[IC]Shadow over Stygia

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Wed Jun 18, 2014 1:30 am

Taotie inquires if any other travelers had passed through recently

"A sorcerer of Kheshatta, and his retinue, passed east through this road a few days ago."

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Wed Jun 18, 2014 2:10 am

Kamoses grumbles slightly and makes ready his sword. "I really need better training with this thing."

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Wed Jun 18, 2014 7:15 pm

"Like they, if you abide by the law of the dead, we shall protect and guide you along this road."

Kurama314 · Post by **Kurama314** » Wed Jun 18, 2014 11:14 pm

"Well I wasn't planning on touching the bones anyway, so that works out nicely."

Nebuchadnezzar · Post by **Nebuchadnezzar** » Wed Jun 18, 2014 11:53 pm

Neb flashes the countersign to the beskulled ghoul.

"We will hold to the covenant held between the Charnel God and those of Stygia; those who fall in your sacred spaces are divinely inherited. What can you tell us of this highway? How long does it take to traverse? What is likely to attempt to make us a ghoulish sacrifice?"

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 1:45 am

"A a few day's travel to the west will find you in the vault of Mogul, once-proud city of Acheron. This was the lich-way, where they would carry their ancient dead to and from the sacred shrine of Tsatha, seeking consumption or regeneration...rare it is these days to find those traveling back this way, but the Charnel God watches over all the dead, and those who pilgrimage to and from the lands of the dead. As for horrors, you need not concern yourself of them. Our sorceries will hold back the Worms of the Earth, and the unsleeping giants, and even the winged darkness of the deepest abyss, provided you stay on the straight path. You will emerge, in time, in the last temple of Acheron, and from there you may climb the 77 steps to the surface."

So saying, the ghoulish priest steps backwards, and disappears into the shadows.

Nebuchadnezzar · Post by **Nebuchadnezzar** » Fri Jun 20, 2014 4:55 am

"I am inclined to believe the ghoul priest, and will take rest here before continuing on this 'straight path'. I will stand second watch, after getting a couple of hours sleep. You all do what you like."

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Fri Jun 20, 2014 5:29 am

"This route may well be the safest place in the desert. A rest here sounds good."

Kurama314 · Post by **Kurama314** » Fri Jun 20, 2014 5:15 pm

"That works well for me. I'll stand first watch."

Korgan0 · Post by **Korgan0** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 1:41 am

"The spirits have no reach here. Not those of the earth, nor the sky, nor the ice. Blood is the only way forward."

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 1:03 pm

Journey Beneath the Sands
And so you travel, your much-reduced caravan, through the dark road. Time quickly loses meaning as you trudge down the seemingly endless corridor, and you rest when there are places to rest, and drink from the old wells set into the walls, where Acheronian gargoyles drip cold water into vessels carved like baskets of woven bone. Corpses line the niches in the wall, some dressed as kings, their bare skulls set with silver and lapis lazuli, dark gems set in their sockets, yet ever before and aft do you catch sight of the strange, loping priests, and hear their curious meeping in the darkness, and leave these treasures untouched. On occasion new passages and chambers reveal themselves off the main highway, but ever does Taotie point out the tracks in the dust, and show that no-one has ventured there in a mortal life time, and you quickly pass those places by. After many days your supplies of oil begin to grow lean, and you are forced to economize - one hand lamp only for the leader, with the rest trundling along in the darkness, the camels roped together so they do not get lost. How long this journey lasts, you do not know - days, certainly, for you eat and sleep and pass water - but sometimes you think it must be weeks, or months, or an eternity, and that you shall wander forever in the darkness...

Then there was light.

At the end of the trail, in the final shadow stands the strange dog-skulled priest you had met before - or another, perhaps, in the same mask. It is disconcerting to see that bony jaw open, and a long pink tongue fall out to lick its fangs.

"This is the Fane of Rhan-Togath, in Fallen Mogul. Tread up the seventy steps, and you will be on the surface once more. May Mordiggan guard your bones for eternity."

So saying, it slips away into the darkness.

The light is sunlight, for you find that the highway has ended a large temple-chamber, the room a forest of pillars with a stairway at one end and at the other, a raised dais with a throne, which lies in shadow. The light spills down the stair into the center of the chamber from a great open doorway, and the camels almost run you down in their eagerness to get out into the sunlight once again...but then again, all of you are eager to be free of that dark hole, and in little time you have ascended the 77 steps, and stand blinking in the sunlight.

On a rock nearby, Karanthes, ancient priest of Ibis, rests his tired bones.

"So." he says. "My divinations were correct. Welcome, my friends. We have very little time, if we are to stave off the doom of this world."

Nebuchadnezzar · Post by **Nebuchadnezzar** » Mon Jun 23, 2014 5:37 am

"I'll not dissemble, Whore of Ibis, these last few weeks' events have given us pause. I'd not be counted a friend of yours; nor, after taking into account your cursing of Ahmet, last prince of ancient Ahrem and your previous agent, would I accept any reward. Detail how you would stop Katsetshuset, and what part you'd imagine we play, or look down at your death."

(Intimidate check @+25, snake tries to sneak up @Hide+15, and Neb. holds his bindlestaff up to use as a focus for Dread Serpent (which technically isn't worth the necessary 50sp to allow casting, so, whatever))

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Mon Jun 23, 2014 3:13 pm

"Save your venom, oh serpent of Set." the old man says wearily "Did I not warn you there would be many dangers? I feared for your loss when my spies told me Katsetshutset had returned to his house, and locked himself in his highest tower, but my divinations showed that it was favorable that you might come to light in this time and this place. Tell me now what has occurred in the forbidden valley, and in the unwholesome shrine."

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 11:24 pm

Karanthes listens to your tale almost without interruption, only occasionally asking a question to clarify some point. As it goes on, his frown deepens, and when you have finished, all of his countless years seem heaped on his shoulders.

"You have struggled well, against terrible odds. I would that I could simply pay you what I have promised, yet I fear I must ask more from you. To put it simply, Katsetshuset is too dangerous to live with that book - even with half of it, he could bring a doom that would pull down all of Stygia into the blackest abyss...and if he should gain the other half, with the Black Ring under his banner, the entire world would not be safe from the doors he could open..."

He sighs.

"The wizard must die - before he masters this dark magic. I see no other option. This much I know - he will be sequestered in his house for some weeks, studying the book. In that time he is ensconced in his power, yet vulnerable; perhaps moreso if he is foolish enough to experiment with runes and potions he does not yet fully comprehend. There, perhaps, he could be assassinated. My followers are few, but loyal: they could get you into the house, and from there you could slay the sorcerer in his lair, and recover the book. Otherwise, in a few weeks there is a rare conjunction of planets - and he will seek out this very fane, for a secret that was beyond his knowledge, but perhaps will be secret no longer once he has read those first chapters. In that time we could make a fortress of this place - a deadly trap, away from his spells and guardian creatures. The choice is yours, and I promise you this: the faith of Isis is not a poor one, whichever way you choose."

Nebuchadnezzar · Post by **Nebuchadnezzar** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 11:32 pm

Korgan0 · Post by **Korgan0** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 11:36 pm

"I saw a man, not all of gold. The spirits growl at your words; they call you oathbreaker and craven."

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 11:38 pm

The old man looks at his ibis stick, held in feeble hands. "These arms can no longer wield a sword, and there is bloody work to be done. I can offer you charms and protections to ward off his enchantments, but sorcery alone will not win this day. I need wolves and vipers. Strike him down, and I promise the treasuries of Ibis will open forth, and you may live like kings. If that is not enough, then know well that it is the fate of the entire world at stake - perhaps not tomorrow or the day after, but in weeks and months the moon shall turn as blood, and the earth rip asunder, and you have seen already some of what dwells beneath the thin skin of this planet...the sleepers that Katsetshuset might yet awaken."

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 11:45 pm

Kamoses will draw close to Neb to confer quietly,

"Let's assume we must do this, which we probably must. One might figure that the bones of eight corpses could be carried in in bags, which I could then animate. Arms for these skeletons could be carried in similarly.

"This would deplete me, unless I took measures, sacrificial or ritual, to increase my power before hand. We would want to perform these measures as close to the time of striking as possible to ensure the most available power.

"Given this course of action, we could assault with our own strength, plus eight skeletons, and I would be able to confer the black touch of Set four times, or otherwise use my entire amount of power, plus whatever power I was able to gain in the assault.

"Thoughts?"

Nebuchadnezzar · Post by **Nebuchadnezzar** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 12:03 am

Quietly, to Kamoses: "If it's corpses you want, there are countless not far behind us. I pay short shrift to the threats of Mordiggian's ghouls, and am keen to kill something, even if it's already dead. Besides, if our group were to actually consider making of this fane a fortress, perhaps having monsters at our heels is unwise."

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 1:12 am

Korgan0 wrote:"I saw a man, not all of gold. The spirits growl at your words; they call you oathbreaker and craven."

Karanthes shakes his head. "The 'prince' you knew was not a man, not as you know men, Cimmerian. He was of the blood of an elder race, once native to that city, and it was his own greed that led to his downfall. Your people fought his, in the dawn times when Acheron spread her empire to the north. He has sown confusion and doubt in your heart, but I have never lied to you - and have I not always kept my word?"

Korgan0 · Post by **Korgan0** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 3:35 am

'My father never lied to me. My spirits never lied to me. You are worth no more than a mewling pup."

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 9:36 am

Karanthes cocks his head to the side and stares into Karlus' eyes like he can see the back of the barbarian's skull. "The Cimmerian isn't entirely right in the head any more, is he?"

Korgan0 · Post by **Korgan0** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 4:05 pm

Karlus smiles wryly. "Are you?"

Kurama314 · Post by **Kurama314** » Sat Jun 28, 2014 1:57 am

"Regardless of who's insane we should reach some conclusion on how we want to to try and kill Katsetshuset. All in favor of assassinating him in his tower?"

Nebuchadnezzar · Post by **Nebuchadnezzar** » Sat Jun 28, 2014 2:27 am

"Nay."