Game summary for July 21, 2015, Carrion Crown Adventure Path campaign, Shadows of Gallowspire adventure; PCs included Abilard Athame (human magus), Brutus Bonesmasher (human fighter), Dario Malavasi (human afflicted dire werewolf oracle), Gnok Thatek (dwarf vampire monk), Malthus Brightray (half-elf cleric), Radimir Dragomirov (human huecuva lord cleric), and Zeddicus Zu’l Zorander (human brine lich abjurer/cleric/mystic theurge), accompanied by NPC companion Nyssa Pagonis (human cleric) and cohorts Lucretia Ivankov (human vampire spawn sorcerer) and Shaddoc Moana (human brineborn barbarian).
Radimir felt the unholy negative energy of Urgathoa’s priestess tear through his body and rip his soul from its moorings. His last mortal thought was how ironic it was his deity’s immortal enemy and opposite who killed him. Radimir awoke and knew he was dead. Looking around, he recognized Pharasma’s Boneyard and the long lines of petitioners awaiting judgment and their eternal fate. He stood in line and approached the throne. Slowly. It seemed all eternity passed as he stood, shuffled forward one place, and stood some more. Occasionally he thought he caught just a whisper of his name, hushed and afar off. However, no one spoke, they just stood. Some wept, others quaked in fear. But onward the line moved getting closer to knowing what judgment the goddess of the dead would pronounce. Again, and again, he thought he heard his named whispered, but never could he divine the source.
“I can raise him,” growled Dario through his furry muzzle. “Nah,” shrugged Gnok, as he dumped Radimir’s cooling corpse into a corner and pulled out the Lazurite Focus to allow its energy to mingle with the unhallowed desecrated aura of Renchurch. Almost with malicious glee, the undead gathered to wait and see what horrors were inflicted upon their companion. Dario shrugged and sat in another corner to chew on his fleas. Muttering fearful prayers, Nyssa retreated to one of the stone pews and began rocking slightly back and forth.
Radimir knelt before the throne, the glory and splendor of his goddess radiant before him! He wept joyfully that his quest had brought him here. He was sorrowful he would not see the mission to the end, but he had died a martyr and he knew the promises of his goddess. He nearly trembled with anticipation.
“Fool!” Pharsma proclaimed, nearly rising out of her seat in anger. “Fool! You know the blight that is the undead! You know the corruption! And yet, you consort with them! You stood by and watched as they slaughtered your companions! You did nothing as they raised unholy blasphemies into the world! You gripped the Raven’s Head, capable of sending them all back to dust, and did nothing! And all the while you told yourself it was for the greater good! No! There is no good in the undead. You know this. You knew all along. Deep down you knew what you did was wrong, and yet you went against everything you were ever taught and told yourself I would be pleased! And you knew exactly what they would do with you if you fell in battle.”
“But… the Tyrant, we were weak, we needed strength…” Radimir sputtered. Again, he heard his name whispered, but louder and more insistent.
“Silence!” exclaimed Pharsma, with a cold, angry, authoritative voice. “You sought to oppose the king of the undead with… undead. Lust filled your hearts. Lust for power. Lust for immortality. You are no better than Tar-Baphon and would deserve to be his slave. You made your choices and must suffer the consequences. Although I abhor what you shall become, your decisions allowed it, and so I will not intervene. Another, however, petitions for your very soul. He calls out for you from his godless, lightless realm. I give you wholly to him for all eternity. I proclaim you damned forever more. I rescind from you every blessing I’ve ever provided. I curse the ground upon which you walk. I declare you anathema and heathen and enemy of me and my church. Your soul is so judged and your fate decided. Go to your new master and suffer for what you have allowed into the world.”
Radimir’s corpse spasmed as the black light of the Lazurite Focus pulsed. The scent of decay wafted from his flesh as it began to rot before the eyes of his companions. Dario raised his head, sniffed the befouled air, and went back to gnawing his hide. Cruel smiles broke out on the faces of Radimir’s undead spectators. Corruption and taint rippled in almost visible waves, threatening to tear a hole into the negative energy plane. The undead basked in ecstasy.
Radimir awoke once again with the sensation he was drifting. Or sinking. His movements were sluggish as he struggled, and he could see light far above him. He could make out the Boneyard in the circle of light, and he remembered be hurled out of Pharasma’s realm and plummeting into darkness. He remembered crashing into the ground… no, it yielded too much to be the ground. Water. He had crashed into water. Above him, the light shrank and faded, and he knew he was submerged, sinking deeper into a dark abyss. The pressure and cold were tremendous and growing more so by the moment. He could not even move or thrash. He was pinned by the overwhelming weight of the water. In the flickering shadows horrors swam by. Mammoth sharks. Tentacled monsters. Froglike behemoths. All eyed him, very aware of his presence but allowed him to sink past. Soon the light was gone, and he could only speculate what manner of monstrosities brushed past him in the blackness.
“Radimir,” came a booming voice nearly in his ear. He recognized the voice from the whispers. He realized it had not been whispering the whole time, but shouting from a great distance away! Glowing green eyes slowly opened to regard the fallen priest, and in that light Radimir beheld an enormous form. A creature not quite fish, not quite eel, not quite octopus, but some unholy combination of all. It towered over him in the endless sea as large as a mountain. Again, Dagon spoke.
Radimir’s corpse jerked as it coughed up salt water. Zedd fell to his knees as a Dagon gave him a vision of Radimir’s soul. He muttered praises to the demon lord as another soul was welcomed into damnation as his had so recently.
“You spent your entire life worshipping Pharasma. You denied yourself so much. So many prayers. So many rituals. So much you gave and sacrificed. And for what? Here you are, with me. Mine forever. One ‘mistake’ and she casts you aside as rubbish. I will never cast you aside. You are mine now and forever, and I will never forget you are mine. And neither shall you. This will be your eternal home. The crushing depths, the freezing cold. You will be eaten and abused by demons but never able to die. You will heal in agony, and the cycle will play out forever. You will not see what plucks out your eyes or lays its eggs in your throat. The energy of your soul shall sustain so many horrors, and you will forever dread the next creature to get hold of you. It will never end, for you are mine, and I will never cast you aside. You are far too useful. For now, I have use of you in the world. I send you there, slave. But know that if you ever fail me, that existence will end and this one begin. Please me as long as you can. Never forget, I am all you have. Pharasma doesn’t care about you. I only care about your use to me. Go, be useful.”
The desiccated and rotted form of Radimir climbed to its feet before the onlookers. Radimir doubled over and vomited forth several gallons of seawater and scuttling crabs. He picked up the Raven’s Head and smoked billowed from his burning hand. In rage he hurled the mace against the wall and ripped the symbol of Pharasma from around his neck. He dropped to his knees beside the portable hole, crushing a crab in the process. He leaned and rummaged about. He soon emerged holding a reddish gold medallion depicting some kind of fish, eel, octopus hybrid. He hung the symbol around his neck and hefted the trident once belonging to Polyphemus. The fallen priest took his place among his companions and realized try as he might, he was unable to cry.
The team, joined by their newly undead companion, moved through the double doors and down a long flight of steps into the darkness. They opened a pair of doors and found the large round room with the pool of maggots. They engaged a man apparently made of worms who hit Dario with a disintegrate ray. He cast acid fog to block the team as Gnok closed in. The dwarf found an illusion and frustration for his trouble. The acid fog was dispelled, but the caster followed it with black tentacles. The grasping tentacles grappled Zedd and Lucretia, but the vampire turned to gaseous form to escape.
Malthus launched a wall of fire that began destroying the maggot pool while Radimir cast ice storm over the area. The spells harmed their allies a bit but not seriously. Abilard realized the caster was using project image and had to be within line of effect. He communicated this to his allies, and they began planning on how to find the hidden caster.
