Eligos stresses the following:
- all of the information brought him from the Sodden Hold, the Mistmarsh, the Dourstone Mine, and the Whispering Cairn point to the involvement of a minor deity called Kyuss.
- the worm-invested undead are the most notorious (and the least dangerous) of Kyuss’ spawn. Their presence in the region, combined with the discovery of the various worms, indicates that the cult of Kyuss is certainly becoming more active in the area. Spawn of Kyuss are especially dangerous in that they are horrifically fecund.
- the cult of Kyuss has traditionally been small, often consisting of single priests who live double lives as upstanding citizens. Recent evidence suggests that the Ebon Triad may have involved the smaller (but older) cult of Kyuss in its schemes.
- tales of the Age of Worms itself are as old as anything. Often known by other names (the End Times, The Dar Age...) The Age of Worms is an ancient set of prophecies that speak of a transformation of the world, of a time when life gives way to something else. These prophecies are recorded int certain rare texts, including the Apostolic Scrools, and are inscribed on the walls of ancient ruins across the world.
- with Racknain now having purchased the Apostolic Scrolls, it is a dark time. They are reputed to have been penned by Kyuss himself and detail the creation of the ulgurstasta, huge undead creature capable of consuming the living and regurgitating them as undead.
- the party should investigate Racknain’s interest in these scrolls, even though he is powerful. If the group can recover the scrolls and what Racknain is trying to do with them, all the better.
They discuss the link between Racknain and the party (the assassination) and between him and the Apolostilc Scrolls (Kyuss’s massive creature) and agree to enter into he games, sponsored by Ekaym, (who the group is introduced to through Eligos’ friend Celeste) in order to investigate Racknain further and find out why he might have purchased such an awful, powerful text, and why he may have a link to their evil-doings with Kyuss.
The Party is then met by Celeste the next day, who introduces them to Eyakem, who becomes their manager and licence holder for the games. They have 2 days to rest and to sort out their shopping, research, spells and so on, and then the games will begin.
Rancik is visited by Zen’jil, Wee Jas’ planer Ally, and is given the lands.
Rancik’s team rents Building 15 in the Midnight Muddle area of town from the estate of Mistress Crump, who had recently died. He attempts to bring a lesser planner ally to the team for assistance during the champion games. The Good hound archon refused to fight anything but evil creatures. He hires a large entourage of en to work his affairs.
The ‘Diamond Lakers’ wager2500 gp on themselves at 1:3 odds for the first battle with 10 different bookies. The party encounters Tirra (the thief from Auric’s warband) at the Free City dinner and agree to take the Thieves Guild wager on the final battle, giving 2500gp for a potential return of 7500, and with Arthur entering into the Thieves Guild.
The party is led to the stadium’s under-complex and given a room where the basic rules of the games are explained. Vasco does a detect thoughts on the guards and finds that they are concerned with keeping the ‘champions’ under control. The first battle of the games, the Diamond Lakers team up with Karish the charming Janni, and end up winning a slot in the next day’s battle. Eyakem reveals that he is sponsoring them in the games because he wants them to help investigate his sister who disappeared a year ago when she was with Racknain, the Free City mayor. He offers 1200gp of healing magic a day and agrees with Rancik to shoot straight, gather information about other contestants, and to be a contact to the surface while the games are going on. Rancik manages to get a celestial dire bear to help them in their games.
Bear left behind, the party slips out of the under-complex and explores the tunnels below where ghouls were rumored to have been plugged out by Racknain. They break the stone plug with dwarven silenced axes and fight the ghast convention beyond. The party continues on, finding 4 ochre jellies (dispatched by fireballs and scorching rays), exploring the under-sewer system with scrolls of water breathing. In these sewers they discover an area that leads up to a Spawn of Kyuss, confirming the connection between the city and the evil Kyuss worms. The party defeats the spawn with nobody being 'wormed', Arthur burning them all. A secret door in the spawn room, warded by a dangerous glyph into another set of chambers.
The party explores a old pump room and head into the old battle temple where they they engage 6 Kyuss spawn and a Mohrg with fireballs.
A massive battle ensues with the evil cleric Bozal, who summons a scorpion, a fire mephit,a dire bat and a lemure. Vasco's web and tangle foot bag hamper his mobility to deliver touch spells, slings and arrows finally subduing him, they bring him manacled and holy symbol-less. Here, the party reaches level 10.
In the Temple of Kyuss the party grilled Bozal, who merely dismissed them with prophesies of the age of worms to come. Rancik dispatched Bozal with his Wee Jas dagger, keeping his head. They pressed into Bozal's room and found the chest and they command the zombie. Rancik commands the zombie to open the chest and she becomes trapped. They realize that it is Eykam's lost sister. Bozals' room also reveals a note:
My wise colleague Ghaerleth Axom:
Your plans in brining the vision of the Ebon Triad from the Silver Hills to Brindinford are masterful and intreaguing. You may need some support. Please find enclosed these three rare deep red rubies, which should find impressive market value, as a contribution from other devine visionaries here in the Free City.
Bozal
The group investigates the scroll, Rancik trying to turn it thre times to no avail. They destroy the alter, but the scroll is suspended.
Rancik sends 2 earth elementals beyond the scroll-lit door and only one comes back reporting that they were blocked. The party then moves on towards the a chamber where they discover a terrible ooze demon. He blasts them with cold and then the party mostly retreats, Rancik being separated from the group by a wall of life and is then hit by panic from the demon and hides. The party fights the demon and finally kills him, but Rancik's loyal dwarf Valgrind being overcome with cold during the battle. They retreat back to the under-complex to rest up.
In the morning, before their scheduled next match, they keep investigating the Shrine of Kyuss. They discover through the tunnel in the water pump room the Sphere of Force that protects the Apostle of Kyuss, both Arthur and Nabiros taking energy-drain from it. Rancik weakens the sphere by trying to turn it, and communes with his god to try to learn the nature of the sphere.
The party defaces the Kyuss mural in the demon chamber and put a sack over the scrolls and the arcane mark of Vasco in the room with the scrolls.
They spend some further time enquiring and puzzling over the warded chest, but do not figure out a way to overcome the warded lock trap.
When they return from the first excursion from to the shrine of Kyuss, they find their bear dead. Rancik gives notes to Eykam to take to the churches of Heroneous, Wee Jas and Kord to inform them of the evils below the temple. The party bets 250 gp on themselves through Eykam, paying 2:1 on the win of the 2nd round. They win 5000gp after the battle with the dwarven fighters in Pitchblade.
The party creates an illusion at night and escape the under-complex to head back down to the shrine of Kyuss. Eykam had not returned with the wand of cancellation that the group had hoped for. Rancik finally succeeds dispelling and turning the sphere of force and the party engages the gigantic apostle of Kyuss, a massive undead ugulartrata that was gaining strength in his sphere. The party takes much HP and constitution damage from necromatic acid and slamming tendrils, but prevail. They try to install a magic light source at the top of the shaft that Ugly was forming in, which Nabiors finds is right on the floor of the galadiaor field. Thought they make a small hole, they are unable to successful install a magic light stone.
After Ugly is destroyed, the party sneaks back into their galadiator cell to rest, having had a very brief, tense, charged exchange with Khellek and Auric and the lead guard. They prepare to battle Madtooth the next day.
Madtooth is defeated in 4 unlikely rounds,with Rancik single handedly(literally) doing 70-100hp of damage each round. Something was out of balance with the powers he was channelling, and Rancik is left with an intense feeling of discord with Wee Jas.
Ekaym, the sponsor of the Diamond Lakers, returns and announces that Eligos and Pollard have been murdered.
That night, the party returns to the shrine of kyuss, being very dangerously ambushed by the pitchblade dwarves on the way. They discover that everything has been cleaned up, scrolls gone, Kyuss visages gone, the corpse of the Apostle of Kyuss gone, the Kyuss coffins gone, the hole in the ceiling that Nabiros had made mended. They rest again to prepare for their final battle with Auric's warband.
Vasco, who knows that Racknain must have seen the arcane mark of Vasco on the Shrine of Kyuss, sends him a feather token with the message 'justice'.
