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JollyDoc's Serpent's Skull-updated 11/6/2011
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<blockquote data-quote="JollyDoc" data-source="post: 5639748" data-attributes="member: 9546"><p><strong>Mother Thrunefang</strong></p><p></p><p>“Wake up, bastard!” Zavasta delivered a solid kick to the unconscious cannibal chief’s ribs.</p><p>The man groaned, then snarled as he realized his predicament, baring his blood-stained, filed teeth. He babbled something in a guttural language, and then spat at the alchemist. Zavasta raised his foot to kick again, but Arioch put a restraining hand on his shoulder.</p><p>“Just a minute,” the summoner said. “I understand him…sort of. He’s speaking a pidgin form of Infernal, the tongue of fiends.”</p><p>“Of course you would recognize it, wouldn’t you?” Zavasta sneered.</p><p>“Most Chelaxians would,” Arioch replied blandly, “and these people, savages though they may be, are descended from Cheliax. What’s your name?” he asked the bound man.</p><p>“I Klorak the Red!” the chieftain snarled. “Asmodeus feast on your hearts!”</p><p>“If I were you,” Arioch said as he crouched down next to Klorak, “I’d keep a civil tongue in my head…while I still had one of each. Do you see that large fellow over there?”</p><p>He nodded towards Gorak.</p><p>“If you don’t answer my questions to my satisfaction, I’m going to feed you to him, starting from your toes and working my way up. Do you doubt me?”</p><p>Klorak’s eyes narrowed as he glanced at the barbarian, then he gave one terse nod.</p><p>“I’m glad we understand each other,” the summoner continued. “Now, we’ve been tracking two shipmates of ours, one a man, blonde hair, bearded, and the other a dark-haired woman. Their trail led us here. Where are they?”</p><p>Klorak looked genuinely confused. “See man,” he replied. “No woman. Clan brother bring man in as prisoner.”</p><p>Arioch cocked his head, trying to judge the truth in the man’s words. </p><p>“Where is the man now?” he asked.</p><p>“With the Mother,” Klorak said.</p><p>“The old woman we killed?” Arioch nodded towards the crone’s corpse.</p><p>Klorak shook his head. “No. That Malikadna, clan witch. Mother Thrunefang down there,” he nodded his head towards a bamboo cover near the wall of the lighthouse.</p><p>“Jack,” Arioch called, “take a look under that lid over there, but be careful.”</p><p>Jack moved to the cover and lifted it, then raised his eyebrows.</p><p>“It’s a pit,” he said. “Pretty deep one.”</p><p>“What’s down there?” Arioch asked Klorak.</p><p>“The Mother and her children,” the chief said matter-of-factly.</p><p>“Explain!” Arioch snapped.</p><p>“We follow the Mother,” Klorak shrugged. “If she like sacrifices we give, then she take chosen to be her children.”</p><p>“And is that what happened to the man that was brought to you?”</p><p>Klorak looked confused again, as if he were trying to remember some remote memory.</p><p>“No,” he said at length. “Clansman ask to take prisoner down to the Mother. Him honored clansman. I tell him yes. He take prisoner below.”</p><p>“I see,” Arioch nodded. </p><p>The summoner stood and looked at his companions.</p><p>“I think we’ve learned all we’re going to from him,” he said. “Gorak, kill him.”</p><p>________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>No one openly objected to Arioch’s summary sentence of execution for the cannibal chief, but he could tell that at least Gelik and Jask were not entirely comfortable with it. The summoner was fine with that. It was probably time to start establishing a pecking order, as Jack had suggested. In Arioch’s experience with the Order of the Gate, actions spoke much louder than words.</p><p></p><p>Once Gorak had finished his grisly work, the group fanned out to search the village thoroughly. Aside from the mundane trappings of a tribal camp, they found two things of interest. In a small room in the lighthouse, Lyrissa discovered the remains of several meals, many of which were recognizable as rations taken from the Jenivere…further proof that their quarry had indeed been in the village. The second discovery was the lighthouse itself. As it turned out, the reflector and machinery of the tower looked to be fixable with perhaps only a few days of work. They had found their salvation from the Shiv, but first there was the matter of a little payback.</p><p>___________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>As the others prepared a rappelling line to descend into the pit, Agnar walked calmly over to the carcass of the Shiv dragon and placed his hand above it.</p><p>“Rise,” he commanded.</p><p>And the Shiv dragon did rise. It lurched jerkily to its feet, stood on wobbly legs for a moment, and then shook like a dog coming out of a creek, shaking the flesh from its bones. </p><p>“Come,” the priest said, and the skeletal creature followed at his heels like a loyal cur.</p><p>Agnar smiled grimly at the stricken look on Jask’s face as he passed.</p><p></p><p>After much deliberation, it was decided by the castaways that Aerys, Gelik, Ishirou, Jask and Sasha would remain above in case more cannibals returned to their camp. Then one-by-one, the others dropped into the darkness of the hole. The shaft dropped down some forty feet before opening into the roof of a ten-foot high cave. The uneven floor was stained with blood and scattered with pieces of wood, fallen leaves, broken weapons, and in places, bits of bones. All-in-all, it was not a good omen. A single, narrow tunnel exited the chamber, and the group was forced to travel single-file as they began to move as quietly as possible down it.</p><p></p><p>After a short distance, the tunnel opened into a wide but low-ceilinged cavern. The smell of decay in the air was thick and palpable. To one side, the roof dropped down to little more than three-feet in height over a region strewn with bones and bits of old flesh, while to the other, the ceiling bulged upward in a dome shape. Six circular, pod-like alcoves lined the walls on that side. As the group crouched to enter the cave, they heard the sound of low growls coming for the direction of the bone pile. Two dark shapes crouched there on all fours. They were vaguely humanoid in shape, but were so feral and gangrel in form as to be almost animalistic.</p><p>“Fascinating!” Agnar breathed as he saw them. “They’re festrogs! I’ve read about them, but never actually seen one. Remarkable!”</p><p>“If you’re going to tell us anything useful,” Nessalin snapped, “you’d better do it now. They don’t look like they’re exactly welcoming us!”</p><p>“They’re victims of ghoul fever,” Agnar said in a distracted voice, “but during their transformation, something went wrong. Think of them as undead abortions. They can’t paralyze you like a ghoul, but they are much more vicious. Perfect killing machines.”</p><p>“Looks like we’re about to find out!” Nessalin shouted, backing away as he drew his sword. “Here they come!”</p><p></p><p>The creatures loped forward like rabid wolves, and one of them lowered its head and charged into Gorak’s legs, bringing the big barbarian down like a fallen oak. The second one bowled Jack over just as easily, and as Nessalin tried to leap out of the way, its oversized jaws clamped down on the magus’s leg. </p><p>“Heads up!” Zavasta shouted as he hucked a flaming bomb towards the festrogs. The creatures shrieked as they leaped away from the flames, but both still suffered scorching burns from the explosion. Still, they recovered quickly and both leaped upon Gorak as he tried to rise to his feet. Agnar moved forward his hand outstretched to try and heal the barbarian’s increasing number of wounds. He did this not out of any sense of compassion for Gorak, but simply because he knew that oaf’s strong sword arm might be all that stood between himself and death. Whatever his motive, he was denied his attempt at altruism as one of the festrogs turned and viciously slashed him with its three-inch claws as he drew near. Still, the momentary distraction was all Gorak needed. The big brute roared as he surged to his feet, hurling the undead from him. One of them rolled and leaped back at him in a flash, but the barbarian’s sword was faster, and cut the creature in twain while it was still in mid-air. Before the second one could rise, Lyrissa stood over it and impaled it with her polearm. </p><p></p><p>“Look at this,” Jack called as he sifted through the bone pile.</p><p>He held up what looked to be a scrap of leather armor.</p><p>“I recognize this,” the rogue said. “It belonged to the Captain. Wait a minute…there’s writing on it! Someone bring me a light!”</p><p>Nessalin quickly obliged with a snap of his fingers.</p><p></p><p><em>“ ‘I am Captain Alizadru Kovack,’”</em> Jack read, <em>“ ‘betrayer of my crew and destroyer of the good ship Jenivere. Hell would be a welcome escape from what hideous unlife looms before me, but it is no less a punishment than I deserve. That I was enslaved mind and body to a serpentine demon who wore a Varisian’s skin does not pardon me. It is my weakness that led the Jenivere, her crew, and her passengers to their doom. That Ieana has abandoned me here is nothing more than the fate I deserve. I do not beg forgiveness, but I despair that she lives still, and that she seeks something dire on this forsaken isle…she seemed particularly interested in Red Mountain. If you read this and you be a kind soul, seek out what I have become and destroy me, and then seek out Ieana and slay here as well. And to those whose lives I have helped destroy, I can only apologized from this, my dark cradle and darker grave.’”</em></p><p></p><p>“They say confession is good for the soul,” Agnar chuckled once Jack had finished.</p><p>“So, are we saying that he died in this room?” Nessalin asked. “Are his bones among these?”</p><p>“Or at least he thought he was about to die,” Arioch replied.</p><p>“You’re both wrong,” Agnar snorted. “Don’t you see? He wasn’t dying…he was transforming!”</p><p>____________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>Another narrow passage led the group into a tall, silo-shaped cavern with a dark pool of water at its center. A stone ledge wound up towards a fifty-foot high ceiling, passing several more cave entrances along the way. For a moment, Jack thought he saw a flicker of movement, like a shadow detaching from a shadow at one of the caves high above. Then it was gone, perhaps just a trick of the darkness. </p><p></p><p>They started up the treacherous ledge, and turned into the first tunnel they came to. After a short distance, it gave onto a long chamber that evoked the feel of an ancient, hideous cathedral. The walls were carved with images of serpents walking upright like humans, snakes coiling around and eating hapless women and children, and even stranger scenes. Four stone pillars carved like coiling snakes supported the vaulted ceiling above. Four small cells blocked by rusted bars sat in the walls on either side of the chamber, while at the far end, an immense carving of a snake’s head loomed, an ash-caked door clenched in its jaws, while at the near end rose a horrific mound of bones and partially decayed bodies arranged almost as if to evoke the imagery of a coiled snake made of corpses. Agnar smiled appreciatively at the tableau. </p><p></p><p>Abruptly, a pair of hissing, shrieking ghouls appeared at the top of the carrion heap, their heads cocked inquisitively at the fresh meant that had just entered their larder. Jack’s eyes widened as they began to advance, because one of them, though emaciated, pale and blood-streaked, was very obviously Captain Alizandru Kovack! Then, before he could fully process what he was seeing, the creatures charged. Whether it was truly recognition, coupled with hatred or regret, the thing that had once been captain of the Jenivere came directly for his former crewmen, of which Jack was foremost. The ghoul slashed at him with its filthy nails, shredding his tunic and the skin beneath. The rogue fell backwards, feeling the monster’s fetid breath on his throat. Suddenly, the ghoul was lifted bodily into the air as Gorak seized it by the neck. It writhed and twisted, spitting and biting even as the barbarian impaled it on his sword. Moments later, its companion followed it into oblivion on the tip of Lyrissa’s spear. As Gorak pulled his sword free from the captain’s chest, Agnar rubbed his hands together greedily as he stood over the corpse.</p><p>“I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since I found out it was your fault I’m stranded here, you bastard!” the priest sneered. “Now we’ll see how you like eternity as my slave!”</p><p>“No,” Nessalin said, placing himself in front of Agnar.</p><p>“You’ll get out of my way if you’re smart, boy!” Agnar snarled.</p><p>“He’s paid his debt,” the magus said flatly, magic crackling at his fingertips. “I won’t see him defiled in this way. It’s enough.”</p><p>“Not for me!” the priest shouted. “I’m taking my pound of flesh!”</p><p>“Then take it from Ieana when we find her,” Arioch replied, moving to stand beside Nessalin. </p><p>Agnar glared at the pair, and then looked around. Lyrissa, Jack and Gorak all eyed him grimly. Only Zavasta stood by him.</p><p>“This isn’t the end of this by a long shot!” the priest snapped as he turned on his heel and strode away.</p><p></p><p>Near the door in the serpent’s mouth lay several empty bottles of colored glass.</p><p>“I recognized these,” Lyrissa said as she retrieved one of them. “Ieana was carrying them on the Jenivere.”</p><p>“Let me see that,” Zavasta said. He took the bottle and sniffed at its mouth. “Healing draught,” he pronounced. </p><p>“Looks like our wily Varisian got herself into some trouble here,” Arioch said as he brushed a layer of ash from the door. “Unless I miss my guess, this door had a warding glyph. Guess Ieana’s not as smart as we’ve been led to believe.”</p><p>“She’s smart enough to still be alive,” Nessalin commented.</p><p>The door was unlocked, and badly damaged. A small room lay beyond, in the middle of which sat a low stone altar, its sides carved like coiling snakes and its top carved to resemble a yawning viper’s maw. The walls of the chamber itself were carved with images of anthropomorphic serpents using strange, pointed megaliths of stone to work great feats of magic…transforming an army of humans into zombies, calling down flaming bolts of lightning from the stars, or parting the waters of the sea to dash human ships upon the exposed rocks of the seabed below. The final image seemed to have been recently cleaned of dust, and several lines of text had been made more legible via the application of inks and perhaps blood.</p><p>“Fascinating,” Agnar mused. “I believe these are carvings of serpent folk!”</p><p>“The savage jungle snakes?” Arioch asked.</p><p>Agnar rolled his eyes. “You should study your history more, Hellknight. Thousands of years ago, the serpent folk ruled empires mightier than any that exist today. What you see today are just degenerate cast-offs of a once-glorious civilization. I’d like to have a closer look at these pictograms and see just what our little fugitive was interested in.”</p><p>“We’ll come back for it,” Arioch replied. “If there’s a chance Ieana is still here, then we need to find her. Let’s keep moving.”</p><p>____________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>The group continued up the narrow, winding path up the conical cavern. Several smaller caves they passed along the way proved empty. Finally, they reached the top and a long cavern scattered with bones, body parts and bits of seaweed. A hole in the floor on the far side echoed with the sloshing of waves. Four ghouls crouched near the hole, and behind them stood what might have once been a woman, but was now a gaunt, green-skinned horror with long ears, a pointed tongue, and rotting flesh. She wore tattered rags, and a small snake’s skull on a thong of hair around her neck. </p><p>“You impress me, children,” she said in a rasping voice, her tongue lolling in what passed for a smile. “Since you killed all of my Thrunefangs, I will be wanting new subjects to supply me with fresh sacrifices. I offer you all the gift of immortality!”</p><p>“You don’t know what true immortality is!” Agnar answered. “You grovel here in your hole, a queen among scavengers, while a bunch of filthy savages bring you scraps! I make you a counter-offer, ‘Mother Thrunefang.’ Kneel before me now, and I will make you first among my minions. Think carefully before you answer. The Ferryman does not make such offers twice.”</p><p>“Impudent fool!” Nylithati spat. “Kill them all!” she commanded her thralls. “But take the priest alive!”</p><p></p><p>Anticipating the turn of events, Arioch had already prepared his summoning. A small air elemental, whirling like a dust devil burst among the ghouls. On its heels, he called an earth elemental, which quickly sank into the stone floor of the cave, only to reemerge a moment later in the midst of the fiends as well.</p><p>“Great move!” Jack cheered. “I’ve got a straight shot to the old lady!”</p><p>“Jack, no!” Arioch shouted, but it was too late. The rogue was off and running.</p><p>Jack threw himself into a tumbling dive and came up on his feet right next to Nylithati. He grinned fiercely as he gripped both of his blades, but his smile turned to confusion as Mother Thrunefang waggled a finger at him. In a flash, all four ghouls were upon him like a pack of wild dogs. Jack went down beneath them, and when the lacedons turned back to the elementals, the rogue lay motionless on the ground.</p><p></p><p>Lyrissa, inexplicably, began to sing. As she did, she wove a spell into the words, and a moment later a patch of greasy oil appeared beneath the feet of one of the ghouls. It slipped and fell to the floor, and the earth elemental pounced on it. Gorak took the opportunity to wade in, his wide swing grazing Nylithati’s chest. Hissing with rage, she bared her claws and leaped at him. At her command, one of the ghouls turned on the big barbarian as well. As it moved to attack, however, it suddenly jerked upright, whirled around, and then leaped at one of its brethren.</p><p>“I warned you!” Agnar grinned evilly as he winked at Nylithati. “Just like your pathetic pets, you will be mine as well!”</p><p>The ghoul on the ground in the grease stain struggled to regain its feet, but as it slipped again, Gorak spun away from Nylithati and cut it down. Behind him, Nessalin and Zavasta took down another one, the magus’ blade crackling with magical energy, and the alchemist’s bomb doing the rest. Gorak started to turn back to Nylithati, but as he did, she seized his shoulder with alarming strength, dislocating it as she spun him completely to face her. Her other hand flashed out, he claws slashing across the barbarian’s throat. He fell, still breathing, barely, but bleeding profusely. She then leapfrogged over her two minions tearing at each other’s throats and pounced on Lyrissa. The bardess couldn’t bring her polearm to bear, and fell back, struggling to keep the ghoul away from her throat. Agnar could tell that Mother Thrunefang was coming for him. He suddenly felt his control of his ghoul wrenched away, as Nylithati sent them both howling towards his allies. Her red eyes locked on to Agnar’s, and she charged, all teeth and claws. The priest back-pedaled, but he knew he wasn’t fast enough. Just as Nylithati leaped, however, Zavasta caught her with a direct hit from one of his bombs. She fell to the floor in flames, screaming and thrashing. Nessalin saw his chance and rushed her, his scimitar laced with electricity. As she tried to rise, he slashed her throat, sending a jolt of lightning through her body. The splash from Zavasta’s bomb strike set one of the charging ghouls alight as well, and it fell halfway through its assault. The final one was no match for Arioch’s elementals, and it went down in a flurry of wind and stone. </p><p>_____________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>Jack and Gorak were still alive, but in bad shape. Lyrissa tended their wounds and prepared them to be moved back topside. Nessalin stood over Jack, his thoughts a jumble. During their time together on the Jenivere, they’d been on good terms. Not exactly friends, but close enough as far as shipmates went. Ever since the wreck, however, Jack had been acting erratically, throwing himself into deadly situations without a second thought, and consequently putting the rest of them at risk. For the briefest of moments, Nessalin considered killing Jack where he lay. After all, it was possible that the rogue had contracted ghoul fever from his wounds, wasn’t it? Suddenly, he didn’t feel so well. He felt hot and cold at the same time, and maybe a bit nauseous. His vision swam, and darkness took him.</p><p>__________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>As it turned out, Jack, Gorak and Nessalin had all contracted ghoul fever. Jask spent the next several days tending to them, working slavishly to keep them alive. During the interim, several of the castaways set about assessing what repairs the lighthouse would need to be restored to full operation. Agnar, meanwhile, Agnar went back into the caves to further investigate the strange pictograms and writings they’d discovered in the chamber beyond the snake’s mouth. He puzzled out that the god the serpentfolk in the carvings were worshipping was called Ydersius. The name was vaguely familiar from some of his basic studies. The ritual depicted in the carvings was an odd one: it showed serpentfolk splashing blood on curved runes carved on upright stones before a red mountain, and then holding venomous against the blood that they might lick the stones, pouring water onto a pyramid-shaped block of red stone from a bowl, and standing before the pyramid of stone with arms upraised and mouths agape as if shouting to the heavens as a bolt of lightning arced up from the stones into the sky. Writing beneath the carvings read: </p><p></p><p><em>‘To command the very tides to rise up and eschew what lies below: empower the four sentinel runes with the blood of a thinking creature tempered by the kiss of a serpent’s tongue. Anoint the tide stone with waters brought from the sea in a vessel of purest metal. Invoke the Lord’s sacred name to wrap His coils around the sea itself that He might lay bare what lies below and cast down your enemies on the waves above.’</em></p><p>_____________________________________________________________</p><p></p><p>“I think I know what Ieana is up to,” the priest announced when he returned to the surface. </p><p>At that moment, from somewhere several miles south of the village, bolts of lightning lanced from the ground towards the sky, and a sound of distant rumbling, like prolonged thunder, filled the air.</p><p>“Too late,” Agnar said.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="JollyDoc, post: 5639748, member: 9546"] [b]Mother Thrunefang[/b] “Wake up, bastard!” Zavasta delivered a solid kick to the unconscious cannibal chief’s ribs. The man groaned, then snarled as he realized his predicament, baring his blood-stained, filed teeth. He babbled something in a guttural language, and then spat at the alchemist. Zavasta raised his foot to kick again, but Arioch put a restraining hand on his shoulder. “Just a minute,” the summoner said. “I understand him…sort of. He’s speaking a pidgin form of Infernal, the tongue of fiends.” “Of course you would recognize it, wouldn’t you?” Zavasta sneered. “Most Chelaxians would,” Arioch replied blandly, “and these people, savages though they may be, are descended from Cheliax. What’s your name?” he asked the bound man. “I Klorak the Red!” the chieftain snarled. “Asmodeus feast on your hearts!” “If I were you,” Arioch said as he crouched down next to Klorak, “I’d keep a civil tongue in my head…while I still had one of each. Do you see that large fellow over there?” He nodded towards Gorak. “If you don’t answer my questions to my satisfaction, I’m going to feed you to him, starting from your toes and working my way up. Do you doubt me?” Klorak’s eyes narrowed as he glanced at the barbarian, then he gave one terse nod. “I’m glad we understand each other,” the summoner continued. “Now, we’ve been tracking two shipmates of ours, one a man, blonde hair, bearded, and the other a dark-haired woman. Their trail led us here. Where are they?” Klorak looked genuinely confused. “See man,” he replied. “No woman. Clan brother bring man in as prisoner.” Arioch cocked his head, trying to judge the truth in the man’s words. “Where is the man now?” he asked. “With the Mother,” Klorak said. “The old woman we killed?” Arioch nodded towards the crone’s corpse. Klorak shook his head. “No. That Malikadna, clan witch. Mother Thrunefang down there,” he nodded his head towards a bamboo cover near the wall of the lighthouse. “Jack,” Arioch called, “take a look under that lid over there, but be careful.” Jack moved to the cover and lifted it, then raised his eyebrows. “It’s a pit,” he said. “Pretty deep one.” “What’s down there?” Arioch asked Klorak. “The Mother and her children,” the chief said matter-of-factly. “Explain!” Arioch snapped. “We follow the Mother,” Klorak shrugged. “If she like sacrifices we give, then she take chosen to be her children.” “And is that what happened to the man that was brought to you?” Klorak looked confused again, as if he were trying to remember some remote memory. “No,” he said at length. “Clansman ask to take prisoner down to the Mother. Him honored clansman. I tell him yes. He take prisoner below.” “I see,” Arioch nodded. The summoner stood and looked at his companions. “I think we’ve learned all we’re going to from him,” he said. “Gorak, kill him.” ________________________________________________________ No one openly objected to Arioch’s summary sentence of execution for the cannibal chief, but he could tell that at least Gelik and Jask were not entirely comfortable with it. The summoner was fine with that. It was probably time to start establishing a pecking order, as Jack had suggested. In Arioch’s experience with the Order of the Gate, actions spoke much louder than words. Once Gorak had finished his grisly work, the group fanned out to search the village thoroughly. Aside from the mundane trappings of a tribal camp, they found two things of interest. In a small room in the lighthouse, Lyrissa discovered the remains of several meals, many of which were recognizable as rations taken from the Jenivere…further proof that their quarry had indeed been in the village. The second discovery was the lighthouse itself. As it turned out, the reflector and machinery of the tower looked to be fixable with perhaps only a few days of work. They had found their salvation from the Shiv, but first there was the matter of a little payback. ___________________________________________________________ As the others prepared a rappelling line to descend into the pit, Agnar walked calmly over to the carcass of the Shiv dragon and placed his hand above it. “Rise,” he commanded. And the Shiv dragon did rise. It lurched jerkily to its feet, stood on wobbly legs for a moment, and then shook like a dog coming out of a creek, shaking the flesh from its bones. “Come,” the priest said, and the skeletal creature followed at his heels like a loyal cur. Agnar smiled grimly at the stricken look on Jask’s face as he passed. After much deliberation, it was decided by the castaways that Aerys, Gelik, Ishirou, Jask and Sasha would remain above in case more cannibals returned to their camp. Then one-by-one, the others dropped into the darkness of the hole. The shaft dropped down some forty feet before opening into the roof of a ten-foot high cave. The uneven floor was stained with blood and scattered with pieces of wood, fallen leaves, broken weapons, and in places, bits of bones. All-in-all, it was not a good omen. A single, narrow tunnel exited the chamber, and the group was forced to travel single-file as they began to move as quietly as possible down it. After a short distance, the tunnel opened into a wide but low-ceilinged cavern. The smell of decay in the air was thick and palpable. To one side, the roof dropped down to little more than three-feet in height over a region strewn with bones and bits of old flesh, while to the other, the ceiling bulged upward in a dome shape. Six circular, pod-like alcoves lined the walls on that side. As the group crouched to enter the cave, they heard the sound of low growls coming for the direction of the bone pile. Two dark shapes crouched there on all fours. They were vaguely humanoid in shape, but were so feral and gangrel in form as to be almost animalistic. “Fascinating!” Agnar breathed as he saw them. “They’re festrogs! I’ve read about them, but never actually seen one. Remarkable!” “If you’re going to tell us anything useful,” Nessalin snapped, “you’d better do it now. They don’t look like they’re exactly welcoming us!” “They’re victims of ghoul fever,” Agnar said in a distracted voice, “but during their transformation, something went wrong. Think of them as undead abortions. They can’t paralyze you like a ghoul, but they are much more vicious. Perfect killing machines.” “Looks like we’re about to find out!” Nessalin shouted, backing away as he drew his sword. “Here they come!” The creatures loped forward like rabid wolves, and one of them lowered its head and charged into Gorak’s legs, bringing the big barbarian down like a fallen oak. The second one bowled Jack over just as easily, and as Nessalin tried to leap out of the way, its oversized jaws clamped down on the magus’s leg. “Heads up!” Zavasta shouted as he hucked a flaming bomb towards the festrogs. The creatures shrieked as they leaped away from the flames, but both still suffered scorching burns from the explosion. Still, they recovered quickly and both leaped upon Gorak as he tried to rise to his feet. Agnar moved forward his hand outstretched to try and heal the barbarian’s increasing number of wounds. He did this not out of any sense of compassion for Gorak, but simply because he knew that oaf’s strong sword arm might be all that stood between himself and death. Whatever his motive, he was denied his attempt at altruism as one of the festrogs turned and viciously slashed him with its three-inch claws as he drew near. Still, the momentary distraction was all Gorak needed. The big brute roared as he surged to his feet, hurling the undead from him. One of them rolled and leaped back at him in a flash, but the barbarian’s sword was faster, and cut the creature in twain while it was still in mid-air. Before the second one could rise, Lyrissa stood over it and impaled it with her polearm. “Look at this,” Jack called as he sifted through the bone pile. He held up what looked to be a scrap of leather armor. “I recognize this,” the rogue said. “It belonged to the Captain. Wait a minute…there’s writing on it! Someone bring me a light!” Nessalin quickly obliged with a snap of his fingers. [I]“ ‘I am Captain Alizadru Kovack,’”[/I] Jack read, [I]“ ‘betrayer of my crew and destroyer of the good ship Jenivere. Hell would be a welcome escape from what hideous unlife looms before me, but it is no less a punishment than I deserve. That I was enslaved mind and body to a serpentine demon who wore a Varisian’s skin does not pardon me. It is my weakness that led the Jenivere, her crew, and her passengers to their doom. That Ieana has abandoned me here is nothing more than the fate I deserve. I do not beg forgiveness, but I despair that she lives still, and that she seeks something dire on this forsaken isle…she seemed particularly interested in Red Mountain. If you read this and you be a kind soul, seek out what I have become and destroy me, and then seek out Ieana and slay here as well. And to those whose lives I have helped destroy, I can only apologized from this, my dark cradle and darker grave.’”[/I] “They say confession is good for the soul,” Agnar chuckled once Jack had finished. “So, are we saying that he died in this room?” Nessalin asked. “Are his bones among these?” “Or at least he thought he was about to die,” Arioch replied. “You’re both wrong,” Agnar snorted. “Don’t you see? He wasn’t dying…he was transforming!” ____________________________________________________________ Another narrow passage led the group into a tall, silo-shaped cavern with a dark pool of water at its center. A stone ledge wound up towards a fifty-foot high ceiling, passing several more cave entrances along the way. For a moment, Jack thought he saw a flicker of movement, like a shadow detaching from a shadow at one of the caves high above. Then it was gone, perhaps just a trick of the darkness. They started up the treacherous ledge, and turned into the first tunnel they came to. After a short distance, it gave onto a long chamber that evoked the feel of an ancient, hideous cathedral. The walls were carved with images of serpents walking upright like humans, snakes coiling around and eating hapless women and children, and even stranger scenes. Four stone pillars carved like coiling snakes supported the vaulted ceiling above. Four small cells blocked by rusted bars sat in the walls on either side of the chamber, while at the far end, an immense carving of a snake’s head loomed, an ash-caked door clenched in its jaws, while at the near end rose a horrific mound of bones and partially decayed bodies arranged almost as if to evoke the imagery of a coiled snake made of corpses. Agnar smiled appreciatively at the tableau. Abruptly, a pair of hissing, shrieking ghouls appeared at the top of the carrion heap, their heads cocked inquisitively at the fresh meant that had just entered their larder. Jack’s eyes widened as they began to advance, because one of them, though emaciated, pale and blood-streaked, was very obviously Captain Alizandru Kovack! Then, before he could fully process what he was seeing, the creatures charged. Whether it was truly recognition, coupled with hatred or regret, the thing that had once been captain of the Jenivere came directly for his former crewmen, of which Jack was foremost. The ghoul slashed at him with its filthy nails, shredding his tunic and the skin beneath. The rogue fell backwards, feeling the monster’s fetid breath on his throat. Suddenly, the ghoul was lifted bodily into the air as Gorak seized it by the neck. It writhed and twisted, spitting and biting even as the barbarian impaled it on his sword. Moments later, its companion followed it into oblivion on the tip of Lyrissa’s spear. As Gorak pulled his sword free from the captain’s chest, Agnar rubbed his hands together greedily as he stood over the corpse. “I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since I found out it was your fault I’m stranded here, you bastard!” the priest sneered. “Now we’ll see how you like eternity as my slave!” “No,” Nessalin said, placing himself in front of Agnar. “You’ll get out of my way if you’re smart, boy!” Agnar snarled. “He’s paid his debt,” the magus said flatly, magic crackling at his fingertips. “I won’t see him defiled in this way. It’s enough.” “Not for me!” the priest shouted. “I’m taking my pound of flesh!” “Then take it from Ieana when we find her,” Arioch replied, moving to stand beside Nessalin. Agnar glared at the pair, and then looked around. Lyrissa, Jack and Gorak all eyed him grimly. Only Zavasta stood by him. “This isn’t the end of this by a long shot!” the priest snapped as he turned on his heel and strode away. Near the door in the serpent’s mouth lay several empty bottles of colored glass. “I recognized these,” Lyrissa said as she retrieved one of them. “Ieana was carrying them on the Jenivere.” “Let me see that,” Zavasta said. He took the bottle and sniffed at its mouth. “Healing draught,” he pronounced. “Looks like our wily Varisian got herself into some trouble here,” Arioch said as he brushed a layer of ash from the door. “Unless I miss my guess, this door had a warding glyph. Guess Ieana’s not as smart as we’ve been led to believe.” “She’s smart enough to still be alive,” Nessalin commented. The door was unlocked, and badly damaged. A small room lay beyond, in the middle of which sat a low stone altar, its sides carved like coiling snakes and its top carved to resemble a yawning viper’s maw. The walls of the chamber itself were carved with images of anthropomorphic serpents using strange, pointed megaliths of stone to work great feats of magic…transforming an army of humans into zombies, calling down flaming bolts of lightning from the stars, or parting the waters of the sea to dash human ships upon the exposed rocks of the seabed below. The final image seemed to have been recently cleaned of dust, and several lines of text had been made more legible via the application of inks and perhaps blood. “Fascinating,” Agnar mused. “I believe these are carvings of serpent folk!” “The savage jungle snakes?” Arioch asked. Agnar rolled his eyes. “You should study your history more, Hellknight. Thousands of years ago, the serpent folk ruled empires mightier than any that exist today. What you see today are just degenerate cast-offs of a once-glorious civilization. I’d like to have a closer look at these pictograms and see just what our little fugitive was interested in.” “We’ll come back for it,” Arioch replied. “If there’s a chance Ieana is still here, then we need to find her. Let’s keep moving.” ____________________________________________________________ The group continued up the narrow, winding path up the conical cavern. Several smaller caves they passed along the way proved empty. Finally, they reached the top and a long cavern scattered with bones, body parts and bits of seaweed. A hole in the floor on the far side echoed with the sloshing of waves. Four ghouls crouched near the hole, and behind them stood what might have once been a woman, but was now a gaunt, green-skinned horror with long ears, a pointed tongue, and rotting flesh. She wore tattered rags, and a small snake’s skull on a thong of hair around her neck. “You impress me, children,” she said in a rasping voice, her tongue lolling in what passed for a smile. “Since you killed all of my Thrunefangs, I will be wanting new subjects to supply me with fresh sacrifices. I offer you all the gift of immortality!” “You don’t know what true immortality is!” Agnar answered. “You grovel here in your hole, a queen among scavengers, while a bunch of filthy savages bring you scraps! I make you a counter-offer, ‘Mother Thrunefang.’ Kneel before me now, and I will make you first among my minions. Think carefully before you answer. The Ferryman does not make such offers twice.” “Impudent fool!” Nylithati spat. “Kill them all!” she commanded her thralls. “But take the priest alive!” Anticipating the turn of events, Arioch had already prepared his summoning. A small air elemental, whirling like a dust devil burst among the ghouls. On its heels, he called an earth elemental, which quickly sank into the stone floor of the cave, only to reemerge a moment later in the midst of the fiends as well. “Great move!” Jack cheered. “I’ve got a straight shot to the old lady!” “Jack, no!” Arioch shouted, but it was too late. The rogue was off and running. Jack threw himself into a tumbling dive and came up on his feet right next to Nylithati. He grinned fiercely as he gripped both of his blades, but his smile turned to confusion as Mother Thrunefang waggled a finger at him. In a flash, all four ghouls were upon him like a pack of wild dogs. Jack went down beneath them, and when the lacedons turned back to the elementals, the rogue lay motionless on the ground. Lyrissa, inexplicably, began to sing. As she did, she wove a spell into the words, and a moment later a patch of greasy oil appeared beneath the feet of one of the ghouls. It slipped and fell to the floor, and the earth elemental pounced on it. Gorak took the opportunity to wade in, his wide swing grazing Nylithati’s chest. Hissing with rage, she bared her claws and leaped at him. At her command, one of the ghouls turned on the big barbarian as well. As it moved to attack, however, it suddenly jerked upright, whirled around, and then leaped at one of its brethren. “I warned you!” Agnar grinned evilly as he winked at Nylithati. “Just like your pathetic pets, you will be mine as well!” The ghoul on the ground in the grease stain struggled to regain its feet, but as it slipped again, Gorak spun away from Nylithati and cut it down. Behind him, Nessalin and Zavasta took down another one, the magus’ blade crackling with magical energy, and the alchemist’s bomb doing the rest. Gorak started to turn back to Nylithati, but as he did, she seized his shoulder with alarming strength, dislocating it as she spun him completely to face her. Her other hand flashed out, he claws slashing across the barbarian’s throat. He fell, still breathing, barely, but bleeding profusely. She then leapfrogged over her two minions tearing at each other’s throats and pounced on Lyrissa. The bardess couldn’t bring her polearm to bear, and fell back, struggling to keep the ghoul away from her throat. Agnar could tell that Mother Thrunefang was coming for him. He suddenly felt his control of his ghoul wrenched away, as Nylithati sent them both howling towards his allies. Her red eyes locked on to Agnar’s, and she charged, all teeth and claws. The priest back-pedaled, but he knew he wasn’t fast enough. Just as Nylithati leaped, however, Zavasta caught her with a direct hit from one of his bombs. She fell to the floor in flames, screaming and thrashing. Nessalin saw his chance and rushed her, his scimitar laced with electricity. As she tried to rise, he slashed her throat, sending a jolt of lightning through her body. The splash from Zavasta’s bomb strike set one of the charging ghouls alight as well, and it fell halfway through its assault. The final one was no match for Arioch’s elementals, and it went down in a flurry of wind and stone. _____________________________________________________________ Jack and Gorak were still alive, but in bad shape. Lyrissa tended their wounds and prepared them to be moved back topside. Nessalin stood over Jack, his thoughts a jumble. During their time together on the Jenivere, they’d been on good terms. Not exactly friends, but close enough as far as shipmates went. Ever since the wreck, however, Jack had been acting erratically, throwing himself into deadly situations without a second thought, and consequently putting the rest of them at risk. For the briefest of moments, Nessalin considered killing Jack where he lay. After all, it was possible that the rogue had contracted ghoul fever from his wounds, wasn’t it? Suddenly, he didn’t feel so well. He felt hot and cold at the same time, and maybe a bit nauseous. His vision swam, and darkness took him. __________________________________________________________ As it turned out, Jack, Gorak and Nessalin had all contracted ghoul fever. Jask spent the next several days tending to them, working slavishly to keep them alive. During the interim, several of the castaways set about assessing what repairs the lighthouse would need to be restored to full operation. Agnar, meanwhile, Agnar went back into the caves to further investigate the strange pictograms and writings they’d discovered in the chamber beyond the snake’s mouth. He puzzled out that the god the serpentfolk in the carvings were worshipping was called Ydersius. The name was vaguely familiar from some of his basic studies. The ritual depicted in the carvings was an odd one: it showed serpentfolk splashing blood on curved runes carved on upright stones before a red mountain, and then holding venomous against the blood that they might lick the stones, pouring water onto a pyramid-shaped block of red stone from a bowl, and standing before the pyramid of stone with arms upraised and mouths agape as if shouting to the heavens as a bolt of lightning arced up from the stones into the sky. Writing beneath the carvings read: [I]‘To command the very tides to rise up and eschew what lies below: empower the four sentinel runes with the blood of a thinking creature tempered by the kiss of a serpent’s tongue. Anoint the tide stone with waters brought from the sea in a vessel of purest metal. Invoke the Lord’s sacred name to wrap His coils around the sea itself that He might lay bare what lies below and cast down your enemies on the waves above.’[/I] _____________________________________________________________ “I think I know what Ieana is up to,” the priest announced when he returned to the surface. At that moment, from somewhere several miles south of the village, bolts of lightning lanced from the ground towards the sky, and a sound of distant rumbling, like prolonged thunder, filled the air. “Too late,” Agnar said. [/QUOTE]
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JollyDoc's Serpent's Skull-updated 11/6/2011
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