Greetings,
The Nightwood closes tightly around and even above the River Styx, which becomes just wide and deep enough for the Boat Planet to row through. Shadows of the shoreline are often visible through the fog. There are many ominous, disturbing sights, sounds, smells and other emanations as the Boat Planet slides through the gloom of the Nightwood, and many false alarms of imminent danger. Everyone is on edge, encouraged by nightmarish visions of personal fears and foes that worm their way into their minds. This feeling of caution is soon rewarded. Strange clicking-cracking noises echo through the cold fog and there are splashes somewhere below the sides of the War Boat. The Deck Officer calls a halt to rowing as the crew look around the perimeter of the ship and shores for the source of the commotion. They soon gesture and call out at what they observe, which Boamund does too: dark shapes battling from shore to shallows on the starboard side of the War Boat. Their forms are obscure, but not humanoid. Fraud Shaven is momentarily distracted looking elsewhere, sure that he sees something.
The Deck Officer giantess then growls out, “Our course crosses with Waertag's mythic past. Crolar again fights his corrupt sister Bagog. Waertag had fought Crolar, but they made amends when Waertag healed Crolar's injuries with water sorcery that left Crolar able to swim. In return, the sea scorpions of Crolar have aided Waertag when called. Now we must needs return the aid. If you can swim, join the battle in the water. If you favour the land, seek the shore and face Bagog there instead. It is a chance to win boons from Crolar if you succeed.” Indeed, Boamund sees they are scorpion-things.
Shrett and Ahappi recall lore of Crolar. There were 2 spirit children of Kropa (mother of invertebrates), last born of all of them, but Chaos took one which became Crolar/Krolar's enemy Bagog, and Krolar became defender of Darkness, daring even to enter the ashes of the burning Bright Hell or Death Hell (and later deserts etc. on the surface world of Komor), where Wonderhome once was. Crolar gained Death from Zorak Zoran, and always a guardian of Subere.
Uzuz Baztakbaztak Spits-In-Mostals-Face tells Bog “Bold Enlo, do your duty for your Lord of Demons and go aid his friend Crolar. Prove yourself, survive, and I will lick your wounds with my black tongue and heal you.” Bog promises to do so.
Ahappi does a perfect dive into the Styx and faces a Devotee of Bagog; a scorpion-woman with a magical carapace and a spear. But he fights well and his allied sea-scorpion of Crolar helps deal the final blow, quickly defeating her.
The others plunge in and make their way to shore to join the fight aiding land-scorpions against scorpion-people. Your foes range from normal scorpion-folk, varying in skills but certainly dangerous, to more elite leaders including Boamund facing a speedy bodyguard-warrior and Shrett taking on an acolyte of Bagog. You make short work of them, though; as you outnumber them. Bog takes a sting-wound from a fumbled parry by his scorpion-ally. Yet he is healed by Baztakbaztak's black tongue-bath before it takes full effect. You are swiftly victorious, and as the battle finishes, driving the Bagogi deep underwater or into the Nightwood, the Crolari dance around you, click-clacking their pincers and swaying their stingers. Many of you join the dance; Shrett tries to sing but cannot harmonize with their arthropod sounds. You gain 1-use blessings of Crolar: able to sprout arms, legs or a stinger. Very handy! The Crolari move on as everyone returns to the ship via ropes cast down from the decks.
On slogs the War Boat deep into the Nightwood, where now the deep dark gloom is dimly lit by those eerie bobbing, wandering lights you've seen elsewhere, but in greater numbers here. The Boat Planet rows underneath a strange network slightly lit by the lights, which seem drawn near to it. Boamund thinks it looks like webs. This network is soon revealed to be something stranger, though. Translucent grey “tunnels”, for lack of a better word, pass through the space above the boat, here and there splitting into or merging from forked intersections, forming a complex pattern that continues beyond perception. You spot a lone figure within a tunnel above and ahead of you, drawing nearer as the Boat Planet continues. It seems inattentive to the War Boat and its passengers, instead busy doing something; and it is humanoid in size and form. He looks Pithdaran (specifically Fonritian; like Amur of The Shadow) and wears strange clothes including rune-inscribed robes and turban of fine, glittering silver silks, giving him the look of a Zzaburi. You can't puzzle out what he is or what he's doing, and Boamund has very limited attempts communicating with him-he acknowledge he is from Fonrit, but shows no interest in you. He seems to be working with some tool or something, inside this hollow tunnel-thing? Boamund follows underneath him, across the deck, as the War Boat passes onward, but cannot learn more, and soon you leave that place. [It would have taken some good Lore rolls and attempts to persuade him to communicate more; he would have raised Arkati suspicions that he's a meddling heroquester, but this was not a station essential to the quest]
A six-legged bloated goat corpse the size of a house lying floating in the Styx River ahead of the War Boat draws attention. The Nightwood's fog carries the stench and slimy feeling of intense decay [ALL: Endurance rolls or -1 AP/round from disgust until succeed]; some of that fog even appears to peel off the corpse or big chunks of rotten flesh floating nearby. The crew casts some sensory-enhancing spells to inspect this, and well they do, as it gives them some warning, just enough time to call an alarm and hurry some people to safety. A giant black crocodile-thing, surely hundreds of metres long, bursts from the rotten waters ahead and grabs the Sky Ship's bow in its jaws. As it does, foul water splashes the deck and rains down scores of giant sea lice (And, as you find out, undead in nature) that slither to attack everyone! The Deck Officer calls a halt to rowing to fend off the threat. You draw weapons and face them; two scramble to attack each of you. You fight well though, taking the tactic of fending one off at a distance while killing the other. After a few seconds of combat, the giant crocodile rolls, twisting and shaking War Boat but failing to capsize it. Everyone keeps their footing, thankfully. The sea-lice are clumsy and slow, so their numbers do not overwhelm you. And very soon you slaughter them all, without taking any wounds. As most aboard fight off the vast swarm of parasites, the greatest Heroes of the War Boat face the crocodile-thing. Waertag the Reaver brings out his household to challenge it, naming it as Ravenous Maw, another old foe and scourge of the Underworld's waters. He throws quicksilver bolts of sorcery that rip great gashes in its huge head. Lukudan or Lukarius the Archer fires sizzling fire arrows that do similar harm. But Ravenous Maw holds firm, the increasing pressure of its jaws spreading cracks across the hull that crew rush to cast spells of repair on. The fight teeters back and forth until at last Waertag calls out, “Inner Dragon of the War Boat, remember my pledge and release your fury!” In response, the dragon-head near the ship's prow releases a huge gout of bright orange flame, lighting the Nightwood for miles, and the head of Ravenous Maw vanishes in hissing steam and choking smoke, releasing the ship. The Deck Officer commands everyone to move the War Boat quickly out of this area of great danger. Onwards you sing and row; with Ahappi developing a small wound as he struggles to sing.
The War Boat sails the silent Styx out of the Nightwood and through a ruined lifeless landscape of burnt ruins and shattered mountains until it reaches the bottom of a great mountainous cliff, rising high into the darkness. The rock wall is dark and ominous. At the base of the cliff is a massive gate with huge leaden doors some 20 metres high, spanning the River. The doors are slightly ajar and depict guardians and denizens of the Underworld, along with the souls of the Dead. Great locks and iron doorbolts can be seen on the front of the door; they are clearly meant to bar the door from whatever is on the other side of the gate.
Waertag the Reaver calls out to those on board: “Watchers and Pullers of the War Boat, you all take the pretense of death and so must disembark to pass the test of Kaldar's Gate, band by band, as all before you have done. Let ropes and ramps be made steadfast for all to do so, and again readied past the gates for them to return aboard if they are not then truly dead.”
And so those on board stream off the War Boat ashore, and queue up to challenge the gate's guardians. Group by group, they succeed or die; and each time the guardians fall, they rise again intact once those who defeat them pass successfully through Kaldar's Gate. The nature of the guardians varies each time they fight, so it seems unpredictable what they'll be like when you face them; you gain no advantage by watching prior bands face them, except to know that they are fearsome indeed.
You all know enough to piece together “facts” about these infamous demonic guardians. Kaldar and Sinjota were two guardians of the Gates of Dusk during the Great Darkness. They were confronted by the Seven Lightbringers, who wished passage but were denied. Orlanth killed Kaldar and Eurmal seduced Sinjota; the latter act begat Yomat Burtae (friend of man), who was worshiped later in the West. Sometimes they still appear at the Gates of Dusk, but more often now in the Underworld at “Kaldar's Gate”. It is expected that, like the Lightbringers did, Kaldar needs defeating in combat whereas Sinjota deserves more clever means of defeat, via some sort of distraction; but either way these are epic foes and are likely to hold surprises.
Standing in front of the gate are indeed the two demonic guardians, each standing twice the height of the tallest man. The first guardian is a monster with a canine face with bulging eyes, a scaly body, a snake-headed tail, the talons of an eagle, and four sets of wings. In his hands are a mace and an axe. This demon is obviously male and is called Kaldar. The second demonic guardian is even more frightening to behold. Her face is dread and awful, and glares terribly. She has the fangs of a snake and the tusks of a boar, naked breasts, a hairy body, four arms, hands stained with blood, long fingers and claws, and the talons of an eagle. In her palms are writhing snakes. This demon is obviously female and is called Sinjota. Each of them is somewhat reminiscent of the Talanim; an Underworld shadow of that higher being of the Sky realm.
For Friday! -John
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