Episode 7 (part 2): The Spire at Kuluth-Mar

Manzorian left his assistant with two tasks.  The first was to facilitate the party having access to the magical Fountain of Fortunes’ Folly – a powerful artifact that can give and take power and abilities.  While having a drink is rebuffed by Nadroc and Vasco, the others decide to take a chance on its magic.  Zeek and his companions, and Yldar gain minor abilities and treasures in exchange for a few permanently lost hit points.   Maeron, however, has a amazingly unlikely and fortunate contact with a powerful outsider from another plane.  The potently magic drink momentarily links Maeron with a powerful Solar on another plane.  Taking notice of her, and seeing the world-shaping importance of her future, the Solar offers to intervene in her affairs one time, on her request.  She is left inspired and empowered by the encounter, knowing that quite literally a powerful angel is watching her.


The other task of Manzorian’s assistant was to facilitate payment of the requested magic items in exchange for the Rod of Law fragment that the party is willing to give Manzorian.  Each member takes their requested treasure, gratefully adding it to their arsenal, hoping that it along with the blessing of the Wind Dukes, will aid them in their trip to the far off Kuluth Mar.  They know that magic and blessings alone will got get them through, but that research is needed.  Doing geographic research for the area, the find that the valley of Kuluth-Mar as been abandoned by humanoids, and that aberrations and other horrors have taken over the valley.  Something or someone named Balaxuus and a band of trolls that work with it, are known to be threats living in the outskirts of the ruined city.  So few have survived brief sojourns to the valley, and so little else is known.  However, their research on the Kyuss worm itself does prove fruitful.  They find that if the Kyuss worm touches the skin, within moments it will burrow in to the body, work its way to the brain, and consume the living into an undead Kyuss spawn.  It may be neutralized by Remove Curse or Remove Disease.  It can be slowed by dispel evil or neutralize poison.  These facts were learned from the singularly depressing yet morbidly intriguing journals of the cleric Anadan the Reader.

After a week of studies, shopping and other preparations, they party is led to the picture room by Manzorian’s assistant Cymria.  There Manzorian gives them a scroll of mass teleport to return home.  A blue glowing field connects them with the photo on the wall, and the last image they see is of Manzorian still completing the spell, casually turning and walking out of the room.  A moment later, an they are all standing in the sweaty, humid, thick air of the far away jungle valley of the ancient ruined city of Kuluth-Mar.

 After a few minutes of typical discussion and banter standing in the lush jungle, they decide to proceed cautiously towards the city, which they can see not far off.  The ruined buildings of the city are surrounded by a massive black stone ring wall, and inside the spire rises up into the sky.  The jungle is eerily alive with an unfamiliar hum of life, and inside the rings – though a place of Kyuss’s terrible history, seems somehow safer.  Yldar moves forward and scales the 30' tall wall, which he finds is made of an impossibly black, glossy obsidian.  At the top of the wall, and circling all around it is a Draconic inscription “Kyuss Forever Bound”.  On entering the ruined city, the entire party experiences a powerful vision of a young Kyuss, seated on a throne at the apex of the ziggurat at the centre of the city and in the shadow of a large spire that towers above it.  Thousands of supporters surround him in the vibrant city chanting and crying their patronage, and then the vision fades.  It leaves the party with the feeling of having had a very significant experience.

Yldar scales down the other side of the wall, and finds that the entire ground is writing with tiny, slow-moving Kyuss worms.  The party follows him in, and being careful not lingering for any length of time, should the worms work their way through their boots, they make their way from the north towards Kuluth-Mar’s ziggurat; the large, central temple below the towering spire.

 They approach the north face of the temple and ascend towards the spire.  Soon, a maddenly loud ‘skittering’ fills the air, and two enormous, rotten, worm-invested beetles, each larger than several men, come around from the other sides of the temple and flank them.  The beetles’ sound is maddening and their mandibles have a hard bite.  As the party forms to defend themselves one notices a heavily armoured knight, walking confidently and slowly into the battle.  The beetles, his dogs of war, continue to attack while the knight closes in to engage.  The party is well organized, rested and resourceful dispatch the knight, whose eyes are massive Kyuss worms, stretching out to bite while his unholy bastard sword clangs violently against the party’s defenses.  No worms manage to infect them and the party collect themselves after the battle to discuss how to proceed.

Up.

Up into the sky is the towering spire, and Nardoc draws on the wind dukes power to fly up towards the top where they party had seen a glint.  As he is rising higher and higher, the party encounters another powerful vision.  They see the spire restored, at the glint at the speak is a 15' tall 3' thick trapezoidal monolith of black rock.  Something is seen writhing inside when an enormous red dragon rips the monolith away from the spire and flies north.  The vision fades, and Nadroc finds only the crumbling ruins of the spire that had held it.