CHRONICLE VAULT 20080131, FROM THE LIBRARY OF RHAVUS THE FIEND-SAGE ...
Fireseek 23, 595 CY
Tragedy stood before the heroes-turned-gladiators, along with many unanswered questions. On Fireseek 20 the halfling rogue Shanks died from a magical glyph guarding a secret door, and then was reincarnated on Fireseek 21 into a human woman. Sadly, her hours on Oerth were numbered and she met her end in the gullet of Madtooth the Hungry during that day's Champion's Game match. But the Kings of the Road were ultimately victorious over the strange and dangerous froghemoth, but sadness still clung at their hearts.
As they recovered in the Coenoby after their match, contemplating their next move, a bedraggled figure stumbled into the cave. It was a dwarf, sopping wet, who claimed to have fled a warren of ghouls in the undercity of Greyhawk by removing a large stone plug from a small pool deeper into the Coenoby cavern system. He introduced himself as Klaus Kopperthumb of the Flinty Hills, and asked if there was a way to get outside the city from this cave system. The heroes exchanged glances, and Duke made a proposition - if Klaus would join the Kings of the Road for the final match of the Champion's Games, they would share a portion of the loot and help the dwarf get out of the city (since that seemed to be what he wanted). Klaus agreed, and was filled in with what the heroes had learned up to this point.
The first thing Klaus suggested was to check out the secret passage Shanks had found, since people don't booby trap wine cellars with slay living spells unless there's something to hide. With the dwarf rogue in the lead, the companions (all of them this time) headed up stairs and to the wine cellar. Argo kept a watchful eye out, but it seemed as though the guards were enjoying their last night on duty and were not particularly attentive. They made it to the cellar and secret door without incident.
Descending the staircase they came upon a square room containing three coffins propped up against the far wall. The entire area reeked of death and decay, which became all the more potent as four worm-ridden spawns of Kyuss lurched out of the shadows. They charged forward, but the heroes were better prepared for them. Argo cut down one with lightning flashes of his daggers, Kaspar and Klaus worked on another together, Kong managed to cleave two with his greatsword, and Duke polished off the last one. No one was infected with the tiny green worms, especially the barbarian whom had a babau slime spell cast on him that helped immensely.
A side passage from this chamber contained a small hole descending into the sewers below, which it seemed whomever lived here used as a garbage. The other side passage was a narrow hallway, and they took a left at a fork in the path that led to a strange room. It held what appeared to be an ancient pump system, though neither Duke nor Klaus (the dwarves) had any clue as to how it worked. But there was a pipe that exited the room, which was just large enough for a halfling to fit through. A halfling like Argo, who - with the help of Kong - hopped up into the pipe and crawled along its length.
There was a definite greenish glow at the end, which wasn't too far down, and upon reaching the end the halfling ranger was shocked and dismayed at what confronted him. It was a huge, bloated, pulsating, yellow grub or worm, encased in a slight greenish shell. Argo found that the greenish shell surrounding the thing - which he correctly guessed was an ulgurstasta that Eligos had warned them about - prevented him from continuing into the room itself, so he decided to head back (hastily). He related all of this to his companions, who grew more determined to find whatever lived down here and stop it.
Going back down the passage and taking the only remaining path they came upon a large chamber. It contained what appeared to be practice dummies and rusty training equipment, which seemed odd. But Kaspar remembered that the church of Kord, god of strength, used to control the Free City Arena, and these types of training chambers were not uncommon amongst that god's faithful. There was a single door leading on, and Klaus checked it for traps and found nothing. Cautiously they continued.
The chamber beyond had a palpable evil feel to it, with a single pedestal in the center of the room. On the pedestal was a partially unrolled ornate scroll, encased in a greenish shell, from which an emerald beam emanated out to the double doors across the room. Standing behind the pedestal, apparently once in meditation, was a grotesque humanoid, with flaccid pale skin, patchy hair, and a holy symbol around his neck - the holy symbol of Kyuss, demigod of worms and undead. He pulled out a morningstar and laughed gutturally and stepped forward, at which point the heroes noticed his legs were those of a goat. The goat-man apparently knew of the companions, as he called them out by name and laughed at them for attempting to stop the Age of Worms. The five companions then descended upon the tielfling cleric of Kyuss with extreme ferocity, beating him to within an inch of his life after mere moments.
The cleric of Kyuss then fell to his knees and dropped his weapon, calling out for mercy. Kong would give none, however, and chopped his head off with a well-timed critical strike. The headless corpse collapsed to the ground. Duke rushed over to the pedestal and correctly identified the object as the Apostolic Scroll, sold to Loris Raknian by the mind flayer Xyrzog several weeks before. But the greenish shell prevented anyone from touching or moving the artifact. Klaus opened the double doors and revealed the yellowish grub-like worm Argo had seen also encased in the greenish shell. This was the Apostle of Kyuss, summoned by the Apostolic Scrolls, and the heroes knew they were going to be in trouble. But try as they might they could not break the shell.
Duke was able to read a bit of the partially unrolled scroll (it was written in an old dialect of Common), and it told of how the Age of Worms could be started by the Apostle of Kyuss devouring a champion. Clearly this ulgurstasta was going to be unleashed during the final match of Champion's Game, where last year's champins (Auric's Band) would be facing the Kings of the Road. But would this be stopped with the death of the Kyuss cleric? This was a question that did not have an answer, so the heroes decided to try and reason with Auric's Band once they returned.
The only other door from the altar chamber was apparently the Kyuss cleric's personal quarters. Inside they found his personal possessions, along with a zombie. Not a worm-ridden zombie, just a regular zombie standing by a table with two empty goblets and a empty bottle of wine. Argo approached and found the zombie to be non-responsive, and noted that she (it was a female human zombie) had died of strangulation. The marks were still around her neck, and a strange indentation of a coiling snake was imprinted on the neck as well. Kong remembered seeing Loris Raknian with a ring of coiling snakes, and Kaspar put the pieces together after a moment. This zombie was Ekaym Smallcask's sister, murdered by Loris Raknian! Why the cleric of Kyuss was keeping her in his personal chambers was a thought best left unthunk.
The discussion turned towards transporting the zombie and presenting her to Ekaym. Eventually, Kong decided to put the non-responsive zombie woman in his bag of holding until they met back up with their manager, and against the advice of Klaus this is exactly what happened. The heroes returned to the Coenoby, disturbed and more than a little frightened of what might happen. They immediately confronted Auric's Band, which consisted of the warrior Auric and the wizard Khellek, and explained that unless they not fight on Fireseek 22 a giant worm was going to eat them. Of course the two champions laughed at the heroes, seeing their story as a poorly fabricated lie to cheat them out of a win. Klaus was insistent to the point of being beligerent.
After many minutes of arguing, Khellek finally agreed to one thing. At the beginning of the match, both teams would walk - not charge - to the center of the Free City Arena. Assuming nothing happened by then, they would then proceed with the match as normal. A small concession, but one that the companions finally agreed upon. Auric seemed particularly eager to face Kong in the next day's match, and the two had a small pose-off (the winner of which was not determined).
Duke also wrote three letters explaining the situation - one to Eligos, one to the Wizards' Guild, and one to the Guild of Translators. Perhaps one of them could muster some sort of resistance at the games, but there was precious little time - Ekaym would have to deliver to the messages the following day before the match.
The Kings of the Road returned to their section of the Coenoby and rested fretfully the night. The next day was Fireseek 22, the last of the Champion's Games, and a day that shall remain in memory for the City of Greyhawk for many years to come.
Ekaym took Duke's letters and promised to try and deliver them. At noon the two teams were brought up to the arena floor. The Free City Arena was packed with people - this was clearly the most populated day of the games. It was announced that Loris Raknian was running late, but that the match would begin as soon as he arrived. It was fifteen minutes later when the master of the arena finally arrived, seemingly out of breath, and announced in a grandiose voice the start of the final game. The two teams walked carefully forward, and just before they reached the center something happened.
The ground shook with the force of a small earthquake, and the crowds fell to a murmuring hush. Moments later the ground shook again, knocking Auric's Band to their feet, as a large bulge appeared in the center of the arena. Another moment later the bulge burst forth, and the ulgurstasta - the Apostle of Kyuss itself - heaved upwards with a soul-piercing shriek. Loris Raknian stood triumphant in his personal box in the eastern stands, announcing that the Age of Worms was upon us! He pointed to the arena floor, calling out the champions as the food of the Apostle of Kyuss!
The ulgurstasta crawled forward towards the fallen Auric's Band, and the companions went into action. Duke cast haste, but not before the Apostle of Kyuss grabbed Auric and swallowed him in one gulp. Kong shouted as he raged up, and charged forward, cutting the monstrous undead worm deep. But he found himself on the receiving end of the creature's chomping bit and swallowing gullet. Inside the necrotic acid at away at the mighty barbarian's very health, draining him and pulverizing him.
Outside, Kaspar took a few more shots at the distant Loris Raknian while Argo and Duke prepared to assault the Apostle of Kyuss. Khellek's band of flesh golems wailed on the undead monster but to little effect. Klaus ran for the stands, eager to confront Raknian on his own turf. Duke cast an empowered lightning bolt at the ulgurstasta and Argo carved a chunk out of its hide. This seemed to anger the thing, for at that moment it raised up on its multitude of hind legs and breathed a cone of necrotic acid at the remaining heroes.
Argo and Kaspar managed to avoid most of the blast, but Duke was not so lucky. Amongst the bile spat up was a pile of Kyuss spawn, along with Kong and Auric (both still alive but wounded). Duke went to work dispatching the spawn while the rest of the party tried to stop the worm.
Klaus managed to make his way up the wall of the arena and into the stands, where he attracted the attention of Loris Raknian. The Champion's Game organizer drew a wicked bastard sword and ran forward, cutting the dwarf rogue deep. It was then that Klaus knew he was outmatched, and decided to try and play up to the arrogant man's ego. Klaus fell to his knees and pledged his service to Raknian and Kyuss, who exulted at this turn of events. The two watched the ulgurstasta attack the heroes and Auric's Band, all the while the crafty dwarf rogue looking for a weakness.
Back in the arena, things were not going so well. Kong went down, and Kaspar dragged him out of harm's way and dropped a potion down his throat. Argo and Duke kept the Apostle of Kyuss busy as the barbarian recovered. With a (semi-) united front, the Kings of the Road finally defeated the unholy ulgurstasta, which crashed to the ground.
Raknian was stunned, and this was the moment Klaus had been waiting for. He brought his battle axe in quick and low, cutting the man deep, but instead of a retaliatory strike he found his opponent running away. Klaus gave chase, followed by Kaspar, but they failed to catch Raknian before he disappeared behind a secret door. The elven monk ran as fast as he could through the crowds to fetch a cleric, and returned minutes later with a few in tow.
Auric and Khellek conceded the battle to the heroes, considering the circumstances, and it was announced that the Kings of the Road were the final winners of the Champion's Games! What crowd was left cheered at this, and the trophies were passed out. Ekaym Smallcask thanked the heroes for their help and turned over the profits, which were a tidy sum for Argo and Duke. He then left to return to his home in Cauldron, many miles to the south.
The Kings of the Road, exhausted, left the Free City Arena champions. Not only of the gladiator games, but champions of good and justice. Something gnawed at them, however, something just outside of reach. The first thing they did was to visit Eligos the sage and see if he had learned any more of the Age of Worms. They returned to his home to find tragedy - the sage and his elven servant were dead, murdered. They found an unfinished note addressed to Allustan, requesting that the sage consult with "their former master."
Duke summed up the situation with one phrase - "I don't think we're done yet."
Session Update
Wow, sorry about the lateness of this post. Shoulda gone up a week ago. So much to write though, and I know I missed some details. But most of them are there, I think.
Quest Cards Completed
* Investigate Loris Raknian and the Apostolic Scrolls
* Find Ekaym Smallcask's Sister
Quest Cards In Progress
* What's Ilthane Up To?
* Speak with Allustan about Eligos' Research
XP Recap
9th level Characters 12,000 XP
10th level Characters 10,000 XP
'Till next, Game On!
"Weird" Dave Olson
Dragonfyre Gaming Association
weird.dave.dfga@gmail.com
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