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Ten years ago, the Ghoul Imperium of the Underworld and the vampires of Morgau marched into Krakova and conquered the kingdom entirely, establishing the Greater Duchy of Morgau and expanding the borders of the Blood Kingdom.
The undead occupation has been kept in check by resistance from the Court-in-Exile, as well as opportunistic reaver dwarves who sailed across the Nieder Straits.
But the hidden machinations of the ghouls swirl beneath the surface. Rumors abound of an even more sinister plot that threatens not just one kingdom, but the entire world of Midgard.
Empire of the Ghouls is designed by Richard Green, and published by Kobold Press. It takes place in Kobold Press’ fantasy world of Midgard.
Chapter 4: Catacombs of the Ghul King
Episode 4: The Grand Necropolis of Siwal p2
Active Party:
Alaric, level 9 dhampir Death Domain Cleric/Bard
Bahn, level 9 kobold Bard College of Whispers
I/O, level 9 gearforged Circle of the Moon Druid
Lucian, level 9 dhampir Clockwork Soul Sorcerer
Snips, level 9 catfolk Swashbuckler Rogue/Fighter
Farra had warned the party the Necropolis was growing increasingly dangerous as the dead broke the unwritten rules of curfew, and Golemesh the gravedigger confirmed undead sightings in the last few weeks.
Thus the party is only partially shocked when a sandstorm whips up around them, stinging and blinding, and two ghostly creatures manifest in the swirling sands!
The creatures are sand silhouettes (Tome of Beasts) and they are unburdened by the nasty sandstorm, which leaves Alaric and Bahn blinded, and everyone reeling. The sands continue to slice at the party, prompting Lucian to cast wall of force to protect them.
The wall rebuffs the sand, but the sand creatures discorporate and burrow beneath, popping out inside.
I/O morphs into her bear to chow down on one of them, keeping it grappled and away from her more vulnerable party members, while Snips snipes them with some powerful arrow attacks.
Despite his blinded state, Bahn screams out several dissonant whispers, forcing the silhouettes to flee while his allies hack them apart.
Soon the sandy creatures fall and the sands die down. The party notes that they’re nothing but undead corpses underneath — their first confirmed undead sighting. And it was certainly hostile!
They continue toward the west end of the Necropolis, and climb a marble tower to meet with The Martiarch.
She isn’t home, however, leaving her recently dead-and-loving it mate Sajeel in her stead.
The roost is home to gypnosphinxes (Tome of Beasts), which are large vulture-lion hybrids. Sajeel is undead, but welcomes the party, claiming that he’s been watching them.
They ask about his situation, and if he’s seen anything unusual.
The creature replies that his kind act as liaisons between the living and the dead, with his mate, Shafiqa in charge. She left to seek help outside the necropolis, leaving him to watch the brood.
He’s felt a pull, an odd stirring, coming from the Citizen’s Graves. It whispers him to go there, and to enact vengeance on the living.
He has resisted the pull, so far.
The party can take a hint, and quickly move to take their leave, though not before Lucian gets to answer a riddle, and is rewarded with advantage on his next saving throw.
They hurry back toward the area of the Grand Necropolis marked as the Citizens’ Graves, where merchants, philosophers, and trades crafters are interred.
Within moments of their arrival, they’re attacked by a trio of ghoulish creatures.
The creatures have the long claws, tongues, and teeth of ghouls, yet appear in magical mist and fling elemental spells. These are ghuls (Tome of Beasts 2), undead creatures derived from genies and other elementals, and they can pack a serious punch with their spellcasting.
After a fireball is hurled their way, the party quickly scatters. I/O summons a lighting storm and shifts into her Giant Elk form, while Lucian twin-casts haste on her and Snips.
Alaric shifts into an uber-demon form with servant of doom, and the battle is on.
One of the ghuls drops a stinking cloud, but I/O shoves Lucian out of it, while the others make the CON saves. The party focuses one ghul at a time to great effect, though Snips learns the hard way that dead ghuls explode in a cloud of paralyzing gas!
Bahn shuts down more than one ghul with Raulothim’s psychic lance, and Alaric begins to drag one away with spectral herd.
But the dragged ghul teleports away using misty step, appears next to Bahn, and downs the wounded kobold with a series of vicious claw strikes.
Lucian uses aid to get him back up, but the ghul downs him again before I/O can arrive to keep him busy.
Bahn comes very close to death, but thanks to the others, they rally and protect the kobold, defeating the last of the ghuls. Bahn is lucky to come away with only a broken leg as a lingering injury.
One of the ghuls has a message scrawled on parchment. It tells of a recently freed Ghul King, who dwells beneath the “House of Elia.”
Snips recognizes the name as a prominent merchant family, and recalls an old rumor: two adventuring brothers once trapped a powerful creature in their family’s tomb, though they were unable to escape. The tomb has since been sealed.
Finding the tomb is trivial, it’s the oldest mausoleum in the district, and still one of the most prominent.
The entryway is open, but the inner temple is empty, save for a large statue of a jackal-headed humanoid. Anu-Akma, God of Death, and guardian of the dead.
Snips spots a lever attached to the statue, and Bahn moves to pull it before the party can talk it over.
The statue begins to grind and move, revealing a dark staircase to the depths below.
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RogueWatson 