A weird revelation
The four main characters continue northwards on their journey to the dormant volcano named after Khakun, Lord of the Earth - this is the eastern realms' version of Grome. Destiny reckons that she can placate Grome, because she has enough knowledge to set up a ritual summoning, and Bomilcar quite fancies aligning himself with the earth. Sir Blanque and Marion come along for the ride - all for one, and one for all. Or something like that. This expedition is producing something for everyone.
As they reach the foothills rising towards the Withered Peaks, the group hears a really strange metallic booming sound coming from a valley off to their right (i.e. somewhat eastwards of their intended route). They decide to investigate, and see a huge cloud of scintillating insects congregating around a fixed point in the distance. Cresting the hills in front of them, they come across a very large metallic statue of a man in the lotus position; the noises are emanating from there. It sounds as though something is trying to get out from inside the statue, which on closer inspection turns out to be at least 30' high. Banging sounds alternate with buzzing, and even a strange, chittering voice that pleads for release. The characters circle the statue and realise that a set of rungs runs up its back to a sealed hatch of some kind in the back of its head; the hatch looks like it is made from some sort of waxy substance. The giant cloud of insects above their heads seems to be waiting to see what happens next.
Destiny volunteers to climb the ladder; she has an air elemental to help if she falls. The outside of the statue is extremely weathered, and the climb could well be treacherous, but she is willing to give it a go. The noises from inside are becoming more insistent, with some swearing in several languages, including High Melnibonean. This makes the decision for her, so up she goes.
As it happens, she scales the inset rungs easily, and reaches the hatch, for lack of a better term. It is a large hexagon of sealed wax, about three feet across. Imprinted into the seal is a spider sigil; Destiny surmises that whatever is inside there has been stuck since the time of the Dharzi, locked in by the followers of the Dharzi spider queen. A combination of some poisonous vials and her fire elementals does the trick, and the seal is burned off. She has released an enormous insect cloud from inside the hollow statue, but it acts as a single entity, flying up to join the ones who were waiting high in the sky above. "I am Nnn'uuu'rrr'ccc, Beast Lord of Insects" it chitters at her in High Melnibonean. "The Queen of the Spiders hated me and imprisoned me when she was at the height of her powers. It seems appropriate that I have been finally released by a Melnibonean. You may call upon me for aid in the future." The insects all dance beautifully for joy, and then streak off across the horizon. "That was fun!" says Destiny.
They continue on their way to Khakun's volcano. In the distance as they approach, they can hear rhythmic drumming. Destiny recognises the beat as equivalent to elements of her summoning ritual. "It would appear that someone is trying to keep the mountain quiet as best they can" she explains. This is indeed the case; a group of local tribesmen is congregated around the entrance to the earth giant's temple. They keep a respectful distance from the entry itself, but seem to be taking it in turns to beat out a rhythm. The characters approach openly, and are greeted by a group of warriors led by their chief and one of their shamen.
A parley ensues, and it turns out that these are the men of the tribe nearest to Khakun. They came here when the mountain shrugged several times, and have set up relays to try to stop it happening again, working in three shifts. "We won't be able to keep this up for ever, though," says the chief in 'pande, with Bomilcar translating. The group volunteers to go into the mountain itself, explaining that the "Elf" (Destiny) might be able to placate the spirit of the mountain. The tribe agrees, rather enthusiastically. They see a real opportunity here for enhanced prestige, if they can become the clan that looks after the mountain permanently.
The four of them make their way towards the rather ruined entrance. There are signs that some of the tremors have cleared away quite a lot of ancient debris, which means that the way into the mountain itself is in fact quite open. They do, however, find the bloodied remnants of some clothing and an arm that looks as though it has been ripped off its owner's body; there are also drag marks, and a set of bear prints. It looks as though a cave bear has taken up residence inside, now that the way is clear; it must have got hold of some unlucky local...
A passageway curves into the mountain, with a slight alcove on the right just inside the main entrance itself. This presumably used to be a guard station, and it is where the bear lives, along with the two cubs. They have obviously eaten quite recently, so they don't attack, although the mother growls menacingly. Marion advises the group to give her a wide berth, thinking she will only become violent if she perceives her cubs to be under threat, so the characters just keep heading along the passageway. All is dark, but Sir Blanque has magical dark vision anyway, and Marion has her own shadow dance abilities. Destiny uses her fire elementals to give heat vision to herself and Bomilcar.
Eventually the passage widens into a natural cavern, with some minor bulged offshoots; several short stone columns support braziers, which would be more than enough to keep the place well lit. There are two skeletons lying here, clad in the remnants of priestly finery; one of them is near a small chest. On further investigation, this turns out to contain various cult items. A large chest in one of the other natural alcoves contains a large two-handed battle-axe covered in runes of significance to earth cults, and there is an altar flanked by two large statues of Khakun (Grome). Behind these is a large fissure going down into the depths, with some shimmering fumes dancing upwards; a long-dead body lies on a shelf part of the way down. The characters avoid getting too close, realising that these fumes would doubtless help induce a prophetic trance, probably leading to death if one isn't too careful.
Destiny starts her ritual summoning. It takes a while, and then Grome's head appears out of the fissure, slowly followed by his shoulders. Destiny asks in High Melnibonean for Grome to stop the mountain shuddering; in return, the local clan will restore his temple. "That will not be enough," he rumbles; "You must also fulfil your destiny." At that a previously concealed door opens; it seems to lead further into the mountain. The characters agree, and Grome goes back to sleep.
Bomilar stays behind to treat with the locals, so the other three continue. The secret doorway leads into the cult's library, so if the characters and the tribe between them can decipher the rituals, they should be able to fulfil their agreement with Grome. There is also a passageway leading further into the mountain, with a spiral staircase that descends at least 100'. The air changes noticeably here, shimmering wetly in the characters' enhanced vision. This is all very odd for the middle of a volcano, and Destiny reckons they have crossed a planar boundary of some kind. Eventually the stairway levels out in a tunnel of some kind.
The characters walk carefully along the tunnel, which is just as well because they are able to avoid a tripwire. Someone else might be here, then. The tunnel leads to an enormous cavern full of stalagmites and stalactites, with a carpet of softly glowing fungus. The group manages to acquire some edible specimens. There is an exit part way along on the wall to their left, and another up ahead. Marion spots a sleeping sentry partly behind a stalagmite up ahead, and manages to surprise the little guy there - he looks very similar to the degenerate cave dwelling people they previously encountered in the hills of southern Argimiliar. He squeaks in fright as Marion clamps her hand over his mouth, but then he sees Destiny and drops to his knees to worship her.
This surprises everyone, and the little guy wriggles free, shouts for joy (!) and then grabs Destiny's hand, leading her happily towards the exit behind him. The characters shrug and follow the wee man to his home village, a collection of dingy huts with other people like himself. They all run up and pay obeisance to Destiny, then usher her and her minions to a large ancient door made of some type of wood. It has an obvious warning sigil etched into it, although it does not give off any magic.
Might as well proceed, then. Behind the door is an artificial, fully-faced passage, with empty sconces for torches. This leads to an octagonal room, with a long passage stretching out beyond it. A substantial flight of stairs leads down to a long landing, with more stairs beyond that. To their right, though, is a viewing platform with a stone balcony. It looks out over a substantial underground lake, fed by a waterfall from far above. A set of stone bridges wends its way across the lake, edging out from an opening to the party's far left - presumably that is where the main hallway leads, so on they go.
They find a room with several dead bodies, kind of similar to the cavern people they have already met. Sitting among them, though, is a very degenerate ghoul thing, its features reminiscent of the Dharzi. "I knew it!" shouts Destiny. The thing growls and attacks, trying to scrape Destiny's face off her head. Marion hacks off its left leg and Sir Blanque caves in part of its skull, and it just keeps coming. Eventually, Destiny crushes part of its ribcage and its remains start to lose their integrity. It collapses, still twitching and still trying to kill her, so they just pound it into the floor. In the passageway beyond they find its coffin; it would seem to have been buried here, possibly cursed, eventually to be unearthed by the cave people - unfortunately for them. Inside are several useful items; a Peal of Power, which Destiny consumes; money; some large gemstones; and a flask of healing liquid.
The hallway bends towards the lake, with stairs going further downwards. Eventually the group emerges at the opening they spied earlier from the viewing balcony. A causeway leads to a large flattened platform, which in turn has another causeway leading onwards. The problem, though, is the water cascading onto the path they have to traverse - extremely slippery and dangerous. So Destiny uses her water elementals to divert the waterfall while the three characters carefully cross to the first landing. The next causeway leads to an octagonal room on top of another piece of rock jutting from the waters below. As with the first one, this has no safety rails or anything like that, but the characters manage. Another causeway leads to another octagonal platform with what looks like a stairwell inside it, at least so far as they can tell at this distance. The problem is that the causeway leading there is partially collapsed, with a 30' gap. This time, Destiny uses her earth elementals to constitute themselves as a temporary bridge.
They now find themselves at the top of a hollow octagonal column with stairs descending into darkness, spiralling down around the inside of the column - and again with no safety rail or handholds or anything like that. Down they go, very carefully, for at least another 300'. It comes out in an enormous vault, with another waterfall, presumably coming from the lake above. They can go left, ahead, or right; it all seems pretty much the same, with fields of the same edible fungi. They decide to go to their right this time, and find a wide tunnel leading off in a crescent shape. Here they come across a palisaded village of people who look like the ones above, only with some ancient armour, shields and spears. They characters decide to approach openly, so the sentries salute them, and then march off into the village. A great commotion is heard, and then the warriors of the clan march out, salute Destiny, and line up to form an honour guard to escort her and her minions to see their chief. He greets her in a degenerate form of Low Melnibonean, and everyone bows respectfully. They then lead the group through the caverns to a massive set of locked double doors. The cave people line up and present arms.
Destiny picks the lock and finds a beautifully faced wide passageway leading to a large hall. Hanging in the middle is a cage containing the long-mouldered remnants of a Dharzi skeleton, possibly a woman, going by the shape of the pelvis. She bears an untarnished gold ring set with a massive ruby, which gives off magic vibes like crazy. Marion gets this one.
The room beyond turns out to be a kitchen cum potion brewing station. Six zombified servitors work their way around the kitchen, keeping it clean - presumably their final orders. Marion slinks in between the programmed butlers to grab three potion bottles, and the characters then individually wend their way through the zombies to the door on the far end. Destiny then identifies one other as a potion of healing, and another as a combat enhancing drug; she doesn't recognise the third.
Next up is an ancient chapel, complete with ruined pews, pulpit and wall hangings. Another door at the far end. The tapestries are rotted, but enough can be discerned from their faded grandeur to give a sense of what they originally depicted - dragons. Two suspicious looking gargoyle statues guard the altar at the far end of the room, so Destiny decides to place her earth elementals between the statues and the way out, just in case. It wouldn't be the first time something made of stone animated to attack them. And it's just as well, because that's what they do.
A long hallway ends in a massive sealed doorway, with sickly green light leaking out from whatever is in there. The funny thing, though, is that the door is sealed and barred on this side. One of the earth elementals is ordered to remove the bar while the characters hang back, just in case. However, as soon as it does so, the light disappears, and they all find themselves on a balcony looking down onto a huge throne. It is occupied by a skeleton in faded robes, holding a large octagonal golden coin in its hands, as though looking at it. The characters descend one of two flights of stairs, and three crystalline humanoids manifest between them and the there, and then evaporate with a sigh.
Destiny reaches out and takes the coin. She turns it over to see which ancient Melnibonean emperor is commemorated. Instead, she sees her own face carved into the coin, perfect in every detail.
Umpire's Notes
I mashed together a couple of encounter locations from Yoon-Suin for the statue containing the Insect Beast Lord because it seemed like a good idea at the time. I then used a combination of Khakun Shrugs and The Tomb of the Mad Wizard for this session. To be precise, I used bits of them both, especially the maps, but changed them to be less immediately dangerous to the party; I wanted this time to be weird, in the best sense, because of what I had planned for the ongoing plot line. This meant missing out quite a lot of the accompanying material, especially the region surrounding the mad wizard's tomb. However, I wanted this to seem strange, almost unexplained, in order to prepare for the reveal at the end.
Three points to note, apart from the freaky ending. One is that Bomilcar's player wasn't there, but had been insistent about going to the temple because he wanted to become an initiate of Grome. The solution was to take him there and then leave him to talk with the tribe; this makes sense anyway, because Bomilcar has the best grasp of the local language. The second is the ring Marion took from the long-dead Dharzi woman; it adds +2 Power while worn. The third is the encounter with the gargoyles. Here Marion fumbled her Dexterity role to get past them before they animated, so it's just as well that Destiny had interposed her elementals.
As they reach the foothills rising towards the Withered Peaks, the group hears a really strange metallic booming sound coming from a valley off to their right (i.e. somewhat eastwards of their intended route). They decide to investigate, and see a huge cloud of scintillating insects congregating around a fixed point in the distance. Cresting the hills in front of them, they come across a very large metallic statue of a man in the lotus position; the noises are emanating from there. It sounds as though something is trying to get out from inside the statue, which on closer inspection turns out to be at least 30' high. Banging sounds alternate with buzzing, and even a strange, chittering voice that pleads for release. The characters circle the statue and realise that a set of rungs runs up its back to a sealed hatch of some kind in the back of its head; the hatch looks like it is made from some sort of waxy substance. The giant cloud of insects above their heads seems to be waiting to see what happens next.
Destiny volunteers to climb the ladder; she has an air elemental to help if she falls. The outside of the statue is extremely weathered, and the climb could well be treacherous, but she is willing to give it a go. The noises from inside are becoming more insistent, with some swearing in several languages, including High Melnibonean. This makes the decision for her, so up she goes.
As it happens, she scales the inset rungs easily, and reaches the hatch, for lack of a better term. It is a large hexagon of sealed wax, about three feet across. Imprinted into the seal is a spider sigil; Destiny surmises that whatever is inside there has been stuck since the time of the Dharzi, locked in by the followers of the Dharzi spider queen. A combination of some poisonous vials and her fire elementals does the trick, and the seal is burned off. She has released an enormous insect cloud from inside the hollow statue, but it acts as a single entity, flying up to join the ones who were waiting high in the sky above. "I am Nnn'uuu'rrr'ccc, Beast Lord of Insects" it chitters at her in High Melnibonean. "The Queen of the Spiders hated me and imprisoned me when she was at the height of her powers. It seems appropriate that I have been finally released by a Melnibonean. You may call upon me for aid in the future." The insects all dance beautifully for joy, and then streak off across the horizon. "That was fun!" says Destiny.
They continue on their way to Khakun's volcano. In the distance as they approach, they can hear rhythmic drumming. Destiny recognises the beat as equivalent to elements of her summoning ritual. "It would appear that someone is trying to keep the mountain quiet as best they can" she explains. This is indeed the case; a group of local tribesmen is congregated around the entrance to the earth giant's temple. They keep a respectful distance from the entry itself, but seem to be taking it in turns to beat out a rhythm. The characters approach openly, and are greeted by a group of warriors led by their chief and one of their shamen.
A parley ensues, and it turns out that these are the men of the tribe nearest to Khakun. They came here when the mountain shrugged several times, and have set up relays to try to stop it happening again, working in three shifts. "We won't be able to keep this up for ever, though," says the chief in 'pande, with Bomilcar translating. The group volunteers to go into the mountain itself, explaining that the "Elf" (Destiny) might be able to placate the spirit of the mountain. The tribe agrees, rather enthusiastically. They see a real opportunity here for enhanced prestige, if they can become the clan that looks after the mountain permanently.
The four of them make their way towards the rather ruined entrance. There are signs that some of the tremors have cleared away quite a lot of ancient debris, which means that the way into the mountain itself is in fact quite open. They do, however, find the bloodied remnants of some clothing and an arm that looks as though it has been ripped off its owner's body; there are also drag marks, and a set of bear prints. It looks as though a cave bear has taken up residence inside, now that the way is clear; it must have got hold of some unlucky local...
A passageway curves into the mountain, with a slight alcove on the right just inside the main entrance itself. This presumably used to be a guard station, and it is where the bear lives, along with the two cubs. They have obviously eaten quite recently, so they don't attack, although the mother growls menacingly. Marion advises the group to give her a wide berth, thinking she will only become violent if she perceives her cubs to be under threat, so the characters just keep heading along the passageway. All is dark, but Sir Blanque has magical dark vision anyway, and Marion has her own shadow dance abilities. Destiny uses her fire elementals to give heat vision to herself and Bomilcar.
Eventually the passage widens into a natural cavern, with some minor bulged offshoots; several short stone columns support braziers, which would be more than enough to keep the place well lit. There are two skeletons lying here, clad in the remnants of priestly finery; one of them is near a small chest. On further investigation, this turns out to contain various cult items. A large chest in one of the other natural alcoves contains a large two-handed battle-axe covered in runes of significance to earth cults, and there is an altar flanked by two large statues of Khakun (Grome). Behind these is a large fissure going down into the depths, with some shimmering fumes dancing upwards; a long-dead body lies on a shelf part of the way down. The characters avoid getting too close, realising that these fumes would doubtless help induce a prophetic trance, probably leading to death if one isn't too careful.
Destiny starts her ritual summoning. It takes a while, and then Grome's head appears out of the fissure, slowly followed by his shoulders. Destiny asks in High Melnibonean for Grome to stop the mountain shuddering; in return, the local clan will restore his temple. "That will not be enough," he rumbles; "You must also fulfil your destiny." At that a previously concealed door opens; it seems to lead further into the mountain. The characters agree, and Grome goes back to sleep.
Bomilar stays behind to treat with the locals, so the other three continue. The secret doorway leads into the cult's library, so if the characters and the tribe between them can decipher the rituals, they should be able to fulfil their agreement with Grome. There is also a passageway leading further into the mountain, with a spiral staircase that descends at least 100'. The air changes noticeably here, shimmering wetly in the characters' enhanced vision. This is all very odd for the middle of a volcano, and Destiny reckons they have crossed a planar boundary of some kind. Eventually the stairway levels out in a tunnel of some kind.
The characters walk carefully along the tunnel, which is just as well because they are able to avoid a tripwire. Someone else might be here, then. The tunnel leads to an enormous cavern full of stalagmites and stalactites, with a carpet of softly glowing fungus. The group manages to acquire some edible specimens. There is an exit part way along on the wall to their left, and another up ahead. Marion spots a sleeping sentry partly behind a stalagmite up ahead, and manages to surprise the little guy there - he looks very similar to the degenerate cave dwelling people they previously encountered in the hills of southern Argimiliar. He squeaks in fright as Marion clamps her hand over his mouth, but then he sees Destiny and drops to his knees to worship her.
This surprises everyone, and the little guy wriggles free, shouts for joy (!) and then grabs Destiny's hand, leading her happily towards the exit behind him. The characters shrug and follow the wee man to his home village, a collection of dingy huts with other people like himself. They all run up and pay obeisance to Destiny, then usher her and her minions to a large ancient door made of some type of wood. It has an obvious warning sigil etched into it, although it does not give off any magic.
Might as well proceed, then. Behind the door is an artificial, fully-faced passage, with empty sconces for torches. This leads to an octagonal room, with a long passage stretching out beyond it. A substantial flight of stairs leads down to a long landing, with more stairs beyond that. To their right, though, is a viewing platform with a stone balcony. It looks out over a substantial underground lake, fed by a waterfall from far above. A set of stone bridges wends its way across the lake, edging out from an opening to the party's far left - presumably that is where the main hallway leads, so on they go.
They find a room with several dead bodies, kind of similar to the cavern people they have already met. Sitting among them, though, is a very degenerate ghoul thing, its features reminiscent of the Dharzi. "I knew it!" shouts Destiny. The thing growls and attacks, trying to scrape Destiny's face off her head. Marion hacks off its left leg and Sir Blanque caves in part of its skull, and it just keeps coming. Eventually, Destiny crushes part of its ribcage and its remains start to lose their integrity. It collapses, still twitching and still trying to kill her, so they just pound it into the floor. In the passageway beyond they find its coffin; it would seem to have been buried here, possibly cursed, eventually to be unearthed by the cave people - unfortunately for them. Inside are several useful items; a Peal of Power, which Destiny consumes; money; some large gemstones; and a flask of healing liquid.
The hallway bends towards the lake, with stairs going further downwards. Eventually the group emerges at the opening they spied earlier from the viewing balcony. A causeway leads to a large flattened platform, which in turn has another causeway leading onwards. The problem, though, is the water cascading onto the path they have to traverse - extremely slippery and dangerous. So Destiny uses her water elementals to divert the waterfall while the three characters carefully cross to the first landing. The next causeway leads to an octagonal room on top of another piece of rock jutting from the waters below. As with the first one, this has no safety rails or anything like that, but the characters manage. Another causeway leads to another octagonal platform with what looks like a stairwell inside it, at least so far as they can tell at this distance. The problem is that the causeway leading there is partially collapsed, with a 30' gap. This time, Destiny uses her earth elementals to constitute themselves as a temporary bridge.
They now find themselves at the top of a hollow octagonal column with stairs descending into darkness, spiralling down around the inside of the column - and again with no safety rail or handholds or anything like that. Down they go, very carefully, for at least another 300'. It comes out in an enormous vault, with another waterfall, presumably coming from the lake above. They can go left, ahead, or right; it all seems pretty much the same, with fields of the same edible fungi. They decide to go to their right this time, and find a wide tunnel leading off in a crescent shape. Here they come across a palisaded village of people who look like the ones above, only with some ancient armour, shields and spears. They characters decide to approach openly, so the sentries salute them, and then march off into the village. A great commotion is heard, and then the warriors of the clan march out, salute Destiny, and line up to form an honour guard to escort her and her minions to see their chief. He greets her in a degenerate form of Low Melnibonean, and everyone bows respectfully. They then lead the group through the caverns to a massive set of locked double doors. The cave people line up and present arms.
Destiny picks the lock and finds a beautifully faced wide passageway leading to a large hall. Hanging in the middle is a cage containing the long-mouldered remnants of a Dharzi skeleton, possibly a woman, going by the shape of the pelvis. She bears an untarnished gold ring set with a massive ruby, which gives off magic vibes like crazy. Marion gets this one.
The room beyond turns out to be a kitchen cum potion brewing station. Six zombified servitors work their way around the kitchen, keeping it clean - presumably their final orders. Marion slinks in between the programmed butlers to grab three potion bottles, and the characters then individually wend their way through the zombies to the door on the far end. Destiny then identifies one other as a potion of healing, and another as a combat enhancing drug; she doesn't recognise the third.
Next up is an ancient chapel, complete with ruined pews, pulpit and wall hangings. Another door at the far end. The tapestries are rotted, but enough can be discerned from their faded grandeur to give a sense of what they originally depicted - dragons. Two suspicious looking gargoyle statues guard the altar at the far end of the room, so Destiny decides to place her earth elementals between the statues and the way out, just in case. It wouldn't be the first time something made of stone animated to attack them. And it's just as well, because that's what they do.
A long hallway ends in a massive sealed doorway, with sickly green light leaking out from whatever is in there. The funny thing, though, is that the door is sealed and barred on this side. One of the earth elementals is ordered to remove the bar while the characters hang back, just in case. However, as soon as it does so, the light disappears, and they all find themselves on a balcony looking down onto a huge throne. It is occupied by a skeleton in faded robes, holding a large octagonal golden coin in its hands, as though looking at it. The characters descend one of two flights of stairs, and three crystalline humanoids manifest between them and the there, and then evaporate with a sigh.
Destiny reaches out and takes the coin. She turns it over to see which ancient Melnibonean emperor is commemorated. Instead, she sees her own face carved into the coin, perfect in every detail.
Umpire's Notes
I mashed together a couple of encounter locations from Yoon-Suin for the statue containing the Insect Beast Lord because it seemed like a good idea at the time. I then used a combination of Khakun Shrugs and The Tomb of the Mad Wizard for this session. To be precise, I used bits of them both, especially the maps, but changed them to be less immediately dangerous to the party; I wanted this time to be weird, in the best sense, because of what I had planned for the ongoing plot line. This meant missing out quite a lot of the accompanying material, especially the region surrounding the mad wizard's tomb. However, I wanted this to seem strange, almost unexplained, in order to prepare for the reveal at the end.
Three points to note, apart from the freaky ending. One is that Bomilcar's player wasn't there, but had been insistent about going to the temple because he wanted to become an initiate of Grome. The solution was to take him there and then leave him to talk with the tribe; this makes sense anyway, because Bomilcar has the best grasp of the local language. The second is the ring Marion took from the long-dead Dharzi woman; it adds +2 Power while worn. The third is the encounter with the gargoyles. Here Marion fumbled her Dexterity role to get past them before they animated, so it's just as well that Destiny had interposed her elementals.
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