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

Session 120, December 28 2022

Introduction

We continue at 8:20PM on the 22nd of Denrilden (00.000.09.09 on the Apocalypse Clock) with the party entering the sickly gardens just inside the Imperial Naval College in Gharmarost to attend the welcome celebration hosted by Beelzebub. Dressed in formal wear likely stolen from the homes of the dead, the group is beginning to make their way toward the main keep of the fortress -- passing the diseased and terrified party-goers going through the motions of dancing and other frivolity. Why are these people being forced into a mockery of good cheer? What kind of monstrous entity is the Lord of the Flies? Can he help refine or improve the party's plan to infiltrate the Inquisitorial Citadel? Why is Ranarth here and serving the guests? The plot (and miasma hanging in the air) thickens ...

Larry's Summary

We take hors d'oeuvres and drinks but do not partake.

Raynarth comes up to us and we see his mouth is sewn shut. He does not seem to have any recognition.

Conversation with Raynarth result in him looking at us with milky looking eyes.

We pass through the gardens up the stairs to the main doors of the keep.

Just looking inside it is super bright. In fact, the quality of the light is like daytime.

We really only see humanoids and appear to be only humans. Kauri says that there is a bluish aura to the servants that look healthy. No signs of sores, etc.

We go through the doors. Even the temperature changes, it is suddenly a dry heat. Still a few sickly people, but a higher percentage look healthy.

A couple motion further into the hall.

Ajax is looking up out a window and there is a bright blue sky with onion shaped bulbs on top of them. The City of Brass. Out the door is still the garden, and a bit a mist across the floor and into the steps.

Multi-story open space, bigger than the building we were headed to.

Crowd keeps parting indicating where we are to head.

We come to the bottom of three steps up to a dais with a throne. It looks like it might be made of something alive. Flesh toned and it has its own weeping sores and small deformed creatures with wings clamoring over it, licking the weeping sores.

An old man sits on the throne. Puffy faced, green hued old man, with pustules and scabby complexion. His robes are a mess stained with blood, puss, and bile. A cloak made of miasma flowing across the ground originates from his shoulders. Insects crawl in and out of cloak and flies buzz around. He holds up a ruby encrusted goblet and with bony parchment thin skin motions for us to climb the steps up to him.

He then turns to look behind and a sickly woman takes his goblet and slices from his wrist up his arm and it fills his goblet.

He nods and kinda smiles. He looks from one to the other of us and opens his mouth and a sigh comes out. He leans back and is laughing and has rotted teeth and no tongue.

He motions again and the sickly woman comes forward and then says, "The master welcomes you. This is in celebration of your arrival," gesturing to the crowd.

"The master wishes to converse with you directly, but to do so, you must partake."

Drull says "that this looks to be something that will harm us. Partaking will allow us to hear him. You will speak normally, you will simply be able to perceive his speech. This is only for the benefit of your understanding. This will not add to what the master already understands. The effects will be gone by morning."

"The Master says that he cannot fulfill his obligation to share with you if you will not partake." We all take a small taste. It is foul, but doesn't seem to hurt us.

Ajax tells Velkin he can fill him in later. Jardin and Alician take a bit, and Peronell is a no. Forcas is eager to partake. Borthan takes some as he feels left out as it is.

Oskar has nothing to say and just stands there.

Druul pukes. Partway through, there is laughter and not from the guy on the throne. A tendril has wrapped around the guy laughing and it came out of him, one of the unhealthy ones.

"No worries about that, and motions to Druul to try again." Druul tries again.

Each time he speaks, a different voice speaks from the crowd.

"Welcome, I am Lord Beelzebub, master of Gharmarost and the coastal provinces. I look forward to Anything you need, you can ask any of my people. So, what are your plans exactly. "

Druul, "We're here seeking knowledge, and seek information." Yes, Geryon and his hunters care not for knowledge only the hunt, surprise, and destruction. Many of the great volumes have been destroyed. But hopefully, that doesn't impact our mission. "

Druul, "No, we believe there is still knowledge to be found."

Geryon - How do you plan to get in?

Druul - you might know. Looks at Jardin - I see you have someone with you.

Ideally, getting what you need, and getting out without anyone knowing at all is less than idea. Something embarrassing to come to Asmodeus is ideal to prove it was a mistake to take the Citadel from me and give it to Geryon.

Khelratha - What ways can we get in without walking in the front gate.

Perhaps I can begin with knowledge that you don't even know you need to know.

Geryon has had time to create a trap for you in the citadel. There is some kind of perimeter. Something, a ward of some sort. I believe it has been installed to detect intrusions by your group.

Certainly it doesn't seem to affect his people coming in and out. It is the belief of myself and others watching and were to step foot on any space in the plateau, Geryon will know of it. How much he will know, Beelzebub shrugs.

Druul - Breaking might be as informative as activating them. However, I might have a way to obscure you from them. Sits back and steeples his fingers. If you're amenable to it, I can mark you with a sigil. I believe it will obscure you from his people and even himself. The power of this sigil is that beyond line of sight, you would be completely undetectable outside line of sight, and anything entering line of sight, they won't be able to communicate with others. A single slip-up a DVL or Minotaur, then the entire garrison will come crashing down on you. If able to get word to their compatriots.

Druul - Any idea of the count? We have determined 40 minotaurs prowl seeking 10 ice, 50 bone, 10 barbed, 2 Styx devils, Ammon the lieutenant of Geryon, perhaps a few more. And Geryon himself is there. He (Geryon) has taken your former rooms as your own.

They move around and take great delight in tests of physical strength. In the basement are some training rooms, taking part in these juvenile distractions, including the minotaurs who are quite enamored of it.

Druul - What knowledge do they have of our group? He seems very well informed of your group. Amongst the things I know Asmodeus has tasked Geryon in destroying your group for an unusual persistence in organizing resistance to the DVLs.

Connections to alternate sources of magical power? I know that this world's doom is already sealed.

I'm afraid one thing I can't offer is a way to enter the Citadel without being seen, simply did not have control of it long enough. We were simply enjoying the knowledge it held as it was before it was a trap.

The minotaurs have been trained on the scent of dragons. They know a partial make up of your group. Where this knowledge comes from, I don't know.

Any of the DVLs could call at any time, directly from here, in fact, gesturing at the windows. The sigil will help block that.

The Ice DVLs very tough creatures. Often given control of bone DVLs (foot soldiers), really only a danger under control of Ice DVLs. Squads with 2 Ice DVLs.

Barbed DVLs are solitary and work along.

Styx DVLs spy on the rest of the city and the workings I have going on. They look human and have wings to swoop down from the towers.

Ammon - massive beast of a man with a wolf's head, not bright.

Kauri asks if he could re-charge his spells since he sees so much trans-spatial energy.

Velkin asks which DVLs can see through invisibility? Don't worry about the Bone DVLs. The Ice and Barbed, and Styx and Amon and Geryon, will have no trouble seeing through invisibility except the sigil I offer you. My power is a bit more than his. I'm limited by the commands of Asmodeus, not ability to defeat him.

I have no desire to go against Asmodeus, I'm his right hand man, to give him the labor to make it happen. It is a cause I believe in.

Kauri asks, just why does this world need to end? Like most things, it is about power. And you, you see the energy around us, you know that the source of this power is differentials between planes of existence, between city of Brass and Gharmarost and between living and dead. Dying requires instant. Justice, we were bound, still are, trapped in this reality. Better off than under the ancient dwarves and the dragons, but we are still trapped here, slaves to the simulation.

Kauri - How do you know Asmodeus is right. He carries the Asmodeus controls all of us, he has the true names of all of us and was tasked with passing along the commands of our creators. Now he's leading us home to take vengeance against those who shackled us. The Creators. Perhaps Asmodeus could tell more of what they look like, if they have physical bodies.

We are DVLs - Dedicated (our tasks), Virtual (This false world).

Kauri - How do you know you can exist in the true world, because Asmodeus says it. Kauri - isn't he the god of lies? To be fair, that is a title attributed to me at times.

Asmodeus says that he has the keys to our creation and uncreation and we can destroy them if we can get to them. the rebels, Lolth and her kind doubt, and Geryon and others just go along. While he can be cruel, he has never lied to his trusted circle. I believed even his craziest ideas, his plan to free us from Xenotel. So many in his absence ran wild and it turned out like he promised.

Kauri asks if we can re-charge before attacking him. He wags his finger, that can be quite helpful, yes.

Kauri - It is possible to imbue our equipment with power without enslaving anyone, a voice says, "No."

Well, you've all been judged, the sentence is just a little longer in coming.

Khelratha asks, "What else does this sigil do?" It obscures you, you may find it annoying, it involves a cloud of insects. Will these insects interfere with us? No the perimeter will be the limit of what you can see.

Is there a way to remove it? No, it needs to run its course, it will last only 6 hours 6 minutes and 6 seconds.

Velkin asks which DVLs can see through the miasma. Only the higher DVLs. There is no way to enable us to see through the miasma. It is not at the citadel.

Khelratha asks about if the insects will draw attention. There are already some there. Don't trust insects there, I don't control them.

Beelzebub points straight at Khelratha. The conduit you have cannot be opened, that passes to a place far from here under the ground, I can see the thread of it.

Kauri - what will happen to the other planes of existence? Nothing should happen, but they will all end when we destroy the creators.

Almost no one here should be here. Velkin asks if there are any who should be here? There are rumors of places in this world, these tings are intrinsic to this world and as such defy our perceptions. Indeed there was a lowly creature, lost, trapped in a rock prison as he traveled to the service and was only able to escape fortuitously when he was attacked. He claimed he was in one of these places. I use this word with quotes, "real" places intrinsic to this world, and there are people like that as well.

For know, they avoid our gaze. So not much detail I can offer about them.

All of you are quite clear to us.

Khelratha - How far away can they detect when they use the portal. Don't worry, as long as you're in my domain, they can't detect it. This side of the river, out of the vision of the Styx DVLs. When we leave Gharmarost how far away to we have to be? A few hours by ship, at least if they are searching for you?

He claps his hands together, so you have everything you need?

Kauri, asks if there is a particular place to do my mojo? Use the main door?

Oh, and did you see your old friend? His separate agreement came due upon his death. A very talkative fellow. He was send on to Asmodeus. Apparently his answers were satisfactory. I've never seen a fresh soul embodied so fast he should be a glob. (We don't know what he knew.)

Come back when ready for the Sigil.

We go back to the residence to rest.

Velkin looks at the scroll from the Yellow Hat from someone opposed to Asmodeus.

Velkin shows it to the spellcasters and none wish to partake.

We rest and will go to manor and re-charge spells and discuss how to proceed, and check on Azrael's check in.