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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Eccles" data-source="post: 3737262" data-attributes="member: 5675">As we hacked through the undergrowth and reached the outskirts of the necropolis, I began to hear a faint sound, as though hundreds of voices on the wind were chanting in unison. As I span rapidly on the spot, I began to catch glimpses of figures kneeling and abasing themselves towards the ruined ziggurat.I turned again to see what these spirits were worshipping, and blinked in amazement. The top of the blasted tower was somehow whole once again and the ruined buildings around me were miraculously whole once more. Seated on a massive green throne on the peak of the spire was an armour-clad man wearing a circlet across his temples. The chestplate of his Flann-wrought armour carried a symbol of a skull and scythe. The symbol of the death-god, Nerull.A crackling light dazzled my vision briefly, and the frenzied chanting of the crowd rose to a new high. “Kyuss, Kyuss,” they cried and moaned in some religious ecstasy. The light burst brighter, and I squinted.Abruptly, the city was silent and still – the chanting figures gone and the spire blasted apart once again..oOo.We worked our way past fallen buildings towards the massive obsidian ring towards the centre and the ziggurat. As we moved forwards, Igmut cast a spell which he promised would conceal us from many forms of the undead, and with this in mind Flynne crept off ahead to scout the path.He reported nothing, and in short order we reached the obsidian ring, which we could now see was carved in a repeating pattern. The words “Kyuss Forever Bound” wound together and repeated in runic script for the entire circumference of the colossal block of black stone. As we got close to the ring, we noticed that the floor had begun to move gently. Tens of thousands of the tiny wriggling Kyuss-worms were strewn about the floor wriggling around bones and the roots of trees they made a thick and suitably gruesome carpet for the necropolis itself. As long as we kept moving the creatures were unable to get up our boots, and so we were safe unless we were restrained. We climbed up into a building overlooking the ring, and could see that there were many more worms carpeting the inside as well. These were somewhat more active, creating an undulating white floor across the inside of the black walls; somehow the magic of the ziggurat was feeding and supporting the worms. .oOo.Casting another spell on himself, Igmut gingerly touched the wall, finding it to be cold but not otherwise life threatening. He climbed up, and Flynne scrambled up the wall to join him, and the two together helped the rest of us climb us using a knotted rope, before lowering us back down the other side. The sharp-eyed elf declared that he could see something dark yet shimmering atop the ziggurat, and so we moved towards an entrance, our footsteps squelching messily into the worms as we moved.The entrance to the ziggurat was reached without incident, but as we paused nearby, a skeletal armoured figure rounded one corner. The creature moved smoothly and powerfully, rather than the lurching and clumsy movements I had seen before from the undead. As it closed, we could see to our horror that the corpse positively dripped with the Kyuss-worms, and that two particularly fat specimens had taken root in its eye sockets. They snapped and gaped around the skeleton’s gaunt face as it closed rapidly towards us. At its heels, trotting like obedient dogs were two massive fat beetles, which clicked rotting mandibles as they closed on us.The skeletal figure dashed fast across the space between us and swung his broadsword down towards me, gashing my shoulder deeply. I yelled in pain and backed off, clutching the wound. Flynne’s new bow sang, and its twin enchantments against the undead and evil beings caused serious damage to the figure. Endo yelled “Don’t hurt the beetles”, clearly with some plan of his own in mind.With a gesture, the skeleton bellowed out “Hounds of Kyuss, attack!” The beetles clicked once more, and then crashed into Igmut’s heavily armoured form. The half orc responded by casting not one, but two spells, growing to massive size and turning to face the two beetles confidently. Endo, also in possession of a metamagic rod of quick-casting, cast two of his own spells, neither of which had any effect on the three large undead creatures attacking us, but in a heartbeat there was a sudden shudder which went through the white carpet under our feet, as every worm within 10 feet abruptly ceased moving and began to decay rapidly.Stepping forwards, Maynard unleashed a flurry of blows at one of the beetles, and his fists and feet glanced off the thick chitinous plates which covered the rotting beetle. The undead knight moved forwards, and Igmut’s massive sword slammed down, unleashing a tremendous burst of light which burned a huge chunk of decaying flesh free from the creature; it struck back with its sword.I cast a spell of hastening, and Flynne began to fire his bow like a man possessed. Arrows slammed into the undead knight and the holy undead-bane bow punched smoothly though the knight’s armour leaving deep craters in its craggy rotting skin.As beetles bit out and Maynard and Igmut dealing deep and savage wounds to the monk but clanging off Igmut’s new enchanted floating shield, Igmut turned and smacked two massive chunks of flesh from the knight.Chanting, Endo cast a spell to halt the undead, which failed to have any effect on the knight, but the two beetles stopped abruptly in their tracks. The knight was equal to the situation, however, and he stepped across to the beasts and slapped them each in turn breaking them out of their motionless state. At the same instant, the two worms in his eye sockets stretched out and bit deep wounds into Igmut, drinking deeply and swelling like fat leeches as they absorbed much of his life essence. The knight somehow looked dramatically better, but Igmut had stopped moving.Leaping over to my half orc friend, I dug a potion from his belt and scrambled up his armour to pour the liquid down his throat; I took another grievous wound from the undead knight as I did so, bit it was worth it as Igmut blinked dully and looked around him.“Urrr – wossup?” he queried blankly. Clearly the potion had not restored all his faculties to him, but at least he could move and defend himself once again. The two beetles scuttled forwards, but their mandibles simply scraped off Igmut’s heavy armour. Igmut responded instinctively, lashing out around him like a gigantic armour-clad sword-wielding baby in a tantrum. The enlarged sword, fully 7 feet of enchanted metal, cleaved through the knight, and Igmut chuckled.Endo snatched a wand I had pulled out of my bag, and used it to fire a second copy of his own spell, halting the beetles in their rush forwards.We stood before them and lined up our assault – Flynne firing a series of arrows through one which penetrated its brain and killed it. His last arrows smashed home into the second beetle, and it started towards us before Igmut’s tremendous sword shattered its exoskeleton and leaving it flattened and dead amidst the many tens of thousands of dead worms.We recovered, caught our breath, and headed for the ziggurat once again.</blockquote>

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