Carthago !

The Teveste Affair

This covers some events in the period of the second to fifth months of the eighteenth year of the reign of Pharaoh Ptolomy son of Ptolomy, sometimes named as Ptolomy II.

From the Journal of Agripinus:

3. Teveste Investigation:

After meeting with my clients, it was clear that some small band of mercenaries would be the wise choice to accompany me. People who would not ask endless questions, but just enough to know the mission. People who could handle themselves, but were not battle-mad. A local guide would be preferred, but most probably that was easier to com by closer to the destination.

The first establishment I tried favoured by the types I was looking for proved to be a cheap pit of drunks with food I would not offer to my horse. I left before I was offended by the wine they served there.

The second was better, the food was good, but not sufficient quantity to keep a fighting man’s belly full for an evening. There was one Northern type who might have served well, but no-one who carried themselves in a way that I recognised as being of military bearing.

At the establishment of the Grecian, Philocrates, the crowd was of a much better mix. I saw some shady figures lurking, a table of Greeks getting sotted on their reasonable wine, assorted men from Tyre, Gaul, an Egyptian, a few other Carthaginians, and several I could not make out. I was midway through some rather succulent lamb at one of the larger tables when the over-indulging Greek lads grabbed a tall tattooed passer-by. It was not, as I first thought, a man but an athletic Amazonian women which was a novel sight in these parts.

I took to her immediately when she gave no quarter and swiftly punched the drunken lout before anyone could get a word in. I rangy-looking sailor type, a Cretan if I was not mistaken, showed admirable reflexes in his springing to the Amazonian’s defence, and fists started to fly as I rescued my goblet from being up-ended.

The shifty-looking Liby-Phoenician who I had my eye on as some sort of scout didn’t hang around long, that was a shame, and the old coughing wheeze-bag off to one side looked as if he might expire with his next intake of breath.

It looked as though the Greeks might make this a third meal wasted, to be honest I was enjoying the food and hoped they didn’t wreck the place entirely before the final course. As luck would have it, a brawny chap, a Gaul by the look of his oversized moustache, turned up and showed a bit more of the fighting spirit I was seeking.

Before things got out of hand, I tried to quell things down. This was far too good an eating place to be ruined by the Hellenics, sadly they were too far into their cups to recognise who I was, and as the lights suddenly doused even my threat of drawing my sword fell on blind eyes.

It was of little import though, before I thought to light the place with Tanit’s glorious brightness the local muscle returned from their break and with a few well-place words, and ring of sharp steel being drawn, quickly calmed the place down professionally.

I’d seen enough, and made it known that I was seeking companions for a task to the south. It was a shame the ferrety one did not re-appear, but there were four who shared my wine and my table with an ear for more.

The Gaul, Sammus, a strapping fellow indeed. Tallest man I’d seen I’ll wager, he looked like the kind of person who I could fight alongside. I didn’t know how he could bear that weasel wriggling under his nose all the time though, surely it must irritate?

Talking of irritation, that sack of bones with a staff I’d seen earlier also sat down at my table. Probably glad of a place to rest his dark frame. In between bouts of throaty coughing that I feared my snap his scrawny neck, he declared he was a man of knowledge, a Kushite, a knower of things, no less. His eyes showed me that they rarely missed much.

Then there was the bandy Cretan, Amphius by name, obviously ex-army but with sea-going experience - an area I myself had little dealing with.

And then there was the Amazon, lithe and supple but powerfully built too, so much so that it would not be hard to mistake her for a man. She moved with grace, perhaps she would be able to get into places that others might not… a possibility for sure.

None other responded to my request, perhaps that was just as well. With the addition of a local guide at my first stop I thought these four should be able to deal with the task at hand.

I outlined the mission, travel to Teveste some 150 miles to the south and thence to the estate of the client’s son. There, we were explore the estate, recover any items of value and return them to the client along with a report of what we found. In return we would be paid some modest expenses plus a share of whatever was returned.

The group agreed, with some requesting ponies or donkeys be provided, which was agreed. The Amazon, whose name sounded to me like “Onion Platter” such was her accent, was a skilled horsewoman. She was able to select the best mounts from those available, and then we sourced grain and feed for them, a total of 70 day-rations.

It being mid-winter, we wrapped up warmly. Having said that, it was evident that the Gaul found this chill air plenty warm enough to his taste. And so we set off, and I made notes of the journey so that our client had as full a record as possible of the entire undertaking.

On the first day we managed just 20 miles, a pace so slow that Amphius the skirmisher could happily trot along beside his mount and not tire. We introduced ourselves bit by bit over the course of the day, and met no-one else along the road.

On the second day I encouraged a brisker pace and we made 25 miles, though even this modest increase was too much for the dark scribe on his donkey. His racking cough was sure to dislodge a rib or snap the wiry fellow in two, and his protestations about being far to high up on a pony didn’t help the matter.

The third day was at a similar pace but after 20 miles the old man pleaded to go no further so we rested there. The only meeting of note was a small detachment of guards heading back to Carthage.

With reluctance, the next day we slowed to the crawl we started with. The cavalry group we met that day told of the clear road ahead, and to be honest, there was hardly anything to fear here in the cultured lands except perhaps the height of your pony.

The rain of the next day kept everything wet, and it was slow going the day after too, and cool with it. Finally on the seventh day we neared our destination. The 40 or so close-order infantry group fresh out from Teveste let us know we were not far. They had Numidians among their number, and it was small matter to ascertain that guides could be found by meeting with their tribal elders in Teveste itself.

I had a feeling that was not going to be as straight forward as I first thought.

From Sammus’s Boast:

4. The Tavern Brawl

Welcome to my story, let me introduce myself. I am a Gaul and you will recognise me anywhere as I am a head taller than a tall man, with a muscular frame. My name is Sammus and many people call me Sammus the strong. I have long red hair and I am very proud of my long moustaches.

My story begins shortly after finishing a term as a mercenary in the Carthaginian Army. I had been following one of the tribal leaders who had brought a band of us to serve. He and the rest of my companions were now on their way back to Gaul, but I wasn’t yet ready to end my adventures here.

I had found somewhere to stay at a tavern in Carthage called the Golden Fleece, run by a Greek named Philocrates. The wine and food were of decent quality, but it soon became apparent that I would not be able to afford to live here indefinitely – I would need to find a means of earning some money.

I had bought my horse when I left the army; he had served me well and it is not easy to find a horse strong enough to bear my considerable weight. He was named Castan for his chestnut colour. The cost of his stabling, however, would soon deplete my funds. I was pretty well equipped with my reinforced leather armour and pteruges, bronze helmet, light shield, spear, a couple of javelins and short sword. I was confident that I would find someone in need of a fierce and powerful warrior.

The Golden Fleece was very popular with the Greeks. This evening there was a crowd of them celebrating some sporting victory I thought, although I only speak Arma, not Greek, so I wasn’t sure. They were starting to get a little rowdy and full of themselves.

The main room of the golden fleece was about 20 yards square, with six wooden columns supporting the roof above, which was where I had a booth for sleeping. Looking around the fairly well-lit interior I could see a reasonable crowd of customers, aside from the rowdy Greeks. Eating the lamb stew at a nearby table was a well-dressed Carthaginian citizen with the air of a man used to command. From his symbol he was a priest of Tanit, but he also had the bearing of a soldier, so I guessed him to be a Carthaginian officer. In the corner was an elderly, dark-skinned man with a shocking cough. There was a swarthy, wiry man, probably another Greek, sitting nearby. He looked like he might be a scout; he didn’t seem to be with the group of celebrants. Sat next to me was the Amazonian who cared for the horses, she certainly took great care of Castan. She was slender and dressed in trews and tunic, with a phrygian cap, so it was not obvious she was an Amazon. We were discussing tattoos, of which she had a huge number depicting a variety of animals but horses in particular.

I popped out to the courtyard to relieve myself and while I was there, I heard a disturbance. Apparently one of the more inebriated of the rowdy Greeks had passed close by the Amazon and noticed what she was. He pulled off her cap and slurred loudly; “It’s an Amazon!”. Not surprisingly she took exception and a scuffle broke out. More of the drunken Greeks seemed to be ready to join in, the swarthy man called ineffectively for people to stop but they ignored him and so he grappled with the first of them.

The priest of Tanit called on all to desist, but one of the Greeks threw a chair at him. I returned, eager to join in the fun and hurried to assist the Amazon. A Greek moved to block me, but I punched him hard and he dropped to his knees. The priest drew his short sword and again ordered everyone to stop, but another of the Greeks threw a cup of wine over him. At this point the elderly man seemed to mutter something and all the lights went out. I knew my opponent was in front of me and I punched him again and heard an oof, as he slumped to the floor.

At this point, the door to the courtyard opened and security in the form of a large warrior, dressed in studded leather armour and with a drawn long-sword and a torch entered. Order was quickly restored and the rowdy Greeks were thrown out. Philocrates came over and apologised to his other customers.

I found myself at a table with the Amazon, the old man, the swarthy Greek. The old man told us he was a Kushite scribe from south of Egypt called Si′aspiqo. The Amazon told us her name but I couldn’t decipher it. The swarthy man was from Crete and called himself Ampius. We were joined by the priest. He introduced himself as Agripinus, late of the Sacred Guard, and invited us to join him in some wine and lamb stew. He told us that he had a task for which he needed some help and he had seen that we could all handle ourselves, and might be just what he was seeking.

He explained that he was headed southwards into the Numidian lands in search of someone and their estate. He had been engaged by this person’s parents as they had not seen or heard of their son for a year and a day and they assumed he was dead. They wanted either him or his body or at least news of him and we were to bring back his estate of which we could keep 30%. Agripinus would equip the expedition and provide provisions. We were headed to the Numidian town of Tivest, he informed us, where we would engage guides to travel to our destination nearby. Teveste was maybe two weeks ride to the south-west.

This sounded like just the opportunity I was looking for; steady employment for a few weeks, all-found, with the chance for reward and maybe adventure too! My companions were happy to join too. Those of us staying at the Golden fleece let Philocrates know we would be leaving; he was sorry to see us depart and again apologised for the disturbance.

Agripinus and I had horses, but the others would need mounts. The Amazon, with a keen eye for horseflesh, picked herself out a fine Numidian pony, a riding pony for Ampius and a donkey for Si′aspiqo. Between them, Agripinus and Si′aspiqo bargained for our supplies and soon we were ready to set out.

The first day was rainy and my companions from warmer climes complained of the coolness, although it seemed plenty warm enough to me. All of us were riding apart from Ampius, who was happy to jog alongside his mount, which had most of our supplies. After a while the Amazon evidently became bored of just riding and began standing on her pony as it cantered and other tricks – she was some horsewoman. We had an easy day’s ride of around 20 miles, passing a few sheep and their herdsmen and then set up camp for the night. The second day was just the same as the first, except we tried to push on for 25 miles. By the end of the day the donkey was limping. That evening the Amazon spent time administering to the animal and it was able to set out the next morning without a limp. We were aiming for 25 miles again, but after 20 miles the Amazon told Si‘Aspiqo that he would have to walk, which given his cough did not seem advisable, so we camped for the night and decided to stick to 20 miles a day.

The fourth day was the same as the other three; rainy and cool and all we had seen so far were sheep and herdsmen, a few settlements and the odd roadside salesman. The next day however we saw a large amount of people ahead, so we pulled over to let them pass. It was a group of 200 spearmen, probably local militia, doing their national service, led by a Carthaginian officer on horseback. He and Agripinus exchanged greetings and the officer told us that all was quiet ahead.

The sixth day was again rainy and cool, but towards the end of the day we saw some cavalry ahead and again pulled over. This time it was a group of around 60 Numidian cavalry and another Carthaginian officer. Agripinus asked about Numidian guides and the officer told him to speak to the tribal elders in Teveste. Agripinus asked to speak to any Numidians from Teveste and two troopers came forward. They told us that it should be no problem finding a guide and supplied some names.

The seventh day was finally dry, although still cloudy. Towards the end of the day we saw another group of infantry ahead. These were 40 Liby-Phoenician spearmen, again with a Carthaginian officer. They had come from Teveste, which was only 5 miles ahead. It was about time to stop for the night, but the officer told us that even though the gates were closed if we shouted up to the wall, we would be let in. We saw the lights ahead and rode on. As instructed, Agripinus shouted up to the walls and we were admitted. We had completed the first stage of our mission. Let’s hope the rest goes as smoothly, although perhaps I might enjoy a little more excitement!

From Sammus’s Boast:

5. Arrival at Kaskator

On our arrival in Teveste we were shown to an inn in a large space in the centre of the town. Around the space were a few large, Carthaginian style buildings, but mainly the buildings were more primitive. The Inn wasn’t as comfortable as the Golden Fleece and the quality of food and drink wasn’t as good, but I’ve stayed in far worse places.

That evening we were summoned to talk to the Elders in one of the large houses. On the ground floor there was a covered colonnade, with a stone hall. We were invited into the hall where there were six or seven elders in tribal dress and a younger man called Serif who spoke Punic and offered to be our interpreter. He also spoke Arma. He was a tall, handsome man with a military bearing, probably in his thirties.

Serif asked Agripinus what had brought us to Teveste and he explained that he had a commission from the parents of a man called Rogan, from the Hannika family, who had moved to an estate south of here in Kaskator, and had not been heard of for over a year. Agripinus said that he had served in the same unit as Rogan – the Sacred Band of Carthage. He further told the Elders that they were here to purchase animals and more supplies and to find a guide and any advice they could provide.

Serif translated Agripinus’ words for the Elders and then there was a long conversation between the Elders. Serif then asked Agripinus to tell them more about his party and what the parents of Rogan had requested. Agripinus then told Serif that the parents had requested that he report on the estate and recover anything left to bring it back to the family. He said that he was a priest of Tanit and a Carthaginian officer and also vouched for the rest of our party. Serif said that he also worshipped Tanit from his time in the army. Serif said that the place we sought was about 2 or 3 days travel into hills to the south. Agripinus handed over the gifts he had brought.

There was a further discussion amongst the Elders and then Serif told Agripinus that the Elders believed he had spoken truthfully and in a straightforward manner and had given them fine gifts, they respected us and would be willing to assist us. He said that they knew of Kaskator – it was in a bad area called the Kasserine. It was in the Highlands beyond most of the Numidian lands. Rogan had gone there with some Numidians and defeated the raiders that were there. Then he had dug and looked in the old places; now they had word that shadow had fallen over Kaskator. They had had no more interactions with him and the place was once again taboo for Numidians. If we wished to investigate these shadows, they would be happy to help.

Agripinus asked what they meant by the shadow and they explained it was a widespread evil inimical to Tanit, a pall that spread over the land and haunted peoples’ dreams. Its effects were evident at night, not during daytime. Serif told us that Rogan had had an Egyptian with him, a dark-skinned man similar to Si′Aspiqo, with a shaven head, who had arrived a year or two after Rogan. Serif offered to go with us; he would be interested in our trip and it would be a service to his Elders. He knew pretty much were we were headed, although he had never been there. He looked to be a strong and experienced warrior and we surmised that he might be related to one or more of the Elders.

He told us that another group had been here a month ago, but they had lied and not been straightforward. They had claimed to be hunting Ibex, but were not believed. They had had no priest with them. They had gone into the shadow, but had not been seen since.

Serif arrived to meet us at the inn the next morning. He had a beautiful pony and had his hair in braids and beads as the Numidians do for war. He had three javelins and a very nice shield. Agripinus explained that we would need a couple of pack animals and provisions for a week and he said he would bring his second pony and get one from his uncle. He bought some provisions and Agripinus recompensed him.

The rest of us wandered the markets and picked up some more gear including spades, rope and torches. The Amazon, whose name I had learned by now is Oiorpata, caused some commotion in the market place when she spoke and the traders suddenly realised, she was a female warrior.

We were ready to leave around midday on a cloudy but warm day and as we rode out a crowd gathered to watch us leave and there was a good deal of gawping and some pointing at Oiorpata. There were a lot of people waving at Serif and it was obvious that he was a man thought to have a bright future before him.

After half a day’s travel we made camp for the night and Serif apologised to Oiorpata – he and the Elders had not realised she was a female warrior and he was sorry for the unwanted attention she had received. He had heard stories of female warriors from the East, but hadn’t believed them until now. The conversation around the campsite was of horses and tattoos.

That night Si′aspiqo drew lines and made marks around the campsite and built a fire; this was a ritual he would repeat each night. We just had one person on watch through the night, but we would move to two people watches once we reached the Kasserine.

The next day we rode on and all was quiet. We just saw a few herdsmen and their herds of sheep, goats or even horses. We managed an easy ride of 20 miles. The following day we continued and could see greener hills ahead beyond the valley we were travelling. We passed an abandoned settlement and Serif warned us to be more careful as this was Kasserine. The valley led up into a more pronounced pass ahead, which Serif informed us was the Kasserine pass; this was where we need to go and we should reach there later today.

Agripinus consulted his notes and told us we needed to search for a three headed hill or three hills very close together. I spotted a likely spot ahead and Oiorpata climbed and stood up on her pony for a better view and was able to confirm that I had spotted what we sought. Serif was impressed with the Amazon’s feat of horsemanship.

As the afternoon wore on the clouds that had been around for the last couple of days cleared and the sun came out which warmed those not used to the climate of Gaul. We decided to camp early and move on to our destination in the morning. We made camp and set three watches of two for the night: first watch Amphius and Oiorpata, second watch Agripinus and myself, third watch Si′aspiqo and Serif. As soon as it was dark the night had a different feel to any of the previous ones. There was more noise and Si′aspiqo had dreams of the unquiet dead. The priest scattered holy water and invoked Tanit’s blessing.

Dawn arrived without us being disturbed and we headed on up towards the three headed hill. There were more trees and bushes here and more of a threat of ambush so the Amazon and Amphius with their bows skirmished ahead with Serif as the rearguard. The skirmishers reached a part where the path became indistinct. There was a steeper slope up and Oiorpata climbed up for a better look. Amphius joined her and could make out some ruins above, maybe a settlement with a trail, but no easy way up for the ponies and no route I would be willing to risk with Castan. Serif did not want to enter the taboo ground, so we decided to make camp here and leave Serif here with the horses and the rest of us would explore further.

The ruins were about 200 feet above the campsite and the top of the hill a further 150 feet. We clambered up to the ruins with Si′aspiqo coughing heartily and wheezing impressively and reached a flatter area with ancient stones poking through the undergrowth. The stones looked to be the remains of more substantial buildings than the usual Numidian ones. We searched around and Amphius found a large archway with a track leading to a tunnel into the hillside. It was six or seven feet high and eight or nine feet in width.

We were expecting to see some more recent settlement than the remains indicated, so before exploring the tunnel decided to climb the peak which would give a full 360 degree panorama from which we would be able to see any signs of a settlement or estate.

Si′aspiqo could not manage the climb up, but it was easy for someone of my strength to carry him up. There was a great view all around. We could see hills and a river and then more hills beyond and all the Numidian Highlands but of a settlement or estate there was no sign. The river looked like it would be difficult to cross and there might be caves in the hills.

We retraced our steps and again I carried the scribe. He looked at the ruins and stones and said that some looked to be hundreds of years old. Something in the air around here smelled foul. It was a complex bouquet, earthy, containing something unhealthy, but also something healthy.

We formed up to enter the tunnel with myself and Agripinus cautiously leading the way. It was earth for the first few feet, but then the floor was flagstoned and the tunnel seemed to have been carved out of rock. I had never seen the like before. As we headed in, we needed the light of our torches to see the way. The tunnel seemed to head straight in to the hillside.

After about 50 or 60 feet there was a large wooden door. It looked to be damaged with axe marks at the sides and maybe it had been pried open. Amphius came up and checked the door for traps and opened it slowly and quietly inwards; Agripinus and I led the party on. After about 20 feet there were a pair of alcoves, one on each side. They looked like guard points and they were empty. We headed carefully on and after another 40 or 50 feet we came to another pair of alcoves, which were likewise empty.

We headed on another 50 feet or so to another pair of alcoves and at this point Agripinus and I made out the glittering of two pairs of eyes ahead. They rushed towards us and we were confronted by a pair of ghouls. Agripinus tried unsuccessfully to use his priestly powers to turn the undead, I missed my first strike and one of the ghouls scratched the priest. An arrow from Oiorpata whistled past my ear and appeared in the chest of one of the ghouls which collapsed, and I thrust my spear through the second. Si’Aspiqo, who seemed knowledgeable in these matters told us they were corpse eaters.

We regrouped and headed on. We soon came to some stairs – three steps up to a crossroads. There were a number of bodies at the crossroads. They were starting to decay, but seemed to be recently dead. The first was a swarthy, Mediterranean man holding a broken sword, sheared off about six inches above the hilt. The body had obviously been stripped, apart from some rags and a belt. The next was a shaven headed, dark-skinned Egyptian with a sword through the body pinning it to the wall. Agripinus removed the sword and the body slumped to the floor. Behind the body in the wall were large, recently carved Punic letters: “Kaskator”, the name of the estate we were seeking. The sword was poorly made, with a loose handle, probably tribal work; certainly, we had seen better craftsmanship in Teveste. This body had also been stripped.

The third body had certainly been gnawed, presumably by corpse eaters. This one was very short, again swarthy, probably from the Eastern Mediterranean, with a curly black beard, clutching a mace or hammer. It had a leather cap, with a dent. We found two more bodies sprawled ahead with broken light shields. These ones looked like Celt-Iberians and had belts and rags. All had been stripped.

We took the remains back down the tunnel to the outside world, dug a shallow grace and covered the bodies with rocks. The priest said a few words to lay them to rest and ensure they did not disturb us and we headed back to the camp.

Serif and the horses were safely encamped and we passed on to the Numidian the descriptions of the bodies we had found; he confirmed our suspicions that these were the hunters who had been in Teveste a month before us. We set up for the night planning to return to our explorations in the morning.

From the Journal of Agripinus:

6. Kaskator

Our arrival late in the day caused little issue as they saw me to be an honourable citizen of Carthage and with minimal fuss we are shown to a good Inn. The area appears to be a centre of trading in livestock with plenty of stalls and dwellings of all varieties of tribal shape and colour.

The local dialect is Arma, which we all speak to some extent except the Khemite, for whom I act as translator. It is not long before we are summoned to meet the tribal elders, my bag of gifts I hope is enough to bring a favourable audience.

The man who speaks for the 6 or 7 people in the room is perhaps the youngest, Sarrif by name, and he speaks perfect Punic and swaps effortlessly between that and Arma. On the elders’ behalf he asks us to explain what we are doing and why.

Knowing that honesty and respect are valued here, I did not conceal that reason and motive of our mission. To travel to the Kaskator Estate, to discover what had happened to Rogan and recover what items may still be there and report back to his parents.

There are some mutterings when I mention Kaskator, and it is explained that it lay in the region called Kashareen, a shadowed place beyond Numidian lands. We would value their aid in this venture, and as a token of our good will I offered Sarrif a well-worked gold bangle, a rather fine purple cloak and a dagger in a fine scabbard.

The gifts were graciously displayed and Sarrif explained that indeed they knew of this man. He had gone to that area and beaten back the raiders there, and settled, and excavated and pushed back the shadow of that land, and he traded with the townsfolk. However this past year he’s not been seen, the shadow once more descends, and the area is taboo for Numidians once more.

There was an Egyptian by the name of Saliga, he thinks, who arrived a few years after Rogan. Shaved head, very dark skinned, possibly a Khemite, though not someone Si’aspiqo can place. He’s not been seen either.

It is evident also that others have been here before seeking the same Rogan, though whether from their own initiative, or sent by our client, I could not determine. This other group, however, attempted to deceive the elders with stories of hunting for wild ibex as the reason for their travels. On the other hand, it is evident that we have been truthful, and Serrif offers to aid us.

It turns out the aid is more than just the provision of a guide and some provisions we requested, he would also travel with us. I took this to be perhaps both a genuine offer of help (a fine strapping, athletic man he was too) and also some sort of test of his abilities as potential elder material. There was little chance to enquire of his relationship to the elders, and I made a note to ask when the opportunity presented itself.

At the agreed hour for departure, Sarrif joined us on a magnificent pony, with javelins and shield and with a couple of of pack animals in tow. There was ample time to provision ourselves for the week-long return journey, and torches, pry-bar and ropes were also acquired.

The first day’s ride at a slow pace was easy going, and an uneventful night passed with only a single watch for wild animals and the like. The next day we travelled on more of a track than a road, and besides some herders that Sarrif dealt with, nothing disturbed us.

By the third day we were ascending a steeper path, and the scouts of the party and the map I carried, kept us going towards a particular three-humped hill. Sammus said he could see it clearly, being so tall, but the Amazon topped that by deftly leaping up stand in her saddle, an act that clearly impressed Sarrif and not only for the acrobatic feat, given his lingering looks.

That night was mostly quiet except for Si’aspiqo who was troubled by dreams of death and darkness. The fourth day, and slow upward progress into forested hills. Ambush country, necessitating the Amazon and Amphius scouting ahead and Si’aspiqo’s donkey being lead by a line. The scouts went further uphill from the path and reported indeed the three-headed hill was just there. Though the stouter animals could be lead, it would be folly to lose a horse on the last treacherous path to the top. Sarrif said that he would not be going any further in to the taboo lands, so he would stay with the animals in one of the clearings just off the track.

On the grassy area in front of the hill there were obvious remains of buildings, old ruins. They seemed far older than we would expect for a recent estate, perhaps the stones had been re-purposed? This had the look of a ritual space, and nearby was what looked to be a mine entrance of some sort going into the mass of the hillside. The doorway was some 8 or 9 feet wide and high enough to admit all but the tallest of men. There being no obvious estate visible outside, it may well be inside.

With torches lit, Sammus and I took the front at a cautious pace. Flagged floors, and carved stone walls led us in some 50 feet to a doorway which had been crudely forced by an axe. Amphius’s skills with such devices ensured it was not trapped and moving further in, the passageway had regular alcoves for torches every 10-20 feet. At this point we were attached by two ghoulish beasts, all fangs and claws.

I berated myself for not having the symbol of Tanit the Lightbringer on full view as I had to fumble for it in the folds of my cloak while taking a hit from one of the foul undead. Sammus was more than able to deliver a killing blow to the one that faced him, and an arrow from behind us found the only gap that existed to finish the other. Onwards and up a few steps we came to a cross roads, with passages left and right, but also a number of dead bodies.

A broken sword with its blade sheared off lay nearby, and one body was certainly similar to the shaven-headed Egypian mentioned by Sarrif earlier. Another body had been pinned to the wall, the sword finding a gap between two blocks, and when removed the body revealed the words newly re-carved into those blocks “Kaskator”. This indeed was the estate after all.

Another body was that of a very small man, a midget even, with a black beard - eastern Mediterranean, Persian probably, his helm smashed in with a blunt weapon. Two more bodies at the crossroads, both carrying light shields, Spaniards by the look of them. In order that these were not reanimated to fight against us with dark arts, we hauled all the bodies back out side and made descriptions for the report of their looks and equipment. Sarrif confirmed that these were the dishonest “ibex hunters” from a month ago who had met their ends here. Time was spent burying their bodies and with Tanit’s will, I ensured they could not be re-used against us.

From Sammus’s Boast:

7. First Explorations of Kaskator

We gave a thorough search of the bodies of the erstwhile hunting party and found some things that their killers had missed. Hidden in the belt of the first body we had found were 5gp. There was a pouch with some garlic bulbs and some aromatic seeds on the body of the Egyptian. There was a stone headed mace on the black-bearded corpse and the second of the Celt-Iberians had a small boot knife in a decorated sheaf.

Serif and Oiorpata went scouting, while Si′Aspiqo scratched marks around the camp-site and the rest of us gathered firewood and set up a fire to last the night. The two scouts returned at dusk and told us that they had found an open area with some ruined outbuildings, about 1000 yards away. They thought that it might have been a kraal for animals and looked like it might have been used in last couple of years.

Over the evening meal, Agripinus pressed Serif on his relationship to the Elders; he told us that he was the nephew of two and more distantly related to the others. He was too young but if he fulfilled his promise, then when he was older, he might be asked to become an Elder. The night was very dark as it was only a couple of days after the new moon and it had also been cloudy. Agripinus cast a protection from evil and we arranged torches near the fire before settling for the night.

The first watch passed quietly but during my watch with Agripinus we noticed the horses were restless and disturbed and so we awoke our companions. Amphius spotted a flash of metal and looked for a target to shoot. Myself and Oiorpata headed towards the most restless horse; two javelins appeared out of the gloom, one narrowly missing me, but the other hitting the Amazon. I headed boldly in the direction from hich the javelin had come and Oiorpata fired an arrow into the darkness. Amphius managed to make out a target in the gloom and struck it with an arrow and the figure slumped to the ground.

Si′Aspiqo threw a torch in the air and cast a spell to make it flare brightly. By the light Amphius and Oiorpata made out a figure dragging away a pony; they both took aim and it fell to the ground transfixed by two arrows. Meanwhile I managed to close in on a sword armed figure and Seif and Agripinus bounded after another. I exchanged blows with my opponent and hit him hard, but then I missed him and buried my blade in a tree trunk. Agripinus and Serif despatched their opponent and before I had a chance to free my sword, he had been finished off by arrows from Oiorpata and Amphius.

Si′Aspiqo informed us that these were night spawn and Serif called them darklings. They were bald, dark-skinned creatures with pointy teeth and about five feet in height. My opponent had a Celt-Iberian long sword, which I kept for my own use, a spanish shield and leather armour with a bronze chest piece. These had undoubtedly been taken from the bodies we had found this afternoon. We also found a gold bangle with hammered marks, a dagger in a leather sheath and a necklace with small vivid blue stones. We retrieved a lasso made from grass from around our pony once Oiorpata had called him back, and we collected two javelins, two woolen cloaks, a small bone flute and a leather helm, along with a carved item wrapped in twine.

The ponies and my horse all now seemed fine and we settled back down. The priest healed me form the bruising I had taken from the fight and the rest of the night passed uneventfully, but it was a restless and gloomy one, particularly for Si′Aspiqo who again had troubled dreams.

In the daylight the Kushite examined the bangle more closely. He said that there was a hieroglyph marked upon it, probably a mark of quality, and it had been made in the last 30 years and was probably worth between 20 and 50gp. We examined the surroundings of the camp-site, but could see no signs of a larger party.

After a hearty breakfast we headed back as before to the tunnel, leaving Serif with the livestock. He said that he would bury the darklings.

Once we had reached the tunnel we headed straight to the crossroads, where we built a fire. We were concerned with how few torches we had, but if we were careful, we would be able to do some exploration.

Looking off to the left and right, it looked like each of the passages ended after 30 feet in a stone wall. Ahead the passage continued with what looked like doors on the left and right. We decided to check out the passage on the left and myself and Amphius led the way with Si′Aspiqo in the centre and Oiorpata and Agripinus bringing up the rear. After 30 feet there was a 90 degree turn to the left, not a dead end. We continued on for 50 feet and came to an alcove on the left. We continued another 70 or 80 feet and by now we were surprised not to have reached the outside. There was stone wall ahead and it opened a little to the left.

There was a door and Amphius listened, checked for traps and opened it. The passage continued onwards in the same direction as though there had been a slight kink. We continued another 40 feet and then were forced to turn 90 degrees to the right. We continued another 40 feet and the passage continued or there was a door on the right. Amphius checked the door and then opened it. On the other side there was a passage straight on or options to the right and left immediately on the other side of the door, as though the wall were only a couple of bricks thick. It seemed very odd and Amphius likened it to a maze called the labyrinth in some Greek fable. Not wishing to get lost in there we retraced our steps back to the crossroads with the bonfire still smouldering.

We checked that the option opposite the passage we had just checked looked the same and again it seemed to turn 90 degrees after 30 feet rather than being an end. We decided we were better exploring the passage straight on with the two doors ahead. It looked like there was an option ton the left just after the two doors. We approached the door and Amphius listed, checked for traps and opened it and I went through. The door opened up into a long space, maybe a corridor or maybe a long thin room. As we headed further in, we realised it was a narrow room 10 to 12 feet wide and 50 to 60 feet long. There were shards of wood on the floor, maybe smashed up furniture that had been used as firewood, as there were two firepits towards the end on the right, with chimneys. After the firepits the room opened out on the right and there was a door.

Amphius checked out the door and opened it and I led the way along a 20 feet wide corridor. There was a passage immediately on the right, but we realised this headed back towards the crossroads as we could see the glow of our fire. After about 30 feet the corridor narrowed and immediately before that, the sharp-eyed Amphius noticed an anomaly in the wall on the left. He examined it carefully and managed to find a mechanism for a secret door. This opened into a dark chamber, but there seemed to be boxes and sacks. I headed in and as our torch spread more light, we could see we were in a roughly triangular room with the door in the base. The room was filled with building supplies. As we explored and started opening boxes and sacks, we found: beams, 6 wooden doors, door fittings, mortar, nails, heavy rope, masonry blocks and two pots of pitch. We realised we now had the fixings for many torches. It didn’t look like this room had been found and looted.

We returned to our camp-site, where Serif had dug a shallow grave 40 or 50 feet from the camp-site and was ready to dispose of the bodies. We helped with that and then he Oiorpata explored the open area they had found the previous evening, while the rest of use set to making torches.

The two scouts returned and reported that the open area would make a better camp-site and they had found a track to get to it. It had some outbuildings to store the ponies more safely and would be more sheltered. So we moved there and spent the rest of the day making torches.

8. G.M. Update

For the rest of the day you work to move camp and set up a production line for new torches, made to the specification of the Kushite. By dusk you have completed 18 torches, and re-fuelled the two torches you had burned down to the core. You also have the components for another half-dozen ready to hand, and the materials for dozens more should you wish to continue the process. The tar-pitch will be the limiting element. If you were to spend a couple of hours a day you can make a dozen torches as a team. All that army training has helped (“are you still an effective team?” I hear some spooky Texan spirit say)…

These Kushite torches burn with more of a hiss and a spit than the ones you bought in Carthage, and give off a bit more smoke and a distinctive aroma. Although slightly harder to ignite, they are functionally equivalent when burning, and look quite rugged and damp-proof.

Serif is impressed with what you have all managed in only a few hours while he fed the animals and got some rations cooking. Looks like a pottage with smoked meat and olive oil again — a Numidian staple. All those who speak Arma will be well used to the army version.

In this kraal you have :

  1. a central roundhouse with thatched roof - suitable for overnight shelter, accommodation and a secure camp-fire.
  2. a couple of smaller round huts - which were probably fodder stores.
  3. a substantial wooden outbuilding - with many shelves, probably a food store.
  4. a substantial wooden outbuilding - with many hooks, looks like an equipment & materials store.
  5. a rough stable-block for 6 horses.
  6. an open-sided roofed shed with a small forge at one end and what looks like a smoking rack in the roof. You chose this shed as the site for your production line of Kushite torches.
  7. an enclosure for ponies near the stables.
  8. an overgrown vegetable plot, with many herbs and weeds of various sorts. Someone has been digging in it recently, although not since the last rain- probably pulling up roots of some sort.
  9. what looks like a sizeable chicken or duck run (the stream runs through one end).
  10. two large paddocks, divided by the stream which flows through the kraal. The larger paddock has a
  11. number of young trees in it, which Serif says look foreign to him.
  12. the stream has a small earth dam, with a large clay pipe in it, which regulates the level of a small pond and prevents the paddock flooding. It provides a decent reserve of fresh water, although it looks too small for the dry season unless this is spring-fed.

All of the above is within an elliptical stockade, made up of a hedge supplemented by timber in various places. There is only one set of timber gates leading in, which were open. The whole complex looks thoroughly cleared out, but with no evidence of fire damage or large BBQ feasts of livestock, both hallmarks of looting. Possibly this place was abandoned, and residual items have been plundered, but without demolition for construction materials etc.

From Sammus’s Boast:

9. Kaskator Exploration Continued

We managed to make a about 15 large torches and 6 smaller ones as well as replenishing our existing ones. We made our usual preparations for the night with the horses and ponies stabled securely and the rest of us inside one of the buildings with two people on watch. The first part of the night passed uneventfully, but during the second watch I seemed to drift into a dream and heard a woman’s voice calling for my help in Gallic. Unconsciously I wandered up the hillside towards the tunnel. Agripinus had also heard the voice, but it was calling in Punic; fortunately, he was not overcome by the siren call. He woke the others and cast light. Serif was able to find me and drag me back to my senses and we all returned safely to the camp-site. During the third watch, Si’Aspiqo also heard the call, but was able to resist it.

The next morning, we returned to our explorations of the tunnel, again leaving Serif to guard the camp-site and horses. This time at the crossroads where we had set our fire, we took the passage to the right. After 30 feet there was a forced right turn and then after 60 or 70 feet there was an option on the left, but we continued. There was an alcove on the left then after around 50 feet there was a strange dogleg but no door this time and the passage continued. After another 100 feet or so there was a door on the left.

Amphius opened the door and a passage led away at 90 degrees. I headed along the passage followed by my comrades. After about 30 feet there was a door on the left and then soon after the passage turned to the left. The door opened into a 20-foot square chamber stacked with wooden furniture. In the corner was a table with sawdust and wood chips underneath and a couple of saws. Some of the tables were of good quality hardwood, but the rest was poorer quality. We went back out into the passage and the passage turned around the room until we ended up going back the way we had come parallel to the earlier passage with what seemed like a narrow wall now on our left.

After about 70 feet there was an enforced right turn and then after 30 or 40 feet there was a dogleg but the passage continued in the same direction. After 20 more feet there was a passage on the right but we continued on for 50 feet where there was a right turn and after another 30 feet another enforced right turn, we were just starting to retrace our steps, when Amphius spotted a door. It opened into a small, empty chamber, but Amphius spotted signs of something having been dragged through the dust towards the dark corner and here there were steps down.

I led the way down carved stairs which turned to the left. It was about 20 feet down and opened into a large chamber with piles of rock and rubble and some carts with rocks on them. It looked like a mine. There was a wall to the left and right and after 15 feet on the right was a corner. Agripinus cast a holy light which revealed a wall about 40 feet to the left. The far wall was about 40 to 50 feet away with an exit in the far wall almost directly opposite where we had entered. There was nothing else in the room other than a bronze pick axe, which I attached to my pack.

I led us through the exit opposite, which led into an irregular chamber wider to the right than the left with 20 or 30 feet to the wall opposite, which had a door on the left and seemed to intersect two tunnels. Through the door was a passage ahead, but no sign of the drag marks we had seen on the floor above.

We decided to return to the upper level and complete our explorations there, so we retraced our steps to the crossroads where with the remains of our fire.

This time we continued on from the fire away from the entrance to where there were two doors opposite each other. We had previously explored the door on the left; this time Amphius opened the door on the right. This opened into a room with more, disordered furniture, it was about 20 feet wide and 40 feet long. There was an exit on the right-hand side and a fireplace in the far left-hand corner, with two carved wooden chairs at the far end. They were each carved from a single piece of good quality wood. The other furniture was more mundane. There seemed to be carving in the walls and the decorations looked a little Persian to Si’Aspiqo. The exit was a passage, which led to a door, which Amphius opened.

Through the gloom it looked as though there was a naked woman stood in the room, but as more light was shed, I realised that it was a stone statue of a beautiful naked woman. The room was 20 feet wide and 30 to 40 feet wide with a bench seat around three of the four walls. Amphius thought the statue looked like the Greek goddess Aphrodite. It was carved out of a complete block of white stone on a plinth. Amphius investigated the plinth, but found nothing. However, he did notice something in the wall immediately to the left of where we had entered. He found a mechanism and opened a secret door, which opened on a passageway leading back the way we had come.

There was an immediate turn to the right and then the passage continued about 40 feet to a T-junction. We took the right option and soon arrived at another T-junction turning right here and then an enforced left turn, led us back to the crossroads with the remains of our fire. We headed back to the camp-site to check up on Serif and to have a tea break before continuing our explorations.

Serif and our horse and ponies were all safe and sound. We exchanged stories of the stones speaking, which Seif had mentioned. Serif said that it had been created by the Sooma, who had come digging for the blood of the earth. This had been long ago.

Si’Aspiqo speculated that these might be connected to the Summerian people who were from between the two rivers in the East and were prior to the Persians and Assysrians. He is a learned man – I have heard of the Persians, but none of the others. He also talked of other goddesses who the statue might represent. He mentioned Astarte, Asterith, goddesses of love and war. He then related a story of Inanna a goddess who tried to steal her sister’s kingdom – Areshkita, who was the queen of the underworld and the dead. He thought the diggings might impinge in some way on her realm.

The room with the statue almost looked like it might be a place of questioning with the way the benches surrounded the statue on three sides. It reminded me of tales I had heard of a Greek oracle, where priestesses give obscure answers to questions. Agripinus thought je might be able to talk to the statue, but decided that this was something to try when we had explored more of the complex.

After a break we returned to the complex, retracing our steps to the remains of our fire at the crossroads. We continued on past the two doors and a passage on the left which we had previously explored. After another 10 or 20 feet we came to a passage on the right, but we ignored this and continued for another 70 feet where there was an enforced right turn. After another 70 feet there was a door on the left and the passage continued.

Amphius examined the door, opened it and I led the way in. It was a fifty feet wide chamber, about 12 feet deep, wider to the right than the left. In the right-hand corner was an alcove. There was nothing in the room and Amphius found nothing unusual about and of the walls or floors. We continued along the passage which then turned following the outline of the room until we spotted a door ahead. Amphius spotted something unusual about the floor. After careful examination he decided that the whole of the floor ahead leading to the door looked like it was trap. We looked at various ways of getting over, but decided it would take a lot of preparation or my suggestion was driving spikes in the wall to allow Amphius top climb across, which would make too much noise. Leaving this for now we returned to the passage on the right we had passed after the double doors near the crossroads.

We set off along this passage and after about 50 feet there was an option on the right or the passage continued. We ignored the option on the right and Amphius spotted something odd about the wall on the left. He spent some time investigating, but was unable to find a mechanism. We headed on and there was an alcove and a door in the right-hand wall.

Amphius opened the door and a wide passage headed off at 45 degrees to the passage we had just left. It was about 20 feet wide and looked like a processional way. As we opened the door a wind seemed to get up, and increased as we closed the door behind us. It blew out two of our torches, but Si’Aspiqo lit another torch and Agripinus cast the light of Tanit, which diminished the wind and I led the way forward.

Immediately I was faced by a group of undead. Amphius and Oiorpata fired arrows, while I tried to hold them off. Agripinus tried to turn the undead back, but his first ceremony was unsuccessful. Our two archers were successfully hitting the skeletons, although there was not much left for them to hit! One of the skeletons did get knocked down. I had not managed to damage my three opponents and they had hit me, so I was forced on the defensive, relying on my companions to deal out damage to the undead. Oiorpata drew her dagger and joined in while Amphius continued to shoot them. Si’Aspiqo cast a protection from evil, which seemed effective and then Agripinus brandished his holy symbol and they quailed back into the shadows from whence they came. The archers fired a few more shots and we followed them until they left by a door at the end of the passage about 70 feet away. Two had been damaged and forced to crawl and the door was shut on them by the retreating skeletons. We finished those two off. As the door closed the wind dropped.

We backed out the way we had come and closed the door behind us. I rested, while Amphius re-examined the potential secret door. Eventually, he found a pressure point and opened the door.

A short corridor led, after about 20 feet, to a wooden door. This was made of better quality wood. As we approached the wooden door, the secret door closed behind us, but Amphius made sure he could see the mechanism to re-open it. The next door opened out into a large chamber – 20 feet deep and maybe 60 feet wide. The far wall had minor relief carvings and colourings, which seemed to tell a story. There was also some broken up wooden fixtures. In the far corner was some remaining furniture – a bed, and a desk or similar, which had been overturned. There was a door on either side of where we had entered the room. The desk had a drawer, which Amphius noticed a needle in the handle to trap the unwary, however, he was unable to open the drawer. I carried it back along the entrance corridor, past the crossroads and remains of a fire and left it in an alcove to be collected when we left the complex and then returned to the room, where Si’Aspiqo was still examining the relief.

The frieze showed a bald, shaven headed priest, who looked slightly Egyptian, maybe Persian. He was on a hilltop with three peaks, similar to where we were. There was a battle scene with the enemy fleeing. The shaven headed figure was a priest or wizard casting a curse or power over the barbarians, and creatures of the night. There was no indication of any deity, so Agripinus suspected he was a wizard rather than a priest. Si’Aspiqo suspected there was night demon or ailu depicted. There was worn cuneiform around the border. It looked as though it had been worn by people tracing out the figures repeatedly.

Amphius opened the door in left wall, and I had to help him as it was very stiff. There was a very dark narrow corridor ahead, but by the light of our torch I could see the glitter of metal. As I headed forward, I could make out a chest and many gold coins. I suspected, it might be a trap, but as Amphius tried to push past me to take a closer look, he stumbled and pushed me forward, setting off a trap. A set of heavy iron bars dropped, cutting us off from the rest of the party. Fortunately, Amphius was able to release the mechanism and with my great strength, I was able to raise the bars back into the ceiling where they were held by a catch.

We returned to the chamber with a relief and went through the remaining door. It opened into a 20 by 20 room with no other exits. There were marks in the wall were things, maybe shelves had been attached. There were also some moldering pieces of cloth in corner. Maybe it had been a walk-in closet, or dressing room. It looked as though it had been clumsily looted, probably some time ago – at least a year.

Finding nothing else we returned to the crossroads where we had left the remains of a fire and took the passage that would have been on the left soon after passing this crossroads had we come from the entrance. We went along this and turned right heading along the chamber or passage as it narrowed. After another 30 feet we came to a T junction. To the left it opened into a room, which went around round into a corridor on the left or on the right, but we headed to the right along a passage. After about 30 feet, there was passage on the left or dead end beyond and a potential secret door on the right noticed by Amphius. He looked for a mechanism but couldn’t find it, so we took the passage on the left. After 50 feet there was an option on the right or the passage continued. We took the right turn and after 40 feet or so, there was an option on left, which was just an alcove with a door. We continued, ignoring the door. After about 65 feet there was enforced left turn. After another 10 or 15 feet there was an enforced left turn and then after another 35 feet an enforced right. I spotted a flicker of movement and a gigantic insect with tentacles moved to attack me. My first blow missed its mark, but Amphius and Oiorpata shot it, and I ran it through. Si’Aspiqo examined the corpse and told us that it was a corpse crawler and that its tentacles contained some poison that could paralyse. There was very large grub-like body around six feet long and a large head and then the tentacles were about 4 feet long. Amphius took the head and put it in a bag. We carried on and about 20 feet after the enforced right turn was a crossroads. Straight on there was a short distance to a T-junction, which looked like an obvious maze. We went right at crossroads and after 40 feet there was and enforced right turn. After this there was an option on the right or the passage continued. We turned right and then after 30 feet came to0 to dead end. We returned to the crossroads and went straight across. After 40 feet there was an enforced right, and then after a further 50 feet an option on left or the passage continued. We continued and after 20 feet there was a door on the left or the passage continued.

Amphius examined the door, which was of better quality wood and had a Punic inscription, which Agripinus said was – Ro-gan. Amphius opened door into a room 20 feet across, and about 50 feet wide, 10 feet to left 40 to right. There was a door straight ahead in the opposite wall. The far wall was set up with targets, and there were empty hoppers for javelins or arrows. There were iron bars on a rack on another wall of different diameters. In one corner there was a metal fitting in the roof with a rope hanging down to the floor, and there was a rack with some dummy weapons, blunt and extra heavy. Amphius opened the other door, which opened into a passage going left and right. We turned left and after 10 feet there was an enforced left turn and then after 10 or 15 feet there was a T-junction and a left took us back to the door with Ro-gan’s name on.

We went back into the room and out the other door and this time turned right. We went 40 feet and into a corridor left or right. We turned right and after 30 feet there was an enforced right – after 40 feet we were back to the door on the right with Ro-gan’s name again.

We decided time was getting on and so we headed to the outside, and I grabbed the desk as we passed it and carried it to the outside. We also dragged the body of the crawler outside.

Amphius did some more investigation of the drawer, but made no progress, so I borrowed and axe from Oiorpata and smashed it. There was nothing else, but as I had hit it, I heard a rattle and suspected there was something else concealed. Amphius located a hollow area, but couldn’t find a mechanism, so I just smashed it in. Sure enough, there were 20 bags (one of which I had damaged), each with between 12 and 24 modern, gold Punic coins, giving a total of 620 coins.

We used the smashed up remains of the desk to create a fire and burnt the remains of the corpse crawler and then returned safely to our camp-site around 4 o’clock to be reunited with Serif.

From Sammus’s Boast:

10. Kaskator Exploration - The Wizard’s Chambers

After an early evening meal, Si’Aspiqo and Agripinus set up their protections and we turned in for the night with our normal watches. During first watch Oiorpata and Amphius heard some noises from the direction of the tunnel complex up the hill – it sounded like voices, but it wasn’t the female voice that they had heard me described last night. They woke everyone and we all listened. I could hear a voice but couldn’t make out what was being said. It was a dark night as the moon had not yet risen, but by the light of the stars we headed slowly and carefully up the hill. Amphius led the way about 25 yards ahead of the rest of us, but Serif moved confidently and very stealthily and caught him up. Amphius thought he could hear three or four voices – they weren’t speaking Greek and probably not Arma either. They seemed to be in the nearby wood, about 200 yards away.

We crept carefully closer; Amphius tripped into the undergrowth and I blundered into a bush, but we managed to get to about 50 yards away without being heard. Serif said there were three men and told us to hold while he watched. He thought they are making camp and a fire. He thought they were maybe Libyan, but Agripinus thought they were actually Liby-Phoenician.

We planned to fan out slightly and then Agripinus would show himself and make a challenge. I made some noise trying to disentangle from a bush and Amphius tripped over some undergrowth and Agripinus challenged the camp. They asked him to stand where they could see him in Arma. Agripinus, Amphius and I moved to where we could be seen in the firelight.

Their spokesman said that they had been trapped underground by the spirits of the dead in the tunnels. For how long asked Agripinus? A few days was their reply – they had barricaded themselves I a room after being ambushed by the undead. Agripinus told them that he was the representative of the owners of the area and had come to investigate. The spokesman told them that they hadn’t stolen anything and they had nothing. They were poorly armed and equipped with spears, leather armour and light shields. They were unshaven and disreputable looking as though they had been living rough for some time. Agripinus asked if they had been in service and another of the men armed with a short stabbing spear nodded. Agripinus invited them to share our camp for the night in exchange for swearing they would do us no harm. They looked up at me and then were surprised when Oiorpata and Serif emerged from the darkness – they looked relieved that we had not killed them. They were happy to swear and share any information they had.

The four hungry men joined us at our campsite and were very grateful when we shared some food with us. Two of them had light wounds and bandages and Agripinus healed them. The rest of the night passed uneventfully – although there had been some snuffling and scratching noises nearby, nothing had pierced our protections.

The next morning the men explained that they had gone underground led by their boss and had been attacked at the crossroads and had suffered casualties – these were the bodies we had seen. The remaining four had then fled until they found some double doors that opened into a room, where they were able to barricade themselves in. They were able to describe the turns they had taken as one of them had knots in a rope. Agripinus and I shared our maps and they were able to show us where they had gone, although we had not gone as far as the double doors.

We gave them breakfast and Serif gave them a bag of oats and then rode off with them to ensure they left the area.

Agripinus and I compared our maps and decided we would start by investigating a potential secret door that Amphius had spotted previously, but been able to open. We headed back into the tunnel past the crossroads and a couple of doors and then took the passage on the left. This led into a room and we headed to the right past a secret door to where the room narrowed into a passage and then turned right at the end. We headed along to where there was an enforced left hand turn where Amphius had spotted a potential secret door on the right just as the passage turned. This time he managed to locate the mechanism.

There was chamber within and the first thing we saw was a large skeleton and I was just ready to fight it when I realized it was chained to the wall and was just a skeleton. It was very large, similar in size to myself, hanging from the top of the wall or the ceiling with the bones held together by wire. There were wooden tables and a heavy stone table in the centre of the room. Everything was very dusty. There was a large bottle or glass urn on one of tables. The room was about 30 feet deep by 40 or 50 feet across. There was an empty fire pit in the middle with ancient ashes. In one corner were two large wooden barrels, and a stone block next to them on which were perched a few ceramic containers and some glass. There was also an upright plain wooden sarcophagus. On one wall was a large mechanism, which appeared to be designed to stretch people.

Agripinus opened the sarcophagus, which proved to be empty. It looked like a cheap Egyptian coffin. On closer inspection the large glass object was a glass amphora, which looked smoky inside. Amphius carefully wrapped it in rags and put it in his sack for later inspection. Si’Aspiqo didn’t smell any active magic, but it was obvious magic had happened here. In a corner were 2 large 100 gallon empty wooden barrels. A third barrel was half the size of the other two and had a murky, muddy liquid in the bottom. There were two more amphora against the north wall, the one we had entered through, with Punic lettering painted on – letters T on one and F on the other? There was more glassware and small pots on some shelves around the walls. There was some firewood under one of tables. There were a couple of large cast iron cauldrons around the fire pit. One was suspended over the pit by an iron bar and support and the other was lying in the ashes.

In the centre of the wall opposite from where we had entered was another door. Amphius opened the door and there was a horrible shrieking noise. He immediately shut it, but we could still hear the horrible noise. He re-opened it, and I led the way into another room. There was a large square room with a table in the centre, on it was a ceramic bowl with something inside almost quivering, which seemed to be emitting the horrendous noise. Was it a plant? No-one else seemed to be taking any action so I smashed the bowl and contents with my sword and the noise stopped.

It seemed obvious that the two chambers had been used by magicians. There were wooden cabinets on the north wall with lots of earthenware jars, from which emanated a complex mix of musty odours. Arcana were scratched on the walls and floor amidst the thick layer of dust, which Si’Aspiqo identified as modern Egyptian. Maybe this was the work of Ro-gan’s sidekick. There were more wooden tables, but the central table was a smooth piece of black slate. On it was another large glass urn with a stopper, which seemed to be full of thick amber fluid with something dark within. This was again wrapped carefully in rags and placed it in another bag.

It looked to Amphius as though there was an opening mechanism in the West wall. He managed to open it and we found ourselves as anticipated, back in the room that narrowed into a corridor, opposite the secret door into the triangular room.

Oiorpata and Amphius took the two packs containing the amphorae and we headed carefully back to the camp for a break and a snack. Serif was not there, but we assumed he was still seeing our four guests out of the area. Si’Aspiqo thought that both the amphorae were magical and suggested burying them for later investigation. I used my pick-axe to dig a couple of holes and we warily packed loose earth around them and delicately tamped the earth down over them.

From Sammus’s Boast:

11. Kaskator Exploration – Rats and Darklings

We had a break and something to eat and sorted out some more torches and then without waiting for Serif to return we headed back in to Kaskator.

This time at the first crossroads we turned left and followed the passage round to the door on the right. Once through the door we turned right. After 30 feet there was a no option left turn and the after another 20 feet the passage ended with a door on the left. Amphius opened the door onto a long thin room with fragments of furniture, which had perhaps again been used as firewood. At the far end was a stone slab about a foot high, 10 to 12 feet wide and 6 feet deep. It was a solid block and the surface was more worn than the floor. It looked like a stage and maybe the wooden fragments were the remains of benches. Perhaps this had been a place of worship? There were a few fragments of cloth hangings. We returned to the crossroads where we had come through the door and turned right (which would originally have been straight on.

After 50 or 60 feet it opened out into a much larger chamber – we could not see how large. It felt slightly damp and there were lots of fungi growing here. There was a wide variety of colours and lots of clumps of mushrooms, some of which were very large. There were puffballs, some floating in the air. They looked a bit like flying jellyfish and as they floated towards us, we beat a hasty retreat back out through the door, closing it carefully behind us, and headed to the right.

After about 80ft there was an enforced right turn and then after another 80 feet the passage became more irregular and less straight. It went through a series of curves, left, right, left, and after about another 90-100 feet emerges into regular straight brickwork again as a 45 degrees left turn. It was now double width like a processional way. We made our way along about 60 feet where there was an enforced right turn. We proceeded along for another 80 feet where it opened out into an irregular chamber which we recognized. There was an option on the right, which we knew would take us to the triangular shaped room behind a secret door; directly ahead were two options.

We took the left hand of the two passages ahead, which we had yet to explore. After about 30 feet there was an enforced left turn. For 30 feet more it was a regular, straight passage but then it began to swing to the left. After about 100 feet I was convinced we were heading West; Oiorpata and Agripinus thought we were heading South and Si’Aspiqo and Agripinus thought the true direction was somewhere between. The passage then continued straight for about 30 or 40 feet straight where there was a no option left turn or a door on the right.

Amphius opened the door and we saw a passage heading straight ahead. We closed the door and turned left. After about 40 feet there were large, double doors on the left or the passage continued. The doors were carved but had been damaged. The carving resembled pillars with something wrapped around them, but we couldn’t make out what.

Amphius opened the door and in the torchlight, we could make out the floor which was inlaid with highly polished red stone. The room extended about 40 feet to the left and right and maybe 30 feet ahead, but was in the shape of a cross. There were a very large number of wooden shelves, with pigeon holes and on the floor were scattered the remains of broken up furniture. One corner smelt like a latrine and we could smell the remains of a fire and the centre of the room contained a makeshift firepit. Obviously the four men we had encountered last night had been holed up here. In the walls were sconces that once held torches. There were a very few scraps left in the pigeon holes and it was evident, much to Si’Aspiqo’s annoyance, that they had burnt the contents of the library to keep warm.

Behind some fragments in a pigeon hole, Amphius spotted a gleam of metal. In there was a small, bronze figurine with some silver inlay and copper eyes – the, statuette of bull-headed man. A minotaur, a half man, half bull from Greek legend I was told. We searched the pigeon holes, but only found fragments – there were no intact scrolls. Si’Aspiqo told us that he had seen polished red granite in Egyptian temples.

We went back out of the double doors, library, and turned left. After 20 to 30 feet we came to a dead end. The wall at the end and on the right were just brick and very thin. We did consider trying to break through with the pick-axe, but decided this would make enough noise to wake the dead.

We retraced our steps to the door we had recently opened with a passage beyond. Amphius opened the door and I led the party along the corridor and after 30 feet we arrived at a T-junction. It was a complex junction. If we turned left the passage continued. On the right was a door or the passage turned back on itself. We took the right turn back on itself.

After 40 feet there was a no option left turn and then after another 20 or 30 feet the passage seemed to continue a short distance and stop or there was an option on left. We took the option on the left. There was an opening in wall on right but it just turned into a deep alcove. We continued and after a short distance there was a no option right turn. Another 50 or so feet led to another no option right turn.

As I led the party on, Amphius and I were attacked by rats the size of small dogs. There were four or five of them, but even though they had sharp teeth, with Amphius’ help, I made short work of them. On closer inspection they were rats, but about 10 times the normal weight.

About 20 feet after our last right turn was an option on the left, roughly where the rats attacked us, or the passage continued for about another 10 feet where it turned to the right. Under the extra light Si’Aspiqo had lit to aid in the fight against the rats, Amphius spotted what looked like a secret door just along the passage on the left.

He spent some time looking for the mechanism, while I gralloched the rats. Amphius was unable to find the mechanism, so we continued straight along the original passage and took the no option right turn. After 20 or so feet there was a door on the right or the passage continued a few feet and turned left and then ended.

Amphius opened the door and ahead was a rectangular chamber, about 20 feet deep room with a wall immediately to the left and the right-hand wall about 30 feet away. It was a bare room with no other exits. There were some scuffed chalk marks in the floor, which the magician investigated. It looked like a large circle with scribbles. He thought it was a conjuration or divination spell but it was too scuffed to make out. He added that it was contemporary Egyptian or Kushite in style, but there was no smell of active magic.

We went out of the door and Amphius checked out the alcove opposite but it just seemed like solid rock, so we retrace our steps to the suspected secret door. We headed along about 15 feet to a no option right turn. The wall to the left was now solid rock and we continued for about 110 or 120 feet to a no option right turn. Immediately after the right, maybe 5 or 10 feet there was an option on the left or the passage continued. The option on the left looked like a chamber at 45 degrees to the left. At the back was an opening, into a small chamber 45 degrees to the right. At back of second chamber another left 45 degrees. It was like a zigzag processional way. There was another zig to right, then to left and then right then left then right, each about 25 feet long. At the last of these there was a door in the left-hand wall, or a 10 feet wide passage ahead as the right turn ended.

It was one of the superior quality doors and has Amphius inspected it for traps he could hear noise from within. He opened it and something poked at him with a spear. It was a darkling. The door opened in to a chamber and in the flickering torchlight I could make out more darklings within. Amphius ducked away and drew his bow, leaving me to face the darklings. I was hit by a missile and Agripinus touched my shoulder and invoked protection from evil. Si’Aspiqo cast more light and I could see 6 or 7 darklings. I took a pace back into the lit passageway to stand alongside the priest and Oiorpata was able to fire her bow and a darkling went down with one of her arrows through it. As the darklings push the door shut again both archers fire, Amphius knocked one down but Oiorpata’s arrow went off into the gloom.

We headed back to the outside. By now we had burnt 4 torches and a couple of hours or more had passed. We returned to the corral, where Serif awaited us. He told us that he had accompanied the Libby-Phoenicians for about 5 or 6 hours. He had pointed out the road they should take and gave them an extra bag of oats and warned them this was Numidian land, and a forbidden place – if you come back your lives are forfeit. They had thanked him for the food and hurried away.

From the Journal of Agripinus:

12. Kaskator Update

After several days in the area I have concluded the estate appears to be almost entirely underground, and has a very maze-like quality. Initial investigations led us to a crossroads, and exploring the left hand passage, we appear to track back on ourselves to a place that must surely be once again outside the hill. Either we are being led a subtle curve or gradient, or some sorcery is employed to confuse our direction.

Without wanting to get too lost, and with too few torches to make a safe map, we delved further straight in to the complex. That was a benefit, as we found wood and such matters as could be used as torches to continue the process.

Nothing of value or portable assets were found this day, the only notable event in fact was being attacked overnight and one of the ponies almost stolen. It was a small skirmish, and only minor wounds taken and all foes dispatched. It appears so far, that looters have already made free with the immediate items, though I shall attempt to recover what I can from whatever leads we might obtain.

We are going to need more torches, that is apparent. Si’Aspiqo seems to be adept at making them though these Kushite torches burn with more of a hiss and a spit than the ones we bought in Carthage they give off a bit more smoke and a distinctive aroma too. On the positive side, they look quite rugged and damp-proof.

I noted that there was some outer dwellings, these consist of:

  • a central roundhouse with thatched roof which we found suitable for overnight shelter, accommodation and a secure camp-fire. A couple of smaller round huts - probably fodder stores. A substantial wooden outbuilding with many shelves, probably a food store.
  • A substantial wooden outbuilding with many hooks most probably an equipment & materials store to my eye. There is also a rough stable-block for about 6 horses, an open-sided roofed shed with a small forge at one end and what looks like a smoking rack in the roof.
  • There is an enclosure for ponies near the stables and an overgrown vegetable plot, with many herbs and weeds of various sorts and a sizeable chicken or duck run with a stream running through one end.
  • Also there are two large paddocks, divided by the stream which flows through the kraal. The larger paddock has a number of young trees in it, which Serif says look foreign to him. The stream has a small earth dam, with a large clay pipe in it, which regulates the level of a small pond and prevents the paddock flooding. It provides a decent reserve of fresh water, although it looks too small for the dry season unless this is spring-fed.

This all is within a stockade of some stretched circle bordered a hedge supplemented by timber in various places. There is only one set of timber gates leading in and the whole complex looks appears cleared out, but with no evidence of fire damage or large BBQ feasts of livestock, both hallmarks of looting.

My estimation is that this place was abandoned, and residual items have been plundered, but without demolition for construction materials. Further investigation of the interior will hopefully tell us more.

After several visits to the interior the Gaul and I have managed to piece together some rough sketches of the layout of the place. Far from being simple and functional, it is twisted and difficult to navigate.

I will only mention some brief things of note here that we have encountered so far. The first is that the complex is inhabited both by undead denizens and other vermin. That is vermin of the four legged and looter kind, all of which we dealt with.

There is a shrine to a goddess in the eastern side, it is certainly not Tanit, and thus interfering with it at this early stage in our investigation is most unwise.

There are many rooms of broken furniture, some being used for firewood, perhaps having been smashed up by looters, though little of value is evident at the outset. Though there are a few pieces worth noting that we have been able to carry out so far, see below.

On the west side is a large room filled with fungi and mushrooms, it is rather musty, and I suggested it was best to leave alone until we could prepare with some face cloths and water to keep the spores and smell from affecting us all.

One room found after 2 or 3 days was filled with alchemical items. Too numerous to move safely, these have been mostly left (so far) in the secretly secure area we found them. Some rooms with torture equipment were also uncovered, and several trapped areas and false walls.

So far, the recovered items amounts to one bronze pickaxe, 640 gold coins, two flasks containing a misty swirling gas which have been removed and buried for safe keeping. There have been some small items found on the bodies of looters, a dagger, a necklace with blue stones, a sword, a gold bangle and items that I consider of some value from the bodies of denizens found here that we will claim as shared bounty.

Further exploration will surely provide better information, explanation, and items which our clients have sent us here to find.

13. Kaskator Map

Map of explored Kaskator
Kaskator

As explored by the evening of the third day.
Recorded by Sammus the Strong and Agripinus Taniths Priest

Si’aspiqo wheezes:

14. On Goddesses

I have been reflecting upon the matter of the statue in the hidden room, and its implications.

It is not unreasonable to speculate that the statue itself is indeed a modern Greek rendition of Aphrodite, as suggested by my observant colleague Amphius of Crete. We know there has been Greek interest in this place of late, However I suspect a connection with the Alexandrian conquest of the Eastern world, when strange and ancient mysteries were overrun by the great conqueror’s armies and old knowledge brought to light for those with eyes to see. This, I believe, has lead to the modern interest in Kaskator which in turn brings us here.

Here in the lands close to Phoenician-founded Carthage, the Goddess statue is better understood to represent Astarte, as the Greeks call her, or Astoreth of the Phoenician rite. I say Astoreth because she is clearly not her close sister-goddess Tanit, or our fine leader Agripinus the military priest would recognise her. The symbolism of Tanit is not frequently erotic, an aspect of the statue that our soldier-priest clearly recognised in the matter of his close inspection of her, um, divine form.

I would venture that Astoreth, whom I might refer to as Isis were I in the northern lands of the great river, like any proper goddess has earlier avatars and sister-goddesses, mostly forgotten in this modern age here in the west, but still whispered amongst the wise of the North East.

You might say Astoreth is a goddess of love and war, the strong passions, and not the dismal gloom of dreams of the dead and the shadow that seems to hang over this region of Teveste, called Kaskator moving the Numidian people to declare it taboo.

My thoughts are caught by the observation of our good guide, Serif, as much as I can make out of his low-Greek, Arma argot, that the tale of his people is that this place was never until very recently the subject of interest by Greeks of modern times or their forebears, but that in ancient times the “Summer people” dug here for “the blood of the earth”. Quite what the blood of the earth means is unclear to me as yet. I speculate though that the Summer people are not some seasonal local tribe, but the ancient people of the land of the two rivers, far to the east, who worshipped, among others, a Queen of Heaven, called Astoreth in later days but who is also named Ishtar and Inanna. Inanna is she who had a sister Queen whom she tried to rob of her realm and was struck dead by the eternal judges for her impertinence and usurpation. Being a goddess she got better, of course, and someone else bore the price of her deeds.

You will note that the Shadow lies on this land. Several of us have head a sweet voice calling from the depths. I feel it in my bones and see the dead passing by in my dreams. It attracts the Darklings I believe. We have, as a party, fought dead men and darklings in the gloom of Kaskator.

Therefore, I have little doubt that the depths of the Kaskator impinge in some way, whether physically or symbolically, on the realm of Inanna’s sister: Ereshkigal, Queen of the Underworld and of the Dead.

From Sammus’s Boast:

15. Centipedes and Pools

We had a break, sorted out some more torches and then, leaving Serif to guard the camp, we returned to our explorations. Agripinus and I had compared notes and determined somewhere we wanted to resolve our differences.

We went along the main North-South corridor past the crossroads with the remains of our fire all the way to the enforced right turn at the end. We followed this to a doorway on the left, which opened into a long narrow room running parallel to the passage, with an alcove in the right hand wall, which we had previously explored. We closed the door and continued along the passageway. This started to go around the room but ended in a suspicious floor leading to a door. We decided to leave this for now. In the future Amphius suggested we return with large rocks to roll along the passageway to trigger the trap and then we could climb over probably with the help of some wooden planks.

We then retraced our steps back towards the crossroads with the remains of our fire, but before reaching the this we took the first passage on the left, which led to a secret door into the carving room. Opposite the secret door, was a passage to the right, which we had not yet entered.

We headed along this about 20 feet to an enforced right turn, immediately followed by an enforced left. Then 15 or 20 feet to an enforced left followed by another right. After another 15 or 20 feet there was a T-junction, just to the right was the secret door into the statue room. We turned left instead then a right turn and the passage continued 45 feet to a T-junction. We took the right hand option which led 30 feet to a T-junction with an alcove just ahead. We turned right and after 55 feet there was enforced left turn, and after 30 or 40 feet we reached the crossroads with the remains of our fire.

Turning around we retraced our steps 30 feet to an enforced right then 55 feet to an option on the left, which we took. We ignored the option on the left and continued a further 50 feet, where there was a door in the right hand wall. About 10 feet or so further along we could see another door, this time in the left hand wall and the passage continued. Amphius checked the door on the right for traps and didn’t find any. He carefully opened the door, oiling it as he did so, as it started to creak.

It led to a passage so he closed the door carefully and we continued along to the second door. Again Amphius checked for traps and not finding any, carefully opened the door. Ahead was a passage and we headed along it. After around 20 feet was an enforced right turn and then 10 feet to an enforced left turn. After 25 feet there was an enforced right turn, and then the continued passage for around 60 feet to an enforced left turn. After another 30 feet we came to a dead end with a door ahead.

Amphius checked it out and found no traps. The door was set in brickwork and was locked. Opens into enforced left turn, 30 feet ahead to a door across passage, better quality. Amphius took out some tools and managed to pick the lock. It opened into a very large chamber and we could not make out the walls in any direction. The floor was covered in ceramic tiles, mainly yellowish-brown, but with darker markings in some places. We headed in and could see to the left and right, the raised rims of what looked like bath tubs or pools about 6 feet in diameter. Agripinus called forth the light of Tanit and the room was bathed in a brilliant blue-white light.

We could now see that the room went about 40 feet to left, but then after another 20 or 30 feet was even wider. To the right the wall was about 40 feet, but then after 50 feet it disappeared into the gloom at a 45 degree angle. The pools were roughly circular, about 6 feet across and with a stone rim. There looked to be at least 8 or 9 pools. We started to make our way around the left hand wall.

After 35 feet the wall turned to the right, then after 20 feet turned to the left and there was another pool ahead. After 20 feet the wall turned to the right and then after 10 feet to the left again. After 20 feet there was an enforced right , after 20 feet we came to a pool that we had to divert around. It was of a clear liquid, with a strange odour and I noticed a glint of metal in the bottom – maybe a plug. Another 20 feet led to a corner corner and enforced right. By now we could see 9 or 10 pools. After 20 feet we had to circumnavigate another pool. As we went round others noticed something glittering in the pool. 20 feet more and we came to an enforced right, then 10 feet to a left turn in the wall, another 20 feet and we had to go around another pool. We were now pretty much opposite the door we had entered by. Si’Aspiqo noticed that the mosaic seemed to lead back from here to the doorway.

Amphius checked out the wall where the mosaic path started or ends but couldn’t find anything. We continued another 20 feet and the wall turned 45 degrees. The wall carried on in that direction and we had to divert past another pool. As Si’Aspiqo walked round the pool he was attacked by some giant centipedes. He shooed one away with his torch and two more attacked and bit Agripinus, but he shrugged it off. Amphius drew his daggers and killed one, and I cut two in halves with my sword. Another nibbled at Agripinus again, but he finished it off. They were large, about the size of my forearm, and quite brightly coloured. Suspecting that they might contain poison, Amphius gathered up a couple of them and stored them carefully in his bag.

Si’Aspiqo sensed arcana from the whole room, particularly the pools. One smelt slightly sulphurous. The pools seemed to be about every 20 feet along perhaps three different processional ways. They seemed to be in overlapping clusters of four, making nine pools, with two more off to the right and a further group of three, making fourteen all together.

We continue 15 feet around another pool, to a corner which was square and contained another pool. A straight wall then back to the door. Once the light of Tanit faded, after 30 minutes, the room was much darker And we headed back out of the door, closing it behind us.

Amphius carefully relocked the door, leaving some hairs trapped in the door jamb, so that we would be able to tell if the door had been opened. We then retraced our steps to the fire crossroads. We then headed to where Amphius had found a suspected secret door, where we had been attacked by giant rats. He checked for a mechanism again and was unable to find anything. He started to suspect there wasn’t really a secret door, just a fake as a distraction.

We headed back outside where it was now late afternoon. We returned to the campsite, where Serif was busy preparing an evening meal of a Numidian stew with dried meat. We related our adventures. He told us that the centipedes were poisonous as we had suspected; although not as dangerous as scorpions, the poison could numbness. Fortunately, although he had been bitten by the centipedes, Agripinus had managed to shrug off the poison with no ill effects.

16. G.M. Update

It is a lovely evening, the horizon is orange, fading to a lurid pink, before the purple twilight. At last the clouds have broken and it should be a fine day tomorrow, the best omen since you entered these parts. As darkness falls, the temperature drops sharply, but starlight illuminates the kraal in an altogether more cheery way than it has before. Much the most pleasant evening around the fire that you have had so far.

The Kushite nods off, wheezing slightly as usual, and seems to sleep peacefully for while, before his dreams become more disturbed… At the same time, a warm wind arises from the south and small threads of cloud race across the sky. The trees around stir, and their limbs thrash as the gusts grow stronger. The Kushite wakes with a start, and all are watchful as midnight approaches. The horses and ponies are restless, and whinney in the darkness. Things rustle in the night, and the earth floor smells moist. You bank up the fire and have torches and weapons to hand. Serif removes his jacket, and you can all see the symbol of Tanit tattooed across his chest. He smears paint on his face and holds an amulet in one hand, with a javelin in the other.

Around midnight the number of small spiders, beetles and centipedes that can be found in odd corners seems quite unnatural…

The hot wind seems to have grown even stronger, and Agripinus can hear a fell voice calling far off in the gale, although he can make no sense of it. Others can hear only faint snatches. Si'aspiquo says — the voice calls… in Egyptian…

From Sammus’s Boast:

17. Conversations with a Demon

It was a lovely evening, the horizon was orange, fading to a lurid pink, before the purple twilight. At last the clouds had broken and all felt the good omen of a fine morning approaching. As darkness fell, the temperature dropped sharply, but starlight illuminated the kraal in an altogether more cheery way than it had previously.

The Kushite nodded off and seemed to sleep peacefully for a while, before his dreams became more disturbed. A warm wind arose from the south and small threads of cloud raced across the sky. The trees around stirred, and their limbs thrashed as the gusts grew stronger. The Kushite awoke with a start, and we were all watchful as midnight approached. The horses and ponies were restless, and whinnied in the darkness. Things rustled in the night, and the earth floor smelt moist. We banked up the fire and had torches and weapons to hand. Serif removed his jacket, and we could all see the symbol of Tanit tattooed across his chest. He smeared paint on his face and held an amulet in one hand, with a javelin in the other.

Around midnight the number of small spiders, beetles and centipedes that could be found in odd corners seemed quite unnatural. The hot wind seemed to have grown even stronger, and Agripinus could hear a fell voice calling far off in the gale, although he could make no sense of it. Others could hear only faint snatches. Si'aspiqo said that the voice was calling in Egyptian. The gale swirled outside, with a fell voice calling from far off. Only hints of words could be discerned, and none can understand them… save the Kushite.

Si'aspiqo looked inscrutable for a few moments, and then borrowed a piece of white cloth from Agripinus’ medical bag, before winding the bandage around his head. He coughed to the rest of us, “Ack! Beloved of Sutek indeed. My word. Ack! Ack! Well, I doubt anything will benefit from eating me, so I am just going outside and may be some time.”

He walked rather gingerly out the door of the hut, and plunged into the gloom of the gale. We could just perceive the white streak of his headband in the shadow of night a few paces from the front doorway of our hut. We all gripped our weapons and stood by, ready to charge out should the Kushite’s shouts turn to screams.

Evidently Si'aspiqo was in conversation with some creature or other. Every so often he relayed an update on his conversation and we came to realise that he was negotiating access to Kaskator. He told us that this was an arcane creature of the type known as a Shedim, which he described as “someone else’s God”, although we could think of it as a demon. He was asked why we were here and he had explained that we were seeking knowledge, not riches or power. He told us that Rogan had wanted knowledge, health and life, but didn’t want to pay; now he’s toast.

The Shedim apparently asked Si'aspiqo what was our offer for a pass to explore the upper levels until the next full moon. The Shedim wanted weapons or armour or a sacrifice of men or beasts. Gold was no use as it was too soft. Apparently, women were worth five times the value of a man and Oiorpata could be seen to pale even under the flickering light cast by the firelight.

The Shedim offered safe conduct until next full moon under sun, or in the Mountain, but only for the maze level. Si'aspiqo negotiated and we collected and piled up our spare weapons: 2 short swords, leather reinforced armour, a dagger, a stone mace, a leather helm and a boot knife. One of the short swords and the dagger were from Agripinus stock of trade goods, but the rest had been collected from the bodies we had found at the crossroads and the darklings. The Shedim told Si'aspiqo that we would be safe under the sun, or in the Mountain, until the next full moon and its children would do us no harm in the limits stated. It was about 2 weeks until the next full moon. Si'aspiqo suspected this would protect us from the darklings but probably not the skeletons.

A creature landed and bundled up the arms and armour. It was a dark shadow with shadowy wings, about the size of Agripinus. It flapped off with its bundle in a low flight path. Agripinus said it was a creature of shadow.

The wind died down, the clouds and mist passed and the stars emerge. Spiders, beetles and centipedes had gone. A fine bright dawn followed without incident and the brightest day so far began.

Leaving Serif to guard the campsite we headed back in to Kaskator and went straight to the secret door, for which Amphius had so far been unable to find the mechanism. This time after around 30 minutes he managed to locate the trigger and open the door. It opened into a 20 feet square closet. There was a little detritus on the floor, but nothing else and no exits, so we headed back the way we had come to a nearby door on the right, at an enforced left turn. which we had yet to explore.

Amphius checked for traps and after a struggle, opened the door. It was another small room, 20 feet deep, and 30 feet off to the left. There were some chalk scribblings on the floor but nothing else. Si'aspiqo went in first to investigate the scribblings. He thought it was a Circle of Protection, or maybe a summoning. Third or fourth level magic, but not something he was familiar with. There was nothing inside and no exits. From the door we head straight along the passage in what we thought was a southerly direction. After 85 feet there was a no option left turn and then after 30 feet a no option right turn and then 30 feet to another no option right but a door ahead. Looking along after the no option right turn there was a door on the right.

Amphius tried the first door, which was stiff, but opened after oiling. As he opened the door, we could all feel a suck of air – a slight draft from behind. By torchlight Amphius could see piles of dark stone or dust on the floor. It was a room about 20 or so 30 feet wide, and 20 feet deep, with more to the right than left. Was the dark stone or dust a pile of rubble?

Amphius tried the other door, which opened smoothly. This room was also full of black dust. On the left were some carving on the wall, maybe a door? This was 20 feet by 20 room. Amphius could feel some movement in the carved door, but couldn’t find a mechanism. He checked for traps but found none. The black dust was in a corner and the carved door was in the left-hand side near where we came in - on the western wall at south end. Amphius took a bag of black dust, which Si'aspiqo recognized as coal – the burning stone.

We went back to the first room. In the left-hand corner, there was a small chamber going north. Inside was a firepit, forge, hand bellows and a few metal tools on the wall. There was a vaulted upper part to the ceiling, and I could feel air rushing up and away. That chamber was in the north east corner in the south east was another door. We opened it into another chamber, containing very dry logs of different sizes. There was a hole about 3 feet across in the floor. Nearby a large iron ring was anchored. There was another door opposite the entrance. We went through that exit and there was a 10 feet corridor with a no option right turn. After 40 feet there was another no option right, after another 30 feet there no option right and as we turned there was a door on the left and another door ahead on the right, into the room with the forge, where there is a no option turn. This completed a circuit. We returned to the room with a hole.

If the hole was a well as someone suggested, it didn’t smell damp. Si'aspiqo threw an almost expired old torch down the hole, after readying the next. By its light we could see what looked like a pile of rubbish. The hole was more than 30 feet deep. The tools we had found were suitable for forging large weapons or armour not just daggers.

We headed back to the crossroads with the remains of our fire from a few days earlier and took the option on the left. We took the first turn on the left and headed along the corridor around 100 feet to a door on the right. It opened onto a corridor straight ahead. We followed it 30 feet to an option on the right or a chamber on the left. We headed into the chamber. It was a large room and we seemed to be in the northwestern corner. By the torchlight I could make out three columns about 10 feet apart before the room disappeared into darkness. There was a slight smell of something living, “maybe darklings?”, speculated Si'aspiqo. There was a smooth greyish floor of stone flagstone, and polished columns of red stone, which looked similar to the floor of the library.

We checked the corridor on the right. After 25 feet there was a door on the right or the passage continued. Amphius checked the door, and opened it. It was a room about 20 feet deep and 30 to 40 feet wide, with lots of large fittings in the wall, but nothing hung from them. Oiorpata wondered if they were to hang shields. We carried on along the corridor and after 30 feet there was a door on the left or the passage turned to the right. Amphius opened the door on a chamber about 20 feet deep and 30 feet wide. In the room, we turned to the right, and there was a stair case on the right, turning back the way we’d entered and leading downwards.

As our safe conduct only applied to the maze level, we came back out of the chamber and headed along the corridor to the north. After 25 feet there was a no option left turn and then after 30 feet another no option left turn, then 50 feet to a left turn, or the passage continued. We went left and after 60 feet there was a T-junction but the option left opened into the room with columns.

Agripinus summoned the light of Tanit. We could see it was a large rectangular, with eight red columns, in two rows of four, 20 feet apart. At the far end of the room about 50 feet away, was a raised dais with two stone thrones, carved of smooth, white stone. The raised dais was made of the same red stone as the columns. Beyond the thrones, in the middle of the wall facing us, was a well-made, superior quality, wooden door. On inspection from Amphius it proved to be locked. Amphius spent some time fruitlessly trying to unlock the door.

We headed back to the outside to prepare some more torches. We noticed nothing untoward on our return journey to the campsite. It was now the middle of a bright and sunny morning and we set to crafting more torches to further explore the complex.

Our teamwork meant that we were able to produce 6 torches in quick time. As we worked Si'aspiqo told us that he had dreamt of pools. The dreams might be relevant but he needed to ponder them further. We headed back up the hill towards the complex.

We headed to the wizard’s chamber first to investigate whether there was anything there that might prove useful to our further exploration. Amphius had no problems opening the secret door. Agripinus cast the light of Tanit and Si'aspiqo investigated the contents of the various jars.

The first contained a fluid he recognized that came from Persia and seeped out of the earth. Si'aspiqo told us it was highly flammable and was glad he was exploring by the light of Tanit and not a spluttering torch. It had a hieroglyph that he didn’t recognize and he drew a flame on it. The next contained a red powder or crushed stone very like that of which the columns in the throne room were made. The following jar had a stopper with a symbol of Tanit and contained pure water maybe holy water? The priest took it for now. The next contained vinegar. Another contained a crushed yellow powder – probably sulphur. The following had finely powdered or ground coal dust. Then there was another containing pure water, but without a symbol. The next had a dry white powder, slightly ivory in colour. The following had a dried residue, dark almost black, and some hieroglyphs that Si'aspiqo couldn’t make out – it smelt vaguely organic. Another jar contained very pure, white sand.

Another had a dried herb, probably harvested in the last three or four years – it was grassy or dill-like. The next had a number of shards of obsidian. They all looked the sort of things a wizard might find useful for recipes or ceremonies. The following one was full of slightly aromatic chips of wood – for generating aromatic smoke. Another contained mineral salt. The fifteenth jar was full of ash, very fine and flaky, maybe burnt in a kiln.

There were two jars containing a variety of pumice stones. Then a second jar containing ash. The nineteenth contained shards of a very dark grey soft material – the Kushite said that it was graphite and could be used for drawing or writing on a light coloured surface. Graphite for leaving a dark mark. There were still about another twenty or twenty one jars to go, but at this point the light of Tanit went out and Si'aspiqo lit another torch. It was thought safest to leave further investigation for now.

We went through the door into what we had thought of as a torture chamber. There were a couple of wooden tables, a stone table, a rack of some sort, a fire pit, two empty wooden vats and a half full vat, a few earthenware containers and the remains of some glassware in one corner and more small, glass amphora on the shelves. Standing upright was a crude coffin and the skeleton was still suspended against a wall.

There were four small glass amphorae on stands, somewhat larger than the jars in the previous chamber. The first seemed to contain a liquid heavier than water – maybe olive oil. The next had a liquid somewhere between oil and water. The next was closer to water. The last one was full of a dry substance, powder or gritty. There was also some small glassware and trays and some incense or aromatic powders.

At this point my mind drifted to the money we had found, probably because I found that more interesting than the contents of the two rooms. I realised that the bags of money we had found in the desk were probably salary bags for the army. I wonder who they had been for and how they had come to be there.

We decided to explore some of the areas we had not yet investigated. We went out of the secret door from the torture room and headed straight along a corridor for 60 feet to an option on the right. We continued straight on and came to an option on the left after another 40 feet or the passage continued. We turned left. After 80 feet there was a no option right. After another 20 feet there was T-junction left or right, although on investigation the option on the left was just an alcove. We took the right option and after 40 feet there was a door on the left or the passage continued.

Amphius noticed something about ceiling near the door. It looked like something might drop down and he thought the trigger was just ahead. Amphius opened door. It was a long thin room with scattered and looted bits of gear. It had obviously been a storeroom. It was about 60 feet in length and only 10 feet deep. There were pegs on the walls and we found rope, wooden dowels, a couple of worn heads of mining picks, some blunt chisels and fragments of barrels. Amphius made ball of rope and a mining pick and took it to the corridor. He threw it along the corridor in an effort to trigger the trap. Sure enough, there was a rushing noise and a heavy set of bars descended from the ceiling to the floor. We suspected that beyond it was a dead end.

We retraced our steps to and headed back towards the torture room but took the last turn on the left before reaching the secret door and headed along to where there was an alcove on the left with a door at the end. Amphius opened it and beyond was a 10 feet passage leading to another door. This then opened into another 10 foot square alcove with three more doors, one left, one right and one straight ahead. Amphius checked each door and could see no traps. He opened the door on the right – another alcove with three more doors. He also opened the door ahead and the one on the left – each opened into an alcove with three more doors. All were 10 feet by 10 feet alcoves.

Amphius took the door on the left and then after that the door in the left in the next alcove. This led to an alcove with just a door ahead or a door on the right. He opened the door ahead. This next alcove had three doors. He opened the one on the left and this led into a chamber, a much larger room 15 feet to the left and 20 or 25 to the right and 20 feet deep. There was an exit corridor running north in the northwestern corner. We went along this for 30 feet to a no option right, then 75 feet to option on the right or passage continued. We went right and after 30 feet there was a no option right, which ended in an alcove with a door on the right-hand side. The door was hard to open, but Amphius managed to force it open. On the other side was a small alcove with a door on the left or ahead. We took the door ahead, which opened into an alcove with just a door on left. We returned to the previous alcove and took the door that had been on the left. This led to an alcove with a door ahead or right. At this point we started writing on the doors: Beta 1 ahead Beta 2 on right and Alpha 1on both sides of the door we had just come through. We went ahead. This alcove had three more doors left ahead and right. We went back and tried Beta 2. This opened into an alcove with a door on the left or right. We entered and wrote Gamma 1 and Gamma 2 on the doors and opened the door on the right. This led into an alcove with just a door on the right, this opened into a small alcove – the door on the right had alpha 1 on it. The door was closed, even though we had left it open. Instead we went out of the unnamed door and Agripinus was able to direct back out of the maze to the main passage and we head back out of the complex and back to the campsite.

We had used three of our torches and the light of Tanit, so we arrived safely back at the campsite shortly before four in the afternoon. We set to making torches and a few wedges on a beautiful evening as Serif prepared another stew.

18. Kaskator Maps

Map of explored Kaskator day 4
Kaskator

As explored by the evening of the fourth day.
Recorded by Sammus the Strong and Agripinus Taniths Priest

19. Kaskator Maps

kaskator-5
Kaskator

As explored on the morning of the fith day.
Recorded by Sammus the Strong and Agripinus Taniths Priest

From Sammus’s Boast:

20. Exploring the South East Quarter

We prepared half a dozen more torches, including one fast-burning for throwing, and four wedges. We then ate our evening meal and turned in for the night. It was a clear evening and a half moon shone until around midnight. Agripinus and I were on second watch and both of us had an uneasy feeling but nothing untoward happened. We passed this on to Si'aspiqo and Serif on the last watch. Serif felt there was something out there and concluded it was probably the Shedim, around to see if we had anything else for it.

The night passed uneventfully and after a hearty breakfast we returned to Kaskator. We had decided to continue our exploration of the 10 feet square chambers and made our way along past the secret door to the torture room and took the next option on the right to an alcove on the left with a door at the end.

We went through the door into a 10 feet square room with three more doors. This time we labelled the room Omega and numbered all the doors. We chose the door on the right and after Amphius had checked it carefully, he opened it into another 10 feet square room This was labelled Theta and had a door on the left or ahead. In each room we labelled the room and numbered the doors and Amphius checked the door we chose for traps before opening it. From Theta we went ahead into Iota which had a door on the left and one on the right into a corridor and an immediate left turn which we had found the previous evening.

We went left into Lambda, which just had a door on the left. This led to Mu, which had a door on the left, which led to Theta or ahead. We went ahead into Nu. Again this had a door on the left or ahead. Left was back to Omega, so we went ahead to Zi. We checked the door on the left, which had a door on the left and right, but we stayed in Zi and went ahead into Omicron, which had a door ahead and left. We went ahead into Pi, which just had a door on left. This led into Ro, with just a door on left. This led to Chi, which had three more doors. The door on the right led into the chamber which we had found the previous afternoon. We followed the passage passed an option on right, and continued 20 feet to another option on right. We took this a short distance to a crossroads and went straight on heading south. This led round three turns back to the alcove on the right leading to the maze of ten feet square rooms we had just explored.

We headed back to the crossroads we had just left and turned left or west. There was an immediate no option left turn and after another 40 feet a T-junction. We turned left and after 30 feet reached a dead end. The torch expired and a new one was lit. We went back to the T-junction and took what would originally have been the option on the right. After 30 feet there was a no option right turn which ended after 10 feet ends in an alcove with a dead end.

We went back to the crossroads, and headed east, after 50 feet enforced right. We passed an option on the right and after 70 feet there was an enforced right turn. After 60 feet the passage opened into a T-junction. The option on the right became a T-junction and the walls here were a narrow. We turned right and then immediately left. After 20 feet there was a door in the left hand wall or the passage continued. The door opened into a large, wide chamber. This was the gym we had already explored. We went back to the first of the T-junctions and took the left turn to head south. After 20 feet there was a no option right. Another 20 feet brought us to a door in the right hand wall or the passage continues. The door led back into the Gym. After another 40 feet we came to a T-junction. We turned to the left, heading south and then after 10 feet was enforced left turn heading east. After 80 feet there was a no option left turn and then after 30 feet no option right. There were 5 or 6 steps leading up and the passage continued east. After 60 feet there was a no option left turn. After 20 feet there was a door in the right hand wall or the passage continued.

It was a finely made door. Amphius checked it out and found nothing and then opened it into a chamber that was 40 feet deep and 30 feet wide, but where the walls started narrower and widened at a 45 degree angle making a bottle shape. It was a stone chamber with fragments of wood and the remnants of what was once furniture. There were no other exits, and no secret doors were found.

We continued along the passage for 40 feet to a similar door in the right hand wall or the passage continued. After checking the door, Amphius opened it into an identical chamber again containing fragments of wood. Again it was carved out of rock, but this one had a decorative carved alcove in the far wall. The carving was just decorative and there were no signs of secret doors.

We continue north along the corridor for 40 feet to another door on the right. After this the passage turned 45 degrees left and doubled in width and we thought this was a door behind which we had previously found darklings.

The door was another finely made one and Amphius checked it for traps and finding none opened it. It smelt musky, similar to the throne room, probably because of the darklings previously occupying it. The room was the same size and shape as the previous two with more furniture remnants. There was the remains of a small fire in the corner, which was now cold. There was a dismantled bed and some personal chamber furniture. I searched carefully but only found a bronze belt buckle.

We left the room and headed along a series of 45 degree passages, emerging at a T-junction and turned left, southwards. After 20 feet option we turned right. After 75 feet was a no option right turn and then after 20 feet was a T-junction. The left turn led immediately to a dead end, so we turned right and after 40 feet there was a door on the right and just beyond were the iron bars we had triggered yesterday.

We now headed to the carving room to investigate the passage where we had encountered the undead. We headed past the secret door to the carving room. At the end of the corridor was a no option left turn with a door on the right. As we opened the door the wind gusted through from behind us and the torch guttered, but stayed alight. As expected there was a double width passage heading northeast.

Agripinus summoned the light of Tanit and ahead we could see skeletal forms advancing. Amphius shot one in the head but it continued to advance on us. The priest tried to call on Tanit to turn the undead, but dropped his holy symbol and the light of Tanit went out. I stepped forward to engage three skeletons, so that the he could recover his holy symbol. With a mighty blow I sheered both legs off one of the undead and it collapsed. Amphius shot another in the head and I felt an arrow from Oiorpata whistle narrowly by and bury itself in the ribs of another and it went down. I hit the last one in the head and it went down, but I felt something grabbing at my ankles – the legless skeleton. Amphius shot it, it stopped moving and we had control of the field.

The skeletons had fragments or armour, but we managed to gather two bronze kopis, a gold ring worth maybe a dozen gold pieces and a modern steel stabbing spear. The passage was about 70 feet long. In the corner to the right was a door. We shut the door through which we had entered and the wind stopped. Amphius checked out the door on the right and then opened it. On the other side was an oddly shaped room. As we entered it was only about 10 feet deep and 20 feet wide, but far right corner room continues south for 10 feet then west 10 feet then south 30 then west 10 and ends. The walls had many pegs for hanging shields, or propping spears. The room had been emptied. At the far corner were two open solid wooden chests., now empty.

We headed to the throne room and Amphius tried to unlock the door there, but it still baffled. Our fourth torch was now running out so we headed back outside for a breather.

From Sammus’s Boast:

21. Exploring Ro-gan’s Quarters

After spending a couple of hours making six more torches, we decided to return to the processional way, where we had killed the skeletons. By now it was mid-afternoon on the sixth day and we had eight normal torches plus one quick burner. We were now running out of the raw materials. We head back up the hill to the tunnel, with me helping Si'aspiqo over the steeper stretches.

We lit our torches and headed underground, taking the first passage on the right after the steps up and a crossroads. When we opened the door to the processional way, as usual the wind gusted from behind us and our torches guttered. As before the priest cast the light of Tanit and we could make out the remains of the skeletons we had dealt with earlier in the day. After about 85 feet the wide corridor ended in a 20 feet by 20 feet room with a door in far right corner in the northern end of the eastern wall. Amphius checked the door and, on finding nothing untoward, he opened it. Beyond was a chamber with one wall immediately on the left and another 20 feet to the right; it was about 30 feet deep. As we headed in, we realised that it opened out to the right into a large chamber that looked like a barracks. There was furniture within, that was disordered rather than broken up. The first area was like an antechamber with stools and tables, but the area to the right extended for some 70 feet and was full of beds, tables and chests. There was bedding for maybe 40 people, with a few dozen stools, tables and chests. It looked like a typical Carthaginian barracks, but the skeletons must have been based here. The cloth looked like it was a few years old, but not decades or more. It was dusty and mouldy in places.

We explored the antechamber first; there were no exits, just ordinary stools and tables. Then we moved on. In the chests we found some cloth vestments, bits of clothing, an empty canteen, and a sheathed short sword of iron, probably Carthaginian. Amphius found a small bag with 14 gold coins. I investigated the southwest corner, where the floor slanted into the wall, but after wasting some time, I realised it was a urinal. Amphius found a silver medallion on a silver chain. It was an old Carthaginian coin made into an amulet. Agripinus looked at it and told us the coin portrayed Queen Dido and a bull and celebrated the founding of Carthage. There was also a small box containing hundreds of silver coins, almost all were modern, Punic coins but there were a few Greek and Italian ones. We estimated 400 or 500 coins worth around 20 or 30 gold pieces.

The light of Tanit had gone out and we were now using a torch, the vast majority of chests were empty, but 8 or 9 had things in; but the only things of interest were a 20 feet length of light bronze chain and a battered shield.

As we headed back out of the barracks, we looked up to see where the high wind was going. There were ventilation holes up in the ceiling. I hoisted Oiorpata up on my shoulders to look at them more closely. There were just tiny holes where the wind seems to rush off. Amphius looked at the northwestern corner and thought there was something odd about the wall there. He thought there might be a secret door but would need to come back another time to investigate further.

We left and headed to the throne room. There were two corridors leaving at the southwest corner of the room, heading south and west. We headed south and after 30 feet was a no option right turn. After 70 feet we came to a right turn with a dead-end alcove ahead. We turned right and after 25 feet came to a no option right turn. We headed along for 20 feet where there was a door ahead. Amphius checked the door, which was decent quality but was damaged – it looked like it had been forced open. Nice but damaged wooden door, probably forced.

Inside was a strange chamber. As we entered the wall was on the left, and the room was 30 feet deep and 20 feet wide, but there was a 10 feet wide 20 feet deep section going back on itself. Inside were fragments of smashed furniture. There was an amphora on a stand, and holes where others might have been. There were lots of pegs for hanging arms, armour etc. There was the scent of vinegar from the amphora, maybe wine that had turned. It was about two thirds full. We concluded that this was quarters or an armoury for officers.

We retraced our steps to the throne room and as we arrived at the junction with the throne room to our right we turned left. After 70 feet was a T-junction. We turned left and then the corridor went right then left and continued south for 30 feet to a no option left turn. After 90 feet there was another no option left turn. We headed 40 feet north and then there was an enforced right, and 30 feet to another enforced right turn. After 10 feet we passed a door on the right and kept going another 30 feet to a door across the passage which opened onto a T-junction. We turned left, where there was an immediate dead end with a door on the left.

Amphius checked the door – it was locked. He broke a lock pick in the mechanism, so I kicked the door and smashed it open, making a fair amount of noise. This looked like a personal chamber with a carved wooden bed and a chest of drawers. The room was 20 feet wide and 30 feet long. The bed was carved of a dark reddish wood. On the chest of drawers was a horn comb and two little pots of something. There were hangings on a wall with a mirror of polished metal, maybe copper, behind. In the northwest corner the wall was clearly rock not stone and there was a carved basin with a hole in the bottom for water and a cork plug. At the bottom the rock inclined to take any water to a crack. There were no traps in the chest of drawers and inside Amphius found a small wooden box with 35gp and a small piece of knotted, embroidered cloth.

Amphius thought there was something odd in the far corner of the room, a potential secret door in the western wall. Amphius managed to open it and a narrow corridor led north. It was single file, so I led the way. After 40 feet I came to a dead end but there was the inside of a secret door mechanism ahead that Amphius opened. It led into a larger chamber.

It was at least 20 feet to the left and 10 feet to the right, and maybe 40 feet deep, but the walls weren’t regular, and had been smoothed out of rock. Lots of the wall was covered with wooden panels and it looked rustic, if fairly modern. There was a bed, a large matching wooden cabinet and a stool, with pegs in the wall near the cabinet. The furniture was of a reddish wood, maybe cedar. The furnishings could be Carthaginian but provincial. In the middle of the left-hand west wall, we could see the inside of another secret door mechanism. There was Punic rune mark on the baseboard of bed, which Agripinus confirmed read Ro-gan. The cabinet was well made and contained a bronze helmet, a couple of cloaks, a leather corselet, a buckskin shirt with sleeves and light boots.

Amphius opened the mechanism; it was a heavy and substantial secret door, which opened into the end of a 10 feet wide corridor heading directly away. We wedged the secret door open, but then removed the wedge and closed the door, to prevent darklings from following, and headed along the corridor.

After 30 feet there was a door on the right and then after another 10 feet another on the left or the passage continued. The door on left opened easily onto a corridor leading into the throne room 20 or so feet away.

We returned to Ro-gan’s chamber and collected his things. Behind some rolled up cloth was a tube, which looked like a document folder, which we took with us. Si'aspiqo checked the mirror but it gave off no aura of magic. It was of finely burnished copper. Si'aspiqo lit the third torch and we headed back to the barracks and collected some bedding and then headed back to the camp.

Serif had started preparing the evening meal, but he wanted to talk about logistics. We need to make a decision, as most of our rations and a fair amount of horse feed had been consumed. We had enough to get to his town with minor rationing. We could hunt and see how that went. Or he could do a fast ride back to his town where he could gather supplies and return. A day or two trip there and back with Oiorpata would probably work well. Agripinus asked if a group could be arranged to resupply us and carry a few of the things we had found back to the town and Serif explained that he would have to ask the elders. Agripinus thought that he had a couple of gifts left. Serif did agree that a message could be sent to Carthage. It was agreed that Serif and Oiorpata would set off in the morning.

Si'aspiqo looked at the contents of document holder and carefully opened the scroll within. It was in Egyptian with a few Punic runes around as notes. It was a spell of sorts and after investigating carefully the scribe determined it to be some kind of battle-magic, perhaps a protection against missiles. Careful study was needed to discover its secrets

From Sammus’s Boast:

22. Encounter with a Lamia

Before dawn, at the earliest light, Serif and the Amazon rode off on their Numidian ponies, with an extra pony strung behind. Amphius and I went hunting in the wooded area around the kraal, whilst Agripinus looked after the camp and started making a few more torches, and Si’Aspiqo studied the arcane scroll retrieved from Kaskator. Game was scarce, but Amphius bought down a dark hare, while I caught a lizard sunning amongst some rocks. The night passed uneventfully, with the Kushite dozing and coughing fitfully throughout, as the rest of us mounted three single watches. The horses were restless, but nothing tangible disturbed the camp. The Kushite woke after a dream of fighting, with screams far off in the night. An ill omen. Agripinus lit a candle, and offered a prayer to Tanit for the safe return of the travellers.

The next day passed in similar fashion, we hunters worked hard to bring back enough for us all to eat. Amphius snared a brace of rabbits, while I found a tortoise stirring after its winter sleep. At dusk, we all gathered round our campfire and wondered where our companions were, and how they were faring. It seemed that two days was not enough time to ride back to Teveste and back. Still the night was bright and clear, and the Kushite slept more peacefully as the stars wheeled overhead. Nothing disturbed the horses that night.

On the third day, Amphius and I came back empty handed, with no reward for a whole day of searching. Wild lands should have had more game, but under the shadow perhaps there were more hunters than could be seen by day in this empty land. Quietly supper was prepared, while the dwindling tally of stores was reckoned up against the possibility of grim tidings.

The sun was setting fast when the sound of horses was at last heard approaching, and the calls from our two companions lifted all our spirits. They returned with six ponies in all, four laden with provisions as well as the two they had ridden hard all the way to Teveste and back. Fresh supplies made for a hearty supper as the tired ponies were unloaded and given both fodder and water.

The camp-fire was banked up as they gave their news, and we talked far into the evening.

We now had about 6 or 7 days of horse meal, and 4 or 5 days for the party without hunting. It was now 3 days to the full moon and 2 days to Teveste; we had enough provisions to complete exploring the first level while we had our safe conduct from the Shedim and then return to Teveste. Agripinus had made half a dozen torches to replenish our stocks and had also made some cloth masks ready to explore the mushroom chamber.

Part the way through the second watch Agripinus gave a shout, as I was walking away from the campsite on the far side of the kraal. I was completely oblivious to his shouts and anything else other than the alluring voice of a woman, which I was following. The occupants of the hut awoke and three of the occupants started to head outside, although Serif had been deeply asleep and rose more slowly. They too could hear the siren song, but it had no impact on Oiorpata and Si’Aspiqo was able to resist. Unfortunately, Amphius also succumbed to the siren call.

Agripinus tried to pull me back but I just shrugged him off and carried on and he cast a protection from evil spell on me and tried to call me back to consciousness. I ignored his help and as he tried to drag me back, I punched the Carthaginian hard and strode on. He continued to grapple with me, but I ignored him and carried on my way. Aided by the protection from evil, I gradually came out of the spell and Agripinus was able to lead me back to the camp.

Serif had awoken but did not look himself, so Si’Aspiqo cast protection from evil on him and then lit a fast burning torch and started to read a scroll. Oiorpata followed Amphius and called on him to stop, and then jumped on his back as he headed onwards following the voice. Amphius drew his dagger and stabbed the Amazon as she tries to wrestle with him. He stabbed her again and she was forced to let him go.

Si’Aspiqo casts area protection from evil on hut and myself and the priest returned. The Amazon and the Greek were still out, so we all now headed out after the Greek. He had gone around the chicken coop into a field with an enclosure. The singing seemed to be coming from just the other side of a hedge. The singing continued but for now apart from Amphius, we all managed to resist. Oiorpata spotted a shape by the hedge and at this point.

I tried to climb over the hedge to get to the shape, but an alluring figure ran off and I again succumbed to the spell.

Amphius had been lassoed by the Amazon to slow his progress, but managed to cut the rope with his dagger and he too started to climb the hedge.

I started to hack my way through the hedge with my sword. Si’Aspiqo, being careful to stay out of reach of my razor sharp sword, cast a spell and my arm went numb. The impact of this and the protection of evil from the priest were finally sufficient to bring me back to my senses, the priest managed to awaken the Greek and we all headed back to the hut.

On the way I described the beautiful woman I had seen, clad only a diaphanous loin cloth which served only to accentuate her allure, with long black hair and earrings sparkling in the moonlight. Si’Aspiqo and I wondered if the figure was the same as the statue in Kaskator?

The rest of the night passed uneventfully, perhaps due to the scribe’s protection from evil, which ran until dawn.

In the morning we returned to where I had been chopping at the hedge to search for any tracks. The ground had been wet until the last few days, but had been drying since and so was quite receptive. Amphius and I managed to find traces of footprints and we followed them for some 40 or 50 metres, at which point they changed to those of an unusual quadruped. Amphius managed to determine that half were made by hoofs and the other by large paws like those of a lion. Si’Aspiqo said that this bought to mind a creature from Assyrian tales; a Lamia or were witch, possessing the head of a woman, the foreparts of a lion and the hindquarters of a deer. Lamia was the Greek term, and Si’Aspiqo could not recall the Assyrian name.

After discussions we decided to leave Serif and Si’Aspiqo at campsite and the rest of us would attempt to follow the tracks. Amphius led the way afoot, with Oiorpata on her pony, Agripinus and I on horseback and a line with a spare pony. This way we were able to rapidly follow the tracks.

Amphius led the way across a stream and managed to pick up the tracks again on the far side. We continued on for an hour away from the hillside and nearly lost the trail when it crossed more water. Fortunately, I found it again by a broken bush. After another hour we nearly lost it again, but after casting around Amphius picked it up again. By now Oiorpata reckoned we had travelled about 10 miles west from the camp. The tail seemed to end in a rocky hillside with several caves in it.

Amphius continued to follow the tracks carefully got to a spot about 50 yards from a sizeable cave and spotted some bones outside. This looked to be our destination we retreated back to about 100 metres from the cave and tethered the horses.

Oiorpata and Amphius had their bows ready and Agripinus and I were ready to fight and we headed towards the mouth of the cave. As we crept closer Agripinus and dislodge one or two rocks and I snapped a twig but there were no signs we had disturbed anything. At this point Amphius spotted some dust behind us a bit less than a mile away – it looked like a horseman and I waved at Agripinus and I to stop. It soon became apparent that it was two people on one horse – Si’Aspiqo and Serif.

We headed towards them and met up. The horse looked very tired from its double burden and was caked in dust, but Si’Aspiqo was completely exhausted. “The omens don’t look good”, he managed to cough out and Serif explained that the Kushite had cast an augury about the fortunes of our enterprise and in response had coughed up blood. He hoped that their presence might tip the balance.

When he had recovered slightly the scribe explained that he had become increasingly concerned when he remembered that the creature seemed to be the Ardat Lilitu – the Assyrian name – and he knew how dangerous they were.

We discussed the pros and cons of leaving or going into the cave to face the monster. Agripinus as a priest of Tanit felt the right and honourable course of action was to offer up our fate to the Goddess and confront the creature. I backed him up and there were no dissenting voices and, as the sun ascended to its highest point, we headed towards the cave Amphius had pointed out. I stuffed rags in my ears to avoid being enchanted by the beast. There was a small but noticeable pile of bones outside. I gripped my shield and spear tightly and looked around at the faces of my stalwart companions: Agripinus was also grasping a spear and shield; behind us was Serif, who had daubed his face and removed his shirt, he had an amulet of carved bone around neck, and was carrying a bundle of javelins and a light shield with a torch thrust in his belt; alongside him wheezed the Kushite, carrying some more torches; Oiorpata and Amphius were flanking us with their bows drawn. I felt confident in all, as Agripinus and I advanced side by side.

The entrance to the cave was about nine feet high but it narrowed into a tunnel and the roof lowered slightly. After 30 feet or 40 feet there was an empty alcove on the left and after another 20 feet or so the tunnel widened slightly. We headed on a further 20 feet and we started to leave the outside daylight behind. I could see drips of water from the ceiling as we entered a chamber 30 feet or so wide. There was a cool looking pool on the left, and I could see more water dripping into it, although I could hear nothing. There was now only a little light and Si’Aspiqo and Serif lit torches. The pool was 15 to 20 feet across. The floor of the cave was quite smooth with a few pebbles amongst the sand beneath my feet and the roof was 10 to 11 feet high at the highest point. There was a pile of 3 or 4 broken skulls to the right. They did not look like those of animals but I paid them no heed.

After 30 or 40 feet Agripinus and I emerged from the chamber and into another tunnel some 6 feet wide and 7 feet high. By now the way was lit only by the light of our torches, but the priest and I headed on side by side. Ahead the passage split Passage splits around natural rock and I led Agripinus to the right and he followed. After 10 or 15 feet the passage opened again as the left fork rejoined us. The tunnel now became lower and lower and I was eventually forced down to my knees with my shield thrust out before me as I shuffled on.

Suddenly I felt a massive blow on my shield and heard and felt claws scratch across it and try to tear it from my grasp. At the same moment I smelt something overpoweringly beastly and evil ahead. I managed to hang on to my shield, shuffled on and thrust past my shield with my spear into something hard in the darkness ahead. Agripinus touched my ankle and cast a protection from evil on me. I felt another blow on the spear and again claws scratch across it.

I pushed on further and managed to stand up in a larger space and blocked another blow with my shield. Agripinus cast the light of Tanit as I was knocked back against the cave wall. I took advantage of the sudden brilliant white light behind me and I thrust my spear at the creature in front of me. I could see the front of a huge lion ahead of me, with a woman’s chest, had and arms and then scales, maybe of bone down the sides leading to what looked like a horse at the back. It was much bigger than I had expected. My spear blow scraped along the scales at its side. Past the horrific figure in front of me I could see the cave extend for 40 feet or more and up to 20 feet wide.

I managed to hit her hard with my spear again, scraping along the scales of her other side. She seemed to say something but I could hear nothing. Serif pushed past Amphius and Agripinus followed me into the cave.

By the light of Tanit I could now see that the beast had a black lions mane framing a woman’s face. Agripinus and I both tried to shield. Agripinus made a mess of his block, but fortunately for him the Lamia struck at me with a massive lion’s paw. I took some damage but much of it was blocked by my shield.

Serif entered the cave and threw a javelin but could not penetrate the scales, as Si’Aspiqo followed him in. Amphius scrambled through behind the Kushite, but there was very little room behind myself and the priest. Agripinus struck the beast, but his blow just rang off the armoured hide, in response the beast struck the priest with a lion’s paw. I managed to strike it again and I could see the beast snarl in pain. Agripinus shouted something but I couldn’t hear it. Meanwhile the Numidian flanked the beast to make more room and threw another javelin.

Si’Aspiqo cast affect normal fires and our torches flared very brightly. By the light I could see things around the cave. Amphius drew his bow waiting for a suitable shot. Oiorpata bent low in the pinch point, also taking aim with her bow. I took another blow with my spear, but missed and the Lamia struck another blow on my shield, which had pieces hanging off it by now. Serif threw another javelin but to no effect. Si’Aspiqo casts a cantrip and summoned a gust of wind and readied a handful of sulphur. He threw the sulphur but the gust of wind mainly took it towards the ceiling.

Agripinus shielded by my side; he and I pushed forward and I struck the beats with my spear and it grimaced again. Serif hit it with a javelin and again there was a pained reaction. Amphius got a shot off and his arrow pierced the shoulder of the lion part. He moved around to the right to give Oiorpata more room. She stood up beside him.

Si’Aspiqo animated the smoke from the sulphur and the torches and sent it for the Ardat Lilitu’s face. Serif was kicked down by the hooves of the creature, but I thrust my spear into the chest and on into the heart and the beast collapsed. Serif was able to get up undamaged and the Lamia coughed out her last gasps with smoke roiling around her face. We victors let out a cheer and looked at the huge dead Lamia on the cave floor with the spreading pool of dark blood.

Si’Aspiqo sent the smoke up to the ceiling but there was no ventilation so he sent it out the way we had come in and it disappeared. We looked around the cave. There was a pile of grass woven bedding on the left. In the centre was a large area with the corpse. The right-hand wall had two large slots set into the rock and ten smaller ones in two rows of five above. In the far right-hand corner was a strange blackened area with something in it – perhaps a shrine. In the left-hand wall were two recesses with bone hooks – her larder perhaps. The far left-hand corner had what looked like a shelf and a stool. There was a decorated hoplite shield on the wall.

Serif and Si’Aspiqo put out the fast burning torches in the pool in the first cave and replace them with slower burning torches. I took down the shield hoping to replace my own, which was very damaged. The shield was a decorated, fine quality, modern Greek hoplite shield. It had Athenian markings; there was nothing arcane about it.

Amphius checked the cubby holes one by one, starting with the ten smaller one, carefully checking each for traps and scorpions. He found a small crucible, a stone hammer, 3lbs melted metal bloom – an electrum made of a mixture of gold and silver, a finely polished human skull, another slightly larger skull again finely polished, but with a reddish tinge, a large ibex horn and a rolled up, cured ibex hide, three clay pots with powders, black, blue and red, maybe dyes, a modern Carthaginian or Greek oil lamp made of translucent horn, it looked modern and expensive. There was a also a large bronze krater, a substantial ceramic pot holding rock salt, bundles of cured leather strips (maybe cut from armour or belts, bundles of cloth, bone pins, flint, belt buckles, grindstone pieces and two empty leather bottles. The two large cubby holes contained as bronze kopis and hunting knife, Spanish, good quality and modern, two fine quality steel shortswords with lacquered sharkskin handles, a steel heavy spear point, with some kind of armoury mark, also from Athens, a modern fine quality bronze Corinthian helmet. The forge marks on the spear and shield were from Athens, maybe the design was related to a temple of Athens, certainly it seemed to involve pillars.

In the far right-hand corner Agripinus found a niche with a burnt or sooty statuette. There were crows foot or spidery marks around it. Si’Aspiqo said that they were pre-Assyrian cuneiform. The figure looked like a votive statuette a few inches high. Si’Aspiqo cast protection from evil and picked it up. It looked like it was ivory but had been placed close to a fire for a long time or repeatedly. He polished off the soot and decided it was Assyrian in style rather than the Greek style statue of goddess we had seen in Kaskator. He speculated it may have been of Inanna or another dark goddess, perhaps Areshgigal.

The shelf by the stool and had some tallow candles. There were also some carved, partly carved and blank ivory pieces. They seemed similar so maybe they were gaming pieces. Si’Aspiqo knew of a Persian game with similar pieces. Under the shelf was something chunkier wrapped in deerskin – a large chunk of an ivory tusk. Agripinus and I knew that this was from a bush elephant, as we had seen them while serving in the Carthaginian Army. These are huge beasts and this piece was maybe half a tusk or a third of a tusk from a particularly large one. The best part of all this loot Amphius pointed out was that it had nothing to do with Kaskator, so it was all ours!

Three of us had hunting skills and we made a good job of skinning the Lamia, taking the head, heart, hooves, claws and tails. We gave a quick burial to the skulls we found. We gathered together the loot and headed back to the campsite. We were all delighted, but Serif looked particularly pleased. “This was a good accomplishment”, he beamed, “it will gain much respect and the Elders will be pleased”.

As dusk fell, a weary but triumphant band returned to the kraal below Kaskator. Serif and Oiorpata saw to all the horses, and praised his pony for carrying two men at speed for hours over rough country. Meanwhile the Kushite got a fire going whilst Amphius and Agripinus unpacked the spoils of war for cleaning and further examination; I stood guard and kept watch outside the hut. Soon a pot of mint tea was steaming and a supper of dried meat and figs was consumed whilst a pot of porridge slowly bubbled over the fire.

Serif told a story from his people:

“Once there was a Queen who ruled over many of the desert tribes to the South. As she grew old, she wished for more years of life, and to look young again so she could enjoy the attentions of young men. So, she worshipped the darkness with blood and sacrifices and promised eternal service in exchange for these things. And the Dark One gave her what she wished, for by night she looked young and beautiful once more, and age would never wither her, nor grey her fine hair. But each dawn she would turn into a Beast which was always hungry for human flesh. So, she was driven out from the world of men, to haunt the desert and wastelands where scorpions and spiders are born. At night she calls out and stirs the blood of young men, but those that go with her are never seen again, for in the morning they lie with the Beast, and are consumed.”

“So, it has been for many generations, but now this tale is ended, and we have done it! Now we are part of the legend, if we bring these things as proof to Teveste.”

And our trophies were laid out:

  • the heart – still leaking a trace of black blood
  • the hard, scaly hide – with the forelegs of a lion and the hind-quarters of an antelope
  • the head – with its long shaggy mane but the features of a woman, with a shapely throat

In the flickering crimson firelight, her dark eyes stared blankly, but her lips still quivered, drawn back in a snarl to show the long sharp fangs behind her smile.

And something glittered in the firelight — perhaps a tear?

Amphius stared into the dark visage and drew forth a tiny golden stud — “a tear of gold, indeed.” Then the Kushite took out a comb and carefully groomed her tangled mane, strand by strand, muttering and coughing all the while. When he had finished, a golden hair-band set with blue stones and two ear-studs of gold and jet could now be seen amongst the thick tresses. All could see they might once have graced the head of a princess, but now adorned the mane of a beast.

The Kushite shivered: “What deeds might these ornaments bear witness to, if they could but speak? Best we do not know. For they are all old gold, with charms woven into their making.”

And Serif threw more wood on the fire, far more than usual, to keep back the darkness - although outside the waxing moon had risen and shone serenely down. All sat and looked at the treasure glittering in the firelight, and the head of the Lamia stared back, far into the evening. Long it was before the Priest covered it with a cloth, and ordered forth the first watch, to what little of it remained. Sleep came slowly to every heart that night, and all were haunted with strange dreams and visions.

When dawn came, all wake with heavy limbs and numb thoughts, as though on watch from dusk, all through a lonely night.

23. Kaskator Maps

Map of explored Kaskator day 6
Kaskator

As explored on the sixth day.
Recorded by Sammus the Strong and Agripinus Taniths Priest

From Sammus’s Boast:

24. Sammus and the Mummies

The next morning the weather had deteriorated and we awoke to a steady rain. We discussed our plans and decided to spend a full day exploring Kaskator and would then head to Teveste to resupply. As we discussed we made half a dozen more torches and Serif staked out Lamia hide to dry in one of the huts.

Si’Aspiqo said that the white votive statue had been talking to him and he suggested we keep track of it and away from the Lamia’s head. No-one seemed sure where it was, so we looked around and Amphius found it under his pillow – he had no recollection of how it had got there. Si’Aspiqo put an area ward on it. Serif had the bag with the Lamia’s head. He warned us to be back before dusk.

It was about 11 as we headed off up the hill. I carried the scribe up the steeper sections and we arrived safely at the entrance to Kaskator. Despite the rain and the damp torches the Kushite was able to light a torch.

We headed straight to the throne room and Amphius looked at the lock on the door which he had previously been unable to unlock. It took over an hour of fiddling but eventually he was able to get the tumblers to move and then the door opened easily. Amphius looked in – there was a dark blob of nastiness, that looked like a demon but turned out to be just a statue. The floor was of smooth black slate, in the centre of the room was a circular depression with a statue about 4 feet across and 5 or 6 feet high, behind that.

The room was roughly 20 feet wide and 30 feet long. The statue was on the west wall and to Agripinus it looked like an idol to Baal with a sacrifice pit. Nothing else was found in the room. We treated it politely and shut the door and locked it behind us.

We headed back to the main crossroad and continued straight across. We went around an enforced left turn and then an enforced right turn before we came to a door on the right. We went through this and beyond was a crossroads. We turned left. After 50 feet there was a no option right turn and then 70 feet to another no option right turn, then 55 feet to another no option right turn, then 20 or 30 feet to a door in the right-hand wall or the passage continued.

Amphius checked the door and found no traps, it looked like a standard door. It opened into a corridor left and right. We went right and after 10 feet there was an enforced left turn. Then we went 30 feet to an enforced left, 50 feet to an enforced left turn. 40 feet to an enforced left turn, and 40 feet to a door on the left or the passage continued. We went into another corridor and went left. After 30 feet there was a no option right turn, then 20 feet to another no option right turn and then after 30 feet it opened into a small chamber.

I saw some shapes advancing towards me. They looked like undead guardians and were wrapped in bandages like mummies. There were two of them and they missed me with their first attack. Amphius shot one in the leg, but it shambled on. There was faint smell of musty herbs and preserves. They had bronze helmets spears and shields. One of them hit me with a spear.

Si’Aspiqo flared up a couple of torches and I hit the guardian who had already been shot and sheared off its weapon arm and it dropped its spear. I then hit the second guardian. Amphius tried unsuccessfully to dodge past the guardians, while Si’Aspiqo threw one of the torches over the combat into the chamber beyond.

Amphius failed again to dodge past the mummies, but I managed to push forward a little to make more room. Amphius shot the second undead again in the middle and I cut its leg off and it collapsed to the ground, but still managed to stab me in the chest and gave me a serious wound, incapacitating me. Amphius shot the first guardian but his arrow buried into its shield. Si’Aspiqo cast protection from evil on me and again Amphius shot a guardian in the shield. I managed to recover sufficiently to strike the prone mummy and cut its weapon arm off, leaving both our opponents armed only with shields, so I backed off to leave my comrades to finish the job while I tried to staunch my wound.

Amphius again fired an arrow into a shield, while Oiorpata struck the prone undead in the rib cage, but it kept on moving and shielding. The guardians were still shielding and both Oiorpata and Amphius missed. Agripinus made his way forward and stabbed at the guardians with his spear.

Agripinus tried to turn the undead but failed. Oiorpata took a flaming torch and thrust it at a guardian. Amphius finally managed to shoot the prone guardian and broke its spine and it collapsed. Oiorpata thrusts again with the fiery torch, but for little effect. Agripinus thrust with a spear but it rang off the shield again. Oiorpata thrust her torch past the shield into the centre of the mummy and the bandage caught fire. Agripinus spear rang off the shield again but the mummy collapsed in a burning mass.

Beyond the undead was a bare chamber with a couple of alcoves each with a seat. There was nothing else there. One of the shields was decorated and had a stylistic representation of Baal. It had seemed particularly effective. There were two bronze helmets, two steel spears, and one other shield. The bodies were in bandages and leather armour. I had a serious chest wound and Agripinus helped staunch my wound and we headed back to camp.

It was early afternoon as we returned to the kraal : Amphius and the Amazon carrying all the extra battle-gear, whilst Agripinus helped me walk slowly and painfully down the hill. The Kushite coughed and wheezed behind, unaided. Serif helped me doff my blood-stained armour, whilst the priest prepared his sharp tools and treatment from his medicine bag. It took more than an hour to clean the wound and stitch it closed, then carefully wrap it with moss and clean linen. Serif fetched a few old sprigs of aromatic herbs and wind-dried fruit from the paddock, while the Kushite boiled dried mint with a spoonful of something from his bag of mysteries. A fragrance slowly filled the hut, and he gave me a cupful to sooth the pain of my wound. Agripinus appealed for the blessing of Tanit on myself, wounded whilst dispatching minions of the shadow.

The two archers waxed their strings and repaired their arrows - each had lost three more from their quivers. Then they cleaned and examined the weapons and armour recovered from the mummified guards - the bronze helmets and steel spears appeared to be fairly modern, and of Carthaginian make. The shields were both of the heavy round type, for use in the phalanx. One was quite damaged from having three arrowheads deeply embedded and then dug out of it, the other was pristine. It was easily cleaned, and fairly gleamed and sparkled after a light polish. It had a glowering face of Baal painted on it - long out of fashion in the Sacred Band, but once the mark of a commander of men. The Kushite said that it had the tingle of power about it.

Outside rain drilled down hard at dusk, and darkness enveloped the kraal more swiftly than expected. The Kushite drew his sigils, marked his tokens, and muttered his Egyptian mysteries all round the boundary of the hut. The promise of Spring was but a memory as the evening turned cold and damp. I was well enough to eat my meal, and then had another cup of the Kushite's herbal tea and prepared myself to drift off into sleep.

Si'aspiqo wheezes:

25. Encounter with a Lamia

I, Si'aspiqo of Khem write these words for future scholars that the fuller truth be known than revealed in the account known as The Boast of Sammus the Gaul. For while that is an excellent and detailed account of many of the events within and surrounding the matter of Kaskator, there are details to which bold Sammus was not privy. Therefore I shall supplement his account, concentrating on matters of arcana and knowledge, where he has excelled in reportage on matters physical and of mundane acts of might.

The mixture of hooves and paws, the luring song and Sammus’s tale of erotic beauty made it easy to identify the creature as what the Greeks call a lamia, born of a female tribe descended from a family cursed by savage acts of lust and jealousy by rival gods, becoming a shape-changing witch-beasts of terrible lusts — both carnal and carnivorous.

I might parenthesise, however, that a story not much told here in the adjuncts of Carthage, but known in my homeland from prophetic legend, refers to an ancient queen (or sometimes king) of the west (or sometimes east) in the times when even royalty were born in caves who, for reasons to tedious to go into here save there may be one of the common saviour-myths intertwined, ordered her soldiers to seize children from their mothers’ arms and slaughter them, which inhuman order caused her to turn bestial in appearance matching her spirit and roam these western lands ever since. Furthermore, this queen Lamia’s father, it might be noted, was supposedly the lost pharaoh Belus (the connection explaining how the story came to be known in the lands of the Nile, I presume) and her mother was, sometimes, Lybie mother-queen of lands of Libya, the beast queen being exiled to the western wilderness in which we found ourselves.

So. I was reflecting upon these first and second levels of arcana scholarship, and not a little distracted by the pressing matter of making my analysis of a formulary scroll for the interesting, and usefully saleable, incantation of the wider shield against missiles, when a side venture to seek out and destroy this lamia creature was proposed by the three strong right arms of the party: Soldier-Priest Agripinus late of the Sacred Band of Carthage and captain of our little band, Amphius the sensitive and observant Cretan sailor whose gentle wooings few locks or traps may resist, and Oiorpata of the Accurate Bow, the Scythian Steppe amazon. She brings to mind another theory concerning a Scythian presence for the lamian tribe— but perhaps I digress.

There was, understandably, some concern amongst the strong-in-arm that the company of my donkey might slow their pursuit of the creature in the search for her lair. The idea of balancing on the moth-eaten little beast's saw-like backbone did not appeal to me either; also an interesting scroll beckoned so I was not disappointed that they felt the need for speed precluded my accompanying them. Serif the Numidian, our local guide and the representative of the people of these lands, was also left ostensibly to guard this base-camp with its beasts and supplies, and perhaps to guard myself, out of consideration for my venerable age.

The hunter set off on their ponies. Serif turned to practicing close-quarters javelin casts, killing a tree stump and a sack of earth many times over. It was most distracting as I sat in the doorway of our sleeping hut with my interesting scroll. Nonetheless I persevered and puzzled over the scroll, and pondered the deeper hidden meanings of the hieroglyphs. It seemed to me that the Carthaginian who made notes in the margin had a poor grasp of our Khemite usages in such works. Much worse than my own, admittedly shaky, grasp of the Punic script he wrote them in. Many of these notes contained basic errors in the primary transplation, they ignored secondary meanings, and any tertiary level was clearly way beyond the scribbler.

Serif, once convinced the splintered tree stump and the earth spilling from what was more like a net than a sack by the time he was finished, were no threat, turned to resharpening his javelin points. The regular strokes of the stone were little problem, but the irregular pauses to test a point or edge, perhaps continue sharpening, perhaps select anew, perhaps gaze off after the direction where the lamia hunters disappeared… well. He was clearly fretting about something.

My sense of superiority over the Punic ‘scholar’ was somewhat troubled as more lamia-lore floated to the forefront of my thoughts. I do suppose that I may have dozed momentarily and allowed dreams to bring back to me something I knew, but had forgotten, lore of the tertiary level I had failed to parse correctly, of the root and bedrock that lies under the popular consciousness of the Greek interpretations of the lamia legends. The Assyrian name for that which the Greeks call lamia is the Ardat Lilitu which they classed as Alu, an evil spirit and a far more consequential thing than the wild, cursed witch-woman of the Greek tale.

Between Serif’s distraction and intermittent attempts to distract himself from it, and my own growing unease, it was plain to me that my attempt to envision the rhythm of a spell structure from the scroll’s hieroglyphs was doomed for this day. Instead I stood, on only the third attempt I may say, such was my haste and, trying not to lean on my staff too obviously, made my way over to where the Numidian was testing his points again.

“Good Serif,” I said, “You are troubled. I am an elder of my people and see this in you. I have some small power to seek Auguries and read Answers. Speak your concern in simple terms and I shall Ask for direction.”

He looked long at me, weighing my words in the way of an experienced man.

“It is the woman,” he said. “When we in Teveste, she take test of manhood, good, it look child-play. Grandmother-mine last woman take test our tribe. She make laugh loud see it done so lightly.
“But fear woman too brave.
“Wonder what danger encounter, here we sit, watch wind blow?“

(I render the Arma bastard-tongue as I heard it, which is poorly for I have little of the spoken Greek it is based upon, and not much more of the Punic from which it borrows words. Observing Serif speaking his own tongue with his tribes' elders I know he is far more eloquent that I can hear him.)

His long pause before answering had given me the opportunity to bring to mind fully the rhythm of the cantrip rhyme within which I must frame his question to the hidden weavers, but before I could ask, the ever-present burning in my chest flared and I must cough and spit a gobbet into the dust of the kraal, shattering the essential rhythm.

Still, it never does to be too formal when seeking fortunes. All things are connected and there is much significance hidden in chance events. So I looked down to the dust at my feet to examine the pattern of the phlegm, and the bloody threads within, to read an omen in the sigil thus chance-scribed. To my shock there was only blood there, nothing that was not red. It is rare to see a portent so clearly written. Even Serif, hearing my wheezing gasp and following the direction I was looking, could read that omen. There was not a moment to be lost.

“Good Serif, you will rope me to a beast and get us to them as fast as you can.” Serif sprang into action and ran for the beasts, stabled in one of the larger huts. I rushed, as much as I could with the staff, and so presenting the very embodiment of the Theban Sphinx’s riddle, back to the sleeping hut and fumbled food and my medicine pouch into a sack and torches into a satchel. What else could I bring? The glass amphorae? A wild throw of the knucklebones as we did not know what they contained, only that they were found in a magician’s laboratory. Out of the hut door I could see the ponies scattering as Serif freed them into the wider compound.

A forked twig lying by the doorway caught my eye. So be it. I composed the Question: What is the One Thing that is essential, in the proper cantrip formulation then tossed the twig into the air, even as Serif vaulted onto his pony and rode towards me. A passing sylph sent it whirling up and around, then dropped it, turning to play with some dust instead. The twig spiralled down, to catch in my hair. Well… One must be very careful when interpreting omens concerning oneself, so rather than try I elected silent contemplation of the implication of this.

I had only moments to muse, as Serif quickly arrived in a cloud of dust, swung down off his pony, scooped me up as if I were just the bag of bones I look like and sat me behind the blanket pad on his pony’s back.

“We go now-now, you travel as wounded man after battle.“

He looped a rope about my left wrist, mounted to sit in front of me and passed the rope around before himself, looped my right wrist then wound the remaining length around himself.

“Hold tight!” he cried, and urged the beast into a trot. “We track horses, not beast, go faster.”

I was left trying to hold the sack of food pressed between his back and my chest, hunching down trying to keep the top of the sack closed with my chin as he hung over the head of the pony scanning ahead for tracks. Not the most comfortable way to travel, but better than the donkey as I was firmly lashed in position, not cramping my forearms with my terrified grip on some slippery leather thong.

Serif must have seen the tracks he sought for he whispered in the ear of the pony and it sprang into a canter, revising my opinion on comfort somewhat further down, but still surpassing the donkey from the ever-unlighted depths. The pony crossed two streams before I could even be terrified of the jumps, or surprised by running water in the dry brush and dusty hills, as we rode ever westward.

“Trail clear, tracks fresh, we catch them soon!” cried Serif…

The rest was a blur of pony sweat, hills, rocky slopes, crack cliffs and hinted caves, Serif calling to his beast in the Numidian, urging it ever onwards…

And then we were there. I was lifted off the pony and waited a while for the world to stop rolling so, or even to go away forever, but little by little it all settled into coherent reality and so we joined the the hunt for the lamia, so well described by Sammus.

My tale will continue later, in order to footnote other events consequent of the outcome of the lamia hunt…

26. G.M. Update

After a long evening meeting with the tribal elders, all are grateful to be shown to a guest hall with a warm fire and sleeping booths for all. Serif bids all sleep at peace this night, as you are honoured guests and his people guard both the town and this house.

All the saddle-bags and gear have been cleaned and tidied, and bowls of hot water are steaming by every booth. Two Numidian lads stand by with clean towels and fresh tribal gowns. One booth is obscured by woven hangings, so the Amazon has a private bed for the first time since you left Carthage. The Numidians burn fragrant herbs in the fire, and everyone enjoys their first peaceful night’s sleep for a month. It is full daylight before anyone stirs, when a gaggle of Numidian women arrive bearing a breakfast banquet. Serif joins you once more as the crumbs are brushed away and fresh mint teat is passed around.

He is pleased to say that the Elders have approved his journey to Carthage, and can supply all the provisions which will be required. He has arranged two fresh ponies to help with the baggage, and all your beasts have been fed and watered already.

So you need do nothing in haste, and that day is spent restfully, in preparation for an early start next morning. A full inventory of the loot from Kaskator and the Lamia’s cave is prepared, and all weapons and armour can be carefully cleaned, oiled and sharpened. Three young Numidian warriors ride along with you for the first two days of your journey, picking out camp sites and setting snares for game each evening. They wave goodbye at the edge of Numidian territory, after a beautiful sunrise promises the first fair day for a week. Spring is not far away, as four more days of warm dry weather pass without trouble; only a few jackals trouble your ponies one night, and these are soon chased away. Serif laments your lack of guard dogs, as he says these can be the watchman’s best friend through a long dark vigil. No use on campaign, when riding far and fast, but for those moving at the traders pace they can be useful.

So you pass by the settlements of Obba and Ushi until at last the great walls of Carthage come into view against the purple twilight to the East. It is fully dark before you pass inspection from the city guards and can pass through the triple Thapsus gates to make your way within the city. It is early evening, and although empty of commercial traffic, the streets are still busy with those seeking food, wine and entertainment.

It seems a world away from the ominous silent hills beneath the Shadow....

27. Kaskator Maps

Map of Kaskator Level 1, 1st Expedition, final
Kaskator

Level 1. Final update of the First Expedition.
Recorded by Sammus the Strong and Agripinus Taniths Priest

From Sammus’s Boast:

28. Return to Teveste

That night the Shedim reappeared and spoke to Si'aspiqo, who relayed what it was saying. “Their excellency is aware that we have the scent of blood about us, both mortal and more potent… their honour seems encouraged by our attitude. They ask if we would like to renew, or better still, widen our contract before it expires at dawn,” Si'aspiqo explained, “Our previously most slobbered about valuable still just eclipses a lamia heart, so the lamia parts likely have a price valued in rubies.”

The Shedim “offered extended life and wider opportunities to become, ah, worthy by m’lord’s lights for anyone who would trade these things to it…” the scribe added and asked how we would care for him to answer m’lord the Shedim’s generous offer?

After discussion we agreed on an approach. Si'aspiqo thanked him for his consideration, but said we had completed our explorations for now and were intending to leave. The Shedim, we were told, said not to enter the mountain without doing a deal in future. If we did come back we could speak again.

The next morning dawned cloudy and rainy. As I drained the dregs of the minty tea I realised I felt noticeably improved. I was well enough now for the priest to start curing me. He spent an hour in cleaning my wound and praying and I felt better again, and well enough to ride.

We spent a couple of hours packing up the camp. We carefully dug up and packed the two glass jars on different pack animals, and also dug up the ivory votive figurine and Si'aspiqo carefully took care of it. We were able to set out around 11 in the morning.

At the end of the day we found some shelter amongst some leafless bushes and rocks. In the early evening the priest cast cure light wounds on me and Si'aspiqo cast his wards before we settled for the night. The night passed uneventfully and the priest arose just before dawn and cast another cure light wounds. I was now no longer wounded, I had a scar on my chest that looked like a red mark with stitches as though it had been healing a few weeks. There was no sign of infection and by the time we finished breakfast I was feeling much better.

Si'aspiqo looked for the idol and couldn’t find it in his pockets. We all searched for it and I found it under my pillow, with no idea how it had got there. The scribe thought that it was being used as communication device by something more powerful than the Lamia to communicate with her. He added that it had previously tried to communicate with him through the idol. The idol was placed in Agripinus pack.

It was cold and raining with glowering clouds, as we rode south and the area was pretty empty of life. We were not yet out of the shadows. At the end of day as we were looking to make camp we thought that we had finally left the impact of the shadow. We found the ruins of a Numidian shack and maybe some other buildings, with just the remains of the walls - maybe a farm and some outbuildings. There were old ashes and a firepit from other camps. Idol still in Agripinus’ pack. By dusk I was back to full health.

During first watch Oiorpata and I noticed that the horses were restless and Oiorpata headed off to see what had disturbed them. I grabbed a brand from the fire to light the gloom and followed her. Out of gloom loomed a malevolent figure. I gave a shout and engaged the shadowy figure of an undead clad in rags but missed. Oiorpata was unable to use her bow in the wet and so drew her dagger, but was then overcome by dread of the figure and fled. Si'aspiqo awoke, shouted a further alarm and began preparing magic.

Agripinus and Serif also awoke, but Amphius needed to be roused by a kick from Serif’s boot. I had a couple of misses with my sword but then a much better blow seemed to just pass straight through the middle of the figure. It touched me and I felt some of my strength just drain away.

Agripinus approached and tried to turn the undead while Si'aspiqo lit up the fire. I wielded the brand I had grasped instead of my sword and managed to thrust it into the rags with which the shadowy figure was clad. It touched me and again I felt my strength ebb. An arrow from Amphius again just went straight through it. Serif moved to flanks it as Agripinus agin used his priestly powers to turn it. This time a light shone from his holy symbol, which illuminated form that was just shadow within rags, with maybe a skull. It dwindles to writhing shadows and could no longer be seen.

Oiorpata had fled and we couldn’t see her. Amphius saw what might have been tracks, but wasn’t sure in the dark and rain. The Kushite rummaged in her bedding, cast some hairs on fire and started muttering in the smoke. Agripinus and Amphius followed by Serif headed into the gloom with a light, calling the amazon’s name. I stayed with the magician. After 5 or 10 minutes Oiorpata returned to herself and saw and heard the three men. They all returned successfully just as Si'aspiqo’s spell started to work.

The next morning Agripinus couldn’t find the idol. It was eventually found under Serif’s pillow. He didn’t like the ivory idol and wondered whether we should just bury and leave it, but we decide the best course was to take it to the tribal elders in Teveste and ask their advice.

We arrived there safely the next evening. We were given time to clean up and then there was a late evening, formal evening get together in the elder’s hut in the centre of the town.

A lot of people were talking excitedly to Serif in Numidian, but eventually Serif was allowed us to translate our tale and present the hide and head of the Lamia to tribe as Agripinus understood it had significance to them. “Take it as a tribute for our thanks for provisions and the particular help from Serif” said Agripinus. This went down very well and then the elders were given a detailed exposition by Serif. Serif told us that the elders said that the Lamia is part of the story of the desert to the south and they were very happy to see the evil creature, that had been the doom of many men come to an end.

Agripinus, translated by Serif explained that we had completed 95% of the exploration of the first level of Kaskator. There were still pools and a cavern of mushrooms to explore and then a subterranean level and we would need a further expedition. The elders asked about the creatures there and Agripinus told them that there had been things of darkness and the non living and further related the fate of the members of the earlier expedition.

Si'aspiqo added a description of the Shedim and the darklings. There were lots of muttering in a language we did not understand and we heard the Shedim mentioned a few times. There were discussions between Serif and the elders for about five minutes, with fingers pointing between them, us and the remains of the Lamia. Then Serif told us that the elders had said that dealing with the Shedim was taboo for the tribe. He added that they thought the Shedim would steal the women of tribe if it could. No-one from tribe could make a pact with Shedim, he explained, although they thought that tricking the Shedim to explore the place seemed on balance a clever thing. Overall they were very pleased with the death of the Lamia and were glad that we had all returned safely and that Serif had represented the tribe with honour in this matter.

Si'aspiqo then mentioned the ivory idol and how self willed it was. He explained that there seemed to be a connection to something deep and dark. He added that we didn’t want it to fall into the wrong hands. He further explained that it seemed to allow the Lamia to speak to her patron. There were lots more mutterings in berber, and lots of pointing. The scribe made it clear that we did not want to conceal it from them and were seeking their assistance. Serif went to fetch someone and returned with the tribal shamen. They had a lot of fetishes around them and at least one also had a sign of Tanit.

Si'aspiqo had the figurine and gestured the shamen over to look at it. He explained that it was used for fiery ceremonies and that it had tried to speak to him and suborn him, making much better offers than the Shedim had.

One of the shamen wrapped the idol like a miniature mummy; it looked like a baby wrapped in swaddling. The shaman made some knots, inky dribbles and marks and muttered over it. “That should keep it out of mischief for a while,” he said; “we don’t want it, please take it away,” he ended.

Si'aspiqo gave our thanks for making it safe and thought that maybe we should take it to the temple in Carthage. The shaman told him that they would have a think and see if they could make it more inert. They pushed it back to the scribe after adding what looked like a ward against evil, similar to one of his own spells.

We were given a hut to stay in that night as guests of the tribe. The following day the shaman produced something like a small coffin and the idol was placed inside and nailed shut. we decided that we would head to Carthage; this would allow us to take the idol to the temple, Agripinus to report, the party to upgrade equipment, time for research for Si'aspiqo into Shedim, and maybe to gather information about mushrooms.

From Oiorpata the Amazon’s Tale:

29. The Amazon’s Tale

I am of the Oiorpata clan of the Steppe tribes, known among the lands of men as Scythians. It was with a heavy heart that I left my sisters of the Oiorpata behind me to begin my great quest, but we are not all destined to live a life of contentment and tranquillity. However, I miss the companionship of women of my clan, I miss the Steppe, I miss the wide, wide sky and the open grasslands. It may yet be long ere I can return to my home and my people.

Men have always found my clan odd and “other”. Our traditions tell the tale that other clans gave us the name Oiorpata, which in the Scythian tongue means “man slayer”. However, we live a harmonious existence amongst ourselves on the Steppe, tending our flocks and our horses, although we will defend our way of life ferociously from those who assume that, as women, we are easy prey and that they can take what is ours.

We have always been apart because we choose to live without men amongst us. This does not mean that we dislike men or that we do not lie with men and bear children. We are, after all, the Lifebringers, the name by which we know ourselves. Amongst the Oiorpata, when a woman brings forth a female child, she is brought up amongst us and taught our customs and ways. Male children are handed over to their fathers to be brought up in the ways of men. The clans of the Steppe have frequent meetings in our wanderings and so alliances and liaisons are formed between groups and individuals.

Women of the Oiorpata seldom pair bond, though it does happen occasionally. My own grandparents were pair bonded and lived happily apart, seeing each other infrequently, but delighting in each others’ company when they did meet up. However, my grandfather was part of a different clan which, like most other peoples I have met, comprises men and women.

So it was that amongst the Steppe clans a night of great feasting and drinking took place during one of our festivals. Many Steppe clans were there including the Oiorpata and so we were witness to the boasts that men were making. My grandfather’s boast was that he had travelled further than anyone present, and so an argument took place about who had travelled furthest which lead to my grandfather swearing an oath that he would travel to the Pillars of Hercules and would bring back a stone from there as proof of his achievement.

Sadly my grandfather died before he was able to fulfill his oath. My grandmother was deeply saddened to think of my grandfather’s spirit being unable to rest because of the unfulfilled oath and so she swore the oath to undertake the journey on his behalf. But she, in her turn, died soon after setting out on the journey. And so the oath fell to her first born daughter, my mother. At the time my mother was big with child and when her time came she brought forth a still born male child, her first and last male child, as her travails killed her.

Our shaman examined the afterbirth and consulted with the spirits allied to the Sky God and declared that there is a curse on my family. No woman of my grandparents’ line will be able to bring forth any more lives until my grandfather’s oath has been fulfilled.

As my mother’s eldest daughter the oath fell to me and so I left the Steppe and wandered the world of men. Long it has taken me to get this far west. I have borne arms in the armies of the Persians and wandered through Greek lands, picking up a smattering of their languages but mainly the barbaric Arma tongue which is so widely used. There it was that I discovered that the Oiorpata are known the world over in tales of the Greeks who call us Amazons. Many think that these tales are no more than myths! It has been no easy task making my way through the lands of men. I have learned how little respect men have for their own women and have had to fight hard to earn a modicum of their respect for myself.

Every time I had accumulated a little money I used it to travel further west until I reached Carthage. But it was in Carthage that I discovered how greedy and grasping people can truly be. The only way I could make my own way was to tend horses, and at first I was grateful for the job offered by that greek sheister who runs the Golden Fleece. I had room and board and was paid to do something I did without thought of payment on the Steppe. But I discovered it would take me an eternity to earn enough money to buy passage on a ship to New Carthage.

However, that greasy, wife-beating, lecherous crook of a landlord and I were soon at loggerheads. He obviously knows very little about horses and was more interested in penny-pinching than in proper care for these beautiful animals. He would make me reuse the filthy straw for the horses and bade me under-feed the poor animals even though the patrons paid handsomely for the beasts’ care. He frequently accused me of using too much horse feed or too much straw and would dock my wages accordingly. I knew that my days there were numbered and the day that I met my current companions was the final straw.

The landlord had been suggesting to me that I ought to “be nice” to a group of drunken greek louts. But instead I fell into conversation with a large, brawny Gaul. When the Gaul stepped outside for a moment of private contemplation one of the Greeks laid hands on me and I saw red. During the ensuing fight I knew that the landlord would end up making me pay for it and so when the Carthaginian offered me a place in his party to journey to the country’s interior I jumped at the chance. Here was an opportunity to make more money than I would have earned in a year working at the Golden Fleece, but more importantly I would be escaping the confines of the city and would once again be ahorse under the wide blue sky.

It felt so very, very good to be atop a horse once again, where I belong, but I soon found that my riding skills had faded somewhat. I therefore took the opportunity to practise as we rode along. This was easy to effect as we followed a well worn track through civilised lands and were forced to ride at a slow pace by some members of our party. In Carthage, funded by the priest, I had managed to procure a good Numidian pony for my own use, the donkey and a pony for the use of the Greek but since he prefers to go afoot it acts as a pack pony. The priest and the Gaul have their own heavy cavalry horses. I had got to know the Gaul’s horse when he was staying at the Golden Fleece so it has been my pleasure to continue to care for such a fine and noble steed, as well as the other mounts.

After journeying for a week or so we arrived in a small desert settlement which went by the name Teveste. The priest had brought with him trinkets and baubles to trade with the natives. We met with the tribal elders (not one woman among them [tsk!]), and after the priest had handed over some of the gifts, the elders agreed to allow us to buy what limited supplies were available in their village. As we browsed the market stalls I was able to observe something of the Numidian culture and was dismayed to find that, even here, women seem to spend most of their time indoors, tending home and family instead of outdoors on horseback like their menfolk. As usual I seemed to be an object of amazement once they became aware of my gender.

One thing I did appreciate was the fine quality horseflesh. These Numidians certainly know horses and are accomplished riders, well the men at least. Speaking of which, one of the Numidians, a young man named Serif, had proved to be particularly useful to us in acting as an interpreter with the elders. He seemed to have some sort of connection with the priest who happily accepted when the Numidian offered to act as our guide and accompany us to our destination, a place called Kascatore.

After spending a few days at Kascatore the party and horses had eaten through most of our supplies so Serif and I agreed to return to Teveste for horse fodder and food for the party. We travelled at some speed given our need for a hasty return with supplies.

On the return journey Serif explained to me with some hesitancy that on our previous visit the elders had not realised that I was a woman and that they would not have permitted my presence at the council if they had been aware (tsk!). He indicated that women may be permitted to attend council meetings if they can first pass the warrior’s test of horsemanship. I agreed to take part in any horsemanship test they cared to set.

On our return to Teveste the elders did indeed set their test which I completed straight away. Serif had told me that no woman of Teveste had succeeded in this test since his grandmother, a fact he relayed with pride, but when the test was explained to me I almost laughed out loud. It was the sort of game I played with my sisters and cousins on the Steppe when I was a child. When I passed their test my mother would have laughed aloud to see the round eyes of the Numidian men. No wonder they stared at me in the market place! But their women are just as capable if they but knew it and had they been given half a chance.

Serif and I returned to Kascatore uneventfully and, a few days after, the party left that place to return to Carthage. On our return to Carthage and after money matters had been attended to I went to the docks to make enquiries about vessels likely to be heading for New Carthage later in the Spring. I feel I have already tarried too long in this place and must prepare to continue on my journey to the Pillars of Hercules and my quest to fulfill my grandfather’s oath and lift the curse on my family.

From Sammus’s Boast:

30. A13 Preparations in Carthage

It was full daylight before anyone stirred, when a gaggle of Numidian women arrived bearing a breakfast banquet. Serif joined us once more as the crumbs were brushed away and fresh mint tea was passed around.

He was pleased to say that the Elders had approved his journey to Carthage, and could supply all the provisions which would be required. He had arranged two fresh ponies to help with the baggage, and all our beasts had been fed and watered already.

So, we needed do nothing in haste, and that day was spent restfully, in preparation for an early start next morning. A full inventory of the loot from Kaskator and the Lamia’s cave was prepared, and all weapons and armour could be carefully cleaned, oiled and sharpened. Three young Numidian warriors rode along with us for the first two days of our journey, picking out camp sites and setting snares for game each evening. They waved goodbye at the edge of Numidian territory, after a beautiful sunrise promised the first fair day for a week. Spring was not far away, as four more days of warm dry weather passed without trouble; only a few jackals troubled our ponies one night, and these were soon chased away. Serif lamented our lack of guard dogs, as he said these could be the watchman’s best friend through a long dark vigil. No use on campaign, when riding far and fast, but for those moving at the traders pace they could be useful.

So, we passed by the settlements of Obba and Ushi until at last the great walls of Carthage came into view against the purple twilight to the East. It was fully dark before we passed inspection from the city guards and could pass through the triple Thapsus gates to make our way within the city. It was early evening, and although empty of commercial traffic, the streets were still busy with those seeking food, wine and entertainment.

It seemed a world away from the ominous silent hills beneath the Shadow…

The morning after we arrived the first thing Agripinus did was to take the idol and the tiny coffin to the temple and hand it into protective custody, which took most of the morning. We then spent the early afternoon getting to the warehouse whose address Agripinus had been given.

It was on Block 3, Prosperity Road, Harbourside. The priest knocked at some large double doors and someone soon arrived and let us in. We were led through a tunnel into a large courtyard with plenty of space to unload. The building was three storeys high including the roof space. People working on cloth, spinning, weaving and dyeing. A very large, powerfully built Carthaginian introduced himself as Mel-far, the factor for the family. He had a gold signet ring with an inset semi-precious stone that might be a seal. He wore fine leather armour and had a shortsword and what looked like a military baton. He was evidently ex-military. He was plain speaking and competent and we quickly warmed to him.

He invited us into his office to lay things out and value them, but soon decided we would have more space up on the roof.

Mel-far had been a junior captain in the Carthaginian Navy, which meant he would have commanded a smaller vessel or been a senior officer on a large vessel. He agreed that Si’Aspiqo should be able to spend some time learning the spell before it was sold. He suggested selling the shield with the symbol of Baal to the Barca clan. He would ask for 500gp, and wouldn’t sell for less than 200gp. He explained that if it had been a symbol of Tanit, it could have been auctioned as there would be a wider interest.

He contacted various merchants and we accompanied him around the market. He sent to the Barca family to inform them of the shield.

Agripinus suggested asking for his help with the things we had taken from the Lamia ‘s cave and the adventurers and we all readily agreed. Agripinus explained that we had killed things unrelated to the estate and would like his help valuing and selling the loot. He said that he would need to let the family know and Agripinus agreed, saying that he intended including it in his report when he dined with the family that evening. He asked for 10% of the proceeds and he agreed to assist us.

Agripinus and I related the tale of the Lamia, which he found very interesting. When we had finished, Amphius tried on the headband. The Greek is a non-descript man, but as soon as he put on the headband he Immediately looked ruggedly charismatic. Mel-far tried out the ear studs. These really enhanced his hearing, but did not seem to affect his other senses. One earring seemed to have the impact on the hearing, but we were unsure of the impact of the other. Amphius went and had his nose and ears pierced at the market and tried on the earrings and nose stud at the same time when he returned. He also could hear really well, but couldn’t perceive anything else immediately, but he looked ruggedly charismatic even without the headband. When he added the headband, he looked even handsome and charismatic.

Mel-far was very pleased we had asked him to be our agent as he could see how valuable these were. He said we should sell them by auction. He would auction them as a set and give people a week. There would a day when they could be inspected. They would need guarding. On the whole he thought it better not to provide provenance as otherwise there might be some fear of becoming a Lamia.

Agripinus went that evening to a dinner at the client’s residence; the rest of us were not invited. He told us that the client was keen to keep the details of Kaskator and Ro-gan’s fall into the darker arts confidential and Agripinus emphasised that we had agreed to this. Overall, the client was very satisfied with our performance and conduct and confirmed their part of the contract was to be fulfilled in full (that is 200gp for the balance of the fee plus 1/3 of the value of the items from within Kaskator). They were much more interested in personal effects of Rogan’s than other things, but could not ask us, in good conscience, to return to explore further. However, Agripinus vouched that it would be something that we would consider doing as there were areas still to explore and possible further explanation of the activities. He was told that we could keep a full half share of anything found. Items of Rogan’s, military things, documents would be of particular interest.

The client confirmed that the rogues that we met and dispatched were also previously hired by the client, but they had not chosen wisely and thus required someone more righteous and honourable for the task.

It took two weeks before all the rare artifacts from Kaskator and the Lamia’s cave were rendered down into mundane coins from Carthage. So many sums, so many coins, our heads span. We were fortunate that we had the Hannicar factor Mel-far - and his slave with an abacus and many wax tablets - to keep track of it all. Agripinus inspected the tablets, and couldn’t find any counting mistakes, although he did look somewhat cross-eyed at times.

Mel-far was pleased to report that the Barcid clan had agreed to pay three silver talents for the Sacred Shield of Baal, and so one talent of silver is added to the payment due to us.

On Mel-far’s advice, Agripinus rounded up half-a-dozen off-duty soldiers from the Sacred Band to provide some “security” for the transport of goods from the “Block#3” warehouse to a fancy house up on the Byrsa which had been hired as the venue for auction day. These lads were happy to wear their armour and parade dress and march behind Agripinus. They all put on their “battle ready” faces and acted as well-disciplined heavy infantry throughout. I tagged along as a more informal security, while Si’Aspiqo stayed in his room studying ancient scrolls. The three items of old gold were laid out under guard all afternoon for inspection by various noble families. Several brought elderly priests or foreign scholars to advise them. At sunset, bidding commenced. In the end, four noble houses contended at the auction, and talent by talent the price rises. A man called Hanno ended the matter by bidding a talent of gold. Then the others fell silent, and Mel-far struck the hammer swiftly to conclude the sale.

Now a talent of gold was a huge sum, being the equivalent of twenty talents of silver, or, if you can believe it, two thousand gold coins. Hanno quite blithely just set his seal on a bill of sale and asked if the Sacred Band soldiers would be good enough to escort him home with his prize.

The evening concluded with Mel-far pouring his best wine for all to celebrate. His share alone was two talents of silver, leaving the party the dizzying sum of 18 talents of silver to divide amongst themselves. Each of us would have enough wealth to live in comfort for a year, even in Carthage.

A few days afterwards a stony-faced Greek from Syracuse asked to examine the ancient scroll which Si’Aspiqo had been studying night and day since we returned to the city. Mel-far agreed to a meeting in his office, and an hour of supervised study. The Greek offered two talents of silver for this artifact, which Mel-far was minded to accept, although he asked for four more days of notice to other parties before closing the sale at dusk on the last day. The Greek agreed to this.

Agripinus gave a full account at the temple and assisted at a ceremony to put the token and impedimenta of the Lamia out of the reach of evil sorcerers. As a reward for this deed he was given some small ceramic pots by the High Priest, each stoppered with wax under the seal of Tanit. These contained a holy salve which would promote the healing of wounds and banish corruption from the blood. There was one for each of us as a reward for our part in this triumph over evil.

When all the calculations were completed each of us was given the princely sum of 532 gp. I had a look around the market and bought myself a chain shirt and a heavy shield and celebrated with some beers. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to buy a very valuable shortsword. I don’t feel at liberty to disclose the provenance of the weapon, but it is a very fine shortsword with strange patterns and marks in steel and a grip made of carved yellow ivory, yellow with the patina of age. It is certainly the best balanced and sharpest blade I have ever held. I had to hand over most of the money earned, but I am optimistic it will prove to be money well spent.

Agripinus collected some ceramic pots that he planned to make more breakable and fill with holy water. We did look into the possibility of renting somewhere to stay, but decided against it for now as we had didn’t yet need storage space and we were only planning staying a short while before heading back to Kaskator. We discussed what our approach to the Shedim would be and were all agreed that we should not negotiate with it anymore. Both Agripinus and Si’Aspiqo did spend time trying to find more information about it and we also asked Serif what he knew.

Serif told us that to his people the Shedim was taboo, that mortal weapons would not bite on it, and that the Shedim made darklings. He thought it might have a fear of fire. Si’Aspiqo looked at my new sword and could feel some power there, I am hoping that it will bite on the Shedim. Oiorpata and Amphius had some potential fire arrows. They needed to be lit one by one before they could be fired which would slow the rate of fire, but the magician would be able to help speed this up, by magically lighting them quickly.

The Amazon told us her story. Oiorpata wasn’t her name but the name of her tribe, which meant “Man Slayer”. She is on a quest to reach the Pillars of Hercules to fulfil an oath taken by her grandfather. Maybe all of us will be able to help her achieve this. She is planning on taking passage to New Carthage in the spring, and I for one would like to accompany her. Her name is Toxoanassa.

We all handed over 10gp to Agripinus to buy gifts for the Elders in Teveste he bought some bolts of dyed cloth and three lanterns. Si’Aspiqo bought a pony with Toxonassa’s help, as he felt that riding on our pony with either the Amazon or Serif would be considerably quicker and more comfortable than the donkey. All our preparations took about three weeks, so by the time we were ready to depart it was a month since we had left Teveste.

We set off as the rainy season was coming to an end. Although it was raining that morning, it was noticeably warmer than it had been when we had arrived. We arrived safely in Teveste without incident and made quicker time with Si’Aspiqo sharing a relay of ponies. We arrived halfway through the sixth day and were welcomed back as friends of the tribe.

We met the tribal elders and gave our gifts, which were well received and considered appropriate for someone in good standing with the tribe. Agripinus asked for the aid of youngsters to take the ponies and horses back from Kaskator and then return in a week. There was a discussion of some ten minutes in Berber, before Serif turned to Agripinus and told him that the Elders had approved our intention to return under shadow and try to defy the Shedim. They would support us in giving Serif leave to take some Numidians to take the horses and ponies and return in 7 days. There were further discussions between the Elders and Serif and then Serif told us that he would organise the provisions for us, we thanked him for his support and aid.

The next morning another seven Numidians arrive; three were young and four were more experienced warriors with Serif in charge. All were armed with javelins and they had a train of ponies loaded with provisions. Agripinus introduced us to them. Two of them spoke Arma and had served in the Carthaginian Army. It was the last day of March and we left Teveste and headed up in to the hills.

From Sammus’s Boast:

31. A14 Ambushed by Darklings

We arrived in Teveste on the 30th March and prepared to leave the following day. Toxoanassa and Serif would double alternatively with Si'aspiqo on a string of ponies to give time for rest. Serif thought we could get to Kaskator in 2 days as we would be travelling more quickly than previously. We could have arrived mid-afternoon on 2nd April at Kaskator, but instead we preferred to arrive early on the morning of 3rd April and spend an extra night close a few miles from Kaskator. The first day of our journey passed uneventfully.

The 1st April was a really spring like and pleasant day. The land was getting hillier and more barren later in the day. The second night passed without incident. The follow day was also fair and we rode through a warm afternoon. The hills looked less ominous than they had in the rainy season. We ended the day in the pass that led to Kaskator. I took the first watch, Toxoanassa the next, Si'aspiqo and Serif the middle, then Amphius, while Agripinus took the final with a couple of Numidians on each.

During the middle watch Si'aspiqo and Serif, noticed that the horses were spooked. We were all awoken and investigated. Myself and Serif find a couple of tracks – somebody in bare feet sniffing around, but there was not much trace in the dry ground. Serif thought that maybe darklings had been spying on us. Whatever it was had sneaked away.

Dawn arrived without further incident and we arrived safely at the kraal at about nine on another warm sunny spring morning. The kraal looked undisturbed, but there were now green shoots in the vegetable garden and there was grass growing for fodder. Our Numidian guides dropped off our equipment and the elder guides helped set up camp, while the younger ones scouted around the camp. The scouts returned with a small antelope they had killed but had seen nothing else.

Agripinus made a spring in a hole dug by one of the Numidians and filled up 8 containers with pure water and then blessed it. We set to making torches and preparing fire arrows and the Numidians apart from Serif left promising to return by noon on the seventh day.

Si'aspiqo had tokens he had prepared as gifts for each of us. If we so chose, we should take one and anoint it with our blood – this would make it easier for him to cast a protection spell. Each was made of ivory a little like a cloak clasp and was decorated with a different sign: the sign Tanit for Agripinus, a lyre for Amphius, a rooster for myself, a small pony for Toxoanassa, and a Numidian geometric pattern for Serif. Each of us in turn pricked our thumbs and smeared blood on the token before attaching it to our clothing.

Agripinus gave out the holy water and we set off. Si'aspiqo looked as though he was wearing some sort of Egyptian marine armour, which left his right arm free. I was now clad in my chainmail. Leaving Serif at the campsite, we marched up to the entrance to Kaskator with myself carrying the Kushite up the steep climbs. There were no signs of anything having been damaged at the entrance.

We headed along the corridor planning to go straight to the wizard’s chamber to investigate more of the jars we had found there. We came to the door across the corridor and Amphius opened it, but something had been stacked against it and there was the tinkling of small pieces of metal. Once the door was open all was quiet but we could see that a piece of rope had been used to string up a number of small bronze animal bells. We paused but didn’t hear anything more and so we continued.

Amphius opened the first door on left after the crossroads and we headed through the long narrow room and through another door in to the bottle room and then to the secret door on the right into the Wizard’s Chamber which Amphius opened without difficulty.

Si'aspiqo picked out some of the jars he hadn’t investigated and loaded them carefully into our knapsacks in turn packing them with clothes. We left with 12 of the jars and headed back outside this time using the corridor parallel to the narrow room. We made it back to the door with the bells and Amphius tried to set them up as they had been as we left, but this proved too difficult and they fell again making a noise as Amphius shut the door.

We returned to the campsite without incident and Si'aspiqo carefully took out the jars we had taken. We then returned to Kaskator to fetch the remaining jars. When we got back to the first door Amphius tried to open it carefully to avoid disturbing any bells, but meeting considerable resistance, realised the door had been wedged. Si'aspiqo could feel no traces of magic, so Amphius took out his dagger and began feeling around the outline of the door. He managed to clear out a couple of wedges and opened the door very quickly. The bells went off again, but everything seemed quiet off into the gloom. Amphius took the wedges and bells and put them into a bag and I led us along the corridor. By now we were on to our second torch of the day.

As we reach the crossroads I was ambushed and surprised by four darklings who threw missiles at me. Fortunately, two missed, and a third bounced off my chainmail with no effect, but the third did strike home. I backed into the corridor and two of the darklings tried to follow me. Behind me I could hear Agripinus start to sing a hymn and I could hear the scribe muttering, probably preparing a spell. Amphius was looking for a shot past me.

Si'aspiqo cast protection from evil targeting on my token. Fortified by the singing and protection I struck one of the darklings on head with my new shortsword; it staggered back wounded and stunned, but another stepped forward to replace it.

I backed towards the steps and as I started down them the darklings were now a better target for Amphius who shot one of the darklings in the head. I shielded off the darklings and Amphius wounded another darkling in the body.

At this point Agripinus realised that there were darklings in the passage ahead of him and behind the party, but he marched on towards them still singing. Toxoanassa followed him and shot one of the darklings in the leg, causing it to stagger. Agripinus put his spear against the wall and got out some of his holy water.

Amphius shot the same darkling again and wounded it and it collapsed. I hit a fresh darkling in the arm with and cleaved the arm completely off and it collapsed.

Toxoanassa narrowly missed Agripinus with an arrow and the priest swung the ceramic tube of holy water in an effort to smash it against the darkling but failed to make contact. Toxoanassa looked for an opportunity to fire but had no target as Amphius missed again.

At this point the darklings facing myself and Amphius fled and I just managed to finish off the one whose arm I had severed. I took its weapon, but the other two wounded fled, dragging a third with them.

Agripinus carried on singing and advanced towards the two darklings behind the party. Toxoanassa managed to wound one with her bow, but they disappeared into the middle alcove on the left and escaped. Agripinus followed into the alcove to see if he could see any sign of a door, but all he saw was an aperture closing. Amphius had a quick look but couldn’t see a mechanism for a door and Si’Aspiqo felt no sign of magic. We marked it for future reference, emerged back out into the bright sunshine and returned to the kraal. Now mid-afternoon.

Si'aspiqo investigated the jars: one had naphtha; three contained vinegar; two had dried herbs, maybe thyme in the first and something minty in the second; the heaviest was full of spiral copper scraps or shavings; one had a variety of dried mushrooms; one contained some kind of distilled spirit; one had a yellow powder, sulphur or brimstone; the next had an aromatic pine or cedar resin; the final had dried dung – maybe of a fox or jackal.

From Sammus’s Boast:

32. A15 Dealing with the Shedim

We spent the rest of the afternoon preparing for the night and a potential battle with the Shedim and his spawn. Serif had stacked the 40lbs kindling that had come with us and was busy preparing more. The hut we were using was round with a pitched roof with some small holes at the top to emit any smoke. There was one doorway, which we had previously left open to keep watch from and was a good place for the magician and priest to place their protections. There was a thatched roof, with timbered supports and walls. The provisions were stacked in a pile – we had food for at least a week. Propped in one corner were the pick-axe we had found on our earlier expedition along with a mattock, a wood-axe and a wood saw.

Si'aspiqo started mixing the contents of some of the flasks we had retrieved from the Wizard’s chamber. He poured out the copper shavings from one and used that to mix other things. He explained that he was mixing alcohol, to dissolve some pine resin, and adding naphtha to make something light and relatively flammable. He added Sulphur and some other things as well. He filled a jug with this mixture and made a small “squirting tube” to deploy it – and explained it might also be good for fire arrows. Agripinus handed out sealed ceramic vessels filled holy water, which had been scored to break easily.

It was four days before the new moon, so only a small crescent moon would rise late in the night but before then there would be starlight as it was a clear and cloudless evening.

I rested until dusk and felt almost fully recovered from the bruising encounter with the darklings. Serif had banked up the fire and it was very warm in the hut. When it was fully dark an hour after dusk, the wind rose and dust devils whirled around outside. We all heard creaking from the thatch on the roof as though something heavy had landed on it. A deep but sibilant voice called out in Egyptian and was translated by the scribe:

“So, you return, beloved of Seth. You have entered the Mountain without permission and slain my children, and you do not offer parley” it intoned. “We are here to do our duty”, responded the Kushite. “Where are your horses?”, asked the Shedim, “Would you send them away if you wished for peace?” “How long your will courage last? We shall see!”, it continued but then the scribe began to prepare a spell and ceased translation as the demon cursed us.

Si'aspiqo cast a protection on Toxoanassa as the cursing continued and Amphius dashed outside followed by myself. The Shedim was a shadowy form that looked larger than a person. The Greek held his first, lit, arrow in his teeth and used it to light others. He shot at the Shedim and hit it and the arrow glanced off into the night trailing sparks.

Agripinus and then Si'aspiqo followed us out of the hut. The dark shadow was still on the roof chanting in Egyptian. Agripinus made a miracle and invoked the light of Tanit to shine on the righteous and the area around us was illuminated. Amphius shot again, but now the Shedim was on the far side of the apex of the roof and a more difficult target - the arrow landed in the thatch, smoldered and went out. He then started to run around the hut to get a better shot.

Si'aspiqo cast a protection on myself and Toxoanassa emerged and looked for a bow shot. I stayed close to the Scythian as I was sure she would be the favoured target of the demon. The priest prepared to invoke an arcane weapon which would allow him to strike the demon from a distance.

Serif emerged and stayed close to the scribe. The Shedim cast a curse at Agripinus, who shrugged it off and the shadowy figure took flight and swooped away. Both archers fired a shot at the departing figure but missed.

We waited a few minutes and Si'aspiqo grabbed some prepared torches and the archers recovered their arrows. After five minutes the light of Tanit faded and we all went back into the hut.

The wind rose and strange noises could be heard in the night off in the darkness. Serif banked up the fire so that it was even brighter. Through the doorway I could see lots of little flying things whirling in the starlight. Si'aspiqo cast a protection from evil on the doorway and then, standing precariously on my shoulders, on the holes in the roof. There were lots of sounds of rustling, fluttering and chittering from outside and then something large landed on the roof again.

Amphius rushed out again followed by myself. The Shedim had deliberately landed on the far side of the roof apex, but Amphius still managed to hit it and there was a scattering of sparks and a hiss from the demon. Something landed on Amphius and nipped him and I fended one or two more off with my shield. We headed back inside and something the size of a small dog latched on to me and nipped me through my chainmail. Two similar, huge bats latched on to the Greek too. Serif grabbed one and it fluttered off. I cut at the one on me and it fell to the floor in two halves. Toxoanassa shot and killed the one that fluttered off, while Agripinus skewered the remaining one on his spear. In only a few moments these evil things had drained his vitality, and Amphius felt light headed from the loss of blood.

Si'aspiqo examined the remnants of these monstrous bats. He then used what he had found to sense whether other such evil creatures were still outside. He thought that there were at least two nearby, but it seemed the immediate threat had passed.

We stood to, while an hour passed. I had regathered my breath, but Amphius was recovering more slowly than expected. Although drained, he was still able to fight. Then something landed heavily on the roof again. Amphius and I ran outside, whilst Si'aspiqo prepared a spell. Amphius managed to shoot the Shedim again; once more there was a shower of sparks as the arrow glanced away. There was a rustling of wings in the night, we retreated back to the hut and I managed to cover both of us with my shield and keep off the bats as we returned.

Agripinus invoked the arcane weapon of Tanit and tried to strike the Shedim from within the hut. There was a groan from the direction of the demon above us and more curses in Egyptian. Si'aspiqo summoned some night insects to distract the bats circling outside. A couple of moths appeared after a few minutes, but there must have been many more outside. The bats whirled around in the darkness, and after five or ten minutes they went to roost. There was no more creaking from the roof.

Another dark hour passed and we discussed our plans for when the Shedim next appeared. The magician had only one remaining protection which he would cast on the Scythian. Amphius, Toxoanassa, Serif and myself would rush out with Amphius and Serif heading right and Toxoanassa and I heading to the left around the hut, so that at least one of the archers should have a clear shot. Agripinus would use his arcane weapon once more.

Then there was a creaking from the roof thatch again and Si'aspiqo cast his protection spell and we all implemented our plan. Amphius could see no target to shoot, but Toxoanassa did and again there was a shower of sparks as the arrow hit and then glanced off. The Shedim swooped straight for the Scythian, but I was soon by her side. Agripinus came out and headed after myself and Toxoanassa, calling forth his arcane weapon as he went. Si'aspiqo followed, pulling out his tube of liquid fire as he went.

The demon snatched for the Scythian with his claws but I managed to thrust past its large fluttery wings and into the body as it tried to grab her. It let out a nasty cry and ended up on all fours. Amphius fired again into the melee and an arrow glanced off my chain mail. Agripinus struck at it with his holy powers, but Serif decided he didn’t have a clear target in all the struggle.

I thrust my Spanish blade into its core and it collapsed, frothing and muttering in Egyptian as it expired. Serif thrust a fiery torch into its body and then threw holy water all over the dying Shedim. Si'aspiqo tossed some sulphur and blew smoke from his torch into the face of the demon to hinder any dying curses. Soon the dark shuddering form grew still.

It was now midnight, and strangely silent - all the bats seemed to have vacated the area. The Shedim’s corpse seemed to have nothing of value on it. It was a very black humanoid with claws, a barbed tail and long bat-like wings. It must have weighed at least as much as an average person. Si'aspiqo thought that we might need to keep the corpse away from the sun’s rays or it might dissolve and Serif suggested a shallow grave to shield it from the sun.

We put it into a body bag, trussed up tightly and then in a shallow grave dug by Serif, about 15 yards away from the door but visible from there. Agripinus intoned a ritual and placed his medal of Tanit on top of the body. Si'aspiqo added something to the ceremony and scattered some fetishes around the grave as a shallow mound was heaped over. It was 2 or 3 hours before we were finished and the moon rose to aid our prayers.

Soon after the pre-dawn light arrived and we could rest at last; we planned to sleep late and doze under the morning sun.

Si'aspiqo wheezes:

33. Fungi and Pools

(A16a by Sammus’s admirable scheme of identification, I do believe, though I am, of course, open to correction.)

Up the hill to Kaskator to find the entrance door wedged shut again. This time Amphius’s cunning could push out sufficient – or any – wedges, or perhaps there was a further barricade, for nor can the mighty Sammus cause any movement by applying main strength. After some red-faced striving Sammus realised that firmer measures were required and returned to the kraal to collect the party axe, brought with us just in case of such a need.

A few blows, with feeling, demolished the door and the contrivances which held it in place and so we gained entry. Following from the ambush by Darklings in this entranceway corridor and the observation of their survivors’ escape through a previously unnoticed secret door, Amphius applied his skills in earnest to the middle of three alcoves on the right hand wall of the passageway as we entered. On this inspection, more familiar with the designs of the secret ways of this place than when we first passed by and inspected the alcoves, he detected the operating mechanism and passed through to find it opened in another alcove on the other side, which was readily recognised as one faced to look directly along the passage leading to Rogan’s room, the throne room, the pools and a way down to a lower level which last we had only barely glanced at in our earliest exploration.

While Amphius was identifying the location he found on the far side of the concealed access there was on the entranceway side some faint distant rustling to be heard in the darkness beyond us. Agripinus, with him Toxoanassa her arrow nocked just-in-case, stood torch-lit at the first crossways at the top of the stairs and called for the rustlers, whom he supposed to be now-masterless Darklings, to show themselves, but was rebuffed by silence.

Further explorations of the other alcove of the middle pair of the entranceway found that too is a concealed shortcut to the corridor which leads to the mushroom room – one of this visit’s targets. Re-investigations of the other four entranceway alcoves reveals nothing more, so the mushrooms were our next fruitful destination.

From our brief glance previously we knew to expect a space carpeted with a host of different types of fungi, some even seeming to float in mid-air. Passing across to examine the far side of the space for ways out was the main aim. The light of the single lit torch I carried being insufficient to the task of adequately illuminating the fullness of the space, Agripinus called upon his deity, Tanit, to bring forth her Light. This seemed to cause a stir amongst the ’srooms, or perhaps just revealed clearly what we did not notice in poorer torch light, for it seemed to me that there was a pattern of movement in the air above them, and a rippling amongst the many fruiting bodies. We had already taken the precaution of masking ourselves to limit inhaling such mould spores doubtless present here in abundance, but so concerned was I by the apparent activity I summoned repeated gusts of wind to blow from the doorway at our backs into the room, to carry away the fine dust of floating spores I suspected were the ‘movement’ in the air.

Agripinus was undaunted by mere mushrooms and carefully picked his way into a bare patch within the room, and called Amphius to follow him as he pressed on, his Tanit-light revealing an wide room with a side alcove which his light cast into deeper shadow by the inconveniences of layout and, nearer, signs of a dais, mostly covered by larger and more grotesque fungal bodies.

As he picked his way carefully further in I was assessing the fungi nearest me, while keeping up the summoned breezes. Some were shaped like a starfish, others most resembled bird’s nests. Some even I, no mycophile, recognised as poisonous and rather regretted the lack of thick gloves and a gathering basket for they could be harvested and dried and fetch a coin or three at certain market stalls… However my close attention on the growths before me led to an alarming conclusion. Despite the different varieties I could see, all seemed to have a common feature, a waving pattern of fine tendrils above them, catching the light in a way that seen close up made little sense, but across the entirety of the room and well-lit might make a pattern of special significance.

I called a warning to those in the room to carefully make haste out, backed away myself to give room for a faster exit and concentrated my cleansing gusts to blow loose spores from myself and close companions.

My concern about the waving, swirling patterns made by the fungus fronds proved well-founded, for Agripinus, with the best light and thus the best view of the wider pattern, was bemused, standing still in the middle of the room until Amphius abandoned his usual discreet subtlety in acquisitions and performed a smash-an-grab retrieval of the slack-jawed, dribbling priest, heedless of the pretty toadstools, fallen stars and intricate birds nests so carefully stepped around and across moments earlier, now crushed beneath his sandals, weighted as he was by a limp priest slung over his shoulders.

Withdrawing from the fascinating fungi - or was it one single fungal entity masquerading as several tribes of the fungal nation, I wondered - I kept up the winds to blow off spores, but it was clear that Amphius of the heavy heedless sandals and to a slightly lesser extent the bold explorer Agripinus were much bespored in their lower reaches and that only careful washing would rid them of the contamination and likely as severe bout of toenail rot as one might ever possibly fear. We retreated to the outside world where the once more functional priest dug some holes and summoned clean water by his god’s will to fill them to wash off the last clinging spores.

I regret that such was my concern with proper cleansing of our party that I entirely missed the chance to have one of the younger-eyed ones examine the miniscule spores and report to me whether there was one kind or many, which might answer the question of the singular or multiple nature of the beast. It is to be hoped that the spores that we washed to the ground thereabouts will prove no more than averagely able to survive the outside world and whatever creatures find fungal spores a tasty dish should dine richly by our actions.

The warmth of the day dried the water from clothes and our persons quickly. Less than an hour passed before we were ready to re-enter the Kaskator labyrinth, this time with the intention to inspect the room of the fourteen pools more closely. For practice we cut through the recently revealed secret shortcut from the middle alcove of the entrance passage and then strode along the passage - pausing every three or four steps for me to catch my breath - before taking the first door on our left, ignoring entirely the slightly earlier right hand door leading to the throne room, Ba’al, and the depths.

At the pool room we called upon Tanit, through Agripinus, for the miracle of light and, to help the gods reward those who help themselves, the more mundane miracle of a bagful of torches, we started to examine systematically the pools and their layout that we had previously stumbled around looking for doors out while trying not to fall in. That visit had been complicated by the presence of venomous centipedes scuttling about the floor. This time, at the left hand extent of the pool array, Amphius was dropped on by tick of prodigious size and hunger. For all that the tick was just a balloon of skin rapidly filling with Ampius’s blood it seemed quite difficult to damage or drive off, but perhaps that was just because of the way Amphius was writhing on the ground and screaming “Get it off! Get it off” in a weakening voice that so concerned Agripinus he called on his god to heal the Cretan even as the predator still sucked at his essence. Sammus grasped the creature and attempted to pull it way, but it seemed untroubled to sacrifice the leg he held, still twitching in his hand, likely sustained by it’s freshly invigorated meal. Fortunately the bloodsucker was less resistant to a flaming torch, even though my blows were weak compare to those of any of the other members of our band, I had encouraged the torch to emulate Alexander himself, to burn oh so brightly, though it’s life be brief, it was longer than the time granted to tick it seared.

Toxoanassa had kept a wary eye on the ceiling where she could make out creeping movements, waiting for the moments when the light cast by the bright, but wildly flailing, steadied long enough to give her a target. She loosed several arrows, knocking two ticks to the floor which were hunted down once the tick feasting on Amphius had met its fiery end.

Taking stock of the situation, and particularly the empty bag of reserve torches, I had to advise Agripinus and the band that, to my regret, we must withdraw from this fascinating place to restock with lights, having only a single torch left and that now burning, the reserve having been used in the survey of the pools or burnt out in the battle with Amphius’s tick.

Si'aspiqo wheezes:

34. Pools and Tools

(A16b by Sammus’s admirable scheme of identification, I do believe, though I am, of course, still open to correction.)

Having restocked on torches and poured a particularly thick barley porridge into Amphius to fill some of the gaps left by the tick earlier in the day, we returned to Kaskator to complete the initial survey of the pools (appended in a separate note).

Finding a pool full of sea-dark wine the soldier-priest could not help himself but to taste a drop of it, withdrawn on the tip of his finger. It seemed he found it good, for a beatific smile passed across his face as he described it as rich in flavour and full bodied, as from a distant, little-known region of Italia, it seems.

Much encouraged he repeated his carefully planned and measured experimentation on a vibrantly green pool nearby, one with a peppery, tangy herbal aroma. The merest touch of his little finger and it seemed he found it bad, for an excruciated rictus stopped on his face as and a small glob of green pond slime started to eat its way up the finger, swelling as it did so. A scrabble to wash it off with a potful of holy water proved ineffective, so yet another torch gave its all as I focussed it to the hottest, tightest flame yet, to sear off the end and no more of his throbblingly green finger. The touch of fire proved most efficacious. The demonic pond scum blackened to dust in an instant, though it seems the tip of the finger cannot be saved and he will bear the scarred stump to his grave. A salutary lesson: never conduct experiments upon yourself.

The survey being completed, and with no one else volunteering to possibly give their all in the cause of knowledge, we made our way to the next place of interest to some, an empty tool room we’d already surveyed, and a slightly more interesting dropping-bars trap.

Our route from the pool room took us through the bottle-shaped room to the irregular threeway junction just beyond where there was a possible encounter with a denizen of this underworld, down the passage we were not taking. Perhaps a darkling, but musing on the pools, I have to admit the event details rather passed me by as no blows were exchanged.

Then on to the tool room and the trap in the parallel corridor. Despite intensive investigation the trap seemed only to be a trap, nothing was found beyond it that it might be protecting, and the tool room at its second time of searching revealed naught but an already known broken vice and a previously overlooked fragment of iron saw-blade.

Our rejoicing at this triumph of exploration is slightly muted, perhaps overshadowed by a slight watchfulness at our back path and an ear or two cocked for the faint rustlings of others moving about this place. Having no more ambitions for this exploration and carefully reckoning the likely rate of torch consumption should we meet opposition we withdrew.

There were rustlings away in the dark of an untaken arm of the first T junction leaving the tool room area. With some thought of not taking the same route out as in we took the concealed entrance to what we dub the torture chamber, through the wizard’s store and so avoided the three-way junction and emerged in the bottle shaped room from another concealed entrance.

Then we were onto the highway out. As we passed over the crossroads to the steps there may have been an echo of a movement out of place, off in the dark of the right hand passage, but no ambush was sprung on us at the alcoves, then we were out from the cool gloom of Kaskator into the warmth and light of the northern spring.

Si'aspiqo wheezes:

35. The Pools

I’ve tried to emphasise the three rows of pools and the couple of pools at each end not in the main groupings: 

    14
   |
13 |   12   11   09
   *----------------*
            10   08 | 03   05
                    *---------*
                 01 | 02   04  \
                    |           \
                    |         06  07
                  door


   01-14 = pool
    |/-  = pathway
    *    = junction / turn

Pools are approx 6ft across, empty ones 2ft deep.

  1. Swirly green liquid. Fascinating?
  2. Clear water, little fishes.
  3. Bubbling, steam, crusty mineral deposit at sides.
  4. Steaming but still. Through steam (fog?) surface like white rock or ice?
  5. Shimmering, sparkly liquid.
  6. Water seems deep, sparkle far away at bottom, treasure-like?
  7. Almost dry. Unexamined puddle in centre.
  8. Dry. Rim has smeared cuneiform inscription [Si' made copy].
  9. Crystal clear liquid, still.
  10. Opaque, dark purple-red liquid. Tastes & smells like good wine. Ripples?
  11. Slimy green murky water. Third full. Smells distinctly herbal: minty/peppery. Green gloop clots are an aggressive demonic pond scum. Eats priestly flesh. Impervious to blessed water. Vulnerable to fire.
  12. Murky-gray liquid, reminiscent of washing water colour.
  13. Clear water (?) with bubbles. Chemically smell, possibly sulphurous, induces cough/sneeze. ‘Bronze’ glint at bottom: key? [Si' doesn't think it’ll be bronze if the chemical smell is sulphurous. Unless magic.]
  14. Deep clear pink; image at/on bottom which Si' saw in prophetic dream before he came west.

It is not yet clear to me whether this place is a preservation store or actually generates its contents; the empty and lower filled pools argue for the former, but more research is needed. Obviously if this place can produce the pools’ contents it is rather valuable. Depending what the contents actually are, simple looting might be profitable, but even as storage there is value here. I can’t yet begin to assess the forces channelled here and the controlling spells or god-workings that shape this place.

(I have heard there is something like this pool array in the temples of Karnack, though I have not seen it with my own eyes.)

I can however envision a preliminary programme of investigation of the pools, but it’ll take an investment in time, light sources, materials and volunteer victims – Agripinus was lucky not to qualify fully for the designation. Some materials and equipment might be supplied by the magician’s store on the route to the pool room. Time, light and experimental subjects are our tightest constraints, though small creatures of the lands hereabouts might be captured for the simpler toxicity tests.

How we might practically undertake any investigation needs some discussion in view of the lurking of possibly hostile forces and our lack of knowledge of full extent of this Kaskator in the lower depths. Perhaps we should proceed with one of the pools for now rather than a full programme, so we might have preliminary results to report to our sponsors to encourage further investment; I would favour pool 14 of course, having been brought to this place by a dream of the image at the bottom of the pool.

Si'aspiqo wheezes:

36. The Pit Trap

A16c per Sammus.

We returned to Kaskator in the mid-afternoon, having held council on where to explore next. The lower level is acknowledged as a necessary target, but there is still work to do in evaluating the pools and there remain one or two places on the upper level in want of detailed examination. We agree to Amphius further exploring a suspected pit trap and the door beyond it, at the furthest extent of the main entrance passageway, just past the empty room noted by the symbols “003”. How to safely examine and if necessary trigger this pit provokes some discussion from which arises a plan to expend some bed-frames from the nearby barracks room at the end of the windy passage.

The first door was still wrecked, with no further attempt to block it since we left after our previous visit. To no one’s surprise there are faint sounds off down one arm of the entrance crossroads. We discussed how to reach the lurkers to confirm what or who they are, but plans for sudden dashes fall firstly on our supposition that our need for lights put us at some disadvantage in the matter of achieving surprise against the denizens of the dark and secondly on the feeling we do not have the numbers that we can afford to split up in lonely chases down dark passageways.

As the lurkers in the dark did not deign to ambush us at the crossroads we proceeded directly along the entrance passage, ignoring closed doors and a passage on the left which leads to the bottle-shaped room, but take the first passage leading right and on to the door at the end of it, being the entrance to the Wide Windy Way.

A small time is spent in confirming our memories of the Windy Way, the vents high up the walls we presume give the hilltop winds access here and how the door is constructed deliberately to facilitate it to blow closed. Satisfied we understood the necessary basics, though not the cunning details of how it was all achieved in design and building, we proceeded to the further end of the Wide Windy Way, lit not only by the torch I bore, but also by an enclosed oil lamp, a recent purchase in Carthage by Agripinus, and Amphius’s cunningly shuttered dark lantern, which can cast directional beams rather than lighting all about it.

Two bed frames were collected from the barracks and carried along the WWW. The weight of the frames is nothing to my mightily muscled companions, even the least muscled of them could lift a one, but the size and shape seemed to them to necessitate two bed-bearers to per frame to manage it and navigate doors successfully. Not only was I left carrying two lanterns and the torch, but the warriors all had their hands full of beds rather than sword, shield and bow. This did seem entirely safe should the lurkers come at us in the narrower passages, so after some discussion one frame is left behind at the end of the WWW so only two of the strong in arm are encumbered for the journey to rejoin the main access passage there to turn right and right again and on past the door to ‘003’ on our left, then a cautious advance to the area of the supposed pit trap.

Amphius undertook a careful inspection of the near end of the supposed trap, by light of torch and lanterns, but as before, could not find a trigger as he’d expected from his previous inspection some months ago now. Skill and subtlety having come to naught, the bed frame was launched to crash down onto the ‘trapped’ area, but with no resultant excitment to accompany the echos and ringing in our ears. The second frame was retrieved – with a distant accompaniment of scurrying heard down the dark passages towards the entrance crossroads – and added to the first, again to no effect.

We retired at this point to refresh our memories of the nearby room ‘003’ and particularly an alcove there, wondering whether one of the more cunningly artificed hidden entrances might lurk there. The room was empty and any hidden way remained hidden. We noted that this is one of the ‘built’ chambers, constructed or, or faced with, shaped stone slabs.

The diversion to the ‘003’ having proved to be merely that: a diversion, we return to the trap corridor. Amphius determed there was perhaps a safe ledge unlikely to be a moving part of his supposed trap and edges along it, pausing to hammer spikes into the wall and loop rope about them and himself. The hammering is noisy and risky work for Amphius missteps while working and puts a foot off the ledge onto the trap, but to no outcome and he reaches the intriguingly trap-protected door. After more spikes, this time in the door jamb, and additional loops of the rope he set to investigating how to open the door, which proved rather more challenging than expected; there seemed to be no mechanism, no handle even. Forgetting his situation for a moment he stepped back to contemplate the puzzle of the door. Back onto the corridor and finally the trap was triggered, the floor hinged open the beds dropped out of sight, down to a loud splash below. Ampius’s rope work proved its value so the loss of a floor to stand on only minorly inconvenienced him in regaining a footing and rejoining us beyond the collapsed floor. The door, we now suppose, must only be a dummy, a lure for the pit trap.

Further investigations with dropped torches suggests a 40ft drop to a large pool. With more rope from Toxoanassa Amphius climbs down the hole, reporting a 15ft shaft opening into the ceiling of a natural cave, mostly a pool at least deep enough to entirely engulph the bed frames, and a wet passage off, though direction of flow is unclear.

To drop all of us into the depths, with no sure route of return, seems ill-advised we all agree and so leave Kaskator, with only a hint of scurrying footsteps at the other side passage of the crossroads as we depart.

Si'aspiqo wheezes:

37. The Second Expedition, Second Night

A16d, per Sammus.

On this return from Kaskator we discussed the threat of the darklings, whom we presume to be the scurriers in the dark underground, coming out after us. Overall we think this is likely, and so make checks of the ground close by the kraal for darkling tracks, but find none recent. Even so we take care to set our night watch order and set the basic protections in place.

The strength of the darking response does come as a surprise perhaps, particularly for Toxoanassa and Amphius who receive a volley of at least half a dozen javelins as they stand watch in the first part of the night. Both are struck and seek cover, Toxoanassa inside the hut door and Amphius crouching in the shelter of the hut wall.

More javelins, rocks and thrown club-sticks follow. It seemed that we were well lit for the darkings outside by our own firelight in the hut and, Amphius discovered, outside by the merest glint starlight and thin moon. Amphius was driven back inside by the number of sticks and stones he attracted, despite his return shots often hitting. Toxoanassa had the advantage of the cover of the hut doorpost and picks out shots of her own, at lower risk than Amphius, reported she could make out just under a dozen pairs of eyes in the limited section of the night she can see from indoors.

(It is perhaps necessary to remark that, like some night-hunting birds and beasts, it seems darklings have some reflective component to their eyes which reveals them if they look directly at someone who is lit while not blinded by that light.)

I reduced the hut fire to a low smoulder and laid my hands on my pouch of fire-flutes while Agripinus crouched in the doorway behind his shield and summoned the Light of Tanit to illuminate the kraal and then concentrated the Light to beam from his holy symbol of Tanit, which he held in his hand and moved so a beam of Tanit’s light shone towards places the enemy might take cover, to gave the two archers a better change to spot glowing eyes.

Rocks and throwing-sticks continued to bounce through the doorway and occasionally struke a chance hit. Javelins were infrequent; perhaps only expended when the darklings saw a specific target? No rush came, which was puzzling until Agripinus remarked on a small knot of darklings scrabbling at the ground some 20-30 yards away in the kraal. He was puzzled, but it seemed clear to me that they would be opening the grave of the shedu, and I was not the only one voicing this conclusion. Clearly if they wanted it they should not have it so a sortie was proposed. A moment for the warriors to prepare and close their eyes, then I blew a flash-powder stream from a prepared fire-flute through a summoned flame and a bright sparking flame belched out from our hut doorway, hopefully blinding some of the watching darklings, followed by Agripinus, Sammus, Toxoanassa and Serif charging out and sweeping away the diggers.

Possession of the partly excavated grave however left them exposed to the darklings’ missiles. Sammus and Agripinus went back-to-back with their shields up and Agrpipinus summoned his arcane spear to stab at the darklings in the bushes closest by, while Toxoanassa and Serif dodge about and seek targets of their own. Amphius continued to watch for targets to shoot from the hut doorway. Someone remarked that there seemed to be a lot more eyes out in the dark than the ‘nearly a dozen’ spoken of earlier. But still they did not take advantage of that weight of numbers and close.

After a few moments, and more brickbats, there is a shout off in the darkness, which I hear as a voice of command in a version of the old tongue of Egyptian lands, ordering “Fall back! Left wing first!”

Even as I translated this and called it out to the rest of the band I realised that I can talk to the darklings, though we’d earlier remarked that we’d never heard speech from them, one out there has Egyptian and others in the dark understand it. This is not my understanding alone and a fast discussion occurred amongst my companions as they note the slackening of incoming missiles and the disappearance of targets of their own. I had no breath to waste on idle chitchat while I prepared to step outside and so started what seemed to me a necessary summoning…

From Sammus’s Boast:

38. A16 Back Into Kaskator

We slept late that morning, apart from Serif who made some porridge and Agripinus, who rose, just before dawn to cast cure light wounds on Amphius.

We breakfasted on the porridge and then the priest cast another cure. Amphius and I looked around the camp but the only signs of darklings were ones that could already have been present before our battle with the Shedim. Si'aspiqo carefully buried the jug of naphtha and we headed up the hill to Kaskator, again leaving Serif guarding the camp.

We went into the passage and along to the door. Amphius found a wedge and managed to push it out, but the door still seemed tightly sealed. There seemed to be a number of wedges and maybe something else behind it. I kicked it, but it was really jammed so I went back to the camp and collected an axe and attacked the door. There were a lot of wedges all around the inside of the door, but I easily smashed my way through. It did make a lot of noise, but when all had quietened, we could hear nothing of the darklings.

Amphius planned to check each of the alcoves for secret doors, starting with the middle one on the right, where Agripinus had seen the darklings escape. He spotted the mechanism but it too him some time to work out how to open it. It seemed to lead to another alcove, which looked out on a passage left or right and an option straight on which would leave to Ro-gan’s bedroom. We headed to the left and that led to the crossroads and we returned to the alcoves. Agripinus heard some rustling from the passage to the West as we headed round to the crossroads. He ordered them to show themselves but nothing appeared.

Agripinus waited at the crossroads with Toxoanassa, while Amphius checked out the alcoves. The two closest to the crossroads looked like solid rock. The middle alcove on the opposite side to the one we had already checked also had a secret door, which he opened. This also led to an alcove and then on to a passage left and right – to the right we could make out the light of Agripinus’ torch.

Amphius checked the remaining alcoves and there were no more secret doors, so we met up again at the crossroads.

We headed West from the crossroads and then turned South, and took the door on the right and followed the passage straight on to the mushroom room. We all donned cloth masks soaked in vinegar as we entered the passage, which then opened into a larger chamber. We could see many strange mushrooms within. There was one floating in the air with tendrils trailing. Agripinus approached to the edge of the area where the mushrooms were growing and invoked the light of Tanit.

There seemed to be a number of rippling mushrooms. It looked like they were moving or waving. There were some 20 or 30 feet of mushrooms pulsing in amongst some larger mushrooms. Si'aspiqo cast a slight breeze and sent it from the corridor into the room trying to push any spores back in to the room. The room was at least 70 or 80 feet to the far end. There was an area off to the left where there were no mushrooms, with just a few at the end. It made an l-shaped room, about 50 feet off to the left, with that wing maybe 20 feet wide. There were no exits in the left-hand part of the room.

Agripinus and Amphius had headed into the clearer are on the left, when Si'aspiqo told us he thought we should leave. Amphius started heading out, but Agripinus seemed to be staring intently at the mushrooms and needed to be dragged out. Si'aspiqo summoned another gust of wind to cleanse off any spores remaining on people. Agripinus seemed slightly dazed for a short while. There seemed to be quite a lot of dust blowing off Agripinus particularly around his feet and ankles.

We headed back outside and cleaned ourselves off. There were grey and black spores around our feet, particularly those of Agripinus and Amphius. Agripinus used a miracle and created a pool of water and we washed our footwear and ankles. At Si'aspiqo’s suggestion we each gave a final wipe down with vinegar soaked rags. It was a warm sunny morning and we discussed what to do next, while resting in the sunshine.

We decided to leave the mushroom room until we had more information and decided instead to investigate the pool room. We collected a couple of fishing nets and a grapple and headed back in. We used the secret door in the middle alcove on the right and headed straight on. After a while there was a door on the left and we followed the passage behind the door through some enforced turns to another door. Through this door there was a left turn to a passage, which then led to another door. This was a superior quality door which opened into the pool room.

Si'aspiqo looked at the mosaics and tried to determine the order of the pools as if the mosaic was a processional way. Amphius looked into the first pool on the left. It had interesting spirally patterns in different shades of green. He then looked at the one on the right, which had clear water with a few small fish.

We turned to the right and passed a pool on the left. There was warmth from the pool, with bubbling and steam. There was a white crust around the edge. Ahead there was a pool on the left and the right. Amphius looked in the one on the right, which was another with steam but here the water was still and looked like ice. The one on the left it was shimmering and sparkly.

The processional way then went right passing a pool on the left. Amphius could see water and then a sparkle in the bottom as though it was really deep, maybe the shimmering of coin or jewels. On the right another pool had almost dried out with just a small puddle or pool in the middle. As he was looking at the pool, something the size of a small dog, dropped from above and landed on Amphius, who was staggered to his knees.

Amphius backed towards me and I tried to grab hold of it to stab it as I feared any attempt to just strike it would be likely to harm my friend. Si'aspiqo prepared a spell, while Toxoanassa shot at another creature up on the ceiling, but her arrow bounced off. I failed to get grasp anything.

Si'aspiqo flared the torches and beat at what seemed to be a giant tic with the one he was holding. I continued to try to grasp the tic, but with no success. Si'aspiqo waved his torch again and Amphius fell on his back to try to dislodge it but had no effect.

Si'aspiqo managed to hit the thing with a torch, but it seemed to have a leathery hide. Agripinus tried to grab Amphius and managed to cast cure light wound. Toxoanassa managed to shoot one down from the ceiling and it scuttled behind a pool. I eventually managed to grasp the tic and hacked off a leg and Si’Aspiqo sizzled it some more with his torch, but continued to suck more blood from Amphius, who also thrust his torch at it.

Agripinus managed to grab hold and I cut off another leg. Si'aspiqo’s struck it again and the giant tic burst. Toxoanassa shot down the remaining one on the ceiling and it too scuttled behind pool. However, once they were on the ground it was easy for me to locate the two tics and finish them off.

We were now down to our last torch, so we decided to head out. We returned to the camp and had a rest for an hour or so and had some lunch.

Amphius took a grapple and cut off most of the rope and attached it to his belt, so that someone could easily grab hold of the remaining rope to hold him. We left the camp and headed back into the tunnel, past the smashed-up door to the secret door on the right. We headed through this and straight across the passage following this round through a number of turns and doorways in to the pool room.

Again, we tried to follow the processional way as determined by Si'aspiqo from the mosaic tiles in the floor. Instead of turning to the right we went straight on and Amphius and Si'aspiqo looked at a pool on the left. This seemed to be completely dry. The pools seemed to be about 6 feet wide and 2 or 3 feet deep, although one or two looked deeper although it may have been an illusion. Si'aspiqo noticed smudged ink letters in cuneiform around rim of dry pool. They were unfinished or partly rubbed out, but he could not read them.

We turned to the left and looked at the pool on the right. It seemed to be filled with a crystal clear liquid. We moved on and looked at the next pool on the left. The contents were opaque, and a dark almost purply red in colour. There was a smell like a bar and Amphius thought the contents smelt like wine. The surface rippled very slightly, and the contents looked silky and lustrous. The one on the right looked like water with a horrible thick green slime covering the surface with murky water below. It was about half to two third full. There was a distinctive pungent smell, almost herby.

We moved on to the last three pools. Ahead was a pool of murky grey liquid as though it was left after washing dirty clothes. We passed the pool and turned to right to end between the three pools. The one on the left was full all the way to the top with a clear liquid with some bubbles, and a chemical smell. Amphius thought it might be Sulphur. Si’Aspiqo wafted gently above it and choked a little as it caught in his throat. Amphius could see a glint in the depths. Si'aspiqo lit a second torch and Amphius thought maybe it was a key. The remaining pool, was translucent, slightly pink. Something darker could be made out in the bottom; a small image, maybe an omen. Si’Aspiqo wasn’t sure what it was but was sure he had seen it before, but a long way to the East. Part of reason he was here said Si’Aspiqo. A long way to the East.

Agripinus dabbed the little finger of his left hand into the pool with the purplish contents. He put the finger to his lips and it tasted like an excellent wine. He tried the same with the green slime. As he pulled his finger back out, he brought with him a trailing glob of the green slime, and his finger immediately started burning very painfully. He tried to wash it off with holy water, but to no effect. Si’Aspiqo cast a cantrip to change his torch to have a pointed flame and passed it close to the green slime. It flared up and then fell to the floor as black dust. The tip of the priest’s little finger had been burnt off; it looked like someone had cut off the end of his little finger. The green slime was slowly concentrating to our side of the pool. Si'aspiqo thought it was a demonic weed of some sort.

We moved away from that pool towards where we had fought the giant tics and Amphius carefully picked up the two most intact bodies using gloves and them in a bag. Si'aspiqo took note of the cuneiform markings on one of the pools. He lit another torch and we headed back along the corridors to the bottle room. Amphius saw a shape off to the left, which was probably a darkling; we cautiously approached the next junction but all seemed quiet.

We headed to the storage and tool room in the Northwest of the complex and went in through the door on the right where a grill had dropped down blocking the passage ahead. There were fragments of wood and a vice and a few scattered tools. We went back out to investigate the grill and I was able to power it back up into the ceiling and there was a click. Amphius hammered a couple of wedges into the track with the back of an axe. He then headed up the corridor while I held ready against the grill in case it fell again. Amphius set off the mechanism but the wedges held. He investigated the area beyond the grill but it was just a dead end.

We headed back to the outside. We came to a T-junction and turned right and as we did so, Amphius heard something off to the left, but we were not attacked. We went through the secret door into out, the torture chamber and then on to the Wizard’s Chamber and out a secret door in to the bottle room. We followed the passage round and out along the corridor to the outside. At the crossroads Toxoanassa heard something off to the right, but again nothing materialised and we headed out without incident. We returned to the camp and Agripinus cast cure light wounds on his finger, while Si'aspiqo brewed up some healing balm.

We decided to leave the pool room and investigate the remaining trap with the door beyond it. We decided to collect a couple of beds from the barracks and try to use these to trigger the traps. We climbed back up to the entrance and headed along the passage to the crossroads. As we went through the crossroads Amphius heard something off to the left and rushed down the corridor to the next turn but couldn’t see anything.

We headed to the processional way and the wind whistled as usual as the door was opened, but Agripinus had lit a shuttered lantern. We shut the door behind us and the wind rose to a strong gust and the torches guttered out, but the lantern still cast its light. The wind died down when we went through the door at the far end and then on into the barracks. We picked up two fairly intact beds with leather straps and planks and took them one at a time to the place where Amphius had spotted a trap. Amphius could make out the spot where the floor changed and he and I threw the first bed out on to it, but nothing happened. We went back to fetch the second bed and when we returned Amphius used this to push the first bed further along into the corridor; still nothing happened.

We went in to the nearby chamber to see if anything there could be used, but it was empty. Amphius thought there was a ledge he could make his way along, and get past the problem area of the floor. He hammered a spike into the edge and tied a rope around himself. He passed it around the spike and I took firm hold of the other end and braced myself. Amphius started to edge along the ledge.

He got to about five feet from the door and set another spike into the wall. He looked at the door, and told us that seemed to be a solid wooden door of slightly superior quality. He tried to open it but there was no obvious mechanism or lock. There was a stone lintel and a wooden frame. He hammered another spike into the frame. H moved slightly and set off the trap and the corridor and beds disappeared into the dark, but he managed to hang on to the rope, the spikes held and he clambered back on to the ledge. There was a crash and a splash from far below. It was too far down to be illuminated by the lanterns. Si’Aspiqo threw down a bright torch. We could see that the floor was hinged and we could make out a pool some 40 feet below us. There was no handle or lock on the door, just wooden panels. We concluded that this was just a trap.

Taking another rope from Toxoanassa and splicing them both together and using the spike and myself as a brace, Amphius started to abseil down to investigate the pool. He abseiled down the wall where the floor was hinged. After about 10 or 15 feet there was an overhang as it opened into quite a large cavern. There seemed to be a tunnel heading off, with a dark pool of water maybe 25 feet across. It filled half to two thirds of the cavern floor. There were no signs of the beds, so the pool must have been quite deep. Amphius climbed back up. We head back to the outside. At the crossroads, Toxoanassa heard a footstep off to the right, but we ignored it and emerged from the tunnel just as a torch guttered out.

Agripinus and Serif stayed at the kraal while the rest of us scouted around to see if we could find any traces of the darklings anywhere close to our camp. Toxoanassa and Serif found a few animal and bird trails and one or traces maybe a few days old of bare feet. We had our supper and dusk fell.

The moon would rise later in the night but the first part was very dark. During first watch, Toxoanassa and Amphius were hit by javelins from the darkness. They moved aside from the doorway where they had been outlined by the light of our fire and Amphius shouted to wake the rest of the party. Toxoanassa yelled that there were 6 to 10 darklings in or around the kraal.

Agripinus went to the doorway and cast the light of Tanit. By the righteous light, both the archers could see the reflections of eyes – there were at least a dozen pairs, maybe more. They both fired and Amphius hit one and there was a hoarse squeal from maybe 20 or 30 yards away. The two archers both had another successful shot. We could see figures digging in the kraal and it seemed to be where we had buried the remains of the Shedim. The archers fired a couple more volleys and one of the targets dropped and lay still. Amphius was hit by multiple missiles and Serif was struck too.

Si'aspiqo had a flute with flash powder and coal dust in it and after warning us, he set it off in the doorway in an effort to blow the night vision of the darklings. Under cover of this Agripinus and I rushed to the half dug up shallow grave. Toxoanassa and Amphius both shot another darkling each.

Agripinus and I went back-to-back and shielded against the missile fire and Agripinus cast his arcane weapon miracle. At the end of the round a harsh voice called out. Amphius knocked another darkling down and the Scythian hit another. Agripinus struck at a shadow with his arcane weapon, but it wasn’t a darkling.

Si’Aspiqo shouted that the left wing was falling back – he must have understood the harsh voice. Amphius again shot a darkling, and this time Agripinus was able to hits a darkling with his arcane weapon and it cried out. It seemed like they were slinking away. There were no more eyes to be seen. We could make out one body in the darkness.

We regrouped waiting for their return…

From Sammus’s Boast:

039: A17 Exploring with a Guide

We all headed back in to the shelter of the hut and after a brief discussion decided that it was better to negotiate. Si'aspiqo cast a protection from missiles spell and we all heard a loud buzzing, as if there were a few wasps buzzing around inside the hut. Si'aspiqo headed outside with myself close beside him with my large shield covering us both. Si'aspiqo started speaking in Egyptian and as he spoke something whirled out of the darkness towards us but then blasted away in a shower of sparks – the protection from missiles seemed to work very well.

The babbling in Egyptian continued, but Si'aspiqo translated for us as he went. He started by calling “Overseer, is there a boon you wish of me?”.
  “Sorcerer – we will parley under the white token, Seth watches your word and sign,” was the response. The scribe pulled out white rag and waved it. There was a shuffling noise and some figures emerged out of the darkness.
  “I am the Charge Hand of the workers. The battle is over and we would like to collect our dead.” Si'aspiqo nodded his permission.
  “You have killed our father and pinned him under the burning star,” the darkling continued, “we hear him calling out, how can he be reborn and follow the cycle?”.
  “We were concerned he should not burn up in the sun, what do you offer for him?” replied the magician.
  Their leader said, “What do you want?”
  “Knowledge of this place,” said Si'aspiqo.
   “We live in the mountain in the lower levels, it is our home,” offered the Charge Hand.
  “What is there?” questioned Si'aspiqo and the darkling said,
   “It is our home away from the burning sky,” and added, “the mountain was empty when Father brought us here.”

Si'aspiqo asked what they knew of the upper level and was told that there were rooms they could and could not enter. They had been told to close the door to the outside and dig. There were things in the earth that their Father had wanted and chambers to dig out. They told the scribe that they would take the body below the level where the men were and Si'aspiqo promised that we would not go to the lower level.

Si'aspiqo and I returned to the hut and on the way back the spell ended, but we were not fired upon. Si'aspiqo and Agripinus took the star of Tanit, under the white rag of truce. Eight or ten darklings came to dig up the body. The darklings dragged away the corpse after digging it up and the rest of the night passed uneventfully.

After dawn we headed back into the complex. As we marched along the entrance corridor, we could see something glowing on the right-hand side. As we approached, we could see a darkling sitting cross legged in the second alcove on the right, with half a dozen small pots with plants glowing within in front of him. He told Si'aspiqo that he had things to trade. It was not the darkling we had spoken to last night. As well as the pots, he had some coloured pebbles and a bronze dagger.

Si'aspiqo suggested one of his bone flutes for three of the pots, but the darkling would only trade two of the pots for the flute. He did offer the secrets of how to nurture the plants for some meat, perhaps a deer. Agripinus traded an iron dagger in a fine scabbard for the remaining plants and four coloured pebbles. The darkling offered to acts as our guide in exchange for a water bottle. When his offer was accepted, he packed up and scampered ahead of us.

We headed left at the crossroads and followed the passages around to the curving passage. He told us that this was ancient when we asked why it was different to the other passages. He told us that there were no secret ways here. The passage changed to brick and then after a 45-degree turn, it opened into a wider passage and then there was a 90 degree turn to the right. Here Amphius noticed a pattern in the left-hand wall, which he had noticed before where there was a secret door. After searching for some time, he was still unable to find a mechanism.

We continued on to one of the rooms near the forge, where we thought there might be a secret door. Amphius looked at the south west corner of the room where there was a door or panel with no mechanism evident. After a short while he was confident there was no secret door and it was just here to distract. Si'aspiqo took a bag of the plentiful coal dust. We went on to another room with a hole in the floor and an iron ring secured to the south wall. We asked the guide what it was for and he directed us to tie a rope to the ring. We realised that he was saying it was a way down to the lower level and his home, but that we were not allowed down there.

We then went on to the forge. He told us that this room was forbidden. We went round to the second door into the same room, but again he told us he wasn’t allowed through the door. As we entered the room and the darkling peered curiously around us. Amongst a lot of tools were a selection of different sized tongs and some hefty hammers. We took two of the tongs for Si'aspiqo to use, and I took a very large hammer with maybe a 16 to 20 pound head, which I thought would be very useful if we needed to smash our way in through a door. There was a large set of hand bellows and the ash looked like it was wood ash but with some minerals within. This was not a forge for making horseshoes, but was for much larger things; maybe for melting things or forging axes or hammers.

We then set off for the pool room. The door off the passage leading to Ro-gan’s chamber was not allowed for the darkling he told us. When we asked why, he said the Father had told them that they should not go inside, because of magic. Si'aspiqo thanked him for his help and gave him a water bottle. We then continued on to the pool room for Si'aspiqo to investigate. We set up the phosphorescent plants all together and Si'aspiqo began his investigations.

From Sammus’s Boast:

040: A18 Doing the Pools

It was now getting to the end of the day so we decided to head back outside to update Serif. Before we left the pool room, Si'aspiqo checked the omens – was it auspicious to take the plants outside? He did not get a very strong reading but thought that it would be better not to, so we left them at the dog-leg in the passage on the way out from the pool room. We took the key with us and on the way out we went in to the throne room, to see if it fitted the door that we had found locked there.

Amphius tried the key and it seemed to jam and became almost warm to the touch. He managed to free the key and the key then turned and unlocked the door. He then re-locked it and removed the key, which no longer felt warm. We headed back out via the secret door at then end of the passage and Amphius showed us all how the mechanism worked.

We headed out of the main passage to find it was now mid-afternoon. We returned to the kraal to find Serif just beginning preparations for the evening meal. We told him what we had found and that we had done some minor trading. He regarded the trading as taboo for him, and not necessarily wise, but he didn’t have a problem with it – Agripinus would know better than him as a priest of Tanit and it was an inconsequential amount of trade. We discuss hunting for further trade and Serif raised his eyebrows. The night passed uneventfully.

The next morning myself, Amphius and Toxoanassa went hunting, I saw a wild sheep and just managed a glancing blow with a javelin, and it scampered off, but Toxoanassa spotted it and killed it with her bow. Amphius found a tortoise and captured it alive. We dropped off our bounty at the camp and then carried on to circumnavigate the mountain in the afternoon. It was quite rocky, with lots of cover, we didn’t spot anything of particular interest. There were many other hills around but none of us had the feeling of being observed. The whole trip took longer than we had expected as there were so many spots that would make suitable sites for ambush and had to be bypassed cautiously and it was now starting to get hot in the afternoons.

There were three separate peaks, but we didn’t go to the top of any, but all the same we had great views over the surrounding area. There were no signs of other buildings or any major trails, just a few game trails. The biggest trail was towards the wooded area heading back to the kraal. It was probably the mark of people who had been here previously. Our employer's brief suggested he had been missing for a year or two, but he had left the army and Carthage and headed into the hinterland somewhere between 10 and 20 years ago. The darkling claimed that the Mountain was empty when they were brought here.

Agripinus and Si'aspiqo stayed in the kraal with Serif and made preparations for going back in to further investigate the pools. When we returned we discussed potentially spending time in the pool room at night but we didn’t want to leave Serif on his own in the kraal at night and when I suggested waiting to do this until the other Numidians had returned, all agreed this was a good plan. Amphius cut a couple of arrow slits in two places equidistant from the doorway - if there was moonlight, he or Toxoanassa might be able to identify a target and shoot out. He made sure they were covered by pieces of wood when not in use. He also skinned and quartered the sheep.

The night passed uneventful and the new day dawned warm and clear. We set off with the sheep and headed back in to Kaskator. Si'aspiqo lit a torch and we headed in past the wrecked door. Light torch and go through the wrecked door. Ahead we could see a blue glow from the second alcove on the right and the small darkling we knew of as Trader was waiting for us.

Si'aspiqo hailed the trader and he nodded. In front of him he had laid out a few coloured pebbles, a familiar iron dagger in a fine scabbard, three glowing pots, some dried meat and a whistle, which he proceeded to play. We showed him a hind quarter of the sheep and Si'aspiqo reminded him of our request for information on the glowing plants. The darkling told us that it dies under the burning skies, and lived under the mountain dark night. He also told us that it needed just a little water. He added that it lived under the mountain and grew and then died. Keep it in the dark and it will grow again he informed us, maybe wait a long time or a short time – he didn’t know. “Never under the burning sky”, he emphasised. It will glow a while maybe one moon and then rest a long time but he didn’t know how long.

We agreed this was a deal and Si'aspiqo gave him the two rear haunches of the sheep and the darkling seemed happy with the deal. The scribe asked if he had anything to trade for the rest. He told the Egyptian that he could arrange a parley if we had more meat. Si'aspiqo asked if the ritual had been completed and Trader replied “yes, forthwith”. “He will take his place in the cycle?” questioned Si'aspiqo but there was no response from the darkling, he just looked to the scribe.

Trader asked if we needed a guide but he was told that we were going nowhere new today, but thanks for the offer. He packed up his wares in a leather pack and headed off through the secret door with a lump of meat over each shoulder. Amphius followed through the secret door and saw him quickly disappear into the darkness along the corridor to the East.

Amphius closed the secret door after him and we headed straight along the main corridor and through the bottle shaped room and turned left into the wide processional way. The Cretan again spotted the potential secret door and this time he managed to open it. He peered in holding a torch. It seems to be another store room, about 30 feet square, very similar in content to the triangular room we had found previously off the bottle shaped room. There were wooden beams, cut stone blocks, wooden doors, a box with hinges, handles and bolts, a box with tarnished iron spikes or heavy construction nails and another with smaller slightly rusty nails. Unfortunately there was no pitch. There was a small earthenware jar with something resiny but very hard inside and some rope. The rope was dusty and aged, but heavy and still strong. The cut stone was very precisely made, temple grade and expensive, especially compared to the stuff used to build the kraal. The rope couldn’t have been much more than a few years old, certainly from within the last 20 years, although the bricks could have been much older.

We left the room, closed the secret door behind us and headed around to the pool room. The glowing plants were we had left them. When we reached the door into the pool room Amphius tried the key again and it worked on this lock too. He tried from the other side of the lock and it also worked. Each time it seemed to need a little wiggling before it suddenly seemed to fit. The key seemed to have too many indentations for a normal lock and it had felt jammed in the first lock in throne room before it had gone warm and then seemed to fit. Each time it didn’t feel to Amphius like a perfectly fitting key.

We went straight to the 14th pool which was pinkish in hue and seemed to have an idol in the bottom. Si'aspiqo wanted the idol to be brought up to near the surface and so Amphius took the remaining set of tongs and tried to grasp the idol. He managed to gently get hold of the image illuminated in torch light. He slowly brought it up to the surface. It was a humanoid form, face up with a carved woman’s face. It was made of smooth stone, which seemed almost pink in the pink liquid. There was a finely carved woman’s face with the glint of gold around the neck.

Amphius took it out of the water and laid it carefully on the floor. It must have weighed 2 or 3 kilos. The statuette was maybe made of onyx and looked like a goddess and was about a foot high. It was finely made with a fitted gold necklace, gold earrings and a tiara in the shape of horns. The Cretan suggested it was Aphrodite, the Egyptian suggested Astarte and Agripinus thought it might be an early depiction of Tanit. It was not clothed so it could not be a modern version of Tanit. It looked like there was a mound of sand at her feet and the head of a lion. I thought of the statue in the room surrounded by benches, but that was more modern than this. The statuette must be worth 100 gold at least. There was a patina of age about the statuette, but it was undamaged and didn’t look as though it had been thrown carelessly into the pool. Looking around the pool room there was no obvious place this belonged.

Si'aspiqo consulted the omens to determine if the statuette belonged here and decided that it should be replaced in the pool. Using the tongs, Amphius carefully replaced it and Si'aspiqo begged her pardon. He thought the pool was powerful and beneficial. It was associated fertility, maybe health, sexuality, or even warfare. With the goddess’s blessing the contents of the pool were a powerful healing or fertility potion or draft. Agripinus thought the pool was associated with an old version of Tanit or an allied goddess, he felt no need for protection against evil, and that there was no point in purifying it.

Si'aspiqo filled a cup and sipped from it. It appeared good to drink and there were no ill effects. He drank more carefully, cup by cup, until he seemed satisfied. I thought he had drunk maybe a pint in all. We paused by the pool awhile to see what effect it might have...

From Sammus’s Boast:

041: A18 Pools and Mushrooms

We all looked at the scribe with anticipation…

After while he announced that he felt good and there was no tickle in his chest. I realised that this was longer than I had ever heard him go without coughing.

We headed out of the pool room and again left the glowing plants at the dog leg in the corridor and headed to the room with the carvings. This was accessed via a secret door in the passageway that led to the processional way with the wind. Amphius couldn’t open the secret door initially and almost jammed it, however after 10 minutes he managed to open it. We headed along a short corridor and then through a door into the room.

There was a detailed carving running the length of North wall. Si'aspiqo took detailed notes describing the cuneiform and Agripinus and Amphius helped with descriptions and sketches of the images on the wall, while Toxoanassa and I stood guard. The scribe burned another torch and the priest cast his light of Tanit to illuminate the carvers and all decided they now had a good record.

We then went to the forge and Amphius selected two more pairs of tongs and then headed back to the outside world. It was a fine day, just after the middle of the morning. Si'aspiqo was not wheezing as much as usual and needed less help than usual to climb back down the hill. We headed to the campsite where we saw Serif outside the hut. We reported our findings and looked for empty jars to collect mushrooms. Si'aspiqo had one wizard jar and Serif had an earthenware pot that had been used for salt with a lid. He put the salt in a bag and Si’Aspiqo carefully cleaned it out along with the wizard jar. We had an early lunch and after an hour so, just after noon head back to Kaskator.

Si'aspiqo managed to get up the hill with a little assistance and although out of breath was no longer coughing. It was warm and sunny as we headed inside. We headed to the large mushroom room equipped with rags and vinegar. We each soaked a rag in vinegar and covered our nose and mouth. A rope was tied around the Greek and the priest cast his light of Tanit.

Most of the rock surface was covered with growth and there were all manner of different shapes and sizes of fungi. Some were as big as bushes or small trees, there were puffballs, and some of bizarre shape, like a nest with eggs, or stars, and others with long tendrils spreading out. Agripinus drew and described the large ones while Amphius tried to take some samples of smaller ones using the tongs. Si'aspiqo cast a slight wind blowing from behind us into the cavern to try to keep the spores at bay.

We all noticed a rippling and pulsing and tendrils waving from a patch of mushrooms 20 to 30 feet across. This had been the cause of the hypnotic thing we had observed previously and Amphius stopped gathering mushrooms and ground to a halt. Agripinus managed to drag a slightly dazed Amphius out and slapped him a couple of times before the Greek recovered his wits. He had managed to get 4 or 5 samples but had to go back in towards the mushrooms to recover the pot containing them, which he had left behind.

Amphius now had quite a lot of spores on his legs and shoes, but the pot was about three quarters full. He returned to fill the second pot and while avoiding looking at the rippling effect, grabbed a couple more samples and retreated again. He noticed that in a corner one of the mushrooms was floating in the air, maybe heading towards Amphius. It seemed to float like a jellyfish in the sea, despite the breeze from Si'aspiqo’s spell. It got quite close and Amphius dropped the tongs, but he managed to retreat with his pot about half full before it got too close. Si'aspiqo pointed out some bones sticking out of some of the mushrooms. An earlier victim of the fungi, but we couldn’t tell whether it was a human or a darkling and none of us were keen to investigate more closely.

Amphius sealed the jars and we hurried back along the corridor, away from the mushrooms, closing the door behind us. Once we reached the open air, we used the rest of the vinegar to clean up everyone particularly Amphius, who had lots of spores, particular around his feet and lower legs. It was now early afternoon.

We returned to the pool room, picking up the glowing plants on the way and Si'aspiqo investigated the pool of wine. First of all, he watched for ripples in the pool. The pool seemed still but after a minute or two this was a slight ripple or swirl, despite there being no vibrations from the floor. He could smell the scent of wine.

Amphius sampled the wine. It was an excellent wine he told us; a slightly smoky dark red wine with complex flavours. It was as good, if not better, than any wine he had ever drunk.

Si'aspiqo meditated and tried comparing an empty pool, a pool that was half empty and a full pool to see if he could determine why one was working and the others weren’t. He felt the dry pool had an element of virtue associate with the pool, but it was a formless background hum compared with the feeling of virtue from the pool of wine. The feeling was slightly stronger from the half empty pool than the empty one, but not as strong as the full pool. The pool with the idol also had a strong feeling of virtue. This all took a while and myself and Toxoanassa on watch were getting pretty bored – there wasn’t even the sound of coughing from the scribe to distract us. The plants were still glowing consistently, they almost look like a fringed mushroom with the glowing coming from the tendrils.

We headed back to the outside. Serif had roasted the remaining lamb over a wood fire – it smelt delicious. Si'aspiqo looked a good deal healthier and had again needed only a little help on the way back. Instead of wheezing and coughing constantly he just seemed out of breath. He looked noticeably healthier and brighter whilst eating lamb and Serif encouraged him to have some more. We told Serif about the pools and mushrooms and he was impressed by the effect of the pool on Si'aspiqo.

We made the usual preparations and turned in for the night.

From Sammus’s Boast:

042: A20 Spiders

It was a quiet night in the kraal. The watches passed peacefully, and without any spasmodic coughing fits from the Kushite. Tonight, it seemed he slept very deeply when not on watch, and not with his usual fitful muttering.

The sky to the east showed only the faintest blue glow when a harsh voice called out from the darkness. It was intelligible only to the Kushite, who translated:

“Parley! Parley! Trader would talk. Trader hurt. Help Trader!”

We did not shoot down the shadow which approached, clutching a rag which might once have been white. The light of our campfire revealed the rather bedraggled form of a darkling, with his left hand wrapped up in leather strips. He cringed in the firelight and said:

“Dark Ones Angry! Our father is dead and they send plague to punish us. Spiders come! Many many small and some big. They bite our wounded, they chase us. We shut doors and hide! Charge Hand open back gate and send me to you. We need sorcerer to kill spiders or banish them”.

He told us that Charge Hand would show us their secret – earthblood – if we helped them. He then asked:

“You be friends? Friends can come to lower level. We need help or we starve – no food where we hide”.

Si'aspiqo asked about the ‘back gate’ to Kaskator, and he replied:

“Back gate is magic, will not open until next night, long time now. Only Charge Hand know secret word to open”.

Then he winced again, holding his bound left hand and said:

“Trader bitten, he hurts! Trader need to hide from the burning sky. Please help!”.

Si'aspiqo invited him in and led him to a darker corner and we rigged up a covering for the hut doorway. He was a small, light, bald, dark-skinned figure with huge dark eyes. His hand was bound in leather strips and he was armed with an iron dagger we recognised and a throwing stick of hardened wood. He looked nervous. We directed him to hang up his dagger amongst our weapons.

Agripinus unwrapped his hand – the leather strips made a tourniquet around his hand. The hand was swollen with a couple of marks that looked like a snake bite. Agripinus prepared to try to cast cure light wounds but wasn’t certain that it would have a beneficial effect. The scribe warned the darkling and he agreed to go ahead with the cure. The priest cast successfully and it seemed to have no deleterious effect; the swelling eased. Agripinus cleaned out the wound, releases the tourniquet for 5 minutes and then retied it.

Si'aspiqo asked for more details. Trader told him that the spiders had come to where the darklings were living and had bitten the wounded. The darklings had left the area to where they could barricade themselves behind closed doors, but Charge Hand had first opened the back gate to send out Trader to fetch the sorcerer. He explained that the small spiders were the size of his hand and then crouched on the ground to convey that the large ones were of a size with a crouching darkling.

We discussed our options and all were in agreement that we would accompany the darkling and head in to Kaskator to help deal with the spiders. Serif said that he would accompany us. Although the place was taboo, he felt it was justifiable to enter to deal with the spiders and the shadow. Any consequences from the elders for going against the taboo would be on him and not on us. Agripinus told him that we appreciated his support greatly and we would support him if the elders were upset. We thought about navigating to the back gate but the terrain was tricky and we did not know where it was. The darkling would not be able to help in the daylight and so we planned to wait for dusk and head up to the nearby entrance just after the sun slipped below the horizon. Trader would then guide us to the lower level where the darklings and spiders were.

Toxoanassa, Amphius and Serif went hunting. Serif managed to bring down a small female deer with a javelin, and Amphius winged another, and they trailed her and finished her off. Serif also gathered a few herbs and was very satisfied with their success.

Agripinus continued to treat the darkling, removing the tourniquet for five minutes every hour and then retying it. He did complain that it hurt part the way through the day and the priest was able to ease the pain and the swelling had eased considerably.

I bared my left forearm for Si'aspiqo to tattoo protection from evil. It took a large part of the day, but I shrugged off the pain and hieroglyphics appeared on the inner part of my forearm. He taught me a phrase in Egyptian and when I managed to utter it correctly there was a sharp pain and a tingling, burning sensation from the area of the tattoo. The scribe said that the spell was working and pronounced himself happy with his work. The burning, tingling feeling lasted a while.

By the end of the afternoon when the hunters returned, we could see that there was some damage to the darkling’s hand but it was showing no signs of major poison. Serif and Amphius hung up and skinned and quartered the two deer in one of the huts. Serif then cooked the liver and offal in a pot and prepared some porridge. He gave some of the cuts to Trader who ate them rapidly. We then shared a meal and relaxed fro a brief while before finalising our preparations ready to depart.

Si'aspiqo made something using one of his flutes, with which he hoped to be able to squirt forth fire. Serif baked some of the porridge to make dried rations as we were unsure how long we would be in Kaskator. We took some strips to make tourniquets along with two lanterns and a number of torches. We also had the quarters of the two deer. We armed ourselves and this time accompanied by Serif with three javelins, a light shield and a club and Trader as our guide, we set off just as the direct sunlight disappeared.

The darkling was covered with a blanket as we made our way up to the entrance and was much happier as soon as we entered in the tunnel. Serif on the left and Amphius on the right led the way closely followed by myself, then Si'aspiqo and Trader with Toxoanassa and Agripinus as the rearguard. We made our way to the dogleg passageway close to the pool room.

As Amphius returned from collecting the plants, which continued to glow, the darkling pointed out a spider behind Toxoanassa, but she couldn’t see it in the dark. Agripinus was able to make out some movement on the floor, but nothing more than that. Trader scuttled next to Toxoanassa and tried again to point the spider out to her. The scribe lit another torch and the darkling got down to his knees pointing back down the corridor. Agripinus could still see movement but Toxoanassa could still see nothing. Trader scuttled past them and flailed around and then returned with a mess on his club. Toxoanassa still couldn’t see what he had struck, but we went closer and could see the hairy, stripy, grey and black remains. Si'aspiqo scraped some of it up into one of his sample jars.

Trader guided us through the door that led towards the throne room and moved up alongside me in the second rank. We turned right as the passage opened to the throne room on the left and then through a door on the left that led us into a space with stairs in the corner and we headed down them.

The stairs were headed north, but there was a landing and they turned to the right, now heading south and opened into a larger space with piles of rock, rubble, timbers and signs of mining. The space seemed like a 50 feet by 50 feet space with a 20 feet by 20 feet space tacked on. To the right was the 20 feet by 20 feet part with the 50 feet by 50 feet to the left. We headed due south to the exit, but it was in the southwest corner of the space.

The darkling called out ‘spider’ in Egyptian – it was a word we were beginning to recognise. Serif poked at it with a javelin and with Trader’s help they quickly squashed it. Trader told us that we had only seen one or two, but there had been many many. He looked worried but carried on. There were countless places for spiders to hide here.

At the exit from this space, it was as though we were going into another empty room of an odd shape. There were two large, hewn tunnels exiting and another exit via a door in an alcove in an alcove immediately to the left. The wider of the two tunnels was off to the left shortly beyond the alcove and door, the smaller tunnel was 30 feet off to the right. Trader explained that both tunnels could lead to the back gate but he led us off through the wider, 20-foot tunnel on the left.

The tunnel was off to the left at about 45 degrees but it curved further left for about 100 feet, and then after another 100 feet or so it had probably swung around roughly to the north. After another 50 to 100 feet, it opened into a wider cavern, roughly round and about 50 feet across with an exit ahead and slightly to the left. It looked like it might have been a mining drift. The passage was 20 feet wide but I certainly had to stoop considerably to go along.

It headed roughly north and after 40 feet it narrowed and then widened again. It looked as though it had been chiselled out of the rock. After another 50 feet or so there was an option on the left or continued and there was a door in the right-hand wall.

Amphius looked at door. It didn’t look like the more modern doors upstairs. It was made of old rough wood and made of solid timbers. It was fitted into a crudely hacked lintel, with hinges fitted into the rock. It was a largish, solid door with no lock.

Trader indicates left, so we turned and the passage opened into a large natural cavern, with a very high roof some way up in the darkness. It was at least 50 or 60 feet to the far side and more to the left and right. There were lots of piles of things and bodies on floor. It looked like there could be a lot of spiders here. Trader uttered the familiar word in Egyptian and Serif said he could see lots of movement ahead…

From Sammus’s Boast:

043: A20 Spiders

It was a quiet night in the kraal. The watches passed peacefully, and without any spasmodic coughing fits from the Kushite. Tonight, it seemed he slept very deeply when not on watch, and not with his usual fitful muttering.

The sky to the east showed only the faintest blue glow when a harsh voice called out from the darkness. It was intelligible only to the Kushite, who translated:
   “Parley! Parley! Trader would talk. Trader hurt. Help Trader!”

We did not shoot down the shadow which approached, clutching a rag which might once have been white. The light of our campfire revealed the rather bedraggled form of a darkling, with his left hand wrapped up in leather strips. He cringed in the firelight and said:
   “Dark Ones Angry! Our father is dead and they send plague to punish us. Spiders come! Many many small and some big. They bite our wounded, they chase us. We shut doors and hide! Charge Hand open back gate and send me to you. We need sorcerer to kill spiders or banish them”.

He told us that Charge Hand would show us their secret – earthblood – if we helped them. He then asked:
   “You be friends? Friends can come to lower level. We need help or we starve – no food where we hide.” Si'aspiqo asked about the ‘back gate’ to Kaskator, and Trader replied:
   “Back gate is magic, will not open until next night, longtime now. Only Charge Hand know secret word to open”.

Then he winced again, holding his bound left hand and said:
  “Trader bitten, he hurts! Trader need to hide from the burning sky. Please help!”.

Si'aspiqo invited him in and led him to a darker corner and we rigged up a covering for the hut doorway. He was a small, light, bald, dark-skinned figure with huge dark eyes. His hand was bound in leather strips and he was armed with an iron dagger we recognised and a throwing stick of hardened wood. He looked nervous. We directed him to hang up his dagger amongst our weapons.

Agripinus unwrapped his hand – the leather strips made a tourniquet around his hand. The hand was swollen with a couple of marks that looked like a snake bite. Agripinus prepared to try to cast cure light wounds but wasn’t certain that it would have a beneficial effect. The scribe warned the darkling and he agreed to go ahead with the cure. The priest cast successfully and it seemed to have no deleterious effect; the swelling eased. Agripinus cleaned out the wound, releases the tourniquet for 5 minutes and then retied it.

Si'aspiqo asked for more details. Trader told him that the spiders had come to where the darklings were living and had bitten the wounded. The darklings had lefty the area to where they could barricade themselves behind closed doors, but Charge Hand had first opened the back gate to send out Trader to fetch the sorcerer. He explained that the small spiders were the size of his hand and then crouched on the ground to convey that the large ones were of a size with a crouching darkling.

We discussed our options and all were in agreement that we would accompany the darkling and head in to Kaskator to help deal with the spiders. Serif said that he would accompany us. Although the place was taboo, he felt it was justifiable to enter to deal with the spiders and the shadow. Any consequences from the elders for going against the taboo would be on him and not on us. Agripinus told him that we appreciated his support greatly and we would support him if the elders were upset. We thought about navigating to the back gate but the terrain was tricky and we did not know where it was. The darkling would not be able to help in the daylight and so we planned to wait for dusk and head up to the nearby entrance just after the sun slipped below the horizon. Trader would then guide us to the lower level where the darklings and spiders were.

Toxoanassa, Amphius and Serif went hunting. Serif managed to bring down a small female deer with a javelin, and Amphius winged another, and they trailed her and finished her off. Serif also gathered a few herbs and was very satisfied with their success.

Agripinus continued to treat the darkling, removing the tourniquet for five minutes every hour and then retying it. He did complain that it hurt part the way through the day and the priest was able to ease the pain and the swelling had eased considerably.

I bared my left forearm for Si'aspiqo to tattoo protection from evil. It took a large part of the day, but I shrugged off the pain and hieroglyphics appeared on the inner part of my forearm. He taught me a phrase in Egyptian and when I managed to utter it correctly there was a sharp pain and a tingling, burning sensation from the area of the tattoo. The scribe said that the spell was working and pronounced himself happy with his work. The burning, tingling feeling lasted a while.

By the end of the afternoon when the hunters returned, we could see that there was some damage to the darkling’s hand but it was showing no signs of major poison. Serif and Amphius hung up and skinned and quartered the two deer in one of the huts. Serif then cooked the liver and offal in a pot and prepared some porridge. He gave some of the cuts to Trader who ate them rapidly. We then shared a meal and relaxed fro a brief while before finalising our preparations ready to depart.

Si'aspiqo made something using one of his flutes, with which he hoped to be able to squirt forth fire. Serif baked some of the porridge to make dried rations as we were unsure how long we would be in Kaskator. We took some strips to make tourniquets along with two lanterns and a number of torches. We also had the quarters of the two deer. We armed ourselves and this time accompanied Serif with three javelins, a light shield and a club and Trader as our guide, we set off just as the direct sunlight disappeared.

The darkling was covered with a blanket as we made our way up to the entrance and was much happier as soon as we entered in the tunnel. Serif on the left and Amphius on the right led the way closely followed by myself, then Si'aspiqo and Trader with Toxoanassa and Agripinus as the rearguard. We made our way to the dogleg passageway close to the poolroom.

As Amphius returned from collecting the plants, which continued to glow, the darkling pointed out a spider behind Toxoanassa, but she couldn’t see it in the dark. Agripinus was able to make out some movement on the floor, but nothing more than that. Trader scuttled next to Toxoanassa and tried again to point the spider out to her. The scribe lit another torch and the darkling got down to his knees pointing back down the corridor. Agripinus could still see movement but Toxoanassa could still see nothing. Darkling scuttled past them and flailed around and then returned with a mess on his club. Toxoanassa still couldn’t see what he had struck, but we went closer and could see the hairy, stripy, grey and black remains. Si'aspiqo scraped some of it up into one of his sample jars.

Trader guided us through the door that led towards the throne room and moved up alongside me in the second rank. We turned right as the passage opened to the throne room on the left and then through a door on the left that led us into a space with stairs in the corner and we headed down them.

The stairs were headed north, but there was a landing and they turned to the right, now heading south and opened into a larger space with piles of rock, rubble, timbers and signs of mining. The space seemed like a 50 feet by 50 feet space with a 20 feet by 20 feet space tacked on. To the right was the 20 feet by 20 feet part with the 50 feet by 50 feet to the left. We headed due south to the exit, but it was in the southwest corner of the space.

The darkling called out ‘spider’ in Egyptian – it was a word we were beginning to recognise. Serif poked at it with a javelin and with Trader’s help they quickly squashed it. Trader told us that we had only seen one or two, but there had been many many. He looked worried but carried on. There were countless places for spiders to hide here.

At the exit from this space, it was as though we were going into another empty room of an odd shape. There were two large, hewn tunnels exiting and another exit via a door in an alcove in an alcove immediately to the left. The wider of the two tunnels was off to the left shortly beyond the alcove and door, the smaller tunnel was 30 feet off to the right. Trader explained that both tunnels could lead to the back gate but he led us off through the wider, 20-foot tunnel on the left.

The tunnel was off to the left at about 45 degrees but it curved further left for about 100 feet, and then after another 100 feet or so it had probably swung around roughly to the north. After another 50 to 100 feet, it opened into a wider cavern, roughly round and about 50 feet across with an exit ahead and slightly to the left. It looked like it might have been a mining drift. The passage was 20 feet wide but I certainly had to stoop considerably to go along.

It headed roughly north and after 40 feet it narrowed and then widened again. It looked as though it had been chiselled out of the rock. After another 50 feet or so there was an option on the left or continued and there was a door in the right-hand wall.

Amphius looked at door. It didn’t look like the more modern doors upstairs. It was made of old rough wood and made of solid timbers. It was fitted into a crudely hacked lintel, with hinges fitted into the rock. It was a largish, solid door with no lock.

Trader indicates left, so we turned and the passage opened into a large natural cavern, with very high roof some way up in the darkness. It was at least 50 or 60 feet to the far side and more to the left and right. There were lots of piles of things and bodies on floor. It looked like there could be a lot of spiders here. Trader uttered the familiar word in Egyptian and Serif said he could see lots of movement ahead…

Amphius opened up his lantern, put it down and drew his bow. Si'aspiqo lit another torch and started to prepare a spell. Toxoanassa drew her bow and looked around, and I drew my sword. Agripinus looked back from the rear and Trader skipped to the back to join him. Serif readied himself and moved to the left. It looked as though the far wall was about 50 feet ahead, but the walls off to both sides were further away and disappeared into the gloom. Moving along the floor was what looked like a large column of ants but was made up of spiders the size of a hand. There seemed to be something bigger off to the right. I triggered my protection from evil tattoo and the two archers lit fire arrows, while Serif reached back for a torch and the scribe handed him one.

Amphius spotted a couple of larger spiders maybe 3 or 4 feet across off to the right. His arrow narrowly missed and ended up off to the right and lit up an exit. Agripinus cast the light of Tanit and the spiders seemed to shrink away wherever it fell, splitting into two groups either side of it. One of larger spiders moved off to the right.

Toxoanassa hit one of the larger spiders with a fire arrow and it looked mortally wounded. Serif was surrounded by a sea of spiders but burned a couple with his torch. I stamped on a few and stabbed a few more, but some of them jumped on me. They immediately leapt off when they felt the protection from evil but one of them managed to bite me. The scribe cast protection from evil on the Numidian.

More stamping flailing and cursing came from Serif to my left and several spiders jumped on Serif’s clothes, but again leapt back off when they sensed the spell. Agripinus moved his light and the spiders squirmed away avoiding it. I stamped on a few more and Amphius hit the large twitching spider with another fire arrow and it lay still.

I sheathed my sword and grabbed another torch from Si'aspiqo, who then cast a spell which made the torches blaze very brightly. I swept at the torches to my right along the wall and they did not like it. Serif was also using his torch to keep the spiders back on the left. One of the large spiders had crept along the wall and, dropping down on me from above, managed to bite me through my armour. I struck it with my torch between the eyes, knocking it to the floor and finished it off. Serif continued to sweep with his torch.

The archers were looking for targets and Amphius rushed forward. He kicked a tool or weapon on the floor and could see lots of eyes up on the wall to the side. He saw a humanoid corpse, probably a darkling, on the cavern floor. Trader was lurking near Si'aspiqo and looking on the floor for spiders. The spiders were still keeping back from the torches Serif and I were wielding.

The archers thought there was an exit to the left and two exits off to the right and spiders were retreating in both directions. Trader pointed out the further exit on the right and after some hesitation from the darkling, we formed up and headed along the second exit on the right. We saw several more corpses as we headed across to the exit. As the cavern narrowed to the right, we could see that there was a larger exit to the right and a smaller one to the left. Gingerly, Trader pointing to the smaller exit on the left. It was a natural tunnel, about 15 feet across.

It became clear to Agripinus as he pointed the light of Tanit to the rear, that there were plenty of spiders behind us, coalescing back into one group. The tunnel narrowed down to about 10 feet wide after 60 feet and the roof became lower, maybe it was a mining drift. It started to turn gradually to the left, and we estimated that it had turned about 90 degrees after we had gone another 130 feet. It ended in a cave about 30 or 40 feet across with an exit on the right.

Trader told us to stop and eventually gave us to understand that there was a trap and we had to be careful. He pushed to the front and crept round to take the exit and then beckoned us forward. There was a large hole in the floor covered in spider webs. This seemed like a 3-way junction with a hole in centre that must have been a trap that had been triggered and then covered in webs. It looked like it would be tricky to cross. The hole was roughly circular and maybe 10 feet across. Trader pointed across and off to the right of the 3-way junction.

Amphius hammered a spike on one side of the hole. Trader just quickly leapt across. Amphius roped himself up and I held the rope and braced myself as he leapt across. The Greek made it safely across and banged in another spike on the far side. Trader scuttled off into the darkness into a 10-feet wide, low, passage. I tied the rope on the first spike and Si'aspiqo managed to get across using the rope. Toxoanassa took a run and did a crouching jump across, landing acrobatically on the far side. I threw my shield and torch across to the far side and, and carefully using the rope, I made it safely to the other side. Agripinus then tried to throw his shield but it didn’t make it and tumbled back into the pit maybe fifteen feet below taking the web with it. He sheathed his weapon and again crossed using the rope. Serif took a running jump with the shield in one hand and the other hand free. He slipped on the far side, but Amphius managed to grasp his free hand and haul him in.

Amphius then climbed down the rope into the pit and collected the shield. A couple of spiders leapt on him and one bit him, but he was able to squash them both and then, after a quick look round which revealed nothing back off, he climbed back up.

Looking behind us Agripinus could see the spiders were filling the passage, but were keeping back avoiding the light of Tanit.

Serif’s torch went out, soon followed by my own and Si'aspiqo lit us each another. We could see a large cavern off to the left, which then narrowed to the right into an exit where Trader led us. About 40 or 50 feet off to left we could see a large humanoid form. It looked like a male, life-sized statue with the arms outstretched as though invoking something.

We headed down the passage and then Trader said here. We could see an old style, large door blocking the passage way about 30 or 40 feet ahead. Trader knocks in a pattern – 3 knocks, followed by 4 then 2 and finally another 2. After a minute or two the door opened slightly and he muttered something and we were allowed in.

The door opened into a natural cavern about 40 feet wide. The door closed behind us and beyond was darkness other than the glow from a few scattered luminescent plants. We could see the cavern was at least 60 or 70 feet long but could easily have been twice that. Agripinus closed his hand to lessen the light of Tanit which appeared blinding to the darklings.

There were a number of darklings here and Trader gabbled away to them. The battered form of a bigger darkling came to the front – the Charge Hand. I started to feel woozy, light headed and somewhat sick and my two wounds hurt. I was both shivering and sweating and my heart was racing. For the moment at least Amphius seemed less affected. Agripinus, realising that there was no time to lose, started treating me immediately.

Serif removed my armour. I had a small inflamed wound on my thigh from one of the smaller spiders but a much larger and more serious wound just below my right shoulder from the large spider, where the venom stained my flesh deeply. Agripinus opened the wounds and washed them out with holy water encouraging the bleeding and then packed the wounds with dried moss and bound them before finishing with a cure-light-wounds ritual to help against shock. The crisis passed quickly and I felt better if exhausted.

Agripinus was relieved:
  “By the grace of Tanit, I was just in time – soon the venom would have reached your heart and things might have gone much worse…”, he said.

Si'aspiqo spoke to Charge Hand for a while in Egyptian and then reported back. He said that the spiders had come from a fissure on this level where the Shedu used to make offerings, the Darklings had tried to continue this, but it didn’t seem to work. The door was closed and barred and any gaps had been stuffed with rags. There was another entrance via a tunnel, but this had been filled with rubble. There was drinking water. The deer meat had been split up and distributed raw to the darklings. Si'aspiqo noticed that some of the darklings had tools and weapons typical of lower Egypt when he was a youngster.

He had examined the mud-plastered wall on one side of the cave and there were three panels of painted script that looked like a teaching progression, and Charge Hand confirmed that it had been made by the Shedu to teach the darklings. Si'aspiqo was then taken further in, where he saw a large frame of heavy wood made as an A frame supporting a bar, the other end of which was wedged into the cave wall. On examination he concluded that it was a roosting place for the Shedu. The scribe also noticed another inscription of unusual and complex construction. Nearby was the Shedu’s workplace with crude tables, shelves and flint tools along with a silver mirror. Surprisingly there was no tingle of magic from the mirror but there was from a nearby green stone.

Charge Hand had asked Si'aspiqo if he could banish the spiders and the scribe was forced to admit that it was beyond his direct power, but that as a group we took the spiders to be as much our enemies as they were his.

Agripinus wondered whether the Darklings might indeed be partly Human…? His medical knowledge seemed to confirm this and by the grace of Tanit, he could heal them. They certainly could not be entirely evil.

The cave was about 100 to 150 feet long and 30 or 40 feet wide, with a lobe off to the right. Charge Hand told us that there was a level above this level, as we knew, but also that there was a passage below with a fissure, and he didn’t know where that went. There was a way outside on this level, a magic gate and once it had been opened it couldn’t be opened again for some time. He told us that he had three hands of darklings here but that there might be others hiding elsewhere.

Ampius turned off the dark lantern off, just leaving the glow from the plants and myself and the scribe took the opportunity to rest and recuperate. Agripinus offered to heal darklings and one came seeking his aid. He had a bronze helmet, archaic, and crudely Greek in style, which had once had a horsehair crest. He had a couple of small spider bites. His wound had been crudely bound in straw, and smeared with what looked like mud. The priest cleaned it out, washed it and put on a clean bandage. No more darklings came along for his aid.

After resting, we prepared to leave to go to the upper level. We were told that the third option on the left would be the fissure to the spiders and the fourth option on the left would be a more direct way to the stairs up, but it did go close to where the spiders had come form. We thought about how to make the access past the pit easier. Charge Hand was persuaded that he should dismantle the roost so that the cross-beam could be used. He organised some of the darklings and they soon returned carrying the heavy cross-beam. Si'aspiqo checked the auspices and seeing no omens to the contrary we were ready to depart.

Trader removed the caulking around the door and opened and opened then closed it again, checking around the door for any signs of spiders. This was repeated a couple of times and then he slipped out to investigate. He returned to report that all was clear and we set out.

Trader led the way followed by Amphius and Toxoanassa then Si'aspiqo and myself, followed by Serif and Agripinus and then a group of darklings carrying the beam. As the passage widened the darklings hurried past us with the beam, as we struggled in the gloom, and then placed it over the pit.

Amphius lit a dark lantern and by its light we could see the statue on a dais off towards the back of the 60 feet chamber. On closer inspection Agripinus could see Melcart inscribed in Punic – the God of the Dead. Tanit, Baal and Melcart were the three chief deities in Carthage. The statue looked Carthaginian, well-carved and contemporary. The chamber was rough hewn with a few niches that might serve as seats. Charge Hand wished us luck and the darklings scuttled back to their cave and closed the door behind them.

The scribe lit a torch and we headed down the tunnel on the right and reached the pit with the wooden cross-beam across it, down the right-hand side. We all crossed safely and headed along the tunnel past on option on the right and then the first option on the left and into a small rough cavern. We then headed into a wider cavern with a second option on the left. We continued another 40 feet, to where the tunnel narrowed and then into an irregular shaped cavern 40 to 50 feet long 20 and 30 feet wide.

The archers spotted a spider and Toxoanassa shot and killed it. There was a five feet wide fissure ahead, which then opened into a regular cavern which turned almost back on itself after about 70 feet, but then narrowed into a tunnel. After about 50 feet there was a no option right turn and then after 60 feet it turned sharply to the right with a small passage on the left with webs inside it. It was about five or six feet wide and maybe six feet high. This had to be the spider fissure, so we made a note and moved on.

After another 80 feet the passage opened into a large cavern 50 or 60 feet deep which appeared empty. There was an opening on the left into a passage six or seven feet wide, which we took. After about 40 feet it emerged into an irregular shaped room with a smoothed wall on the left and ahead but rough hewn to the right.

A couple of spiders appear from behind Agripinus and attacked him. He tried to beat them away with his fists but was wounded. Serif killed one of the spiders and Agripinus the other.

We headed ahead to the familiar chamber which had piles of mining equipment on the floor and then climbed the stairs on the far side to the upper level. We then made our way to the pool room and I took a drink from the healing pink pool. I drank about half a pint and immediately felt refreshed and less woozy, recovering a couple of hit points.

Si'aspiqo wheezes:

044: A Map Key

…work in progress…

The entrance corridor is assumed to run South to North.


001
“a 20-foot square chamber stacked with wooden furniture. In the corner was a table with sawdust and wood chips underneath and a couple of saws. Some of the tables were of good quality hardwood, but the rest was poorer quality.”

002
Stairs down.

003
“a fifty feet wide chamber, about 12 feet deep, wider to the right than the left. In the right-hand corner was an alcove”

004
Missing: one of the 005s is misnumbered perhaps…?

80
“a wide passage headed off at 45 degrees to the passage we had just left. It was about 20 feet wide and looked like a processional way. As we opened the door a wind seemed to get up, and increased as we closed the door behind us”

Bottle Room
“a 20 feet wide corridor. There was a passage immediately on the right [east], but we realised this headed back towards the crossroads as we could see the glow of our fire. After about 30 feet the corridor narrowed and immediately before that…” a concealed door in the wall on the left or West

Bottle Room: concealed store
“a roughly triangular room with the [secret] door in the base … filled with building supplies: beams, 6 wooden doors, door fittings, mortar, nails, heavy rope, masonry blocks and two pots of pitch” (Si': pitch has been used for torches. Is the rope still there?)

Carving
“a large chamber — 20 feet deep and maybe 60 feet wide. The far wall had minor relief carvings and colourings, which seemed to tell a story. There was also some broken up wooden fixtures. In the far corner was some remaining furniture – a bed, and a desk or similar, which had been overturned. There was a door on either side of where we had entered the room.”
… “The frieze showed a bald, shaven headed priest, who looked slightly Egyptian, maybe Persian. He was on a hilltop with three peaks, similar to where we were. There was a battle scene with the enemy fleeing. The shaven headed figure was a priest or wizard casting a curse or power over the barbarians, and creatures of the night.” … “Si'aspiqo suspected there was night demon or ailu depicted. There was worn cuneiform around the border.”
— room off: a corridor trap. Illusion gold, dropping prison bars.
— room off: a 20'x20' walk-in closet or dressing room?

Chamber
a large square room with a table in the centre … wooden cabinets on the north wall with lots of earthenware jars, from which emanated a complex mix of musty odours. Arcana were scratched on the walls and floor amidst the thick layer of dust … There were more wooden tables, but the central table was a smooth piece of black slate.

Ro-gan Gym
“a room 20 feet across, and about 50 feet wide, 10 feet to left 40 to right. There was a door straight ahead in the opposite wall. The far wall was set up with targets, and there were empty hoppers for javelins or arrows. There were iron bars on a rack on another wall of different diameters. In one corner there was a metal fitting in the roof with a rope hanging down to the floor, and there was a rack with some dummy weapons, blunt and extra heavy”

Statue
(This is an ante-room – the statue is in the connected room?)
“…disordered furniture … about 20 feet wide and 40 feet long … exit on the right-hand side and a fireplace in the far left-hand corner, with two carved wooden chairs at the far end. They were each carved from a single piece of good quality wood. The other furniture was more mundane. There seemed to be carving in the walls and the decorations looked a little Persian to Si'aspiqo. The exit was a passage, which led to a door”

Statue (connected)
“…a stone statue of a beautiful naked woman. The room was 20 feet wide and 30 to 40 feet wide with a bench seat around three of the four walls. Amphius thought the statue looked like the Greek goddess Aphrodite”

Statue (opposite)
“a narrow room 10 to 12 feet wide and 50 to 60 feet long. There were shards of wood on the floor, maybe smashed up furniture that had been used as firewood, as there were two firepits towards the end on the right, with chimneys. After the firepits the room opened out on the right and there was a door”

Torture
“chained to the wall … a skeleton … very large … with the bones held together by wire. There were wooden tables and a heavy stone table in the centre of the room. … The room was about 30 feet deep by 40 or 50 feet across. There was an empty fire pit in the middle with ancient ashes. In one corner were two large wooden barrels, and a stone block next to them on which were perched a few ceramic containers and some glass. There was also an upright plain wooden sarcophagus. On one wall was a large mechanism, which appeared to be designed to stretch people.”

Chambe[r, Wizard’s]
Workroom / store of flasks of ingredients and ritual requisites.

To do:

  • 005 (North)
  • 005 (South)
  • 006
  • Armoury
  • Baal
  • Bedroom
  • Beds Chests Tables (Barracks)
  • ChalkDiagram
  • CloakRoom
  • CoalDust
  • Forge (007)
  • Mushrooms
  • OfficerArmoury
  • PoolRoom
  • RedRoom
  • StashHide
  • Store Middle
  • Store North / Darkling
  • Store South
  • ThroneRoom
  • Tools
  • Well

From Sammus’s Boast:

045: A21 Spiders II

Si'aspiqo filled a flask with water from the pink pool. He only had 6 torches left, so we decided to go back to camp to get more torches. We left the pool room and Amphius locked the door behind us. We left the luminescent plants in the corridor as usual and headed to the outside. We emerged into darkness, but off to the east was the glow of pre-dawn. We waited for it to brighten a little and then headed back to the camp arriving a little before dawn. The campsite seemed undisturbed. Agripinus invoked a couple of cure light wound miracles on me and I felt much better – one of the spider bites had disappeared completely and the other was much improved. Myself and some of my comrades slept, while Serif prepared some mint tea.

I felt almost recovered after my sleep and some mint tea. Serif made some marks in the sand around our fire and then we headed back up the mountain. It was now just before noon and approaching 20 degrees.

We entered the tunnel and headed towards the throne room and then on to the room with the stairs to the lower level. The door to the room had been wedged shut by Amphius, but as he bent to remove the wedges, he was attacked by three spiders. Si'aspiqo tried to help him, waving a torch at them ineffectually, but Amphius was bitten on the left arm. Amphius managed to squash that one and I stamped on another, before Amphius squashed the last one. We retreated to the cloakroom nearby and Agripinus looked at the wound. He washed it out and bandaged it and Amphius was able to fight off the poison.

We diverted to the pool rom and Amphius took a drink from the pink pool and immediately felt better. He filled his flask and stoppered it up and then, after locking the door to the pool room, we returned to the wedged door. Amphius looked around by the light of a torch, but saw nothing and so removed the wedges and the party headed through the door. A spider scuttled around Toxoanassa’s feet as the rest of the party headed towards the stairs in the alcove and she stamped on it.

We headed down the stairs into the room full of rubble and mining equipment and then on to the partly irregular chamber. From there we entered a tunnel and headed along for about 30 or 40 feet long a cavern. We emerged from the cavern into another tunnel which turned around 180 degrees. The tunnel continued on to where there was an option on the right with webs around it. This was where we believed the spiders had originated.

I led the way in in followed by Amphius, Serif, Si'aspiqo, Toxoanassa and Agripinus. Amphius and I burned the webs on either side as we made our way forward, some of the webs were difficult to burn. We were about 40 feet into the tunnel when clearing the web revealed marks on the floor and a carved piece of bone. We moved slightly further on so that Si'aspiqo could look at the marks and the bone.

At this point the rock on the left pinched in to make a narrow point. There was a niche in the side where the carved bone or ivory lay and there were red, black and ocher marks or scripts stretching up to and across the ceiling and down the wall. Si'aspiqo looked at the carving - it was in the form of a horrible beast with the head of an ugly lion with maybe snakes or tentacles in the mane and was about the size of my fist. The bone was thick, maybe from a thigh or pelvis.

Si'aspiqo thought the script was cuneiform and from Assyria or thereabouts. There were also some twists of dried meat and crisped, dried leaves or flowers around the idol. Maybe this was what had been left by the darklings as an offering. About 20 feet on, the tunnel opened into a larger cavern and there were still more webs. I got my shield caught on a web but managed to burn it free.

It was a chamber about 20 feet wide and it started to drop in crude natural steps. I got caught in more web but managed to burn through it again. The centre of the cavern seems to drop quite steeply, maybe into a fissure. Amphius and I continued to burn the web away on either side.

Suddenly a huge spider appeared from the fissure and attacked me. At the same moment Amphius was caught around the foot by a web. The spider was much bigger than the large ones we had met before. Agripinus cast arcane weapon and Toxoanassa shot at the spider, but missed and the arrow bounced off my armour. I was buffeted up against the wall by the spider, as its fangs scraped along my shield, but I managed to keep it off. I dropped my torch and drew my magic sword. My torch tumbled down the fissure which looked quite deep. Toxoanassa fired again and missed both the spider and myself. Amphius managed to free himself from the web.

Si'aspiqo cast a spell which flared the torches to blaze brightly and then started to prepare another spell. Agripinus scraped against the carapace of the spider with his arcane weapon, while I hit it hard, lopping off a clawed leg, and the spider hissed. I fended off its fangs again with my shield, but it pushed me even closer to the wall. Si'aspiqo cast protection from evil on me. Toxoanassa and Amphius shot their bows and this time, both hitting the spider, Amphius with a fire arrow. Agripinus missed with the arcane weapon. but I hit it very hard again, just below its glittery eye and it twitched like mad and was knocked back and disappeared into the fissure. My sword dripped with ichor. Amphius and Si'aspiqo ground out their brightly burning torches while Serif peered down into the fissure before putting out his own, once the scribe had lit another.

It looked a steep descent with lots more web. My torch was down there burning near the twitching body of the spider at least 40 feet down. Agripinus’ spell was still running so he thrust the arcane weapon into the twitching corpse of the spider to ensure it was dead. There were deep scores in my shield and it was wet with the ichor and venom of the spider, so I washed off both my shield and sword and we pondered our next step.

046. Kaskator Maps

Map of Kaskator Level 1, 2nd Expedition, update
Kaskator

Level 1. Updated by the Second Expedition.
Recorded by Sammus the Strong and Agripinus Tanits Priest.

047. Kaskator Maps — Level 2

Chart of Kaskator Level 2, 2nd Expedition, working
Kaskator – Level 2

Working diagram of connections.
Recorded by Sammus the Strong and compiled by Si'aspiqo the Scribe

048. Kaskator Maps — Level 2 – Agripinus

agripinus-lvl2-01
Kaskator – Level 2

Figurative sketch.
Recorded by Sammus the Strong and drawn by Agripinus Tanit’s Priest

From Sammus’s Boast:

049: A22 Spiders III

Serif reminded Agripinus that he would need to be back at the campsite by the end of the day to meet the Numidians, who might have already arrived by now. We all agreed to return together to the kraal, but would call in on the Darklings before leaving Kaskator to let them know the progress we had made.

After a final look down the fissure where the body of the large spider could be seen by the flickering light of my torch some 30 feet down, we headed out of the cave. As we left out Si'aspiqo anointed the of the carved icon with some of the liquid from the pink pool and said a few words. Serif took the huge spider leg with him. We headed back to the large cavern and turned right, back the way we had come and headed back to the pit with the beam across it.

We all safely crossed the beam and to the left and into a large chamber where we could make out the statue off to our left in the light cast by our torches. We took the tunnel off to the left, which led to the solid door behind which the Darklings were sheltering. After a couple of attempted knocks by Amphius, I reminded him of the pattern – 3, 4, 2, 2 – and there was a scrabble from the other side and a Darkling opened the door.

Si'aspiqo told them that we had killed a very large spider and a few smaller ones and Serif showed them the leg. Charge Hand was very pleased to hear that we had killed the huge spider and promised that they would do some scouting. He bowed slightly to the scribe who acknowledged his bow.

We headed straight back out to the pit and this time, using the rope Amphius had left in place, we crossed the other side of the pit and headed left. We soon reached the large cavern with the bodies of some Darklings and started heading around the cavern following the right hand wall.

A small spider dropped down on Amphius, but glanced off and Amphius stabbed at it and missed. The spider scuttled past him and Toxoanassa stamped on it. Si'aspiqo cast a spell to flare the torches to burn more brightly. Amphius had to relight his lantern to conserve the oil. Serif and I could see movement of small spiders around.

A spider leapt at me, but I cut it through with my shortsword. Another landed close to Si'aspiqo, but he sidestepped it. Another managed to bite me, but I killed it and shrugged off the impact of the poison. e. Amphius was bitten by another, he also seemed to shrug off the bite and as the spider fell to the floor, I crushed it into the ground.

We came to the second exit and headed into the passage. Which narrowed to a constriction point and Amphius said that he could see the glittering of eyes ahead. Agripinus cast the light of Tanit and we could see dozens of spiders ahead. The priest gave Amphius a ceramic pot of holy water and the Greek threw it at a group of spiders. The pot smashed and a pool of water spread around, which the spiders avoided. There were maybe three dozen spiders.

We pushed on and it became clear that by playing the light of Tanit around the walls and shining the light into cracks, Agripinus could force the spiders to keep retreating ahead of us. We kept to the right in the next cavern, with Agripinus forcing the spiders to stay over to the left and then the spiders were behind us as we headed out of the cave into the passage ahead, with Agripinus bringing up the rear. Amphius was surprised by a spider dropping from the ceiling but again it missed him. and he squashes it beneath his foot. We all headed into the room which was part regular wall and part rough and could see the large room with the mining supplies ahead. As we went into the next room, Agripinus cast a protection from evil spell to create a barrier between the two rooms.

Amphius led the way up the stairs and I could see that something had been spinning a web here. Si'aspiqo cast a protection from evil on the Greek with the last of his power and he and I started burning the web away to either side as we climbed the stairs.

Something scuttled past Amphius and I, and Toxoanassa spotted some movement in the web. She squashed the spider that had passed and I crushed another. Amphius saw something in the web and stabbed it and we finished burning the last of the web and made it to the upper level.

The room here seemed to be empty and Amphius opened the door onto a deserted corridor. We made our way along the passages to the outside without being further disturbed.

Outside it seemed blindingly bright. It was hot, but there was a nice breeze and some cloud. There was some moisture in the air but Si'aspiqo told us there would be no serious rain until that night. We headed down towards the kraal and as we reached the woods were met by a couple of Numidian scouts. We heard that they had been here a couple of hours, having arrived soon after noon.

Serif told them what had been happening here and I could pick out Shedu and repeatedly the Numidian word for spider. Serif told us that the news from Teveste was that Carthaginians had arrived there accompanied by some foreigners. They had asked questions about Kaskator. They had not impressed the Elders and had been sent off to the West. Anyway it sounded like word had got out and people were looking for Kaskator.

We discussed our options. Whether we should all return to Teveste, send back the Numidians apart from Serif to return in a week or two, or have them wait for a few days for us to investigate further. After a couple of days the Numidians would have to hunt to replenish supplies. Another option was to send three back to Teveste with a message and keep the remaining four to hunt here and look after the horses while we along with Serif continued our task to deal with the spiders.

050. Kaskator Maps — Level 2

siaspiqo-lvl2-02
Kaskator – Level 2

Working diagram of connections.
Recorded by Sammus the Strong and compiled by Si'aspiqo the Scribe

From Sammus’s Boast:

051: A23 Spiders IV

After discussion with the Numidians, it was agreed that some should stay and help, whilst others would go and fetch more supplies. Serif suggested a payment of one gold piece for each of the younger men staying to hunt and guard the camp, and two gold pieces for each of the older men who would go back to Teveste and return with 10 gold pieces worth of provisions and horse fodder. All agreed to do as he asked, and he promised the young men an extra reward if they saw the group of Carthaginians and Greeks and led them away.

We ate a meal while the Numidians prepared for their journey the next morning. The giant spider’s leg was wrapped to go with them as proof of out news. It was now raining. Late in the evening, we made our way carefully up the hill led by Amphius using his lamp and the light of one torch.

We headed along the passageway into the mountain. Amphius opened the secret door in the second alcove on the right and we made our way along the corridor and turned off through the door into the passages that led to the pool room. I was bitten in the leg by one of the small spiders. I squashed it, but failed to shrug off the effects of the poison. Si'aspiqo picked up the glowing blue pot plants and we headed on towards the pool room. Amphius tried to open the door and got his key caught in the lock.

Agripinus looked at my wound, which was at the back of my calf. He managed to clean the wound and I began to recover. Eventually Amphius opened the door and we all went in. I made straight for the pink pool and after saying a short prayer, I took a draught from the pool. I coughed and spluttered somewhat, but did feel a little better.

We set up to spend the night fairly close to the entrance, where there was a little space away from the pools. Serif took my own watch as well as my own and the night passed quietly. Agripinus suddenly realised it was dawn and said his prayers. He cast cure light wounds on me and I was now recovered from my wounds. Si'aspiqo had had similar dreams that night, to those he had already had and learnt nothing new.

We left the pool room and again Amphius jammed the key in the lock and took quarter of an hour to unjam the key. He then managed to lock it behind us. As usual we left the blue potted plants behind us in the corridor.

We made our way to the room with the stairs down to the next level. Amphius opened door and spotted the scuttling of a few small spiders within. He killed one, but was bitten on the arm and could feel the poison spreading. The same spider then bit me on the left forearm and I also failed to shrug off the poison. Si'aspiqo cast a protection from evil on me. Another spider jumped on me, but leapt off immediately thanks to the protection. Amphius killed a couple of the spiders but was bitten once more, this time on the leg. He could feel the effects of the poison from both wounds now. I killed the last spider.

We went into the room and closed the door behind us. Amphius drank the potion he had previously collected from pink pool and then Agripinus cleaned out his wounds. One of his wounds recovered but the wound in the leg was a serious wound and he was suffering from the poison. I had to clean my wound as best I could, but I had a serious wound in my shield arm and I too was suffering from the impact of the poison.

We head back to the pool room. As we turned into the corridor where we had left the plants, Serif in rearguard the rearguard was bitten by a spider. He managed to shrug off the poison and stamped and squashed the spider. He thought there might be more, so he hurriedly shut the door behind him and Si'aspiqo picked up the plants then used the special key to open the door into the pool room.

As the door closed behind us both Amphius and I were grey, shivering and sweating. Si'aspiqo drew some potions. The Greek and I stayed well away from the pools. I drank about half the potion and gained a little benefit, but could drink no more. Amphius couldn’t drink any of his potion and just choked and felt no better. It seemed that only one dose could be taken in a day or two. Agripinus cast cure light wounds on both of us and I felt better and my wound was less swollen, but Amphius showed little improvement.

We decided to head back to the Kraal. Serif led the way immediately followed by Toxoanassa with the priest as rearguard. Amphius and I hobbled along as best we could accompanied by Si'aspiqo in the middle of the party. Si'aspiqo locked the door behind us and left the potted plants in the dog-legged corridor. Serif, Si'aspiqo and Agripinus held torches at the ready as we waited behind the door into the next corridor, where we thought there might be spiders awaiting. Si'aspiqo cast a spell and the torches burned more brightly and Serif opened the door.

The torches lit the corridor brightly and Serif could see a spider ahead. He missed with his torch and was bitten again, but shrugged off any poison. Toxoanassa stamped on the spider and we headed on. Serif went ahead rapidly waving his torch. He went into the alcove ahead and tried to open secret door. He was unsuccessful and so was Amphius in his weakened state, but he managed to point out the mechanism to Serif, who then managed to open it and we headed along the corridor to the left towards the daylight.

It took Amphius and I a long time to hobble down the hill, while Si'aspiqo was hardly even out of breath. Seemed a long way back to the kraal. No-one was there as some of the Numidians had left for Teveste and the rest were out hunting. It was now a little before noon on a dry day, but it looked like it would rain later. Amphius and I lay down to rest and Si'aspiqo brewed some restorative tea, while Serif prepared some mint tea. Then apart from the Greek and I, everyone shared guard duties with the making of torches.

From Sammus’s Boast:

052: A24 Sweeping the Spiders

Amphius and I rested during the day, both of us feeling the painful effects of the spider venom. Amphius especially suffered several bouts of shivering and vertigo, despite regular brews of hot mint tea by Serif and a herbal mixture made up by Si'aspiqo.

Meantime Toxoanassa, Agripinus and Si'aspiqo spent the afternoon assembling a dozen more torches from their available supplies, which were now fairly depleted. All through that overcast afternoon, Serif pottered about the hut, preparing the evening meal whilst watching over the wounded.

Just before dusk, the three Numidian lads returned to the camp, looking damp and somewhat weary. They had ridden all day, but had seen no-one else in the empty hills. Game was scarce. The gazelles were too canny, and all they had to show for their effort was one hyrax or rock rabbit, which Serif said would at least flavour tomorrow’s porridge. After settling and feeding their ponies, they dried out in front of the fire and ate their meal quietly, stealing occasional looks at the Amazon. Their given names were Idir, Ziri and Amastan.

The night was very dark, with a restless westerly wind. Many rustles and strange sounds were heard in the night; the ponies were restless, but nothing crossed the threshold or could be seen by those on watch. All except Si'aspiqo slept fitfully, and woke at times listening for noises they thought they had heard whilst half asleep. The sorcerer slept soundly, without coughing or struggling for breath; at times he muttered in some strange tongue, but to whom he spoke, none could tell.

At last, a grey glow illuminated the eastern horizon, and dawn approached. The last watch drew to a close, and the priest prepared to greet the dawn with his prayers.

Both Amphius and I were feeling better, but our wounds still remained. Amphius was far from his normal vigorous self.

Si'aspiqo made a device from spider parts, which he told us he could use to tell whether there were spiders behind a door, or hidden nearby.

Agripinus cast his cure light wounds miracle first on Amphius, whose wound improves and then on me and I felt completely recovered. The three hunters headed out again after breakfast on their ponies. The rest of us start to make brooms to deal with the spiders. It was still raining. We managed to make three brooms between us. Taking the hyrax from yesterday’s hunting, we headed up the hill aiming to return to the Darklings’ cave.

We arrived at the entrance to Kaskator around mid morning. Si'aspiqo used his new device to check for spiders at the entrance and announced there were none nearby. He found that if he walked forward slowly he could scan ahead. We headed towards the throne room then turned right and stopped at the door into the room with stairs down. At this point Si'aspiqo suspected there were spiders on the stairs.

Amphius opened the door and we were not attacked by spiders so the device did seem to be working. There were traces of web on the stairs, but no sign of any fresh. I led the way down the stairs and Si'aspiqo lit my torch with a cantrip and I used it to burn the remaining webs assisted by Amphius who followed me down. As we turned onto the second flight, the Greek spotted something scuttling ahead down the steps. Another appeared at the bottom of the steps. I killed the first and the second moved close to Amphius, who waved his broom ineffectively at it. I missed the second one and my magic sword whistled close by my companion, but the Greek killed it with his broom.

Si'aspiqo concentrated and searched out the room using his device and told us there were two more in a corner to the left of the room. I found and killed one of them, but in concentrating on this one, the magician lost focus and was surprised when the remaining spider scuttled close to him. Si'aspiqo and Agripinus missed it, but Serif killed it with his torch before it could bite the scribe. I extinguished my torch.

Si'aspiqo rescanned the room and declared it to be empty of the arachnids. We moved on to the next chamber, which was partly regular and where there was a door on the left at the end of the regular wall. It was a modern door with a latch on this side. Amphius opened it and his torch revealed a corridor stretching off ahead into the gloom.

He closed the door again and instead we headed into the passage on the right which seemed to be empty of spiders. It led into a large natural cavern. We had a quick look around cave and finding nothing headed down the only exit, to the right.

After a very sharp bend to the right the passage continued almost back in the direction it had started and we reached a small rough cave with a passage off to the right to where we had fought the huge spider. Si'aspiqo could sense spiders ahead somewhere. Si'aspiqo relit my torch and cast protection from evil upon me. He made the torches burn brightly, but Serif had extinguished but then relit his.

I led the way in and we could see the cuneiform carvings on the wall and the carved idol in the niche all well illuminated by the enhanced torches. I could see clearly down the cleft from which the giant spider had emerged. There were around six of the smaller spiders here. I killed one, but Agripinus, who had moved up to fight alongside me missed the one approaching him and was bitten, fortunately he shrugged off the poison. I killed another, but a couple got passed, but Toxoanassa and Amphius used their brooms to despatch them both. I and Agripinus killed another two and there seemed to be no more.

The cleft was in the centre of the cavern but beyond it the cavern turned round to the right. Amphius and I looked down into the cleft using the bright torches. We could see the body of the spider still lying down there. We extinguished and relit torches to save from burning them too quickly and then, while I guarded the cleft, Agripinus and Amphius checked out the back of the cave. The priest cast the light of Tanit to give a better light.

Amphius used a torch to burn off some webs, but there were no exits or secret doors. Si'aspiqo could sense 100s of spiders or maybe even more but they were not moving. They were down below through the fissure. He didn’t think they would be disturbed except by summoning.

The scribe spent an hour or more investigating and recording the cuneiform and carvings, while Serif kept watch on the fissure. The magician used the light of Tanit cast by the priest to take observe and take notes. He also took a good look at the idol. By the end of this time he thought he had a reasonable summary of the carvings. He thought that there were ancient cuneiform carvings in the rock and then much more recent markings in ochre. The carvings had been remarked and extra artistic doodles added. At this point he hadn’t completed the more recent additions.

Agripinus noticed that the ugly looking idol looked like a fantastic beast from the East, maybe Persian. Si'aspiqo thought that it had an Assyrian look. The scribe left a small offering as we left.

We head back into the small rough chamber and turned right. We then reached another cavern and Si'aspiqo pointed out where a spider was lurking. Toxoanassa and Amphius spotted the spider in a crack and leapt forward and Toxoanassa crushed it with her broom. Si'aspiqo’s warnings were really making a great difference.

We headed on and into another wider cave. Si'aspiqo deemed it clear so we carried straight on and into an irregular cave. Again he sensed no arachnids around. We ignored a junction with an option on the right and carried on. There was a further tunnel on the right and then an option on left but we ignored them both and reached the pit. We all crossed the beam on the left and reached a wider chamber with the statue of Melcart. Si'aspiqo check for spiders and found none around. He bowed to the statue of Melcart as we left. We reached the door to the Darklings and knocked in the 3 4 2 2 pattern. After 20 or 30 seconds the door was opened and there was a low blue glow from within. One of the darklings went to fetch Charge Hand and we were admitted.

Charge Hand arrived with a small group of his comrades. They seemed a little less bedraggled than before. Si'aspiqo greeted them and handed over the hyrax. Agripinus asked them to wait and performed a ritual to quadruple the amount of rations. He carved the meat off the bones of the hyrax and when he had finished there seemed to be four times the amount than would have been expected. The darklings were impressed.

Charge Hand told us that they said had scouted and killed spiders. These were wandering but no longer seemed to be commanded. Si'aspiqo told him that there were many below. He thought that with extended studies of their Father’s work he might understand what needed to be done. Charge Hand agreed that he could look and make light in that area and they would keep away. The rest of us left the scribe to investigate and made camp near the door.

From Sammus’s Boast:

053: A25 Spiders VI

Si'aspiqo did some investigation of the area the Shedu had used while the rest of us rested, but found nothing of immediate use. He explained the brooms that some of us were using as weapons against the spiders and the darklings were keen to try this for themselves. He handed over a broom to be used as a prototype and Charge Hand told the scribe that he would send some of the darklings out at night to gather material to use to make their own.

When Si'aspiqo had finished his initial investigations, we gathered at the door and the magician used his device to check for spiders on the other side. He reported there were none and some of the darklings slipped quietly out and confirmed this. We headed out through the door and as the door closed behind us, Amphius and Serif both lit torches and we headed on.

We crossed the pit via the beam with no problems and headed past an option on the right and two options on the left and headed into a larger cavern where Si'aspiqo sensed there were one or two spiders. I lit a torch and Amphius and I moved forward cautiously. One suddenly dropped on me but failed to bite me and Amphius missed it with his broom, but I quickly killed it. Another spider simultaneously scuttled past us, close to the scribe, who lit a torch with a cantrip. The spider missed him and Si'aspiqo waved his torch at the spider. Toxoanassa and I missed and it dodged past the Scythian, but was stamped on by Agripinus. Si'aspiqo determined there were no more arachnids in the cave and the scribe and I extinguished our torches.

We headed along the passages past a series of bends until we reached an option on the left which led to the entrance to the cave with the fissure. I lit my torch again and led the way in alongside Amphius, as Si'aspiqo warned us that there was a spider ahead. Agripinus tried to cast light of Tanit, but he misspoke the incantation. A spider hopped at Si'aspiqo but missed. Agripinus tried again and cast the light of Tanit and Toxoanassa spotted the spider but it evaded her. It was stamped on by Serif and I extinguished my torch.

Si'aspiqo studied the cuneiform and the carved idol until the light of Tanit faded. The other it torches also expired and we were left with just two slightly burnt torches, so we headed to the mining room, which we reached without incident.

Here the scribe again warned us that there were spiders. He concentrated, let us know that there was just one and directed Amphius and I towards it. Amphius spotted a flicker of movement and killed it with his broom. We then reached the stairs and arrived safely on the first level.

We made our way towards the exit and as we reached the crossroads, Si'aspiqo sensed a spider a little ahead past the crossroads. We headed straight on and I killed it and we made for the exit. It was twilight outside on a cloudy evening – later than we had thought. The path down was slippery and dark, Amphius slipped but recovered and we arrived safely back to the campsite.

The Numidians were pleased to see us and pointed out the gazelle they had taken and had now hung up. Serif inspected the porridge and was disappointed to see that it wasn’t yet ready. Si'aspiqo asked Serif to tell them that there might be darklings about tonight and not to attack them. The hunters had taken their gazelle late in the day and also gathered some mushrooms and aromatic shoots. They had seen no sign of any other people.

Agripinus cast cure light wounds on Amphius who felt much better. The night passed uneventfully and soon after dawn the three young Numidians scouted around at dawn and pointed something out to Serif. There was a bare footprint, so probably a darkling had been about. Serif told the three Numidian youths to leave them undisturbed if they spotted any of them, as they might be bringing a message.

By morning Amphius was completely recovered from the bites. Si'aspiqo spent the morning looking over his notes and contemplating. The Numidians went hunting while the rest of us set up an assembly line. By lunchtime we had made 16 torches, and had the materials for another 12, apart from the pitch.

Si'aspiqo thought he now had a reasonable note of what he needed He had paid particular attention to the area around idol. To progress much further he really needed someone who understood cuneiform. He thought this was Babylonian or Assyrian cuneiform or even Sumer. He also had a ring he had taken from the Shedu’s paint alcove near where he had taught the darklings Greek. The magician could see cuneiform marks inside the ring, but they didn’t seem to match the characters at the entrance to the cave with the fissure.

He told us that near the paint alcove was a guide to cursing including 12 specific curses. It was like an accelerated teaching guide. If it was any other topic it would be worth a great deal of money from trading it to other magicians. However, given the topic it might not be suitable for that he felt. There were a variety of curses from plagues of boils and warts to shadow of misfortune, sickness, fevers and even, infertility. He would need to cast each curse at least once to fully understand it, but he thought the curses were not specific to humans and so he could practice on vermin.

The rest of the day was uneventful and it was quite late when the Numidians returned with great delight, despite one of their number being one wounded. They had taken a ferocious ground eagle. It had a vicious eagle beak, large clawed feet and long feathers. None had ever seen such a creature before, although Serif and the scouts had heard of them. Serif was very pleased with them.

One of the Numidians had a serious wound in the torso and his pony also had a scratch. Agripinus cleaned the wound, cast cure light wounds twice and then bandaged the wound. The youth professed to feel better and by evening was sat enjoying his supper. Si'aspiqo asked for a small feather to make a fetish to enable him to detect the presence of any other such creatures. They happily gave him three large feathers. He constructed something from them and declared there were no others nearby.

The first watch was just the two archers as the Numidian who had been wounded was asleep. They both heard quiet muttering in Egyptian – Amphius woke Si'aspiqo who woke everyone and invited Trader to approach under truce.

He reported that they were waiting our return. They were hungry he said and we promised to return with food the following day. He also told the scribe that they had made their new weapons and had been scouting. There were still small spiders around but no large ones he added. Si'aspiqo gave him a baked biscuit made from the remains of the porridge, and he headed off into the darkness. The rest of the night passed peacefully and just before dawn the priest rose and healed the wounded Numidian before performing his dawn ceremony.

054. Kaskator Maps — Level 2

siaspiqo-lvl2-03
Kaskator – Level 2

Working diagram of connections.
Recorded by Sammus the Strong, compiled and updated by Si'aspiqo the Scribe

055. Kaskator Maps — Level 2

siaspiqo-lvl2-04
Kaskator – Level 2

Working diagram of connections.
Recorded by Sammus the Strong, compiled and further updated by Si'aspiqo the Scribe

From Sammus’s Boast:

056: A26 Spiders, Bats and Earthblood

We discussed plans for dealing with the spiders, particularly any that might be down the fissure. We agreed that we wouldn’t want to go down the fissure without having dealt with any remaining spiders on the darklings level. We wondered whether it would possible to block the cave where the fissure was at the point where the idol was – it was quite narrow there. We decided to discuss with Charge Hand what assistance the darklings could provide.

The Numidians thanked Agripinus warmly for his help with the wounds and prepared to set off hunting for the day. After breakfast Si'aspiqo used his fetish to check for ground eagles and found none. We took the torches we had made and set off up the hill on a cool morning where breaks in the cloud promised a warmer, drying day.

The scribe checked for spiders as we entered the tunnel, but had no contacts. We made our way to the crossroads with a lit torch at the front and back and still Si'aspiqo found no trace of spiders. We turned right and headed towards the throne room and then on to the door into the room with the stairs down.

The magician sensed nothing on the other side of the door so Amphius opened it and we headed down the stairs into the room with piles of equipment on the floor. The magician searched again with his fetish and found a contact off to the right in a corridor. We turned right into the narrow corridor and Si'aspiqo told us there were at least two contacts. He and I lit our torches and we headed into a larger cave. Si'aspiqo told us there were two spiders off to the left and two further off to the right. Amphius and I headed to the left directed by Si'aspiqo. We both missed and a spider bit me and I could feel the poison start to take hold. Si'aspiqo burnt one of the spiders with his torch. The other two spiders attacked the other half of the party and Toxoanassa and Serif killed one each before Amphius finished off the last.

I had a bite behind the knee and Agripinus looked at the wound. He washed it out with holy water and bandaged it up and I managed to shrug off the poison.

The extra torches were extinguished and we pressed on. We entered another passage and rounded a very sharp bend. The scribe checked for spiders again at the junction with the spider cave but there were no contacts and we continued.

We entered a larger cave and ignored the option on the right. When we reached the pit, Si'aspiqo warned us there were spiders in it. the pit. Amphius looked in to the pit and a small spider scuttled out. Amphius and I both missed it and I was bitten, but shrugged off the poison. Amphius killed the spider with his broom. Si'aspiqo said there were two more and I lit my torch and the Greek and I checked the edge of the pit. Si'aspiqo said it was under the beam and Amphius missed with his torch. He ran across the beam pursued by the spider and missed again and it dropped into the pit. There were now two in the bottom of the pit.

Amphius threw his torch down the pit and tried to shoot with his bow. He saw one of the spiders in the flickering torchlight, but missed his shot. The magician confirmed there were still two spiders at the bottom of the pit. We left just one torch alight for the party and Si'aspiqo cast a spell to flare the torches more brightly. The fiercely burning torch in the pit made the spiders easier to spot and Amphius managed to kill them both.

I held a rope and Amphius descended, grabbed the torch, collected the arrows and climbed back up. The arrows would need to be repaired.

We made our way across the beam. Serif stumbled and slipped astride the beam, but recovered and crossed safely. Si'aspiqo checked the large cave beyond and declared it clear. He greeted Melcart and then headed to the door and I knocked in the expected fashion and the door was opened.

Amphius took the hindquarter of the gazelle and carved the meat in a ritual and as much as a whole gazelle seemed to have been carved. He gave it to Charge Hand, who bowed low and said he was very grateful for this mighty magic. The meat was taken off to the back of the cave, while Charge Hand remained with another couple of Darklings. Si'aspiqo told him we would have a rest and then meet to discuss after they had eaten. Si'aspiqo looked at the last of the tutorial panels, which the Shedim had carved to teach the darklings Egyptian. It was more complex writing and numbers, but he learnt nothing new.

Charge Hand returned. He told us that they had killed spiders with the brushes. The magician asked if Charge Hand knew how many were left. He thought and eventually used the Egyptian word for infinity, but said there were many less on this level. He told us that there were some in the cave of bats. Although there were many less, there were some in all the tunnels he said.

He explained that there were no other ways than the stairs to upper level, and the only other exits were down the fissure or the secret door. He warned that we might have to fight bats as well as spiders in cave of bats. We decide to investigate this cave and Trader was instructed to take us there.

As before darklings listened at the door and one scuttled out and then returned to say it was clear. We headed out led by Trader, with Amphius carrying a shuttered lantern turned low at the front of the party and Serif with a torch at the rear.

We headed back to the pit and Trader had already skipped across before we arrived. The rest of used the rope. I slipped but hauled myself back on the rope and made it across. Agripinus did the same, but everyone else crossed without incident.

We head on to a cave and through it into another passage ahead and to the left. We came to a large high cavern, and ahead I could hear Trader bashing at a spider. He dashed back shouting spider in Egyptian. Si'aspiqo lit two torches. Amphius saw the spider but missed with his first blow with the broom, but quickly finished it off and we extinguished the torches and Trader led the way again into a much larger cave. Si'aspiqo checked for spiders and had three contacts. We lit the torches again and Si'aspiqo concentrated on the contacts while Trader cowered away from the light.

Amphius and I headed to the left and Amphius killed the first one. The next bit me and the Greek before I managed to kill it, but we both shrugged off the poison. There were now two more contacts at the far end of the cave. The darkling bodies that had been here before seemed to have been cleared. We extinguished the extra torches and headed to where the cavern narrowed on the left and formed a passage, which we entered.

After 60 or 70 feet the passage curved around to the right and Trader crouched and pointed. We were on the edge of a darker space. Amphius noticed a musty smell and thought it might be bat guano. There was a slight gleam ahead, maybe from more phosphorescent plants?

Si'aspiqo sensed something ahead with his spider fetish, but it wasn’t close by. He then switched to a fetish for detecting bats, made form the remains of the bats the Shedim had summoned to attack us. He sensed at least two a long way above his head, but this probably only detected larger ones and there might be many smaller ones. There seemed to be some diffused daylight from above. The Greek closed his lantern and we started to adapt to the dark. I thought I heard some rustling from further in the cave.

Si'aspiqo asked Trader if there were other ways out but the darkling was non committal in his answer. Father used to come here, darklings did not, except under instruction he told us, but seemed reluctant to discuss the matter. Amphius was now sure daylight was coming in. The cave was maybe even bigger than the darkling cave and certainly higher. It looked natural rather than man made.

We return to the previous cave where we had encountered a few spiders. The magician checked for spiders and there was now one off to the right. We lit more torches and the magician directed Amphius and I to the spider and after a few fumbled blows Amphius killed it.

There was a niche on the other side of the cave, which Amphius spent some time investigating before deciding it was just a natural feature. Trader nudged Toxoanassa and then attacked a spider with his broom. The spider missed the Scythian and Trader squashed it with his broom. We followed the right-hand wall and came to a passage off to the right where the cavern narrowed and the scribe sensed contact ahead. Trader said it led to a cave so we headed along the passage and it opened out into a cave with phosphorescent blue illumination. Amphius spotted a spider and squashed it. The cave was maybe 50 feet to the left and right and 50 feet deep. It was quite brightly lit as there were a large number of luminescent fronds, particularly high up the walls.

As we entered there was an exit to the left and to the right. Trader points to the left and said – ends. He pointed to the right and said – back to the pit. We turned right along what looked like a mining drift, perhaps 20 feet wide. It went on for 40 feet and there was an opening in the left-hand wall or a little way ahead or a cave on the right.

We went into the cave on the right, which narrowed into a tunnel, and went past a door on the right, where we stopped. It was an old solid door. There was a keyhole and it was locked. The scribe asked Trader if darklings were allowed through there and he said – we no go there. Amphius tried to open the lock with the magical key. He fumbled a little until it clicked and it was very stiff. Si'aspiqo detected no spiders on the far side. Amphius oiled the lock and then after a little effort and oiling the hinges he managed to push open the door, which creaked loudly. There was a dark passage beyond.

Amphius and I led the party along the passage, which was semi finished, with a smoothed floor. After 20 feet it headed round to the left then after another 40 feet we arrived in a wider cavern. It looked like a natural cavern but there had been some work as it dropped down to the middle and there were humps of stone, that looked like they might be seats. There was a ledge four or five feet wide leading round the edge in both directions or two or three carved steps leading down then a couple more, further down, like terraces.

Si'aspiqo checked and declared there were no spiders Amphius led us round the ledge to the left. The cavern seemed to be an oval about 60 or 70 feet long and 40 feet wide. It dropped down in three levels. The centre was smooth and grey. There were various lumps of stone about 10 feet apart like seats. We completed our circuit and there were no exits and nothing else visible other than the seats.

The centre of the cavern looked to be covered in old ash. Si'aspiqo investigated one of the mounds. It was squarish and roughly carved with no obvious markings. Agripinus saw one with some carving which looked like cuneiform and pointed it out to Si'aspiqo. The scribe couldn’t read it but it was short and he made a copy of the figures. A number of others have carvings, all were about the size of a single chair, and they were in the inner and outer ring. The markings seemed to all be different but similar and all were short. There were dozens of them.

There was a hard crust on the top of the ash as it had become damp over a long time. Underneath it looked organic, some sort of powdery wood ash, and it was at least inches deep. It looked like a very large bonfire pit, where everything had been completely burnt.

The Greek explored the outer wall, but found nothing unusual. Looking around I realised that Trader hadn’t followed us in. Si'aspiqo probed the ash with a torch and the ash was around 4 or 5 inches deep with bare with rock underneath. This reminded the scribe of Persian everlasting fire, where ceremonies might take place in smoke, and I wondered if it was an arena. Si'aspiqo identified the marking as probably Sumerian cuneiform. There had been a lot of labour in carving out the area and the seats. Toxoanassa had seen temples where fire ceremonies had occurred while travelling through Persia. The most likely use of this space was for some sort of fire ceremony.

Looking up the roof went higher than the torches illuminated. Toxoanassa shot a fire arrow up in the air right in the middle of the roof and it went way up, much higher than we expected, before coming back down and landing in the ash. There was a thin tube in the centre that went way up like a chimney. There was no sign of any air being drawn up.

Amphius checked out the far end of the cavern but it looked completely natural. Si'aspiqo took some notes of seat inscriptions and then we left the cavern.

Trader was waiting for us at the end of the passage leading to the cavern. Amphius used his lockpicks to relock door behind us. The door was maybe older, cruder and heavier than the more modern doors we had seen on the upper level. We headed to the right from the door to a T-junction and turned right. There was a small tunnel off to the left but we ignored it and reached the pit.

We returned to the small option on the left, which Trader told us led nowhere. After 30 feet the passage opened into a small chamber 20 feet across with no exits and some dust or slag on the floor. Looking up, Amphius could see a small hole in the centre. In the rubbish on the floor was a torch, which we had dropped through a hole in the floor of the room next to the forge on the upper level. There had been a ring in this room – either things were hauled up or lowered between the to places.

We came back out and turned right and went past the first option on left and took the next one on the left. The passage went for 60 feet turning left and then right and then after a further 30 feet there was an option on the left or round to the right. We turned left into a small cave about 20 feet by 20 feet with no exits but a strange rock in the centre.

It was roughly man sized perhaps a little bigger, and looked damp and there was a phosphorescent glow. There were dark coloured spots on it, a little like brown amber. It narrowed towards top. There were stalactites above and I wondered whether this was huge stalagmite. There were many of the small globules that looked like amber, or like pine resin in a pine tree. There was a very slightly aromatic smell, like frankincense or an incense burner. The rock was slightly warmer to the touch that expected. The phosphorescence came from the amber spots.

Trader was nowhere to be seen. Si'aspiqo checked for any magical feel from the rock and found there was a lot magic around. A piece of the amber came off in the scribe’s hand. It was hard and cool to the touch. It looked like a glowing tear of rock, and the glow seemed to get brighter and then gradually faded in the globule the scribe was holding.

We cleared a space for Si'aspiqo and he cast his bones to determine whether this represented a threat or a promise. Something went wrong with his ritual and nothing was revealed to him. He tried again and this time he thought it was positive and auspicious. He felt that the rock represented more concentrated magic than he had ever seen. The glow from the globule had now completely faded but there still seemed to be some residual virtue. The aromatic smell was now much stronger. Si'aspiqo thought this was the Earthblood mentioned by Charge Hand.

Amphius checked the walls and found a bricked-up aperture in the left-hand wall, about 2 feet wide and 3 feet high. It looked like a niche walled up with cut bricks. There was no inscription. There was no mortar between the bricks and the Greek thought that he and I could just pull the bricks out, but we decided to leave it for later. We backed out and Si'aspiqo left a torch propped up and burning in the cave. He then returned and went back in and cast affect normal fires, but the effects were the same as normal and not impacted by the rock and small amber globules.

A group of darklings arrived led by Trader and Charge Hand. The scribe greeted them. Charge Hand said that he had told the magician that he would show us the Earthblood once the spiders had been sealed up. Si'aspiqo explained that we had arrived here by chance. Charge Hand requested that we leave it alone until we had completed dealing with the spiders and Si’Aspqio agreed. He gave him the globule and told him that it had come off in his hand. The darkling sniffed it, tasted it and put it into his pocket. He said, “we go now” and the darklings headed back in the direction of the pit.

Si'aspiqo thought that the lion headed idol we had found in the cave with the fissure was a servitor of the Gods used to guard gateways. He had some ideas on how we might use this to seal in the spiders.

We went back to the door that led to the ash pit, but continued on headed past the door. At a crossroads we turned to the right. Amphius saw a spider ahead, but missed it. The spider leapt at him but he managed to dodge it. He and I both missed it dodged back into the darkness and the passages started to open out ahead. Si'aspiqo used his fetish and told us that there was a contact off to the left. Amphius crushed the spider with his broom.

The open space was a cavern about 15 to 20 feet across and 15 feet wide. It was slightly lower than the passage and there was a musty, damp smell. There seemed to be no exits. Amphius checked out the walls but didn’t find anything. It all looked natural. Trader was at the rear of the party watched by Serif. We returned to the crossroads and took the right-hand turn and the passage ended in a T-junction, but there were no exits at either end like a narrow cave. We went back to the crossroads and turned to the right to the cave of fronds. We explored the area to the right and ahead, but it was just an extra lobe to the cave, with no exits.

We continued on to the High Big Cavern and turned right along a corridor to a junction with an old door and a corridor to the left. Amphius examined the door, which looked similar to the one that led to the large cavern with the ash floor. He oiled the keyhole and picked the lock. He oiled the hinges and the door opened smoothly. Here was a passage beyond, which opened out into a cave. It was about 50 feet long and the far wall had streaks of ore, but there were no signs of it having been mined. It was a blueish colour, with no obvious gems. Si'aspiqo did not think it was a common ore and took some samples. We returned to the junction and Amphius locked the door behind us.

We turned right into a 20 feet wide passage which turned to the right and led into a cavern with a trickle of water ahead. The chamber was about 30 feet ahead and 40 feet off to the right, with a pool in the far corner with a bed in it. This gad to be where the trap dropped into. We looked up and lit a couple of torches.

Agripinus was attached by a scuttling spider, which missed him. Si'aspiqo waved a torch at it ineffectively and Agripinus missed. The spider moved on to Toxoanassa. Amphius broke his broom on the floor and my blow scraped off the armour of the Greek. It bit the scribe in the leg before Toxoanassa killed it with her broom. Agripinus cleaned the magician’s wound and bandaged it up and the scribe shrugged off the poison.

We marched towards the mining room went through the wider cavern to the irregular room with an alcove and a door. Amphius opened the door and we followed a 10 feet wide passage for 50 feet to a no option left turn, then 20 feet into a regular room 10 or 15 to the left 25 feet to the right, and 20 feet deep. There was nothing in the room, but there were frescos on the wall. The people seemed to be ancient Egyptians, Babylonians or Assyrians by their dress, probably Babylonian. There were lots of scenes of digging, priests and ceremonies. They seemed to fit a temple or a tomb, but there was no obvious body here. Something was being commemorated and there were more of the cuneiform writings.

We retraced our steps and closed the door behind us and started up the stairs to the upper level. Si'aspiqo had a contact from one or spiders up the stairs and then decided there were at least three of them. The magician cast protection from evil on me. One of the spiders jumped on me, but leapt off immediately without biting me. Si'aspiqo killed one and Toxoanassa another. We headed up the stairs after Amphius leaving any remaining spiders behind. We headed out of the complex into the light. It was now late morning and we arrived safely at the campsite in time for lunch.

From Si'aspiqo’s Wheeze:

057: The Matter of the Spiders from the Underworld and How to Keep Them There

At the entrance to the cave of the spider-cleft we found inscriptions ancient, carved in the stone, and others recent and painted on the stone, but in the ancient cuneiform. There too was a carved stone representation of a lion-headed being with snake-like mane, made in an unfamiliar style.

I did not recognise this figure at first, but further consideration on later visits and helpful observations from my companions concerning the eastern style of the piece, gave me to realise what I saw initially as snakes and a mane there likely braided hair of the ancient Assyrians or even their predecessors, the people of Sumer.

The use of the statue is part of an attempt to keep denizens of the underworld from leaving it to trouble the living. This brought to mind the ancient god Nergal, both a ruler of the underworld as consort of Ereshkigal, and a god of death through war and pestilence. However, the statue does not bear the signs: of his double-headed mace, or the two sickle-axes, or the lion-headed mace, which makes an identification as Nergal something of a strained one.

If not Nergal, then who? It may be not be the pure pragmatism of simply choosing a smaller circumference to inscribe that the barrier inscriptions are at a narrowing of the access passage. Are not gateways narrow opening in walls? With this insight it now seems to me likely that the entity portrayed is Neti, the Chief Gatekeeper of the Seven Gates of the Underworld, Gatekeeper of the Palace Ganzer, servant of the Queen of the Underworld, Ereshkigal.

Thus we may need to approach Neti to ask him to keep this particular gateway shut. How are we do do that lacking a Neti-priest? It is possible to petition gods without a priest, but a little more difficult without the established practices, knowledge and agreements a temple gathers over the years. Nonetheless the general process, stripped of the disciplines of the reinforcing rituals of temples, is clear: one makes an appropriate offering, calling upon the name of the god to get their attention, makes one’s plea and awaits an answer.

The question uppermost in my mind about this process concerns the very first step, the sacrifice: What is an appropriate sacrifice to Neti?

In an attempt to put some practical boundaries on this, I should like to speak with you – likely through Agripinus who commands the common languages between us better than I – of your own practical experience or knowledge by reputation of sacrificial practice of your various peoples, concerning size of sacrifice and size of boon asked: I ask this with due respect for your cult secrets and mysteries. I mean no intrusion, I just seek to review what is publicly known, in order to scope our request.

For my own part, if I may speculate, it occurs to me that we do have some stock of doors to hand in the upper level of Kaskator, which might be of interest to a guardian of gateways – whether as sacrifice, or perhaps even as an installation of a door for the Keeper to keep (closed...) if, say, our Darkling allies are up to the construction task.

P.S. As a footnote:

— I recall once seeing an text on the sacrificial practices of the Assyrians where ‘bloody earth’ played some part in their rites, which seemed to fit their wider reputation. The text though went on to argue that the glyphs for bloody earth could also be read as blood of the earth, i.e. earthblood. Our recent experience of the ‘frankincense-like’ odour in the earthblood cave gives that a new significance I feel, and another possible contribution the darklings, as controllers of the earthblood, might make in any petitioning we undertake.

From Amphius’s Arguments:

058: Si'aspiqo Head Crash

Now then! Si'aspiqo asks me: “of your own practical experience or knowledge by reputation of sacrificial practice of your various peoples, concerning size of sacrifice and size of boon asked […] I mean no intrusion, I just seek to review what is publicly known, in order to scope our request.”

Well, Amphius is no priest, but he has always known what he likes. In Crete, like other civilized parts, Hermes The Messenger has always had to handle a good number of tasks on behalf of his worshipers, such as myself. I remember my old father, Autolycus, getting the household Gods down and giving his Herma a good rub like it was yesterday.

So, when it comes to telling the Kushite about liminal deities and what they might like Hermes, has to be up there. As well looking after Travelling Heroes, overseeing boundaries and such like, he is also patron of humble Greek sailors and informal Grecian property redistributors, in which causes I have occasionally been active (in the past you understand).

Si'aspiqo continues: “It occurs that we do have some stock of doors to hand in the upper level of Kaskator, which might be of interest to a guardian of gateways – whether as sacrifice, or perhaps even as an installation of a door for the Keeper to keep (closed…).”

I reply: while we could put together something with these mundane doors, if we are looking for a substantial propitiation – with significant opening/closing power – best we offer up to Neti the Key of Great Keyness. We all know that is magical and powerful and useful to open/close many doors with.

My only caveat is that a specialized door opening/closing tool may be less useful to a deity who is “Chief Gatekeeper of the Seven Gates of the Underworld”. Probably he can open/close most gates and doors at will. So, while in the party I have mainly used the Key since we took it out of the pool, I also have the closest ability to do without it. Still, its labour saving compared to picking a lock, and quiet compared to using a Gaul. Maybe that’s the kind of convenience Neti would appreciate.

 

So, after a bit more discussion among us at the camp, we decide to go back to Rogan’s store-room for some extra bits of wood and whatnot so we can make a proper propitiation rite. Goes fine getting back there and better once we realized that we had left a few storage jars unexamined including one with gold rods in it! My old father would not be impressed! Always check the corners for unconsidered trifles he used to say… giving me a slap so I’d remember. Those were the days.

Si'aspiqo decides he needs to kick off with an initial friendly match with the goddess idol from the pink pool, before getting down to the serious business with Neti. I hoick the goddess idol from out of the pool with long tongs and the Kushite gets down to it.

Powered by scented wood and prayer, it seems to be going OK at first, then he falls over unconscious… that’s torn it … [TBC]…

Amphius, Son of Autolycus

From Toxoanassa the Oiorpata Amazon’s Tale:

59: On the Religious Practices of the Steppe

The Oiorpata worship the Sky God who, I feel, would have no sway in the lightless caverns of the underground. Our shaman sacrifices livestock animals when necessary, and horses in extremis. We also pay homage to Tabiti, the Queen of the Gods and goddess of heat and to Api, the Goddess of the Earth. Other peoples of the Steppe worship Ares, the God of War, Papaios, Oitosyros, and Agrimpasa but I know very little of their religious practices. I have heard that among the settled peoples of the Steppe it is their practice to sacrifice their war captives to Ares, but I have never seen it done and am inclined to think it a story intended to frighten children.

In short, I'm afraid I have very little to offer to this discussion and am inclined to agree with the suggestion made by Amphius. The magical key was discovered in this underground realm and for all we know it may be of this realm. So render unto the underground gods that which is theirs, say I.

Toxoanassa

From Sammus’s Boast:

60: A27 Contacting the Goddess

Si'apiqo had been contacted in a dream by a Goddess connected to Kaskator, after he had drank a healing draught form the pink pool. He discussed his ideas on summoning Gods and sealing in the spiders. We agreed that it might be better to contact Astarte, for it was Astarte who he thought had contacted him in his dream, before trying to contact Neti.

We decided go to the pool room to conduct a ceremony and to collect incense and aromatic wood chips from the Wizard’s chamber. We discussed potential sacrifices and Toxoanassa agreed to use her token in the shape of a horse, an animal the scribe believed to be connected to the Goddess.

We headed up the hill on a very warm afternoon and made our way into the dark tunnel. Si'apiqo used his fetish to check for spiders and detected no contacts ahead. We reached the wizard’s chamber without incident and Amphius opened the secret door. Si'apiqo picked up the jar of aromatic cedar chips. We checked both connected chambers and investigated six earthenware pots, which we had missed on our previous search. The first smelt like wine or spirit, the next was crushed stone maybe white marble, there was sulphur in the third. The fourth was salt water or brine, and Amphius, our naval expert, agreed that it seemed to smell of the sea. The fifth contained Naphtha and the final one had four small gold rods. We thought the gold rods were worth about 25 to 30 gp each – they were a finger wide and maybe 4 or 5 inches long. We took the gold with us and returned to the crossroads and then followed corridors around to the door beyond which there were the dog legged passages leading to the pool room. No spiders disturbed us.

The magician checked for spiders but had no contacts beyond the door, which Amphius opened. We collected the glowing plants and arrived at the door to the pool room. Amphius struggled with the door lock but after a few minutes he managed to open it and we entered the pool room. Si'apiqo guided us along the processional route and to the left to the pink and green pools and we carefully kept away from the green one. The onyx statuette was still in the bottom of the pool and Amphius carefully pulled it out and set it down near the pool. Si'apiqo pointed out the moon symbol on the head which he told us indicated Astarte.

Si'apiqo started setting up for a ceremony. He had a few bowls with wooden chips in one, dampened with a little of the fire squirter containing pine resins, more of this was placed in another bowl on its own, and the cleaned horse amulet belonging to Toxoanassa was made ready. Toxoanassa declared herself ready to take part in the ceremony. We extinguished our torches leaving the area lit by the blue glow of the phosphorescent plants. The scribe lit the naphtha and resin and called on the Goddess. He lit the wood chips and called on the Goddess. He cast a spell and enhanced the fires and at that point the Scythian cast her ivory horse in the fire and called on the Goddess and the scribe prostrated himself.

He seemed to be asleep for some hours. He told us that he had been in the between worlds, which was not a comfortable place. It had been dry and cold with stinging grit in the wind. It was, he thought, the borderland of the underworld of the ancients. There had been starlight and scudding clouds moving by faster than the wind would have indicated. On the horizon was a particularly bright evening star – a sign of Astarte and maybe of Tanit too. It had approached him faster than it should and had then resolved into a huge naked form, with a ridiculously beautiful body like a female Greek wrestler – an idealised form. Astarte was the Goddess of war and love amongst other things. The Goddess was having to struggle into the teeth of a really strong wind, even though Si'apiqo could only feel a slight breeze from behind him.

When she arrived, Astarte complained about the quality of the talisman and was unimpressed by the ceremony. He should show more gratitude as he had drunk her essence, she told him. She was barely able to stand. The magician told her that she could dispose of him and summon someone else if she desired.

He told us that he believed he had been easier for Astarte to contact initially as he had been close to death until he had consumed her essence, from the pool and had recovered. He explained that the Goddess had been imprisoned in the underworld by a couple of other Gods. There seemed to be a difference between her story as he knew it in the East and as it seemed to be in the West. He suspected that there were multiple versions of Astarte. This one was a bit different than the one he knew. Her myth cycle hadn’t been completed here as she had not been rescued as her story in the East had it.

She wanted to escape and wreak vengeance on those who had extracted her essence. Si'apiqo told her that those who had extracted her essence were no longer in the mortal world. She had given him basic instructions as to how to free her but he wanted to leave the underground area before discussing anything further.

Si'apiqo took some liquid from the wine pool to use as a libation and asked me to take the statuette and we left the pool room and returned to the camp. It was just after mid-afternoon when we arrived in the campsite on a warm sunny day. The hunters were still out hunting.

Si'apiqo resumed his tale after setting the statuette down in one of the huts. He explained that he had summoned the Goddess and acknowledged that he owed her a favour. The Goddess had reiterated that she wanted to be free and also that she would like a worshipper, but this the scribe had declined. He told us that Nergul and Areshkagal were other Gods from the same pantheon as Neti. Inana was the equivalent to Astarte in this pantheon Nergul was the keeper of hell, not the gatekeeper. Nergul works for Baal Agripinus believed.

In the East a deal had been brokered so that the Goddess could spend half her time above ground and half below corresponding to winter and summer. Amphius said that there was a similar tale about the Greek Goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone, who had to spend half her time in Hades. In the East Tanit and Astarte were very closely linked even sometimes seen as aspects of the same entity.

Si'apiqo informed us that in the East the Goddess had been rescued, but this did not seem to be the case here. He speculated that the cause of the shadow over the land is because the brightness of the Goddess had been permanently occluded. There seemed to be a dislocation in the myth landscape that could be troublesome. The Goddess had told Si'apiqo that if he rescued she could allow him to live forever, but he had been offered this by other Gods and did not think this a good idea.

He had been told he needed to take a garment to the underworld through five gates of hell, fooling the gatekeeper in Nergul’s pay. He wondered whether the entrance to Kaskator and the spider’s cleft were the first two, but wasn’t sure. Agripinus said that he would know if he had crossed one of the gates and he hadn’t so far.

Si'apiqo suspected that the first gate was likely to be close to the gatekeeper’s lion headed idol and that this gate might be wide open. Agripinus disagreed – he wondered if the room with the female statue the room with the statue of Baal might be where the gate was. They agreed that the first gate would lead down to the darkness from the living world – those of the shadow would live there. The Goddess had given no guidance in how to find the gateways in Hell. Si'apiqo would have to find them himself and would need either witch sight or a guide.

The Goddess had given the magician instructions for the care of the statuette He said to her he was paying due respect rather than worshipping. The statuette was about a foot or so high and weighed 10 to 20 pounds. He wondered whether the idol being in the pool might be how her essence had been extracted. He speculated that maybe there might be something similar to Dionysius in the wine pool. Si'apiqo thought that he might now be the Goddess’s only contact with our reality. She was concerned with the statuette and wanted it to be taken out and therefore he thought this was her last chance.

Si'apiqo planned to have a ceremony using the statuette at midnight and wanted to set up the idol in one of the food stores. A subsequent ceremony could try to contact the gatekeeper but he wanted to contact Astarte first. We cleared out a rectangular outbuilding currently in use as a food store.

Serif said if the scribe went mad he would help restrain him and take him to the elders. Si'apiqo said if it was worse don’t hesitate to strike him. Serif said that if he want to set up the idol and sacrifice at midnight he had no problem with that, but he didn’t want it to be where he was sleeping. He had already bent his tribes taboo to go into the mountain, he wouldn’t go through the gate to the underworld as he wouldn’t be able to return to his people. Toxoanassa and I both agreed that we didn’t want to take part in the ceremony.

Si'apiqo said the ceremony would just be to confirm to Astarte that he was still on mission. He hoped that the distant presence of Goddess would be enough for Agripinus to determine class of spirit he was talking to. We spent a couple of hours cleaning and preparing the food store as a temple and the three hunters returned with a gazelle. The sun was now on the horizon. Agripinus cast protection from evil on the area.

As midnight approached it was fine night and the stars were out. Amphius and Agripinus joined Si'apiqo in a procession to the temple, while Toxoanassa, the Numidians and I stayed 20 yards away in our hut, but on watch. I cleaned the token the scribe had given me, which connected me to him via my blood.

The scribe had reserved some part of the gazelle and had the wine to pour as a libation. He lit a fire just before midnight and added the resin naphtha solution and then cast enhance normal fire. He started to call on Astarte and cast the food and drink on the blazing fire. He and Amphius drank a toast to the Goddess but Agripinus just watched.

For those of us on watch from our hut it seemed similar to when the Shedim had first arrived. There was darkness and clouds scudded across the dark sky and the wind rose. We could see Si'apiqo face down in the dirt, while Agripinus stared into the fire and muttered.

After a while the wind died and then Agripinus stopped staring and muttering and the scribe awoke, but didn’t seem to be raving. The three men returned to the hut about an hour after midnight to make their report…

From Sammus’s Boast:

61: A28 Another Statuette

Si'aspiqo told the party that his experience had been much the same as in the pool room. He had been in a camp in the middle of a dry and empty land with stinging grit blowing in the strong wind and dark clouds scudding by overhead. There was the blink of the evening star and then the Goddess appeared again fighting her way into the wind. When she made it to the mage’s camp, she quaffed some of the wine and was impressed. She ate the small amount of deer meat offered and said she could have eaten a whole deer. She stroked the scribe’s hair and dropped hints that more could be on offer if he signed up and hinted that he should stay in touch. The idol seemed to have been further away from her now and her stay was therefore shorter. She gave him instructions for contacting her more effectively. In particular she mentioned that incense could be used to help Gods and Goddesses sniff their way to worshippers. She was then carried back away by the wind.

Amphius had seen nothing but had enjoyed the wine. Agripinus agreed that he had seen much the same as what Si'aspiqo had described. He had seen scudding clouds and a dark sky and then the naked and well-built figure of the Goddess approach the prostrate figure of the mage. He had seen her take the cup of wine and drain it and then stroke Si'aspiqo’s hair and whisper in his hair. The winds had dropped and she had taken the meat and looked around, but didn’t seem to see the priest. The wind had built up again and she had returned from whence she had come. She had struck him as noble of countenance and form, but seemed to have fallen from light into a dark place. Once she had been good and now, she was no longer where she should be. He felt he needed to relay this information to the temple of Tanit for advice, a mission or possible assistance.

The rest of the night was uneventful. The clouds were clearing and it looked like there would be a fair and warm day ahead. The Numidians set off hunting around dawn. We discussed our plans and decided that we would investigate the room with the female statue, and look at the wine pool and see if there was another statue within. If we had time, we would also lower the priest down the fissure to see if he felt this was a gate. We were running low on torches and while we had the makings of more, we had no torches and so we might also check one or two storerooms to see if there were any more. Serif told us that the other Numidians were expected back the day after tomorrow.

After breakfast and our discussions, we headed up to Kaskator and as we climbed up the hill, Agripinus noticed that Si'aspiqo’s hair looked like it had been oiled; he looked very well and his hair looked darker. We went in through the entrance and Si'aspiqo checked for spiders – there were none. Amphius and Serif at the front and back had lit torches and we made our way to the crossroads and straight on and checked out the room through the door on the right. This was an ante-room with some carvings and two carved wooden chairs and in the far-right hand corner there was a short corridor leading to another chamber with the naked female statue. There was a secret door on the left which led back out to a corridor. Amphius opened the door and the corridor was empty. corridor. Si'aspiqo investigated the statue. He said he could feel a slight tingle indicating that it had been worshipped. There were benches around the perimeter of the room.

We left the room through the secret door and then entered the dog legged corridor leading to the pool room. The phosphorescence had started to fade somewhat. Amphius got a tool stuck in the keyhole of the door into the pool room, but managed to free it and open the lock. As we entered, a huge tick dropped on me. I missed it and as it fell to the ground and it scuttled off. Si'aspiqo cast his spell to enhance the torches as we searched for it and the Priest cast his light of Tanit and then the torches were doused. We couldn’t find the tick and concluded it must have escaped down a crack.

Si'aspiqo led us between the pools to the one containing the wine, carefully keeping away from the one with the green weed. Amphius felt gently around in the pool with the butt of a light spear to see if he could feel anything. He stirred the pool, but felt nothing, he made a second attempt and felt something about two feet in from the edge. He reached in with the tongs and found it and tried to lift it out, but as got near the surface he dropped it, but trying again, he lifted it clear and placed it carefully on the ground. It was a small stone effigy weighing around 5 or 6 pounds. It was the clothed figure of a seated woman with a cup in one hand. It had a patina of age and reminded Amphius of the Goddess Circe. It was stylistically different than the figure of Astarte and looked less valuable. Agripinus thought it was more Eastern and was sure it wasn’t Tanit. He thought maybe Phoenician from Tyre or Persian, but wasn’t modern Greek or Egyptian. Apart from Agripinus, all took some wine with us and Amphius put the figure in his pack and we left the pool room.

Amphius locked the door behind us and we returned to the crossroads and turned right, and then turned left down the passage and into the bottle room. The light of Tanit faded and Amphius and Serif re-lit their torches. Amphius opened the secret door into the storeroom on the left and we searched the room again. We found a tub of about three or four pounds of salt, but nothing else of value.

The torches started to flicker out and so Amphius and Serif relit new ones and we left the storeroom and turned left at the end of the bottle room into the processional way. Amphius looked for a secret door on the right and I killed a spider. Si'aspiqo used his fetish to check for more spiders but there were none around.

Eventually the Greek managed to open the secret door into a storeroom with lots of building materials. We took about 20 feet of old rope to use as fibres for torches and then left the storeroom and walked back along the corridor past the crossroads and back to the daylight ahead, extinguishing the half-burned torches as we emerged into the daylight.

62. Kaskator Maps — Level 2 – Agripinus

agripinus-lvl2-02
Kaskator – Level 2

Updated sketch.
Recorded by Sammus the Strong and drawn by Agripinus Tanit’s Priest

From the Journal of Agripinus:

63: The Gate to the Underworld

There really was only one way to find out what was at the bottom of the unnatural rent in the ground that we had dubbed the Spider Cave, it needed to been seen and felt by one of us. I considered I was the only real choice given the need for specific knowledge and the protections I could call upon. It was somewhat pleasing to note that the other members suggested various other ways to reconnoitre the dark chasm, and in the end all played their parts. Sammus the Gaul provided my rock and means of quick exit, Amphius the quick-witted ensured a smooth and safe rope mechanism, Toxoanassa kept her keen eyes on any dangers below, and the un-wheezing Kushite was ready with fire and extra protections should they be needed. No doubt Serrif was nearby keeping our backs covered in the dimness of the cave mouth but I was focused on the cleft in front of me and the Light of Tanit made the chasm clear and all else dark in comparison.

With Her light to guide and protect me, I descended. Some 20 ft below was the corpse of the largest of the Spiders, legs curled up and on its back. It still made for a hideous sight as I made it past and to the opening beyond where the cleft opened out and I could see many mounds of a white fluffy substance. They possibly looked like cocoons but it was difficult to see clearly as I had reached the full extent of the rope that was fastened around my waist. At my feet I saw a shiny object, a dagger in the web that was all over the floor and walls. It looked to be steel, tarnished with age and set with a semi-precious stone. Possibly it was dropped by a previous explorer, or was a spoil that the spiders had no use for, or maybe a lure to pull others further in (as I saw another such glint a dozen yards further in to the wider cave). In any event, this was not what I was here to gather, so I left it where it lay.

My skin feel prickly, like I am standing close to a blacksmith's forge, a heat, but certainly not the life-giving sun's rays. I perceive I am on a bridge between worlds, not a gateway such as a door but a crossing place and it is as far as I dare to go. This is most certainly the outermost "gate" into Hell, and it is clear to me that sacrifices have been made to the keeper of this Gate, by the Shedim most likely, and that after he was no longer able, then another weaker one has tried, and failed. Chargehand not having access to the powerful concoctions brewed in the Pool Room. It is almost certainly this failed attempt that has brought forth the spider hoard in retribution. It might be that Rogan was making these sacrifices and made the same error, or was unable to continue due to some other fate. The Shedim and his minions were possibly his retribution prior to Chargehand's.

This all fits with the worshiping of Baal and his cohorts, Melkart in particular with his spirits and undead. It is entirely possible that the darkness that has befallen these lands is a Shadow from the underworld that has managed to come over that bridge when the appropriate sacrifices and rituals ceased to be offered. This place is old, older than Carthage, and Rogan is only one of the most recent occupiers of this place though it appears that other shrines have been made here, and re-configured over time as needed across the centuries.

These are facts which I must take to Carthage and make known to the Temple. And I hereby charge you to carry this message to them if I am unable to do so.

Agripinus

From Sammus’s Boast:

64: A29 More Pool Investigation

It was now mid-morning. Si'aspiqo told us that he thought the second statuette was Geshtinanna. She was one the very old Gods and Goddesses and was connected with the grapevine of heaven. She was the sister of Tammuz who was the husband of Ishtar-Astarte and had also spent time imprisoned. The magician admitted that this was all an area of magic, where working with the powers, magic was close to religion and the Gods.

He reiterated that Geshtinanna was a very old Goddess. As far as he knew, people still worshipped Astarte in the East but this was no longer the case with Geshtinanna, although she was still known. As the worship of old Gods and Goddesses declined and disappeared, they became nameless things of power. The mage wondered if we could summon Geshtinanna in same way as Astarte.

We agreed that Agripinus should check out the gate and discussed what we should tell the Darklings. It would be useful if we could take a sample of the earthblood to aid in research before determining how to close the gate. I suggested that we told them we needed more research to determine how best to permanently close gate and would need earthblood as part of this research.

We relit two torches and returned back into the tunnels after about 30 minutes. Si'aspiqo used his fetish, but could find no trace of spiders. We turned right at the crossroads, and followed the passages round towards the throne room. Just before entering throne room, we turned to the right and then into the room with stairs leading down.

We descended the stairs into the mining room and Si'aspiqo checked again for spiders but found no contacts. We went into the irregular room and turned right and made our way towards the cave with the fissure down. Again, the scribe checked for spiders and there were none nearby but he had a sense of something in the depths. We reached the niche on the left-hand side with the idol.

We made respectful gestures to the statuette and entered the spider cave. The torches were almost spent, so Serif lit a new one. Agripinus cast the light of Tanit from his medal of Tanit. Amphius drove a spike into a cleft and Agripinus tied a rope around his waist and I paid out the rope with rope belayed around spike as he started to climb down.

We watched the priest descend and Si'aspiqo again gave the all clear for spiders. The glow of Tanit was at least 20 feet down and started to fade. After 10 or fifteen minutes Agripinus and his light reappeared and I helped to haul him up.

He told us that the gate was down there, and that it was more like a bridge than a gate. He had gone down 50 or so feet and started to feel the heat and glow of the underworld but was protected by the light of Tanit. It felt as though he had crossed a bridge led from a cool room into the heat of the desert. There seemed to be offerings just out of reach including a nice steel dagger and he added something of his own. There was tunnel covered with webs and fluffy mounds that looked like egg sacs or cocoons. It seemed to be another world or another plane.

He thought the gate was around 60 feet from here, but to get through it he would have to untie the rope and he wasn’t sure he would be able to get back. The priest wanted to return to report to the temple. Serif said that he would not be willing to go through the gate and we all agreed. By now the torch was half burnt and we decided we needed to return to the daylight. We needed to make more torches, but had no pitch. Toxoanassa remembered that there was olive oil in the Wizard’s chamber which might make a substitute, so we made our way there.

We passed the idol, paying our respects as we left and Agripinus left a stone as a thank you for coming to no harm. We reached the irregular chamber and then the mining room and made our way back to the upper level and then on to the secret door in the bottle chamber without incident.

Amphius opened the secret door and we found the amphora of olive oil as Toxoanassa had described. I carried it and we returned to the kraal around midday. We had lunch and made some more torches. By 3 in the afternoon, we had 6 torches after testing and the recipe for the oil is working well. We had the ingredients to make more.

We planned to return the fronds to the cave of fronds, then go to see the Darklings and let them know we would be leaving for a while after checking gate, as we needed to investigate before we could close it. We would let them know that we wanted to trade for some Earthblood as we needed to research it as part of how to close the gate. Si'aspiqo had vague remembrances of a translation of an old text referring to Assyrians conducting rituals using “bloody earth” which might be Earthblood. He added that Astarte had said that if we went far from this place, we would need high quality incense to contavt here and he suspected that Earthblood might be suitable for the summoning incense.

Amphius wondered if we should try to close the gate but Agripinus didn’t think he had the power to do this. He wanted to talk to the Temple first and gain knowledge of what he should and could do. Si'aspiqo added that he didn’t have expertise in this.

After our discussions we climbed back up to Kaskator on a warm and sunny afternoon. We reached the crossroads and Si'aspiqo found no sign of spiders. We followed corridors to the locked door into the pool room, picking up the phosphorescent plants on the way, and Amphius picked the lock and as we entered Agripinus lit up the room with the light of Tanit. We noticed nothing as we enter but as we moved on Serif and Agripinus spotted something scuttling and Agripinus impaled a tick on his spear and the magician took a sample to use in a fetish.

For now, we extinguished the torches and used the light of Tanit to explore the pools. Amphius used his spear to investigate the first pool on the left. There was a greenish tinge, swirling and it looked like a light oil. The Greek withdrew his spear and wiped it. The pool on the right looked like a clear liquid with a few fish within. We turned to the right and the third pool, on the left, was bubbling and steaming. Amphius investigated again and dropped his spear into the pool. He fished it out with the tongs. The metal tip of the spear was hot and the wooden shaft warm when he pulled it out, but he found nothing else in the pool.

We moved on to the fourth pool which was on the right. It seemed like ice and Amphius chipped it with his spear. Despite it seeming like ice there was steam coming off it. Opposite this on the left was the fifth pool with sparkling liquid as though it was shimmering. Amphius didn’t find anything other than that it was very attractive with a shimmering quality.

We moved on to the next pair of pools. On the left, pool six, the water seemed deep with something sparkly at the bottom, but Amphius couldn’t find anything with his spear. Toxoanassa saw some sparkles from the pool but they disappeared. The seventh pool, on the right, was still almost empty and nothing seemed to in the small amount of liquid.

We returned to the main way and turned right at pool three. Pool eight was now on the left. It was still dry. The scribe had a copy of the cuneiform on the rim. Opposite this, on the right as we turned left, was pool nine containing a crystal-clear liquid. Amphius poked around with his spear but found nothing. It smelt particularly fresh, like rain in the hills or mountains and felt cool.

We came to another pair of pools. On the left was pool ten the wine pool, and then on the right was pool eleven with the green weed, which we avoided. Amphius checked the wine pool to see if it had changed after removing the idol. It looked similar but didn’t seem to be shimmering and swirling. We all filled wineskins with wine and Amphius tasted it, and thought it tasted just as good.

We moved on to pool twelve, full of murky grey water. Amphius poked with a spear and wasn’t sure if he felt anything. He tried again but couldn’t find anything. There was a faint smell but he was not sure of what it was reminiscent. It was almost like honey. He tried with the tongs but found nothing. I suggested he try Agripinus’s net. And he found a small, roughly carved idol. It was a grotesque figure, vaguely humanoid, with a distorted and ugly face. Serif thought it looked evil. Si'aspiqo didn’t know what style it was. The Greek placed it back into the pool and Si'aspiqo made gestures of respect.

The light of Tanit started to ebb, although the fronds were still giving a faint glow, and we lit torches and left the pool room. Amphius tried to lock the door behind us and jammed his tool in the lock. He managed to remove his tool without breaking it and then used the magical key to lock it and, taking the fronds with us, we came to the door on to the corridor. Si'aspiqo spotted that there were 2 spiders somewhere beyond the door and he prepared a spell.

After going through the door, the mage told us the spiders were beyond the door on the other side of the corridor. We pause at the point where the throne room opened out and saw two spiders. I squashed one with broom and Amphius burnt the other with his torch. Si'aspiqo could feel no more and we turned to the right and went through the door into the room with stairs down – there were no spiders ahead according to Si'aspiqo.

We descended into the mining room, and then into the irregular room and took the tunnel to the left. We went through a wider cavern and then turned left and went on to a very large cave. We followed the left-hand wall and found the cave with the fronds. Here we left our plants and returned to the large cave. Following the left-hand wall, we left the cave and reached the pit. We crossed the pit successfully, although Agripinus was grateful for the rope as he slipped and was left holding on to it over the drop. He managed to clamber back up and across safely.

We passed the statue of Melcart, making respectful gestures and reached the door to the darklings’ cave. Amphius made the knock and after a minute or so the door opened and we were admitted.

From Sammus’s Boast:

65: A30 Scouting

There now seemed to be a little more light in the darklings’ cave, because there was a small fire in the corner where we normally camped with meats cooking on skewers. Soon a deputation of darklings arrived, led by Charge Hand and he invited us to share their food. Si'aspiqo thanked them for their thoughtfulness and generosity and Agripinus blessed and purified the meat in a small ceremony and we ate what tasted like goat.

Si'aspiqo explained that we had completed the first stage of our investigations of the source of the spider. He told them that our brave priest had ventured down the cleft and to the border of the underworld. He had been careful not to disturb the masses of spiders asleep there. They were from another place and not directly from that part of the underworld. They must have come from a different rift. Their numbers were such that we would not win direct confrontation. He explained that the closeness of the rift to the underworld to the rift to the spider world made closing more complex. He also told them that we had made contact with other powers not of the underworld which would be useful in forthcoming efforts to restrict the plagues coming forth, but this needed more evaluation. The magician concluded that we must take guidance on how to progress further and would also need more tools. Some will come from the various powers we subscribe to and others we would need to travel to find. Once we had advice and alliances, we intended to return to the task we had agreed; to close the rift in return for more knowledge of Earthblood. He reiterated that we still held to this bargain.

Si'aspiqo pointed out that although the task was not complete, progress had been made. We now understood better and had better tools to deal with the rift. He asked Charge Hand if he had any questions at this point? Charge Hand proposed that Si'aspiqo stay as their protector, and they would show him interesting things and the rest of us could go.

Si'aspiqo thanked the darkling for his offer. He said that we had given them tools to protect themselves for the hopefully short time we would be away. We wished to keep some contact through various powers with this place. The way we would like to do this, the scribe told the darkling, which was in his gift, would be to use the Earthblood if he agreed. He added that we didn’t seek knowledge of this until we completed the task, it was just that some samples would give better access to protective powers on their behalf. The magician again asked if he had any question, but Charge Hand shook his head.

Charge Hand said something else that the scribe did not translate for us but there was a wide gesture from the magician and we learned that he had sworn by his name that he would return to Kaskator to complete the mission as soon as he could. Charge Hand bowed, disappeared into the darkness. He came back shortly and handed over a drop of hard resin or amber. Si'aspiqo then asked the darkling some questions about the mining.

When they had finished discussing mining, we left the cave and walked past the statue of Melcart, making the usual gestures of respect and turned left at the pit, which we crossed using the rope and ledge. We went through a large natural cave and Si'aspiqo spotted a spider with his fetish. We followed his directions and approached the cave of bats. Agripinus cast the light of Tanit and Si'aspiqo thought the spider was about 50 or 60 feet into the bat cave. With the light of Tanit we could see how large the cave was - 50 to 60 feet to the far side and further than that off to the right, also a lot to the left. However as soon as the light lit up the cave, large numbers of bats dropped from the ceiling and became a swirling swarm of bats, some of which flew past us. I did notice there were some stalactites on the floor of the cave. Deciding not to pursue the single spider any further, we returned to the central cavern which just had a few bats flying around. Si'aspiqo detected bats with another fetish and could tell there were none of the larger bats amongst them.

We followed the wall around the cave in a clockwise direction and took the first exit and turned right when this ended at a junction. We soon reached the mining room and then took the stairs to the upper level. After a few more minutes we emerged into the brilliant sunshine of the late afternoon.

We arrive back at the camp to see the three Numidian hunters had already returned with a deer and they greeted Serif with excitement. Serif relayed the news – the three young men had claimed their reward as they had seen signs of strangers wandering in the desert about 10 miles away. They hadn’t disturbed the strangers and had ridden in circles to confuse their tracks before returning. They reported that there were five or six in the party with two horses, and they were camped not far from the cave where we had killed the lamia.

We considered our next steps. Serif reminded us that the other four Numidians would return the in two days with our horses He and the Numidians with Amphius and Toxoanassa could scout them out. He would not want to attack without permission from his Elders, especially as one of the party might be Carthaginian and Agripinus agreed.

That night Si'aspiqo wanted to perform a similar ceremony for Geshtinanna and he decided that sunset would be the best time. The magician prepared some resin and aromatic wood, some food and wine. Toxoanassa and I, along with the Numidians declined to take part in the ceremony and Agripinus just wanted to observe, but Amphius was keen to join in and soon started to drink the wine from his waterskin. The scribe took a small sip of wine and set a portion of the meat as an offer and started burning the aromatic wood. Amphius drank more wine and seemed quite inebriated and fell over and started snoring – his waterskin was empty.

Si'aspiqo completed the ceremony but was interrupted by the snoring of the Greek. Si'aspiqo closed the ceremony with thanks, but the goddess did not appear to him. Eventually Amphius woke up. He felt a little hungover and it was now dark. He had dreamt of the goddess and Si'aspiqo concluded that she must still be around. The night passed without incident and the scouts jogged and rode out as planned after breakfast.

In the early afternoon, they returned and reported what they had found. There were five in the party, a scout, two heavy infantrymen, another light infantryman and one more of uncertain role. They were still in the area nearby the lamia’s cave. Their party had spotted our scouts, who had had to leave. Their party might spend some time looking for us. Our options were to go and talk to them, leave now or wait for them here.

They did not look like bandits, but more a similar party to ourselves, it could well be the party that had been sent in the wrong direction from Teveste. Agripinus decided to wait for our horses before doing anything, which would probably be the following afternoon. He thought he and Toxoanassa could meet up with their scout and talk with him if he spoke Arma. Without their scout their party would be men in trouble in badlands. Serif thought their scout would be able to track us as it was difficult to hide tracks in such dry ground – he might find us today. We decided to send out scouts to watch for their approach rather than hunting for the rest of the day and to stay in camp.

From Sammus’s Boast:

66: A31 The Parley

The night passed uneventfully and at first light the three Numidian scouts went out on foot to watch for any approach from three different quadrants rather than to go hunting. Amphius and Si'aspiqo went up the hill to watch from near the entrance to Kaskator and the rest of us stayed in the camp.

About an hour before noon, Amphius saw a figure on horseback between the scrubby areas at the outer limit of the copse around the kraal, and off to the south east. It looked like one person and it was not heavy cavalry. The horseman dismounted and led the horse for a short distance and then remounted. Si'aspiqo saw a glitter of metal as though the figure had a spear or a javelin or two. He suspected it was a Numidian scout. Si'aspiqo walked down towards the camp and must have cast a spell, because he disappeared from Amphius’s view.

One of the Numidians returned in a hurry and spoke to Serif. Serif reported that the group’s scout was scouting the copse and was within a mile. Si'aspiqo returned to confirm his report. Agripinus told Serif to intercept them and he went off with Toxoanassa and Agripinus on the ponies. Amphius returned to the camp.

After 20 minutes the riders returned. The scout had stood in a clearing and stuck his javelin in the ground and they had chatted. The scout had been hired by a Carthaginian officer called Ben-Zees, to search for something in the area. Agripinus arranged to meet for a parley with him on one of the other two peaks halfway between noon and sundown.

We left the Numidians at the kraal with the ponies and the rest of us set out on foot, which should mean that we would be there in time to see the group approach. About an hour later we reached the top with the magician wheezing and Agripinus and I sweating heavily in our armour. There was a great view from the peak.

About halfway between noon and sunset we saw a group with a scout on a pony and four infantrymen with a packhorse reach the base of the hill. The packhorse and the pony were left there and five figures began climbing towards us. Two had round hoplite shields with what looked like Greek signs upon. As they got closer Amphius identified one as Theban and the other as Athenian. There was another more lightly armoured man, maybe a peltast with what was perhaps a Sicilian symbol on his light shield. The peltast and Numidian were slightly in front of the hoplites to either side and behind them was a tall man with salt and pepper hair and beard, with some armour.

They took 30 minutes to climb up the hill, with several stops. The peltast looked young, but the two hoplites looked older and the Numidian was probably a little older than Serif. The older man said that they came in peace for our parley. Agripinus guaranteed their safety and asked him to approach and they walked out to meet each other.

The Carthaginian pulled out a gold necklace with plaques indicating an honourable discharge after 20 years’ service in the Carthaginian army. Agripinus thought he must be at least a junior officer. He was maybe 50 years old and had well-worn armour and a helmet. “You are a long way from Carthage!” Agripinus greeted him and Ben-Zees replied, “and so are you”. Agripinus said that he had heard that Ben-Zees was searching for something and maybe we could help. The elder man replied that they were searching for ruins and there had been talk of gold having been brought back to Carthage from there. Agripinus asked who had sent him and Ben-Zees told him that it was the Barca clan.

Agripinus told him that we were already set up there and he was too late to the party and there was little there. Ben-Zees was not discouraged and said that it was free country and he would look for himself. There was a discussion of whether there were any property rights here and he did not accept Agripinus’s claim that we were acting for those who had ownership and did not think that a claim could be registered in these tribal lands. Agripinus told him that his job was done and he should return but Ben-Zees replied he was under orders and instructions from the Barca clan and he would look as he had been paid to look. He added that he wouldn’t be the first to cast a spear, but he might be the last. Once he had found that this was the place then he would return to Carthage to get paid. Agripinus agreed that he didn’t want there to be bloodshed either. Both men withdrew to speak to their comrades and Agripinus relayed to us what had been said.

Ben-Zees and his men looked noticeably more weather beaten and dusty than ourselves. Agripinus walked out again and spoke to Ben-Zees. Agripinus told the older man that we were heading back now and he was free to earn his money. We wouldn’t get in their way if they didn’t get in our way and there was no reason for bloodshed. They shook hands in a military handshake familiar to Agripinus. He thought the man might have been a navy man, probably a marine. They headed down the hill ahead of us and we left by a different route. Serif and Toxoanassa hung back to keep watch. We returned to the campsite an hour or two before the sun went down and found that the other Numidians had arrived with our horses and supplies.

We asked Serif to find out whether these were the group that had been sent away by the elders and after questioning his comrades confirmed that it was and that they now had one horse less than when they had been in Teveste, presumably lost in the badlands.

Serif explained that even though he would feel justified in attacking the Numidian scout here if the scout had been alone, any attack by him or his fellow Numidians on him when he was working for the Carthaginian might be seen as an attack on Carthage, which he would avoid without the direct authority of his elders, respectful of the close place to their hearts his elders hold the city and its people.

He did add that the other group would likely camp close by the foot of the path up to Kaskator when they found it and that their scout would be searching the area for good water and to find out where we were. This kraal was much the best source of water hereabouts, he pointed out. He added that he and the other Numidians were going back to report to their elders. Should any of us to choose to leave later, and catch him up in due course, that was no affair of his. Without their scout he did not think they would survive long in the badlands.

We discussed whether we should make a trip in to inform the Darklings of the latest develop and maybe provide them with any spare equipment so they could better defend themselves, before we left and whether it would be best to do that as soon as darkness fell or wait until later in the night.

From Sammus’s Boast:

67: A32 – Leaving Kaskator

Amphius and Toxoanassa kept watch for the other party and in particular their scout from up the hill towards Kaskator until dusk, with the Numidians watching other potential approaches. They all returned to the kraal for the evening meal and Amphius and Toxoannassa reported they had seen movement and then the smoke of a campfire off to the northwest, which was roughly the direction of the trail leading from where the parley had been to Kaskator. The camp seemed to be about a mile away from the kraal, a mile and a half from Kaskator.

An hour or two after the evening meal, Agripinus, Si'aspiqo and I headed up the hill to Kaskator by moonlight to warn the darklings. Amphius and Toxoanassa accompanied us to the entrance but then returned as far as their watch point and waited there. A little way into the passage, Si'aspiqo checked for spiders using his fetish. There were no contacts ahead and after feeling his way in a little way, Si'aspiqo lit a torch and I led the way onwards. We turned right at the crossroads and followed the passages all the way to the room with the steps down to the lower level with Si'aspiqo periodically confirming that there were no spiders.

We descended the stairs into mining room and then took the larger passage on the left. We went through a wider cavern and took the first option on the left. We arrived at the long cavern where we had fought the massed spiders and started following the right-hand wall. I realised there was something ahead, but Si'aspiqo’s fetish confirmed it was neither a spider nor a bat. At Si'aspiqo’s greeting in Egyptian, three darklings crept out of the shadows.

The magician told them we were on our way to see Charge Hand and they beckoned us to follow. We reached the pit, where one of the darklings happily pointed out a spider that he had recently splattered. We crossed the pit to the right, paid our respects to the statue of Melcart as we passed and were soon admitted into the cave of the darklings.

Charge Hand and another half a dozen darklings came to meet us. Each time we saw them they looked in better health. Si'aspiqo explained that we were about to depart and that the situation had changed. Another group had found this place and might find their way into Kaskator and even down here, he told them. They were not friends, but were not enemies yet either, he said, but they might become enemies. He was concerned, he told Charge Hand, but believed they were just looking for the place. He let them know how many were in the group and that they were experienced in the field of battle. It was best if they didn’t find anything of interest he continued. They were not bound by any of our agreement he added.

Charge Hand asked if they were dark ones, and the magician replied that it remained to be seen. Charge Hand also asked if they were far and Si'aspiqo told him that their firelight could be seen from outside. The scribe handed over a small bundle of weapons that we had gathered, which I think contained one or two spears, a shortsword and a couple of daggers. Charge Hand was grateful for the gift. He said that they would spy the new group out and see what they were up to, but would try to avoid conflict.

The darkling produced a bone flute and said that if the magician whistled on this at night, they would hear it and know that it was us and not strangers. Si'aspiqo gave one of his own in exchange and explained that if he blew through this into a flame, it would emit a very large flame that would blind everything around him. Finally, Si'aspiqo let Charge Hand know we would be away for a cycle of the moon and maybe longer. We would like the other group kept away from the lower floor – distracting them towards the mushroom room would be useful he ended.

Charge Hand sent out a couple of darklings to guide us out and started working on dividing the gifts. We exited the cave and the two darklings scuttled ahead of us. We made it safely to near the exit and extinguished our torch and the darklings disappeared. We started down the hill, met up with Amphius and Toxoanassa and returned to the kraal.

The rest of the night was uneventful and we all rose pre-dawn, for an early breakfast. Everyone was ready to leave at first light. Amphius and Toxoanassa planned on hanging back to see if the scout came to the kraal in search of water, when they might ambush him. This would leave the other group without a scout and in a perilous situation. They planned to catch up with us before we reached Teveste. Si'aspiqo tried to divine whether staying behind for two days was well aspected for them. He cast his bones and concluded that there was no indication that this action would be any more perilous than would be expected.

The rest of us rode towards Teveste without incident for two days. On the evening of the second day after we had completed our evening meal and the sun had sunk below the horizon, there was a call from the dark, which we recognized as our missing comrades. They came into the camp looking grim but with an expression that indicated their mission had been successful. There was not a mark on either of them.

From Sammus’s Boast:

68: A33 – Back to Carthage

The night after the return of Amphius and Toxoanassa passed uneventfully although some of us had restless dreams. I awoke from a nightmare where I had been fighting spiders, while Amphius dreamt of being hunted and hunting others. Agripinus dreamt of Tanit and the Temple. Si'aspiqo and Toxoanassa both had a dreamless sleep and none of the Numidians were disturbed.

The following morning the Numidians made breakfast and we set out early and rode rapidly south as we hoped to reach Teveste around dusk. The donkey was led and Si'aspiqo sat with myself and Agripinus in turn for the day. During the day both my horse and Toxoanassa’s pony stumbled at one point, but neither were lamed. At dusk we started to walk our mounts and after another 90 minutes we reached Teveste and we were quickly admitted.

There was an impromptu welcome and a guest hut was made available for us. Late on in evening there was a short reception at which Serif was not present. The night was uneventful and we all slept peacefully.

We had breakfast and cleaned up and then late in the morning we were taken to meet the tribal council. Serif was there dressed in his finest and helped with the translations. The elders were pleased to welcome us back and happy to hear our report. Agripinus ran through what we had accomplished. He emphasised the help we had had from Serif, and told them that he had been a credit to the elders. He had been very professional and had commanded his squad very well and had reflected very well on Teveste. He commended them for having such a son; we couldn’t have wanted a better guide. This was very well received although Serif had hesitated at times while translating this. The council were pleased to hear the report that he had done well and Serif was grateful.

The priest explained that we had mapped the lower levels and had found a gate to another plane – the underworld. He told them that we would be returning to Carthage for advice and tools to seal it. He mentioned the other group we had encountered, who the council may also have met. He gave a description of the group and mentioned the name Ben-Zees. He added that they had not seem well prepared, but that we had left them to their fate.

Ben Zees was indeed the name of the leader of the party the council had tried to send away, the elders told us. They were sad to hear that they had made it to Kaskator. They would not receive help from the elders of Teveste. They had not acted honourably or earned their trust and had entered the area without their permission.

Agripinus emphasised the importance of reaching Carthage with the information we had learned. He also told them that we had talked with the indigenous population of Kaskator. Finally, he told them that we had defeated and killed the Shedim.

The elders were very gratified to hear of the demise of the Shedim, describing him as the evil torment of mankind, particularly women. They were disturbed by the report of a portal to the land of the dead, but were pleased that Agripinus was going to talk to the Temple about sealing it. They thought it should be sealed and made inaccessible, especially to people like the wanderers. They felt that if this evil mine or temple were sealed properly it would stop the shadow creeping over the badlands. They agreed that it was wise to return to Carthage to seek aid. They would be happy to assist if we came back on another expedition. A delicious lunch was produced, with lots of small courses.

Agripinus thanked them for their hospital, but explained that he was keen to return to the temple forthwith and wanted to leave at first light the following morning. We gave Serif one of the gold rods, as his share and told him that if we sold either of the idols, we would give him his share when we returned to Teveste. He was pleased with the gold rod and told us that he and some of the other Numidians would accompany us to the edge of Numidian lands and he would await our return in Teveste.

The next morning, we set out with Si'aspiqo again riding with the priest and I alternately and the donkey being led. After two days the Numidians said farewell and we rode on. After a couple more days we rode past some carts and saw the road to Uttica – we were just over half a day from Carthage. We camped at a wayside site and the night passed uneventfully.

We set off at first light and aimed to make Carthage later in the afternoon. Amphius’s horse stumbled and he nearly fell off. He walked it for a short while but it was not lame and he was soon able to ride on. We reached the outer wall of Carthage in the mid-afternoon. We avoided the Teveste gate and entered via the Thapsus gate, in case we were being watched for. By the time we reached the market, some of it was closing down and switching over to food stalls. We wished to use a different tavern from previously – Amphius knew a couple of other taverns and took us to the more expensive of the two.

The place was quite full but in exchange for six gold pieces they cleared the roof and arranged a party for us. The horses were stabled and we took our gear up to the roof. Servants started a barbecue and provided drinks and jugs of water for washing away the dust. Agripinus sent a message with a runner to the temple to let them know he wanted to speak to the high priest. Si'aspiqo and Amphius each set up one of the idols of Astarte and Geshtinanna in a corner and held a short ceremony.

At nine the food was ready and we had a short party. Some of the guests below had heard that there was an amazon on the roof and came up to gawp, but I quickly sent them on their way.

The following morning, while we were breakfasting, a guard from Temple arrived to speak to Agripinus. He had an appointment at the temple in the second hour this morning – in about 90 minutes time. We packed our gear and left it with the publican, to be collected later, although we took our valuables with us. We walked up to the temple together and were admitted and taken into an outer courtyard like a cloister. There was an impluvium of water, some shrines and a few pilgrims. After a few minutes Agripinus was summoned to a meeting.

From Sammus’s Boast:

69: A34 – Sammus Swears an Oath

Agripinus returned after an hour and told us that the Temple had suggested that it would be best for us to retire to a safe house. A temple acolyte gave us pilgrim cloaks and told us that our gear and horses would be collected from the inn. He guided us out of the temple by a different exit and led us uphill, and around the market. We crossed the main road to the Teveste gate and entered an area of estates and parklands in the north of the city. This was a wealthy area with well-managed, ancient farms.

We came to a small stone farmhouse with an orchard of fruit trees and vineyards. There was a stone-walled garden with a gate. There was a small shrine in the middle with guest accommodation and cloisters around two of the walls. It was a very peaceful and secluded place, with 10-foot-high walls and just the single wooden gate. Servants appeared and brought us food, water and wine and we were invited to settle into the private garden. It didn’t currently appear to be guarded. It was a private shrine to Tanit, organized by the Temple. It was probably used as a retreat.

After lunch a couple of squaddies from the Sacred Band started sentry duty outside the wooden gate. We had seen a few of these farm complexes as we walked through the parkland. All were very private. There had been a few people working in the fields, but they did not have the appearance of slaves. We had seen one or two small army patrols. I had heard of mercenaries employed here as security in the parklands, but it had seemed too boring and quiet to ever have been of interest to me.

Agripinus explained that the value of our loot paled into insignificance compared to the knowledge we had obtained. He added that the followers of Baal would be very keen to have this information as there were few known gates to other planes in this world. Some who worshipped Baal would love to take advantage of knowledge of one nearby and would stop at nothing to gain its location. For this reason, our safety could not be vouched for if we left this refuge. We wondered how anyone had learned of the gate as we only returned yesterday? The priest explained that the shield of Baal we had sold might have been the clue that led to others being sent to search for Kaskator. Possibly it had belonged to a hero of Baal, and might have pointed to something of significance out in the Numidian lands. There may have been old rumours of a gate, but the place was lost. It had to be assumed that the forces of Baal were now active in trying to find the gate, and if tampered with “All Hell could break loose”, he finished.

More food was served, our gear from the inn was delivered and we were told that our horses were stabled nearby. Just before dusk, Agripinus set off to return to the Temple for a religious ceremony. By then there were a different pair of sentries. Night fell and Amphius, Si'aspiqo, Toxoanassa and I took it in turn to stand watch. The night was uneventful.

We were eating a late breakfast when Agripinus returned looking tired. He again told us that the information we carried was immensely valuable We each had three choices he explained. First — never leave this place. Second — go on a journey far away for at least 6 months taking the information with us until it became less useful. Third — be part of a party to be assembled shortly to go to Kaskator with the intention of sealing the gate. This party would be organized by temple with or without us.

Agripinus asked each of us in turn what we would prefer to do. None of us intended staying here indefinitely. I could see two options — either returning to Kaskator or accompanying Toxoanassa on a quest the Pillars of Hercules to fulfill her grandfather’s oath. I said that I would be happy to go on either of these expeditions, whichever my comrades preferred. Amphius asked whether it would be possible to send a message to Charge Hand. Agripinus explained that he had told the Temple that we had worked with the darklings, but he wasn’t sure that a message could be sent.

Toxoanassa talked about her quest — once she reached the Pillars of Hercules and returned to her homeland, she believed a curse would be lifted from her family. She had travelled as far as Carthage working as a mercenary. She had been working at the Inn where we had all met as she could afford to go no further and had been struggling to make money to save and finance any further travel. Si'aspiqo had been following a vision which he now realised had been a summoning by Astarte. She wanted him to rescue her or at least keep her worship alive. He felt that the hand of fate had been on him and Agripinus.

Si'aspiqo, to some extent, felt honour bound to return to Kaskator. Toxoanassa said that she would also like to return to close the gate. Amphius and I agreed. Agripinus also wanted to see the job completed. He felt it would be unworthy not to fulfill the promise to the darklings. He was very glad of our support and would return to the Temple and let them know that we would like to see the gate closed with no damage to darklings.

Si'aspiqo proposed that we be seen as allies of the Temple rather than servants. If possible, he would like to rescue Astarte. Agripinus agreed but wasn’t sure if it would be possible. Si'aspiqo asked for permission to summon Astarte at this shrine. He did not want to offend Tanit and the Temple. Agripinus gave us 30 gold each as a reward from Bostar, the High Priest along with a share for Serif. He then set out to report our answer to Temple. He went alone as we felt that as a group, we were more likely to be recognised.

After a few hours Agripinus returned. First of all, he explained to Si'aspiqo that with a proper veneration of Tanit, he could cover her with a shroud, and the scribe would be free to conduct a ceremony here. He then told us that Bostar was pleased to hear that we would go. The party would just be the five of us, but we would be given tools and explanations necessary for us to complete the task.

He said that as pre-requisite to the expedition we would need to follow the instructions of Tanit to the letter and we would each have to swear an oath to follow those instructions and not divulge the information. It would be an oath of obedience to Tanit and no other. We would each be paid a gold piece a day for at least 6 months, with a bonus of 20 gold pieces at the end. We would also be paid a talent of gold (2000 gold pieces) for every intact idol returned to Carthage, plus a talent of silver (100 gold pieces) for any broken idol brought back. Finally, he told us that we would not be able to see the full contract and instructions until we gave the oath.

Si'aspiqo expressed concern over the transport of large idols, but Agripinus replied that there was provision for this in the instructions. Amphius asked about Ben-Zees group and again Agripinus responded that there was provision in the contract. Si'aspiqo asked if the provisions harmed Astarte. Agripinus assured him that Astarte would not be harmed by the letter of contract. The priest warned the Si'aspiqo of the perils of dealing with Astarte. The path was perilous to him as a sorcerer he added. Agripinus didn’t think the magician would be forced to break his word, but he had to swear obedience to Tanit. Si'aspiqo considered conducting a ceremony to contact Astarte, but in the end did not proceed.

Agripinus added that Tanit had complete confidence in him to carry out task and had imbued him with the necessary skill. He had been given certain objects and could inscribe a glyph of warding, which we would be able to go through with a password. Finally, Si'aspiqo agreed he would sign and swear the oath of silence and obedience. I followed, as did Amphius and Toxoanassa.

Agripinus was then able to detail the plan. We were to leave in secret and go to Teveste. Meanwhile a diversionary expedition was to be formed, but would be embroiled in political delays. Once in Teveste we would obtain the help of the Numidians and return to Kaskator. There we would gather the portable idols, but the statues of Melcart and Baal were not to be disturbed. We were to place the guardian at the gate. Then we were to leave Kaskator and, using local stone and brush, conceal the entrance. We were to stay there until rain washed away our traces and then return to Carthage.

From Sammus’s Boast:

70: A35 – Back to Teveste

Agripinus added some more detail to the plan. There were three idols that were not to be disturbed – Baal, Melcart and Astarte-Enslaved. The priest again emphasized to Si'aspiqo that Astarte-Enslaved was particularly perilous and she was known to seek out sorcerers. He also told us that he had been given the means to endow a shrine to Tanit in Teveste would be provided to encourage Numidian co-operation.

We discussed the group led by Ben-Zees we agreed that we needed to ensure they did not return to Carthage. Also, the fewer Numidians who knew where Kaskator was, the better.

Agripinus then held up a glowing orb with a Light of Tanit, which would shine where no other lights could shine. The orb was crystal and had a twinkle but Agripinus could make it shine very brightly, and it would last longer than his spell. He also had a silvery helmet, close fitting but not closed. It was made of bronze covered in silver, with Punic runes around the neck, and a black horsehair crest. It looked almost new and looked glittery and shiny. The runes said “Beloved of Tanit, no-one harms me lightly”. When wearing the helmet wherever he walked would be holy ground, which would help with his spells.

Agripinus sent details of the supplies we would need to Bostar and we all gave 30 gold pieces towards payment. He ordered five shortswords and a gold brooch for gifts for the Numidian Elders. Some carpenters’ tools for the Darklings and two dozen dark brown cloaks. A barrel of pitch, 20 arrows, supplies for us and our mounts, four hooded lanterns, a small barrel of oil, 80 candles in four boxes for the lanterns, a saw, an axe, two shovels, two pry bars and a mattock.

We spent the day making preparations while Si'aspiqo looked at some fragments of papyrus, which might once have been scrolls – they were interesting, he said, but would take too long to work out at the moment. At the end of the day all our supplies arrived along with three pack horses to replace Si'aspiqo’s donkey and two small box which were given to Agripinus. We were told that these contained a new shrine to Tanit and a more holy version of Neti the Gatekeeper.

We were ready to depart first thing the next morning at first light on a fair morning. We made our way to the Uttica gate with Agripinus and Toxoanassa going through first with the amazon bundled up in one of the dark brown cloaks. The rest of us went through separately. The sentries only questioned Agripinus and he passed through as a Carthaginian citizen without giving his real name. We dawdled along the road for the morning and then sped up after lunch. We camped for the night, which passed without incident.

The next day a unit of African spearmen with a couple of mounted officers passed us heading back to Carthage, but left us undisturbed. On the third day we saw the dust from a large caravan and skirted around them. Si'aspiqo fell off while mounted on Toxoanassa’a pony and was winded. There was a short delay while he recovered and Agripinus healed him, then we started up again. By the end of the fourth day, we were close to Teveste, but rather than continue in the dark we camped for the night and arrived at Teveste early on the fifth day.

We were welcomed by the elders and taken to a hut. Led by Agripinus, we paid our respects and gave them the shortswords and the gold brooch. Agripinus also gave Serif 30 gold pieces from the High Priest, Bostar. The priest talked about setting up the shrine to Tanit and asked for any news of Ben-Zees group. He also informed the elders that we were on our way back to cleanse the area of the shadow. The elders were interested in the shrine proposal – Agripinus said that he wanted to make sure it was set up in the best place and would consider this.

Serif had was awaiting our return. He and his uncle (one of Elders) had been to speak to the King of the Eastern Numidians, Hiarbes. Serif now had a new fancy headband with red beads. He had reported to the King that they thought they had found the source of evil cursing the land. We had also killed two demons. King Hiarbes was pleased and had given him the job of doing whatever needed doing to cleanse the shadow. He could take a lot more warriors to do whatever was necessary.

It became apparent that Serif had about 40 Numidian light horse, with 20 remounts carrying fodder – this was a proper war party not youngsters. There had probably been competition to be in this party. Agripinus had a quiet word with Serif. He explained that he must avoid conflict with any regular Carthaginian unit, but Ben-Zees’ party would be fair game. Agripinus asked what information he had given the King and Serif replied that he had talked about the ruin as the place from which the spirits of the dead were coming.

From Sammus’s Boast:

71: A36 – News from the Darklings

That evening there was another semi-formal banquet with the elders, Serif and a few of the senior members of the warband. We were treated as guests of honour and the event finished promptly as we planned to leave first thing in the morning.

We left Teveste early on the morning of May 3rd and arrived in the Kaskator area on the afternoon of May 5th. Some of the Numidians rode ahead and started to sweep the area. As soon as we reached the kraal, we saw that our hut had been burnt to the ground. No other outbuildings had been damaged. The scouts returned to report no signs of any other humans in the area.

Serif said it had been dry here for a couple of weeks. There were faint marks of people coming and going north out of the hut, along the path to Kaskator. We checked all the outbuildings and nothing else had been disturbed. There were no signs of bodies in the burnt hut. The whole hut had been broken down and piled up in a pyre but the fire had not spread elsewhere, so it must have been done carefully.

Eight of the Numidians were stationed in pairs, checking the perimeter palisade and fence. The Numidian ponies were left to graze in the orchard on one side of the kraal and our mounts were left in the stables close to the ashes of roundhouse. Si'aspiqo checked the ashes and found no trace of power.

We had an evening meal and then Agripinus, Amphius, Toxoanassa, Si'aspiqo and I left at twilight and climbed up the track to Kaskator. Serif remained in the encampment in command of the Numidians. We made our way slowly without using any light source and reached the entrance just as night fell. The entrance was dark.

Amphius used a lantern to check out the entrance way for tracks. There had been comings and goings, but he could not make out any details and so he and I led the way in through the tunnel. We had decided to go to the room with the idol of Baal next to the throne room, as if the other group had found this then they had probably found their way around the complex. We headed quietly along the main corridor and Amphius opened the secret door on the right of the second pair of alcoves. We went straight across the junction and then through a door on the right and into the throne room. We followed the wall of the throne room on the right to the solid door. Amphius picked the lock and then by lantern light we entered and saw the statue on the far wall in the gloom. In the centre was a pit of ash. The statue of Baal looked ominous and impressive. Amphius investigated the ash – it did not seem fresh.

Agripinus fired up the orb with the light of Tanit. It started as a twinkle and then grew to become a very brilliant bright white light and there were no shadows in the room. He put his hand over the orb to reduce the brightness. The statue looked more mundane and less powerful in the brightest light, but looked a little more powerful and oppressive as the light was reduced. After a few minutes we left the room and headed to the nearby room with the stairs to the lower level. Agripinus continued to shield the light and Amphius locked the door behind us. Amphius opened the next door and we went in and descended stairs into the large room full of junk.

We took the wide tunnel straight ahead. About half way between the start of this tunnel and the wider cavern it led to, Amphius spotted something in the rock on the right-hand side. He investigated for a few minutes but could find no mechanism. He made a mark on the opposite wall and we walked on to the wider cavern.

We went through this and then turned into a tunnel on the left. We reached a long natural cave and followed the right-hand wall past an alcove and past the passage to the bat cave and then took the next exit.

We headed on to the pit and Toxoanassa heard something in the darkness. Si'aspiqo blew his whistle and she could hear whispering voices. The magician blew on the whistle again and could hear greetings from two darklings behind us. We soon bumped into two more ahead and realised they had been with us for some time. The two ahead scuttled quickly on and the rest of us reached the pit. I stumbled and was left dangling over the edge but managed to haul myself up on the rope, which held firm. We soon arrived at the cave of the darklings, where the door was open ready for us.

We were greeted by the gleam of bronze from a helmet, sword and shields. Charge Hand was there with 8 or 10 other darklings. He had a helmet and shield. Si'aspiqo congratulated him on his new possessions. Charge Hand said that they had been warned and had profited from this to overcome the enemy. He told the magician that there had been four of them – they had fortified our hut and it had been a difficult task to winkle them out, but they had prevailed in the end and he had only lost one brother.

Charge Hand described how they had surrounded the kraal and broken in on the roof. The enemy had been defending the doorway with their shields and the darklings had broken in but been forced out again. The armoured men had been struck many times but it was difficult to get through their armour and shields. Eventually Blade had struck one down and then another and there had been no shields left. Then it had been knife-work but the armour was still tough, eventually all the enemy had been killed. Charge Hand pulled a gold necklace from underneath the hoplite armour – this had been from Ben-Zees. The darklings now had more shortswords, along with three bronze and two leather helmets and Charge Hand and Blade each had round shields. Charge Hand looked more solid and confident.

He told Si'aspiqo that they were glad that we had returned as promised. He wanted to know what we would do next. The magician told him that we now had the means to close the fissure or at least make it so that it could not be passed from creatures from below. This would take some time. As part of that we would also need to close the front entrance we wanted to discuss this with them. Charge Hand asked how we would do this and we explained that the entrance would be filled and covered so that it would not be visible from the outside. Si'aspiqo asked if this would make things difficult for the darklings.

Charge Hand thought that this might be for the best as it would prevent untrustworthy humans from finding them, but they had their own door which he could open; they would have to manage without the tunnel entrance. Charge Hand went off and muttered to his clan. When he returned, he agreed that if that was what must be done, so it must be. Si'aspiqo said that the entrance must be closed for a long period so that it appeared natural. Charge Hand said that if they were told not to disturb it then they would not disturb it.

The darklings had been recovering from their wounds; all had been wounded and Charge Hand felt they were lucky to have only had one fatality. Otherwise, the place had been quiet. They had done a little hunting and now all were recovered.

The magician asked if they had found anything they did not understand. Charge Hand said there had been something written and a token of which he would like to learn more – a small scroll and the gold medallion from Ben-Zees with an effigy of Baal. Si'aspiqo felt a tingle of magic or power from the medallion. Agripinus thought it was the Baal equivalent of his medal of Tanit. Baal was not a proscribed God in Carthage and was followed by some of the old families. It would be disrespectful to destroy or damage it. The magician gave it back to Charge Hand and told him that it was the token of a human God – Baal. Baal was a God of dark rather than light like Tanit. Charge Hand thanked the magician and the priest and put it back in his pocket. He let Si'aspiqo take the scroll to read outside.

Si'aspiqo let the darklings know that we would be back in a short time. At my prompting he also told them that we were here with a large number of allies and it be best not to draw their attention for the next few days. He added that we would arrange a small presentation and party and would bring some food with us when we returned.

We retraced our steps with darkling guides and escorts and reached the outside world without incident. Agripinus hand was still glowing with the light of Tanit from the orb he held as we walked down the hill towards the camp just before midnight. We were spotted by the guards and returned the password. Agripinus cancelled the light from his orb as we reached the camp.

From Sammus’s Boast:

72: A37 – Sealing the Gate

The Numidians prepared an early breakfast and then Serif called all his men together. His leadership qualities were immediately apparent. He formed them into four groups: one to guard the camp, one scouting the area, one to ascend to the top of the hill to dig up stones and earth and the other to bring these down to the entrance to block it up. At midday there would be a break and the teams would rotate.

After breakfast, the five of us climbed up to Kaskator and Amphius and I led the party into the tunnel. Amphius carried a lantern, and Si'aspiqo had another on the end of his staff. Amphius opened the secret door in the second alcove on the right. We headed straight to the room with stairs down to the second level.

We descended to the mining room and as Si'aspiqo was checking for the presence of spiders, one dropped down on him. He dodged back behind Toxoanassa and there ensued a short scuffle as the spider eluded our efforts to kill it. Agripinus held up the orb of Tanit, which twinkled and got brighter and brighter and he kept his hand around to prevent it shining too strongly. Eventually Toxoanassa managed to shoot and kill the spider.

We turned right and followed the passage through a cavern and then along further until we came to an opening on the right, which led to the fissure, the spiders and the gate to the underworld. We carefully went past the niche with the idol on the right and stepped over the markings. Agripinus wanted to set his glyph up close to the actual gate, but the ceremony would be easier in the cave. He decided it would be best to do the ceremony on the floor of the cave as this should still be an effective spot for the glyph. Si'aspiqo said that he could detect spiders down the fissure. There was at least one and a general sense of potential. Si'aspiqo and I lit torches and Agripinus started on his ceremony.

He took his time over the ceremony to ensure he did it as well as possible. The light in his orb diminished and we lit candles around the chamber to replace it. After an hour our torches went out and we just relied on the candles. After another half an hour Agripinus finished with some careful chalk marks and set up his glyph; it was now running and a password was required to get by. He burnt some incense and then using a candle to melt the seal, he opened a box that looked like a small coffin. He took out a stone object that looked like an Assyrian winged sphinx and placed it inside the chalk marks of the glyph.

When Agripinus was happy with his arrangements, we started back out of the cave taking care to keep well away from the chalk marks. The priest thanked us for our patience and told us not to come back into the chamber. The party carefully crossed the old chalk marks by the niche with Agripinus the last to leave. He reverently picked up the idol of Neti as he passed the niche, wrapped it in some cloth and placed it carefully into the coffin from which he had taken the Assyrian sphinx. He then put the coffin back into his pack.

It was now mid-morning. Si'aspiqo checked for spiders again as we left. Just as before he detected at least one and a general sense of potential. Agripinus explained that anything coming through the glyph without the password should take some holy damage and this should prevent the spiders entering. We left the cave and turned to the right and Si'aspiqo gave a warning toot on his whistle, but there was no response.

We followed the passage into another cavern and again he whistled and shortly after there was a rustling ahead and a glint from eyes in the darkness. Si'aspiqo greeted the two darklings and we followed them on to the pit, which we all crossed safely. We paid our respects as we passed the statue of Melcart and by the time we reached the darklings’ cave, the door lay open in welcome.

Charge Hand soon arrived to greet us and Si'aspiqo told him that our priest had worked his runes upon the gap to the underworld. He warned them not to enter the chamber or disturb anything, saying it would be unfortunate if any did so. Charge Hand was pleased that we had rendered them safe from the dark ones and had fulfilled our end of the bargain. Si'aspiqo brought out the canvas roll of tools we had bought for them, which Charge Hand was also very pleased to see. The magician also told the darkling that we would leave any tools we no longer needed at the kraal when we departed the area, which they were welcome to have. Then he told Charge Hand that they were now allowed to enter the forge room where they might find other useful tools. This should be accessible from this level from a chamber nearby just beyond the pit. Charge Hand knew where this was and would give more thought to it.

Si'aspiqo presented them with some meat so they could celebrate the bottling of the underworld. He told the darkling there would be further steps taken outside – which should be completed at the end of day tomorrow. We would then be waiting outside for a period until the work to close the tunnel looked more natural. Charge Hand asked to speak to the magician privately.

They moved to somewhere quieter where Charge Hand told him that we could now go and look at the earthblood again. If we were wise enough, we could pick nodules and stick them in our mouth and be “improved” or “blued”, but there might be a problem for someone insufficiently wise. He showed a dark mark on his tongue and explained that he and Blade had been “blued”.

From Sammus’s Boast:

73: A38 – Earthblood

We bade farewell to the darklings and made our way across the pit via the beam, but Si'aspiqo slipped and was left clinging to it, suspended over the pit. Amphius went back to help him. He clasped the magician’s hands and eventually managed to drag him to safety.

We took the second option on the left and reached a turning on the left into the cave with the earthblood pillar. Beyond, the passage continued and then forked. We took the left fork. It was a fairly narrow passage, which narrowed further and then after 30 feet opened on the right into a small cave. Amphius and I explored cave, which had no exits. I kicked something over and Amphius spotted some coloured dots on the ground – maybe glass beads. He picked them up and saw they were eight small semi-precious stones, that might have been in a pile. Maybe as an offering? They had been where the cave narrowed into a corner. There were no exits and Amphius checked the walls carefully but found nothing unusual.

We returned to the fork and took the other exit. It was an irregular passage and after 80 feet, it ended in a reasonable sized cavern. The cavern was empty and there were no exits or secret places.

We then took the passage to the cave with the earthblood pillar. Si'aspiqo cast a cantrip to focus luck and examined the surface of the pillar. There were 8 larger tears of earthblood, 7 smaller ones and then a few others that were not yet properly formed. He looked at each of the 8 larger ones in turn and then the 7 smaller ones, trying to determine a fortune telling for each of them.

Of the 8 larger and mature ones, five were inauspicious, one was lucky and for two he had no sure result. Of the smaller ones, one was lucky, two were mildly auspicious, two he had no sure result, one was mildly inauspicious and one inauspicious.

Si'aspiqo tried to break off the large auspicious one. He struggled, but eventually broke it off, put it in his mouth and started to hiccup. It was very hot and spicy. It would have been easy to cough it up, but he persisted. It was spicy hot, sour and burning and he coughed and spluttered and his face turned a shade of purple and his eyes streamed. After a few minutes he could speak and he had gained a hit point. He pointed to the smaller auspicious nodule. Agripinus broke it off and put it in his mouth. It tasted like the hottest and most powerful horseradish he had ever tasted. After a few minutes of coughing and spluttering he had gained a strength point. Amphius took a slightly auspicious smaller one – it tasted incredibly of sour lemons. After a few minutes he looked younger and more vigorous – he had been granted four extra years of life.

Si'aspiqo offered Toxoanassa and myself the remaining auspicious nodule, but we both declined. The magician broke it off the pillar and put it in his mouth. He felt a strange tingling in his mouth – it tasted powerfully of resin and aniseed. The taste became stronger and stronger and eventually he coughed it out. What he spat out was a large and lustrous pearl, which Amphius put in his pouch.

There were no more nodules that Si'aspiqo had identified as auspicious, but Amphius snapped off one of the larger ones for which the magician had found no sure result and put it in his mouth. He started coughing and spluttering, trying to keep it in his mouth. It was extremely peppery. He was incapacitated with sneezing, for a few minutes, but had gained one point of charisma.

The Greek then took one of the smaller ones, for which Si'aspiqo had no reading. He put it in his mouth but it tasted awful and he inadvertently spat it out. Disregarding the omen, Amphius picked it up and tried again. He sucked at it until everything went dark for him. He could see nothing. He joked about having to focus his attentions in future on killing the medusa. After a few minutes there was no change in his condition.

Toxoanassa took him by the hand and we decided to lead him to the pool room, to see if the remnants of the pink pool would help him. We turned right out of the cave and then left when we reached the natural cave. I led the way with Agripinus and the priest lit his orb of Tanit. Amphius could not see even this bright light. We turned left and walked into a rough cave and then continued through and on past the entrance to the spider’s cave. We reached a fairly large cave and took a narrow passage on the left, which then opened into the irregular room. We then entered the mining room and Si'aspiqo checked for spiders, but found nothing. We then climbed the stairs to the upper level and made for the pool room. We reached the door to the pool room and Amphius managed to open it by feel. We entered the pool room and checked the area carefully including the ceiling, looking for spiders and other creatures, but even with the light of Tanit we saw nothing.

Toxoanassa led Amphius to the pink pool, which was now only slightly pink. Si'aspiqo thought it was less lustrous and less magical than before. Amphius had a long drink. It didn’t taste as good as before. He even plunged his head in, but he could still see nothing.

Si'aspiqo directed the Greek to the corner of the murky pool and with the tongs, he tried to find the idol that we had found there previously. He felt something solid within and hauled it out. Agripinus reverently wrapped it up and put it in a bag and then in his pack.

We then checked the wine pool and Amphius tried some. It was still fine wine, but not as good as before, for now it seemed past its best and needed to be drunk soon. We filled our wineskins and then headed out. Amphius locked the door of the pool room behind us.

We soon reached the exit where there were Numidians piling up stones and brush ready to conceal the entrance. Their leader reported that all was quiet and proceeding as expected. He asked if Amphius was OK. He could still see nothing, although he could feel the heat of the sun. We descended the hill and arrived back safely at the camp, shortly before lunchtime.

Si'aspiqo checked out the pearl. He had a trace or tingle of magic, but it seemed to be just a very large and lustrous pearl. He thought the remaining trace was probably from magic in the forming of the nodule. He and Amphius discussed the possibility of a ceremony to intercede with Astarte to cure the Greek’s blindness but Agripinus forbad any attempt to summon the Goddess before this mission was completed.

Agripinus and started helping with blocking off the entrance. In the afternoon Amphius’s eyes started to hurt. As the afternoon wore on, they became more painful, but he could start to make out the light. After the sun set, his eyes hurt less. As the evening wore on, the pain in his eyes decreased and he started to perceive things a little. By midnight he had no pain and could see. Looking at the fire hurt – it was easier to look at the stars. Things were very clear to him by starlight. As the sun came up the next morning his eyes started to hurt and he wrapped a bandage around his eyes. The colour of his eyes had changed to grey instead of brown and he seemed to have the eyesight of the darklings. His eyes looked undamaged just very sensitive to light.

Of those who had sucked on stones, the priest and magician now had blue mark on their tongues – Amphius’s tongue was a deep indigo colour.

G.M. Update

Sealing Kaskator

Amphius sits alone, gazing entranced at the dark sky; ‘How many hidden stars, and how bright and glorious is the Milky Way!’ he muses. The camp around him is all gray, but as clear as daylight. The Numidian guards sit quietly on look-out — they cannot see the owl flitting amongst the trees as she hunts the mice scurrying unseen in the dry grass; but he can. All too soon a bright ribbon lights the eastern horizon; in an hour the blazing dawn will drive him inside an outhouse, with bandages over his eyes. Such is the curse or boon from the Gods of the Underworld; now he must live in the Shadow.

As the sun rises, Agripinus leads a prayer to Tanit and asks for Her blessing for their work this day. Serif and perhaps a quarter of the Numidians pray with him. All morning the Numidians, aided by Sammus and Agripinus, pile stones into the entrance of Kaskator, sealing it with a deep layer of sifted soil. A number of thorny desert shrubs and aromatic herbs are planted there, and the afternoon is spent ferrying water-skins from the kraal stream and soaking the whole area. By dusk, all these works are done. Toxoanassa returns with a Numidian patrol, and reports the whole area is quiet; almost too quiet. Kaskator has taken a deep breath, and all is still.

That evening there is a celebration — two small bucks are roasted and flatbread is baked on hot stones. Everyone gets a small cup of olive oil, and a sip of the last wine from Kaskator. Serif makes a long speech in the Numidian tongue which is followed by a few words in Arma from Agripinus. Amphius sits far from the camp fire shaded by the corner of a hut; Si'aspiqo sits with him, and they watch the stars wheeling above. The Numidians sing long into the night, and the kraal seems very different from the dark gloomy ruin of mid-winter.

Four hot days pass, and on each day Serif divides his band into four groups, giving each a task: Hunting, Area Patrol, Watering the Entrance, and Camp Duties. Si'aspiqo spends most of his time pondering arcane fragments in one of the kraal outbuildings, while Amphius sleeps in another. He finds it easier to sleep during the heat of the day, and makes his appearance at the evening meal; Serif asks him to walk the outer perimeter of the kraal each night as he can see much further than any of the guards on watch. Each day Agripinus and Sammus join whichever activity takes their fancy, while Toxoanassa always rides out on patrol, spending the whole day on horseback with the wind in her hair.

Fifty thirsty ponies and the regular watering of the entrance take a toll on the kraal pond, which is much smaller and shallower than a month ago. So it is a relief to all when the weather breaks on the morning of the 5th day, and rain showers sweep across the whole area. The Numidians dance and sing in the rain, and all the ponies are brushed and combed when soaking wet. Heavy showers of rain persist for two days, but on the third day these grow light and fitful. Serif takes two scouts and Toxoanassa to check the entrance works on foot, and is satisfied that all the plants look healthy and most of the pony tracks have been washed away. Preparations to leave commence immediately, and the whole war-band breaks camp at dawn the next day.

Serif takes the whole group in single file down several creeks filled with streams running from the recent rain. After a few hours you reach the cave of the Lamia, where the Numidians camp for lunch and spend several hours riding in all directions while building several camp fires in the middle of the day. Many bags of camp trash are scattered around or buried in a poorly-concealed midden. By mid-afternoon he is satisfied with this fabrication and the whole group rides off southwards four abreast, making a clear trail with no concealment before camping at dusk. Two more days of steady riding brings everyone safe and sound to Teveste, where it seems the whole town turns out to greet you.

From Sammus’s Boast:

75: A39 – Sealing Kaskator

While I was on sentry duty that night, I saw Amphius sitting alone, gazing entranced at the dark sky. I heard an owl flying amongst the trees in the darkness, but it was obvious that Amphius could actually see it and was watching it as it flew around. When I awoke next morning with the dawn, he had been driven inside by the first rays of sun and had wrapped bandages over his eyes.

As the sun rose, Agripinus led a prayer to Tanit and asked for Her blessing for the work ahead. Serif and perhaps a quarter of the Numidians prayed with him. All morning a party of Numidians, aided by Agripinus and I, piled stones into the entrance of Kaskator, and then sealed it with a deep layer of sifted soil. A number of thorny desert shrubs and aromatic herbs were also planted there, and the afternoon was spent ferrying water-skins from the kraal stream and soaking the whole area. By dusk, all these works were complete. Toxoanassa returned with a Numidian patrol, and reported the whole area was quiet; almost too quiet. Kaskator had taken a deep breath, and all was still.

That evening there was a celebration – two small bucks were roasted and flatbread was baked on hot stones. Everyone got a small cup of olive oil, and a sip of the last wine from Kaskator. Serif made a long speech in the Numidian tongue which was followed by a few words in Arma from Agripinus. Amphius sat far from the camp fire shaded by the corner of a hut; Si'aspiqo sat with him, and they watched the stars wheeling above. The Numidians sang long into the night, and the kraal seemed very different from the dark gloomy ruin of mid-winter.

Four hot days passed, and on each day, Serif divided his band into four groups, giving each a task: Hunting, Area Patrol, Watering the Entrance, and Camp Duties. Si'aspiqo spent most of his time pondering arcane fragments in one of the kraal outbuildings, while Amphius slept in another. He was finding it easier to sleep during the heat of the day, and made his appearance at the evening meal; Serif asked him to walk the outer perimeter of the kraal each night as he could see much further than any of the guards on watch. Each day Agripinus and I joined whichever activity took our fancy, although never the hunting, while Toxoanassa always rode out on patrol, spending the whole day on horseback with the wind in her hair.

Fifty thirsty ponies and the regular watering of the entrance took a toll on the kraal pond, which was much smaller and shallower than a month ago. So, it was a relief to all when the weather broke on the morning of the 5th day, and rain showers swept across the whole area. The Numidians danced and sang in the rain, and all the ponies were brushed and combed when soaking wet. Heavy showers of rain persisted for two days, but on the third day these grew light and fitful. Serif took two scouts and Toxoanassa to check the entrance works on foot, and was satisfied that all the plants looked healthy and most of the pony tracks had been washed away. Preparations to leave commenced immediately, and the whole war-band broke camp at dawn the next day.

Serif took the whole group in single file down several creeks filled with streams running from the recent rain. After a few hours we reached the cave of the Lamia, where the Numidians camped for lunch and spent several hours riding in all directions while building several camp fires in the middle of the day. Many bags of camp trash were scattered around or buried in a poorly-concealed midden. By mid-afternoon he was satisfied with this fabrication and the whole group rode off southwards four abreast, making a clear trail with no concealment before camping at dusk. Two more days of steady riding brought everyone safe and sound to Teveste, in the late afternoon where it seemed the whole town turned out to greet us.

The elders were in the town square to greet everyone and in particular Serif and Agripinus were made much of. Agripinus told the elders that we had accomplished what we had set out to do and lavished praise on the contribution of Serif and the Numidians. He told them that Kaskator had been sealed and the entrance concealed. The elders were delighted and we were invited to see the shrine of Tanit, which they would like Agripinus to consecrate in the morning. We were shown to our guest hut, which was all spruced up and ready. Many people were available to look after our mounts. Amphius’s eyes were still bandaged but if he were in a well shuttered room, he was able to remove them, but he still had to be careful to avoid looking at firelight or candles.

Agripinus let Serif know that we would be due monies for the idols and our work, for which he would be given a share. He was willing to travel to Carthage with us, but would talk to the elders and let us know the arrangements they thought appropriate, in the morning. We washed off the dust of the journey and went to the evening reception.

This was the most lavish of the celebrations we had attended here. There was a large meal, with many tasty dishes, that lasted long into evening, with a place of honour for Serif, Agripinus and the rest of us. The Numidians made enquiries and commiserated with Amphius.

The following morning, we were taken to a small dwelling which had been renovated and the inside clear. The two rooms had been knocked into one and the walls were freshly lime washed. The effigy had been set up on a dais in the centre. Agripinus led a ceremony and consecrated the shrine.

Serif let us know that he had been approved to go to Carthage with three trusted companions. We recognised all of them as they had been senior members of the party to Kaskator. All spoke Arma and had been in the army and been to Carthage. Between them they had two extra ponies.

We discussed taking a more circuitous route and also Toxoanassa found flowing robes to disguise herself – we were concerned the Baal faction in Carthage might be on the lookout for our party’s return. We decided to take a route south and east and then on to the coast and back to Carthage. One of the Numidians had been that way before and thought it would probably take two weeks instead of one.

After a couple of days, we reached the settlement of Capsa, which was similar in size to Teveste but with a few more stone buildings. Here we picked up the eastern road on to the coast. After a couple more days we saw a cavalry patrol and were investigated. Agripinus greeted them and demonstrated that he was a citizen of Carthage. They asked his name, which he gave them. They were satisfied and quickly moved on. In another three days we reached a fork in the road and took the fork towards Leptis.

Over the next week or so we passed another couple of cavalry patrols as we went through Leptis and Hasdrumentum, where the Numidians bought supplies for us all, and then north to Ziqua and then Uthea and finally along the coast to Carthage. After riding for a total of twelve days, all in fine weather, we approached Carthage. It was now late May. As we approached the last wayside camp before the city, the temperature had cooled and it was just coming on to rain, so we were all wrapped in cloaks. The rest of us waited at the wayside camp, while Agripinus entered the city on his own.

People approached us selling food and a variety of other goods and water was available. To avoid it seeming odd that we were waiting here, we periodically peered back down the way we had come as though waiting for someone. Some hours passed and we had lunch and still Agripinus had not returned. We were concerned that he might have got into some difficulty, but decided to wait until just before dusk and then enter the city and look for an inn to stay.

Around mid-afternoon the priest returned. There were important matters ongoing at the senate and there had been no-one to whom he could report. After waiting some hours no-one had returned and he had left a message and would return to the temple in the morning. We continued around the city to the next wayside camp near the Uttica gate. We spent a damp and soggy night but no-one disturbed us. Agripinus went back into Carthage early the next morning.

This time he was expected and was told where to take his party. We were conveyed as a group to the same safe house as before and our mounts were taken elsewhere to be cared for. Agripinus reported the success of our mission and handed over the idols of Geshtinanna or Circe, the ugly God and Neti that we had taken from Kaskator. The temple was very pleased and paid for the three idols and the contract.

From Sammus’s Boast:

76: A40 – Leaving Carthage

Towards dusk Agripinus was ready to go into the city. Amphius accompanied him but the rest of us remained behind in the safe house. They returned at dawn with a very heavy chest and Amphius with news of a ship.

At a dock tavern he had met up with Kalicrates, a Greek ship-owner who he had sailed withß previously. His ship, the Morning Breeze, was bound for Tharras, a major town on the western coast of Sardinia. He wanted to sail at dusk that evening as he had a charter to meet and needed both sailors and mercenaries as boat security. Agreeing to sail for passage in either role, he told us, would allow us to travel with him to Tharras for no payment (either way).

Kalicrates also needed a Priest to deliver some religious reassurance after the leader of his last boat security died on board. The man had been a Gaul apparently and his other Gaulish companions had now decamped, claiming the boat was unlucky. We should aim to be at the docks by noon today, so that we could board, giving Agripinus time for a ceremony. Kalicrates planned to sail with the evening tide.

After Tharras, Kalicrates did not have definite plans, but had talked of going West to Spain. Again, we could sail with him for passage, if that was where he was bound. If not, we should be able to pick up another boat in Tharras.

The three idols were worth a talent of gold each, some 6,000 gold coins in all. All six of us had a share of 1000 gp each. Serif had the remaining ponies included as part of his share.

We all went into Carthage city, collected our horses and said our farewells to Serif. Toxoanassa was again wrapped in a cloak and Amphius wore a wide-brimmed hat, which only partially concealed the bandages around his eyes. I gifted my horse to Serif. Agripinus gave him a bronze helmet, Amphius a fine short sword, Toxoanassa a dagger and Si'aspiqo a fire flute and his pony. Serif gave heartfelt thanks to us all, and said that his gift in return was friendship : we would always be welcomed in Teveste by his family, whether or not he were alive. Now he would return home a wealthy man, and could guest with the King of Eastern Numidia as a man of renown, and not some distant cousin of no account.
   ‘May the light of Tanit shine always shine on your path — Farewell!’

The Numidians left Carthage by the Uttica gate. We avoided the shops and temptations of the Agora and just escorted Agripinus, the loot and all our other impedimenta carried by porters for a few silver, and made our way down to the commercial harbour. There we were introduced to Kalicrates, the Greek owner of the Morning Breeze, which was moored there. She was a merchant ship, configured mainly for sailing and long range, with perhaps 24 sailors on board, and a half-dozen professional warriors. I was told that she was reckoned a small triacontor, but had been set up for carrying some cargo.

Kalicrates was a large bulky man with red eyes and two days of dark stubble on his face, who looked like he had been up all night. He introduced Agripinus to the crew as a Priest of high renown throughout Carthage, and an expert in averting evil spirits and similar misfortunes. He was conveyed to the very spot where the unfortunate Gaul had dropped dead, and he conducted an impressive ceremony of propitiation, sanctification and blessing for the whole ship and those souls on board. The motley band of Greeks, Sicilians and Ionics seemed highly superstitious, like most sailors, and were soon convinced of his capabilities and a good outcome. Kalicrates welcomed each of us on board as professional soldiers and ship-guards for this voyage. Amphius he knew, and Agripinus and I were obviously men of arms, experienced in warfare. Si'Aspiqo was accepted as ‘combat support’, when vouched for by Amphius. Last of all, Toxoanassa pushed back her cloak and fired three arrows into a basket of rope twenty paces off. In a few heartbeats they all landed within a palms-width of each other, and she gave her name as Oiorpata, from Sythia.
   ‘An Amazon! You never mentioned an Amazon, Amphius…’ said Kalicrates… but welcomed her to the boat as a warrior and deadly shot. ‘I have never met a real Amazon before,’ he remarked. ‘I thought they wore… less… heavy clothing… or special… armour.’
   ‘They don’t look like the ones painted on wine-cups’ said Amphius, from under the brim of his sun-hat, and we all laughed. Toxoanassa came on board, and took her place in the prow of the ship as a lookout and archer. Agripinus, Si'aspiqo and I had a normal station near the stern, whilst Amphius would be the night-watch man in the prow.

The sailors busied themselves loading and lashing down all our gear in a space just forward of the stern platform, and gradually some sort of order appeared out of the chaotic mess of gear and people filling this slender one-masted ship. Four Sardinian passengers were summoned aboard late in the afternoon, and the ship cast off. Twenty oars dipped rhythmically in the water, and the vessel drew away from the quayside, into the deeper water of the harbour. As the sun touched the Eastern horizon, she slipped into the sea proper, helped by the evening tide. A light wind blew from the south-east, and as twilight swept across the sea the oarsmen shipped their oars as the sail was set. The lights of Carthage twinkled far behind, as we sailed on northwards…

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