Beyond the Cerulean Curtain

Far, 6th Lharvion 998 Y.K.

The Crimson Fists pass through the curtain then pause briefly at the turn to the town of Barnabus, the dwelling place of the mongrel folk, but decide not to bother them and press on. After two miles Irgzid tells them that the next turning leads to a cavern where it is said a god rests. The group are unable to resist the temptation to see what a god looks like and head down the tunnel.

Cavern of the Sleeping God

On the far side of this cavern, a shimmering blue wall extends all the way to the sixty-foot high ceiling. Across its surface, ghostly tribal warriors shimmer and flicker. Just beyond it, the occasional bubble or flash of scales reveals the presence of thousands of gallons of water, their awesome weight held at bay by the shell of energy. On the floor in the centre of the cave is a strange looking mound of stone shaped like an enormous fish. 

A close examination of this shows the stone to in fact be some form of organic shell. Kapek identifies this as an Aboleth in some form of hibernation. Lorric pokes the hibernating Aboleth and tries to persuade the rest of the group to kill it. However his arguments fail to convince and they move on (though with Lorric still trying to persuade them).

*Ajax comments
During this argument the small fact that during lean times in the Fallen Ajax had eaten some of a member of a rival gang he had slain comes up. To his astomishment this seems to bother Lorric, although Kapek seems much more reasonable about it, to the extent that he keeps bringing it up during the argument although Ajax really can't see its connection to the matter they're discussing.


*Kapek comments
Kapek is not much more reasonable about it, cannibalism is an abominable crime. Sometimes Reaver tucks into a fallen foe, that's not quite the same.

As they get closer to the spot where Irgzid tells them they will meet with the ghost of the priest he becomes more and more excited. Suspicious the Crimson Fist question him and become convinced he is holding something back. Despite intense questioning Irgzid maintains he is telling them everything. Unconvinced the group decide to send Lorric ahead to scout the meeting place. Lorric stealthily approaches the room and examines it, he thinks he can see a strange shadow in the water but cannot make out any clear threat so his comrades join him.

Temple of the Ancient Ones

The tunnel walls here change suddenly from rough natural stone to an intricately carved corridor bearing glyphs and mosaics of tribal design, just before they open into an immense flooded chamber. The walls of the square chamber rise up in steps, forming an inverted ziggurat with its ceiling some forty feet above the dark waters that flood the room to just below the entrance. The floor is a ruin of smashed pillars and small islands constructed in roughly the same pyramidal fashion. In the centre, a line of destroyed columns and altars protrudes a few feet above the surface, creating a makeshift bridge that dips briefly into he water before reaching the passage on the far side.

As soon as they reach the entrance to the temple the ghost of the troglodyte priest appears. The Crimson Fist converse with him at length, he asks them to destroy the artifact, called the 'Tear of Tlaloc', that maintains the Cerulean Veil (the Crimson Fist realise this is also the artifact the demoness Pale Night wished them to destroy). This will free his people from the Lords of Dread who have corrupted the worship of the troglodyte god, Laogzed. Lorric inquires of Sparky if he knows what kind of god Laogzed is. When informed that one of Laogzed's portfolio's is Evil Lorric immediately attacks the ghost. However despite his Ghost Touch weapon Lorric's attack passes harmlessly through the ghost.

Sparky yells that it could be an illusion and Lorric immediately tries to disbelieve in the truth of the image before him and indeed to Lorrics eyes the ghost suddenly becomes less real. Mirra casts 'Detect Magic' and confirms the ghost is in fact a magical illusion, she also realises there is another source of magic in the water. She immediately casts 'Glitter Dust' at the hidden aura in the water and the figure of a aquatic humanoid is briefly illuminated by the spell before it dives into the murky depths of the water and out of sight.

The image of the ghost admits to its deception but claims that he was afraid if he appeared in person he might be attacked, he also maintains that Irgzid was unaware of the deception truly believing he was dealing with a ghost. The illusion claims that if the Crimson Fist want to permanently drive off the Lords of Dread and end the trade in Shadow Pearls they need to destroy the Tear and free the Aboleths who would remain to prevent the Lords of Dread returning.

This sparks a heated debate, Lorric argues they shouldn't destroy the Tear as they cannot do what a Demon has asked. Ajax argues they should, saying it is the only way to stop the trade in Shadow Pearls resuming after they have left. Eventually Kapek is asked to decide the matter, unsure he sides with Lorric as recently so many of Lorrics requests have been rejected.

They march on for a few more miles before stopping and camping for the night.

Sar, 7th Lharvion 998 Y.K. In the morning Sparky casts 'Commune' to ask advice from the Storm on their problems. His questions are:

1. Was Pale Night being honest when she said if released Holashner will attack Thoon? - Yes
2. Is releasing Holashner good for the world? - Good for existence
3. Did Pale Night tell the truth when she said she was trying to prevent the destruction of existence? - Yes
4. Will releasing Holashner prevent the production of more Shadow Pearls? - Unclear
5. Is Clian, Ajax's lover, still alive? - Yes
6. Is the Librarian following us? - A Librarian is following you
7. Is the Librarian evil? - His purpose is unclear
8. Did the Blood of Vol kidnap Ajax, Kapek and Lorric? - No

Ajax claims that these answers support his opinion but Lorric merely says he will see what happens when they meet the Lords of Dread. Debating the group move on through the tunnels.

Hall of Insects

The passageway opens into a roughly circular cavern. A ten foot wide ledge runs across the northern and southern face of the room, with a passage leading away from each. Graceful arcs of stone bridge the two ledges in three places although the westernmost bridge has collapsed in the centre leaving a five foot wide gap. Above the ceiling rises up to a height of nearly forty feet, while blow the ground drops away an equal distance into a rubble strewn gulf. What appear to be six immense petrified fish lie on the floor of the crevice. The sound of whispering wells up from below, and the ground looks almost like it's moving.

Sparky casts 'Ebon Eyes' on himself and looks down into the crevice where he see's the floor is crawling with a vile carpet of scorpions, spiders and other vermin. Simultaneously all the group notice the horse sized insects clinging to the walls and eyeing them hungrily.

Lorric immediately charges the nearest creature inflicting severe damage but in response it grapples him as does a second creature. Another of the insects charges Ajax but the reach afforded him by his Shifted form enables him to shred it before it can even try to land a blow. A fourth charges Kapek but retreats when Reaver slashes it with his vicious clawed feet but it is soon replaced by yet another.

Oz opens fire with his bow and Mirra chants heroic tales to stir the blood of the Crimson Fist. Sparky rushes forward and casts 'Freedom of Movement' on Lorric, enabling him to effortlessly slip free of the insects which had seized him and slay one of them.

Kapek and Ajax (and Reaver) slay the creature attacking Kapek. Mirra casts 'Haste' as Kapek is grappled by another creature but again he and Ajax (and Reaver) slay it.

Ajax is grappled by two of the creatures but at devastating speed, Sparky slays one with a lightning charged spear, Lorric slays the other and the very last falls to Kapeks force boomerangs.

After catching their breath and healing up, the Crimson Fist moves on. They travel for six more miles before reaching a huge cavern.

Golismorga

The Tunnel opens into a massive three hundred foot high cavern nearly two thousand feet across and over three thousand feet wide, surrounded by numerous adjoining caves.

Within this immense cavern broods a realm of gigantic polyps and intricate fungi so large and elaborate they seem to compliment the twisted towers and temples, the myriad constructions of an insane city.

Ruined citadels of cyclopean grandeur tangle amid spires that look to have been grown rather than built - homes for beings with unspeakable forms. Senseless bridges reach to suicide heights, dropping away into squamous slums and melted ghettoes. Seemingly accidental avenues and inaccessible alleys form an unfathomable maze, a labyrinth that stretches to the subterranean horizon. Across it all bulge images of gnarled tentacled things and red domes that glisten like unblinking, demonic eyes. The already stale air has grown foul and close in this place, as if the smell of rot was somehow trying to crowd out the final gasp of freshness reaching these forsaken depths. Bursting from the demented cityscape, three titanic columns of unearthly violet flame churn silently like the pillars of some gigantic temple, bathing the entire cavern in a nauseating violet light - a light that seems somehow more horrible than the darkness that lurks at the edges of this nightmare grotto.

A rope is quickly knotted and affixed in several places to the wall. Irgzid refuses to go farther and Reaver cannot climb down. So Kapek is forced to leave his beloved mount behind, telling it a fond farewell and instructing it not to eat Irgzid. Minus those two the group climb down to the cavern floor. Upon reaching the floor the Crimson Fist start to pick their way through the strange organic houses towards the centre of the cavern. Even after all they have experienced the cavern disturbs the group and all are on edge, luckily for them as this means when one of the houses collapses they are fast to react. Most get out from under the collapsing structure, merely being pelted by fragments as it hits the ground but Sparky, slowed by his plate mail, is buried under the loathsome stuff and has to be quickly dug out before he suffocates on it. Warier than ever the Crimson Fist wonder what other dangers this place has. The abnormal environment trigger memories previously hidden in the minds of Ajax, Lorric and Kapek. Memories of themselves being experimented on in some strange laboratory. As they discuss the memories they come to the conclusion that they are of the time just after they were kidnapped and they seem to point to House Cannith, not the Blood of Vol, being behind the kidnapping.

Ajax's Memory Searing pain and the smell of burning flesh pull you from the darkness of oblivion. You find yourself bound face down to some sort of workbench, your first instinct is to shift and struggle free, but for some reason you find both impossible. The pain in your lower back is accompanied by the heady scent of blood, as you struggle to turn and see what the cause is; you open your eyes as if for the first time. Dazzled and briefly blinded by the bright white light that surrounds you, you involuntarily wince as your eyes adjust. A voice speaks with calm urgency, “He is regaining consciousness. Apply more serum,” comes a reply, “we have to finish this quickly. We have another fourteen candidates to tag before Merrix returns.” A cold fluid runs through a tube embedded in your neck and as darkness returns you get to glance around the room. Lined along the walls are several cylindrical glass tanks, floating in each amidst a tangle of tubes and wires, are figures that occasionally twitch or spasm, each in some kind of dormant state. One figure that imprints itself into your sleeping mind is the emaciated, alien figure of a creature that you have since come to recognise as an 'Ethergaunt'. The last thing you see before the darkness returns is the white-masked face of a human lifting your eye-lid and watching as your pupils once more dilate, and then dark silence.

Picking their way through the organic buildings they come to a tunnel in a wall of coral, it appears to be the only way forward. Carefully they head into the weird structure. They come to paths leading over a shallow pool to a strange, disturbingly organic crevice in the far wall. Suddenly the exits out of the room are sealed by walls of ice and a spiked tongue emerges from the crevice in the far wall! As if that wasn't bad enough tendrils of what appears to be water burst from the pools and attack the party. Mirra is grabbed and pulled down by the watery tentacles as is Oz, helpless they are wrapped in them and start to drown. Sparky to is attacked but his mastery of Travel magic means the tentacles cannot seize him although they have no trouble pounding him bloody. The tongue also strikes Sparky, its spikes drawing blood. Desperately Sparky quaffs a Healing potion before he falls to this weird attack. Lorric activates his Sandals of the Light Step, giving himself, Mirra and Oz 'Water Walking'. Although both Oz and Mirra are propelled by this magic to the surface of the pool they are still wrapped in the tentacles and drowning. Lorric then jumps onto the water and attacks the tentacles holding Oz. Ajax likewise uses his Sandals to provide 'Water Walking' for himself, Kapek and Mirra and then attacks the tentacles holding Mirra. As Mirra and Oz run short of air, Sparky aims his Staff of Frost at one of the pools and unleashes a 'Cone of Cold' at the tentacles. Mirra is seized by the tongue and dragged to the crevice in the wall (which has now sprouted teeth). It tries to simultaneously swallow her and chew her to pieces. Ajax pursues her and lays viciously into the maw holding her. As Lorric destroys the tentacles holding Oz a mass of tentacles hauls itself out of the pool and Mirra is swallowed whole by the maw. Lorric hurls himself at the mass of tentacles as more of them lash Oz and Sparky. Oz pours arrows into Lorric's opponent and it slumps back into the water, riddled with his arrows. The remaining tentacles lash Sparky and he slumps to the floor a bloody pulp. Lorric charges them and slays them as Ajax and Kapek finally finish the maw and in death it slumps open revealing a still living Mirra, who claims that there are rooms beyond the maw. The group rush to Sparky but it is too late, their cleric has passed on into the embrace of the Storm. There is a moments silence then his battered form is laid out and his eyes closed by his sorrowful comrades. The Crimson Fist discover that beyond the maw lie a series of rooms. Writings on the walls of them speak of the worship of the aboleth's deities.

• BOLOTHAMOG (Him who Watches from Beyond the Stars)
• HOLASHNER (The Hunger Below)
• PISCAETHCES ( The Blood Queen)
• SHOTHOTUGG (The Eater of Worlds)
• Y'CHAK (The Violet Flame)

Together these beings are know as the Elder Evils. The Crimson Fist also find a cache of magic items and treasure. Having fully explored this section of the structure the group hack their way through the Ice Wall and move on to explore the rest. They move down the fleshy tunnels of the structure, turning a corner they discover a strange creature blocking the tunnel some forty feet away. The creature, who calls itself Rakis-Ka, doesn't seem hostile and he talks to the group. He claims to be here to gain knowledge and offers to take the group to the statue which holds the Tear. He also tells them of the Brain Collector that dwells there. A creature which the combined knowledge of the group tells them is capable of destroying entire regions when mature. This is not news that fills the group with joy. Rakis-Ka takes them to a huge crater with a floor covered with a layer of foul ichor and water. In the middle of the crater is the statue, the head of a lizard. But there is no sign of the Brain Collector. No-one is sure what to do, Lorric still hasn't decided if he is prepared to destroy the Tear and none are confident of there chances of taking on a Brain Collector, especially now Sparky is no longer there to support them.

A wide crater in the shattered cavern floor has become an abscess for all the pungent fluids that seep and bleed from the alien city. Rent as if by some great impact the cracked depression blossoms with sickly moulds and tumid blue and white mushrooms several heads taller than a full grown man. Languid veins of mucus trickle down the sides of the crater to pool at the basins floor, where lies a ten-foot wide stone head of a reptilian creature with bulging eyes, a forked-tongue, and a head-dress of feathers and spikes. The stone head is cracked and damaged, and as the black sludge pools around the stump of its neck it sizzles and evaporates into swirling blue-green wisps of vapour. Mirra volunteers to explore a little, she ties a rope around herself and hands it to her comrades then she descends a little way into the crater intending to cast 'Detect Magic' but after only a few feet she collapses and her comrades haul her swiftly out of the crater.

When Mirra is pulled out and brought round she explains that she had cast her spell but the magic of the statue was so great it had overwhelmed her. She believes the magic is so powerful the statue can only be an artefact.

As the group debate Lorric spots two bizarre creatures, that can only be Brain Collectors, and throws a flask of Alchemists Fire at one. (Which comes as a bit of a surprise to everyone else who hadn't noticed them). Now aware of them Ajax and Kapek realize neither of these two could have made the tracks they saw. There must a bigger, third one.

Mirra casts 'Haste' and Kapek unleashes a storm of Force Boomerangs at one of the creatures. Suddenly a 'Cone of Cold' blasts the group, coming from a completely empty spot in mid-air. Oz puts an arrow into the wounded Brain Collector and it slumps to the ground, dead. In response the other, visible, creature flies 45 feet up and out over the crater before casting 'Mirror Image' on itself.

Kapek uses an old Talenta hunting trick and looks for the subtle distortion in the air that shows where the invisible Brain Collector is. Having located it, he hurls Boomerangs into the space and is rewarded as they strike home and blood drips from out of empty air. In response a wave of mental energy strikes at the Crimson Fist but all but Oz resist its effects. Oz however is left confused by the attack and opens fire on Lorric by mistake, but either misses or has his arrows deflected by Lorric.

The visible creature and its images shot rays at Lorric but miss him.

Kapek hurls a flask of Alchemist Fire at the visible Brain Collector destroying its images and wounding it. The creature, sorely wounded, retreats rapidly.

Kapek throws off a strange feeling of paralysis in his limbs but then is flung viciously by some unknown force straight into Ajax. Undeterred he springs to his feet and with a flurry of Force Boomerangs finishes off the retreating Brain Collector.

Brain collector

Lorric's keen hearing picks up a whisper of movement where he can see nothing and he launches a Fireball (from his Necklace of Fireballs) at the sound. The invisible Brain Collector is illuminated in the heart of the Fireball and instantly Mirra casts 'Glitter Dust' on the area.

Oz, still confused, attempts to shoot Lorric again and in exasperation Lorric punches him out, stunning him.

Kapek pounds the remaining creature with Force Boomerangs and it swoops down on him, ripping him up badly. With a savage cry Ajax, who has been frustrated by his inability to reach or see his opponents all battle, pounces on the creature. His frustration is expended in a fierce series of blows that rips the Brain Collector to shreds.

*Ajax comments

Ajax is far from happy about his performance in the battle. He couldn't see the invisible creatures and couldn't reach the flying ones. All in all he was useless until one was foolish enough to fly low enough for him to reach. The reason for this failure are obvious to him, he had grown too used to having Anvil around who, with his artificer ways, could always whip up a spell to cover any eventuality. Well Anvil is walking his own journey now and Ajax must be better prepared in the future. In Stormreach he will buy an item that will enable him to fly and he will ask Kapek to teach him the Talenta hunting technique to deal with invisible foes. He has been complacent but no more. Next time he will be ready.

The group debate how to get Mirra through the vile smelling liquid at the bottom of the crater and to the statue. Ajax offers to carry her and she accepts and so together they head over to the statue.

After carefully examining the statue Mirra comes to the conclusion that sheer physical force will be enough to destroy the artifiact. Lorric declares that although he will not destroy the artifact he won't stop others doing it, so the group pulls back to the lip of the crater and Kapek pounds the statue with Force Boomerangs until it cracks apart. Then as the sound of uncountable tonnes of water rushing in fill their ears, they run like hell!

Pausing only to grab Sparky's remains they climb out of the foul city. They meet up with Irgzid and Reaver who are where they left them and continue their rapid retreat. (Although as they pass through the sunken temple they notice the shape of an Aboleth swimming in the waters, and their heads are briefly filled with an insane voice that laughs as the group leave the area). Within a few hours they reach the surface, panting for air and legs burning with exertion, there they bid a friendly goodbye to Irgzid and set sail.

"The Lightless Depths",

Dungeon Magazine 144. Written by F. Wesley Schneider and James Lafond Sutter