JollyDoc's Serpent's Skull-updated 11/6/2011

Danse Macabre

Several days later the Screaming Jungle was left behind as the river flowed across the Korir Plains. The river widened and became fast and shallow, and the surrounding vegetation consisted of almost entirely of reeds, mangroves, lotuses and other water plants. After travelling a few miles along the river’s course, the Bastards spied four young Zenj women bathing in the water. When the women spied the travelers, they giggled and beckoned to them.
“Ah!” Nkechi said to his traveling companions. “Unless I miss my guess, these are spirit dancers. To witness them perform, it is said, brings good fortune.”
“I can believe that!” Jack grinned wolfishly.
“Greetings, wanderers,” one of the women said as the Bastards approached. Though all of the ladies were beautiful, she was even fairer still. “I am Zakiyya, and these are my sisters, Alala, Masozi and Osumare. You appear weary from the road. Won’t you join us for our evening meal? Our home is not far from here.”
“We’d be honored!” Jack piped up before anyone could object.

The simple but clean hut on the river bank was indeed not far, and once there the companions were fed a filling meal of fish, frog legs, and wild rice around an outdoor hearth.
“I’m sure that your guide,” Zakiyya nodded to Nkechi, “has told you of our profession. We are spirit dancers, priestesses among our people. It seems you are on a quest, and it is our sacred duty to offer our services to you. If would permit it, we can awaken your totem spirits. They will aid you upon your journey, and help guide your path.”
Nessalin had been watching the women closely throughout the meal. Though all of them smiled brightly and seemed friendly, even overly so, the other three deferred to Zakiyya in all things. Furthermore, when Alala, Masozi and Osumare were not directly engaged in conversation, they seemed glassy-eyed and listless. One by one, however, his companions accepted Zakiyya’s offer.
“I’ll pass,” the magus said simply when it came his turn.
“And I unlocked my spirit guide long ago,” Nkechi smiled.
“Very well then,” Zakiyya smiled in return. “Let us begin.”

The women prepared an herbal tea, which they offered the Bastards. They each drank deeply as the Zenj began their hypnotic dance. After only a few minutes, Jack’s and Agnar’s heads began to loll, and within moments, they both slumped over, snoring loudly. Lyrissa soon followed suit. Gorak had eyes only for Zakiyya, while Zavasta stared raptly at Masozi.
“Take your friend inside,” Masozi said gently to the alchemist as she nodded at Agnar. “He is overwrought and needs rest.”
Wordlessly, Zavasta stood and lifted Agnar in his arms before disappearing into the hut.
“I knew it!” Nessalin spat. “It’s a trap!”
He drew his scimitar and spoke a word, weaving sparks of electricity around its blade. With a snarl, he leaped at Alala and cut her down with one slice.
“No!” Nkechi shouted. “This is not the way of the spirit dancers! Something has bewitched them! Do not harm them!”
“Gorak,” Zakiyya purred. “Be a dear and kill Arioch for me.”
The barbarian grunted enthusiastically and turned towards the summoner, murder in his eyes.
“As for you, Nessalin,” she locked her gaze upon the magus. “That wasn’t very nice of you, killing Alala like that. Isn’t there any way we could be friends?”
Nessalin blinked and looked around in confusion. What was going on? Where was he?
“Of course we can,” he nodded. “Why would you even ask?”
“That’s what I thought,” Zakiyya smiled.

“We have to get out of here!” Arioch shouted to Nessalin.
The priest agreed, and as they began to run, he spoke a prayer, and a cloud of billowing mist covered their retreat. They’d gone no more than two steps, however, before Gorak loomed out of the shadows behind them. His sword swung and slashed across Nkechi’s back, sending the priest sprawling. Bleeding profusely, he looked up to see the big barbarian standing over him, preparing to deliver the killing blow.
“Gozreh!” he prayed. “Grant me sanctuary!”
He waited for the sword to fall, but it didn’t. A look of confusion came over Gorak’s face, then he shrugged and stalked off into the mist. Arioch had seen the exchange, but knew there was nothing he could do except die in Nkechi’s stead. He turned and vanished into the cloud, only to make his way quietly to the far edge. He could just see Zakiyya standing on the river bank, smiling to herself. The summoner threw out his hands, and a golden leopard sprang from the air and charged towards the woman, leaping at the last moment, and raking at her with its claws. Zakiyya snarled and pointed a finger at the cat.
“Sit!” she commanded.
Like a well-heeled house pet, the leopard did just that.

Zavasta peeked out the door of the cabin. He wasn’t sure what was going on, only that Zakiyya seemed to have gone crazy, and Masozi might be in danger. He pulled a bomb from his belt and hurled it at Zakiyya. It exploded at her feet and showered her with acid.
“Zavasta! Stop!” Masozi commanded. “She is our friend!”
The alchemist shrugged and turned back towards the cabin. As he did, Nessalin’s eyes fixed upon Masozi. Something was not right. Why was she ordering Zavasta around like that? That shouldn’t be. He was ensorcelled! The magus ran towards the spirit dancer, and as she turned towards him with shock upon her face, he cut her down. In that instant, Zavasta’s mind was freed.

Arioch summoned as second leopard, and though that one managed to claw Zakiyya’s thigh, she enthralled it as well. Then he summoned a small, globe-like archon, one of the least of the celestials. It fired rays of light from its body at the spirit dancer, but then it too came under her spell. Arioch called an aurochs and sent it stampeding towards her. It managed to trample and kill one of the leopards, before it quickly became as docile as a calf. The summoner was running out of ideas.

From the shelter of the cabin, Zavasta hurled another bomb at Zakiyya.
“Gorak!” she screamed. “Kill him!”
The barbarian came charging out of the mist towards Zavasta. The alchemist tried to slam the cabin’s door, but Gorak lowered his shoulder and smashed it in, thrusting his blade into Zavasta’s belly as he came. Thinking quickly, the alchemist fished a flask from his belt and gulped it down. Instantly, he vanished from view, invisible. He held his breath, knowing that if Gorak even suspected he was still there, he was dead. The barbarian looked around for a moment, and then went back outside.

Arioch knew that if he kept summoning single creatures, Zakiyya would just continue to take control of them. He had only one chance. He had almost expended his summonings for the day, and he had to make his efforts count. He cast the spell, and three elementals erupted out of the ground around the spirit dancer. All of them began pummeling Zakiyya.
“Gorak!” she cried. “Help me!”
The barbarian came charging towards her, his sword smashing one of the elementals to dust. Arioch summoned three more. Zakiyya was bleeding freely by this time, and fear was in her eyes.
“Gorak, Osumare!” she commanded. “Kill them all!”
Then she vanished in a flash of crimson light. Gorak raised his sword and stared around wildly. Then, he clenched his eyes shut and shook his head violently.
“No!” he screamed. “Get out of me head!”
When he opened his eyes, they were clear once more, his will his own again. Next to him, Osumare lay on the ground weeping, her spell also broken, and the full horror of her actions clear to her.
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Osumare told her tale to the Bastards that evening around the fire outside her home. She and her sisters had been approached by Zakiyya, who offered to teach them secret rituals to bring them closer to their totem spirits. They accepted her profane gifts before they realized her demonic nature. When she finally revealed herself as a succubus, the spirit dancers were horrified, but they were too afraid to oppose her, for if Zakiyya took back her gifts, they would be forever cut off from their totem spirits. She knew she could never make amends for her sins, and she completely blamed herself for the death of her sisters, but she offered to make some small measure of recompense to the companions by performing for them the true ritual to unlock their spirit totems. This time, all of the Bastards agreed. Osumare danced beautifully to summon the totem animals, then proceeded to tattoo each of the totems on their respective owners with long, slender quills dipped in localized numbing toxin. The process was painful even so, and the entire ritual took several hours. Once it was completed, however, each of the Bastards found that they could call on their totems for guidance. Zavasta took it one step further. His totem turned out to be a vulture, and that night the alchemist worked feverishly on a new concoction that he’d had an idea for. He injected himself with it immediately, and when he woke in the morning he proudly showed off the new pair of black feathered wings he’d sprouted overnight.
____________________________________________________________

One week later, the Bastards, led by Nkechi and guided by their totem spirits, finally reached the ruins of the Azlanti outpost of Tazion. The crumbling remnants of a massive enclosure wall marked the perimeter of the ruins. Entire sections had eroded away or lay buried beneath sediment, while vines and vegetation strangled what little exposed stonework remained. The companions began scrambling through one of the large holes in the walls, but as Agnar’s skeletal chemosit blundered through, a barbed net sprang up around it and hoisted it bodily into the trees. Frustrated, Agnar took flight upon the zombified geir and cut the chemosit free.
“This net is not ancient,” Nkechi noted. “It looks relatively new. We are not alone here.”

Not far inside the enclosure wall, the companions came upon a large vine-draped pit in the ground. When they peered down, however, they saw worked stone. It was apparently some sort of ancient, long dry aqueduct. It seemed a good way to traverse the ruins without running across any hostiles until they’d had a chance to ascertain exactly what they were up against.
“Wait a moment,” Arioch said. “I’ll whip us up a scout.”
He opened a summoning circle, and a small lantern archon flitted out.
“Go below and see what’s down there,” Arioch commanded it.
The little globe of light bobbed in acknowledgement, then flashed down into the pit. A moment later, the companions heard a rumbling roar from below, almost like the sound of rushing water. When they looked down, they saw that a huge, vaguely humanoid column of water had reared up in front of the archon. The diminutive celestial was brave. It held its ground and loosed a trio of energy rays into the oncoming elemental. Zavasta backed up the archon by hurling an acidic bomb into the body of the elemental as it prepared to attack. A moment later, Jack leaped into the pit, followed closely by Gorak, and then, at Agnar’s command, the chemosit skeleton. The chemosit swung one taloned paw at the elemental, but the water creature responded with two enormous pseudopods that slammed into both the skeleton and the archon. Then, when Jack attempted to somersault behind it, it smashed another fist into him as well. Gorak charged, trying to distract the elemental from Jack. He struck with fury, while beside him the chemosit continued to pummel the guardian, and from behind, the archon unleashed another salvo of celestial light. The elemental slammed one massive arm into all three of its attackers, snuffing the archon out of existence, and reducing the chemosit into a pile of bloody bones. By that time, however, Jack was on his feet again, and while he struck from behind, Gorak slashed furiously from the front. Finally, the elemental collapsed in on itself, leaving a large pool of water which quickly drained away down the aqueduct.

The other companions climbed down into the tunnel, and Agnar stood over what had been his minion.
“Tough break,” Jack snickered.
“Don’t trouble yourself,” the priest replied. “It will regenerate, but it will take some time. It should be fine here for now while we continue onward.”
“Great,” Jack sighed.
Quietly, the group proceeded down the darkened passage. After several minutes, the tunnel branched to their right. They ignored the offshoot and continued on ahead. Eventually, the channel ended in a weathered stairwell that led back to the surface. When the group emerged, however, they did not find themselves outside, but instead inside of a ruined tower. The floor was hidden beneath a veritable carpet of multicolored snakes. Among them slithered a constrictor of enormous size, as well a quartet of deadly violet mambas.

Arioch quickly called four elementals to him, this time wreathed entirely in flames. They waded into the serpents, setting snakes ablaze on all sides, including two of the mambas. Gorak walked behind them, hacking all around him as the snakes closed in. Then, almost too quick to see, the constrictor struck. It wrapped its coils around the barbarian and began to squeeze. Gorak’s eyes bulged, and his face turned crimson as rage overcame him. Bony spikes began ripping through his flesh from beneath, piercing the snake’s tough hide. As the serpent recoiled, the elementals swarmed it, setting it alight as they hammered it with their fists. It released Gorak as it burned to a smoking cinder. Gorak roared in victory as he sliced another of the mambas in half, and Nessalin charred the last one with his electrified scimitar. The tower itself turned out to be little more than a hollow shell. Rather than venture back outside into the unknown, the Bastards descended back into the aqueduct and backtracked to the side tunnel they’d bypassed before.
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The secondary passage came to a dead end in the side of a deep well. Its bottom was dry some forty feet below, while twenty or so feet above blue sky could be seen.
“Hush!” Jack cautioned the others.
He cocked his head, listening carefully. From somewhere below, he thought he heard a faint slithering sound in the darkness. From above there came a chattering cacophony, vaguely reminiscent of monkeys.
“We’ve got company top and bottom,” he whispered to the others.
“Move aside,” Arioch replied. “I’ll send the elementals to scout the bottom while we still have them.”
“That’s a long way down,” Jack said. “You sure they can survive that?”
“They won’t have to,” the summoner smiled.

At Arioch’s command, the four elementals leaped into the shaft and began to plummet. The summoner quickly cast another spell, and instantaneously the creatures began to float downwards, like feathers on a breeze. No sooner had they touched down at the bottom of the well,however, than a flash of violent motion erupted from a small hole in the side of the shaft. To the observers above, it looked like a black-skinned octopus. Two of its rubbery arms seized a pair of the elementals and tore them to pieces. Whatever the creature was, it suffered severe burns for its trouble, but it was not slowed. It began crawling towards the other elementals.

“I’m going down there,” Nessalin said.
He quickly dropped a rope over the side and began sliding down. Gorak grabbed the rope behind him and started down after him. Suddenly, the chattering from above grew louder. Nessalin looked up and saw four faces peering down at him from the top of the well. They looked like baboons, but they wore leather armor, and a sinister intelligence glinted in their eyes. When they saw the Bastards, they began to hoot wildly, and then grabbed rocks from the lip of the well and started throwing them with deadly accuracy. A pair of stones struck Nessalin in the head, and he almost lost his grip as blood flowed into his eyes, momentarily blinding him. Above him, Gorak was pelted as well, and at the magus’s urging, he began scrambling back up the rope, Nessalin right behind him.

Below, the remaining elementals pummeled the crawling octopoid until it retreated back into its hole. They bent low and followed. It was a fatal mistake. The creature’s lair was a dead-end, and backed into a corner, it fought savagely. Within seconds, it killed both the elementals, but the burns it suffered as it did so proved deadly for it as well.

Arioch cast another summoning as the ape-men continued tossing rocks into the well. This time he called a dretch, and the little demon quickly wove a noxious green cloud at the top of the well. Immediately, the sound of violent retching came from above.
“Coming through!” Zavasta shouted as he elbowed past his companions
The alchemist leaped into the shaft and unfurled his wings as he did, then flew awkwardly to the top. As he emerged, he got a good look at the ape-men. They were short, no more than three-feet tall, but they carried carved cudgels on their belts, and their armor was well-made. Three of them were in the throes of nausea, while the fourth looked around in confusion. When it saw Zavasta, however, it quickly snatched up a rock and pelted the alchemist squarely in the forehead. Zavasta cursed and hurled an acid bomb amongst the apes. The one who’d attacked him screamed as its flesh dissolved, while the others could do nothing to defend themselves as the acid splashed on them as well. Zavasta threw again…and again, until nothing was left of the creatures but sizzling piles of gore.

It looks like the party is having a pretty awesome time. :3

Snakes and Monkies

The Bastards moved carefully across the jungle-choked ruins towards two vine-covered mounds that might once have been buildings. Suddenly, a cacophony of hoots and growls came from the trees around them. Soon the cries were picked up some distance away. In the tree branches above, three charau-ka crouched, their fangs bared, and rocks clutched in their hands. One of them pelted Jack in the chest, while another pegged Nkechi in the back of the head, sending the old man reeling. Lyrissa turned towards the ape-men and unleashed a blistering tirade of the most vicious invectives her companions had ever heard. The charau-ka grabbed their ears and shrieked as their skin burst into flames. They fell from the trees and rolled madly on the ground, trying to extinguish the fire. One of them stopped moving after a moment, a charred husk, and Nessalin stabbed a second one through the back before it could regain its feet. The last one wasn’t as crispy, and it leaped to its feet and charged Zavasta. The alchemist grabbed for a bomb, but the charau-ka was already on him, beating him about the head with its club, and biting into his arm. Then Jack and Lyrissa were there, stabbing the creature repeatedly until it stopped struggling.
“We need to keep moving!” Nessalin snapped, his eyes going to the trees. “We don’t know how many of these things are still out there. From the sound of it, I’d guess quite a few!”
_________________________________________________________

Near the center of the ruins stood the shattered remains of three conical cylinders connected by low, thick walls of piled stone. Boab trees burst from crumbling structures, their thick roots and branches devouring large chunks of ancient stonework. The walls surrounded an overgrown courtyard of toppled statues and weathered foundations, with a path of broken cobbles that wound around large, watery pools. Wide marble steps led to a short foyer hedged by low, broken walls. A gnarled boab tree erupted from the floor, its powerful roots twisted through the surrounding flagstones, leaving them cracked and shattered. As Jack and Nessalin led the group across the threshold, a loud snap sounded from above them. A large, stone block that had been suspended overhead plummeted down and smashed to pieces, peppering the rogue and the magus with fist-sized fragments.
“I’d say they already know we’re here,” Agnar remarked.

The courtyard they entered had entire sections of the outer wall that had collapsed into several small tar pits that bubbled up among the ruins. A very large pool stretched through the center of the ruins, a thin layer of black and glassy water on its surface. Crumbling remnants of walls rose from it, while huge slabs of salvaged granite formed a makeshift foundation that supported crude walkways cut from felled trees. As the companions cautiously skirted the pool, four charau-ka suddenly rose up from behind the walls, hooting and yammering as they began to hurl chunks of granite. One of the rocks caught Lyrissa in the temple, and Gorak had to grab the bardess by the arm to keep her from tumbling headlong into the tar pit. Zavasta leaped for cover, tossing a bomb as he tumbled. The acidic explosion caught one of the ape-men full-on, and splashed the others with caustic fluid. Jack ran nimbly across one of the walkways, closing the distance to the charau-ka that was still screaming from the acid bomb. As the rogue drew close, he drew back his rapier and stabbed it neatly through the ape-man’s ear, sending it sprawling into the pool. Suddenly, another of the charau-ka leaped onto the small island behind Jack, and clubbed him behind one knee. Jack turned, his swords coming up defensively, but he saw Gorak looming up behind the creature, and he knew he had nothing to worry about. The big barbarian quickly dispatched the charau-ka, only to find that another one had joined them on the island. It flailed its club at Gorak’s belly, while at the same time the last of the ape-men pelted the half-orc with rocks. Jack stabbed Gorak’s club-wielding assailant, and when it turned on him, the barbarian hacked it to pieces. Jack leaped again and tumbled past the last charau-ka. It clipped him with its cudgel as he passed. He rolled to his feet and batted the club aside, then stabbed the ape-man in the chest. It spun away, only to find itself staring at Gorak’s knocked bow. The barbarian loosed, and the arrow took the charau-ka through the throat.


As the Bastards continued working their way through the ruins of the ancient temple, they came to the remains of one of the outer cylinders, which contained another of the ubiquitous tar pits, again with rough planks splayed crookedly across it. On the near side was a towering marble statue of an elephant. Beyond the tower entrance lay a single, circular chamber, its walls arched inward to form a dome. Across the curved walls coiled a sculpture of a massive, decapitated skeletal serpent formed from thousands of blackened bones pasted to the stone with tar. A single, glittering eye winked from the serpent’s severed head. When the group eased their way past the massive statue, hooting and shouting erupted above them as four more charau-ka stood up from their hiding places atop the elephant. In the room beyond, another charau-ka stepped into view. He wore armor crafted from the skins of giant serpents, and wielded a bloody, tar-soaked mace. His yellow eyes were wide and staring, betraying a madness within. This was Raogru, the self-proclaimed Fang of Ydersius. Behind him was his constant companion, a truly enormous ringed python.

Arioch had fully expected an ambush of some sort, and when it came, he was ready. He quickly summoned a golden-pelted leopard right next to the charau-ka priest. The big cat leaped on the ape-man and wrapped him up in its paws. Then it was mayhem around the Bastards as the charau-ka above began hurling chunks of masonry at them. Agnar turned and unleashed a concussive blast of sound at their assailants, sending three of them reeling. Gorak broke from his companions and leaped the short distance across the tar pit to land next to Raogru. He raised his sword to strike the priest down, but in that moment, his eyes locked with the charau-ka’s yellow, slitted ones, and the barbarian felt himself falling into their jaundiced depths. As Raogru kept his hypnotic gaze upon the big half-orc, his serpent companion struck lightning fast, sinking its teeth into the leopard. As the cat drew back, the snake held on, and began wrapping its coils around it. In seconds, the leopard was crushed into a bloody pulp.

Zavasta tossed one of his bombs over handed to the top of the elephant statue. It exploded among the charau-ka, soaking them all in burning fluid. One of them snatched up a last stone, and cracked Lyrissa in the head with it. Then Zavasta threw another incindiary, killing the charau-ka warriors instantly.

Arioch hastily performed another summoning, and a quartet of earth elementals surfaced around Raogru. The priest began to shriek in an enraged frenzy, and struck Gorak viciously across the head with his mace. Then the elementals were upon him, beating and hammering at him with their stony fists. Finally, one struck Raogru in the back, breaking his spine with an audible snap. The priest fell to the floor writhing in agony as he died, and Gorak was suddenly free again. He turned on the giant serpent and swept its head from its body with a great swing of his blade.
_______________________________________________________

“I thought you said charau-ka were demon worshippers,” Agnar remarked to Nkechi as the group searched the dead priest’s lair.
The old priest shrugged. “It is true. I have only ever heard such.”
“Then why are they worshipping a dead snake god?” Agnar wondered aloud.
“Snakes seem to be a recurring theme,” Jack snorted. “First that snake-headed bitch maroons us on the Shiv, and now we find a snake cult in the one place that is supposed to lead us to the city the snake lady was looking for. Sounds fishy to me.”
“Don’t you mean snaky?” Nessalin grinned.
“Have a look at this,” Arioch interrupted.
The summoner was standing near the bas-relief of the Ydersius on the wall. He was examining the moonstone that comprised the carving’s eye.
“I’m sensing a faint magic from this,” Arioch said. “I’m going to take it with us.”
“You say that as if that fact where ever in doubt!” Jack said. “You forget…I’m only in this for the money!”
___________________________________________________________

As the Bastards made their way back out of the ancient temple, they literally stumbled upon a trio of charau-ka dressed in shabby acolyte robes in the process of setting three Mwangi dipped in tar on fire. Arioch immediately set his elementals upon the ape-men, but the charau-ka were more than a match. In the end, though they were badly wounded, the acolytes destroyed all four of the elementals, forcing Jack and Gorak to put an end to them themselves. It was too late for two of the prisoners, but the third was still alive, though horribly burned. Nkechi tended to the worst of his wounds, and though he was grateful, he had no information to share about his captors. He wanted nothing more than to get out of the cursed ruins and back to his tribe. The Bastards escorted him back to the walls, and then turned towards the last structure in the compound to be explored…a lone, vine-covered ziggurat.

Hooray - I've finally caught up again. Great stuff, every bit of it Thank you for all your hard work!

And.. ziggurat? As everyone who's played STAP knows, nothing good ever came out of visiting a ziggurat

carborundum said:

Hooray - I've finally caught up again. Great stuff, every bit of it Thank you for all your hard work!

And.. ziggurat? As everyone who's played STAP knows, nothing good ever came out of visiting a ziggurat

Click to expand...

As always, thanks for your continued readership!

And you're right about the ziggurat...observe...

A way forward

In the northern section of the ruins rose a tremendous mound of vegetation, barely recognizable as a great, overgrown structure. Yet standing beneath the dripping leaves and vines was a multitiered stone ziggurat of ancient construction. Having sunk into the dark Mwangi soil over the centuries, the lowest tier was only partially exposed, and its heavy stone doors were almost completely obscured by hanging vegetation. As it was, it took Gorak and Nessalin working together for several minutes to force the great portals open. Beyond was a small foyer with doors on each wall. A large puddle of water seeped from beneath the one directly across from the main entrance.

The companions turned first to the door on the north wall, to the right of the exterior doors. It opened easily enough, revealing a hall, the high-arched ceiling of which was embedded with glittering crystals to represent a starry sky. Friezes along the walls showed people of noble bearing travelling through a variety of landscapes and terrains. The hall ended at a curved flight of descending stairs.
“These are the motifs of Desna,” Agnar mused as he stared at the carvings. “Humph. I wasn’t aware that the Azlanti counted gypsies among their number.”
Suddenly, a soft, metallic susurrus echoed from the far end of the hall. A trio of serpents emerged from the darkness, their eyes glowing red, and their scales not of flesh but of metal…mithral in fact. As they flashed towards the Bastards, Zavasta tossed a globe of acid among them. One of them dissolved instantly into a pool of liquid slag, while the hides of the other two smoked and hissed. Still they came, sidewinding and twisting. Jack slashed the head from the nearest, and then the last struck and sank its fangs into his ankle, twisting its coils around his feet and sending him sprawling to the floor. As it reared and flared its hood to strike again, Gorak smashed it to pieces.
“I cannot believe there are still guardians here, after all this time,” Jack said.
“The Azlanti were said to be a marvelous race,” Lyrissa replied, “descended from the gods themselves. Who knows what they were capable of? If Saventh-Yhi has remained hidden for millennia, then nothing that we find here, a mere outpost, should surprise us.

The stairs at the far end of the hall led nowhere, having long ago collapsed into rubble. The companions returned to the foyer, and chose the southern door next. Faded, yellowish-brown paint flaked from the ceiling of the room beyond, which was decorated with solar designs. Cracked, faded paintings on the walls depicted ancient soldiers fighting snake-headed creatures under bright skies. The stonework beneath appeared damp and was covered with condensation.
“Now this is interesting,” Agnar said as he took in the décor. “These are representations of Nurgal, the demon-lord of warfare and the sun. I’m gaining respect for ancient Azlant. It seems they were practical in their worship, calling upon whichever god would aid them most according to their need.”
“A war god,” Gorak grinned. “I like!”
He stepped into the room just as Nkechi shouted from behind him.
“No! Wait!”
It was too late. As the barbarian crossed the threshold, what had appeared to be nothing more than a layer of yellowed dust on the floor suddenly exploded into a thick cloud.
“It’s yellow mold!” the old priest warned as Gorak gagged and choked. “Use fire! Destroy it!”
Nessalin quickly fished a flask from his belt and hurled it to the floor. As it struck, it exploded into a pool of alchemical fire that rapidly consumed the mold spores.
“It would seem that ancient guardians aren’t the only thing we need to worry about,” Arioch remarked. “There may just be plenty of old-fashioned monsters and hazards about that will kill us just as efficiently.”

Again, the side chamber offered no means of exit, and so once more the companions returned to the foyer. It seemed the western doors, from beneath which the water seeped, was their only option. Beyond, high walls surrounded an open-air courtyard that was entirely overgrown with wild brush. From amid the dense vegetation rose a single massive stone pillar, sheared off just above the middle tier of the ziggurat. A crumbling staircase arched over the courtyard, descending from the middle tier. The stairway curved around the pillar, then continued into the brush and through a stone arch into darkness. Jack and Gorak led the way, proceeding with caution. They two had gone no more than few steps in, however, when they both came to a halt. Gorak simply stood, blinking in confusion. Jack, however, was horrified to see that his sword had suddenly transformed into a hissing viper! He screamed in disgust, dropping the snake, and then turned and barreled through the others as he fled like the wind.
“What the…?” Zavasta began, and then he saw it.
At the far corner of the courtyard stood a tall, fleshy plant. As the alchemist’s eyes fell upon it, it began to move.
“It’s a basidirond!” Zav exclaimed. “Its spores are a powerful hallucinogen, but they’re invisible! Hold your breath!”
“To the Hell’s with that!” Arioch sneered. “I’ve got a better idea.”
The summoner opened a circle, and a quartet of whirling air elementals flew through. At their master’s command, they formed themselves into small whirlwinds and went spinning about the courtyard, clearing the poisonous air within seconds. As one of them flew past the killer plant, however, it extended one of its fronds and swatted the elemental to the ground. Then the other three swarmed it and beat it to a pulpy paste.
“Well that takes care of that,” Arioch said with satisfaction. “Now somebody snap Gorak out of it and go find Jack.”
______________________________________________________________

Beyond the courtyard, the Bastards found themselves in what was obviously the ziggurat’s main hall. Almost half of the cavernous chamber surrounded a smaller, inner structure. The ceiling had collapsed in some places, and a tangle of vines, mosses, and other plants grew in the thick mud that covered the floor. Three wasps, easily the size of small horses, crawled about the floor, gathering mud and bits of plant matter. When they saw intruders, they buzzed their wings angrily and took to the air.

Gorak, Nessalin and Lyrissa formed a wall, the bard’s voice raised in a battle chorus. Gorak slashed at one of the insects as it flew past, but a second one looped around behind the barbarian and jabbed its stinger through his back. Then Arioch’s elementals entered the fray, and the wasps became preoccupied with the new threat. Nessalin’s sword spit acid as the magus channeled his magic through it, Jack’s twin blades spun in a blur, and Lyrissa’s blade thrust and darted as if it were alive. In a matter of moments, the wasps were down.

While the others moved to investigate the smaller structure in the center of the main hall, Jack moved towards a small door on the far north wall. The door was unlocked. Beyond, stairs flanked by broken columns led down to a wide, sunken courtyard. The entire room was set in white marble, trimmed with elaborate inlays of jade and turquoise. Along the south wall, four small, faceless humanoid statues carved from pale, bluish stone hovered above marble display pedestals. Jack moved slowly towards the carvings to get a better view. As he drew closer, he saw that the blank ‘faces’ of the statuettes swirled with a multitude of swirling colors. They were almost…hypnotic…

Gorak peered around the corner of the structure, and for a moment, just stood and stared, speechless. A bulging conglomeration of layered paper and mud completely filled the small room. More of the papery substance clung to the surrounding stonework, securing the mass to the walls, floor, and ceiling. A few feet above the floor, a wide hole burrowed into the structure. From somewhere within, a deep, continuous droning could be heard. Gorak turned and looked at his companions, then shrugged and crawled into the massive nest. The honeycombed passages twisted and turned until ending in a large, inner chamber. There, crouched over a clutch of eggs, was a truly massive wasp, blood-red in color, with wickedly curved spikes and hooks protruding from its carapace. It didn’t take a mental giant, which Gorak certainly was not, to see that the giant queen was not pleased at being disturbed. She rushed towards the barbarian, and though he slashed viciously with his sword as she came, she still managed to thrust her stinger through his leg. He snarled through his tusks, then brought his blade down full force on the embedded stinger, severing it from the queen’s body. She buzzed furiously and began to back away, but Gorak leaped after her and drove his sword through her thorax, pinning her to the wall behind her. Her wings fluttered weakly for a few more moments, then were still.

As Jack continued to stare raptly at the statues, one of them spoke to him.
“Lay down your weapons and await judgment.”
That sounded perfectly reasonable to Jack, so he loosened his weapon cords and laid his swords on the ground. At that moment, Lyrissa entered the chamber, having observed Jack’s surreptitious departure, and, knowing the rogue as she did, became immediately suspicious. When she saw him standing slack-jawed before the statues, the bardess grew wary, but as she turned back towards the door to warn the others, the fascinating weave of colors that played across the faces of the carvings caught her eye.

Gorak crawled back out of the nest, bloodied and gore-covered.
“I was just about to send the elementals in after you,” Arioch said. “I see that you could take care of yourself.”
The barbarian grunted.
“Where are Jack and Lyrissa?” the summoner asked, just noticing the absence of the two.
“Can’t speak for the thief,” Agnar said, “but the songstress just went that way.”
He nodded towards the far door.
Arioch walked to the doorway and glanced inside. When he saw his transfixed companions he immediately drew back.
“They’re mesmerized,” he said to the others. “If we go in there, whatever has them will probably take us too. I have an idea.”
He turned to his elemental minions.
“Get in there and, gently, mind you, give those two a shove.”
The elementals bobbed their understanding and whirled into the room. They bumped forcefully into Jack and Lyrissa, buffeting them with their cyclonic winds. Immediately the pair snapped back to themselves and looked around, blinking in confusion.
“Get out of there!” Arioch shouted. “Cover your eyes!”
Lyrissa darted for the door, but as Jack turned to follow, a ray of light from one of the statues enveloped him, and he found himself rooted to the spot.
“Damn it!” Arioch cursed. “Destroy the statues!” he commanded the elementals.
They rushed forward, and as they did, the four statues became animate, and unfolded from their seated positions. A flurry of violence ensued, with the elementals whirling about and striking at the statuettes, and being struck in turn as the carvings moved with uncanny speed and precision. In the melee, Jack suddenly found himself free. He snatched up his swords and, instead of doing the intelligent thing and leaving, leaped into the fray. Arioch cursed and rolled his eyes, he cursed even louder as Gorak and Nessalin rushed past him and threw themselves into the chaos. As they did, however, the statues turned on them. One after another, the constructs unleashed red beams at the three Bastards, and as the light struck them, each of them suddenly shrank to half their size. Still, that didn’t stop the warriors. Within moments, the tide of the battle was turned, and one after another, the statues were smashed to pieces. As they were destroyed, however, something truly remarkable happened: images began appearing in the air of the chamber, showing four intricately carved pillars, each associated with a different celestial force…the moon, the sun, the stars, and the darkness in between. Instinctively, the Bastards knew what they were being shown: a combination to unlock a map to Savinth-Yhi. They also knew that the moonstone they’d recovered from the charau-ka was a key to the combination as well. They had only to find the pillars, as well as the three other stones.
____________________________________________________________


Beyond the main hall, the companions found themselves in a small, dark room that was flooded with stagnant water. The walls and ceiling were carved from a darker stone than they’d seen in the rest of the building, and were covered with numerous intertwining carvings that depicted nameless and disturbing creatures. Stone stairs rose out of the water to disappear through the south wall above two stone doors. Arioch sent his remaining elementals ahead to investigate the chamber, but when they entered the water, they immediately found themselves swarmed by thousands of leeches. At the summoner’s command, the elementals whirled themselves into vortexes that still touched the water, forming small water spouts. They then sucked the leeches from the pool and deposited them, flapping and helpless, upon the stone floor of the main hall. Arioch them called a pair of fire elementals to him and commanded them to set the parasites ablaze. Once the room was free of danger, Agnar was able to identify the carvings on the wall as representations of the alien gods of the Dark Tapestry, the lightless void between the stars.

Through the doors that flanked the stone stairs was another small chamber. A huge circle of grayish-white stone covered the floor in its center. It was inscribed with detailed carvings of geographical features. Mosaic friezes that ran along the top and bottom of the walls depicted warriors in archaic armor battling a race of snake-headed people under dark skies. It wasn’t hard for Agnar to determine that the carving on the floor was a representation of the moon. So, they had found shrines to the stars, the sun, the Dark Tapestry, and the moon. Now they had to find the pillars they’d seen in the visions from the idols. The only way left to go was up.


The Bastards emerged from the stairs on the outside of the second tier of the ziggurat. Directly in front of them was a heavy stone door that apparently led back into the interior of the pyramid. Gorak, thankfully having regained his normal stature, shoved the door, but found it stuck fast. He leaned into it and heaved, but still had no luck. Finally, Lyrissa pulled a crowbar from her pack and together they managed to wedge the portal open. Beyond, a wide room had a high, arched ceiling painted with fading pastel swirls. Its walls were carved with seemingly random combinations of branching lines, connected to patterns of overlapping circles of various sizes. Along the opposite wall, a flight of stairs led up to the next tier. What immediately caught the attention of the barbarian and the bard, however, was the serpent-headed creature, clothed in brilliant red robes, who clung to the wall like a giant spider near the room’s ceiling.

“What? What do you see?” Arioch called from outside.
Before he received an answer, however, a screeching cacophony sounded from around the right side of the ziggurat. Arioch glanced that way and saw a pair of charau-ka charging towards him. One of them went to all-fours and charged right into the summoner, sinking its teeth into his arm. At the exact same moment, two more of the ape-men came rushing into the room with the serpent-man from an archway on the far side. Right behind them came a truly massive creature. Superficially, it resembled a gorilla, but its bone-white fur and additional pair of arms identified it as something much more. Two more charau-ka leaped down the stairs into the chamber, while outside, to make bad matters worse, a giant hornet rose above the ledge of the tier, droning in anger at both the Bastards and their opponents.

Arioch stumbled away from the attacking charau-ka, and hastily opened a circle. His other minions had long-since departed back to their home planes, and so he called another quartet of earth elementals to his side. Two of them immediately set upon the charau-ka, beating it to the ground and then tossing it over the side of the pyramid. The other two seized the second ape-man and broke its neck and spine with crushing blows of their fists. Meanwhile, inside the room, Gorak rushed to meet one of the charau-ka coming down the stairs. It swung at him with its club, but the big barbarian batted the blow aside and ran the monkey through with his sword. As it fell back, Gorak surged forward, rage consuming him as horns sprouted from his brow. He lowered his head and gored the second charau-ka, then finished it off as it tried to escape his wrath. Below, Lyrissa moved into the room to cover Gorak’s back, but as she stepped in, the girallon loomed over her. Before she could raise her sword in defense, it lunged for her, seizing her arm in its mouth, and then sweeping her legs from under her with one massive paw. The last thing she saw before oblivion was the monster’s other three paws descending towards her.

Arioch saw the writing on the wall. The girallon was going to kill them all if left to its own devices. He ordered his elementals into the room, and then called three more to back them up. As they rolled in, one of the remaining two charau-ka warriors leaped at them, and smashed one of them to rubble in a frenzy of violence. The others swarmed past the ape-man and surrounded the girallon, harrying it from all sides. The great ape brought one massive fist down upon one of them and crushed it to dust. Then Jack, also back to normal, came tumbling into the room and rolled to his feet behind the beast. Gorak leaped down the stairs and caught its attention from the front. The pair struck simultaneously, and the elementals rushed in as well. The combined fury of the assault brought the four-armed brute down within seconds. Then the elementals turned their attention to the pair of screaming charau-ka. Fearless, the ape-men hurled themselves at the stony outsiders, but their efforts were in vain, and they were buried under an avalanche of fists. Suddenly, a flash of scorching fire streaked from above, setting Jack’s clothes ablaze. He yelped and rolled on the floor to extinguish himself, and then looked up. He could see the serpentfolk sorcerer already lining up for another shot.

Zavasta cursed roundly. All of the heavy hitters were otherwise occupied, leaving only himself standing between one pissed off giant wasp and the squishies, Agnar and Nkechi. The alchemist was out of bombs. All he had was steel. Cursing again, he unfurled his wings, drew his sword, and charged. Meanwhile, as Arioch finally started to breath a bit easier, his heart suddenly fell again as he saw another half-dozen charau-ka swarming over the edge of the tier. In desperation, for he had expired his summoning ability for the day, he conjured a pool of greasy fluid in front of the charging apes. It bought him some time as they fell, slipping, screaming and biting in the goo.
“Gorak!” he shouted. “We’ve got trouble!!”

Gorak didn’t question. He simply came charging out, and came face to face with the shrieking horde. Even though they were scrambling to get to their feet, they still managed to flail their clubs at the big barbarian, keeping him momentarily at bay…at least until he could bring his sword to bear and began cutting them down.

Agnar, in the mean time, was at loose ends. Lyrissa was down, but still in the thick of things. He couldn’t reach her. There were a great deal of dead charau-ka around, but animating them would only gain him temporary cannon fodder. If he could only reach the lovely corpse of the girallon. He glanced into the room and saw Jack trying to dodge for his life the barrage of the snake-head sorcerer still clinging to the ceiling, where it was safely out of reach of the elementals. He had an idea. With a quick prayer, he tossed a simple dispelling charm at the serpentman, and just like that, the sorcerer lost his grip and plummeted to the floor. He climbed shakily to his feet, but by that time the elementals were upon him. One drove a fist into his gut, doubling him over, but the sorcerer was as fast as a snake. He recovered and darted to the side, then hissed a spell and unleashed a scorching bolt of lightning that instantly obliterated two of the elementals, ripped through Jack, and even managed to jolt Gorak standing outside the door.

Gorak shook off the blast, his rage all-consuming. He hacked apart another charau-ka as the rest scrambled free of the grease and swarmed him, hammering with their clubs. Still, they were children facing a titan. The barbarian roared and laid about him with his sword, simultaneously lowering his head and goring with his horns. Blood dripping from him, both his own and that of his opponents, he put down the last of the ape-men, and then turned back towards the inner chamber.

The elementals continued to pursue the sorcerer, landing occasional lucky blows. Then, he loosed another lightning bolt, and destroyed them all. Agnar chose that moment to dart into the room. While the sorcerer was distracted, he laid his hands upon the body of the girallon and channeled dark energy into it. With a roar, the great beast arose, lurching to its feet. The sorcerer realized too late what had happened. He turned and spread his hands, unleashing a cone of fire at the new zombie and Agnar. He saw Gorak stalk into the room, and turned his serpentine eyes upon the barbarian.
“This fight is no longer yours,” he hissed. “Your companions are lost. Save yourself.”
Gorak looked confused for a moment, and then he simply shrugged and walked away.
Suddenly, the zombified girallon loomed up behind the sorcerer and wrapped its four arms around him, lifting him into the air. He struggled feebly to break free, but then Jack was there, thrusting both his blades through the sorcerer’s chest. His struggles ceased.

Zavasta came shambling around the corner of the tier, dragging the body of the wasp behind him.
“What’d I miss?” he grumbled.

Saventh-Yhi

As it turned out, the sorcerer had the other three moonstones in his possession, and in the chamber behind his, a circular grid formed with deep grooves sat in the center of the floor beneath a domed ceiling decorated with crystalline patterns. Four elaborately carved columns stood in passageways at either end, one to the north, and three to the south in a triangular arrangement. They had found the Pillars of Light. Nessalin recognized the patterns on the ceiling as constellations, though they were slightly distorted...perhaps from another time? The columns themselves were carved with elaborate arcane symbols and etchings, each one representing one of four celestial bodies or forces…the sun, the moon, the stars, and the Dark Tapestry. Each one contained several deep holes bored into sections that swiveled around a central shaft. Thanks to the memories imparted by the Azlanti idols, the Bastards knew exactly how to set the stones within the columns, and how to orient them properly. Once that was done, a shaft of sunlight struck the first stone in the southernmost column, which then sent our three beams of light…yellow, blue and purple…to the other three stones in their respective columns. Those stones then emitted their own beams of light. The northern column pinpointed a spot on the floor grid, while the two remaining columns radiated shifting beams in the air above the grid. As the light beams illuminated the room, a hazy image appeared in the air above the grid. It showed an ancient city of towering ziggurats and crumbling, vine-choked buildings around a central lake, filling a hidden valley…the lost city of Saventh-Yhi.
______________________________________________________________


The following day, Agnar sent a mental message to Dargan Etters, the commander of the Aspis Consortium expedition. He informed the mage that they had found the path to Saventh-Yhi, but that they wanted to rendezvous with the rest of the expedition some five miles in the opposite direction. It was their plan to try and throw off any of the other factions who might be on their tail. That task was given to Jask, who backtracked along their path and laid a false trail. Unbeknownst to his companions, however, he also left subtle clues for Aerys Mavato, showing his erstwhile ally the true path.

Later that afternoon, the Bastards rejoined the Consortium’s expedition, and were celebrated by Etters as well as the rank and file. By dawn the following morning, the expedition had covered the mere twenty miles that lay between Tazion and the hidden valley that contained Saventh-Yhi. They followed a minor, nameless tributary of the Ocota River, and at one point, the river seemed to emerge from the side of a jungle cliff at a height of over sixty feet. There they found an ancient and overgrown series of trails that led to the top of the falls. Clearing the trails enough for the entire company to pass, however, looked to be the work of days. Dargan Etters told the Bastards to forge ahead and see if the city was truly just ahead. He and the rest of the expedition would catch up to them within a few days. The companions agreed, and Agnar ferried them up to the top of the falls one-by-one aboard his zombified geir. Once there, the river split for a short distance, flowing around a jungle-covered hillock. An open area just south of the hill would make an excellent staging area for the expedition once they made their way up. A narrow trail picked up not far to the south, connecting to a more overgrown road down below that continued southeast.

The strangely preserved road led into a narrow cleft in the jungle-choked ridges, forcing the river into a swiftly flowing rapid through the gorge. The road split there, offering two methods onward…below, a slippery-looking path of wooden bridges connecting small islands, while above, a rickety rope bridge swung in the air. The Bastards opted for the high road, with Agnar offering to again ferry the others across the gorge rather than trusting to the questionable bridge. He’d managed to get Gorak and Jack to the far side, while Zavasta flew across carrying Lyrissa, when the attack came. High-pitched shrieks sounded from further up the gorge as a trio of flying reptiles took to the air and hurtled towards them. They were larger, fiercer versions of the small pterosaur raptors they’d encountered on Smuggler’s Shiv, and they looked hungry. Arioch, still on the near side of the gorge, quickly sent out a call, and six air elementals answered. They swarmed towards the pteranodons, swooping and pummeling them, sending the creatures scrambling. They snapped at the elementals as they passed, but they continued on a bee-line towards the more tasty-looking morsels ahead. By that time, however, Gorak had begun running along the edge of the gorge, and as one of the dinosaurs flew close, he lashed out with his sword and sent it crashing into the rocks below. Meanwhile, Nessalin wove a spell of flight about himself, and took to the air, charging towards another of the beasts. As it banked towards him, he slashed his scimitar through its wing, and it too spiraled down into the ravine. By the time the final pterosaur reached the bridge, the air elementals had caught up to it, and beat it out of the sky. As the Bastards looked on, they saw several large crocodiles emerge from the river below to devour the unexpected feast.
_____________________________________________________________


As the road continued through the valley, the first signs of habitation began to appear. Sparse stone ruins, their roofs open to the sky and their walls thick with vines, perched next to three crystal blue pools in a circular, bowl-shaped hollow through which the ancient highway passed. Zavasta was the first to point out what should have been obvious.
“You hear that?” he asked.
“I don’t hear anything,” Nessalin replied.
“Exactly,” the alchemist sneered. “We’re in the middle of a jungle. Have been for weeks. We’ve been hearing non-stop shrieks, hoots, whistles… you name it. Now I don’t hear a peep. There aren’t even any bugs around here, and I’ve been practically eaten alive up until now.”
“Ants,” Gorak grunted.
“What?” Zavasta snapped.
“Ants,” the barbarian pointed.
The alchemist looked, and sure enough, there were a few reddish army ants prowling along the stones. As he watched, more of them began to appear, and then, in the blink of an eye, thousands simply swarmed out of the walls and the ground, enveloping Jack and Gorak.
“Get them off me!” Jack screamed, while Gorak snarled and slapped madly at himself
Jack suddenly doubled over and vomited violently as the ants began to work their way into his mouth and nostrils.
“Stand back!” Zavasta shouted to the others.
The alchemist knew that the best way to deal with vermin was to burn them. He hurled a fire bomb into the swarm, knowing he’d be burning his allies as well, but trusting they’d rather be a bit singed than devoured. The bomb burst, but to Zavasta’s utter disbelief and horror, the flames didn’t seem to touch the ants at all. They simply passed right through the fire as if it wasn’t there.

Suddenly, a figure simple stepped out of a wall near the rogue and barbarian. He might have been a half-orc once…when he was alive, but now his body was decayed and riddled with rot, and ants crawled over every surface of him.
“It’s mine, Pathfinder!” he screamed, pointing one bony finger at Jack. “I found it! The city is mine!”
He leaped towards the helpless rogue, and literally plunged his fist straight through Jack’s chest. There was no blood, rather he seemed to pass his flesh right into Jack’s, and a moment later the rogue’s eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed. Arioch still had his air elementals with him, and as Jack went down, he sent them whirling at the undead half-orc. Their fists flew like the wind, but no blow connected with solid flesh. Instead, the creature flung his arms wide and ants by the thousands landed upon the elementals and ate them out of existence within seconds. Horrified, Arioch quickly leaned down and seized Jack’s arm. Rather than drag the rogue to safety, however, the summoner spoke an arcane word and the two vanished in a flash of light.
“He’s a ghost!” Lyrissa shouted. “Our weapons and magic can’t harm him! Gorak, stand still! I’m coming to you!”
The barbarian didn’t move, but he was anything but still as he continued to thrash about madly at the ghostly ants that bit at his flesh. When Lyrissa reached him, she reached out and laid her hands upon his sword, singing softly as she did so. Before Gorak’s astonished eyes, his great sword became transparent and ephemeral, though it still felt solid enough in his hands.
“Kill him now!” the bardess shouted at the barbarian, pointing towards the ghost.
Gorak didn’t need to be told twice. Despite the swarm still clinging to him, he leaped at the spectral half-orc, his sword coming down in a broad chop. The blade bit and slashed deeply into the ghost. He screamed, genuine fear in his eyes as his body felt pain for the first time in centuries.
“No!” he shrieked. “That’s not possible.”
Gorak’s only reply was to keep hacking, again and again and again, until finally, the specter faded away to nothingness, taking his ghostly swarm with him.

“Boy, you must have the luck of the gods themselves,” Arioch said as Jack, to his utter disbelief, opened his eyes.
The two were several dozen yards away from the battle, where the summoner had transported them to relative safety.
“Besmara likes me,” the rogue grinned weakly. “She says I’m her favorite.”
“I can believe it,” Arioch shook his head. “Come on. Let’s get back to the others.”

As Agnar tended Jack and Gorak’s wounds, Arioch summoned Minion to his side, and commanded the little eidolon to scour the area for any signs of the ghost. Agnar had been quick to point out that one did not simply kill a ghost. They were cursed to walk the earth until some set event released their souls forever. It might be gone, but it would return before long.
“Why did he call you Pathfinder?” the priest asked Jack suspiciously.
“I’d guess because of this,” Jack replied, pulling the Wayfinder from beneath his shirt. “I picked it up from the guys who ambushed us in Kalabuto. “My question is, why did he care?”
“Master!” Minion interrupted. “I found something!”
He was standing a short distance away, and pointing towards a shadowy corner of a nearby ruined building. There lay an ancient skeleton, the remains of a long-rotted bag nearby, with an assortment of gems, coins and other artifacts spilling out of it. On one finger it wore a ring, a bronze band covered in geometric shapes and studded with tiny pearls. Clutched in that same hand was a leather-bound journal. Nessalin could sense strong magic emanating from the ring, and as he pried the journal loose, he slipped the ring onto his finger.
___________________________________________________________

The journal belonged to one Nareem Daress, a scout for the Alithorpe Expedition, a group of Pathfinders who’d set out in search of Saventh-Yhi two centuries earlier, and had never been heard from again. According to the journal, the expedition ran afoul of the soldiers of the Gorilla King on the shores of Lake Ocota. At the urging of Daress, a small group of them had abandoned the rest and fled through the jungle for several days, relentlessly pursued by charau-ka. Only by seeking shelter among these hidden cenotes did they finally throw off their pursuit. When the Pathfinders realized where they were, that they’d discovered what could only be Saventh-Yhi, they’d spent a few days exploring the fringes of the city. Then treachery struck again. Daress apparently lured the remaining Pathfinders into a nest of army ants and watched them die. From his notes, it appeared that he’d intended to leave Saventh-Yhi with his maps, and return to civilization as the lone survivor of the Alithorpe Expedition and secure the glory of discovering the ancient ruins for himself. There, his journal ended, and it was obvious that he never left, but rather fell victim to his own deceit.

“So I suppose to lay his spirit to rest, we would have to insure that he received credit for being the first to discover Saventh-Yhi,” Nessalin said as he closed the journal.
“Then I guess that’s one spirit that’s going to be walking the earth for a long, long time,” Agnar grinned evilly.
“Still, we need to warn the expedition to stay clear of this place,” Arioch said.
“I bet the Pathfinders would pay well to see this journal and find out what became of their lost expedition,” Jack mused.
“That’s going to be kind of difficult after I use those pages for toilet paper,” Zavasta snarled.
____________________________________________________________


It wasn’t very far beyond the haunted cenotes when the Inglorious Bastards first laid eyes upon the former glory of the Azlanti Empire, Saventh-Yhi. The first thing they noticed when they saw the skyline, were the seven spears. Protruding from the already lofty tops of seven massive ziggurats, the narrow monoliths extended high into the sky, each of them seeming to mark the heart of a separate district of the city. Nestled in a cradle of sheer cliffs thick with jungle vines and brushed with wisps of fog, the seven districts of Saventh-Yhi were arrayed around a large central lake. The buildings were clearly weathered and worn, but most seemed to have resisted the encroachment of plants and mud, and they’d refused to crumble, appearing as a ruin of only a few thousand years rather than over ten-thousand. The architectural style was remarkable, marked by massive guardian sculptures and intricate geometric patterns carved into the stone. Up close, countless individual carvings and murals decorated the inner walls of the buildings the companions passed as they made their way into the ancient metropolis.

As the Bastards entered the first of the city’s districts, it became apparent that the area had fared worse than the rest of city. A significant portion of it seemed to have subsided back into the central lake. From the murals and carvings they saw as they wandered the eerily empty streets, the neighborhood must have once been the mercantile district. Strangely, as they walked along the wide thoroughfares, past buildings that must have once been grand scenes of trade and commerce, all of them felt something odd overcome them, almost as if they could feel coins passing through their hands, and the thrill of the haggle. To Nessalin, the sensation was even more acute. He felt himself unconsciously assessing the value of the statuary they passed, and even the various adornments that his companions wore. He could also sense the palpable magic that permeated the air around them . He knew instinctively that this feeling emanated from the ring that he wore.

After awhile, they came upon a low, single-story building that was almost completely overgrown by thick vines and surrounded by a forest of sharp stakes on which had been impaled numerous small, simian skulls. Full skeletons, held together by strips of flesh and sinew, hung from stakes higher on the building’s walls.
“Looks like we may not have been the first ones here after all,” Jack said quietly.
Suddenly, a half-dozen shadowy figures appeared on the roof, and in the empty doorways of the building. They were ape-like in form, but stood over six-feet tall, with long, powerful claws on their oversized hands, leathery greenish-brown skin covered by splotches of brown, and wide mouths filled with jagged teeth. With uncanny and eerie silence, they swung down from the roof, and came loping through the vines, moving with deadly grace. The Bastards had not survived so long by letting shock or surprise get in the way of survival. Jack, Gorak, Lyrissa and Nessalin moved to intercept the creatures, while Arioch did what he did best. In the blink of an eye, a pair of snorting aurochs came stampeding out of thin air, charging forward, heads lowered, and trampled two of the creatures beneath their hooves. Despite their obvious pain, evidenced by their battered and bloodied bodies, the ape-eaters remained silent, rolled back to their feet and kept coming. The battle was fierce, bloody and the oddest thing Zavasta had ever seen. He and his companions were the only ones making any noise. They shouted orders to one another, spoke the words to their spells or, in Lyrissa’s case, sang battle hymns to rally their spirits. The aurochs snorted and bellowed as they charged around the street, but the creature’s they fought made not a single sound, even as they began to die. The initial six were soon joined by a dozen more. They were savage and brutal, ripping into exposed flesh with their teeth, and rending with their vicious claws, but their own bodies could only take so much sharpened steel, acid, horns, hooves and electricity before they succumbed. Finally, after several minutes that seemed like hours, the Bastards stood, their breath coming in ragged gasps, amid a mound of corpses.
“So,” Jack said after several moments, “I guess the whole ‘explore the ruins, find the treasure and get paid’ idea isn’t going to be as easy as we thought.”

I need to apologize, loyal readers, but I'm afraid this thread is going on hiatus for the time being. It's getting more and more difficult for me to keep up with it, putting me further and further behind. What I may do is to post periodic summaries of the events transpiring in the AP, so that you can keep up with the exploits of our (anti) heroes, but as far as detailed stories...not right now. Once again, my apologies.

Say it isn't so.

Joe, you know that winners never quit and quitters never win, right?