God damn, another one not written up… here are my game notes, from which I’ll reconstruct the story…
A few hardy sheep and goatherds maintain lonely outposts on the moors within a few miles of the ruins, but no nearer and always within sight of the rugged track that serves as the only real road across the heathland. The group will approach one of these as they near the site of Nirokilon, to find a grizzled older man, and two younger but equally hard-looking younger men on the porch. They claim to be a sheep herder and his sons, but if the PCs make their Awareness Rolls, they will note subtle clues that this is a lie: it’s mid-day, and sheep can be seen on nearby hillsides, but no one seems to be watching them; all three men have the distinctive calluses on their hands of trained fighters; the “father” seems oddly articulate for a peasant shepard; and if all else fails, the glint of chainmail will be glimpsed beneath the homespun clothes of one of the “sons” (they all seem over-dressed for a warm day).
They are in fact a Fire Knight of the Order of the Iron Claw and two Flame Warriors, left to guard this nearest habitation to the abandoned city. The Korönians murdered the actual shepard and his one son, whose bodies were dumped in a nearby bog (trackers will find the drag marks if they look). Once the Knight percieves that their ruse has been discovered, he will give the command to attack, drawing his own mace from its hiding place on the porch, attacking either Erol or Devrik, whoever is closest. The two younger men will reveal their gladius’ and go for the other one and for Toran.
All Fire Knights have a limited immunity to fire-based magics, including Fire Nerves, via the standard amulets they wear and the brutal training they undergo; the Flame Warriors have only thier own toughness, but that’s enough to keep them on their feet after a blast from Mariala – they lose a turn, and can only block if attacked, but they don’t go down! A second attack causes them to lose two turns (but they can still block), and a third will bring them down. The Knight only loses a single turn, no matter how much he’s Fire Nerved.
If any of the Korönians survive the fight, they won’t be easy to make talk… no amount of physical pain will do it, but maybe the PCs can come up with something psychological…
In any case, they should be able to figure out that the others have gone into the sinking city. They should realize that they would be visible in their approach to any watcher on the Observatory, the tallest remaining structure.
But there is enough cover (stone walls, ruined building, low scrub) to make stealth possible. Trackers should have little trouble following the tracks into the ruins.
The group will have to fight another Knight and two Warriors on the steps to the only entrance to the ruined Observatory; they didn’t post a lookout on the roof due to the sever instability of the eastern half of that level.
Once passed the door guards, the group will have to move stealthily through the ruined building, where three Warriors are scouring the remains, looking for anythign useful to their Order. They will be found in the Library, assuming the PCs don’t make any suspicious nosies as they approach.
The leader of the band, along with the Third Fire Knight and two more Flame Warriors, have discovered Koltorin’s private rooms, and the hidden passage beneath the rotted rug that leads to what they seek… they gave the bedroom itself only a cursory look, before descending. They gave the ruined antechambers even less of a look, or they might have realized that the large black chair in the southern room, covered as it is in mud, debris and slime, is made of solid onyx…
The passage beneatht the rug is a shaft crudely lined with brick, and rusting iron handholds, that descends ten meters, debouching into a slightly larger chamber of weeping dirt, braced with rotting wood. To the west is a break-in to a tunnel lined with the psudeostone of the Ancients – apparently naturally shifting forces cracked the almost indestructible material, which allowed someone (Koltorin? The Khundari?) to widen an opening .
The passage ends in a flight of stairs going down another three meters, and a blank wall of psuedostone. Water trickles down the gently sloping hall, and down the stairs, forming a pool about 50 centimetrs deep. But mud stains on the walls would indicate that the water level has been as high as half a meter above the top of the stairs.
The only way to open the secret door is to place a hand in the center of the wall and simply will it open – like a great many Ancient devices, it is psionically activated.
Inside the room revelaed when the door slides silently open, is a low platform around a central column of black stone that seems to absorb all light. As with most Ancient facilities, a diffuse pearly glow seems to emenate from the very air in the chamber. The four men standing before the pillar (it’s hard to tell if it’s round or square due to the intense nature of its light absorbtion) have their backs to the door, and if the group is quiet may not notice them for a moment.
They are all intently focused on a crystal globe that one of them is holding… about the size of a large coconut, it glows with a pulsing purple light that’s almost beyond the visible spectrum for humans. Once the Korönians do notice the intruders, the Knight will lead the two Warriors into battle against them, while the Knight Commander continues attuning himself to the Ancient artifact.
About the time the first of his men goes down he will shout in triumph, raising the globe toward the black pillar, screaming that the unbelievers will be the first to die under Koltorin’s weapon! For a moment nothing happens, then the column of blackness begins to dissapate, like a fog slowly blowing away into nothingness. What’s revealed seems to take even the Commander aback – it’s a ginormous spider body, with the upper body of a man in place of its own upper thorax. The humanoid part is of jet black skin, with white hair, glowing faceted red eyes and a large mouth full of razor sharp teeth. The spider body is black with a white gray-spotted underbelly, the legs white, fading to blood red at the claws.
It wields a trident and a long knife, as well as its two forward claws. Each turn it gets two attacks, plus any TA it may gain. Attacks can be any combination of it’s weapons, but only once for each one (except claws, which can be used twice). It also casts a psychic “web” that attmepts to ensnare and put its prey to sleep. Each time a victim fails a mental roll, he/she accrues 10 (MF) or 20 (CF) Fatigue Points.
While the demon has strong armour, it is particularly vulnerable to fire, which it hates and fears. If it takes real damage, and particularly fire damage, it will attempt to bound past the humans and flee up the passage. It moves very fast, and if it makes it into the passage it will elude any pursuit, escaping onto the moors. If this happens, it probably won’t be the last we hear of it, as it begins a reign of night-time terror in the surrounding region.
The Korönians will fight beside the PCs, once they relaize they have no control over the creature – the orb only freed it. Which is why even the insane Koltorin didn’t try to relase and use the void-spawned monster. If the Grandmaster had bothered to read Koltorin’s journal, which was mouldering but readable on his desk in the bedroom, he would have learned that the Mad Astrologer had come to belive it took four people to properly control whatever was held in the “black stasis column.” He didn’t know what it was, only that it was immensely powerful, powerful enough to frighten even the Ancients who imprisoned it.
If Grandmaster Yoridar is killed, it will have a certain impact on the Darikazi civil war; and if he is taken alive and held by the Arushali authorities, it could have even more unexpected consequences!
Besides some fine weapons on the Darikazi, there are several valuable books in readable condition, and several new spells for the magic-weilding PCs, perhaps a religious treatise for Vulk, as well. Amongst the gold and gems in Koltorin’s chest will be a Matrix Crystal attuned to Yalva – roll 2 + 1d10 to determine how much of a benefit Devrik will get from it once he attunes himself to it.
The Arushali Crown will confiscate most of the 150,00 gp in actual treasure, however, leaving the Hand with a 10% “finders fee.” The Star Council will, of course, take over the Ancient site, sealing it off as too dangerous for further exploration.
