”She is evil, but of the lesser variety.” Kaklatath muses a moment, her eyes distant.
”She… may also have information and resources that could be useful on this journey.”
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Needed to reboot a bit. Will post tomorrow.
I would like to continue, and three will be enough.
Hey all, Rand is right on point here, and though I wish I could make a case to him and to you all that this game will correct course and push on like it did, I have to be honest and admit that I don’t know if it will. I thought when I left the entertainment business and moved to the Midwest that I’d have more time for things like this, but it turns out I had more disposable time back when I was on set - there is a lot of forced downtime in production for last minute schedule changes, travel to and from set, location setup, endless mind-numbing interviews, etc. As these games were my creative output during those years I had a lot of time in small stretches to craft posts and keep momentum going. When the pandemic hit I thought I’d have time, but between home-schooling and a new business I began to feel the first squeeze on time. In the last two years that squeeze has increased as I work more hours - hours without the little stretches of downtime I used to have. Turns out owning a homestead and running a business is hard. Heck, it’s Sunday morning and I’ve had to stop twice while composing this to address other things. There are other factors as well, but I’m not trying to convince anyone to stick this out, because I don’t see an end in sight, which means these games will be slow, painstakingly so at times. I love these characters you’ve made, and the story you are telling with them is better than the one in the campaign, especially at this point. If I were ever to run this AP again I would probably cut out 90% of books 4-5. To Rand, Sam is completely correct in referring to your Manifesto. Your insights into roleplaying, story, pushing, and engaging have been invaluable and made me a better GM in every game I’ve run since meeting you, and in this situation they illustrate perfectly why you need (and should) bow out. We haven’t been playing by the standards everyone should expect for quite some time, and you gave me perhaps more chances than were deserved to get back to them. I’ve been blessed to have you this long, and I hope you’ll keep in touch. I’d like to write more, and I will as time permits, but already I’m looking at the clock and counting the things I need to get moving on for today. To everyone else, please weigh in on where you think we should go from here.
”Among my people I am quite beautiful. Twice your height, tapered like a cone, with three scarlet eyes, a long and graceful thought probe, and delicate pedipalps perfect for polite conversation.” The old woman needs help to move and reaches for the support of any Watchmen nearby. ”As for why you? That answer is complex, for I did not choose you. Our connection is the doing of Haserton Lowls, though he is unaware of how far the corruption of the inmost blot reaches.” ”I believe he chose you because he needs… or rather needed, to make a sacrifice. Each of you offers something different - devotion, depravity, fanaticism, corruption, innocence…” She blinks. ”Where is the Twin? Or the Child? Have you lost them so soon? Temporal magic hurls events through time and space, and sometimes they arrive out of order. Have you not yet encountered the Mad Poet? You should ask him about… oh, I see, you have, but I have yet to see it. I’ll try to remind you when that happens. Which reminds me, beware toying with time, for the Hounds of Tindalos can smell even the smallest rifts.” She looks back into the cell, staring at one of the corners. ”Hmm.. it seems they have tracked you to the Mysterium.” Her eyes dart to the other corner, and she sniffs. ”And also to Carcosa, following Zann’s impossible music to the Fall tower in Paree.” Turning back to the Watchmen she gathers her strength and stands a little straighter. ”Lowls travels the Parchlands, and onward to Neruzavin. I can show you the way.”
Oh, I remember this! Maximo made a recent brief cameo appearance on my discord server. I have a similar “tavern” for my players there.
Take care and get well!
Fearless quickly and easily pops the locks on the chains holding the woman in the cell. ”Ohhh… ” She moans and nearly slumps to the floor. Though the Mariner was hoping for powerful words to explain the nature of the universe, the first thing he hears is a fluttering fart. Apologies. Her voice comes to your minds again. This body is weak, and my control of it is… unreliable. 10,000 years ago I would have abandoned a vessel at the first sign of infirmity, but I’ve since found there is something charming about the old, and flatulent. A mental giggle tickles your minds. I am named Kaklatath, and I am a yithian. Myself and others of my kind fought back flying polyps in the lost city of Neruzavin. Afterwards I decided to stay and explore this world in a thousand bodies of your people. My true form lies preserved in Neruzavin, but a corruption has entered it. A horror recently awakened. It has touched your minds, and linked us through time and space. As you save me now, so I look back and save you… Suddenly the old woman's voice calls out, echoing in a memory. "Awaken! Awaken!!"
Following instructions from the slave, and making sure to drag the squirrelly one along, the Watchmen head through the western arch into a part of the fortress sectioned off with mud brick walls approximately ten feet high. Sturdy wooden doors with high,
This is the place from your dreams. Within one of the cells, bound with a trio of chains and fetters, is the frail old woman you seek. When you break open the door to the cell she turns to you with a faraway look, stares for a moment, and then smiles. A telepathic voice is suddenly heard in your minds. I knew you’d come. Please, free me and I will show you the way to Neruzavin.
”The growls come from basilisks caged near the ramp. Without gnolls to pull their blinders they are safe to pass.” Brother Butterfly is just about to head that way when one of the other slaves speaks. ”You said old woman, locked in cell? Do you mean the mind reader Kaklatath? She is that way.” He points the other direction.
The slave blinks at Cats, possibly not realizing that the “where” of the question is bigger than Buting Lash’s stronghold.
Brother Butterfly chats up the slaves, and of course there's one that is probably a snitch, but one look from the big moustache and he cowers. One of the women answers questions as best she can in a thick Katapesh accent. "You are in the slave pens of Blossoming Thorn. If you are seeking mistress Biting Lash, she is likely in her Pavilion on the third floor above. You must have missed the ramp back that way." She points back the way you came. Meanwhile Fearless loots the two bodies and finds:
The Watchmen attack with arrow, sword, and magic, laying waste to the two gnolls before Brother Butterfly can even ask if either is a lusty female. The slaves cower from the violence, looking at your party with wide eyes.
The gnoll goes flying to the ground from Fearless’ magic missiles. It scrambles back to its feet, and moves towards the double doors, shouting as the other gnoll jumps and turns at the surprise visitors.
Heading north you find the structure you are in curving back towards the west. Piles of refuse lie in neat rows along the outer walls. Loose bales of dried grass lie on makeshift piles of timber fifteen feet above the floor. A double door stands along the wall to the left, a heavy bar meant to lock it resting off the side. Light streams through cracks in the door indicating that it must lead outside. Across the chamber another stone arch leads further around the circular structure. In the chamber itself are a half dozen camels loosely tethered to various hooks and posts, tended by a few humanoid slaves of various races. Also in here are two the wooden cages along the right hand wall. The cages are made of strong, tight wooden bars, and tied with a curious knot. One houses a magnificent dire tiger. The other holds a dragonne - the beast’s wings have been hobbled and a thick leather muzzle covers its mouth. Standing guard near the door in this area are two gnolls…
…one is looking the other way, but the second blinks in confusion as Cats stumbles into the room. Rolls:
INITIATIVE There’s a moment where Cats and the Gnoll fumble for weapons, and into this moment strolls a complaining halfling, who’s just fast enough to maybe do something before this escalates. INITIATIVE
After gathering their wits (what little they still have) the Watchmen begin checking the doors, looking for the woman from their visions. Unfortunately, every cell they open is empty. During the search sounds come from two exits from the area. To the south the sounds of growling and hissing. To the north the sounds of metal rattling and the crack of a whip, followed by a howl of pain.
The Watchmen gather after some R&R and Brother Butterfly prepares to grease the wheel of the cosmos with a prayer... … for a moment, nothing happens. The city of Katheer remains before you. A sailor stops packing supplies on the Starling and frowns at the group, digging slowly at an itch in his nether regions as everyone stands on the deck, going nowhere fast. A seagull drops a load nearby which nearly splatters on Butterfly’s boots. He flinches and Golarion is suddenly gone! *** There’s a reason most gods don’t grant the power of teleportation magic to their devoted clerics. Multiplanar physics requires a certain degree of intellect to avoid everything going pear-shaped in transport, and unfortunately most clerics are about as sharp as marbles. *** You find yourself being suckled by a figure - perhaps a memory of your mother? But no, this thing has too many arms and smells wrong… …you are in a field gathering flowers and weeds, all in pale yellow hues. Dozens of strange beady eyes watch from among the grass… …the flowers smash into a pulp in your hands and you smear the paste on a wood paneled wall. You step back to behold the shape you’ve drawn - the Yellow Sign. A faraway voice whispers, “The influence of the Inmost Blot grows. More of them seek the forgotten city, and when its memory returns to the world, the seal will be broken and those that can’t be seen will fly once more…” *** You return to the world completely discombobulated, week in the knees, and nauseous. Mud brick walls rise on either side of you in a curving passage. Ten sturdy wooden doors with a high, barred windows sit nestled in the walls. Archways lead out from the passage in opposite directions.
Sorry all, have been playing catch all week after getting knocked to the couch with something for a few days last weekend.
The angel clears the way out, striking down eldritch monsters and banishing any remaining corruption in order to secure the Mysterium. Following behind, the Watchmen are able to get a better look around and find the dead body of Elder Lythiin, the man Thyrr said had gone missing in the library. They also find more than a hoard of treasures… The angel leaves you at the door, but not before offering a parting gift. ”You have guarded this place better than I, and I can see you will pursue the evil that has escaped. Take my sword on your journey, and strike a blow against the enemy for me.” The angel presents to you his +3 flaming longsword. Once the weapon has been accepted, he turns and strides back into the Mysterium, humming the familiar tune of the the Fugue de Rue d’Auseil as he returns to his post. Elder Thyrr watches this exchange with wide eyes, but has little more to say, though her gratitude is proven soon enough in both continued access to the Mysterium (should you need it) and a generous reward of 8,000 gold. LOOT!
Hand of glory
2 scrolls of remove disease
+1 short spear
There is a little more info to come from the angel. Loot and rewards will come on the way out of the Mysterium. I’ll try to get a push post up tomorrow. Meanwhile, advance to level 12!
”The thief Lowls is not here. The world beyond this place is unfamiliar to me, and I am no librarian to help you search it’s shelves. But know that the Necronomicon contains the most dangerous knowledge capable of ending this world, as it has ended others, tearing them from this reality and consuming them. In my madness I heard a terrible voice. Like a madman mumbling in his sleep it spoke of Neruzavin. Of Thrushmoor. Of Carcosa.” ”But there was also another voice. It was old, and frail, but it reached out to warn me. It is called Kaklatath.” As if summoned by the name, a pressure builds in the Watchmen’s minds, and a voice and vision comes with it… …an old Keleshite woman sits within a dark cell, her eyes staring into yours. ”Find me in Okeno. Release me from Biting Lash!” This a woman you have seen before, some as far back as those first days in Briarstone.
The angel gazes upon the Watchmen, its eyes hard to meet without a feeling of fear coursing through one. ”I am not a prisoner, nor a god… though I have met some. In the past an elder of this institution bargained with the forces of Heaven to secure my service as an immortal protector. It was known that the Mysterium would someday need to scour away some of the most dangerous knowledge its Stewards had collected. And so I remained vigilant, but when a man arrived and freed the Necronomicon, so too was freed an otherworldly influence of corruption. I fell victim to its power.” ”I.. failed.” The angel waves it’s hand and a magical vision comes to you of Lowls tearing the Necronomicon from its stand and pulling a scroll from his coat. He casts a spell from the scroll and vanishes in a flash of magical energy. As he disappears, the scene shifts briefly to allow a glimpse of a steep-walled, cylindrical building brimming with gnolls and topped with a lush garden. ”But it is not too late. This is where he went. If you seek him, this is where you must follow.” You are reminded of an associate of Lowls. A gnoll slaver in the city of Okeno called Biting Lash. Twice that name has surfaced in your pursuit of Lowls.
With a prayer to his goddess, Brother Butterfly steps and appears before the angel. He reaches out with desperate hope… The angel seems almost confused as the rotund man touches his scarred arm and a flash of holy magic spreads across its divine body. A blinding light shines from its eyes, and the terrible scream building in your minds suddenly stops. … As the light fades the angel stands before you, his tattered robes now whole, the scars crossing his body gone, his presence cleansed of corruption. ”I am… restored. Thank the gods.” The angel looks down upon the Watchmen, his gaze bearing the power to humble any that try to meet it. ”Who is it that they have sent to stand before me with their blessings?”
After taking time to rest up the Watchmen reopen the Soul and step into the darkness… You are light as a feather as you slowly float into the space below, landing gently in the center of a massive stone room lit with large burning braziers set in nooks at each corner. A number of grand podiums set throughout the room hold enormous books, and other massive tomes hang from the ceiling on iron chains like condemned prisoners. Despite the burning fires, the air feel cool and crisp, and the scent of old books and flickering flame hangs in the air. The Watchmen look about, hoping to find the foe, Count Haserton Lowls, but see no one… ..except for Brother Butterfly, whose true vision reveals a massive humanoid figure in tattered white robes carrying a burning sword that matches its flaming wings! It has no mouth, but a warm glow surrounds its head, almost like a halo. Despite having no ability to physically speak, the being casts a maddened gaze upon you and a mind-numbing wail begins to assault your minds.
Rolls:
INITIATIVE
Following divine instructions your align the rings on the top of the cube to the correlating images of creation and destruction on opposite sides. A strange grating sound echoes from within, and the cube starts to slowly expand outward with a low hum to form a 1-foot-tall, 10-foot-wide platform with a 5-foot-square entrance in the top surface. The entrance is totally dark, obscuring any sight into the extradimensional space within. Cool and crisp air rises from the dark and a faint scent of burning parchment teases the nose.
Brother Butterfly’s spell leads takes the Watchmen just outside the door to the room they were in. The third angelic gate stands open in the center of this level, and the group quickly descends before the oozes wander back their direction. Beneath the gate is a shaft 30 feet deep, its walls carved with statues of angels wearing fixed, expressionless masks. Climbing down using the wings as steps and handholds, the Watchmen come to a curious chamber a little over thirty feet to a side. Instead of normal walls, hundreds of statues of angelic beings, many bearing spears and other weapons and others wearing two-colored masks, make up the walls of this chamber. The uneven floor is formed from carved faces. At the heart of the room is a single object supported by a quartet of stone hands—a peculiar, slightly rusted iron cube about a foot square. The cube is puzzle box featuring symbols and images representing creation and destruction on its sides, and has a series of movable, concentric rings on the top bearing smaller symbols that correlate to the images on the sides. The symbols are sometimes sigils, sometimes words in different languages, and at other times simply images that represent things such as serpents, phoenixes, bolts of lightning, an infant, laborers building a structure, warfare, a flowing river, a scouring wind, a blazing fire, moldering fungi, and fruiting plants.
The Watchmen tend to multiple cuts, bruises, and black eyes given to them as they went 5 rounds against the rock ‘em, sock ‘em robot mages. Meanwhile, the sounds of slurping thuds against the door subside and it seems like the eldritch oozes might have moved on to find other heroes to eat. The Watchmen buff up with spells and eventually turn the head of the last angel. A grinding is heard… ..and then they realize the entrance must lie elsewhere as Brother Butterfly’s find the path spell directs them back into the hallways.
The Watchmen give one last furious push against the clockwork mages, sparks and gears and glass flying from arrow, magic, and sword. Finally the last two fall to the onslaught! Meanwhile, the door holds back the eldritch oozes outside..
The Mariner swings, but fails to cut through the red mage’s shield spell. Cats shoots blue, damaging it badly. Fearless holds the door and Butterfly gives the Mariner some luck for next time. The red mage slams into the Mariner again.
The blue mage attacks Cats.
There is a thump against the door behind Fearless, but it remains closed. It would seem the eldritch goo is apparently not smart enough to understand them!
After a few rounds in the battle royale Brother Butterfly tags out with Cats and channels healing magic again. Cats takes down yellow and starts on blue. The red mage continues slamming fists into the Mariner.
The blue mage steps up to attack Cats.
The eldritch goo is almost at the door!
Brother Butterfly channels healing energy as Cats works to fill another mage with arrows. The red mage continues slamming fists into the Mariner.
The blue mage pummels Butterfly.
Yellow turns and sends magic missiles back at Cats!
The eldritch goo is on the move!
A flurry of arrows and attacks fly about the room. One mage falls, and BB staggers, almost falling himself. The Mariner slashes up another mage as he works to get to Brother Butterfly.
The Mariner and Cats damage the mages further as Fearless works to cover them and Butterfly heals. The red tinted clockwork mage slams again with its four fists.
The orange and blue mages flank Butterfly and pummel him mercilessly.
Yellow peppers Butterfly with magic missiles again.
Meanwhile, Fearless spots the eldritch oozes slide into the hall to the north and begin to close in.
[ooc]INITIATIVE
Got knocked on my arse with a double dose of cold plus Covid booster. Will try to get something up tonight or tomorrow.
Thr Watchmen get singed by fire, but press in to clear the room. Cats stats putting arrows into one in the back, and the Mariner swings at those before him, but his weapon stops short against the first clockwork mage’s metal body. Butterfly moves in..
The mages cast spells more spells. The red tinted clockwork mage slams with four fists.
The orange mage steps back and casts a spell, conjuring a stinking cloud around the Mariner and Cats (Obscured area and Fort save DC 14 or nauseated). Yellow peppers Butterfly with magic missiles.
Blue slams into Butterfly!
The Mariner moves in and cleaves into two of the clockwork mages while Fearless hastes the group. The mages cast spells of their own, one hasting the others while two attack with fire and grease. The last one prepares for battle with a shield spell.
The door seems safe and the Watchmen open it to reveal a square chamber walled floor to ceiling with books. In the far corner the last angel statue stands, but is damaged, its head missing. Between you and it stand four clockwork figures. Dressed in metallic robes, they have four thin arms and heads that appear to be glass orbs protected by metal hoods. With the ooze horrors closing in you have little choice but to press forward, and as soon as the Mariner steps foot in the room the clockwork figures turn to face him, their hands raising into the complex patterns of spellcasting! ROLLS:
INITIATIVE
The angelic statue stands before you, open to the next level down in the Mysterium - the Cipher Obscura. This level of the Mysterium holds some of the library’s most enigmatic and rare texts, though over the years it has also turned into a place to store older, less referenced texts. Unlike on other levels of the Mysterium, the bookshelves in this level are contained within rooms instead of cluttering the hallways. This level is carved out of Katheer’s bedrock like the level above, and its walls hold the same style of carvings of angelic beings that appear unsettling when not viewed directly. The ceilings in this level are 15 feet in height, and the halls are dark, though lanterns and oil lamps, as well as a handful of tindertwigs to light them, are available to provide illumination. As you arrive in a hallway Cats and Brother Butterfly hear a sticky unearthly sound from around a nearby corner to the north and recall the many mouthed goo monsters you encountered right before meeting Mun. Butterfly’s find the path spell leads away from it though and the group quickly traverses empty halls, finding three of the four angels needed to open the way deeper. Occasionally you spy the horrific slurping oozes behind you, but they aren’t fast enough to catch up. Eventually you find yourselves at a door leading into one of the central library rooms. According to Buttetfly’s spell, the last statue lies beyond.
Fearless’ psychic powers shield him from harm. Looking. For a target, he doesn’t immediately find one until Brother Butterfly unleashes a blade barrier in the room, then enough blood and ichor can be seen to target something.
Fearless’ missiles strike into the nearly invisible monster as the Mariner hacks off pieces that become visible as spider like limbs with teeth at the joints.
It roars, but is then struck by multiple arrows bearing the holy light of Cats’ goddess. A horrifying mass of tentacles, limbs, and teeth wavers into sight as it collapses to the floor, twitching in death and quickly being turned into a Cthulhu protein smoothy by the blade barrier.
The Watchmen can’t see it, but something unseen looms over them, then strikes, lashing out with a tentacle!
Something big lurks in this room. Even though it has obviously attacked the Mariner it remains almost impossible to see, just vague glimpses of teeth and eyes and shadowy tentacles. Before anyone can react more of those teeth and tentacles are lashing about and biting furiously.
Rolls:
INITIATIVE
After a quick trip into the city to acquire a new sword for the Mariner, the Watchmen return to the Mysterium and follow Brother Butterfly’s spell back down through the halls. Descending another level requires finding four more angelic statues, and the magic takes the group quickly to 3 of them not far from where they fought the Cthulhu-oozes. Turning the statues heads, the group is then led east, twisting through a hall that turns down a small passage to the final statue. Once that one is turned a grinding of stone is heard from beyond a nearby wall. Backtracking a little the group heads south, then turns east again… A preternatural stench hangs in the air here among the vandalism and chaos of the chamber. Dimly lit by a couple remaining candles, you can just make out the remnants of bent, broken, and gnawed cages litter the room, along with mounds of books and papers. Blocks of stone from the ceiling and walls litter the ground, partially obscuring the angelic gate you’re looking for. Perception DC 30: You catch glimpses of something moving in the room. The shadow of a tentacle here, a maw of teeth there, the sound of something like a leather sack sliding across the floor. You can’t quite see it, but it seems to me looming over the angelic gate. Suddenly you feel the gaze of something look upon you. Something hungry…
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