Session 10
General Summary
After the horrors in the Abyss, there was much catching up to do. First and foremost, Sister
Columba spent long hours reciting mystic rituals over the fallen heroes. Fortunately it was not yet
their time to go. Soon enough Shinobi, Valun and Argus were restored to the land of the living,
along with brave Franz Bugman. They had many adventures yet ahead of them.
Whilst in Hommlet, Mika received word from Jaroo. She had a message for him from the
Archdruid. Mika had heard all kinds of rumours about this powerful figure but had never yet met
the head of his order. The Archdruid had set Mika a task, to recover a rare blood fungus said to
grow in the Underdark. If/when Mika finds the fungus and feels ready to advance in his druidic
powers, he should trek to see the Archdruid in person. Jaroo said she could assist with directions
or as a travelling companion if needed. When Mika mentioned this task to his comrades, Shinobi
mentioned he knew the location of Akihabara - home of the Archdruid.
Valun recalled some long forgotten knowledge. Before it fell into ruin, the tiefling empire from
aeons ago used to worship Asmodeus. Very few locations from that empire have survived to the
current day due to extreme amount of time which has passed. Perhaps Maelbrathyr still has
something?
There followed a few days of celebration in Hommlet. Casks of free beer were set up in the square
outside the inn. The legionnaires were commended for their military triumphs. Soon however it
was time to head back to Londinium and get back to work.
18th to 25th February were spent heading south. Nex Pervenio were accompanied by Joseph and
Franz Bugman and Sister Columba. Upon their return, Nex Pervenio were given a task for the
forthcoming tournament. The defending champions, the Scorpions, were absent so the runners up
were instead given the task of recruiting and training a grand melee team each - selected from the
jails beneath the arena, full of criminals, scum and strange creatures from around the world. They
heard that other senior gladiators were absent and that new teams had been formed of disgraced
legionnaires and captured cultists. There was some public unrest that the best gladiator teams
would not be present.
28th May was new moon and Shinobi took time out to thank his dark god, Zehir, for allowing him
to be brought back from the dead and an offering for help and good luck in the upcoming
tournament. He went out into the city, wearing normal non-descript clothes, with no staff and with
his ninja gear in a small, easily concealed bag on his person. He headed straight for the
headquarters of the city watch. In sight of this building he found a handy alley to hide in the
shadows and quickly climb onto the roof tops. He changed into his shinobi-shozuku and wait until
such a time as a lone city watchman left the headquarters on his way home after his shift. He
followed him, remaining hidden, until a shortcut through an alley signified the time to pounce. A
smoke bomb followed by a rapid assault was enough to drop his hapless victim. The unconscious
body was hoisted onto the roof tops. Then the ritual sacrifice to Zehir began when Shinobi
suddenly blacked out and was subjected to a dream vision.
The vision began with a closeup of a reptilian face, twisted with insane savagery. It could be some
kind of yuan-ti. The face receded and Shinobi realised it was attached to a body comprised
entirely of writhing snakes. The figure receded yet further revealing it is trapped within a deep pit.
The floor of the pit was littered with bones, blood and humanoid remains. The view receded once
again and suddenly the scale seemed all wrong - this creature was huge. Clustered around the top
of the pit were human-sized yuan-ti offering sacrifices to the crazed occupant. As the view
receded again it revealed city streets, decrepit and ruined, teeming with yuan-ti and their slaves.
Twelve other, similar, pits could be spotted elsewhere within the city. All seemed contained
within some vast cavern. Looming overhead, barely visible, was the outline of a truly gigantic
spider.
Shinobi came round with a start, suddenly aware of his frantic breathing. He calmed himself with
Honshu techniques, then hastily donned his usual clothes, dropped into a different alley way and
made my way home taking a circuitous route, via the Minotaur for a sake or two to steady his
nerves and then off to bed.
The next night, Nex Pervenio met up with the Bugmans, now firm friends and allies, for an
evening of beer and chat. Once again Bugman regaled all and sundry with tales of his Underdark
escapades. Subtle questions from Shinobi revealed details of the yuan-ti city, surely the place of
his vision. Anathema is a city of yuan-ti, deep in the Underdark. The ruler is a creature known as a
"yuan-ti anathema", which the city is named after, the huge beast of the vision. There are 13 of
these anathemas in total, one king and 12 nobles, each head of a faction vying to claim the throne,
despite the fact they are insane and savage, not particularly sentient. Each dwells in a pit, known
as a torture pit, and are constantly fed victims (slaves or lower ranked yuan-ti). Anathema used to
be the drow capital, named Erenira by them. It fell in the distant past, the drow fled and made a
new capital (Erelhei-Cinlu, their current home) and the ruins were claimed by Zehir for his yuan-ti
followers.
They also learned from Bugman more about the drow. He said that the arena and gladiators in
Londinium were quite impressive, but were as nothing compared to those found in Erelhei-Cinlu -
"the best gladiators in the world". He told how Erelhei-Cinlu is divided into 8 districts (ghettos)
and each is ruled by a noble family. These 8 noble families are in continual power struggles,
sometimes openly but most often secretly via assassins and spies. Bugman also commented that
the gladiator school had an unusual amount of resources and investment for mere entertainment,
there had to be more to the place than first meets the eye. Nex Pervenio voiced their opinion that
they were used as a private army by the temple.
There were news and rumours that the military victories against the culists had now freed up many
legionnaires and that they were en route to the border with Honshu. Shinobi was unfazed by the
fact his actions would seemingly harm his country. The province neighbouring Rodinia is Dragon,
not his Scorpion home, and he'd be happy to see them weakened. He also suspected the fierce
Honshu samurai would prove more than a match for the Rodinian legions. Watch this space!
The next couple of days were spent purchasing new gear, getting things cleaned and repaired,
learning new ritual spells and performing research (Mika looked into blood fungus).
Finally, it was time to visit Sister Valerius and demand some answers! She was asked rather
bluntly to explain what was going on, Nex Pervenio had picked up enough hints and clues that
things weren't all they seem. She looked them all over and told them that all they were about to
hear was to be kept utterly secret.
The cult of elemental evil worship the god Tharizdun, currently imprisoned, whose release would
spell doom for the world! What is unknown to most is that Lolth, god of the drow, is responsible
for this imprisonment. Thus the cult oppose the drow in every way. The cult also seek power and
resources on the surface, bringing them into conflict with Rodinia. Hence the drow and Rodinia
have a common enemy. But there is more to it than that - the drow secretly fund and support the
Temple of Erathis to aid their efforts against the cult. They also use it as a training ground, to
discover gladiators who might be powerful enough to withstand the rigours of the Underdark
where the frontline against the cult is.
Shinobi was disheartened at this news, that the drow were behind the temple, yet he had a clan
grudge against the drow for the assassination of the shogun's wife. He was reminded though that
the drow are split into many factions. The temple of Erathis work primarily with House Aleval
(most diplomatic, many surface contacts), House Vae (slave traders) and House Zhiq'nah (arena).
The drow assassins he sought could be from any House or indeed renegades.
Sister Valerius suggested that Nex Pervenio would next head to Maelbrathyr, via Forgehome. It
seemed most had private duties to attend there in addition to what Sister Valerius asked. After that
there will be a huge gladiator tournament in Rodin City, where Nex Pervenio might win their
freedom. It was hoped that, even if they won their freedom, they might choose to continue the
fight against the cult of Elemental Evil and also prove their prowess in the drow arena.
After these shocking revelations, it was back to reality - time for the gladiator tournament.
Hopefully a good show would mollify the public, dismayed at the lack of the champions to defend
their title. In the first round Nex Pervenio faced a team of disgraced legionnaires who were clearly
out of their element and indeed their depth. Nex Pervenio toyed with their foes who posed no real
threat, working the crowd before dispatching them with ease. The second round was against the
Doomblades, an established team of dwarfs and a much tougher proposition. Indeed these dwarfs
had much nefarious magic to draw upon and hurled it from distance. However they struggled to
match Dash's firepower and one by one they were ensnared by Argus and comrades and dealt with
mercilessly.
Next was the final, where Nex Pervenio would face a team of cultists captured in the temple ruins,
fighting for their freedom.
Report Date
10 Apr 2024
Related Plots