We gave Heimdell’s crowns to Harald and Maeve. Menka returned the holy symbol of Odin to Harald’s curate, Olaf Iverson.

Kyril

• 2 vials of holy water
• Oil of Fiery Burning

Cathal

• Gamred the Golden (+3 two-handed sword, double-damage vs clerics in case Menka gets mouthy, plus user can Detect Magic and Remove Fear 30’ radius 1x/day)
• magical blue sapphire pendant ^{[See section 5.5.]} (if user is killed, gem activates and saves user’s soul, user returned to 1HP (albeit unconscious))
• 2 vials of holy water

Gonchar

• potions of extra healing

Lycovyne

• potion of fire resistance

Seamus

• +4 Staff-Spear (UA pg. 95)
• Claw of Malar +2 (inactive without its counterpart)

Menka

• Mace of Disruption +2, somewhat cursed
• 4 vials of holy water
• Incense of Meditation
• Protection from Cthuga (evil, in his pack)
• tentacular flail (evil, in his pack)

Flint

• yet another Wand of Wonder (it does SUCH things)
• 1 vial of holy water

Day 29 dawned. We gathered our gear at the inn and rode over to Aesil’s tower. The wizardess joined us, now fully healed, and quite fetching, actually. We handed her the Robe of the Arch Magi and asked her about it. She handled it gingerly and told us Lycovyne would have gone (even more) insane if he had tried it on…

The plan was for Aesil to teleport us to Creel’s tower, and for Creel to then teleport the party south to the School of Magic in Ruatha. Aesil set up the mirror, slid the hound figurine into place and immediately, we could see Creel standing on the other side of the mirror. We bid Aesil adieu and stepped through the mirror into Creel’s drawing room.

As we stepped through, Creel greeted us warmly. Brian O’Bois and a ranger were also in the room, and Brian greeted us. We remembered Brian from the Horn’d Lamb Inn. He told us that his companion, the ranger Freyvior, had recently rescued the Hibernian from a group of cultists. Indeed, Freyvior was heading south through the mirror with us. He sought his uncle’s bow, a powerful heirloom. He told us he believed that a man named Pickman had stolen it. Our surprise was apparent and we told the ranger we had heard of the same man, though we had yet to encounter him.

Gonchar asked Creel if he could have or purchase a crate or two of whiskey, as he hoped to use it to trade for information to the rangers in Ruatha ^{[See Gonchar On Patrol, section 5.4.]} . Creel assented and had one of his servants grab a case from the cellars under the tower.

Freyvior was welcome to journey south with us. Flint gave him one of our spare +2 longswords. The ranger was a marksman of some renown and carried a lovely longbow.

Ruatha Bound#

We refreshed ourselves and lunched with Creel. Then it was time to be off once again. He had communicated with Thoth Azuul at the School of Magic in Ruatha, putting in a good word for us by way of a letter of introduction. We lined up at the mirror as Creel set up the blocks and put them in place. He slotted a snake-shaped block into place last and we saw a Stygian magician and a female half-elf standing in an ornate room, presumably in Ruatha. We thanked Creel, bid him adieu yet again and stepped through the mirror.

There was a strange, disassociated feeling for a longer moment than the transport to Creel’s was, and the party was somewhere else. The air felt warmer.

The room the party arrived in was roughly 40’ (E–W, rounded somewhat at the east and west ends of the room) $\times$ 20’ (N–S). To their back was a large, wall-sized mirror, from which they stepped. Before them was a large table, with lit blue candles, a small pedestal upon which there was an open book.

Behind the pedestal was a tall middle-aged man, wearing white robes and what appeared to be a southern-style war helmet. He had dark skin – like Menka’s – and a long, dark beard flecked with grey. He wore on his left hand numerous rings and wore an ankh symbol around his neck, with a visible magic star in the middle (the symbol of Isis). He addressed Menka in southern common: “Hmmm. I was told by my friend Thelonius Creel that I was bringing a group of northerners to Ruatha, but he did not mention that amongst them would be a Priest of Thoth – welcome, Father.”

He then switched to perfect Northern Common, flecked with an accent thicker than Menka’s: “Welcome, travelers. I am Thoth-Azuul, and I am pleased to bring you to Lower Ruatha, where I call home. Any friend of the good wizard Thelonius Creel is a friend of my own. I bid you well, and hail! Forgive me for not knowing your names – the good Mr. Creel only gave to me a broad overview, and my friend the curious Mr. Carter implied that, perhaps, you have for me a book? But we will discuss that shortly. Please, tell me your names and who you are, and where you hail from, so that I may address you with the respect that you are due! This (and he indicated a slim, light-skinned woman with a mix of human and elven features) was his apprentice, Jastra of Dawnhorn.”

Menka introduced himself formally and then the rest of the party introduced themselves. As the party proceeded to introduce themselves, Thoth-Azuul enthusiastically repeated their names and shouted “greetings!”

He then addressed the party as a whole, spreading his arms wide. “Come, view my city, Ruatha!” He walked to a door in the wall and led the party outside, to a five-foot deep walkway that circumnavigated the tower. The tower they stood in was within a small compound, surrounded by a wall, and situated upon a small river which was a tributary to a much larger – indeed, huge – river to the north. This town sat on the banks of this huge river, and Thoth-Azuul saw them looking at it and said “The Great Source!”, indicating the river. They saw a long peninsula which jutted into the river, upon which were many buildings and docks jutting into the river, with many boats tied to these docks, or sailing on this huge body of water.

There was a small river which flowed off the huge river, down through the eastern side of town, and right beneath the tower they stood on. The party saw spread before them a winding small city, many small wooden buildings, some larger, buildings with towers that reached to the sky, including a large temple structure to their southwest (Menka said “my temple…” and the party saw him clutch his holy symbol). Across the small river from them they saw a large building with the sound of hammering and clanging, while a water wheel spun and smoke rose through openings in the roof.

Their senses were buffeted by this place. First, the heat – many of them realized they were not dressed for this climate, and it was very warm. They were no longer in the north. Second, the smells – this was a busy town, and they saw a large bazaar with many tents (and a huge warrior-statue in the center of the square) and the smells of cooking meat and other food filled the air. They heard the bustling sounds of voices, and bleating goats, and strange music coming in over the wind, which was blowing steadily off the river. The trees were different here – many palm trees, as well as what the druid recognized as olive and fig trees near the base of the walls that surrounded this tower, and large cypress trees too.

From their high perch they saw that a short road led from this town uphill to what appeared to be another, adjacent town on a plateau that overlooked Lower Ruatha. That Upper Town was walled, and they saw the high walls of a keep with many high towers – one of which was on an island in the river. Again, Thoth-Azuul saw them looking at these towers and said “Upper Ruatha” and spread his hands out. “My people do not go there. We are a large family here in Ruatha, but some of us view the others differently.” When asked, he said that the keep was ruled by “the Earl of the Warrens, Kostas Warren – they herd their cattle to the northwest of the city, and their many soldiers guard the upper city and fight with the tribes who ride the plains to the northwest – but let us not talk of this – you must be hungry!”

He led them back into the tower, to the top of some stairs. “Friends, I will leave you in the capable hands of my good colleague, the Enchantress Jastra – she can bring you downstairs and our delightful cook, Masha, has made some wonderful lamb falafels, with just the perfect balance of mint and onion and other spices, and if I keep talking of this, I will run downstairs and eat it all up myself!, so go – Jastra can give you direction to whatever you seek in our city and again – welcome! Please tell Jastra when you wish to discuss the matter of this book, and I will be available! Enjoy!”

Jastra led the party down several flights of stairs – on the higher levels of the tower they simply passed closed doors, but nearer the bottom they saw what appeared to be a classroom, with several chairs and desks and a lone student (bald, Stygian appearance, robes) ensconced in a book. There was also a large library level, one floor up from the ground level, where the party saw other students studying. Several lit braziers gave the room plenty of lighting. Several study tables were available for students.

The party reached the ground floor of the tower and there were several doors, and an open door in the south which led outside. The party were led through a door on the southeastern side of the tower which led to what appeared to be a dining room. On the wall was a portrait that depicted Thoth-Azuul and nine other wizards, including Thelonius Creel, Aesil and Guldar Heel, all of whom appeared younger than they had observed them to be in their meetings with them. Each was accompanied in the portrait with a token animal (and Thoth-Azuul’s was a snake ^{[Note: this is the last block used every time we use a portal, and sets the destination.]} ). These were the members of the circle. From left to right the animals were: Bear, Eagle, Panther (Guldar Heel’s animal), Lion, Rat, Snake (animal of Thoth-Azuul), Buffalo, Hound (T Creel’s animal) and a Snow Leopard (Aesil’s animal).

There were two robed young men there, of Stygian descent. One introduced himself as Hisha-al-Thoth and seemed very curious about northerners. He introduced the other young man as Sharif. Sharif stayed silent, and seemed aloof. Jastra called for “Masha”, and a middle-aged woman with pale skin and red hair going to grey entered the room, said little, appeared to study the party carefully (warily, it almost seemed), and left, returning soon after with goat falafel and a soup made from lentils and spices. The food was delicious. Water was served, and when the dwarf asked for ale Masha rolled her eyes slightly, and brought mugs of weak small beer from somewhere outside the room.

Azuul mentioned Randolph Carter as a shared acquaintance. Randolph had informed Azuul that we had a book for the wizard. He hoped Thoth Azuul could use the book and erase Carter’s magical scent, freeing him from the pursuit of the Old Ones and their Hound ^{[See 4.5.3.]} . We dutifully handed Thoth Azuul our last remaining copy of Cultes des Gules. He handled the book gingerly and his eyes lit up.

While they dined, Jastra recommended the Studious Ibis Rest-House for accommodations – it was adjacent to the Temple of Thoth, was often filled with those who visited the temple from beyond Ruatha, but she did not believe it was full then. It was safe there, and while the accommodations were basic, the food was filling and they need not worry about thieves there. We inquired about the temples in the area. Kyril asked about the local Temple to Osiris. Jastra told him it was several miles out of town, southeast – to the south of there, many miles out of town, it was said that the folk once buried their dead in the valley of the tombs – but this was no longer so. They now used a closer cemetery, to the southeast of town. When asked about drink, Jastra advised that she personally did not drink, but recommended that we head to the Eel’s Lantern if we sought libations of a more northern sort. She also mentioned the Wailing Wyvern as another tavern in town (Menka shuddered), as well as the Grey Mistral Inn if the party was after larger rooms.

The Temple of Thoth#

Menka wished to visit the temple of Thoth as soon as possible and he knew the way. The Studious Ibis stood across the street from the temple and was a common place for students to stay. Menka would book himself a few nights, there. He headed there immediately and signed himself in for the cost of 1 gp per night.

The cleric then went in search of Malai the Secret Keeper, high priest of the temple. He had been a mentor (of lower rank) to Menka many years ago during his stay in Ruatha but had risen to the top since Menka left. Menka found Malai easily enough, flanked with his aide, one Arat A’man. Menka introduced himself formally and Malai greeted him warmly.

The clerics discussed that he (Menka) was ready to have the rank of High Priest conferred upon him and relayed greetings from Father Amon in the Hall of Seven Pillars. Malai congratulated Menka and said they could set up the ceremony as soon as the cleric was ready. Menka would have to say mass in the Temple and Malai could set up the convocation. Menka assented and said he was ready at Malai’s leisure. The high priest nodded and, stating his intention to hold the mass the following day, dispatched A’man to handle the administrative tasks to do so.

The cost, of course, was information. Information in the form of books. Menka rifled through his memory and offered any or all of three books to Malai:

• “Electricity” – I.\ Astbury (4.5.3, pg. 369)
• “Vampirism: causes, cures, prevention, defenses and theory” – Marius de Romanus (4.5.3, pg. 369)
• Grimoire Illusionati – Phillip of Navarre

Malai accepted the first two books and showed no interest in Phillip’s tome. ^{[I think?]}

Menka and Malai then discussed the party’s travels thus far and Menka asked after more information on the regional worshippers of Osiris, Horus, Ra and Isis. Temples and worshippers of Ra and Isis were easily found in and around Ruatha. No information on Horus (?). Malai suggested Menka speak with Father Sokratis. His specialty was death, embalming, the afterlife and burial and as such, knew a great deal about Osiris and his followers.

Menka asked about the sunken temple to Thoth, informing Malai that the party sought the Temple and planned to travel there as soon as possible. Surprised, Malai could not help Menka locate the temple, but he did provide some detail. Notably, within the Temple stood the Hall of the Gods. He said if and when we ventured through that Hall to be careful as it was treacherous, and we would be seen by other gods. Showing proper veneration in the Hall of the Gods would be a very, very good idea. Menka understood this to mean we would need to bring the materials required for sacrifice and veneration with us, and to sacrifice to each god.

They then discussed the forsaken Vaults of Zar-Thogar, carved into the cliffs of Sirona. Malai warned Menka that adventuring in the vaults would be dangerous, indeed. The long-ago slain wife of Lord Hillgauntlet lay there in eternal undeath. Also wandering the vaults was a fallen she-paladin. Perhaps Valeria Tahira, the legendary Paladin of Osiris? asked Menka. Yes, indeed. ^{[I think?]} Malai pointed Menka to Father Sokratis for more information about the vaults.

Father Sokratis would meet Menka at a later date at the Eel’s Lantern in lower Ruatha. Menka was invited to bring along any or all of his party.

Menka also met with the High Priest, Mulai the Secretkeeper. Unlike Arrot-Amon, who was Menka’s mentor and clearly fond of him, Mulai was haughty, condescending of Menka’s wandering. Mulai was gruff, very old, devoted to study and research and with little tolerance for anything but study and research, or Priests who did anything but study and research. He remembered Menka, asked why he would waste time with roving when study and research was what made Thoth pleased, and wondered what books Menka had brought for the church’s advancement of knowledge. He requested that Menka – if he were to return to the Temple in the Sand – note that one of the priests there had been in possession of, and ensconced in study of, the Parchments of Pnom.

He quickly explained that the Parchments of Pnom was a manuscript written by Artos the Celt, Alba’s leading genealogist and soothsayer. It was written in the “Elder Script” of that land and contained a detailed account of the secrets of Torog, the King That Crawls. These parchments were said to be wrapped in a shroud of red linen which could not be set ablaze. They were last known to be in the depths of the Temple beneath the sand.

Menka departed the Thoth-temple for a short time, met the party at the Grey Mistral Inn and passed on what he had learned. He also mentioned he would be saying formal mass at the Temple of Thoth the next day as part of his ascension to High Priest. Seamus told Menka he would be there. He then returned to the Studious Ibis.

The next day, mass was said by Menka and a new High Priest of Thoth was minted. This cost Menka 1,000 pieces of gold, though he did acquire incense and holy water (6). Menka thanked Seamus for attending and told the monk he would be staying at the Ibis for a few more days, to pray and to study, and also to write scrolls here at the Temple. Seamus said he’d drop back anon and then made his way back to the Mistral.

Feeling that he had wandered somewhat from the top dead center neutrality of his god, Thoth, Menka prayed and cast Atonement upon himself at the Temple, and moved on.

Upper City Ramble#

Everybody except Menka and the dwarves went to the upper city. The cleric because he couldn’t, and the dwarves because upper Ruatha was reportedly filled with giants and giant class creatures working as guards and militia.

The party ascended the road from the lower city to Upper Ruatha (several hundred yards, uphill), which passed a guardpost (the guards examined the party, asked their business, and waved them through).

The plateau upon which the upper city sat was walled, but for its northeast side which was bordered by high cliffs overlooking the Great Source River. There was a suspended bridge from one tower in the keep to a tower on an island in the river. The walls which ringed the plateau and separated the upper town from the lower were crumbling, ancient, but affixed upon cliffs which made the crumbling state of the outer walls largely irrelevant, the fighter-types noticed. The party passed through a gate into the Upper city and noted that within these walls there was a much better-maintained high-walled keep with five towers. This walled inner keep was surrounded by the upper town itself, and the town surrounded the keep, except on the eastern side which was comprised mostly of a market, guildhalls, an inn and what appeared to be a barracks with many archers training outside it.

Directly south of the inner keep the party notes several businesses and other establishments – McPortley’s Dancing Dwarf (a tavern with Ogrish-looking bouncers outside, which the party passed by), The Bloody Knuckles Tavern (seemingly closed at the hour they passed), a magic shop, a dry goods store, The Iron Gauntlet Tavern (where the party stopped for a drink, seemed to be mostly a drinking hole for military types, with manticore heads mounted on the walls), a whorehouse, inns, periodic guard towers, various merchants of various types, private homes a-plenty, a large Temple to the Goddess Nike, and on the western side of the town outside the keep walls, what seemed to be large fenced-in horse stables/yards, various barracks, sheep pens, chicken coops and cattle pens and stalls. By no means did the party look at every shop or tavern or establishment, or even go to every part of the Upper Town, but that was the general sense.

The gate into the walled keep was itself a walled-in courtyard through which various townspeople passed in and out, under the Earl of the Warrens family crest (a wolf, on a blue background of stars) and the entry into the inner walled keep was guarded by a hulking fire giant – 12’ tall, coal-black skin, flaming red hair, deep red eyes, orange teeth, heavily armored – he smiled, unsettlingly, and advised Cathal that none with plate mail might enter the inner keep.

He boogied back to the inn, divested himself of his armor and then returned.

Wandering around the city the party also noted a big gem-trading place, the Emerald Dome (an establishment which buys/sells gem/jewelry).

Kyril bought some fresh berries from the dry goods store. It was nominal in cost but there was some furtiveness involved. The merchant accepted Kyril’s money, even though it was not the local currency, but he did so after looking around and making sure no one was looking.

Kyril went to the keep to find the currency exchange. This was within the inner keep, past the fire giant. The main area held all manner of giants and giant class monsters – hill giants, ogres, half-ogres, half-orcs, all moving about the inner keep with men, elves and dwarves – including a fire giant watching the front gate.

Outside the keep walls, near all the animal pens, they visited a BBQ place (Rumpchunk’s butchery) which sold various meats and also bar-b-qued meats in a stall. Rumpchunk would not take Cathal’s money. You can only spend the earl’s coin here, he said. Cathal had to boogie once again and hit the money exchanger. This was within the keep walls, past the Fire Giant. There, in addition to various giant-types mixed in with more common human and demi-human races, there were more businesses and taverns of every sort, and another inner keep within which was the largest of the keep’s towers – presumably where the Earl dwelled.

Returning, he bought the party lunch and discussed city lore with the grill master. He spoke with a thick drawl-of-the-south. We learned that the woman in the lower city shop, to whom Cathal had been donating, was tight with the leader of the hunters’ guild. They also learned that the Commanch people, descended from the people of Aegyptus, and what is now the Sea of Dust, who are now wild horse barbarians who hunt and roam the plains around Ruatha, and far to its northwest. These horse barbarians are savages, but very fine horsemen and bowmen, and the tribes jealously guard their hunting grounds and are in constant battle with the Ruathan cavalry and cattlemen.

A temple stood in the upper city, in the shape of a sword, and reached higher into the sky than any building there. It was carved of pure marble. The temple was in place long before the city was built. It was a shrine to a god of the people of the Qeb Mountains to the south, a barbarian folk who lived in those mountains between the Achean Plateau and the Sea of Dust. “They call their god Crom,” said Rumpchunk, “and they say he don’t do nothin’ for em. But the Earl lets em keep their temple here, and every once in a while you see a few o them mountain men come in through town and they have a big fire in there an’ cook meat and beat on drums and then leave. There’s just a few old Priests in there, an’ the mountain folk who come through an’ do their business there. They don’t bother us, we don’t bother them, and there’s peace between Ruatha and the Qeb Mountain-folk.”

It should be noted that the folk of the Upper City spoke in a thick “southern” accent, odd to the ears of the northerners, much like the southern drawl in our real world sounded to our northern ears.

Dwarven Beer Run#

When we arrived in Ruatha Flint had inquired of Thoth Azuul’s acolytes as to the location of the Wailing Wyvern tavern and they described its general placement on the docks. Not welcome around the giant class denizens, Flint and Gonchar sauntered over to the docks and visited the place. It was pretty dead, but was open as Flint had hoped. The dwarves bellied up to the bar and a barman took their order of ales. Whilst doing so, in Flint’s own way, he struck up a conversation about Ruatha and then also moved on to discussing an acquaintance (Yara) he had met and who had directed him to this very spot. In thieves cant, the bartender warned me not to say too much, but directed me to “have a dance” with one of the ladies working there. Gonchar sat at the bar and continued to drink, having been acquainted with the thieves’ ways, prior.

The dancer had the stage name Gingelyn but spoke with a Hibernian accent. Flint mentioned his familiarity with Yara and her quest with Gingelyn. She said she was friends with Yara and very much missed her. Flint relayed what he could about her whereabouts, condition, and questing status ^{[See 5.3.]} . He asked Gingelyn about the lore surrounding the underground crypts/vaults. She asked questions about where the party was going, and mentioned that she had befriended a group that went to the Vaults of Zar-Thogar in the Valley of the Tombs, and had a relationship with one of the party members. He (Kovar the Red, a fighter from Nordheim) talked a lot about his plans, and he had heard of a skeletal dragon which guarded a huge treasure there.

The bartender spoke out of the corner of his mouth as well with Flint, half scolding the thief for being brash and inviting Gonchar in here as well, and half out of fear for what Gonchar looked capable of. They decided it would be wise to just keep the fighter well-beveraged. Flint stated he didn’t want any trouble, just to touch base and inform them of Yara. With that he showed them the symbol that Yara had provided and all tension seemed to abate at that point. Flint informed the bartender (Heru the Hawk) what Yara had wished to pass on about his dagger being quite useful in dispatching scoundrels and that she thought of him often. He seemed very happy to hear that.

The last thing Flint asked was about the best place to get good rates for the party’s items. The dancer and bartender said that they had a good connection with a shop in the Upper City, in the Inner Keep, run by a Dwarf they called Thoro the Cheat – he wasn’t one, and would charge less money for moneychanging than others, and give a somewhat decent deal on exchanging gems and jewels for cash. The lower town deals in bartering, and haggling is required to not lose our collective shirts. For the upper town, the price is the price, but you lose funds from the conversion rate up there.

With that, Gonchar and Flint departed the Inn and left the docks behind.

Father Sokratis Sheds Some Light#

The rest of the party spent the days waltzing around Ruatha and the surrounding area. The Comanch people roamed the plains just outside the city. Their leader may or may not have been the son of the Earl’s sister, who was taken by the Comanch in her youth.

Kyril created 18 goodberries.

In the center of town was a large open space used as a bazaar by various merchants of all sorts. Much of what was being sold was food – kababs, falafels, stews, spiced meats, etc. Of note was Orion Al-Saad’s “ORION’S FINE MEATS”, where she (for Orion was a she, a middle-aged woman who looked lean, muscular and quite beautiful for her age. She wore her greying black hair tied back, wore a loose dress that did not hide her beauty, and was very friendly and businesslike.) The stall sold not only full carcasses or birds for buyers to take home and butcher or cook (or other merchants or food-sellers to buy and prepare) – most of these were gone by early morning – or she prepared kababs, and other spiced or BBQed meats of various sorts – venison, beef, buffalo, chicken, antelope, crocodile, quail and other things. They were generally priced at around 1 sp a bowl, breads were included, and as Cathal, who purchased some, discovered, they were divine.

Orion also accepted donations for same in a labeled jug near a table where she conducted business, which read “alms for the poor” in both northern and southern common – Cathal donated to this and also got some cured meats from Orion’s Fine Meats because, well, why the fuck not? It would prove useful, later on.

The Qeb Mountain folk, a mountain barbarian people who lived chiefly in the Qeb Mountains far south of Ruatha, maintained and regularly visited a temple in the upper city. This building was made of pure marble, and shaped like a sword which jutted high into the sky. As long as the folk of the Qeb Mountains could visit this temple in the upper city unmolested and worship their god, who they called Crom, there had been peace between Ruatha and the mountain-folk.

The party, joined by Menka, made their way to the Eel’s Lantern at the appointed time. We introduced ourselves in that excellent establishment and were led downstairs into a low-beamed, cooler room. An eerie, sea-green glow lit the room. A large woman in her 40s, Caitrin, a northerner who spoke with the accent of the Kingdom of many Isles, was the proprietor and stood behind the bar and provided drinks. Pints were ordered around, and then again. The woman asked the Hibernians to kindly not get drunk and start a fight. Seamus, already hammered, chuckled. Cathal promised not to pick any fights. Caitrin seemed less-than-fully convinced.

Father Sokratis arrived and, ordering a drink, introduced himself first to Menka, then to the party. He was in fact not a Stygian and could easily wander in and out of Upper Ruatha. He was an outlander, pale skin, tall and thin, balding with only wisps of hair – positively cadaverous. He was a cleric of Thoth, devoted to his study, and seemed oddly fascinated about death, undeath and things of that sort – but as Menka knew, all of his cult specialized in certain kinds of knowledge, and this was his. He knew of the Burial Vaults in the Valley of Tombs – travel east from Ruatha along the river, and when the road splits at the abandoned Inn of Sepulta, head south, away from the river. The ride from there was about a half-day, it was said. Most of the tombs were empty, the graves all moved, but overlooking the valley, on the south side, was the barrow-hill, and it was said the opening was plain to see, overlooking the valley of the tombs.

When asked, he explained:

However, not every resting place was touched. Some burial grounds -- including the Vaults overlooking the valley -- were used to house the truly evil, despicable criminals that deserved no veneration by the living, or people that were best left forgotten, at least in the eyes of the living. These were left untouched and, as the dead often are, eventually forgotten.

At least by the law abiding. Tomb robbers, it is said, first opened the vaults two hundred years ago. Some of the graves were opened and looted, while some robbers perished. Some years back, a necromancer, from the Cult of Xirarix, is said to have visited the vaults. His stay was relatively brief, thanks to a necromantic experiment gone awry, the nature of which is not known to me, but it is said he sought to create an undead creature of great size. He was only partially successful, and left the vaults, never to return.

But his experiments caused other things to come back from death, and it is said that a fallen hero of Osiris was affected by these dark experiments. It was whispered that the Church of Osiris sent priests and knights of that church there, armed with a mighty weapon, to correct what had been turned to darkness, and they never returned.

-- Sokratis, cleric of Thoth

The party inquired about the Temple in the Sands. He said a small village lay directly south, though it was far. Mitra’s Fist. Ra had abandoned it. He was unsure of the actual location of the Temple of Ande’ril, though he wished us luck in finding it and setting things back on course.

Sokratis mentioned that Orion A’l’saad, the owner of Orion’s Fine Meats, by the nature of her business, was tight with the rangers in the Hunter’s Guild of lower Ruatha. She was very close with their leader, and also gave most of her earnings directly to the poor. We might want to butter her up a bit to get access to the Hunter’s Guild. Rangers from this guild might be able to lead us across the trackless wastes of the Mountains of Qeb.

Moving on to our good friend Set, the Achaean cleric told us about one Sajaro Snake Fang, a legendary fighter of Set, rumored to be in the area. He suggested we NOT use his name directly in any sentence in the lower city at any time. Also, it was rumored that the Minions of Set might be able to hide from spells like Detect Evil ^{[Because of fucking course they can.]} .

This ended day 30, and the party retired to the Mistral Inn, with Menka joining them at the Inn from here forward. We set up the usual watches. Lycovyne and Frey saw giant snakes on their watch, out the window, seemingly near the window to our room. At dawn, searching around outside the Inn, Frey found tracks which appeared to be that of large serpents – that suddenly seemed to transform to 3 sets of humanoid tracks. Otherwise, the watches completed without incident.

Ruatha: South East#

In the morning we gathered our gear and left the Inn in search of horses. We were pointed toward the Maaroufa stable and smithy. Menka dropped in the Temple to pay his respects on the way through town. We engaged with the very colorful horse trader at Maaroufa’s and acquired horses, harness, tack and feed for 96 pieces of gold.

We saddled up and marched out of town, heading southeast along the river ^{[Add map reference.]} . As we left town we passed through masses of fishermen and their boats, who looked at us in curiosity. Continuing on, we left civilization behind, riding through groves of olive and cypress trees.

3 miles on, travelers approached us on horseback, with oxen pulling a cart. They passed us by, and we continued on. We found an inn, the Storm Petrel Inn by its sign. We did not stop to visit this inn.

Continuing southeast along the river, the horses became skittish and jumpy, and out of nowhere we saw four large snakes in the road. The palm and cypress trees lining the road were thick and visibility was limited. We all dismounted as 2 more approached us from behind. These 6 were Minions of Set, clad in black plate and wielding broadswords. Assholes.

• initiative loss
• they missed Kyril
• Gonchar got hit for 2 points but saved
• Cathal slashed a giant snake twice, killing it – it turned into a human with an arm missing as it hit the ground
• Gonchar killed a giant snake as well
• Kyril hit (a Minion?) for 5 points
• Flint hit the same (Minion?) twice for 13 points
• initiative win
• the entire fucking party missed
• the enemies missed
• initiative loss
• Flint got hit for 3 points (Minions, no saving)
• Kyril got hit for 6 points
• Frey drilled a Minion with arrows for 22 pts, attacking 3x per round
• Flint missed, chipping a nail
• Seamus popped a Minion for 9 points
• Lycovyne missed
• Gonchar nailed one twice for 33 points, braining it
• Menka and Kyril missed
• Cathal missed twice
• initiative win
• Flint missed
• Kyril hit a Minion for 10 points, killing it
• Seamus missed
• Lycovyne hit for 5 points, then got hit back for 2
• Seamus got hit for 8 points
• Gonchar missed
• initiative loss
• Seamus got hit for 4 more points
• Lycovyne got hit for 6
• Flint rolled a natural 20 attacking with a broken candle, doing 8 points
• Menka hit a Minion for 10 points
• Lycovyne sliced his opponent’s head off
• Seamus missed
• initiative tie
• Seamus killed the last remaining Minion
• 6 Minions of Set. 25 hp

Seamus “calmed” the horses. We applied some battlefield medicine.

We mounted up and continued southeast, now riding uphill. At the top of a rise we saw what appeared to be an inn and a temple, with an attached graveyard. 24 huts surrounded the area and shrines to Nephytus, Osiris and Anubis were available in and around the Temple.

Small buildings for the priests surrounded the temple. A man in white robes which Menka described as the robes of Osiris was outside his hut, and Menka spoke with him. His name was Father Yuyu. Another acolyte, a woman and a follower of Nephytus, joined the conversation. Kyril made a 100 gp donation to both shrines and Yuyu thanked him and healed the druid back up to full. The priestess applied some healing to Flint as well. Presently the entire party found themselves back at full health.

Father Yuyu spoke to us about the Valley of Tombs. He repeated much of what Sokratis had said:

But his experiments caused other things to come back from death, and we have become aware that a fallen hero of Osiris was affected by these dark experiments. Sadly, we -- the Church of Osiris -- sent a priest and knights of our church there, armed with a mighty weapon, to correct what had been turned to darkness, and they never returned. My Predecessor, Prelate Ikhernofret, sent these heroes to save the soul of Valeria, a Paladin of Osiris who had given in to her darker impulses and slew her unfaithful husband, and then killed herself. Prelate Ikhernofret became aware that dread necromantic rituals in these burial vaults had animated her into a thing of evil, and sent agents of our church with a Rod that would bring her back to life, and save her from an accursed undeath. They were also sent with a mighty magical weapon of the church, a hammer said to be imbued with mighty magical powers against Set. It was Prelate Ikhernofret's theory that the evil in the place was caused by Set, Lord of Evil, Lord of Carrion, Defiler of the Dead, King of Malice, Father of Jackals, Brother of Serpents, Outcast of the Gods, God of Darkness and God of Desert Storms. Thus, the weapon would be of great use to our priest and knights. Sadly, they never returned. The guilt, I believe, caused Prelate Ikhernofret's heart to break, and he fell ill and passed to our Lord Osiris' care. I came here to continue his work at this place, with my fellow priests.

-- Father Yuyu, priest of Osiris

He also told us that a Northern servant of Set lay within the Vaults, undead and buried behind concealed doors at the farthest end of the dungeon, with no identifying plate or stone.

The acolyte then suggested we leave our mounts behind. It was a half day’s march on foot to the cliffs of Sirona. We dismounted and found accommodation for the horses at the small Inn, the Weary Traveler Inn & Tavern. A nearby stables, held by one Janas Featherwind, an elf, stabled our horses for 4 days for 5 cp per mount per day.

As we left on foot a lady paladin, riding upstream (nw) stopped by the Temple and asked directions. The acolytes pointed her toward Ruatha.

Gonchar bought a drink at the bar. For a platinum piece? Wot?