Chapter the Seventh, Part the Second: Completing the Cast Dungeon or Why Does the Cockatrice Cross the Room?

While recuperating from their ordeal with the sahguin shaman, Tyrian and Ulmo, began humming then reciting an old riddle-rhyme from their childhoods:

Look to your corners and you will see Drouss and Pharthas in familiar skies,

Lady Luck and her love have longed to gaze into each other's eyes.

The Great Mother, ever vigilant of her children’s plight, peers upon her spawn,

The Young Sun with haughty eyes cast high, sees not the love that begins to dawn.

Days of dungeoneering works on the mind in odd ways.  Despite the danger to their sanity, they explored the other half of the dungeon, wading into the flooded chambers at each end.  Once entirely submerged, Grey found a dim green light emanating from a tunnel in the center of ceiling.  Tyrian scaled the rusty metal ladder, past increasingly verdant but alien foliage previously seen when the party had explored the cast of the Queen of the Wilds.  The chamber they entered was overgrown with lush, emerald foliage, a warm but sickly light emanating from the smooth surface 15 feet above their heads.  The stirrings of animals could be heard and Background Snakes slithered away into the foliage.  At opposite corners of the room, the roots of trees, creepers, and vines had been woven into stairs curving up.

The party took to the left stair, ascending into a chamber similar to the one they had exited, except that here an abhorrent collection of animals, somehow unnaturally mixed together, as if the Queen of the Wild in a moment madness had taken a mixing spoon and bowl to her servants.  The monsters many eyes swiveled madly as multiple snouts babbled maddeningly.  The cacophony confused Grey leaving him to growl at a nearby wall. Ulmo threw magical bolts at the disturbing beast as Tyrian hewed it with his blade.  It’s acidic spittle flew but Tyrian was able to dodge and then the gibbering mouther reached its end.  After the abomination fell, Ulmo spied a fist-size sphere of an unnatural purple gem stone, four notches oriented in the same direction where a deliberate blemish upon it’s surface.

The Spectator Key

Two exits were woven in the vegetation in the corners perpendicular to the corner our heroes had entered from.  These stairs brought them to a level much like the previous two, except in the ceiling above a tunnel stretched to a room above, red flames casting off shadows from above.  The brave trio climbed the ladder only to find a room whose walls were wreathed in flame, standing too close led to burns, and they heroes remembered that they had to run from room to room to avoid being burnt alive in the passageways connecting them.  As they plotted their next move, the giant but familiar flaming skull of Probably Grigor appeared.  As benign but unhelpful as before the demented undead indicated that more of his brethren awaited them.  Tyrian and Ulmo began making noise in attempt to draw the more malignant flame skulls into battle in the relative safety of the middle of the room. First two flaming skulls then five more came hurtling down the passageway sloping into the fiery reaches of these hell spawned chambers.  The flaming skulls fell to Ulmo’s spells and Tyrian’s sword in seconds, and the party ran to the next room, with Ulmo getting singed along the way.  The next room they ran to was occupied by a humongous flaming skull, big enough to swallow Probably Grigor whole, but too big to escape the confines of the room.  Suicidally brave the party faced the behemoth burning cranium, and when Tyrian nearly died from the flaming assault of the creature, his Mark of the Efreet flared, healed him, and vanished.  In the end their valor prevailed and the dust of the shattered skull fell upon them.  They exited the room only to find another trapdoor in the next chamber leading to an antechamber built of skull and bones.  They entered the adjacent room and climbed the long ladder through thousands of grinning skulls, on one of these levels they found a slim bar of the same purple stone as the orb.  This bar was rounded of edges and had a small bump at one end, a rune for “1” was inscribed deep within when it was held up to the torch light.  The end opposite this quarter orb slid firmly into place on the purple sphere.  They ascended from this chamber only to exit back to the dicing room.

Back in the dicing room, Tyrian cast the dice three times again to obtain four of a kind.  They were transported to a room of multi-colored tile, a voice spoke:

Use the number that unlocked this room, join all the colors and escape this doom.

Above each tile was a silver bar, flat with the wall, of the right size to fit into the sphere.  Tyrian attempted to break one from the wall without success.  Guessing that four lines could connect all the colored squares and based on Ulmo’s knowledge of numeracy they connected light blue (9, wind), brown (10, earth), blue (11, water), green (12, “wild”), red (13, fire), and black (0, death).  They walked four lines along the colored tiles to find one of the bars pop free and small notch at one end of the bar.  They reappeared in the dicing room.

Four of a Kind Challenge

Their next cast yielded three kings and two queens, and a vast sum of gold fell cascading from the ceiling.  The adventures marveled at their luck and set about gathering their loot, before casting the dice once more.  This time they obtained a series of four and reappeared in a room built of skulls and mortared by bones, hanging from a ladder in the ceiling was a tall, predatory, ebon skinned fighter who appeared to be a vampiric version of Uncle Morgrin’s secretary, S’sabis!  He held his attack when they called him by name and revealed that they had met him a thousand years from now.  Intrigued and convinced by their argument that without them he would not escape, S’sabis joined forces with our heroes.  However, Tyrian was not at ease with the thought of an elder vampire, free to walk the days under a dying sun, at the right hand of one of the most powerful men in New Roeblini City. They had to traverse two rooms of flame before climbing the heights of an overgrown arboretum some 80’ in height.  As they did so they were attacked by two sentient combinations of vine, root, leaf, and stalk.  One they slew as it descended the wall, the other they drove back mortally injured and dripping a putrid gore.  They found a wet cave opening to a pool, and breathless S’sabis was sent to investigate the dark waters.  He returned without finding a foe, but as the party swam the dark waters multiple tentacles attached to an abominable piscine came tearing through the waters.  It’s foul mucous stirred in the waters but our heroes were able to repel its attacks until S’sabis dominated the beast and it let them pass. They escaped the pool and climbed through a long slopped room of earth to a tall chamber of blowing winds, in which floated a pentagonal rod of gold with a small spherical profusion at one end.  They exited back to the dice room.

Their next cast brought them three of a kind and they were teleported to a room with three suspended platforms backed by the blackest patch of midnight.  On one of the platforms lay a slumbering cachectic cross between a panther and an octopus, a bell hanging from its neck.  The next platform a great ugly featherless chicken with a snake’s tail lay sleeping, it’s tail suspended above the last platform bearing a large chest.  Investigation of the platforms showed that they could be moved one at a time, but that moving chest would ring the bell and moving the displacer beast would drop the cockatrice’s tail on the chest.  Opposite where three cones of silence.  They moved the cockatrice then the displacer beast and finally the chest.  Expecting the chest to be their prize, Tyrian and Ulmo were surprised when it turned out to be a mimic and struck at them with great clawing hands.  It fell moments later to Tyrian’s blade but yielded up a golden triangular rod with a quarter orb at one end.  They reappeared in the dice room.

 

Three of a Kind Challenge

With Ulmo’s halfling luck they received four casts to reach all five of the same, but were unsuccessful.  The dicing table vanished replaced with a door with a half-sphere receptacle and four deep notches.  Using the riddle-rhyme of their youth and Ulmo’s knowledge of numeracy they aligned the prongs of the Spectator Key and were about to unlock the door when S’smuliss appeared.  He was temporally our of phase and alternative futures spun all about him.  He thanked them for saving him from being fooled by the Master’s of Truth and dying at the hands of Orb Worshippers, and had taken up a new mission of protecting the time stream. He warned them that they could wait to unlock this door until their own time but that it might be difficult to find a portal to accept the key.  He told them that if they opened the door now, Korlo, the boy they had saved would never have existed.  Tyrian and Ulmo weighed this council but believed that their mission to save a god and end the decay brought on by Pharthas’ death outweighed the existence of any mortal even themselves.  With their decision made, S’smuliss came more into phase and the door clicked open.

They found themselves leagues within the world, revealed to be hollow with floating, orb-like creatures with four eye stalks awakening throughout the global cavern space.  An elder spectator, named Ordus, welcomed the group and asked about the Aberration War.  He told them that his kind had come to this world during the Third of such wars and made it a Hiveworld.  He did not know who had put them to sleep but when the acts of the illithid on the surface was revealed he deduced that they had some how infiltrated and incapacitated the spectators in their home.  He rewarded the group with magical items for freeing them and S’smuliss transported them back to the future, outside the weathered ruins of the Monastery of the Masterminds, two bright sun’s in the sky.

The Apocalypse Stone or "Lemme Tarrasque a Question"

Following Boris, Dorune, Goldune, and Warrick's retrieval of the ornate egg from Castle Brave and turning it over to Gareth, the world went mad. It rained soup, then frog demons. The village near the adventurers' keep was decimated by plague. Someone (or something) slaughtered the retainers of our hero's keep and stitched them back together into horrific flesh golems. Dwarves and elves started living together. The city of Greyhawk was sucked into a massive sink hole. In all the end was upon them.

At the doughty explorer's keep, our party was attacked. Invisible fiends lashed them with magics that froze all but Boris in place. Spells were spun from the empty air while unseen talons and transparent fangs gouged the party. Brave Boris was, despite censure of his divine might, able to break the enchantment, freeing the party. Immediately the dwarf-troll hybrids went to work, one-by-one disassembling the pit fiends as Warrick lashed them eldritch might. Boris imploded the demons with his divine powers. In the end one pit fiend hovered, still invisible, above the party, punitively striking the heroes with sorcerous talents. Goldune grabbed his creche-brother and threw him at the demon, Dorune grabbing a hold and raining axe blows upon the floating fiend. The pit fiend's overlord, Maloubaub, then unmasked himself...only to be summarily destroyed by Boris' dweomer craft.

That night the party shared a dream of a snowy vale with a trail of blood leading to a distant castle. They awoke in that same vale, except no castle or bloody trail. Convinced that this was a sign of further trials they journeyed in the direction of a tower of smoke roughly in the direction that castle should have been. They found a ruined village and there were beset upon by an old knight who terrasque'd them to fight a great horned beast. Much debate occurred within the party, in the end the benefits of stopping one marauding beast versus those of stopping the apocalypse, could not be outweighed. They politely declined the knight's offer, who rode off fuming. The party was joined by a young boy, Ned, from a neighboring village who guided them on their journey.

As they journeyed further they were caught between warring factions of centaurs and wemics. Each side bemoaned their woes at the hands, hooves, or paws of their foes and each side offered a king's ransom for the adventurers to join their cause. The brothers Warbreed derided both sides as having great financial wealth which could be used to solve their problems rather than fighting over scraps. The party left the cowed lion men and horse men in their wake.

They journeyed on, coming upon a frozen knight kneeling before a forgotten, holy spring, a hidden altar to the god of justice. As they approached, the massive armored form began to move, and the skeletal visage of a death knight peered down upon the party. A deep, sepulchral voice emanated from the lungless mouth, "I am Lucius".

This Lucius turned out to be the same Lucius of legend, who with advancing age had faltered in his quest, who became jealous of his two squires' youthful prowess and struck them down, the god of justice cursing him henceforth. Remorseful, Lucius had tried all means that he could to lift his curse, to no avail. In the end, centuries ago he had come to his spring where he had remained in thoughtful prayer and contemplation. The spring's curative waters had not then or now, had any reversing effect on the justice god's curse. Hearing that the party intended to recover the Apocalypse Stone, Lucius begged to join their quest. The brothers Warbreed drank from the spring and felt invigorated. Boris took a flask of the spring's sacred waters for future use.

Their final trial took them to Ned's village, where the party interrupted the villagers from hanging an old crone, an herbalist who lived near the village. The villagers believed that the crone had kidnapped a child and sacrificed him to a demon as well as engaging in mutilation of cattle. Halting the lynch mob with a demonstration of whole body flossing using the mob provided rope, the party investigated. They found the missing child, Timi, who had fallen in a shallow well. However on investigating the crone's hovel they found the remnants of a mutilated steer. Cleared of murder, but guilty of consorting with demons, the witch was executed as a planar traitor.

Having successfully solved the challenges put fourth by the God of Justice, they were spirited away to the ruins of Castle Brave. There they found the naked and butchered corpses of many people, corpses that bore the mark of familiar ax and spell craft. Deep in a crevasse they found the madman who they thought they had killed during the last battle of Castle Brave. Although gravely injured and his body broken, the madman gibbered on. Using the healing waters of the spring, they healed the man, not only in body but in mind.

The man, speaking in a sonorous wise voice, revealed himself to be Parshawn II, who had been ruler of Castle Brave. He told our heroes that Gareth was his brother, a man twisted so by jealousy, that he had made demonic allies and cast nefarious spells to bring down Castle Brave and wrest the Apocalypse Stone from its environs. Gareth had cursed his brother with madness and polymorphed his retainers into the beasts that had attacked our heros when they raided the castle. The removal of the Apocalypse Stone from Castle Brave had started the destruction of the terrestrial plane, knocking it off its axis and severing the connection to the other planes.

By restoring Parshawn II, Boris regained a measure of his divine might. Then the disciple of justice, Parshawn, Second of His Name, transported the party to Castle Craven, Gareth's twisted replica of the now shattered home of the Apocalypse Stone. The party approached the gates, carving through the giant guards at the gate like a razor through a gelatinous cube. Inside the castle they found a team of mercenary adventures, sworn to the service of Gareth. These they dispatched with ease, despite having to face the untapped reserves of Gareth's powerful guard. In the end, they cast down the twisted half-god and liberated the Apocalypse Stone.

This object of creation was hurriedly returned to Castle Brave where Parshawn could contain its planar warping powers. He offered the heroes positions to help guard the Stone from further depredation, for he who controlled the Apocalypse Stone, controlled the stability of the planes. And so the strange band was sundered, the Warbreed taking up a new task as guardians while Warrick and Boris continued back into the world looking to greater understand eldritch and necromantic craft.

And so our tale ends...for now

Castle Brave

After defeating Azerack, Boris the necromancer, the wonderous Warrick, and the brothers Warbreed had semi-retired to a suddenly vacated large keep near the village of Bump. The villagers appreciated the more laissez faire tax laws of their new landlords and threw them a festival. At the festival a minstrel sang of Castle Brave, a mystical palace of marble and onyx created by the gods to test mortal heroes. It stood inviolate for centuries despite the gods sending their own champions to hoist their pennants over its contrasting roofs. In the end a mortal man named Parshawn who bore no weapon and rode without saddle defeated the castle and was crowned king of Castle Brave by the god of justice himself. Parshawn ruled for three centuries before finally crowning his eldest son king and vanishing in the wilds. Heroes had sought the castle for millennia since as it contained a treasure of unimaginable richness. The last knight to quest for this treasures had been one named Lucius with two squires, they had vanished thousands of years ago searching for the halls of Parshawn's heirs. It is unknown if Lucius fell before finishing his quest for whether he found the treasure and was elevated to demigodhood. The minstrel said that his mentor Dinar Fireharp had been told the story in a dream as one of the gods whispered it in his ear, and that he had in turn passed it onto his students.

The group decided to pursue rumors of Castle Brave, eventually locating an ancient sage of folklore named Thermose in the neighboring village of Rump. Thermose was doing his research from a foul smelling hovel rented for him by another group of more savory adventurers. Thermose allowed our brave companions to peruse his notes for 10000 gold ducats before he turned them over to his original employers. His notes expanded the tale of Castle Brave including that it appeared in random locations for a day before appearing somewhere else, and its terrors had to be defeated within that day or the heroes would be left behind. It further explained that only the bravest heroes would be directed to Castle Brave's location. As our companions left the hovel they encountered the three original adventurers who had hired the sage for his lore. The meeting was unpleasant but not lethal.

Eventually our doughty lads were contacted by the ethereal Prince Gareth the Kingfisher, Sign of Parshawn, who presented them with a diamond ring that contained his emblem. The ring glowed showing the bearing of Castle Brave. Gareth warned them that there would be many creatures within and around Castle Brave whose only mission was to stop them, with quarter neither given or asked. This did not concern the party oer much.

With the ring to guide them, they used magics to wind walk them to a far island upon which Castle Braves white and black walls acutely resided. Smoke rose from the island and as they flew over it they found two mated black dragons prowling the isle. They also saw a herd of gorgons chasing and consuming the petrified remains of a yuan-ti cult, fleeing their burnt temple. The party engaged the gorgons, dropping from the heavens like divine missiles. The bull abominations were no match for the cleaving waraxes of the clan Warbreed nor could they face the necromantic powers or eldritch might of Boris and Warrick. The nearly extinct yuan-ti informed our heroes that the gorgons along with the two black dragons were recent arrivals from the castle and that a third dragon, an ancient red was on the opposite side of the isle.

Concerned that the dragons would attack them on their way to Castle Brave or be strategically summoned once inside the castle walls, the brothers Warbreed, supported by the magic users sought out the ebony wyrms. They found them in their nest, slumbering, after having gorged on the local pteranodon nest. As Boris tried to use his command of fire to cow the dragons, the brothers Warbreed engaged at point blank range seeking to carve their way to the creatures acidic hearts. The troll-dwarf hybrids took incredible punishment from the acidic spittle of the creatures as well as their teeth and talons while the spellslingers chipped away at range. The twisted pair was dispatched and the party sought a greater threat under the fiery gaze of the great crimson beast.

They found the ancient red dragon devouring a seafaring folk who had discovered the island. Bolstered by Boris' protective spells the Warbreed charged the gigantic scaled horror absorbing the full holocaust of the beast's flaming breath, maw, talons, and bulk while returning hellacious axe strokes of their own backed by the spell might of Warrick and Boris. The titanic dragon was hardy and cruel but the brave band was hardier still eventually triumphing. After the fell dragon was laid low, the remaining seafarers told their tale, relating how they came to island only to be captured by the yuan-ti or slaughtered by the bird-women after scaling the cliffs to Castle Brave. These few had escaped the yuan-ti the rest had been trapped in the cauldron of flame created when the red dragon had incinerated the yuan-ti temple. The brothers hewed a small forest creating rafts for the stranded seafarers and wished them on their way.

They scaled the cliffs to Castle Brave, before its midnight and alabaster walls Boris summoned a series of increasingly powerful fire elementals. Through the destroyed portcullis they spied a despicable mew of harpies within the gatehouse. The first summoned set of living fire were dispatched against the harpies within and the two monstrous groups slew one an another. Passing through the gatehouse they came upon the castle proper, a destroyed tower, and the stables. Three more fire elementals were summoned by Boris' earlier spell and guarded the exit and other doors as our bold bravos explored the stables. As they opened the doors to the stables they were charged by four huge nightmares while nine trolls burst from the castle proper. Two of the fire elementals were extinguished but not before immolating the trolls. Meanwhile Boris forced three of the nightmares back to their own hell using his necromantic might while the Warbreed dispatched the last beneath their grim axes.

The nearby damaged tower saw the sudden demise of yet another fire elemental at the eye stalks of three macabre beholders. Boris retaliated with mystic might while the twins of chaos incarnate distracted the foul orbs with a dwarven thrower and crossbow bolts. Warrick attempted his vitriolic blast only to be nearly smitten in return, so he retreated from the fray. The ocular affronts were dispatched and the quarrelsome quartet turned their attentions on the castle proper.

They entered the halls passing up floor by floor through facing a dispatching a manticore in the boudoir and another unnamable horror in the privvy. Finally on the third floor they reached the master bedroom above which a voice cackled and paced. The adventurers took the stairs toward the sounds above and found no living thing. Inside an ornate casket held a great inlaid egg, presumably the treasure that Gareth had charged them with finding. Suddenly the Warbreed were struck by invisible magics, but they scented out their foe, who Warrick was able to see using his sentinel goggles. He described an incredibly ancient madman casting spells. He rapidly fell beneath arcana and axe. As he died the castle shook and began to self destruct. The party fled in their windwalk and returned home. As they departed the island they saw the yuan-ti raising edifices to their four new gods.

They returned to the main land only to be met by Gareth. However suspicious of his motives after seeing Castle Brave, they questioned him and they noted he emanated no evil. They gave him the ornate egg and he vanished telling them that they should expect their next challenge to be one of character, but was otherwise nonspecific.

Chapter the Seventh, Part the First: A Throw's Challenge

As the furious white wyrm froze the central core of the orrery, the stones cracked and the heroes breath was stolen in crystalline shards. At the base of the frigid tomb Tyrian and Ulmo rushed through an ornate door which they slammed behind them as the central spire of the orrery froze shut behind them. The brave companions found themselves in a chamber of well fit stone, an ancient but well kept dicing table in its center. Five dice lay spread before a cup on which was written:

Nine warriors made of wind within its core
Earth armed with creatures of half a score
Jesters of water with no mirth
Queens of the Wilds hosts only despair their hearth
Lorded over by the kings of fire
All bow down before death's ire

Roll a hand times three
Obtain as many of each as can be
Get one of three and one of four
A series large of five and series small of four
Find three and two together
Put all five as one to earn the treasure

The six faces of each dice were (1) nine black wavy lines (2) ten small red circles arranged in a circle (3) a blue two-faced jester (4) a green queen with a crown of trees (5) a red king with a crown of flames, and (6) a black leaf.

Tyrian took the first three casts choosing a hand of two aquatic jesters and the duo was transported to a water filled room with three exits. The party swam through the upper exit finding air at the end of the shaft in the room above. As they emerged in the flooded chamber they were attacked by a pack of sahguin who they beat into hasty retreat. As they exited this room, the walls shimmered and they once more found themselves before the dicing cup.

Ulmo's cast resulted in a hand of two wild queens. The pair found themselves transported to a room of similar dimensions as the aquatic maze they had just escaped, but the walls here were hidden by dense vegetation illuminated by a dim light from above. Four shafts exited this room, in the ceiling and floor as well as two opposing walls. Ulmo and Tyrian followed one of the horizontal exits and the next room found a shambling mound which fell before their combined might. This room had three additional exits, in each of the other walls. They chose the one nearest on the right, only to have the vegetation fade and once more be returned to the dicing room.

On Tyrian's next turn, his rolls yielded three burning kings and the duo found themselves in a room of familiar geometry but here the walls and ceiling were wreathed in frame. A painful heat emanated from the walls and the two quickly made their way down on of the shafts. In the hallway between the rooms, they found the flames starting to injure them and they hurried on, only to be trapped by flameskulls. The two companions faced off against three of the burning craniums only to find their way blocked by yet another of the freakish ignited undead. This one was larger and did not attack, apparently a guardian from another version of the dungeon that had been trapped in the wrong part of the constantly changing prison. Ulmo and Tyrian explored two more rooms, the second of which they were attacked by a horde of flameskulls. Facing a pyrotechnic demise they leapt down the tunnel in the floor, landing not in a fourth room of the fiery dungeon, but instead finding themselves back in the dicing room.

Ulmo's throws yielded three black leaves, and they found themselves in a room of similar dimensions with exits in each wall, ceiling, and floor but the walls were made of stacked skulls. Tyrian and Ulmo went from room to room, seemingly without end, and were surprised after the third room not to again find themselves back in the dicing room. Finally Tyrian touched one of the skulls and the hallways erupted with unlife as skeletons stacked high pulled themselves from the walls. The party wisely fled but the geometrically expanding wave of undead finally trapped them in one of the rooms. From the floor arose a three headed skeletal warrior who immediately engaged our puissant pair. The triple crowned undead drove Tyrian back into the frothing mass of skeletons in the shaft behind them while Ulmo attempted to harry the triangular terror. Tyrian smashed pate and limb as he drove his way back into the chamber to face off with the undead champion. Both grievously injured Tyrian and Ulmo nonetheless dispatched the evil and once more found themselves before the dicing cup.

Tyrian's final roll brought them through two chambers of the windswept halls of the Warriors of the Wind, before returning once more to the familiar dicing room. Ulmo's casts brought them to face the terrors of the Knights of the Earth.

After clearing the Upper Scores their next three rolls generated "a series large of five" they found themselves in a room with a single exit in the ceiling. As they surveyed the scene and planned their ascent a whirlwind formed and attacked. What followed was a swarm of windling elementals that fell before our brave bravos. They climbed to the level above finding here two connecting chambers of stone, here they faced a massive stone elemental which shattered under Tyrian's blade and Ulmo's spell. They ascended to a room above, arising onto a central platform that sloped away to two exits mostly hidden underwater. Choosing the righthanded tunnel they travelled under the water and were beset upon by more sahguin, but this time both warriors and a shaman. The two adventurers took horrendous wounds, felling the warriors but were almost finished by the shaman. They were able to escape back to the air after nearly facing a watery grave at the warlock's piscine talons. Back on the platform, they rested and regained their might. They then cut a narrow crevice into the platform and into the tunnel, lowering the water level significantly on the right hand side and flooding the rooms below. Ulmo and Tyrian now on more even breathing terms then dispatched the foul sahguin shaman.

To be continued...

The inspiration behind the of "physics" of this dungeon was the game Yahtzee. The poem above is essentially the rules of the game. For the upper scores the number of die showing the same symbol is the number of rooms before that section of dungeon terminates. Each symbol has a value between 1 and 6, indicating the number of exits, favoring exits in the ceiling and floor for geometrical challenge. Incidentally, I used Royal Flush Poker Dice rather than regular six sided dice, which inspired the poem and led to an addition to the pantheon and numerology of the campaign.

Chapter the Sixth: Small But Deadly Heavens

From the Cathederalisle of Drouss, Ulmo and Tyrian sailed back to the Mother Enclave of the Roeblini to find passage on to the Monastery of the Masterminds. With Tyrios help they secured passage with a "trade" vessel headed near the forgotten psychic order's retreat. The Monastery proved to be a great sphere of some otherworldly material perched precariously and dwarfing a small island rising from the Forest Sea. In a small bay nestled next to the sphere, a hobgoblin pirate raider lay docked, two landing craft beached on the coarse sand. Rough shod footsteps led up to a crevasse in the cliff face, below the horizon of the alien sphere.

As the doughty adventurers approached, black arrows arched from the darkness of the cave. Tyrian rushed the entrance with Ulmo using his much larger comrade as cover. Inside the cave mouth two hobgoblin archers engaged the adventurers. The fierce humanoids were quickly joined by several more hobgoblins armed with flails and swords. The two adventurers made short work of the hobgoblin raiders, the remaining three surrendering and fleeing in their vessel. From the rough cave, well carved stairs rose to a platform at the equator of the great sphere.

From this platform Ulmo and Tyrian saw a vast orrery shrouded in mist, its heavenly bodies replaced by orbiting ruins and debris. Winged shapes twisted between the many gravitational fields of the flying bodies of the orrery. To the left and right two large flaming bodies representing suns burned in the salty fog. Through a hidden crack in the base of the sphere, a large pool of seawater had gathered, forming a small sea. Tyrian with Ulmo on his back, leapt to the first planetoid, only to find it running near the orrery's twin suns. The suns were revealed to be firelashers imprisoned for the past millennia, as the firelasher reared back to strike it noticed Tyrian's Mark of the Efreet and stayed its hand.

Ulmo and Tyrian lept to the next orbiting ruin, a water scarred and wet mass that plunged into the briny sea at the base of the orrery. However just before they met the dark water, the adventurers lashed themselves to the stalagmites. As they struck the water, a spiked tentacle belonging to an otyugh hidden in the waters struck, dragging Tyrian to the edge of the ruin. However, Tyrian wrestled the foul tentacle from his body before he could be dragged from the rocks and into the beast's diseased maw. As the adventurers' lungs burned for air, a party of sahuagin intercepted the sinking island. As the fish priest attacked with water bolts and spectral shark maw, his Ichthy minions engaged in melee with vicious tridents. Tyrian threw himself into the midst of the blood mad fishmen as Ulmo cast his icy daggers at their foe. The battle raged in murky depths, each blow payed with the strain of sinews or a drop of blood but all taxed by lungs desperate for air. Despite the brave explorers waning strength, more and more of the fish demons fell before the remaining three fled.

As soon as the planetoid burst from the dark waters, the party quickly jumped to the next planetoid, another fragment and its moonling that orbited near the two suns. Here they rested and made the transient acquaintance of a firebat before being attacked by a wandering gargoyle. They jumped again to another orbiting ruin that plunged into the grey green waters below. Here Ulmo was nearly swept away by the otyugh's tentacle. The party leapt to another element of the orrery's collection, a large slab of stone with multiple alcoves housing gargoyles in their hibernation/statue state. Two of the grotesque statues came to life, the gargoyles rushing to attack the party. They were dispatched by the magic and might of the two explorers. They escaped via the planetoid's small moon and debris field, hurtling like asteroids through the orrery.

The party's next planetoid was revealed to be the animate head of a nameless titan, who had explored the planes eons ago. The skull was able to help the party identify their next destination, an invisible planetoid that they marked with dust. They rode the invisible rock until meeting another fragment of a room, again making the daring leap between the heavenly bodies. The next inner orbit held a dirty white rock, resembling a dragon, Ulmo and Tyrian leapt only to discover that this planetoid was indeed a sleeping dragon, named Glacier White Death who was none to amused by the sudden hijinks of two humanoid mortals. As the wyrm woke and flared its wings, Ulmo and Tyrian leapt to a small fragment, nearest the central tower of the orrery. As they tried to calm and influence the irate dragon, they inched toward their final leap. Ulmo and Tyrian crossed the last span and divide into the tower stairs. Glacier White Death sealed the tower with its icy breath and the adventurers scampered down the stairs as the dragon's fury shook the very stones.

Orrery of the Monastery of the Masterminds

Chapter the Fifth: No Time Like the Past

As the party exited the tunnels of the Lowcitadel of Khavash they came upon a storage area and the voices of a busy harbor. Dock workers speaking in the old S'suman dialect drew closer and the party withdrew back into the tunnels, now strangely lit by torches. The workers spotted the party and ran for the guards who arrived as the group took a fortified position on the beach despite being strangely blinded by the bright yellow sun. The Khavashan harbor guard bore odd spears, more primitive versions of those carried by the Tollmasters. With some deft lies and rapid translation from S'smuliss the party was able to escape eastward toward New Roeblini City along the narrow beach of the Forrest Sea.

Tyrian and Ulmo rapidly realized that the world at the end of the tunnels of the Lowcitadel was not the same as the one they had left behind when they began their escape from Khavash. Given the change in the Southern sun's brightness and the appearance of Godslayers of a different epoch, the two surmised that they had somehow been transported back in time. They carefully made their way along the sandstone cliffs and narrow beach toward New Roeblini City or whatever city they would find at this point in history.

The next day they came upon the wreck of a huge Roeblini Warraider Galley with an unfamiliar clan-faction sigil painted on its four story bow. The broken nose of the ship revealed a huge gash into the galley slaves rowing quarters. Tyrian was pawed at by a rotting hand and quick inspection revealed hundreds of shackled zombies, the galley slaves now sharing an imprisoned undeath just as they had in life. Deciding to avoid the shackled horde, Tyrian threw a hook and line to the deck above and ascended to the deck above. There he was assaulted by a zombie rotter that he quickly dispatched. As he hoisted Ulmo to the deck, S'smuliss engaged with his falchion the next shambling undead. As Ulmo reached the railing he called upon chaotic forces to destroy not only the creature attacking his comrades but the next closest as well. With deliberate precision the party dispatched the remainder of the zombies, lumbering with slow menace.

They made their way to the barred doors of the captain's tower and striking upon the doors they roused the remnant (living) survivors of the Warraider. Behind the doors were five survivors, including a blond stripling who appeared as like to Morgrin as a twin separated by millenia, named Tyrios. They ransacked what little they could and broke down the doors of the captain's quarters. Inside they found an iron chest with many gold imperials and silver fingers as well as eagle eye goggles. The party lit the doomed wreck aflame and fled to the east along the narrow sandy beach.

A few days later they came upon a familiar bay with an unfamiliar city. The S'suman Imperial City lay in grandiose splendor beneath the Griffon Cliffs. Great grey-white walls ringed a city that dwarfed the chancre that would grow on its remains in the future. The architecture was the high art of the peak of the Godslayer Imperium, gray roofs upon white walls. At the gate the party was charged with visas of entry and license to practice magic. With these documents came official escorts, polite but ever present. They directed the group to the docks so that the beleaguered survivors of the Warraider could return to the Mother Enclave. Tyrios asked and received permission to remain with Ulmo and Tyrian. As they walked the streets, trumpets sounded and they were commanded to bow their heads. An eight man litter bearing a masked alien humanoid with a familiar black shako came through the streets. Four paladin guards rode in formation, one strikingly familiar, a living S'smuliss. As the living past locked eyes with the undead future a stark realization occurred and the skeletal warrior evaporated. A shaken S'smuliss dropped a ruby ring into the waiting clutches of Grey. The ring had an ornate glyph for "truth" floating in its center.

Ulmo and Tyrian were escorted to the only inn that served foreign travelers in the Imperial City. The next morning they were met by S'smuliss, who reclaimed his ring, and questioned them regarding his skeletal doppleganger. The two heros related what they knew about his future history and warned him of the ambush by orb worshippers. He invited them as his guests in the city and gave them bands marking them as such. Seeking to know more about the future destruction of the Southern Sun, they sought the temple of Avandra to learn more about the Masters of the Truth, who explained the cult's growing following among the city's elite and their tenants of spurning the gods. They were directed to the makeshift sage and wizard's guild called the Thinker's Corner. There they discussed the theology of killing a god with one S'shadrick. He explained that if the Masters of Truth wished to kill a god they could do it with an arcane, divine, or psychic weapon powerful enough or by diverting most of the deity's followers to another belief. He believed that either method might be used by the Masters if they sought the ultimate goal of their philosophy.

Later Ulmo and Tyrian spoke with S'smuliss regarding the Masters of Truth. He would hear no word against his benefactors, as they had healed both himself and his sister after a terrible riding accident, something that the priests of Pharthas the Southern Sun had refused as part of his destiny, a frivolous injury that did not further the service of their god. Unable to obtain more information regarding the Masters in the city, the heros decided that they needed to learn more about the Masters of Truth and the danger they presented elsewhere. Two avenues presented themselves, with the first they could travel to the front of the war with the Condraconacy, to see if the weapon of the Masters of Truth could be found and stopped. The second was also a long shot, it seemed likely that a god was directing the steps of our heros and as such the most likely one doing that was Drouss, the Northern Sun, the brother and rival of Pharthas.

They travelled north via a small Roeblini trader, along the way becoming fouled in a vile jelly floating on the ocean currents. The band dispatched it with axe and arcane craft. They arrived at the Cathedralisle of Drouss, sailing into port in the vast sea cave at the temple's base. They climbed to the cathedral floor and under the crystal ceiling of the church, Tyrian called upon Drouss for a sign. The god manifested himself in Tyrian's mind's eye as he hovered in the air, searing sunlight emanating from his orifices and steam evaporating from his skin. Drouss, a platinum-haired giant, bearing a solar halberd and a shield cut from the sky, gave audience to the paltry mortal. Ulmo and Tyrian had been chosen by fate as the agents of great change. The gods had long played games with the heroes and kingdoms of the world, but when the Godslayers slew Pharthas, Drouss lost his greatest rival and lost his meaning, starting his slow mortal decline. In order to prevent this he had foreseen that our two heros would fall through a temporal anomaly and go back in time to a moment that would make it possible to stop the Masters of the Truth. The future Drouss left information hidden the crevices of their minds to inform his past self about the fall of Pharthas.

The ordeal of his divine audience bleached Tyrian's hair a platinum hue. Following his recovery, the high priest of Drouss directed them to a scrying pool within a sea cave in order that they might learn what was hidden under the masks of the Masters of Truth. They scryed upon one of these fanatics and witnessed what was under the mask: the horrific tentacled visage of a mind flayer. Armed with this insight into their foe, Ulmo and Tyrian decided that they needed magics for dealing with mind powers of the illithids. The priests of Drouss knew of an abandoned psion monastery some leagues away, that might hold the magics they sought. Tyrian and Ulmo made ready for the next leg of their journey.

Chapter the Fourth: Escape Through the Lowcitadel of Khavash

The brave party made ready their plans for escaping the city and returning to New Roeblini City with information about the Condraconacy's incursion into Roeblini territory. One-Eye Morgrin provided the doughty companions with the address of a ruined Godslayer Imperium villa, alleged to access the sewers and the Lowcitadel of Khavash, as well as sketches of these tunnels drawn by the eladrin explorer Yslir. The group avoided Condraconacy patrols reaching the broken manse by sunset, as they explored the invaded interior of the villa, they heard the stealthy approach of a large dragonborn patrol, led by the insidious voice of Captain Blackfang.

Ulmo found a set of doors hidden behind the rubble and the party quietly exited the star roofed hall, bracing the doors behind them. They found a twisted corridor in the same antique style of the shattered hall. A single door brought the hallway to stairs leading to dark tunnels below the villa. They explored the narrow corridors coming upon a moonbeam lit well, the guttural voices of the dragonborn echoing from above. As they waited in ambush the dragonborn soldiers were attacked by a hag residing in the pool and the two enemies clashed. The party snuck away in the melee coming to a stout wooden door, but would later return to this pool to find a large clear diamond.

The door had a great iron mask, coarsely painted in red. As they opened the door it spoke, "The key from the Goblin's Gate is three parts greed." These words made little sense until they found a portcullis barricaded gate blocking a bridge stretching to a tower disappearing into the depths. They could not force or open the mystical metal of the bars but looking at the goblin caricature door leading to this chamber they found slots for three gems. The brave band ventured back into the tunnels to find the gems necessary to open the gate. A greater urgency placed upon them after what they had overhead from the dragonborn guards at the well mouth, that more troops would be coming to search the tunnels.

The party backtracked coming upon the villa's familial crypts. In one of the funeral coffers they found a midnight opal. They explored further climbing stairs into the hill next to the razed mansion, finding an ancient temple to the Godslayer's dichotomous practices. The temple was home to a rare demonic shade whose lava-like sinews were only half of its dread arsenal, its shadow too was a fierce assailant. Only the combined mystical and martial of might Ulmo and Tyrian could put down this threat.

The temple's sacrificial altar opened into a pocket dimension caught somewhen between the Planes of Fire and Earth, now used as and Efreeti Rookery. Here they found Izael, an efreet youngling, a child with the undeveloped powers of a god. Floating in one of the miniature volcanos of the Rookery a fiery ruby lay waiting. However Izael was not so willing to relinquish his bauble and only some cajoling with treasure from Tyrian allowed the party to liberate the gem for their purposes.

Tyrian, Ulmo and their companions returned to the Goblin's Gate placing their acquired stones in the gate's receptacles, allowing them passage to the bridge spanning the void to a thin tower stretching into the depths. The tower contained a narrow stairway to an elevated platform, under which a hobgoblin mercenary and his goblin minions waited in ambush. The party engaged the humanoids in melee, only to have the hobgoblin trip a lever bringing the tower down. The collapse buried and slew Mara the Whiteshade while it destroyed the lower half of the undead paladin S'Smuliss. The few remaining goblins scurried down the hall.

The party pursued their escaping foes, catching all but one of them in the twisted tunnels of the Lowcitadel of Khavash. They finally came upon the last goblin clenched in the jaws of the black dragon named Constellation. The dragon told them of its curse, bound here as a guardian until four gems were inserted in its collar. Ulmo noted that one gem already lay clenched in the claws of the dragon, the party travelled back into the depths of the Lowcitadel to find the remainder of the gems necessary to unlock the curse collar. They found them spread through the ruins below the crippled tower as well as having to ascend to the level before the Goblin's Gate.

The gems unlocked Constellation's collar and then they used the chain to scale down to the sea caves below, granting access to the Khavash docks.

Chapter the Third: An Unexpected Toll and a Less Expected Ambassador

Tyrian and Ulmo wroth at their ill intentioned exile from New Roeblini City rode with their companions along with the lumbering reptiles of the caravan. They climbed the narrow roadway of the Griffon Cliffs to the main thorough fare running to Khavash, carefully winding between the reptile infested jungles and the cliffs overseeing the Forest Sea. The first days travel was uneventful but on the second day an ominous black tower appeared in the distance. The appearance of the tower brought grim mutterings from the animal handlers and caravan drivers, on further questioning the brave companions learned of the legend of the Tollmasters.
To believe the stories told, this mysterious black tower would appear from time to time, its attendants would summon champions to test the towers dark secrets. Sometimes these champions would reappear, sometimes not. In some cases caravans would disappear and the Tollmasters would be thought to blame. Once sighted the tower must be approached, attempts to flee only made it appear closer in the new course. Dravis, the boney caravan master corroborated these tales and then smirked that he was fortunate to have two such champions in his train.
Finally they approached the tower, an alien cigar shape settled inexplicably on a ledge far too thin to support so huge a weight. From it stretched a blood red carpet and awning to an ornate and flimsy toll gate. The gate was guarded by tall inappropriately articulated humanoids wearing coats of the same blood red appointed with black cuffs, caricature masks, and shakos. They bore thin twisted staves which they pointed at a few members of the train causing them to drop dead until Tyrian and Ulmo agreed to the psychic entreaties to enter the tower.

First Level

The doughty pair entered the black tunnel, no so much built as cut from the tower material for it was not stone but some black otherness. About a foot from the floor a sickly light emanated and as the two companions braved the tower they found an intersection, in each direction including the way they came the hallway was mystically obfuscated by haze. Braving this haze in all four directions revealed four rooms each with a separate button: red, blue, green, and white. They pushed the white button located at the end of the hall that had replaced the one they entered from. This opened a trap door in the room above stood five petrified hobgoblins all uniformed in red. Fearing a trap, they returned below and pushed the green button causing six hobgoblins to materialize and attack them, Ulmo and Tyrian dispatched the humanoids.

Second level

They returned to the white room and climbed through the trap door, they slid the five petrified occupants through the trapdoor before investigating the other rooms. The other rooms revealed respectively three, seven, and no petrified hobgoblins. Ulmo and Tyrian chose the room with no hobgoblins and pushed the button in this room, this caused a trap door to open in the ceiling.

Third level

They climbed through the trapdoor to find an empty room with a single lever. The ceiling above was of glass, showing murky water with many predatory shapes. This glass ceiling spread throughout the level and each room as well as the intersection had a single lever. Unable to discern a difference, they pulled the lever at the intersection, revealing a humid, rusty tube with a ladder in the side. The two adventurers scaled the rungs as foul scaly things bumped and wriggled against the outside.

Fourth level

They ascended into the intersection above, here each of the four rooms bore a large button with a red 4, blue 4, green 5, and yellow 6, respectively. When they activated the yellow 6 button a flight of six stirges was released and they fought a retreating action slaying three of them. They faired no better in the green 5 room where more stirges were released. Finally the returned to red 4 room where activating the button produced a small rain of dirt and the trap door opened to the level above.

Fifth level

This room had a floating chalice of earth, and each of the succeeding rooms chalices of wind, water, and fire. At the intersection an empty chalice waited. Ulmo and Tyrian tried placing each element in the central intersections chalice only to arouse belligerent elmentalings which attacked them. In the midst of one such attack two errant stirges found and attacked the Ulmo, nearly costing him his life. Finally the use of earth in the central chalice activated the trapdoor to the level above.

Sixth level

This level had a ceiling of glass with the unpleasant amplified sound of a writhing mass of giant insects scratching on the glass. The four rooms held alternating numbers of skeletons in the double digits, all of them except one holding an odd number. Any interference with the skeletal guardians activated them causing them to attack. Ulmo and Tyrian fled these odds, and when they returned the numbers had reset with one room holding an even number. They selected the lever in this room and climbed the metal tube to the next level, all the time hearing the ravenous clawing of millions of chitinous fangs and appendages.

Seventh level

They entered a tableau that was a horrific mirror image of the level below, a floor of glass barely containing the same hungry writhing mass of giant insects. The four rooms on this have buttons, respectively red 3, blue 5, green 6, and yellow 5. Tyrian selected the yellow 5 and the glass floor vanished sending the brave duo into the ravenous swarm.

Tyrian and Ulmo woke with the same fevered nightmare of being eaten alive by insects. A cursory examination revealed new scars on both the doughty companions and with more careful investigation they found that caravan was a half a days journey further along than anyone expected. When they investigated the Dravis' manifest they found that a full third of the wagons, drovers, and caravan folk had vanished with no recollection amongst any of them that they had ever been there. Dravis swore them to secrecy and presumably doctored the manifest to not reflect the cost of failing the Tollmasters. Tyrian and Ulmo both had a dark premonition that this would not be the last time they would see that tower of trapped terrors.
The remaining three days of travel to Khavash were uneventful, some large dinosauroid herbivores were easily dissuaded and no bandit crew saw the well armed caravan as economically feasible target. They came upon the city as it crawled out of the jungle, a great ivory tower spanning the mighty river Kha before it spilled over the cliffs into the Forest Sea below. The tower base split into four walls that split the city into four quarters. The caravan off-loaded its wares and Dravis paid their wages.
The two heroes went to explore the city as they did they heard deep bellows of "MAKE WAY FOR THE AMBASSADOR, MAKE WAY FOR FLAME OF THE SKY". A thousand strong contingent of dragonborn infantry marched along with a litter for a mature red dragon, bedecked in treasures. The column was cheered by the natives of Khavash, much to the disgust of S'smuliss who had fought in the wars against the Condraconacy centuries ago. Ulmo had the impression they were being watched and shortly after was greeted by an exuberant Fairsal who had traveled to Khavash as a guard for another merchant. His mission had been less than successful as the brainless lizard man was bearing the rotting corpse of his employer around and seemed unclear as to why the merchant had yet to compensate him.
The party went in search of magic items for sale and found Whitemane Alchemy Limited in the Second District. They found the front entrance surrounded by purposefully loitering dragonborn. Their grim mutterings and pointed attachment to their weapons rapidly convinced Tyrian and Ulmo that the Condraconacy envoy had less than peaceful intentions. They decided to seek out the backdoor, which turned out to have a sentient handle which nearly bit off Tyrian's hand at the wrist. The handle's protestations brought the proprietor, Mara the Whitemane, an elderly alchemist with hair turned preternaturally white. She wasted little time in recommending that they all depart the city as quickly as possible. She gathered up her alchemical stock as well as two experimental harnesses and accompanied them to the nearest gate back to New Roeblini City.
At the gate they found the Khavash city guard accompanied by a new contingent of dragonborn officers and troops. A sheepish guard, under the penetrating gaze of a dragonborn soldier, muttered something about internal security and that exit from Khavash was closed for today. The party saw this only as more evidence of the Condraconacy rapidly fastening an iron grip on Khavash. They turned to Mara who mentioned that she had occasional dealings with the Rogue's Collective and believed that her contact worked out of the Last Lizard Man Motel in the Fourth District Fortunately Fairsal had been staying there and new the way exactly.
The Last Lizard Man Motel is the seediest of inns, a glorified flop house that offers boiling mud pits much relished by lizardfolk, it is the most villainous and murderous location in Khavash. At the center of the inn a bar floated gently on the mud pits. Behind the bar stood a familiar figure, that appeared to be Uncle Morgrin only slimmer and wearing an eyepatch. Apparently this was a clone (or the original?) from one of Morgrin's capers when he was younger. He (they?) was caught in a trap which cloned him but due to Morgin's unique opportunism the two did not fall to killing each other but rather working together to try to finish the caper. Morgrin One-eye hinted that there are several more copies out there due to repeated triggering of the trap. He would sell them a map and a guide through the smuggler tunnels beneath Khavash.

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Chapter the Second: An Earthquake, the Swallower, and A New Friend

The two friends had their early morning slumbers disturbed by a ferocious shaking as the very roots of the city shook themselves in a fierce earthquake. When they took their morning repast at the Last Good Time Tavern they noticed many urchins surrounding a large crevice in the firmament of Whores and Harlots Street. Paying this no mind they enjoyed their grog porridge, until their gustatory enjoyment was interrupted by the heartrending wails of a young woman. As they rushed to investigate they were brushed aside by Uncle Morgrin as brought the inconsolable Lucinda into the tavern. Lucinda's grief was soon known, her only son Karlo had fallen down into the crevasse and had not been heard from since. Wasting no time Tyrian and Ulmo retrieved their gear and entered the depths.
They climbed down the craggy edges of the crevasse finding no track of the lad, although Grey picked up his scent as well as the scent of other creatures. As they were about to search in the direction Grey's nose pointed them they were accosted from above by a sharply dressed gentleman in an elegant hat, cravat, and coat bearing a finely polished walking stick. He ordered them out of the tunnels on the authority of City Works. This was the first time but certainly not the last, that Tyrian and Ulmo met Garrus Andova, City Works Maester. Just then the brave duo was assaulted by tusked goblins whom they rapidly dispatched with blade and mage craft.
The party followed the curving caverns into a large cave sitting below the Last Good Time. In the middle of the cavern lay a crack through which Tyrian and Ulmo could see a putrid, dark lake, the center a swirling, ever ravenous whirlpool. From the level below and from an adjacent tunnel, reverberant foul chanting could be heard, praise to some best forgotten dark gods.


Following the chanting of mad priests through the twisting tunnel they came to a branch. At the center was crystalline growth that looked to have etched it way slowly into the rock, forming a depression in the path. It vibrated with sensorium felling frequency so that Grey lost the scent. As Ulmo walked past the crystals they shone with a bright intensity. Compelled by curiosity he touched the stones only to be caught in an explosive backlash, injuring him but charging him with greater arcane power. They party did a cursory examination of the the rightmost branch finding three more branch points without investigating the endpoints fully. They backtracked and instead took the leftmost tunnel coming upon the primed and ready goblin thralls of the Swallower. Soon they were engaged in a fierce melee and the party withdrew down the tunnels due to withering archery fire. Tyrian and Ulmo underestimated the cunning of the goblin tribe as several speargoblins snuck along the less thoroughly investigated tunnels to ambush the party from behind. Tyrian acted as a staunch rearguard, twirling his mighty great axe in vorpal patterns. Meanwhile the oft-underestimated jaws of Grey and the spectacular magecraft of Ulmo kept the goblin numbers thinned on the forefront.
However the sheer numbers that the goblin's overlord was willing to sacrifice to capture the party was enough to wither their numbers, first Grey, then Ulmo, and then Tyrian fell before the goblin spears and their skullcrusher sergeant. They awoke loosely bound at the precipice of the hungry whirlpool, with them was the young boy Karlo. A bizarrely armored humanoid with a broken beholder helm was directing two goblin thralls, who were prodding them with spears toward the Swallower. Tyrian shredded his bonds on a nearby stalagmite and gripped the spear head of one of the goblins. As he made to pummel the tusked facies his opponent, Neverlost appeared in his hand, and he drove the blade home. The orb helmed priest ensorcelled Karlo who began to walk to his summoning and then turned to leave. Meanwhile Ulmo and Tyrian were in mortal combat with the two goblins, while Grey attempted to drag the boy against the summons. The priest used his helm to open the great portcullis protecting the inner temple letting the bars fall shut behind him. He then turned and proceed to use an unknown force to hurl first Tyrian and Ulmo into the waters of the Swallower. Ulmo was able to land a parting shot, nearly the freezing the priest to the bone while Tyrian levered them both back onto the rocky altar edge. When they had regained their bearings, the priest had fled.
They examined the portcullis but were unable to find an opening mechanism, although it appeared to be an amalgam of iron and the crystal that Ulmo had touched earlier. Ulmo suspected that his might be of an opposite polarity to the earlier substance and the party did well not to touch it. Using a spear and a feat of epic might, Tyrian was able to lever the portcullis a small way open, enough for himself, Grey, and Karlo to slip through. Ulmo had of course simply teleported to the other side. Outside the portcullis the party investigated the plaintive calls of an eladrin maiden, named Yslir. They found her in a sealed cell, which they could not open, however the bars seemed to of a similar material as the portcullis. The heroes reasoned that the beholder helm could be used to open this cell. What they could not explain was the door behind the cell: an ancient architecture more advanced than any found in Roeblini.
The party travelled along the twists and turns of the ancient temple of the Godslayers until they found another sacrificial holding cell, this one near a fountain of black water, running in reverse. The holding cell door was shattered and cast open. As Ulmo examined the fountain luminous eyes grew larger and a waterlogged zombi leapt from the waters, fetid water pouring from its mouldering flesh. Simultaneously another undead thing crawled from the maw of the broken cell, stalking directly toward comatose Karlo. Ulmo spat spellfire from his fingers as Tyrian charged forward launching the zombie back into the cell where it fell with a sickening sound. Suddenly Ulmo was launched forward into a plinth of rock by the force of the beholder helm, the fell priest had come upon the adventurers from a side passage. With Tyrian, Ulmo, and Grey's combined might and no where to run, the priest was gravely injured, then felled by the icy bolts of Ulmo's fury.
The party then found the priest's secret lair, a tomb holding a great sarcophagus. They raided the remnants of the treasure, but as Tyrian made a rubbing of sarcophagus it began to open, revealing the 7 foot skeleton of a proud warrior-priest. The skeleton rose, proclaiming itself to S'smuliss. At first not quite realizing that he was reanimate, S'smuliss swore allegiance to Tyrian for freeing him. Using the beholder helm the party freed Yslir and made its way back to the surface.
In the hot persistent twilight of Roeblini, Morgrin the Fat was arguing with Garrus Andova regarding the violation of the covenants protecting New Roeblini City from the Undercity. Fearing reprisals Uncle Morgrin quickly ushered his two liegemen into the Last Good Time Tavern and told them to get out of the city until things quieted down a little bit. Tyrian and Ulmo accompanied by S'smulis and Grey offered themselves guards on the next caravan rolling out of town.

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Grey's Picture Album: On Vacation on the Prime Material -- Temple ofthe Swallower

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Chapter The First: Deeds at the Duelist, Too Many Rats, and a Dog NamedGrey

In this first installment of our tale two unrelated brothers met, a mad halfling sorceror one Ulmo the Lucky and Tyrian Morgankin. Ulmo had but recently been banned from the Tunnelwebs of the Dwarves and forcibly evicted into the sordid gem that is New Roeblini City. Meanwhile Tyrian the last survivor of an ill fated sea raiding party sought out his distant uncle, Morgrin, within the city's limits. Ulmo eager to earn coin and challenge fate sought out the Duelist Inn, a decapitated tower some distance from the city's central waters, where the brave battled the foolish for wagers of gold. Coincidentally, this was also the frequent haunt of Morgrin. On the skiff ride to the brawling bar the fateful meeting of the two heroes occurred.
At the bar Tyrian met the voluptuous Lucinda who guided him to his uncle, meanwhile Ulmo watched one strange dueling pair after the other before offering challenge to the intimidating Fairsal, a great lizard man who's might sinews were backed by a tissue-like will. Ulmo was declared the winner by nervous breakdown. Meanwhile as Tyrian spoke to his uncle, he learned that Morgrin on of the Seafarer faction of the House of Heros was in political stalemate, his smallest political machination undone before he could implement it. He suspected a spy but could not root him out, perhaps Tyrian and his new friend could help. Ulmo then faced Squinteye Eik, a gnomish lurker, who he defeated. When it was found that Eik had welshed on his side of the bet, the Roeblini made ready to gut him as was their fashion, Tyrian defended him saying that a man or gnome's life was worth more than a few gold sails. Uncle Morgrin, aghast at such a statement from a Roeblini raider's son, dueled him with wooden swords, but was impressed with the martial might of his distant nephew, publicly proclaiming one of Morgrin's men. Squinteye Eik was stripped naked and cast into Roeblini's murky waters, his possessions given to Ulmo. The gnome was seen swimming for the city proper, but never made landfall, yet another victim to that which prowls the depths.
Morgrin took them aboard his gondola, briefly showing them the cityscape: the Whores and Harlots Street, the Bazaar, the Chieftan's Tower, and the Halls of Heroes and Merchants. Morgrin took them to the Seafarer faction's offices, an ornate if rundown shamble a short walking distance from the deserted and even more disheveled Hall of Heroes. At the door they found a sleeping guard, Byl, surprised to see his patron returned. Inside they met Morgrin's servant scribe, S'sabis, before being ushered into Morgrin's sprawling office a collection of decades of adventure, war, monster killing, political infighting, maps, and discarded tankards. Here Ulmo thought he noticed something skittering into the shadows, but Morgrin dismissed his concerns regarding rats stating that they were a fact of life in the city. The three discussed their plans and eventually decided to enter Avandra's Run, a race run by carrying a compatriot through the streets from the Beach Gate to the Temple of Avandra at the opposite end of the city. Ulmo and Tyrian would use preparation for the race as cover to investigate the spy within Uncle Morgrin's midst.
The mismatched pair were surprised at the Roeblini rats, larger and capable of using complex tools Tyrian and Ulmo suspected that these might actually be the spies. They sought out the freelance but permanently hired animal monster control specialist, Sutton. The scarred ranger admitted that the rodents here were certainly larger and more intelligent than rats elsewhere but he refused to help them. He gave them dire warnings about an Undercity thought to be a myth by most.
Seeking a way to track the rats the partners sought out the Magic Shoppe. Here they met the mighty Arcus, a wizard apparently caught within a beautiful gold statue of a man. The articulate edifice summoned a celestial rat terrier named Grey, so named for his silver flecked coat. Tyrian dispatched Grey to follow the rats and find a way for them to follow the mutated rodents.
As Grey prowled the sewer tubes chasing the rats, Tyrian and Ulmo competed in Avandra's Run. Ulmo was loaned some goggles to improve his vision, Tyrian was armed with the blade Neverlost and a stout cudgel. They soon found themselves in fourth place behind a dragonborn mounted kobold, two humans, and two warforged. Behind them many other competitors stretched including a massive, drooling dwarf and his human jockey. They caught the warforged who both began to pummel our heroes. Tyrian placed a strategic blow to the legs of the running automaton who fell in a tangle. They ran until up ahead they saw the two human runners slain by arrow crossfire. Deciding to avoid this death trap they cut into the alleyways, closely followed by the ravened dwarf. Ulmo picked off the berserk dwarf's rider after he shot Tyrian with a poisoned dart he was able to shrug off. As the dwarf closed, Grey threw himself at the dwarf's feet, tripping him. Tyrian burst into the street behind the dragonborn. Ulmo used his magic and noticed the kobold was unaffected, suspecting a mirage, Ulmo saw through the illusion. As Tyrian drew even with the saurian, they were both tackled by the exhausted dragonborn. As they fell they noticed a ringer sprint past them, two racers that they had not seen earlier at the start of the race. Tyrian sprinted after the runners, passing them just before the finish line. Tyrian and Ulmo had won Avandra's Run.
A few days after the race, Grey returned to the adventurer's apartments with a belt attached to which were four small vials of liquids. Grey had been unable to find a normal sized entrance but had seen some mansized humanoids consume the vials to shrink down and traverse the drain tubes. Tyrian and Ulmo planned to go to the drain nearest the mansized tunnels and follow Grey. They shrank themselves and climbed down the rough hewn drain pipe to a smooth 10" diameter tube of an ancient and more refined architecture. Grey led them unerringly through the foul tubes until they encountered some of Roeblini's odd rats. A fierce battle commenced in the tight passageways, three rats relatively the size of horses were left as cold corpses. After the battle Tyrian noticed that the passageway was shrinking as the effects of the vials wore off. The party hurried through the tunnels running more and more hunched. Finally they were engaged by more rats, Tyrian and Ulmo drank their second and final potions returning to their shrunken size, then slew the rapacious rats.
They exited into a the ruins of an old street, both sides bracketed by what appeared to be demolished barracks. The ceiling appeared to be the aftereffect of rapidly frozen lava. The floor was dusty cobblestones, large heavy booted foot prints surrounded by thousands of rat prints and droppings. Some distance to the north the passageway was collapsed, so the party followed the prints to the south coming upon a lit cross tunnel.
This cross passage opened into an oval room filled with sketches, maps, and notes regarding key players of the New Roeblini City. Tyrian suspected that this was written in an ancient form of draconic as he could recognize but not decipher the words as he and Ulmo collected key items of evidence. They also retrieved two more vials of the mysterious shrinking potion. They inspected the three rooms attached to the oval room, one a store room, the second a treasury with gemstones and many gold sails, and the last a sleeping room with three pallets. As they finished their search, Tyrian and Ulmo heard approaching bootsteps. They quickly hid in the storeroom as two dragonborn spies Coldfang and Warscale entered speaking in draconic about the low output of viable intelligence in the last few weeks. As they argued they were joined by Captain Blackfang who told them they had new orders from central command. Suddenly the captain noticed the missing items and the three dragonborn drew their weapons, the captain then searched the hallway realizing that the party was trapped within the underground encampment.
As the two groups had a silent stalemate, Captain Blackfang hurled flaming oil into the treasury, only to be blasted by Ulmo's arcane might. As he made ready to do the same into the store room where the heroes were hiding. Knowing what was to come next Tyrian followed by Grey exploded from the side passage, engaging Coldfang and Warscale, as large bottle off flaming oil was hurled into Ulmo's midst who sprang out the door only to fall prone at Blackfang's feet. The captain engaged the halfling trying to prod him back into the flames, and by the greatest stroke of luck, the saurian slipped and stumbling over the halfling nearly fell into inferno. With mighty sword strokes Tyrian hewed Coldfang to the floor as Grey worried the throat of Warscale. Blackfang regained the room engaging our intrepid heroes. As both Ulmo and Tyrian became bloodied and wounded from the mighty spymaster's onslaught, Grey attempted to grab hold of Blackfang and dispel himself back to his home plane (or nearest adjacent demiplane). The celestial terrier and the dragonborn vanished. The battered heroes consumed their final potions and slipped back to the surface.
They were met by a wet Grey at Morgrin's office who said that his return to the celestial plane had been hampered and he had lost the dragonborn only to reappear in the Magic Shoppe. He had swum back to the city proper to rejoin his master.
Who were the spies working for? Was that ruined street under sewers part of a greater Undercity as Sutton's dark mutterings implied? Was the dragonborn in Avandra's Run part of the conspiracy?

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Kingmakers and Godslayers: Introduction

Four score years ago, the Roeblini Armada lay siege across the Forest Sea to the Empire of the Godslayers. Under the eternal bloody twilight of the great Southern imperium, the barbaric raiders and the decadent savages made war. In the end the Roeblini were victorious casting down the ancient emperor and destroying the capitol seat. In its stead rose New Roeblini City which soon became a thriving port and trade center.
The city is the centerpiece of a long curved belt of smaller outposts that stretch along the coast. New Roeblini City is a series of small islands nestled within a crater half open to the sea. Towering waterfalls falling from the forested cliffs feed the brackish but murderous currents of the city's shallow harbor. South of the ribbon-like nation is a great verdant rainforest that has swallowed, over centuries, the Godslayer Imperium. Throughout these jungles live great lizards some of whom have been turned to beasts of burden or war, and some too rapacious but to be attacked on sight. The landscape is dotted with active volcanoes heating the humid air far more than the tepid light of the waning Southern sun. Many blame the salt and wet for turning copper roof's green and tarnishing gold to black, but oldings say each year the decay seems to accelerate. All will admit that more and more of the walking dead have been seen in the last five years than ever before, although most would agree that the rapidly expanding population is disturbing more and more secreted Imperial tombs. Everyday the population of this booming nation grows both from natural production and immigration. Everyday prosperity abounds.
New Roeblini is the new homeland of this formerly nomadic nation. It is governed by an elected chieftain and two houses of representation. The first is the House of Heroes whose members are selected by their deeds of renown and service to the nation. Their opposition is the House of Merchants whose members are selected by monetary bids for seats. The two houses select candidates for the position of Chieftain who is then elected by the common populace and serves until they resign or die, currently this is Lady Andova, a merchant-magi who has served for the last 12 years. Laws and taxation are prepared by one house and voted upon by the other. In all other matters of policy the chieftain serves as absolute ruler.
Many leagues to the southeast lies the Draconic Confederacy politically silent and diplomatically neutral. The Tunnelweb of the Dwarves now reaches the distant coast of New Roeblini, although careful tariffs have kept the stout folk from completely monopolizing trade. The Feywild kisses reality from sea and sky. During mysterious solstices and equinoxes the jade waves of the Forest Sea become the rippling canopy of the Elven Homeland. Far to the north under the crisp light of the Young Sun, the Eladrin Realm winks in and out of existence atop the clouds.
Welcome to Kingmakers and Godslayers, do you have what it takes to one day rule this land?

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The Last City: House Rules

Character Generation

Roll 4d6 and discard lowest roll, player arranges scores to suit.

Toll of Power

All spell casters are subject to the economics of arcanium. In some form or another they will expend arcanium to fuel their spellcraft. Failure to do so can have dire effects for the caster. The effects of paying more arcanium than required can sometimes work, but is unstable, wild and dangerous to the caster as well as the immediate surroundings. Further details below.

Arcane Spellcasters

Spell Level	Minimum Caster Level	DC
0	1	15
1	1	17
2	3	19
3	5	21
4	7	23
5	9	25
6	11	27
7	13	29
8	15	31
9	17	33

Wizards use spell craft checks to cast spells. On a successful check they cast the spell without incident. Specialists receive a +2 to spells from their own school and a -5 for spells from opposition schools. On a failed check the spell is miscast and the caster takes the spell level d6 in damage. Caster's reduced to negative hit points are automatically stabilized, they do not lose further hit points.
Arcane spellcasters expend arcanium as they cast spells, a spell costs its spell level + 1 gp of arcanium to cast. Wizards within the reach of a birth, slain opponent, or destroyed animate object receive the hit die amount of arcanium. A sorceror slain within the sorceror's caster level + 5 feet provides the wizard with arcanium equal to their spell points. These arcanium must be used within the wizard's caster level of rounds and the wizard cannot make more than a 5 foot move. Wizards can tap magical items for arcanium as well, dispelling them in the process. A tapped item most be in the wizard's control and is not an artifact. If the item is curse, tapping its power does not lift the curse. Tapping an item bestows 1/100th the gp value of the item in arcanium, this power is available for the wizard's caster level of rounds. Lastly wizards may injure themselves with a sharp object for a hp total equal to the g.p. in arcanium they wish to spend.
Wizards cannot cast spells if they do not have arcanium to spend

Bardic Spellcasters

Bards cast spells as described in the Player's Handbook. When they cast a spell they make a Perform check against DC 15 + spell level. If they are successful they have no arcanium cost, however if they fail they must have spell level + 1 gp of arcanium to cast. Bards can use art produced by others to defray the arcanium toll, but the Perform check is made with a -2 penalty.
All bards have the Eschew Materials feat when casting bardic spells without incurring any increase in effective spell level.

Divine Spellcasters

This category of spellcasters include clerics, druids, paladins, and rangers. In order to emulate them receiving divine gifts at the whim of their gods, a recharge magic system will be used. In order to retain their powers, divine spell casters must make a sacrifice equal to their caster level, spread their faith to a flock equal to their character level, bring their character level of souls to their deities after life, or equivalent per week. Characters who fail in these duties lose their spell abilities and most perform a quest of atonement bereft of their caster abilities. Divine spell casters have the most predictable effects when they do great boons for the deities, but must be careful how often they ask the favors of fickle gods.

Sorcerous Spellcasters

Sorcerors are spell cannons. A spell point system works to describe their powers. They may exceed their normal spell points by using Constitution points for spell points, these are recovered as normal ability drains would.
All sorcerors have the Eschew Materials, Silent, and Still Spell feats when casting sorceror spells without incurring any increase in effective spell level.
Sorcerors must consume their caster level x 10 gp worth of arcanium daily. They lose one effective caster level per day without arcanium. Caster's using less than their necessary dose of arcanium lose effective caster levels until they stabilize at their current dose. A sorceror that is sacrificed releases their spell point total in arcanium for use by the nearest spell caster. The arcanium addiction can be reduced by the same methods as a wizard power their spells.

Healing

The hit points generated at 1^st level are your "core hit points" and are recovered at a rate of your CON bonus x character level per 8 hours of sleep. Hit points obtained at levels above 1^st level are recovered at a rate of your CON bonus x character level per hour. This recovery can only occur after combat.

Action Points

Contacts

Sanity

Gaining new magical powers is taxing to one's sanity. Wizards take a terrible risk every time they learn a new spell. For every spell they attempt to learn wizards must make a WILL save DC 10 + spell level or suffer Moderate Sanity Loss. All other spell caster's make the same check every time they receive access to a new spell level or suffer Extreme Sanity Loss.

Arcanium charged gear

In general 10 gp of arcanium improves a bonus by +1 or does 1d6 damage for a single action. It takes one round to load an arcanium charge. For every 10 gp of arcanium the chance of instability increases by 1, thus a roll of 1 to 5 on a d20 when using 50 gp of arcanium has an instability effect, regardless of whether the roll is successful or not.

Feats

All player characters receive three additional feats at first level, except bards who receive two additional feats, and sorcerors who receive no additional feats.

Skills

Player characters receive 8 more skill points at first level and 2 more skill points for every level gained.

The Last City

The Last City is a vast and motley collection of dark gray stone buildings, manors, merchant halls, arenas, libraries, homes, and warehouses that sits on the End of the World Sea. The Last City has no graveyards, no mausoleums, and no way to keep the dead. The answer to this mystery is simple, because the Last City is the final mortal transit point for the deceased. The citizens of Last trade with denizens of the eternal resting places of the deceased, conveying their remains on the last step on the prime material plane and in return receiving the substance of magic, arcanium. The deceased are brought by caravan or floating down the river of Yuvrass. Those unwanted by the higher and lower planes are made undead by the Undead Clans, the bodies too broken to be used as thralls become part of the obscene Wall of Living Bones protecting the city. Meanwhile merchants, wizards, sorcerors, and artificers trade arcanium for their purposes, powering their own magiks and rejuvenating the magikal fonts of the world. Great spells and fantastic devices spring from the works of Last.

Despite the brisk trade and prosperity all is not quiet within and surrounding Last. Many factions vie for control of the soultrade and its arcanium riches. The schools of magik desire their own regulation of the mystical economy. The Sorceror's League insists their addiction to arcanium gives them rights to the trade. The Undead Clan increasingly tries to expand its "stock" while the churches of various deities alternate in their vilification of the Last City's business practices. Outside the gates of the Wall of Living Bones, the Luminant King increasingly provocative gestures of war upon the Last City. Occasionally the detente of the the upper and lower planes flares on the crooked streets of Last. Four moons ago a great, hulking metal war golem, scarred and smoking, came blazing through the transit gate for the nether hells only to sink in the End of the World Sea it's fate unknown its origin unclear.

Player characters are citizens of Last, making their life there as agents of one of groups within (or outside) the strange city. They will explore her mysteries and seek to wrest control of her amazing resources.