The Vault of Azrael CH 1: Into Darkness

[DoctorGlock]

You have long since lost track of the passage of time.

Delving deep into the subterranean caverns beneath the earth, beneath caverns older than man there are no stars by which to navigate. Your lone guide is an unusual talisman, a snake's skull wrapped in a lock of raven hair.

It is my daughter's, and shall guide you to her, Sulieman had said. In your hands it has hung and swayed at crossroads and cleaving paths in dungeons deep.

You will find a river, follow it until you can go no further.

In the darkness, you heard a rushing, and found a cool stream, icy as the lethe. As you follow, it widens, and the light of of magic and lanterns falls upon ancient moldering relics, and the hollow eyes of misshapen skulls. The walls are scribed with ochre, with patterns of reaching and grasping hands. There, afore you lies a shadowed archway of bones lashed together with fading tattered cords through which the icy waters run. Beneath your feet you can feel the rasp of bone scrape on smooth river rocks.

Atop the arch a grinning skull turns to face you, and the underground breeze whispers through its teeth, and sets the bones to rattling.

...Turn back... it whispers. An antlered skull from the riverbed gurgles its agreement. The way is not for the living... and all about you the bones call out in chorus.

We see you... He sees you... No return... But one way does the gate the gate swing... Fool! Why do you do this!

But the talisman weighs heavy in your hands, swinging against its thong, swinging towards the open gate. You steel yourself... and step into the darkness.

***

Never have you felt so cold. The Lethe cuts to the bone, yet feels dry on the skin. You sputter, raising your head above the waters and into the stinging howling wind, lashed by dust and ash. You haul yourselves onto the jagged broken stones of the riverbank. The skies above are ashen grey, streaked with red. The sun is a dim and blistering crimson, an unblinking eye that seems to scour the earth below.

'You really should have listened the doorman,' says a voice from above. Perched in a crevice of broken red stone is a skeleton. Half a skeleton, you note, mummified flesh clinging to it until it ends just below the ribcage. 'Get an eyeful,' the corpse gripes, wiggling its spine at you. 'He'll chew you soon enough.'

[paradox26]

Bendak rose from his swim in the river of death with a sense of discomfort. Death was, after all, meant to provide the final peace, yet he knew this underworld to be a realm of not peace but horror, from what he had learned. He shook himself briskly, getting rid of as much water as he easily could. He found himself a little surprised that he had suffered no ill effects from the water. He had always thought that the river would drain his memory. At first, he thought that perhaps he had been blessed, and therefore suffered no ill effects. But a quick glance at his companions showed the clear eyed looks of those whose minds were still their own.

As he entered the riverbank farther, and the skeleton spoke, he suppressed a shudder. The dead were meant to rest, not to speak. He considered trying to turn it, perhaps even destroying it and sending it to its rest, but he decided against it. Perhaps the skeleton might provide useful information. He relented, and with an act of concentration, he allowed his inner light to brighten to its full radiance. It might prevent an attack here, or at least it would offer some comfort to his companions.

"Who are, or were, you? And who, or what, is going to chew us soon enough?" he asked, at the first simple attempt at information gathering.

[MikelaC1]

The figure is dressed completely in black, even a cowl covers her (and by the shape of the bodysuit, you figure its a her) face. The whole outfit reminds you of a Cat, human shaped but still cat-like, even some whiskers from the side of the cowl. She shakes herself with distain as she exits the river, cats do not like getting wet.
The speaking skeleton unnerves her, the Cat prefers to be about her business with no one the wiser to her presence. She instinctively fades into the shadows, not speaking yet, better to keep her presence a surprise, if need be, for the skeleton
[roll0]

[DoctorGlock]

'No one important, else I might remember,' the corpse answers Bendack with a grin. To be fair, he cannot manage any other expression. 'As to the second, that would be the guardian. If you see my legs on the way down could you be so kind as to toss them my way? I don't fancy spending the rest my existence crawling about. All of you,' he pauses, empty sockets gazing at the group in consideration. 'Most of you, shine like the dawn. Anyone and everything here can sense your life. And the guardian? It's always hungry.'

Zarinda is very well hidden to mundane senses

[paradox26]

Bendak considered this answer. He thought about how he was glowing not merely with life, but with actual light as well. He considered dimming his brilliance, but they weren't really trying to hide anyway right now, and the creatures here could probably sense their life force even without his glow. So he might as well leave himself illuminated, and accept the benefits that that provided. "And what sort of creature is the guardian? he asked, hoping to elicit more information that could help them. There was a decent chance that such a chatty creature might be prepared to offer more than it intended.

[J-H]

Enmerkar Belshunu

Enmerkar surfaces from the water, raised early be the skeletal hands of what used to be a cyclops shaman. It doesn't chill him as much as the others, as he's intimately acquainted with bones and death, albeit from a slightly different perspective.

He looks up at the skeleton. "Would you like to come with us and be our herald, legless one? Or perhaps you would like to be a puppet, or bait for this guardian? We are no mere petitioners. Speak more and truthfully."

He waves a hand, and the two zombie crocodiles propel themselves ashore, still moving sinuously despite the clumsiness of their dead flesh, followed by the thumping hooves of his skeletal razor boar, its sharp, swordlike tusks glistening as water streams down them.

Despite being dwarfed by his necromantic constructs, Enmerkar still stands out among them, a skinny, bony figure with presence.

[BelGareth]

Rah'ket was his old man self while they traveled the underway, large clothes, and belt, haphazardly hanging from his small and slender frame. He followed along, mute, silent in his thoughts as they followed the strange talisman that swayed wherever they would go. A part of him thought perhaps a breeze would direct them all to their death, but yet, would their mission just take them further afield? Allowing them to skip the mundane of walking.

What a strange thought, thought Rah.

Shaking his head of the macabre, he watched as the skull spoke to them, nothing out of the normal with their current companion, and not helping his current frame of mind.

He saw the river, and watched as the others entered, taking a moment to focus, he thumbed his beads, and he began to grow, arms stretched, legs cracked, bones splintered and reknit, muscles popped and doubled, a silent howl of agony, as his body transmorphed itself, it always hurt, but he had become numb to the pain a long time ago. Now, his clothes fit, his belt sat snugly around his waist, and nothing was loose upon the giant half-man Tiger.

He followed them into the river, and instinctually sucked in his breath, the cold sucked the life out of him like an icy river, but deeper, darker. He kept moving, knowing, hoping, that the other side would be better.

Shaking like a cat that got wet, he looked at the half skeleton with a raised eyebrow. "Perhaps this Guardian took his legs.", speaking for what seemed to Rah as the first time in a long while.

[MikelaC1]

With the skull not being immediately more forthcoming with information, the Cat decides to slowly explore ahead, seeing if she can scout anything of interest.

[roll0] Hide
[roll1] Move Silently

[DoctorGlock]

The skeleton regards Enmerkar with what you can only assume is a level gaze from his empty sockets. 'I might be dead, but I aren't yet gone enough,' he says, as if that explains anything. 'No, no petitioners you. Bloody heroes ain't you? That will just draw the guardian faster. It smells life.'

The corpse pauses a moment before breaking out in a wheezing cackle. 'Give the dog a bone!,' he says to Rah'ket, wiggling his spine suggestively. 'You came prepared, so you know what's coming. Gatekeeper? Guardian? We called it Aker in life. It will eat your life, your bones, your memories. There are many things here that would do the same, unless you can hide among the dead.'

You move silently through the dust and shadows of the winding canyon, noting great gouges in the stone walls, as if by massive claws. The bones of great beasts and men litter the ground, some still covered by parched and mummified hide and sinew. You can swear that despite your care, you are being watched. The wind howls across dark openings in the canyon walls that seem to beckon invitingly.

[MikelaC1]

The Cat pads quietly back to the group, reporting on her findings and waiting for a decision.

[paradox26]

"I suspect some among us may be able to pass for one of the deceased," Bendak said carefully. "But most of us cannot. Can you tell us more of this creature Aker, beyond warnings of its power?"

To the rest of the party, more quietly, he said, "I am sure we will be watched the whole time we are here. Azrael probably knows of our location already. We must simply be prepared for whatever he can throw at us. It sounds like this Aker creature is the gatekeeper to the realm, so we will have to either hide or fight. And based on the Cat's story of the clawed cavern walls, it might be easier to avoid it than to fight it."


Seeking information on the Aker:
Knowledge Planes:[roll0]
Knowledge Religion: [roll1]

[DoctorGlock]

'The Akeru we worshiped as the dead god who kept watch over the dead, and we appeased him with carven stone and gifts of rare copper, that our fathers would find their way through these halls unmolested,' the corpse says. 'The living are not permitted here! But if you don the trappings of the dead and cover your life, perhaps he will not see you?'



Enmerkar:

The name exists in dusty texts from long dead scholars, who found the signs scratched into ancient stones. The twin kingdoms of the river worshiped a beast by that name when men still worked stone. Aker, or Akeru, the great lions-headed beast that prowls the horizon of the underworld. Only the Pharaoh over the Waters could pass the beast unharmed, and it would bow before him.

[J-H]

Enmerkar

"I've read of such a creature....long ago records speak of some beast that was ancient then, with the head or heads of lions. None but the ruler of this place or the dead pass it willingly. However...."

The dark-skinned man closes his eyes for a moment and traces some patterns in the air with his fingers, which become coated in a shadowy mist. He touches each of his living allies in turn, and some of the mist snags on to each of them, wrapping around them until it's so thin as to be invisible.

"This may keep us from its sight. Let's go." Surrounded by his undead servitors, Enmerkar begins walking.


Hide From Undead, duration 2 hours.
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/hideFromUndead.htm

[MikelaC1]

Having already been this way, the Cat walks with the group, silent as always. The moment they reach a spot that she has not scouted ahead on, she melts into the shadows, once again moving with all her stealth to scout the path ahead.

[roll0] hide
[roll1] move silently

[BelGareth]

Rah watches over everything, and shivers as Enmerkar touches him, and his magic takes hold. He says nothing otherwise, and merely nods his assent to the others.

[paradox26]

Bendak had heard of the creature as well, though he knew little more than had already been said, so he remained quiet. He felt the mild discomfort that came from being placed under the spell, but he guessed at its purpose, and didn't complain. He decided that they might as well continue onwards, since there seemed to be little more that the corpse could tell them. It had already said enough. "Thank you for the information. It may prove critical," he said as he followed Cat forwards, until such time as she disappeared.