Session 30

## Members

* Alli
* Raekor, the barbarian previously known as Bacon
* Eriden
* Euphemia Waterspot
* Lloyd Dragonsbane

## Plot Hooks

We end the session four hours from midnight, and the end of the 'Age of Disease'.  What will the dawn of Destruction bring?

## The Adventure

   We find ourselves in the city of Dus Hara. You are on a quest from the King in Yellow. To deliver the items you find on the alters of the seven gods of Dus.

Euphemia has guided you to the temple of Henderbeard located on the Sorcerer's Rise. There are wizards of the white, red and, somewhat surprisingly, black robes walking through the open aired arcade before you. Your nose picks up the pungent scent of incense and alchemy.

The sky is cloudy and it is about 5 o'clock in the evening. Heddur Berylmaker, Head cleric of Henderbeard, noticed Euphemia's staff, and requests that it be turned over to the church. That doesn't happen though. While he is off checking something, an Elven wizard, Lorac Caladon (The Promethian), helps Euphemia with the dragon cups and the ceremony to donate them to Henderbeard.

No one is more surprised than Berylmaker when the sacrifice actually brings the god of magic to the Prime material Plane. Henderbeard is pleased and the entire party received his blessing.

Raekor couldn't seem to stop his curiosity, and leaned over to test out one of the strange light posts in Sorcerer's Rise.  This was not such a good idea and he slightly electrocuted himself.  Wanting to make sure that the light post was magical, he did it again.  This time, burning his tongue.

   As evening approached, the party headed to an inn for food and a place to sleep for the night.  They chose the Rose Tattoo, a small tavern located in the Dwarven Quarter.  Paying for three days in advance, the proprieter served them a pint of the finest Dwarven ale in the city.  There was an interesting mix of patrons.  From half-orcs to black robed wizards to a Dragonborn bard singing away on the stage.

Aside from the interesting array of customers, the rest of the night was uneventful.  Raekor seems to have made a new best friend in a strange Dwarven Cleric named Murphy.  They drank all night.

After an uneventful night, the party decided to head for Natur's Rise.  Eriden had some business there.  He talked to the head druid and had a discussion about his summoned wolves.  They played with him at first, seeming to complain of being summoned and killed all the time.  They had Eriden going, until they gave in and told him that that is the reason they came to this plane.

Noving through the market, Raekor decided to purchase some drugs.  He used his last 20 gold pieces to purchase something, but Eriden noticed that it was Haggar, a cheap ineffective high.  The dealer quickly handed over four doses of a strange dark flakey stubtance.  Nobody knows what it does though.

As evening fell, they headed to Darkness Rise.  They found many secret passages, hidden caves, and stairways.  Easily making their way to the top unnoticed.  They headed to the temple of Bheleu, and found it boarded up.  The entire structure was built from iron.  At one time, it must have been an impressive sight, but now the dome was rusted and crumbling.

The rear entrances were easy to locate, and everyone headed in to investigate.  Not finding an alter, Euphemia grabbed some old coals from a central fire pit.  The temple had clearly been abandoned for years.

Moving on, the party headed toward the temple of Aghad.  Trying to stealth in, Eriden was surprised when the gate opened before him and he heard a low voice from the right, "You come to steal scum ... "

"Oh, witling, put down your silly knife. We serve Aghad here, and Aghad alone, not Tema nor Regvos, nor Sai, P'hul, or Bheleu. Aghad is hate, thief, hate, envy, and every emotion that turns fellow against fellow. We who serve Aghad have no reason to aid or sympathize with our brother priests of the other temples. Sack all Dus Hara if you will, burn the city to the ground! We will not stop you."

In the front garden, there was a fountain.  A corpse laying in front of it.  Moving further in, the dark voice demanded a 'proper sacrifice' to his god in exchange for what was on the alter:

"Ordinarily a supplicant must betray a friend, deceive a lover, or in some other way spread dissent; but in view of your foreign origin, filth, something else is in order. A service to our god: Slay us six priests or more, one from each of the other temples. You slew the one at the door of Tema's temple, and a priest and priestess both of Regvos, though a third you let live. You have made a good beginning. Now, you must slay four more, from each of the four remaining temples, or the devotees of Aghad will make certain you do not leave the city alive."
Inside the temple, the party pulled together the bloody gold coins they found on the alter.  On their way out, Raekor decided to leave a present, and took a shit in the fountain.  He realized that it was probably a mistake when splashback burned his ass.  The water was probably poisoned (especially since there was a dead guy right there ... )

At the front gate, the body of an old, old man, withered and emaciated, was nailed to the gates, the feet on one valve, the outstretched arms on the other; horrified, the party saw that the narrow chest was still rising and falling, slowly and irregularly. The man's face was twisted in agony, his eyes tightly shut. Alli shivered in revulsion as she saw that strips of the man's skin had been cut loose from his flanks and nailed to the gates as well.

Eriden put the man out of his misery, cursing the priest of Aghad all the while.  Following the crowd they found on Darkness Rise, the party went to the Temple of Sai to check out what was going on there.  They noticed a wicked dagger and whip on the alter.  A follower of Sai introduced her god, the god of pain and suffering, and the party saw a man getting whipped for his sins.  The cult was clearly run by sadists, but with that many bystanders, the party decided to bind their time, leaving after the ceremony ended, and heading for the Temple of P'hul.

"Greetings, stranger." A soft voice whispers from somewhere to your right; the usual guttural Dus Hara accent, modified by a curious lisp. You turn to see that a gray-robed figure entering the front foyer.

The woman's lower lip was a twisted mass of oozing, festering flesh, and much of her face and neck is swollen and shapeless; one of her hands lacked a finger. Someone recognized the human disease of leprosy and shuddered slightly.

The priestess smiled, the friendly expression is made hideous by her affliction. "Of course. It is customary that the servants of P'hul bear her handiwork upon their flesh, but I suppose it might well startle those not accustomed to such sights. Why have you come? What brings a healthy group of adventurers to the temple of decay?" You notice that she is aware of her lisp, and struggles particularly hard to be sure she pronounced the name of her goddess correctly, and feel a twinge of pity.

The follower offered Euphemia everything that was on the alter, which was just a thick accumulation of dust. As the party was leaving, a blue eyed old man noticed Eriden, and said in a voice that did not shake, a voice that was far stronger than the man's withered form seems capable of holding, he announced, "Greetings, Koros."

Surprised, Eriden denied being this 'Koros'. The priest replied, "As you please. Whatever you are, you are beloved of our goddess; if you are not her nephew, you are his representative. The Age of Bheleu begins tonight, you know; you have come just in time. To receive P'hul's service. Her power wanes as her age ends, yet she owes her elder brother fealty; before she withdraws from our mortal realm she will do her duty and serve you, to aid the cause of the Lord of Destruction. “

We end the session with the knowledge that the Age of Destruction begins in four hours.

XP
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Current level: 13