Session #42: The Sixth House Cleansed

Even as the preparations for the Procession of Locor were in full swing, the Great Spire of the Klackons--on the northern slopes of the Tel al Safina--was filled with the noise and excitement of some great festival of the insect-folk that dwell there. The men of Cothon wondered briefly at the distant tumult, shrugged, and went back to their own business and preparations; for who really understands the Klackons and their religion, or why the ant-men should suddenly take to feasting?

Only a day before, a party mostly of barbarian-adventurers--composed of members of the Survivors of the Tel, but also including Durham of the Ringing Anvil, and the the noble citizen Zaida, scion of the Bani al Rashid--had gathered at their tavern headquarters, Cothon-Under-Star, to plan an expedition into the very Spire. Snatches of conversation that could be gleaned indicated that the intended goal was to return to the "haunted" Sixth House and finally put an end to the infestation that had taken root there (as had been promised to the Attine princesses some time ago).

So they set out, by way of the Gate of Mourners, thence to swing around the Tel north and west:

• Avin (magic-user 6)
• Durham (fighting-man 6)
  accompanied by Pako (renyu)
• Ravna (magic-user 5)
• Bartholomew (magic-user 5)
  accompanied by Gan ad-Din (fighting-man 4)
• Sesel (fighting-man 6)
  accompanied by Raoden (magic-user 3?)
• Zaida al Rashid (fighting-woman 3)
  accompanied by her liege-man Rand al Marashi (footman)

The party returned to the city of Cothon through the Gate of Mourners leading carts heavily laden with collections of strange and wondrous things--and most evidently, Rand al Marashi, fighting-liegeman of Zaida, straddled a strange Klackon throne of greenish metal atop the lead cart, borne in honor. Unable to bear the dishonor of her servant being borne above her while she walked, Zaida was perched more unceremoniously upon a pile of zortrium ingots on the second cart.

This company made their way through the streets back to their tavern headquarters, there to divide their plunder. But though the treasure was of keen interest to many an onlooker, more interesting was the tale that Gan ad-Din, "Bearer of All Things" and his fighting-comrade Rand together spun as they drank the health of the company at the bar:

Returning to the Spire to cleanse the Sixth House at last, we descended through the sealed trap at the top. After securing everything of the upper levels, we rappelled down the broken stair to discover a dozen or more of the creatures infesting the Spire in the court of the House. The battle was on! The creatures were a mix of Klackons infected with terrible worms that replaced their heads, worms that sprayed burning acid, while at their feet skittered pallid beetle-things with stings that caused muscles to lock up in paralysis. But between strong sword arms and fire--much fire!--our foes were vanquished, burned away. And thus with sword, oil, and fire, the Sixth House was cleansed at last. And well did the Princesses of the other five Houses feast us when they heard of our deeds, and saw that the House was indeed cleansed of evil.

Gan in particular mentions how he fell in with the Klackon warrioress Katax, who promised that if he was indeed the warrior he claimed to be, that perhaps she could teach him something of the Klackon martial-arts. Sesel, meanwhile, as the Voice of the Survivors, claims to have been taken aside by the Klackon interpreter Txach'achit and assured that the Princess of the Ndorl--the Fifth House--has declared that there is always a place at her table for him and his comrades.

The Lucre

• 4 zortrium ingots
• the zortrium Klackon-throne
• a workshop's-worth of alchemical tools and exotic ingredients (worth some 5000 gold)
• four particularly interesting texts:
  1) a codex of Tulket ibn al-Rahm describing certain demons of the Fortress Moon
  2) a Klackon-khipu about "Experiments Toward the Creation of Ancient Warriors"
  3) a periplus-account promising the location of the Glorious Cloak of Eyes
  4) a spellbook ...
• a collection of Klackon khipu-texts, to be translated
• 4 gems meant to be set into a Klackon carapace (1030 gp; 3@10 and 1@1000)
• one especial carapace-gem, glowing dim red, clearly magical

The Learning

• 6030 from treasure
• 330 xp from underground worm (300 +hp)
• 223 xp from new worms x4 (50 + hp ea.)
• 1177 xp from "newborns" x19 (150 + hp ea.)
• 543 xp from scribs x9 (100 +hp ea.)
• 330 xp from "queen" (300 +hp)
• 200 xp to each character for exploring into the Deep Tunnels

The Cut

• 169 gp to each player-character
  83 gp to Raoden and Gan ad-Din
  17 gp to Rand
  (Zaida takes no cut of gold, but hopes perhaps to claim one of the ingots for her House)
• 1931 xp to each player-character
  966 xp to Zaida, Raoden, and Gan ad-Din
• four zortrium ingots
• the demon-codex
• the experiment-khipu
• a "map" to the Glorious Cloak of Eyes
• the spellbook
• the magical gem

Plus, these certain items require further attention:

• the zortrium throne could be sold to "the right buyer", or retained for some other project
• the alchemical tools and ingredients have been claimed by the Survivors, unless the scribes are mistaken--and if so, please let them know!
• as before, the Klackon khipu-collection must needs be translated before its true value can be known