Argosy of Blood, Chapter 9

The party arrives at the plaza leading into the Vaults. Since they cannot close the portal to the Black Gulf of N’Kai until midnight, when all seven Wandering Stars are directly overhead, they decide to wait until nightfall. Meanwhile, they prepare their equipment and themselves. Prospero ingests the powder of the Black Lotus while Xim meditates and performs Tai Chi exercises.

Prospero, examining the giant brass obelisk in the plaza is jolted with an electric shock, almost knocking him unconscious. He warns the others that the door into the Vault, made of the same material, will likely have the same effect. Upon studying the door, the group deduces that entrance is gained by turning a pyramid above the door 180-degrees. Within, they find three corridors, each identified by an undecipherable glyph.

They explore the corridor on the left, finding a steep stairway, too steep for human feet, leading down 64-steps. The walls of the corridor were painted with murals describing the life-cycle of the serpent race, growing younger the deeper they explored. At the bottom of the steep descent, they find an octagonal domed chamber, with an octagonal pit in the floor containing some whitish-grey roiling mist. The murals of the walls depict two serpentine Gods, one with a hood like a cobra, the other with a strange knobbly club on its tail, welcoming serpent-race hatchlings into the world. The party deduces that this room is a hatching chamber and leaves. On the way out of the chamber, Prosper realizes the identity of the two gods, “I SAW YIG!” he exclaims, later explaining the two gods’ identities: Yig, the father of the Western Serpents, unknown in Hyborian lands, and Set, the father of the Eastern Serpents.

They explore the corridor on the right, finding another steep stairway. The walls are adorned with murals depicting great technical, scientific, and magical feats of the serpent race. Serpent men are shown displaying golden triangular plates with curvilinear glyph writing upon them. Images of strange discoveries made, including the artifacts of alien winged creatures that once ruled the Earth through protoplasmic servitors. They find another chamber with a large table in the center and 5 corridors radiating from the room. Within one corridor are found hundreds of giant ophidian skulls placed in niches. Within the 3 middle corridors are found racks and racks of the triangular golden plates. The fifth corridor contained sealed alcoves and niches. Prospero examines one of the golden plates but leaves the rest alone.

The middle corridor was identical to the other two, save for the frescoes depicting the two serpent gods Yig and Set leading the Serpent Race towards glory. Farther in, frescoes tell of the exodus of the Serpent Race from the center of the Earth, led by their Serpentine Masters.

At the end of the corridor was another domed octagonal chamber. Prospero, Hessan, Valerius, Xim, and S’Chiba entered the chamber. Irem, Athicus, and Beowulff stayed behind to guard the corridor. This chamber contained an octagonal pit ringed by a metallic lip and seven recessed bars. Horrid moans and gaseous black tendrils emanated from the bottomless pit. On the far end was an altar with two wide recessed enclosures and a single large crystal hemisphere in the center. In the center of the roof of the chamber was a large crystal hemisphere. A pencil-thin beam of bluish starlight was slowly and silently tracing a path across the side of the altar. The seven wandering stars were nearly in alignment, the time was almost nigh!

Time was of the essence. Xim removed the two golden Tablets of Wu and placed them in the recessed enclosures on the altar. They fit perfectly. Each member of the party set to lifting the recessed bars and turning them, thus closing a triangular segment of the portal. Many of the segments were stuck and took several attempts to close.

When the beam struck the crystal hemisphere on the altar, Xim spoke the magic words. The words were alien, inhuman. Only Xim could utter the words, for his vocal cords were surgically altered to allow him to pronounce the alien syllables of Wu’tthoquan. The tablets began to glow, then melt, turning to a golden mercurial liquid. Xim, alarmed, shouted for a cub or goblet. Prosper provided his family goblet for the task, and the golden liquid ran down a groove in the altar and poured into the cup.

Once the cub was filled, Prospero shattered the altar so that the eighth and final lever would be uncovered and the last triangular segment could be closed. The eight triangular segments completely closed the portal, revealing an intricately carved eight-pointed magic star used for rituals of binding. The golden liquid would be poured into the carved star and allowed to cool, sealing the portal like wax seals an envelope.

Xim stood ready to pour the liquid, then hesitated, then drank the liquid!

Xim collapsed onto the floor, convulsing and choking, as his skin took on a golden metallic sheen. After a few moments, he steadied himself and rose to his feet, stretching his new golden body. He laughed and explained his intentions to the rest of the party.

He explained that according to the Kusanese philosophy. When one dies, one is reincarnated into a more perfect state, eventually reaching Nirvana. He had chosen to release the Elder Gods of the Earth loose to wipe the slate clean. Everyone would die. He, alone, would survive thanks to the ingestion of the golden liquid. Once the destruction had passed and the Elder Gods had once more returned to the bowels of the Earth, the world would be cleansed; everyone would be reincarnated and would be perfect. He alone would be the new God of the reincarnated souls of the survivors.

A battle ensued with Valerius pushing Xim onto the closed seal. No weapon could pierce Xim’s golden skin.Prospero’s magic proved as ineffective against Xim as Valerius and Hessan’s weapons. Valerius then gave Prospero the idea of using a mirror to reflect the beam of starlight at Xim, hoping to re-melt the magic gold. Prospero produced a mirror and aimed the beam at Xim. After a few attempts, he managed to place the beam on Xim, melting a bit of the gold on the shoulder. With this, the weapons had a small chance of injuring the Man-God.

Irem soon joined the fray, but too late to save Hessan, who was struck down by Xim’s Oriental Death Touch. Irem was also touched, but barely managed to survive. The battle was desperate, as the metal wedges of the seal began to bend and warp under the pressure of the Elder Gods trying to escape.

Prospero turned to S’Chiba, who was frozen with shock, confusion, and fear, and asked for his help. S’Chiba, calmed, agreed and asked what he might do. Prospero grasped S’Chiba and said “This!” and stabbed him in an attempt to drain S’Chiba’s life energy to help defeat Xim. S’Chiba stared back at Prospero in confusion and horror.

And just at that moment, Athicus burst into the room, leaping at the surprised Xim, and clove his Tulwar through the scholar, cleaving him in twain from right shoulder left rib, shattering the Tulwar in the process. Xim stared back, confused, before his torso fell to the floor in two great halves. His golden skin began to melt and mix with his blood, pooling into the engraved octa-gram on the seal, cooling into hardened gold and sealing the gods within forever.

The trapped Elder Gods of the Earth heaved in their frustration, causing the mountain to buckle and shudder. The party fled the mountain as fast as they could. The doors of the vaults sealing shut behind them and the rock face of the mountain collapsed to seal the entrance to the vault forever.

…

The next day, the group burned their fallen friend Hessan in a pyre, then explored the ruins of the City of the Serpent Race, finding and exploring its tombs and appropriating their treasures. Afterwards, they began their trek back to the lost Atlantean colony and the Helios, waiting for their return. Eventually, they set sail east towards the Hyborian continent and home.

To be continued.