The aftermath, and making an arrest

The party, a bit stunned, decides to investigate the remaining doors in the tomb complex, finding some magical items of wonderment, two chained and animated skeletons, a suite of abandoned rooms, most likely living quarters, and an enormous room, with odd purple lighting, covered in fungus, and an odd compost heap (a giant one, too - complete with entire logs) in the middle of the room.

Our intrepid band wants nothing to do with this, shutting, locking, and arcane-locking the door on their way out.  Then back upstairs, where the survivors were all also touched by Aelaephixia in the same ways as our party...  Both Kyrie and the captured priest are catatonic, and will not emerge from whatever dark place their thoughts have run to for the rest of our adventure.

It is discovered that everyone in the complex - not just those in the room with Aelaephixia - have been given a connection to the goddess, all in the same way.

Conversations are had, trust is hesitantly given, and plans are made.  First our noble heroes journey farther inside the mountain to see the lake of fire, which is beautiful and majestic - the cave is enormous, the actual lake is majestic, with the occasional bubble of lava bursting into the chamber, and hypnotic heat ripples wave through the room, and what seem like motes of burning ash turn into hand-sized dragonfly-looking 'creatures' that appear to be made of raw lava.  One approaches the party, appearing to study them, before rejoining it's fellows in a dance over the magma.

The party is initially dismayed that they are unable to approach closer than 25 feet or so to the lava.  But, of course, they find a way to urinate in the lava lake, using the barbarian's rage and the wizard's prestidigitation spell.  Because there's majestic beauty of nature, and then there's adventurers and their ways.

Back to the complex to gather their forces, our party and mercenaries and etc head back out into the world.  As they emerge from the caverns, they start feeling a... compulsion, or an... itch - something, drawing them to four other places in the world, places like this one, tombs or resting places for other gods:

 - West of Spoek, near the border between Atlea and Zendar
 - Outside of Coriander in the Black Swamp
 - down between the Empress and Basalt in Vallea
 - In the city of Joven

It is weird, and a bit off-putting, and our band looks at each other, bonding over their shared horror.  Over the next couple of days the Mercenary captain wakes up and goes through some awesome WTF moments, then he and Cimbri declare their mutual beef which they will put off until they reach Joven.  The theives also wish to head to Joven, not seeing Lucius, their contact in Bai.

So onward to Bai!  Our merry band heads to Lucius Johniah's office, there to gather information regarding the men who were guarding Aelaephixia's tomb.  Lucius appears to be agreeable, but points out that he is the executor of the contract, and as stated the mercenaries, since they did not complete their terms of service, were not eligable for full pay or bonuses.  This annoys our band, who, in an escalating series of gambits:

  - Order Lucius to provide money for the mercenaries
  - Order Lucius to violate the terms of the contract
  - Order Lucius to provide any and all documents regarding the mercenaries, which he does
  - Become angered when other documents relating to the financial arrangements (but not directly to the mercenaries) are not forthcoming
  - Arrest Lucius under suspicion of blasphemy and sedition
  - Refuse to provide Lucius with his attorney during questioning
  - Go through Lucius' safe, reading sealed documents
  - Bind, gag, and hood Lucius and drag him outside to the tard-cart

All in all, it's business as usual for our band.

As they leave the city, the party is met by Brett Aingtar, the Captain of the Bai Guard, and asked to come back to the Militia House for a conversation; he reveals that Lucius is the subject of an ongoing, careful, and very legal investigation, so his arrest might not be what's best for all concerned.  Revealing their connection to the Emperor and that Lucius might know about the Great Evil Things in the world does not seem to sway him; revealing that 'someone' went through his safe, and that in the course of investigating that break-in many papers might be found and read, does.  Brett provides the party three carts pulled by three fast teams of horses - and on to Joven!

At this point, to recap, we have AofEk, Cimbri, and Horace, plus Durim (still incapacitated from delicious grapes).  Additionally, the four militia men picked up in Amber are along for what is turning out to be quite a more exciting adventure than was originally planned.  Along with them are James, a priest who is struggling (and mostly succeeding) to make sense and process what has happened, another priest of Joven (Kylie) who is horribly burnt and catatonic, and another priest (Francis DeTone) - also catatonic.  The mercenary captain (Angus) and his three mercs are along - Angus bides his time before he can fight Cimbri, and the three mercenaries are fairly puzzled but generally happy with the course of events. The two thieves Joline and Chet also tag along to Joven - they were headed there anyway.  Finally, the prisoner Lucius Johniah accompanies with poor grace our noble band.

The party is met on the outskirts of Joven by Major Rex Tomboulien, accompanied by a couple of lawyers, 10 militia members, and another 10 or so men-at-arms.  A tense moment is had until the party identifies themselves as the Emperor's men, so Rex accompanies them to Milosh's house.  Milosh and Lucius are apparently old friends, unfortunately, but Emperor Milosh congratulates the party on performing their duties (stir shit up, and get a feel for what's going on in the Empire).  James is a bit star-struck to be in the presence of such an August person as the Emperor, and tells him in a rush the heart of what has happened so far.  Milosh invites James to stay in his guest house (with the catatonic priests) before meeting with the high priest, and invites the party back for breakfast - he'll talk to Lucius and smooth everything over with his friend that night.

As they leave Milosh's house, the party realizes that the pull they feel in Joven is coming from one of the graveyards in the city - and as they approach, that they're drawn towards one of the mausoleums in the back of the graveyard.  They go up to the door of the structure and see a chain and an unlocked lock, and the gate swinging open, and remember that there are at least 9 other people in town who also felt the pull....

Exciting times, again!

A Surprising Development

From the factories of Amber into the Volcanic Mountains, our intrepid band presses on.  Durim once again gets into the grapes, much to his woe and dismay, but the group is enlarged with 4 men-at-arms, as well as the priests Kylie VanDerWolfe and James Morrigan.  After almost three weeks of travelling through the mountains the party arrives at a set of lava tunnels - the location of another crypt like the one outside Applo, according to Tara's research.  The lava tube itself is enormous - easily 50 feet wide and almost as tall.  Several hundred feet in - thank goodness for everburning torches! - a stream trickles down the tube and out a small passage; following the stream for another half a mile the party comes to a carved tunnel in the side of the tube where the stream flows from.  Walking down the tunnel the party comes to a door, behind which is...

Several men, playing cards at a table.  They are as surprised to see the party as the party is to see them; friends are called, and a somewhat tense conversation is had, where the party reveals themselves as militia, and the men say they are in a philosophical retreat.  It seems a bit fishy in retrospect, doesn't it?  But at the time, it made some good sense, and the party was allowed to search the caves for any secret tombs, with the cave-dwellers' blessings...  at least, until a strange wall was found, with an unusual, magicked region about the size of a doorway.

"You cannot go in there", says the party's guide as he casts a spell, "We serve a higher power than you know."  AOfEk casts a spell, as does the man guiding the party around; Horace sees this as an opportunity to strike from behind at one of the sneaky guards, putting her down.  And combat is afoot!

Which, of course, our bold adventurers handily won.  The mage lay dead, as did one of the mercenary guards; the other three mercenaries, the head mercenary, two sneaky 'scouts' and the enemy priest (who invoked Ixia in his spells!) lay unconscious, or surrendered.  The three mercenaries are quite cooperative, saying what they know about the men who hired them, what the contract was for and how much it paid, and some small information about the people they shared the caves with.

The priest is awakened and questioned, and is not very forthcoming with information:  "We guard an ancient secret which must not be disturbed."  If anything, however, his words make the party even more interested in disturbing ancient secrets, and disturb them they do.  Behind the strange spot in the wall is a statue of a woman in full armor with a spear - the same kind of statue as was in the tomb outside of Applo.  A secret opening in the floor leads to a ladder down, with a strange, ancient complex of rotten and musty odors.  Many corridors are followed and doors are opened - two with wards.  The outside one reads "This is the (bedroom / resting chamber / crypt) of Aelaephixia.  Let (men / creatures) war no longer."  Some interesting and non-rotten items are found - a strange light suit of armor, a handful of gems, and a bundle of arrows - as well as a second warded door, again with runes.

Behind this door is a large chamber - over 100 feet in both directions.  In each corner of the room a pool is set into the floor - one with a roaring fire, another with a stationary dust-devil, a third with loamy compost, and the fourth a pool of serene water.  In the middle of the chamber are daises - each about eight inches high, with the middle platform a good four feet from the floor level.  On the middle platform stands another marble statue of the woman with a spear.

The woman.... changes, somehow, and becomes instead of a statue, something... alive.  Her eyes open and stare at the party, looking through them and inside their souls, smiling as she asks:

IS IT TIME?

The party is rather taken aback at this, but AOfEk has the presence to say, "Who are you?"

I AM AELAEPHIXIA, AND I... OH.  OH, I SEE.

She pauses, and again looks through the party and into the beyond.

THIS IS... FUNNY.  YOU ARE MINE (looking at the Barbarian) AND YOU, IN YOUR WAY (looking at the mage) ARE MINE, BUT YOU (looking at the rogue), WELL - AND OH!  OH, I SEE.  YES (looking at the two priests as she starts to smile.)

She smiles a horrifically and awe-producing smile at each of the party in turn, then says:

YES.  I SEE.  YOU ARE MINE, LITTLE ONES.  GO AND SPREAD THE WORD OF AELAEPHIXIA

And she vanishes from the chamber as if she were never there.  The party, stunned almost beyond belief, realizes they have been touched by a god, and have gained some abilities of the priesthood.

James sits down, stunned, and Kylie races to the middle of the platform, screaming, "NO!  NO!  NO!" at the top of her lungs, smashing her mace hard on the stones.  The rest of the party reels, watching her, as she leaps down and races into the pit of fire, burning herself quite badly.  Were it not for the quick thinking of AOfEk - who grabs the fire-proofing help from the barbarian and pulls Kylie from the fire, screaming for James to heal her - she would be lost. As it is she will have scars and burnt skin, perhaps mirroring the turmoil she feels within.

The curtains close on this act of our drama with our adventurers reeling and confused about what just happened, and how to feel about freeing a goddess and being chosen as the first members of her congregation.

Empire Provence Maps

Map of the world

Making Friends on the job

As Durim recovers from his intestinal discomfort - the grapes are all eaten - the party arrives at the Tomb outside of Applo.  Justian spends several hours investigating, retracing the party's steps.  The guards out front are tasked with building a gate, which will make their jobs easier; they readily agree.

Then - off to Joven!  Milosh asks the party to visit the province capitols and get a sense for what's going on, and (if possible) track down any weird stuff or cultist activity.  The party feels this is a bit too stringent a task but agrees, reluctantly, to do as their Emperor orders.  Horace insists that his underworld contact report unusual activity to the Emperor, and Cimbri and AOfEk have a conversation with High Priest Carlton on the nature of priest spells (and how they are similar and different to/from arcane spells).  Tara shows AOfEk her investigations into the tomb at Applo, and how she has found evidence of another crypt to the far east.  Justian is left to his research, and the party is off to Amber, the capital of Vallea.

Amber is a mining and metalworking town, and a green haze hangs over the dry, dusty city as they approach.  Our band heads to the worst bar they can find, in the middle of the smelting district, where Cimbri shows off his ability to withstand fire.  The priest assigned to the smelting district is being derelect in her duties, and has not been healing the injured smelter workers; Cimbri gives one with a severe burn on his hand a healing potion, and hears the tales of woe about Kylie Rodin, the priest in question.  The party also hears of two cultist attacks nearby - a grain mill several hours outside of town, and a bar and brothel in the warehouse district.

Kylie is defensive and dismissive when the party approaches her; the mayor of Amber (Paige Ovitt) is more polite, but also dismissive.  Peter Wakely, the Colonel of the Militia in Amber, is much more forthcoming, and is entirely on board with the party's task, offering whatever help they need in their investigations.  Joel Northern, the foreman of the Union Carbide smelter in town, is questioned, and, while pleasant and helpful, has no information or help to give.  Investigating the bar reveals the word "SHELOI" written, in blood, under several bottles of spirits in a back corner of the bar.  Uh-oh!

On their way to see Jarred Treen - the priest of Amber - Cimbri stops in at the Artificer's Guild to enchant his sword.  Jarred, though defensive, is understanding of the party's goal, and though he doesn't understand the nature of the problem in the world, is willing to help.  Some of the aid he provides is Kylie Rodin, who is ordered to accompany the party to the Crypt several days ride to the northeast.

As Cimbri waits for his sword to be enchanted, the party questions the patrons who were at the bar during the attacks; no new information is gathered, and the people there seemed more freaked out than anything.  The priest watching the interviews, however, is led to the realization that 'detect evil' might be useful to help ferret out cultists, and promises to disseminate the information.

And then - the party rides off, into the mountains, in search of crypts.  Exciting times!

The Cabin In The Woods - a translated book

(This book is bound in some sort of skin stretched and riveted over what feels like a thick sheet of hard metal.  The pages are an unknown material.  The title is printed on the front cover, and repeated (with the byline) on the first front page.)

The Cabin in the Woods

Volume II

As Told By Mogen Son of Molag

Late one night a few seasons ago, a soldier was returning home after several bloody battles. He decided he would save some gold and decided to cross the pine forest on foot.

The first day of his journey was rather uneventful, the soldier stuck to the main path and kept a brisk pace. When it started getting dark he setup his bedroll, built a small fire and cooked up some rabbit he had caught. "A fine day indeed" he thought to himself as he fell asleep.

Partway through the evening the soldier was woken up by soft sobbing in the distance. He grabbed his sword assuming it to be a bandit trick, but pretended to sleep so he could get the jump on them. After a few minutes the sobbing started moving away from his camp until he could no longer hear it. For the rest of the night slept with one eye open.

Day two the soldier awoke from what rotten sleep he could catch and started off through the forest at a quicker pace, intending to put distance between himself and whatever he had heard last night. As the day went on it began to rain heavy so the soldier built himself a little shelter for the evening so he could remain dry while he slept.

It took him a little longer to fall asleep with thoughts of the previous night fresh in his mind but he eventually slept.

This time he awoke to sobbing that sounded like it was right outside his shelter. The soldier grabbed his sword and crawled out of the shelter. In front of the fire he saw the back of a ghostly woman sobbing into her hands.

The soldier mustered his courage and asked her what was wrong.  He received no answer.

He began to slowly approach but before he could reach her she turned and screamed at him. The ghostly woman raised an axe and began to run at the soldier, disappearing before she made contact.

The soldier took off into the night with just his sword in hand. He ran until the first light of dawn where he started down the road again, as fast as he could move.

The third day was bright and sunny, but the soldier, rattled and sleepless, didn't even notice. He moved as fast as he could trying to get through the forest before nightfall.

As darkness began to fall he saw a cabin just off the road and thought to himself it would be a good place to hunker down for the night. After arriving at the cabin he spent some time blocking the doors and windows, nothing would get in.

Despite his preparations, he could not sleep. He sat in what used to be the cabin's bedroom staring at the barricaded door shaking. Eventually he could keep his eyes open no longer and fell asleep.

This time he awoke to laughing on the other side of the barricaded door. It sounded like the woman from before, but he refused to believe it was her.

The soldier burst through the barricaded door into the main room to find the ghostly woman from the night before staring at the ground laughing hysterically with axe in hand.

He began to relentlessly attack the ghostly woman but he could feel his strikes were less effective. As the last of his energy faded he uttered a quick prayer to Johrevn, which drew a scream from her and she exploded, disappearing.

The ordeal was over, the ghost was gone.

The soldier slept well that night and the next day made excellent distance through the woods. As the sun began to set he came out on the other side of the forest and looked back, remembering the days before.

As he turned and started walking away from the woods he could swear he heard the sobbing again.

On Aelaephixes - a translated book

On Aelaephixes

(This book is bound in ancient brittle leather that somehow is not cracked.  The pages are skin of some sort, stiff with age but sturdy.  There are four parts to the book. A short first section, with each of the following lines to one page, and a blank page between each section, follows.)

Let this tome be forgotten forever.

Let it be struck from the rolls of history.

Let it never be spoken of by man or mer.

Let its very name be lost to the ages.

Ye who read here, know:

This book was written at great price.

Honor those who perished in its compliation

Close it now, and leave them to their rest.

Or if you must read on, know this

Aelaephixes

Will find you

Will bless you with (trauma / torture / struggles)

Aelaephixes requires only your honor

Only your death

Only your Worship

(The next section of the book is much longer.  Each line is repeated in what appears to be different hands at the top of the left page and bottom of the right.  On each page is an illustration; an abstract figure on the left, and a faded sketch which could, you suppose, represent the scenario described on each page.  Where there are breaks below are two pages with an asterisk as the only writing – a large asterisk, covering most of the page.)

A spirit of the wilds, mercurial in form, sister to gazelles.

A practitioner of law, with her several secretaries.

The seventh wife of a tyrant king, carrying his chief huntsman's child.

The death of the primary heir of a local noblewoman.

A wandering spirit, visible at will, an inflamer of human passions.

A band of goat herders, armed, outraged by an injustice visited upon their clan.

A happy girl, promised in marriage to a gentleman, naive to the danger he represents.

The deathbed curse of a betrayed queen.

A war-sorceress, slender but commanding, with golden hair.

An altar to devils of the waste, stinking with gore.

The human servant of a mighty and unspeakable demiurge.

A great army's marching orders, passwords, and signals, and the unfortunate aide who lost them.

A small room under the foundation, its doorway bricked shut, the prison of a dreadful and malicious spirit.

An ancient stone way marker, indicating an overgrown road, and the ghost of a man buried there.

A market on the crossroads, full of sound and color.

An unsavory treasure-seeker, with an honest map.

The capture of a bandit carrying ancient treasures looted from a previously unknown tomb.

A fishing village with an inn of good quality.

A noble house's signatory ring, left behind in a street brawl.

A practitioner of law, with her several secretaries.

A corrupt guard, turning a blind eye to the illegal businesses that have paid him off.

(The third section of the book contains what appears to be several pages of fictional constellations and anatomical diagrams.  None of the star maps match any part of the sky; none of the animals or structures dissected match creatures in the world.)

(The final section of the book is in a different style from the rest – perhaps a different language all together.  It is the final two pages of the book.)

Look upon the face of Aelaephixes and wonder.

Raise your arms that Aelaephixes may look on them and bestow a blessing.

Know that battle is a blessing.

Know that death is an eventuality.

Know that you are dust in the eyes of Aelaephixes.

Long is the arm of Aelaephixes, and swift is the blade.

Deep is the cut, and subtle is the poison.

Worship, o faithful. Pray your death is short.

Worship, o faithful. Pray your death is quiet.

Worship, o faithful. Worship the glory that is Aelaephixes.