Session One Hundred and Twenty-Two Summary (Graveyard of Empires: After the Fall)

Session 122, January 11 2023

Introduction

We continue at 12:20PM on the 23rd of Denrilden (00.000.09.08 on the Apocalypse Clock) with the party having received the blessing/sigil of Beelzebub and boarding the submersible to head upriver and find the sewer entrance Khelratha previously scouted while in astral form. With the clock ticking on their diabolic obscurement from Geryon's forces, the group aims to quickly explore beneath the Inquisitorial Citadel, pinpoint the location of a connection with the sewers, and then decide whether to retreat or begin their infiltration depending on the time. Will the party discover an entry into the citadel quickly and without encountering any distractions in the sewers of Gharmarost? Can the group avoid detection by Geryon's forces and recover something useful from the secret archives?

Larry's Summary

Khelratha hands over the scroll case with the portal to Velkin and admonished him not to open the portal unless it is absolutely necessary.

Khelratha got in the driver's seat and prepares to pilot the sub. Forcas, Kauri as co-pilot, Velkin, and Druul sit up front.

We tell Captain Birklin of the **Lady of Fire** to make sail if they hear a big explosion, wait an hour then leave.

Follow the docks, less dense fog and can see the next dock before leave the prior dock. Few ships on the docks.

Get to Garehalruen River and can see the Grand Bridge and nearly the middle can see the far shore and the other shore.

We see lots of demolition and sounds of construction sounds at the Grand Market. See what appear to be human work crews on the South shore.

Khelratha shows Forcas how to operate the sub.

To the North nothing for a little bit. Then sees a sewer grate and Khelratha passes the grate heads towards the far shore and points back to harbor and stops right at the sewer grate.

Jardin makes Velkin invisible.

The party exits then Forcas takes the sub down to the bottom of the river to wait for us.

We squeeze through the grate and work our way up the dim, dingy sewer tunnel. Wide enough don't have to step through the waste.

Velkin goes ahead and stops at each cross passage to wait for us to catch up.

Velkin spots some humanoids trying to be stealthy filthy rags carrying swords. Making hand signals and pointing past us. Velkin can hear the party behind us.

Velkin goes back and tells us that there are two coming this way.

Velkin goes back, they have stopped and taken up positions on opposite sides of the walls watching.

Velkin comes back and lets us know where we are. Then goes back and they are doing hand signals.

We are traveling in darkness with humans led by those with infravision.

The two seem to be able to see and appear to be human. They don't seem to be elves.

Just as Khelratha can make them out, the one on Khelratha's side, steps out and has a sword in his hand pointed at the grand. Holds up other hand and in Imperial accented common says, "Hold there."

They say, do we bring them to Chauvin? Jardin calls up, what's that now?

The one with the sword looks unsure, then amazed and drops to a knee, and the other follows.

Grand Inquisitor, you've returned. Do you say Chauvin, Brood Father Chauvin Orphelium?

Yes, yes, he's leading the resistance on the Northern part of the city. So now, you'll take charge?

That won't be possible.

They ask where we are going? We discuss if we can ask them to show how

Grand Inquisitor, we've been smuggling out the old and too young to work out of their work camps. They are not qualified for fighting. We lose people every day. I don't know what you're doing here, but we're desperate.

VElkin says from across the way. The task that we have is one that cannot be strayed from at this point.

Velkin says, I assume you are one of our kind, training as a Dervish?

We need to get into the Inquisitorial Citadel unobserved. You wouldn't know if that is possible would you?

It's possible, I suppose. The tunnels do lead towards the citadel. I suppose we could lead you.

They talk and the talkative one says, "Follow" and head off at a pretty good clip.

I don't know how long you're here, perhaps you could get word to the Emperor.

Beelzebub has taken over the city and has been tasked to build ships to get laborers for a task in the interior while others are building holding pens. They are liquidating the old and young who can't work. They have been driven to the Northern part of the city. Competition between the forces of Beelzebub and the new DVL

We've rescued just over a hundred individuals. Many more we haven't been able to save.

Brood Father Chauvin himself goes in disguise as a laborer himself.

If there is anything the Emperor can do, he needs to do it quickly.

Velkin marks the passages with chalk.

The guide stops for a moment and looks around and it is a wider passage, the first bigger one on the left after the incline has levelled out a bit.

Can't avoid stepping in the waste, not a lot here since city is pretty empty.

Looks at various pipes in the ceiling and appears to be calculating mentally and says "I think the Citadel should be above us here." We don't come this way often but there isn't much here.

You need a way up? Yes, the more talkative one said, Mart-jan escaped from the citadel and wanders away and is looking in niches nearby. I'm not sure which, come, Grand Inquisitor, take a look here, indicating on ground level there is a small grate. Yeah, one of these. Tries to pry it open, but it is solid.

He escaped from the basement and had to squeeze through and had to kick out the grate from the bottom.

Is it big enough we can all fit? He looks through the group and says we'd have to take our armor off and push in front of you. It should be in the nearby tunnels. One of these - it should knocked off or loose.

Jardin says, why don't we group together.

As we split up to search, Ithirialma calls out, "I think I found it." There's a grate lying to side, opening big enough for a full size human to squeeze through if strip down and coat selves in grease.

It has been about 90 minutes.

Mart-jan said it was tight the whole way and was constantly worried of losing footing and falling.

Kauri has levitate.

Velkin strips down and goes first and about 15 feet it starts going up. It is rough enough he can climb. He successfully started to climb. He does try to move silently.

It is clear to Velkin that levitating would be must faster, after about 20 minutes reaches a place with other connecting pipes and holds to take a rest.

Coming up on intersection he can here a clickety-click sound, like little feet tap dancing.

A little head pokes over the edge with two antennae looks down at Velkin. It is a tiny bug. Velkin gets his dagger ready. Velkin says "Shoo!" It says, "Meat?" Do you have any friends? A bunch of others show up. A big shout of "Meat!" and bunches coming at him.

Velkin smears sleep poison on him. The bugs are faster. The drop out of side pipe onto and all over him. They start eating away at him.

Velkin shakes the sleep poison all over his body, then goes down.

The first group falls off and more join in.

About ten minute climb going down.

Velkin uses sleep packets and crushing against the walls. Velkin manages to crush them all.

Velkin goes back to cross pipes and rests. Now the 2 hour mark.

Another 20 minutes Velkin reaches a grate with perhaps a room beyond. It is quiet above and dark.

Velkin waits a few minutes to see if he can hear or see anything. He hears muffled footsteps, maybe a door or wall, get louder then fade away again. He keeps listening to see it is a patrol.

He waits and in 5 minutes there are muffled footsteps.

He waits to see if it is on a 5 minute cycle then the screaming starts, sounds like someone in terrible pain. Loud enough to carry through doors. Also some sounds of bangs, slapping noising.

Velkin checks and the grate it loose and goes back down. Waits a minute after moving the grate to ensure nothing is in the room and nothing reacts. 20 minutes to go down. Just under 3 hours.

Kauri can levitate and carry the weight of two others.

Since we don't know what is up there, the dragons should go last, Khelratha suggests.

Velkin asks Jardin if a distraction in the Citadel would violate the agreement? Jardin turns to the 2 dervishes, yes, return to Chauvin and tell him that the Emperor requires a distraction at the front gate.

Jardin re-invisiblizes Velkin and Felix casts 2 cure light and Lambertus 1 cure light on Velkin to heal him.

Kauri casts levitate and he takes the lead with Velkin grasping him and Khelratha grasping Velkin.

We reach the top. Velkin listens and hears muffled noise on the other side of a thick re-enforced door. Kauri then lifts the grate and sees assorted torture instruments. Stains around drain on floor. Velkin checks and it is a bit tacky.

Kauri goes down and Velkin checks the door and it is nearly to the floor to contain the noise. The door opens outward. No way to lock from the inside. There is no lock. Unless a bar on the other side, it may not locked.

Khelratha scrapes off as best he can and then gears up and he and Velkin assist each other to avoid making noise.

Druul and Oskar come up next and do the same and then Felix and Borthan. Velkin hears whimpering nearby.

Next Lambartus and Aliceon.

Finally goes back one more time for Jardin and Ithirialma both dragons.

Since it will take less than an hour to get here, wait until it passes an hour to give time to take advantage of the diversion.

Jardin and Ithirialma wait with Kauri just below the surface and wait an hour and a bit unless something happens.

Before Kauri reaches the part where we are going to wait, something obviously happens, the air goes really still and it feels like a reverberation with no sound.

Suddenly hear running in the hallway beyond the door, voices shouting, and almost right there a door opens up and a voice calls out, the alarm, they're here, the dragons are here. They're upstairs obviously. Leave him, he doesn't matter. Booted feet run off.

Ithirialma says, I think we might have a problem. It looks like the pipe goes ten feet beyond Ithirialma's feet and there is a white sheet.

It appears that we cannot go down, so next time we find out if the door is locked.