Round Six:
Feres and the summoned air elementals continue to attack the remaining octopin.
Vug throws another force bomb.
P.s. I am on vacation until Tuesday but can still post.
Under your combined assault the monster practically implodes, and is quite dead.
As you have the time to take in the surroundings, you realize that the pool is teeming with some kind of disgusting tentacled creatures, not unlike oversized tadpoles.
Knowledge (dungeoneering) 18:
There are two visible exits, the passage to the left and a door to your right, behind the black pillar.
And since you'll be wondering, the mindflayer carries some interesting loot (spoilered for length):
Feres thanks the air elementals for their help battling the aberrant monstrosities and then dismisses the summoned creatures back to their home plane.
Feres the gathers the companions together and offers a heartfelt prayer of thanks to the Healing Flame, channeling multiple bursts of divine energy to mend his friends' wounds.
"What the hell are those things? We should probably destroy them. Vulcan asks looking at the vile tentacled things in the pool.
"They are Mr Tentacle-Face's progeny. We should definitely destroy them."
"yeah I guess so..." Vug reluctantly agrees with destroying such fascinating biological specimens. She contents herself with takIng some snippets of the flayed and the octopins.
Valgrim drinks another Cure Mod potion:
Vulcan takes one of the fireballs from the necklace and hurls it into the pool.
The fireball explodes in a great splash, but unfortunately the spawn are protected by the Unhallow effect and are unharmed.
Do you want to try to destroy them in another way and where do you want to go next? I suppose Valgrim and Vug can get you down to the floor if you like.
Bubba frowns at the result of Vulcan's fireball.
"Well that didn't work, any other ideas?"
Vug tries throwing a force bomb in the pool.
"How about we check out the door behind the black pillar," Feres suggests while Vug attempts to destroy the aberrant tadpoles.
Vug's bomb destroys the resilient spawn
Behind the door (checked and declared safe by Vug) there is a small room, which contains a desk, two bookshelves full of books pertaining to the City State and the areas beneath it, and a locked chest (the key you took off the mindflayer fits it).
Lying open on the desk is a ledger, written in Undercommon.
The most recent lists a payment for the sale of an ancient relic listed as the Apostolic Scrolls. This transaction is between the mind flayer and Loris Raknian, director of the Free City Arena. Of more import to you is a note that Raknian also paid the mindflayer to assassinate you.
The chest contains large bags full of coins. The bags contain 950 cp, 220 sp, 300 gp, and 25 pp. A fifth bag contains loose gemstones totaling 1,500 gp in value.
"What the--?!" Vug splutters in indignation as she leafs through the ledger. "What did we ever do to Loris Raknian that made him want to hire mind f-f-flayers and doppelgangers to kill us?"
She translates the lines of the ledger for the benefit of those who don't speak Undercommon.
"Loris Raknian? Isn't he the one sponsoring the Champion's Games?" Feres asks.
"That's it! He knows Valgrim will win!"
Are you finished exploring then? A judicious combination of scowling and Protection from Evil will let you bypass the naga.
You have uncovered a lot of interesting evidence and also finished the fourth installment of the series. Congratulations and you are well worth another hero point each!
Vug tells the naga that whatever is left in the building is hers for the taking. She makes sure the ex-slaves get out safely and she looks for Allustan and asks him about the Apostolic Scrolls.
"We're on this guy's hit list? What did we do to him? Just another enemy to the list I guess. Hey Friar, Bubba, ever heard of these Scrolls?"
"Obviously we've gotten involved in things they'd rather we didn't know about. Question is, do we take the fight to him?"
Vulcan growls, fist clenched
You don't know anything about the Apostolic Scrolls, but Eligos might. As a matter of fact, he sends you a dinner invitation to discuss your finds. He has been able to confirm that Allustan is in fact safe and sound in Wolfstone, but how he got there is a bit of a mystery.
As you arrive at the manor, you are shown into the parlor by Eligos’s aged elven manservant Pollard. Eligos is already waiting for you, seated in a tall, velvet-upholstered chair. Five other chairs sit in the room, arrayed around a low table set with several tantalizing dishes.
Eligos rises as you enter the room. "Good evening, my friends! I trust you brought your appetites? I tend to eat dinner as I get the chance, and I hope this somewhat informal repast doesn’t offend you. Good, I thought not. In any event, let’s eat —after dinner, I’ll tell you what I’ve learned of your little green worms. But do tell me about your exploits. I understand you have kept quite busy."
"Busy!? I'll say! Someone's been trying to kill us, f-for no good reason!"
Vug plops down in a chair gracelessly. "A certain someone...I'm not sure if I should mention his name...has gotten hold of something called the Apostolic Scrolls. Do you know what they are?"
Eligos pales visibly at the mention of the scrolls. "It is worse than I thought then. But I should start at the beginning. All the clues you have brought to me, especially those nasty little worms, point to the involvement of a minor deity of the creation and mastery of undead called Kyuss. You may have heard of him, but he hasn't been very active lately. The cult of Kyuss has traditionally been small, often consisting of single priests who live double lives as upstanding citizens."
"Somehow the Ebon Triad may have involved the smaller (but older) cult of Kyuss in its schemes. I'm not sure what their purpose might be, but I fear it may be related to the fabled coming Age of Worms. Tales of the Age of Worms itself are as old as anything. Often known by other names (the End Times, The Dark Age, and the Eternal Ruin among others), the Age of Worms is an ancient set of prophecies that speak of a transformation of the world, of a time when life gives way to something else. These prophecies are recorded in certain rare texts like the Book of Vile Darkness, Libris Mortis, the Necronomicon, and the Apostolic Scrolls you just mentioned."
"Tales of the Age of Worms are inscribed on the walls of ancient ruins across the world. Many cults and soothsayers have developed their own theories about the Age of Worms, but I have never seen so many references to it from so many different sources as now. Something is certainly building, and I don't like it one bit."
"Wonderful. So we have a group of mad bastards worhiping an ancient god of undeath who at somepoint in history !%^^$#@ed things up so badly that practilly all ancient cultures know his name. And they want to kill us."
Vulcan shakes his head and laughs dryly. "Good times."
"There must be someone we should tell this to. Maybe the church of Sarenrae? I'm sure they'd be interested to know if the world is going to end."
"We have had dealings with spawn of Kyuss and the Ebon Triad before, but this is definitely new." Bubba tells Eligos about the doppelgängers, the mind flayer and their plot to kidnap and impersonate leaders of the city. "I had a feeling they had something to do with the Age of Worms, just because they came after us with no other provocation. Do you have any idea how they might be related?"
"Maybe we should tell you who has the scrolls.."
Eligos's countenance turns serious. "Maybe you should. I can tell you little about the Apostolic Scrolls - they are very rare, almost legendary - but I know this much: they are reputed to have been penned by Kyuss himself and detail the creation of the ulgurstasta. An ulgurstasta is an enormous undead worm capable of consuming the living and regurgitating them as undead. The Apostolic Scrolls are said to contain rituals that allow an ulgurstasta to create even more powerful undead, spewing them out at a tremendous rate. If someone in town takes an interest in them, that is unsettling to say the least."
"As for the doppelgangers, I'm not sure if that is connected to the Age of Worms or just part of some of the very dirty politics that goes on in this city. But you'd probably do well to warn the church of Sarenrae."
"The mind flayer sold the Apostolic Scrolls to Loris Raknian," Feres informs Eligos.
"So, Eligos, other than the fact that he runs the Games, what else can you tells us about Raknian? I assume he or whomever he works for wants to recreate this super undead vomiting worm. Not good, not good at all."
"Yes...not good..." Vug adds absent-mindedly as her mind whirls at the idea of creating an awesome monster-spewing monster (with X-ray slow beam eyes).
"Psst...by the way, Vulcan, can I see that book you took from the mind f-flayer's lab when you're done with it?"
"When are the Champions Games? Perhaps we should sign up in order to get close to this Loris Raknian fellow - see if we can find the Apostolic Scrolls and stop him or whoever he's working for from using them," Feres suggests.
"I don't know...I have half a mind to stay away f-from the guy who's sending assassins to kill me, rather than trying to get closer to him!"
"Remember our old friend Chisora? She was quite fond of repeating a Calistrian proverb - 'Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer'. I think that might be good advice in this case."
Vug looks thoughtful for a moment. "Chisora. And Urg. And poor Rhiannon. I almost f-f-forgot about all of them. Somehow it seems like so long since we left them behind in Diamond Lake."
Eligos looks serious. "Loris Raknian is a powerful man. And by that I don't just mean that he is a skilled fighter and hitherto undefeated, but also that he is rumored to have the ear of the Invincible Overlord himself. You will have to be very careful as you approach him. He obviously knows you you are and has already taken action against you, probably because of what you did in Wolfstone."
"On the other hand we have a golden opportunity here. With the games coming up, Raknian will probably be too busy the next few days to keep close tabs on you, especially since you've crippled his spy network."
"Also incidentally another friend approached me yesterday asking for a group of heroes willing to enter the Champion's game. That would make for an excellent way to approach Raknian without rousing suspicion. As gladiators, you will be under the watchful eye of the entire city, so he won't be able to attack you directly."
"But for now I invite you to eat, drink and be merry. Tomorrow I will put you in touch with my friend. Her name is Celeste, by the way."
The next day you have a visitor at the Crooked House, a beautiful blonde human woman who introduces herself as Celeste and dresses in travelling leathers. By her dress and nimble movements you guess that she would be some sort of rogue or bard. She is accompanied by a handsome but rather short fellow in his late thirties who wears a fine blue robe, polished knee-high boots, and carries a lute slung on the shoulder.
"My friend Eligos told me that you are seeking a sponsor for the Champion’s Games. I trust you know that all participants in the Champion’s Games must fight for a licensed manager. These licenses are difficult to come by, but fortunately my friend Ekaym here happens to posses just such a license but has no gladiators to fight for him. He asked me for help in recruiting some gladiators. Would you be interested?"
A little flamboyant and loud, Ekaym is still a likable-enough fellow. He seems to be up front about his interest in the Champion’s Games —managing a successful group of gladiators is a great way to make a lot of money and meet a lot of women. He only asks for 50% of your gains.
"F-f-fifty percent?" Vug looks at Ekaym a bit warily. "Is that the usual deal?"
"Yes" Ekaym smiles blithely.
"Of course we are interested! We have a fine champion, Valgrim here almost guaranteed to win! With 25% of our winnings you will have a better rate of return than with any one else."
"Yeah, what Bub said!"
Aid another:
After some haggling Ekaym agrees to your offer, but that's as far as he'll go.
"Excellent. You have a few days to prepare yourselves but you must be at the Free Dinner the day before the games at 6 PM. I'm looking forward to watching you fight. And you will all fight. Teams are allowed up to nine members."
"I appreciate the vote of confidence, Bubba, but these games seem to be more of a team competition than 1 on 1. I say, we enter the Tournament and see if we can find out how and when Raknian wishes to use the Scroll. While he may not strike at us yet, he may be using the cover of the Games for his nefarious plot."
"Wait, teams of nine, you say? But there's only f-five of us! Where can we f-find f-f-f-four more f-fighters on a moment's notice?"
Vug turns to Celeste. "Thank you f-for your help, Miss Celeste. How do you know Eligos? And what has he told you about us?"
"I'm sure we can handle it. we'd just have to drop the first four really fast." Vulcan quips with a confident grin.