August 30, 1885
Before venturing into the Wastes of Vendigroth, we spent some time properly preparing ourselves. We procured the best armor we could for each of us, ensured that I had a suitable supply of chemicals and incendiaries, and so on. As we approached the area we made sure we were ready for anything.
The final approach to the Wastes led across an ancient bridge. Its providence had always been something of a mystery, but we now knew it to be of Vendigrothian origin. At the foot of the bridge we met a halfling by the name of Weldo Rubin. Weldo had apparently been adventuring in the Wastes for some time – leveraging the natural stealth of his race to remain concealed from the many hazards and scavenge for artefacts he could use or sell.
Weldo told us of a strange discovery he had made:
“I found this one city, way out in the wastes, surrounded by shifting sands. No roads led into or out of the place. There was no obvious entrance, so I climbed the surrounding wall. From that vantage I could see the whole place. Yeah, there were a lot of people inside, lots of different races. Everyone was wearing robes and acting very polite and all.”
He was willing to give us the location of this city on one condition. He had located a strange device that had piqued his interest, but he had been unable to retrieve all of its components due to an infestation of beasts.
The location was not far, and the beasts proved readily within our capabilities.
Once we had retrieved his component, Weldo revealed the location of his mysterious city on our map. It lay some distance to the north, and the trek proved quite treacherous. Fierce sandstorms were not uncommon in the wastes.
Neither were marauding bands of arachnid assailants. Indeed the wastes seemed to be swarming with eight-legged assailants.
September 3, 1885
When we finally arrived at the location Weldo had given, we indeed discovered a large stone wall with no obvious openings. A single man in blue robes stood outside, near two large free0standing columns. As we approached he addressed me directly:
“Ah, it is you. Jorian told us to be expecting you. You may enter.”
When I inquired as to Jorian’s identity and the nature of this settlement, he responded: “Jorian is the Master Diviner. He is inside, waiting for you Cassandra… and this place, this place is Tulla, the City of Mages. To enter, just pass between the pillars.”
I was a bit unsettled by his knowledge of both my identity and our arrival, but we stepped through the pillars as requested…
And found ourselves inside a compound dominated by a large tower.
I made the assumption that “Jorian” would most likely be found in the tower. It turned out to be a University of Magick of sorts – with Masters of various Colleges and students engaged in research programmes. Apparently its isolated location was seen as a filter on the skill and dedication of its students. Only the best and brightest were able to find Tulla and survive the journey.
We eventually discovered a long hallway on an upper level adorned with tapestries; leading to a central office. But there we were intercepted by an odd robed man, who greeted us with “Ah the wanderer. You are here to speak with Simeon Tor.” I responded that no, we had no idea who “Simeon Tor” was, and had instead been told we needed to speak with someone name “Jorian”. He ignored my attempts to impress upon him the importance of our mission, and insisted that we perform a task before being allowed to pass. He would not listen to reason, deflecting all objections with short and cryptic comments such as “That is not the way of things.” or “That is not what happens next“. We eventually learned that his “task” was simply to go downstairs and look at a mural on the wall. That was the entirety of the request.
Humouring him seemed more expedient than continuing the fruitlessly circular discussion, so we returned downstairs to locate the mural. It was not difficult to locate, being displayed prominently in a central area. It appeared to have large symbols depicting the four elements, runes symbolising each of the 16 schools of magick, and a central rune of unknown provenance. It was not immediately apparent what insight this was supposed to provide.
Returning upstairs I asked the strange man what the task had been intended to accomplish – what I had been intended to learn from the mural. He simply responded “Because that is what you needed to do“, and then stepped out of the way and would say no more. Utterly maddening.
Leaving him behind, we continued into a large chamber adorned with an array of large images. Moving images – as if recordings or windows looking upon distant locations. Some I recognised – like the Docks of Tarant and the Ring of Brogdar. Others I did not.
At the center stood a robed man who introduced himself as Simeon Tor, Grandmaster of Tulla. He motioned for me to approach, and half asked/half stated. “You have come seeking… information?“
At that I simply told him the truth. The whole truth as near as we knew – and that we needed to find the lost city of Vendigroth. He stared back for a time, merely nodding at the news that Nasrudin was still alive, and then responded: “Pelojian. Pelojian is the only one who can answer that question for you. Unfortunately, Pelojian has been dead for 2,000 years.”
That did *not* seem terribly helpful, and I told him so directly. He merely chuckled, and then continued. Apparently Pelojian had been the founder of Tulla, and a bit of a polymath – artist, poet, clairvoyant. He was the creator of the “Mural of Enlightenment” we had seen earlier.
I told him of the man in the hallway who had insisted we view the mural. He informed us that that had been Jorian himself – Master of Divination. Odd requests accompanied by inscrutable comments were apparently a trademark of his.
Simeon told us that for millennia the spirit of Pelojian had appeared above the pool in the centre of town, every midnight. He would remain for exactly one hour. Never speaking. Never interacting. And then vanish. None had ever induced him to communicate – despite the attempt having become somewhat of a right of passage for new students in Tulla. He could tell us no more, beyond that most of Pelojian’s original writings had long since been lost.
This was not a promising set of leads. I needed to contemplate the matter for a bit, and we all needed rest. Simeon provided lodgings, and we turned in for the night.
September 4, 1885
The next morning we sought out the library in Tulla, attempting to find any hints as to how we might establish contact with Pelojian. While we found many writings *about* the man, we indeed found very little written *by* him. And what remained seemed to be odd poetry about esoteric philosophy.
Eventually I decided to take a walk to clear my head, and noticed symbols etched around town – matching those on the Mural. At first I assumed them to be mere decoration, but then I noticed four old, sealed buildings scattered about Tulla whose doors were also inscribed with Symbols. And while the symbols around town resembled the sigils of the colleges of Magick, the symbols on the doors matched the larger symbols from the Mural. It did not take long to deduce that touching a set of sigils in the order indicated on the Mural opened the door with the corresponding Symbol. And inside each building we discovered scrolls with writings of Pelojian. More cryptic poetry.
In the fourth and final building, however, we also discovered an amulet floating in the air. It gently came to my hand as I reached for it.
Armed with the amulet, the scrolls, and a drawing of the Mural, we returned to the town centre pool at midnight. Raising the amulet, I activated the symbols surrounding the pool in the proscribed order – and they flared brilliantly to life. When Pelojian appeared, he greeted me. “Greetings, traveler. Long have I waited for you to come.” He readily revealed the location of the ruins of Vendigroth, but also gave warning.
“It is a place of sorrow. A place of death. Tread carefully in the ruins of old Vendigroth, traveler. The blood of its people still screams for retribution. It is an evil place, twisted by pain and fury. Your journey there will not be an easy one…“
At mention of the Vendigroth device we were to retrieve, he seemed to shudder. “It severs a soul from this world forever. A person killed with this device can never return to the lands of the living. It is the true and final death… the last step in the dark journey…” He wished us luck in our journey, and vanished.
September 7, 1885
It was several days’ journey through the wastes to reach the site. As we approached the sire we saw many hints of Vendigroth’s past glory protruding from the sands of the wastes.
When we spotted a relatively intact rotunda we headed towards it, hoping to find something beyond ruins inside.
But as we drew near swarms of huge spiders emerged from hiding in the sands and attacked! I was becoming *quite* weary of arachnids at this point, and may have responded with a bit more force than necessary in dispatching them.
The rotunda contained a stairwell that led down into ancient tunnels. Tunnels brimming with conduit, ancient lighting and ventilation systems, and other signs of high technology. And as the tunnels widened and branched it soon revealed that had been an entire subterranean city!
Magnus and I discovered many intriguing schematics and treatises scattered in old workshops and laboratories. The ancients of Vendigroth had indeed been far more advanced than I could have imagined!
We discovered ancient newspapers – perfectly preserved despite their antiquity – giving tantalising hints at life in ancient Vendigroth. The earliest records were full of hope and promise, as they developed submersibles and sought knowledge in all directions. But these turned to gloom and despair as Arronax threatened and ultimately attacked the city.
Unfortunately even the remains of Vendigroth itself were infested with monstrous arachnids!
As we penetrated further into the city they vanished. Unfortunately this provided little respite – as the reason soon became readily apparent. The lower levels were patrolled by ancient automatons!
In the lowest levels we discovered what appeared to be an ancient shrine. Without thinking I stepped up to examine it more closely, and suddenly all went black.
The others later told me that I had actually died – struck down by the some ancient curse. That should by all rights have been the end. By this time I was far too technologically inclined for magickal healing to be effective. And even had Jayna been with us actual resurrection was beyond her capabilities. Virgil was able to restore me to life regardless, saying only,
“I couldn’t let you go. I simply couldn’t.“
Eventually, in the lowest levels of the city, we discovered a large laboratory complex – well secured and heavily guarded. Inside we finally found our goal – the Vendigroth Device. Even given its technological origin it seemed to radiate an aura of menace. I found myself reticent even to touch it, wrapping it in burlap and burying it in Sogg’s backpack.
And with that we began our trek back towards Ashbury, where we had stowed our ship. From there we would sail back towards Roseborough. And then follow Arronax into the Void.
Author’s Notes:
I hadn’t really planned it, but it looks like Cass and Virgil are getting rather close. Not really sure how that’s going to ultimately turn out. You never know what’s going to happen when you just let your characters be themselves.
Just for fun, here’s the renders I did of the party to upgrade their armor before this chapter:
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