Quinua: The Shepherd of Souls

Now that we’ve located the Shepherd’s Staff, we decided to go back to the area in the caves where the spirit of King Agamemnon spoke to me. Entering the area, I could sense many presences. The shadowy spirits began to flicker and jump around and eventually they took shape into a small army of ten well-armed, ghostly warriors. One larger spirit appeared at their lead – it was King Agamemnon! They all looked very fierce and quite frightening, as they weren’t actually “alive”. I spoke to the king (not Elvis – the *other* king) about what transpired and he explained that his son (Morgellon – a name that pained him to speak aloud) and daughter (we never got her name) both betrayed him, so he left them to the will of the goat-men during their uprising. He was determined for me to lead my “flock” to the depths of the caves to seek out their revenge, but I mentioned that we hadn’t yet located the Chime of Opening. He informed us that there was another chime in his daughter’s room; located in an area of the caves we never got around to exploring yet. We set off to recover this important device, but not before King Agamemnon’s warning to us that she has become a dangerous undead creature that we should avoid coming in contact with.

Upon entering this unexplored area, we first noticed that it was quite unlike the rest of the cave. The halls were swept and clean and a series of torches that lined the corridor cast a pleasant and inviting light. We entered a well-kept waiting room where two beautiful women stood, both dressed in flowing robes. Always on his guard, Never Nervous Elvis barked at them that we were here to see the princess. They were taken aback by his abruptness; however we were cordially directed to her chambers through a door on the far wall. We entered to find the princess lying on a lounge with her lady-in-waiting at her side brushing her hair. Without hesitation or introduction, we asked her the location of the Chime of Opening. I can’t say that what occurred next was too much of a surprise, however disturbing and unwelcome it was.

Without a word, the princess rose from her lounge and began to approach us. As she got closer, the light in the room suddenly began to flicker off and on and in between the confusing flashes we saw horrific images of great beast-men violently hacking the women apart with their claws and weapons. Painful screams of agony were only made only worse by the blood and gore splattering all around us. The lights came back on and our entire surroundings appeared different. Our surroundings changed to that of a typical cave chamber, dirty and decrepit and the women were hideous wights that were about to attack! We were fooled by a devious illusion! We weren’t caught off guard though as we got in the first attack. I sensed that my newly acquired staff would be able to help me somehow, so I stood forward with it and spoke some words that I hoped would frighten off these creatures. My words were convincing enough to intimidate three of them into submission, but for how long we didn’t know. Ralph and Willis held off the one stubborn abomination while the rest of us frantically searched the furniture in the room for that elusive chime. Luck was with us as we finally located it in the drawer of a vanity. We quickly secured it and dashed for the exit, but as we passed through the door we saw that Willis had fallen victim to the wights’ energy drain. Unfazed, we kept running as fast as we could without looking back.

Our group about to battle some wight bitches.

We relocated King Agamemnon and his men then headed directly to that strange door we discovered a while ago that electrocuted Elvis when he tried to open it. This time we struck the chime once and the pure tone that it produced caused the doors to open effortlessly. Beyond are some stairs that head to a dark level below. As we continued down, bones of the dead were everywhere. The door at the top of the stairs slammed shut and a loud, screechy voice taunted our presence in the corridor. Numerous blades appeared out of the walls and began to move towards us. Elvis hit them with his faithful sword and some of the blades broke, but didn’t stop coming at us. Chris was able to quickly slink past them, but Hans wasn’t as deft on his attempt and took some serious wounds. Following in Chris’ footsteps, Ralph showed great dexterity (more like luck, actually) and somehow avoided the blades also. Elvis and I retreated to the safety of the stairs until the blades came to a stop. Once they did, we simply walked past them uninjured.

A strange door that opened only with the Chime of Opening.

The corridor led to a very large chamber with racks upon racks of wine and other foodstuffs. It appeared to be some sort of massive pantry. We barely had time to search around when two black, rubbery creatures came towards us looking for trouble. One quickly latched onto Elvis and gave him some problems when Ralph got in a solid shot with his sword and killed it. The other one was stubborn too, but we were able to get the best of it after a short battle. We’re not sure what these things were, but no matter. At this point we discovered there were three other passages leading out of this room. I decided to use one of the spells from that scroll I found in the mummy’s tomb – the enchantment that helps to locate a desired object. I got the paper from my tunic and read the mysterious words aloud while concentrating on an image of a large, skull shaped gem. The incantation worked as a trail of light could be seen heading out of the room via one of the passages. We followed hastily so as not to waste time.

It led to a room with many shelves that were filled with various, ancient tomes. Oh, how I wanted to stay and research each one, but the magical trail of light was indicating our goal was beyond yet another door. There was a strange powder lying on the floor across the front of the other exit. Inspecting it proved to be some sort of material that is used to impede the spread of fire. Cautiously, we brushed the material away and continued through the door. Beyond the door was what I believe to be the Halls of Darkness (as mentioned in the letter to Morgellon). No light could penetrate so following the path was challenging. We eventually made our way into a large room where rotting corpses and bones of unfortunate victims littered the area. After a quick visual scan of the area, we saw a set of stairs that ascend to a large bed with many crushed, velvet pillows all around. Lying on the bed was a most repulsive sight. A fat, naked man was upon it; he appeared to be dead due to much of his flesh rotten from decay. At his side were two “women” – creatures that were more horrific than the ones we fought earlier.

The grotesque man then lifted his head and looked directly at us. He was actually alive! Or whatever his version of alive was. The ghostly King Agamemnon cried out for battle and began to curse the wretched name of Telekis as he and his men quickly charged to attack the creatures. In an instant, the fat, decaying lich began to levitate above the reach of his enemies’ weapons. Knowing that he’d be difficult to defeat from that vantage point, I recalled that my new scroll contained a spell that could conjure an orb of fire. I was hesitant to use it at first, as I’ve never cast such a powerful spell but then I thought if I didn’t act quickly, the opportunity to attack him might be lost. The strange words from the scroll resonated deep within me and I urged my gods to grant me their full consideration. They did not disappoint. The gods were either unhappy with Telekis or pleased with my efforts against him, as a massive ball of fire shot from my hands and exploded directly on Telekis. Charred and severely damaged, he spiraled to the ground and for a brief moment I felt bad for him. That moment of absurdity quickly passed and we continued the assault on him and his wraith wenches. In his last few breaths, he attempted to cast another spell, but Christopher took advantage of his vulnerable state and slew the once mighty lich before the magic could take form. King Agamemnon and his men helped finish off the wraiths and once all the evil was cleansed, the darkness that enveloped the area began to dissipate. With a countenance of relief and deep satisfaction, King Agamemnon approached me, dropped to one knee and conveyed his gratification for helping lead him and his army of souls to this confrontation with Telekis. Having concluded their mission, the spirits then dispersed into the ether.

Looking around the room, our eyes were quickly drawn to the prize we’ve been longing to attain. The evil Death’s Head gem was waiting for us on a pedestal beside the bed of Telekis. Careful not to touch it, Elvis threw a tarp over it and secured it away. Also in the room we found some chests containing all types of gold, gems, and Thracian jewelry. One ring in particular stood out amongst the other valuables. It was inscribed with some peculiar ancient runes. We plan to take full inventory of the treasure, but for now, a quick breather…