Back to their plotting of how to return the party to the well of the triptych of heretics, they resolve on fooling old Furpotia, the keeper of the sickhouse that covers the well. With half the party invisible, Talis wrapped up and disguised as sickly, Furpotia is approached to take a sick woman on for her final days. Furpotia obliges, shooing the ‘family’ away, and quickly succumb to a sleep spell. With the ‘sick’ rising from her cot, Talis cracks the door open and admits her friends.
The party gets to work to reveal the trap door that offers egress into the well, and they fly, feather-fall and scamper down iron rungs of the first stage of the well. As they emerge into a domed room with mat covered floors, a tangle of ropes animates into a large golem, ready to be the hangman of all who try to pass into the hallway beyond. Blasted with spell after spell, the rope golem imperviously smashes and grabs at the party dealing awesome blows. A whirlwind of ropes lash against nearly everyone, with seemingly only the adamantine weapon of Zeek seeming to do any real damage. A desperate spell of animate rope by Talis only hastens the entire creature’s attacks and reflexes. Finally, with shouts across the room, Vasco and Talis discharge enough natural flame and conjured grease to lite the rope golem on fire, weaking it though not before Zeek takes a massive hit. Finally, the rope is a smouldering ruin, and Kaydense finds himself an invaluable healing servant of the party.
Now more alert, the party moves slowly down the hall little niches and alcoves stand empty, but Yldar sees a desiccated familiar green worm dried up in the corner. If this wasn't proof enough, they enter into a brick-lined passage, encrusted in harmless mould that covers what is an entire fresco of runes and pictographs. The seekers recognize the language as avolakia, an ancient, nightmarish race of intelligent, humanoid worms they thought was only legend. Using comprehend languages, Vasco and the others study the area for over an hour, filling in details hinted at during their time in the Spire of Kuluth-Mar.
A recurring theme in the prayers is the mention of a ceremony known as The Ravenous Awakening. This ritual involves the animation of huge numbers of undead who are then led like cattle into vast banquet halls, where they present themselves to the feasters for consumption. Further study reveals that while the avolakias worship Kyuss above all things, they also believe that his power is waxing. The passages suggest that Kyuss himself is trapped in some form of large stone monolith. He managed to partially escape this prison once, 1,500 years ago, but he was unable to maintain his freedom for longer than a few short months before the defeat of his armies by a force the avolakia refer to only as the Enemy forced him back into his monolithic prison. More obscure mentions include reference to a location (phonetically translated as M’theskuss) called the Writhing Tabernacle, the place the avolakias seem to hold as the most holy site of Kyuss. Mention is also made of their great ally and the Voice of Kyuss, the Consort of the Five-Faced One, the eternal dragon Dragotha.
These runes are ominous indeed, and the party decides to stay on, rest and recover, hearing no further sounds from the well beyond.
Knowing that at the end of the next descent awaits the aspect of a god, the party braces with their most powerful spells, buffing against what is to come. They descend further down the well, emptying into an immense chamber with a dome filled roof built a full 50 feet above the floor. Alcoves hold statues of worm-like monsters coiled around pillars of skulls and bones. The party knows that the huge statue in the middle of the room is no inanimate object, and descend on it with full force working to devastate it will spells and blows. The battle rages in what seems like slow motion. Yldar’s magic-holy arrows and Nadroc’s magic-holy spiked chain seem to knock the huge statue back, while all other hits seem trivial. It’s claws, bites savage those around it with Kaydense being taken almost completely out of the battle. Finally too, this massive aspect of the Ebon Triad is utterly destroyed. Zeek sets to work to stuff one of its heads in a bag while the others explore the room, discovering a hollow wall.
Breaking through, an important cache of treasure if found. Four chests with thousands of gold and platinum pieces, potions and elixirs, a cache of wands, rods, rings, and other magic items, and finally a large, leather-bound ledger. The book bore no title, and appears to be a mere outdated list of the contents of the room. Vasco, suspicious that it may carry more that it reveals, holds on to the book for later study.
Taking time to recover and pack the chests, the party return to the surface, and to their confidants who are keeping them in the church of Kord.
The next day Vasco and Yldar get to work on the ledger. They draw on their resources to evoke a secret page spell. This reveals that the ledger is an exhaustive list of the members of the Ebon Triad, including its numerous allies and the locations in which these individuals live. Vasco recognizes some of the names that have had lines drawn through them: “Theldrick,” and “Faceless One” he and the party had defeated in the mines below Diamond Lake. “Loris Raknian” had kept the Kyuss shine in the free city before it was exposed by them during the Champion Games. The ledger gives only one entry for Alhaster: “Ilthane— Traitor’s Graves.” Indeed, the list confirms the late black dragon’s place in the Ebon Triad.
Now more flush with coin than they have ever been, the next day and a half the party spends in the black market and in the couture shops, bartering for magic and getting ready for Zeech’s feast. Having been put off by the prices and continual limits at Iomandi's Wonders, the supposedly 'best' magic shop in Alhaster, they fare much better in the black market, bartering with apparently well connected magic purveyors who are impressed by the amount of coin the group is bringing around. For a mere 1000GP an item, the party manages to bring such things as celestial armour and a ring of force shield into their position within hours. Outside the unappealing shops of the aristocrats and nobility, Alhaster's true markets indeed live up to their reputation.
Indulging themselves at the Deluxury, they make their final preparations for the Great Feast, with Vasco studying enough to cast permanent comprehend languages and resistance on himself and resistance on Talis. Their finery include
Yldar -> 600 GP suit, no weapons or armour Talis -> 800 GP dress and concealing her dagger Vasco -> 100 GP suit, glitterdust, no weapons or rods Zeek -> 200 Gp hat -> with a newly purchased cane and a very fine codpiecel; Nadroc -> himself as artifact, cleaned up to a shine, no weapons
They wrap in spidersilk a gift for Prince Zeech of the Harp of Charming they had found in the treasure chests of the Ebon Triad.
At least a dozen other aristocratic guests arrive, a few of which the party already knows. Lashonna is notable by her absence. A funny little man, clutching a mummified raven and a small horn acts as the emcee for the event, announcing the arrival of the guests and the gifts each brings for the Prince. While every individual gives the prince a gift of rare wine, jewels, exotic caged animals, and in one case an outstanding fiendish horse outfitted with the horseshoes of a zeypher, the party’s sole gift of a harp seems humble at first. Talis, however, presents it with a flourish of diplomacy and the Prince appears genuinely pleased. Prince Zeech thanks everyone and mentions that Lashonna is coming too, but will be a bit late. The crowd buzzes with a bit of excitement, and the night’s first event ensues.
The little announcer, who calls himself The Ominous Fabler, calls for the staging of a series of short plays to open the evenings’ entertainment. He has named them The Harlequinade Mortificatio and they are performed by a troupe of animated skeletons, acting out their own unfortunate (but seemingly not quite accidental) deaths. The macabre humour strikes a tone with the group which is furthered by the announcement of the first refreshment of the evening, a great cake in honour of Prince.
