And still it continues. Seven months in the bag and well over 200 "rooms", and we are still going! For August we continue exploring the Found Tombs of
Arvakaten, to see what terrors are lurking on level five of the
mega-dungeon crypt-complex. This area is known as the "The Road to Bisu", a series of ancient and near-undisturbed catacombs representing an allegory of the dead soul's journey of reincarnation, back to the Forge of Bisu, the Maker God. The Lich-Lord Arvakaten was previously entombed within this complex to oversee this level, but, in his current dreams of conquest, has all but forgotten what happens down here. The Djaratian Book of the Dead, a copy of which can be found in Arvakaten's sarcophagus, details the mythological aspects of this journey, though not how they may be represented physically in the catacombs.
The Found Tombs of Arvakaten, Level Five: The Road to Bisu
Fiend on Guard (#1/31; #213/365)
"This small stone-walled chamber contains a bored-looking creature sitting on a stool in front of an immense wooden door, while smaller passages head off on either side. The creature has red scaly skin, huge horns on its head, and a bronze spear grasped in one clawed hand. It yells at you in a language you do not understand, before switching to Allansian, saying:
'Sorry, what I said was: 'Are you travellers on the road to Bisu?'."
Contents: The creature is a Fiend, guarding the entrance to the Road to Bisu. It speaks Djaratian, Vatosian, Allansian and Demon Speech. The wooden door marks the start of the Road; it requires a Bronze Key to open. If the Heroes do not have a Bronze Key, the Fiend will suggest returning to an upper level to find one. Entrance to either of the two side passages can be arranged for a bribe of 2-12GP each.
If the Heroes attack the Fiend, it will throw its Potion of Noise on the floor. This results in a howl of white sound, which lasts for one battle, causing everyone in the vicinity to reduce their SKILL by 2, unless they are wearing ear plugs. It also summons 2-7 more Fiends.
Stats:
1 FIEND Guard : SKILL 6, STAMINA 8, Spear or Small Claw, Light Armour. Breathes Fire: hits on a 1-2 on one die for 1 STAMINA damage.
A Game Room for Fiends (#2/31; #214/365)
"This room is a barracks of some sort and very warm to enter. Flaming torches blaze on every wall and there are brass mirrors everywhere, reflecting light and heat. Four red-skinned Fiends sit around a flat black stone table, arguing about some sort of board game made from ivory pieces. They look up as you enter.
'Fancy a game?' one of them says."
Contents: The Fiends are currently playing a game of Tenet (see Curse of the Mummy, p. 274) but are bored, and will happily challenge Heroes to a game or two, for either cash wagers, information, or access to passage onward.
If attacked at least one of them will smash a Potion of Noise upon the floor, with effects as per above.
Stats:
4 FIEND Guards:
SKILL 6, STAMINA 8, Spear or Small Claw, Light Armour. Breathes Fire:
hits on a 1-2 on one die for 1 STAMINA damage.
The guards have 1-6 GP, and ear plugs, and two of them also have Potions of Noise.
The Tenet gameboard and pieces are made from ivory and ebony, and are in excellent condition. They could be worth 100-600GP to a collector of Djaratian antiquities.
Also on the table is a fungus gourd full of Shroomshine, and four clay mugs.
Food Preparation Chamber (#3/31; #215/365)
"This large cavern, well-lit by flaming torches, opens at one end into a dark chasm. In the centre of the cavern, several Fiends with cleavers are talking to a group of shadowy creatures; on the ground in front of them is the carcass of some enormous hideous subterranean creature. It seems like a deal is going down.
To one side are several stone tables, covered in blood, and a huge rectangular stone casket with a thick wooden lid."
Contents: In order to maintain order on this level of the Found Tombs, and especially since Arvakaten seems to have forgotten them, the Fiend guardians have resorted to buying meat in bulk from other underground people, to keep all the monsters properly fed. To determine who is selling meat to the Fiends, and also what they are selling, roll on the tables below.
If the Heroes wish to get into the business themselves, the Fiends will buy creatures at the rate of 2GP per original STAMINA point, more for tougher, bigger monsters. They will not buy dead sentient creatures, curtly directing the Heroes to the services of Skapulet the Corpse Collector.
The Fiends make money by selling off various monster bits and pieces that are inedible and valuable. Currently for sale are the following:
- 6 Grannit Carapaces: 10GP each.
- 2 Giant Firefly Glow Organs: 5GP each.
- 1 clay pot full of Imitator Glue: 10GP
- 3 Burrowbear pelts: 10 GP each (worth double to a Dwarf).
- the spike from a Gigantus: 15 GP.
- the egg of a Basilisk, wrapped in a spider-silk cocoon for ease of handling: 50GP.
Stats:
3 FIEND Cooks:
SKILL 6, STAMINA 8, Cleaver or Small Claw, Light Armour. Breathes Fire:
hits on a 1-2 on one die for 1 STAMINA damage.
The Cooks have 1-6 GP, and ear plugs, and one of them also has a Potion of Noise.
In an enormous stone casket containing an ICE MITE (SKILL 8 STAMINA 2) in a brass cage, are 2-12 haunches of prepared meat, equal to an equivalent number of provisions. The Ice Mite will happily join the Heroes if freed, but will hide if confronted with fire-based or fire-using creatures, such as flame-breathing Fiends.
In a secret compartment behind the casket is a an old sack with 175GP - this is the creature procurement fund.
Who sells the meat?
1. 2-4 Flayers and 1 Brain Slayer: big game hunters from Grx, with tentacle nets and poison tridents. Brain Slayer has purple steel plate armour and a blue glowing Force-Glaive.
2. 2-4 N'yadach: hunters in banded armour, with clubs and rope.
3. 2-4 Spider Cultists: in ragged spider-shaped cloaks, with daggers covered in Spider Venom.
4. 2-4 Skeleton Men: mercenaries, wearing breastplates and wielding swords.
5. 2-7 Dark Goblins: trappers with iron armour, nets and spears.
6. 2-12 Troglodytes: tribal warriors in warpaint, armed with obsidian knives, short bows, and arrows coated in fungal poison.
What monster meat carcass have they brought?
1. Lurking Horror
2. Giant Mudworm
3. Desert Bison
4. Giant Lizard
5. Giant Slug
6. Devilworm
There is a 1 in 6 chance the monster is not quite dead yet, and, regaining consciousness, attempts to escape or eat people or both.
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