Ancient Tomb

Seeking an alternate route into the depths of the Obsidian Pyramid, the Fishwives found a passage leading from the cave of the cyclops deep underground to an ancient tomb complex. What follows is a mostly complete account of the perils they faced within. Their original maps have been annotated for clarity.

The First Foray

The Lower Levels

The Diorama Room

The Fishwives entered the tomb via a room [1] filled with dioramas depicting various aspects of humanoid and reptile life. A locked door blocked their passage, but Ka-Ess discovered a key disguised as a shepherd's crook held by one of the figures in a diorama. The door opened onto a hallway with niches carved into the stone walls. At the end of the hall stood two large, bronze doors.

Kalka-Kylla, the hermit crab

Behind the bronze doors lay a large room [2] with a mud-covered floor. A poisonous gas filled the air. Through the gloom, the adventurers could see movement near a boulder in the center of the chamber. An anxious, abnormally large crayfish repeatedly warned the travelers not to approach. The crayfish described a guardian who would be angered by their presence, but the group paid it no heed. Sathul approached what appeared to be a bamboo staff sticking out of the mud, but which turned out to be the articulated leg of an enormous hermit crab, the guardian Kalka-Kylla. The crab was decidedly unperturbed by their presence, but did describe malevolent beings that inhabited the tomb.

The caustic door

Entering a hallway off Kalka-Kylla's chamber, the party encountered a stone door [3] that was covered in what appeared to be caustic lime. They determined this was likely unimportant and moved on.

The stone statue and macuahuitl

Crossing back through the crab's lair, the Fishwives continued through a room into another hallway [4]. A trickle of water flowed along the floor and the walls were wet and slimy. A large stone statue of a warrior stood on their right. Ka-Ess attempted a nimble leap onto the statue, causing it to crash to the ground. This revealed a passageway previously hidden by the statue. Ilabrar recovered a magical obsidian-studded macuahuitl from the warrior statue, and Sathul pilfered the statue's obsidian eyes.

Tecuziztecatl, Lord of Snails

Following iridescent trails from the statue hall into a water-filled room [5], the adventurers did not encounter a single swarm of rats. They did, however find Tecuziztecatl, Lord of Snails and maker of trails. They bargained with the Lord of Snails, who allowed them to leave.

The nereid and the unsettling crevasse

Bidding their chill snail-friend goodbye, the group returned the same way they came and entered the passage revealed by the fallen statue. They surprised a nereid in a partially-flooded chamber [6]. The magic users in the party were immediately struck by a profound sense of foreboding emanating from a crevasse under the water. When questioned about the chasm, the nereid at first advised the Fishwives not to enter it, but later said she didn't care what they did and that there was probably nothing down there. The group agreed that their perception of overwhelming evil was probably nothing. They crossed a small causeway and exited the room.

The Cairn and the jade pectorals

The explorers passed through more bronze doors and entered a long gallery, the floor of which was piled with bones. They briefly trapped themselves in a cage at the far end of the room, but soon escaped. A more careful search of the room yielded a door into another long hallway that had several sculpted animal heads along the walls. They continued to the left and found a small alcove before finally entering an enormous room [7] with several ranks of clay warrior statues. Carefully avoiding these, they broke into the large stone cairn that sat behind the statues. From this they recovered a variety of valuables, including six jade pectorals. Leaving the room, they passed into a hallway that seemed to be a dead end. However, when all four pushed on the stone at the end of the hall it slid back—slowly at first, but more quickly and easily after a bit. The stone block moved up a slight incline on rollers set into the floor; before continuing into the next room, Sathul attempted to wedge the stone so that it would not roll back.

The chamber with the sleepers

The Fishwives entered an octagonal chamber [8] and noticed two figures lying on stone slabs. A table stood between them with a crystal flask and two goblets. The figures looked dead at first; closer inspection revealed that they were not dead, but had clearly been there for a very long time. Curiosity got the best of the group, and they touched one of the figures, bringing it to life. The now former sleeper was annoyed and demanded payment for his trouble. He was appeased with one of the recently acquired pectorals and put back to sleep by reconstituting the potion in the flask. The party passed through the double doors.

The false beholder

Continuing through an L-shaped hallway, the party entered a large room [9] that was notably rougher and dirtier than many of the other rooms they had encountered so far. They went through more doors and began walking up the stairs that stood before them. A step on a trick stair caused an enormous stone to roll down the stairs toward our heroes, but it was eliminated with dispatch by Ardrick's powerful Shatter spell. As they climbed the stairs, they noticed the poison gas that had befouled the lower rooms had now dissipated. In a room atop the stairs, the company were confronted by a large, floating orb. At its center was a large eye, and erupting from its surface were a variety of bulbous stalks. Fearing a confrontation with a powerful being, Ilabrar cast Mirror Image. [?] followed this with a [ranged attack], causing the entity to explode and revealing it as a gas spore. The party narrowly avoided poisoning from the exploding fungus.

The Challenge of Pelota

The friends walked on to a long, narrow hallway [10]. At the close end of the hall was an intricately carved face with what looked like a ball in its mouth. When touched, the ball flew on its own toward the middle of the long room. The mouth of the carving began to glow, as did a similar carving at the other end of the room. Through a mixture of magical and martial means, the team moved the ball down the field and put some points on the board, eventually winning the game 3-0. The ball immediately stopped moving and Ka-Ess recovered a magical whistle from the far goal.

The cat room

The next room [11] was decorated with a variety of stuffed housecats, which the adventurers collected in their Bag of Holding. They also found a stuffed tiger (this, too, went in the bag) and a statue of a man with a tiger's head that animated when touched. The party defeated what turned out to be a weretiger, but not before Ilabrar was bitten. He became aware that he had been cursed with lycanthropy, but did not reveal this to his compatriots. The group collected the pelts of several big cats and continued their journey.

The Well of Light and Xipe's Lair

Lining the walls of the next room [12] were what appeared to be human skins. The reptilian members of the party insisted the flayed skins be deposited in the Bag of Holding, alarming Ardrick. Inside the room stood a gigantic statue of Xipe, the Lord of the Flayed Skins. Opposite the statue of Xipe was a well that seemed to be illuminated from within. Above the well was a hole in the tall ceiling. Using a combination of Fly and Ka-Ess' magical whistle, the crew ascended through the hole into the lair of Xipe, an oni who filled the room with some sort of sleet storm. He was subdued by the Fishwives, who then looted his corpse.

The giant snake and baboons

After their defeat of Xipe, the team returned to the cat room, entered a different door and found themselves in a long room with a deep pit crossed with metal bars in their way. In the bottom of the pit were several thorny plants. Ilabrar spoke to the plants and convinced them the adventurers meant no harm, allowing Ka-Ess to cross and assist the others with his rope. They entered a cavernous room [14] which appeared to be crumbling; a large stone block rested atop some humanoid remains and a cave-in revealed a troop of baboons clustered around a hole in the ceiling. Sathul bargained with the giant snake they found within and Ka-Ess shot one of the baboons as an offering. The cave-in that resulted from the pistol struck neither the party nor the snake, who seemed satisfied with the offering. On the way out, thinking the others weren't looking, Ilabrar took a bite of one of the baboons.

The malevolent tree

From the snake room, the Fishwives continued into a chamber [13] containing what appeared to be a withered tree. The tree-like foe began grabbing our heroes, dragging them toward its toothy maw. It managed to get Ilabrar into its mouth and chewed on him at length, to no apparent effect. Thus occupied, the not-a-tree's mouth posed no harm to the other members of the group, who killed it efficiently. Ilabrar emerged with his clothing a bit tattered, but otherwise unharmed. Ardrick[?] recovered a silvery wand of lightning bolts from the thing's corpse. The party got the impression that the passage continued toward the cat room, so they instead returned to the snake room to try the other doors. One door revealed dusty, but harmless, phantoms. The large double doors opened to a hallway and stairs to the upper levels of the tomb.

The Upper Levels

The couatl and the trippy pyramid

Mounting the steps to the second level, the gang set off another trap and were singed by a fire-breathing stone dragon. Further along, the entered a round room [15] with a four-sided dais in the center. Very trippy. Also there was a couatl.

The strange mirrors

The adventurers entered a rectangular room [16] with four strange mirrors hanging on the walls, one of which shimmered with blue light. When Ardrick touched it, he was magically transported through the glass to a water-filled chamber on the other side. He got out somehow. Unperturbed by the consistent malevolence of magical items in the tomb, the gang approached an oblong basin full of golden liquid in the center of the room and dipped several stuffed housecats into it. The turned into gold and were returned to the Bag of Holding.

Mictlan, The Land of the Dead

The Fishwives continued into a massive room [17] filled with dioramas depicting various creative methods of hellish torture. The party followed a stone path to a large hill on the left side of the room, only to be thrown off the hill into several of the torture zones. They narrowly escaped through a small, glowing opening in the ceiling above the hill.

The fountain room

Emerging from the tunnel below, the Fishwives found themselves in a room with two fountains [18]. One was cracked and dry, but the other held dark water. [...] They ascended the stairs and were beset by the mummy of a centaur. They absolutely shredded the centaur mummy.

The wind tunnel

After defeating the mummy, the party avoided being crushed by a jade sheet that fell away from them into the next hall. Farther, they encountered a cube-shaped widening in the passageway [19]. Ka-Ess climbed the metal rungs set into the walls and opened a hatch in the ceiling, unleashing a powerful whirlwind.

The room of the conqueror

Behind a curtain in the large room [20], the adventurers found a statue sitting on a stone throne. It held an elaborate golden scepter in its lap, but the most remarkable thing about the statue is that it looked exactly like Ka-Ess. He grasped the scepter, but felt his body petrifying. At the same time, the statue started to look more lifelike. [...]

The chamber of bones and the exit

Continuing down the hallway past the wind tunnel, the gang entered a small room [21]. A bronze wheel and lever were mounted on the wall to their left. Turning the wheel revealed an opening in the wall at the far end of the room, but it also opened a pit in the floor that was filled with bones. Two of the fishwives made it through the opening, but a pull on the wheel's locking lever dropped a metal portcullis across the doorway. The crew successfully used their combined strength to lift the portcullis and escaped up the stairs.

The ruined temple

The Fishwives escaped the tomb through the ruins of a temple and quickly made their way back to The Satisfied Fishwife

The Second Sojourn

After their defeat of Xipacna, the party rested at the goblin luau then continued through Kronk's cave and into the tomb. Ilabrar felt terrifying and unnatural vibes as they descended.

The Lower Level

The unsettling Diorama Room

The friends returned to the Diorama Room [1] to find it wetter and slimier than it was during their previous visit. They also noticed bones strewn across the floor and arranged into unnerving patterns which Sathul recognized as pertaining to the Far Realm. In the next hallway [1-2], the bamboo decorations on the walls could be seen shifting into script, but only when not looked at directly.

The Grell and Spectator

Upon entering the next room [2], the Fishwives found their old acquaintance, the giant crayfish, dead near the door with his carapace split open. They also noticed what appeared to be Kalka-Kylla swaying back and forth in the center of the room. As Ilabrar approached, a grell emerged from the lifeless crab's cracked exoskeleton and began to attack. Ka-Ess dispatched it with a bite to its brain-like body (which tasted weird), but not before a second grell and a spectator joined the fight. These additional foes were ultimately obliterated by Cheeky's twinned Scorching Rays.

The Mind Flayer

After the defeat of the grell and spectator, the crew pressed on toward the caustic door [3] that they had previously ignored and found it open. Inside was a small anteroom with six sealed jars; these were not investigated further. Beyond a set of bronze double doors lurked a mind flayer that used its psionic abilities to stun the entire party, dealing significant psychic damage. Ka-Ess eventually shook off the stun and used his Cloud of Daggers and Dissonant Whispers to weaken the creature. Drawing on the power of her runic staff, Cheeky hit the mind flayer with three successive lightning bolts; the final shock eliminated it in a blinding flash of light. During the fight, Sathul was knocked unconscious and revived by Ilabrar twice. Ardrick also went down but was stabilized by Ka-Ess after the fight.

The party recovered the following treasure from the sarcophagus in the room:

Item	Value (GP)
Jade mask	200
Diadem of dark opal and jade discs	200
Flower-shaped jade earplugs	30
Jade beads, various shapes	156 @ 1 ea.
Ring with man holding moon	?
Ring with panther	?
Jade cube	150
Spherical agate	50
Potion of Invisibility, flower-shaped stopper	?
Elixir of Health, man with elf ears stopper	?

Wounded, the group returned to Kronk's cave where he guarded them while they rested. In their dreams, Cheeky and Ka-Ess heard a strange voice that said:

We are not enemies
We are friends
I do not wish to fight
You have bested my servants and proven your worth
Give me what I desire
And I will take my minions and go

The return to Tecuziztecatl

Unnerved by the death of their associate Kalka-Kylla, the Fishwives reentered the tomb and made for Tecuziztecatl's chamber [5]. They found the Lord of the Snails with an odd, greenish glow. He seemed confused and spoke with stunted, repetitious speech. Ka-Ess delved deep into Tecuziztecatl's thoughts, soothing his insanity and returning him to his natural silvery glow. Now convinced that he must help the party, the Lord of the Snails secreted his luminescent goo into three glass vials with instructions to use these in their fight against The Outsider.