Multiple epochs past - before the arrival of the Ironlanders, before the age of the Firstborn, before even the formation of the Deep Wilds - a civilisation older than any of the present day called these lands home. The ruling classes of the dead civilisation were human and they reigned supreme over other sapient creatures, brutally enslaving them for manual labour and farming in the construction and continued support of their grand metropolises. The rulers had little concern for science and reason, nor art and beauty. Pervasively their only social drive was the worship, veneration and devotion to deities of invariably cruel and bloodthirsty persuasions.
The name of the ancient civilisation did not survive the uncaring millennia since its passing, nor did its fate. It stretched across the peninsula in grand cities and fortresses but what few sites remain above ground are now ruinous wastes barely recognisable as artificial constructions. Only the few subterranean complexes and temples have survived undisturbed for time immemorial, lost to brooding dreams of blood and stone. Once powerful foci of dark arts and darker faiths, now tombs of forgotten kingdoms and power-hungry gods.
One such buried bastion died from a powerful uprising of the enslaved masses. Led by the mad traitor Lagos - a royal advisor whose dreams had been visited upon by foreign forces - they wrought great slaughter upon the human overlords and evicted the survivors from the city. The king - a priest said to be gifted with many thousands of lifetimes - called upon his patron deity to punish the uprisers and not allow them to claim the great subterranean monument for themselves. Kuolemasykli answered his faithful champion and breathed murderous life into the shadows of the slaves. The great halls and thoroughfares of the city were awash with the screams of the damned as each and every one was devoured by the very darkness they cast.
Lagos found the king holding sanctuary in the temple and slew him with a ceremonial scythe imbued with great mystical potency. Led by the voices in his own head he dragged the twitching corpse out of the temple and out of the city, into the labyrinthine tunnels beyond where Kuolemasykli could not hope to find it without the beacon-lights of his followers' rituals of devotion. Lagos stood guard over the body and from the scythe sprang a verdant and resplendent garden so entrancing that when the king's body returned to life it was simply unable to leave of its own accord. Lagos soon died a mortal death but lived on in eternal undead servitude as prison warden to the dark priest.
The Dead King standing atop his dais towered over them. He was easily over seven feet tall and struck a ghastly figure in the sickly luminescence of the garden that was already starting to fade. He looked down upon them with a disturbing grin and wild eyes.
Williarth broke the silence with a terrified plea to spare their lives.
COMPEL - Weak Hit
The Dead King seemed ponderous and it became clear that they were of mercifully little consequence to him. He sat back down in his throne, still thoughtful, then agreed to let them leave unharmed on the condition that they teach him of the world above that he might be better-prepared for rebuilding his kingdom in this alien age. Williarth was only too happy to oblige and the others watched with mixed feelings as he depicted the Ironlands in broad strokes - the geography, the Firstborn, the advent of the Ironlanders, the notable regions, the settlements, the power struggles, the politics, the religions and the magicks. Much of his teachings were accompanied by bizarre and only-moderately effective shadow puppetry. He finished with a full account of the party's own story and adventures leading to this very moment.
The bard was pleased with his efforts and the Dead King seemed rapt throughout. Such was his hold over his audience, and such was the gravitas of power before him, Williarth felt a rising connection and empathy with the Dead King.
FORGE A BOND - Strong Hit (Burn)
He was right. There was an emotional connection between them now, he could feel it and the more it frightened him the more it excited him.
He asked the Dead King for a reciprocal account - how did he come to be here and what would he do now?
GATHER INFORMATION (Bond) - Miss
The Dead King started to chuckle, then laugh, then guffaw in cruel mockery. He revealed that he was the prize champion of the very deity the party were sworn against. His incarceration had been predicted and so too had the moment of his freedom. This moment. The dutiful cultists hadn't chosen this time at a whim and neither had Kuolemasykli - it was foretold exactly when a foolhardy band of misguided warriors would slay his warden and release him. The Dead King rose from his seat and rose higher into the air, floating above them in an ethereal glow. With a guttural voice rising quickly in volume and severity he gave his parting words:
'I feel his servants calling me. Deep within my forgotten palace they chant and bleed and pray and summon me to return to life and glory and holy succour! The Grand Ceremony of Kuolemasykli's birth from the womb of the Chosen One is drawing near and now I am free to form the Exalted Union and father my dark master into the world of men!'
And with that, the hideous form faded suddenly to nothing, leaving them alone in the rapidly-dying underground garden.
The stunned silence didn't last long. Some panic settle in as the group argued about fault and blame. Tekhra broke the deadlock, asserting that if their quest was to be salvaged at all then there was no time to spare with bickering. She led them onwards to the further reaches of the cavern in search of a route onwards.
FEATURE - Twisting passages
AID YOUR ALLY (Bjorn, Wayfarer) - Miss with Complication (6)
Bjorn resumed his calling of scout, venturing ahead to alert the rest of impending dangers, but his clumsiness dogged his efforts and the party quickly lost faith in his abilities. This was a stunning and freshly-disheartening revelation to Bjorn, for he could not recall any of his adventuring failures prior to the invasion of the demon back in the forest.
DELVE THE DEPTHS [4/10] (Tekhra, Edge) - Strong Hit [5/10]
Tekhra pushed on at pace and quickly found a passage out that seemed antipodal to that of their entryway. She led them in and through a new network of tunnels and caves. An hour later, panting from the exertion, she rested against a cracked wall to catch her breath. As the others caught up she hushed them, for she could hear something from beyond the wall. Through the cracks, rising up from a deeper place, carried on a weak draft she could make out the tolling of great bells and the chanting of a great many voices. These were surely the sounds of a working temple and the party was surely close to their objective. She smiled for the first time in who knows how long and shared the encouraging discovery with the others.
Kabeera advised that stealth was the way to go from here - likely the chances of encountering hostility would rise sharply the closer they got. Bjorn volunteered to scout again but cruelly his offer of assistance was not welcomed.
FEATURE - Vast Chamber
They came upon a huge room hewn from the rocks into flat surfaces. In the centre was a huge pile of artifacts and broken furniture. On closer inspection it transpired that they all seemed to be of a religious purpose originally, though to what gods was a mystery.
DELVE THE DEPTHS [5/10] (Kabeera, Shadow) - Weak Hit [6/10]
They skirted the pile, making cursory inspections here and there but finding nothing of worth to their purpose.
Progressing further into the maze of tunnels beyond, Bjorn insisted on scouting ahead with or without appreciation.
AID YOUR ALLY (Wayfarer) - Miss
They soon heard him crying out for help from the darkness ahead. With weary sighs they jogged forwards to find him six feet down a crevasse, all four limbs braced against the sides. Far, far below him was the bright glow of molten rock, such was the depth beneath the surface they had reached.
FACE DANGER (Bjorn) - Weak Hit (Burn)
With tremendous effort the scout shimmed his way back up and out of the crevasse, but to his allies' horror they found he had lost his pack to the depths in the process. This far from the surface every morsel of food was precious and the scout received a very stern rebuke for his carelessness.
DELVE THE DEPTHS [6/10] (Kabeera, Shadow) - Weak Hit [7/10]
Kabeera led them on, working their way on and down as best they could guess form the occasional sounds of the temple.
FEATURE - Transition into a new domain (Underkeep)
The air began to feel warmer - a welcome change from the subterranean chill, but a worrisome portent of things to come. They followed a gradually widening passage until it joined a large, long tunnel. From one end came a fiery glow and they approached cautiously.
The tunnel ended at a huge space that stretched hundreds of feet left to right and the same vertically. Before them a carved-stone bridge joined the mouth of the tunnel to a castle gate with a smashed and rotted portcullis. As they craned their necks upwards they saw that the entire opposite wall was a man-made edifice of stone with many windows. Far below the bridge was a moat of magma, lightly burning their faces and bringing forth an instant sheen of sweat.
REACH A MILESTONE (Defeat the Cult) - [3.5/10]
The scene was not empty, however. All across the bridge and the platform opposite lay a multitude of corpses. They were heavily decomposed, but clearly not centuries old so of a later period than the fortress itself. Likely later inhabitants. From their trappings they must have been soldiers and it seemed that what they were looking upon was the scene of a desperate battle - presumably between assailants of the stronghold and its defenders.
As they gingerly made their way through the horrible vestiges of carnage, Luiden took the opportunity to look for bones. He had no way to know which might have been warriors of a high enough standing, so he whispered to his wife to advise him on where to harvest.
GATHER INFORMATION (Blade-bound) - Weak Hit
ENDURE STRESS - Weak Hit
REACH A MILESTONE (Acquire the remains of legendary warriors to oppose the doom) - [3.5/10]
The skirmisher's spirit-wife was very helpful and guided him to the remains of the bravest and most accomplished of fighters amongst the corpses. As she did so she regaled him with the tale of what had happened here, of the subterranean dwellers who long ago took residence in the ancient city and of others who would take it from them. It was with some excitement and joy of story-telling that she painted for him the mental image of the battle - soldiers shot and run-through and thrown to the infernal depths below, yet neither side claimed victory here. With the engagement in full swing, the sounds of the clashing and the killing rang out through the underground structure and stirred a host of unquiet souls from their tormented, centuries-long slumber. The ghosts swept through this place, ripping the souls from every single body present and dragging them away to their places of unholy torment. The vision was vivid and Luiden feared he might swoon close to the edge and risk falling to a burning death. He hurriedly stashed the bones he'd gathered and fighting the horror within ran to catch up with the others as they entered the dark, foreboding city.
AID YOUR ALLY (Bjorn, Wayfarer) - Strong Hit
DELVE THE DEPTHS [7/10] (Kabeera, Shadow) - Weak Hit [8/10]
The city was a highly impressive feat of underground architecture. Though the styling and fashioning was simplistic and lacking in artistic expression, the scale of it was humbling to them all. This place might be thousands of years old and yet put every Ironlander settlement to shame. They walked down wide thoroughfares, passed large staircases and thresholds leading off into empty recesses of the eerily silent and deserted metropolis.
FEATURE - Hall
Their cautious exploration led them to a large hall with many doorways and dusty stone surfaces. What eldritch purpose it might have once served was anybody's guess, as was the way forward until Kabeera noticed some disturbance in the dust. She called everybody's attention to it and between them they divined an old trail of movement out of one of the numerous archways. They could hear the bells again, still soft but now echoey against the smooth, flat surfaces. They pressed on, gripping weapons and torches a little tighter in anticipation.
AID YOUR ALLY (Bjorn, Wayfarer) - Miss
Bjorn, keen to build on his previous success, ventured further and further ahead of them through the empty city following the disturbances in the dust and the distant tolls of the temple bells. He rounded a corner and the bells sounded that much louder he broke into an eager run towards them but this floor was sloped downwards and his pace picked up quickly until he was charging heedlessly into a large room that was both lit and occupied.
The Well Chamber was a communal room that supplied most of the city's water. It was a large, circular room with multiple passages leading away in all directions. At the top of a domed ceiling was a wide circular hole that ran straight upwards all the way to the distant world above so that rain and surface run-off would fall down it. In the floor beneath this chimney a deep pit of identical diameter descended to watery depths far below. The water in the well was heated by nearby magma causing a steady flow of steam to rise up and cloud the Well Chamber. A solid cylinder of stone ran up the centre of the well to a platform at top with three walkways connecting it to the rest of the room so that those collecting water with buckets on ropes could do so from outside the prescribed circle or from within it.
ENTER THE FRAY - Large pack of Zealots (Extreme)
...[Heart] Bjorn - Weak Hit
Bjorn skidded to a halt in the steam-drenched room, halted by the numerous figures all around him. They seemed to be handling buckets and just as unprepared for confrontation as he was.
He quickly brought his bow to bear and nocked an arrow.
SECURE AN ADVANTAGE (Acher) - Strong Hit
STRIKE [0/10] - Strong Hit [1.5/10]
His shot clipped a cultist by the edge of the well and they tumbled in with an echoing scream.
He readied another shot as others drew weapons and approached on him.
STRIKE [1.5/10] - Weak Hit [2.5/10]
He took another one down but was rapidly running out of time and space. Rather than risk another shot he looked for a defensible position and saw, just to the side, a row of alcoves protruding from the walls with a flat roof.
FACE DANGER - Weak Hit
He ran and leapt, just about managing to get his arms and chest up over the side. As he worked at pulling himself up he felt a hand pull on his ankle. A swift kick dislodged it and he scrambled up to his vantage point as the rest of the party burst into the scene.
...[Heart] Kabeera - Weak Hit
...[Heart] Luiden - Miss
ENDURE HARM - Weak Hit
FACE A SETBACK - Lose 3 Supply
...[Heart] Williarth - Miss
...[Heart] Tekhra - Weak Hit
Luiden went charging towards a collection of cultists on the island platform, aiming to force one or more over the edge, but the nearest was ready for him and easily dodged the spear to plunge a dagger into the skirmisher's side. The injury was bad enough, but the blade also severed the strap on his pack and it slipped from his shoulder and tumbled into the depths below.
Williarth fared even worse, for the sloped entrance hampered his judgement as did the slippery tiles of the Well Chamber. He slipped and slid over the edge of the well, only just having the presence of mind to turn and clamp a hand on the lip to halt his descent. There he dangled helplessly. He reached to his neck with his free hand and clasped a pendant in the shape of a raven, uttering a quiet prayer for his life.
Tekhra came running to his aid but was intercepted by cultists.
CLASH [2.5/10] (Masked, Duellist) - Miss [2.5/10]
ENDURE HARM (Masked, Ironclad) - Strong Hit
She took forceful blows and slashes and her legs were kicked from under her. The fine elven plate armour kept her mostly unscathed but very quickly she was surrounded by three of them coming in for the kill.
Kabeera, ever the cautious one, entered the scene in a far more controlled and aware fashion. She quickly spotted two cultists trying to get at Bjorn, one giving the other a leg up, and rushed to pounce.
STRIKE [2.5/10] (Cutthroat) - Strong Hit [4/10]
She deftly yanked the supporting cultist's head back and slit his throat in a moment. As the other fell and turned to her in surprise she drove her knife deep into his chest just below the ribcage, inflicting a quick, blood-spluttering death.
Bjorn utilised the safety of his perch to provide covering fire for his comrades.
SECURE AN ADVANTAGE [4/10] (Turn the Tide, Honourbound, Archer) - Strong Hit
STRIKE [4/10] - Strong Hit [5.5/10]
AID YOUR ALLY - Weak Hit
He lined up quick shots and fired rapidly, taking out a cultist creeping up behind Luiden and another heading for Kabeera. He then saw Tekhra's predicament and attempted to clear some space for her. He narrowly missed a headshot, but it was enough that two of them instinctively backed off for a second. Just long enough for Tekhra to find her feet and come back up swinging.
STRIKE [5.5/10] (Turn the Tide, Masked, Duellist) - Strong Hit [7.5/10]
She stabbed upwards straight into the throat of one, then swung both arms wide to hack into the other two either side.
With time back on her side she dove for the edge of the well to grab Williarth's hand and pull him to safety.
FACE DANGER (Masked) - Strong Hit
She dug in and pulled with all her might to drag a grateful bard back out of the pit.
Luiden, meanwhile, was advancing on the island, facing off against the last pocket of stout resistance.
FACE DANGER (Skirmisher) - Weak Hit
He made some inroads, forcing them backwards and allowing him off the walkway and onto the platform, but the blow that had cost him his pack had also opened a hole in his bag of ritual components and as he advanced the candles slipped out and bounced into the pit too. He went for the kill.
STRIKE [7.5/10] (Turn the Tide, Blade-bound, Skirmisher) - Strong Hit [10/10]
ENDURE STRESS - Weak Hit
FACE A SETBACK - Lose 1 progress on the combat [9.5/10]
Luiden performed a feint, darting backwards then suddenly lunging forwards as his opponent tried to move in. The kin-blade plunged violently through the cultist's midriff spraying blood upon the haft and the floor. Luiden heard her rising glee in his own throat and helplessly felt her possess his mouth and vocal chords to do her own bidding. 'It's your own fault,' she gloated at the dying zealot, before laughing crazily as he died.
The other two on the platform knew the game was up and ran across another walkway towards a large arched exit, but Kebeera had been observing the flow of the conflict and saw this coming. She was ready to head them off with daggers in hand and keep them from raising any alarm.
END THE FIGHT [9.5/10] (Kabeera) - Strong Hit
The cultists had no choice but to yield. As the party regrouped they found one more cultist still alive and swiftly restrained all three with rope by the well's edge.
Now that the scene was quiet again the bells of the temple could be heard louder than ever - they were so close.
Williarth interrogated the captives to gain an idea of how the temple might be entered unseen.
GATHER INFORMATION - Weak Hit
The prisoners laughed at the notion and revealed that there was a magical barrier across the only entrance. Only the initiated had the required enlightenment to pass the barrier safely and without incident. The bard pressed them for this mystical understanding but they just laughed harder at the notion that such heathens could learn it quickly and under such inappropriate circumstances.
That the room was open to the surface world had most certainly not escaped Kabeera's notice. She silently and solemnly made her way to the centre of the island, directly beneath the chimney, taking with her a leg Tekhra had severed in the fight. She knelt there and used blood from the limb to soak some dried rations and cast them about her before turning her gaze skyward and uttering a barely audible cawing sound.
For several silent moments nothing happened. Then distant echoes reached her ears, gradually rising. The sunlight started to darken as a cyclone of crows spiraled down the chimney towards her. She braced herself.
AUGUR - Miss
Thousands of crows erupted down into the Well Chamber, swirling around the island platform and obscuring Kabeera with a deafening cacophony of cries and beating wings that filled the room and the hallways beyond. In the eye of the avian storm Kabeera strained to discern the corvid wisdom from the chaos, but the intelligent speak was being drowned out by the bestial caws. She inched towards the edge of the platform to hear better, but the birds were blocking out the light and she didn't see the rim before it was too late.
FACE DANGER - Weak Hit
As she began to fall she threw her torso backwards and thrust out her arms to find purchase. Her fingers slipped on the wet stone but found merciful grip on the lip of the platform. As she dragged herself back up to safety the crows departed, taking their arcane wisdom with them.
Luiden selected a dead cultist to Commune with, but in preparing it for the ritual discovered the loss of his precious candles, rendering the magic impossible.
Tekhra lost patience with the limitations of the Ironlanders' magic and resorted to old fashioned torture and interrogation. Luiden insisted on helping, playing good cop to her bad cop.
AID YOUR ALLY - Miss
FACE A SETBACK - Lose 2 progress (Defeat the Cult [2.5/10])
The captives scoffed at his set-up. They made it clear that their holy order was well trained in obsessive and resolute dedication to the cause in the face of any bodily threat. The group was taken aback and disheartened somewhat at the vehemence with which the cult would resist reason and mortal concerns.
COMPEL (Masked) - Miss with Complication (8)
PAY THE PRICE - Someone returns unexpectedly
Tekhra stamped hard on the crotch of the first captive, pummeled the face of the second until it was covered in blood, then pressed a knife to the throat of the third hard enough to just break the skin. But he stared her straight in the eyes with fanatical resolution.
'The King approaches,' he rasped.
'What King?' she asked, pressing the blade harder. Then it dawned on her. 'Oh no...'