.

Though shaken, the Fated decided to proceed ahead. They soon came to a grotto with a beautiful pool in its middle and a copper disc on the ceiling. Ethlyn and Bellona spotted a hidden balcony near the ceiling, and a lever that might raise or lower it. The Fated left the room while Shikra summoned her minions. She then ordered the hapless berserkers to pull the level in the room. This triggered a powerful magnetic force that caused the metal-armored berserkers to hurtle to the ceiling. A moment later, horrific four-armed bone golems strode out a hidden room. These creatures, carrying no metal, were undisturbed by the magnet; they deactivated the lever and held their bone spears upward. The berserkers were impaled gruesomely as they fall onto the bone spikes. The Fated justified this horror because it meant the trap was sprung. The party quickly attacked, and was dispatched the golems before they could activate the lever again.

Pressing forward, the Fated now came to another trapped room. The chamber featured a sunken floor, filled with quicksand, and a ceiling that sloped so low that a man could not hope to even crawl through the room without going through the quicksand. The Fated stared glumly at the wet, sandy muck ahead. Then Shikra summoned more berserkers. The first of these strode forward, making it only a few feet into the quicksand before being pulled under by something. A trickle of red blood mixed with the sand. A second berserker met the same fate. At this point, Shikra had decided enough was enough, and she drew forth a wand of paralyzation, unleashing enough charges to paralyze every living thing in the entire room several times over. In this way, the foul pack of blood worms that lived in the quicksand were dispatched.

The Fated decided that they could not have been the only party to face this trap, and decided to thoroughly search the quicksand. They soon found several corpses, which they dragged to the surface. These bodies proved to be long-dead adventurers of a seemingly chaotic persuasion, judging by their holy symbols. That said, they possessed several items of power, most notably a set of gauntlets of ogre power which Mahmud claimed, as well as bracers of defense, fastened in the shape of coiled serpents, which Senef seized.

And they strode forward…

We're working on it!

I’m imagining this control room as in Cabin In The Woods that’s answering the summons spell, porting in cloned berserkers, and then monitoring the results.

Session Forty-Two

The party continued to explore the Tomb of the Sarcophagus Legion. Past the quicksand, they found the way blocked by a collapsed stone door that Zoya estimated would take six hours of manual labor with picks and shovels to dig through. Not being inclined to unnecessary manual labor, the party decided to fall back in favor of exploring a door they’d left unexplored earlier.

That door had a sinister-looking “open palm” graven onto its face, with a single keyhole in the middle of the palm. When Zoya attempted to pick this keyhole, the stone palm suddenly animated into a rocky fist, which came within an inch of crushing her. Ballena rushed forward to help, piercing the stone with her magical spear War Brand; horrifically, the stone fist seized her weapon from her grip and sundered it! The party, proceeding more cautiously, managed to smash the stone fist after a minute of fighting, but it was not clear how to pass through the door it had guarded. Ultimately, Suad knocked it open.

The treasure beyond was worth the struggle. In addition to 20 pounds of gold coin, there was a half-size ceremonial chariot of gold, a marvelous jeweled chess set, a silver mirror, and a ceremonial basin. Mixed in with these mundane treasures were a magical amulet fastened in the shape of a scorpion; a necklace bearing an all-seeing eye on a pyramid; and a Zaharan khopesh, its hilt fastened in the shape of a scorpion. Rakh claimed the necklace, though its powers were not evident to him, while Shikra claimed the scorpion scarab, and Bellona claimed the khopesh to replace her lost spear.

Most curious of all was a mummified crocodile, painted with runes. When Suad examined this crocodile closely, he unleashed a powerful spell – and found himself accompanied by a crocodile companion that appeared as the mummified crocodile crumbled into dust. “All the gods be praised!” he said. “GRAWWRGHGGHGH” said his crocodile, which Suad understood to mean, “I am pleased to meet you, wise scholar. Are these other two reptiles also in your service?” The creature tilted its head at the two Thrassian Gladiators. “Yes, they work for me” said Suad. The crocodile gave a toothy grin. “It is excellent to be in the service of such a great magician!”

 

Laden with loot, and a crocodile on a flying carpet, the Fated decided to return to the Oasis to deposit there treasures. The return trip was uneventful. Back at the Oasis, Mahmud vanished into his harem, where his wife was waiting to teach him new things she had learned.  In the mean time, Bechir, the Fated’s hired caravaneer, was dispatched with funds to launch a 120-camel caravan to ply the trade routes through the desert and into Alakyrum. Bellona had just settled down to begin spell research when Mahmud, emerged exhausted but seemingly quite pleased, the next day. “Imran be praised,” he said. “Let us now finish our work at the Tomb.”

With picks and shovels in hand, the party soon excavated into the last room of the complex. Within they were confronted by an ancient Zaharan vampire and his undead Thrassian minions. These foul creatures were dispatched after a hard fight, fortunately without any of the party being afflicted by the deadly touch of the vampire. In its passing, the Fated collected a valuable golden gorget and a magical whip, which Shikra seized.

Only two mysteries remained within the complex: What to make of the strange sarcophagus that led into a seemingly endless pit; and what to do about the Sarcophagus Legion itself. Senef’s divinations offered answers. With regard to descending into the black pit, “If into the Pit of Fangs you descend, you will never be seen again.” With regard to fighting the Sarcophagus Legion, “paralyzed by centuries of terror, you die for your terror error.” “That seems very clear cut,” said Shikra.

Forewarned by these dire auguries, the Fated left the remaining mysteries of the complex behind and headed to the surface. There Shikra summoned her djinni servant and commanded it to seal up the steps into the Tomb with stone, and then conceal the stone entrance itself with a permanent illusion. “Let none tread here, so that the Sarcophagus Legion is never awakened!” “Your wish is my command, oh voluptuous one.”

The party returned to the Oasis of the White Palm, where Bellona made it clear that she required several weeks of isolation in order to finish her research into the secrets of the elements. The elven spellsword was very firm on this.

The next day, the Fated departed the Oasis to seek out the Pyramid of Amek, a very annoyed elf in tow. “I just need 2 weeks. 2 weeks!” “You can have your two weeks just as soon as someone dies,” said Mahmud. “Knowing where we’re going, that will probably be soon,” Shikra cheerfully offered.

On the 17th of Vinethelen, the Fated reached the Pyramid of Amek. Illuminated by the setting sun, it was a magnificent structure, hundreds of feet square at its base, soaring upwards hundreds of feet, a master piece of ancient Zaharan engineering. A formidable temple complex was built adjacent to the pyramid, and that seemed to promise to be the best entrance in.

The party camped out a few hundred yards from the Pyramid, planning to enter it at daybreak. These plans were interrupted by a midnight attack: Dozens of desert nomads assaulted their camp in the night. The watch barely managed to rouse the party in time to combat the assault, and it was a harsh battle. The nomads were berserker-like in the fury, fighting headless of casualties, and they were supported by clerics with dark magic. Still, the Fated triumphed, and as dawn broke they lit pyres to bury the fallen and praised Imran for another glorious victory.

It should be fixed now.

What?! No dead berserkers? No pitched screams of agony? No hacked limbs and hollowed torsos of the berserker horde?

sigh

Oh well, maybe next session.