XXV. The Haunted Crypt

"‘Fun’ isn’t exactly how I would describe it," said Firiona to Arnold. "‘Work’ is more like it. And we’ll have a difficult time finding Edward, that’s certain. For surely he has unpredictability working." 

"We could find him if he thinks to take it down," observed Miae.

The friends agreed to try, on a regular daily basis, to scry for Edward, hoping that at some point he would become observable. In the meantime, they decided to gather what information they could on recent activity of cults of Orcus. They requested any available intelligence from the Enterprise liaison office in Darksea. A day later, they obtained the requested information. Orcus cult activity had been reported recently in five areas: Seltaren, in the Duchy of Urnst; the Fellreev Forest; the Yecha Hills, among the Tiger Nomads; the village of Hochoch, in the Grand Duchy of Geoff; and Eltison, in The Pale. Five widely-scattered areas.

Firiona quickly cast discern location, hoping to find Edward magically. She came up blank. Edward’s unpredictability evidently was still up. That, or Edward was no longer among the living . . . .

She put the thought out of her mind. "When spells don’t work, footwork may," said Firiona. The adventurers agreed that the best alternative now was to go in search of clues to Edward’s fate. Firiona suggested they proceed to Seltaren first, then to the Fellreev Forest. The rest of the group agreed, and all began making the necessary preparations.

On the third day of the search, the party set out for Seltaren, via Firiona’s greater teleport spell. Seltaren was a large city, population over ten thousand. They arrived at the main gate of the city at mid-day and promptly began trying to gather information. Amalla altered form to that of a female cleric.

The party found a likely gathering place, an inn called The Traveler’s Lodge. Once inside, Amalla tried to detect thoughts, but found nothing concerning Orcus or cult activity. Arnold asked the inn’s bartender about recent events. "Pretty dull these days," was the most response he could get. Miae had better luck chatting up a patron in the common room. "You know, there was this ranger, retired adventurer sort of fellow, who just disappeared a while back–went out to the town outskirts one night and never returned." Lou, meanwhile, found that Edward’s recent activity was known to some in the area. "Oh, that mighty paladin! Some time ago he went to the wedding of Sombrus."

Nothing much else turned up, so that evening, after checking in for the night, Firiona cast discern location again, and again detected nothing of the paladin.

Next morning, the party prepared for further searching. Firiona had a sudden inspiration: she cast discern location again, but this time sought the location of Sharkbite! And a vision of the sword soon appeared in her mind. "I’ve found it! It’s under a hill near Hochoch!" exclaimed the wizard. "Well done, Firiona!" cried Green Arrow. "Let us go to the sword! Perhaps Edward will not be far from it!" The party decided to teleport to Hochoch immediately.

On arrival in Hochoch, the party began to inquire about the local geography. The area appeared to have recovered somewhat from the devastation it had suffered during the Greyhawk Wars some eighty years before, and the town itself seemed to have returned to full vigor. The Green Dragon Inn proved to be fertile ground for inquiry. "Oh, there are a number of hills out in the Dim Forest," one inn patron mentioned. "And some old tombs too. I’d stay away from them if’n I were you!" another advised.

Lou later gave a bardic performance for the patrons at the inn. In the course of his performance, he put his bardic knowledge skills to use, and came up with the name of Lanksaare.  The party then checked into their rooms for the night.

Little did the party know that Edward was at that very time being forced to witness the first horrific rites of the cult.

In Hochoch, for three days the party continued gathering information and attempting to locate where Edward might have been taken.  Not much additional information turned up.

It was late on the fourth day in Hochoch.  Little did they know that Edward was now under the tender care of Soiartze.

"You were very naughty, you know," she addressed Edward. "You hurt my feelings. Why did you throw me away, like some rag doll to be discarded?"

"You didn’t do anything!" replied Edward. "We both might have been able to escape if you had. And that made me suspicious." He stared at her, and thought there was something unusual about her eyes. "I can see now my suspicions were well-founded."

"Edward, Edward!" said Soiartze. "How can you say such things? Here, let me sing you a song. You’ll feel better. I promise." She began to sing a strange song, something like a love song but with a dark sub-context. "Let’s kiss and make up, shall we?" She went to embrace Edward. But the paladin resisted with all the strength he could muster, and refused her offered lips.

She slapped him. "Insolent! How dare you reject the kiss of Soiartze?! Far better men than you have yielded to my charms, and have known indescribable bliss because of it!"

"You’re not my type," Edward replied. "And I make it a habit never to kiss strange girls who have me chained up in a torture chamber!"

The girl glared at Edward, then went to a table against the wall and came back with a small vial of a brownish powder. "Do you know what this is?" she asked. Edward said nothing. "This is luhix. It’s what we’ve been using to, ah, treat your wounds. Now, tell me about your adventures. All of them. And let’s start with those wonderful weapons you use."

"I don’t know anything about them. A friend gave one to me," Edward bluffed, hoping to deflect Soiartze’s inquiry. "Now, now," she tut-tutted, "that’s just not the right answer!" She shook the vial. "I was telling you about luhix. Luhix is a special substance," she purred. "When it’s placed directly into a bleeding wound and then sealed up, it makes you weaker, and less clear-minded, and slower and clumsier. Not to mention, it hurts like hell! But you know what they say–what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. And luhix does make you stronger, and smarter, and faster, at least for a few hours, after its initial effects are over." She smiled, a leering, almost predatory smile. "Alas, all good things must end. And luhix–well, nobody every called luhix good."

Edward remained silent, but tried to look as threatening as he could, hoping to intimidate the girl into at least leaving the room. No such luck. Soiartze continued. "Of course, that may have something to do with where it comes from–the powdered stalks of plants that grow only in the Abyss." She went back to the table and put the vial back in place. "Oh, and did I tell you? Most users really, really like luhix. In fact, almost all of them feel they can’t live without it. They love it so much, they take it every day. And if they miss a day–well, they just start wasting away!" She giggled. "But they mustn’t get greedy! More than one dose in a day, and it’s bye-bye user! And it really hurts, they say."

Soiartze’s explanation accounted for Edward’s feelings of weakness and dissipation, he was horrified to realize. He had become a luhix addict.

"I think, maybe you need another dose," Soiartze observed. She made a start as if to retrieve the vial. Edward gasped involuntarily, then regained his self-composure. The girl looked back at him. "No, maybe not. Maybe there’s something more persuasive to a paladin of Hieroneous," she sneered. She lit a candle, then brought back a large silk pouch, reached in and retrieved an item from it. Edward stared at the dried, discolored, broken object. An angel’s wing.

"You won’t want to look at yourself in a mirror if I use this," Soiartze told the paladin. "Burning angel wing fumes just do wonders for your appearance," she laughed.

She put the wing back into its pouch and replaced it on the bench. Returning with a small brazier and a handful of needles, she told Edward, "Now, has your memory returned?" Edward refused to speak. Soiartze then began to work Edward over. When the brazier was hot enough, she began using hot needles on him. But still the mighty paladin refused to say a word.

Finally, Soiartze paused. What makes him so tough? she thought to herself. "I know you’re a paladin of Hieroneous, but really!" At that, she cast detect magic to see if he somehow retained magical fortification. After three rounds of study, however, Soiartze reeled back, head aching. "Whoa! I’ve never seen something like this! That’s some kind of power you have there, sweetness," she exclaimed in wonder. "OK. That’s enough for now. I think Arvid’ll be interested in this." She turned and left the room.

Edward, muddle-headed as he was, retained sufficient mental acuity to realize what had happened. Soiartze had detected his unpredictability. It was still up. And his friends might be looking for him.

He quickly took it down, then lost consciousness. It was now going into the eleventh day of his captivity.

Back in Hochoch, Green Arrow had an inspiration. "Maybe there’s a reason why that fellow warned us away from the forest the other night," said Green Arrow. "Maybe that’s where we should head out to," replied Arnold. The rest of the party agreed. Miae turned to Firiona, an idea occurring to her. "Hey Firiona! Try discern location again. Maybe we’ll be in luck today." Firiona duly cast the spell. As soon as she did, she yelped, "I see him! I know where he is!"

"Finally, he wised up and took down unpredictability," noted Arnold. "About time."

"He could be in serious trouble," replied Miae. "Maybe he couldn’t have done it until now. Anyway, Firiona, where is he?"

"He’s under a hill in the Dim Forest. It’s the same hill as his sword, but not the same exact place." At once, Amalla attempted to teleport to Edward’s location. The attempt failed–insufficient data on his exact location. "OK, we do this the old-fashioned way," she said.

With that, the party gathered their supplies and provisions and left their rooms. Destination: the Dim Forest. As they approached the forest, Amalla flew up over the trees, looking for hills. She spotted one about 20 miles off in the distance, in the darkest heart of the woods. In due course, the party teleported to the target hill. Once there, they found a path leading to a dell at the base of the hill.

Ancient, gnarly trees grew in the dell, and their branches interlaced, forming a roof over the dell that daylight could seldom penetrate. Beneath the branches the party saw it: a partially ruined crypt. Its western wall was damaged, and two columns on the south wall, facing out from the dell, were broken. Around the crypt lay an ancient graveyard. Arnold quickly surveyed the area, finding nine defaced and broken tombstones among the overgrowth of weeds and brush, and a large equestrian monument. He could just make out the faint inscription of the name "Toivo Irk" on the pedestal.

When Arnold finished his survey, the party advanced to the front porch of the crypt. Immediately, they felt under some kind of mental attack! Firiona and Miae felt suddenly muddle-headed, while Amalla found her thinking processes even more disrupted. She decided, however, to attempt to enter the crypt via ethereal jaunt. Meanwhile, Arnold was able to unlock the front door of the crypt, and the rest of the adventurers entered.

The interior of the crypt was strewn with broken statuary, leaves, dirt and debris. There was a sarcophagus at the north end of the crypt, which appeared to have been despoiled and its effigy broken. On its side the inscription "Alar II" appeared faintly. On the walls of the crypt were ancient frescoes, now barely recognizable. Noblemen were depicted in battle against orcs, evil giants and other creatures.

Green Arrow immediately readied his bow. Firiona looked around, searching for possible threats. Lou, meanwhile, accessed his bardic knowledge, seeking information about the crypt and the two named individuals. It seemed that Lanksaare had been the name of an ancient earldom based in an area around the Dim Forest, including portions of modern-day Geoff. About five hundred years ago, it had been ruled by a line of good nobles of the House of Toomre, who cleared the realm of orcs, evil giants and the like. The last ruler but one, Alar II, had been especially effective in his campaigns against the giants. Toivo Irk had been one of the realm’s great generals. But in the time of his son Juuri II, the realm had fallen to an invasion of evil giants, and much of the area had been abandoned.

The party’s contemplation of the crypt was interrupted by a series of huge explosions! The crypt door slammed shut. The floor itself seemed to explode, and from its flaming wreckage emerged a massive red dragon. Firiona, however, noticed something suspicious and suspected an illusion of some kind. The party looked closely, and realized that the dragon was not a dragon at all, but a spell effect. It quickly vanished. But as soon as it was gone, the party felt itself under attack by the most terrible of foes! Green Arrow, Firiona and Amalla shook off the attack, as did Arnold and Miae. But then the party heard a shriek of pain. They looked around them, and then they saw it. Lou had fallen to the floor. The bard was dead!

They had no time to mourn their comrade, as suddenly the survivors found themselves assailed by a horde of incorporeal figures–spectres! One of them struck Miae, and she cried out, suddenly feeling terribly weak. Firional likewise was stricken by one of the undead and drained as well. The remaining nine spectres missed their targets. Arnold’s attempted retaliation missed. Amalla had greater success, and managed to turn two of the undead.

But then a new and more malevolent foe appeared. The ghostly figure of a military man turned his attention on Firiona, who was able to resist its evil stare. Green Arrow, tumbling through the melee, fired an arrow of undead slaying at the ghost, but, incredibly, missed. Then Firiona, weakened though she was, cast sunburst, inflicting serious damage on the ghost and destroying the remaining spectres! This gave Miae her chance. She brought the power of Olidammara to bear against the ghostly general, and her faith was sufficient to cause the ghost to turn and flee.

With the undead destroyed or driven off, Firiona examined the crypt more carefully. True seeing revealed the real nature of the crypt.

"This crypt is haunted," she told the party. "That fresco on the far wall seems to be the heart of it. I can see spirits writhing around the heart."

"Maybe a dispel evil would work on it," observed Miae. "But I think it would be better to try talking to the ghost. Perhaps we can get some information from it." The other adventurers agreed. But first, Miae and Amalla cast restoration on Firiona, and Miae did the same for herself, restoring Firiona to full energy and Miae at least partially. Their ministrations were interrupted by the sudden attack of a phantasmal killer against Green Arrow. The elven archer resisted the attack, then cast detect magic. He learned that the sarcophagus was magical, and needed a magic word to activate its mechanism, which apparently was some kind of sliding system concealing something beneath.

Amalla didn’t wait for any magic word, but jaunted again, into the sarcophagus and through its bottom. She quickly returned. "Hey, there’s a stairway beneath this thing!" she reported.

Just as she finished her report, the ghost reappeared, together with the three spectres that had fled. A hollow, distant voice intoned, "Desecrators of the crypt! Leave this place!" Quickly, Amalla spoke to the ghost, hoping that her tremendous charisma would change its attitude and, perhaps, incline it to help the party. To the adventurers’ surprise, the ghost suddenly seemed to become friendly!

They asked who he was. "I was Toivo Irk," the ghost replied, "general of the army of Lanksaare. My rest, and the rest of my comrades and lords, even of Lord Eha whose image you see on the far wall, was disturbed by our enemies after we were dead. And an even greater desecration is on-going still: Alar’s sarcophagus had been made into an entrance to a hidden compound of cultists beneath the hill behind us. We can drive off or slay some who attempt to enter, but the leaders are too strong for us to affect." At this, the ghost moaned in a most dreadful manner.

"Can we do anything for you?" asked Miae. "It would seem those who disturb your rest are our enemies as well."

"You can," replied Irk. "Restore this crypt and the graves of the fallen. But more than that, drive out Khadija and her minions from their stronghold below! Promise to do this, and I shall aid you."

The party quickly agreed to Irk’s terms. The ghost then advised them. "The sarcophagus requires a password to activate its mechanism. I have heard it, though Khadija and her minions did not realize it. Speak the word "Naratyr" and it will open."

Naratyr. A word of omen–the fortress-city of Orcus himself, in the Abyss, on the layer he ruled, Thanatos!