The Lost City of Barakus


Purple Worm

The slaad weakened the party enough that they decide to spend the night to heal and regain spells. In the morning, as they’re breaking camp, the party hears rumbling like something moving through rubble. They carefully head down the corridor, peaking around corners before proceeding down the next corridor. When they reach the large corridor they see a purple worm heading toward them. While the rest of the party attacks the worm Sue casts Blade Barrier in front of the worm. Hungry ans unable to get to the party the worm dives into the stone floor and comes up on the other side of the Blade Barrier. As the party attacks the purple worm Gorthol finds himself inside the maw of the worm. Before the worm has a chance to swallow him Gorthol strikes the killing blow. The worm collapses on top of him. Gorthol crawls out of the maw of the now dead purple worm and begins cutting it open in search of treasure. He finds a bastard long sword, a wand and a ring. One item at a time they wrap the items in the Cloth of Identification and wait for the duration to identify them. They learn that they found a +2 bastard sword, a wand of ____ and a ring of ____.

While the cloth is magically identifying the items the party finds an opening through the rubble that leads to another room. They decide to check it out and find information about their quest:

  • All three torches must be lit simultaneously, after which the Sword of Kell may be activated.
  • The Sword of Kell stays active as long as all three torches remain lit or until “he who will not die” is slain.
  • The Sword of Kell might be able to destroy a terrible stone but would certainly be destroyed as well.

Abyssal Ghouls

With the new information they head back toward the direction of the room they were heading toward before they got sidetracked by the purple worm. In the shield shaped statue room they encounter a group of undead creatures. Albrish figures out that they are not the common ghouls but are Abyssal Ghouls. Several times one person or another is grappled by the ghouls and attacked by one of the ghoul’s foot-long tongue that dangles from their disgusting mouth. Only Sue, however, is successfully attacked by the long tongue. In time, the party kills the last of the ghouls and continues on their trek. Gorthol starts counting doors that they successfully pass through without being attacked.

They enter a large room where the ceiling stretches thirty feet into the air. On the west, south, and east walls are large, 4’ high stone daises upon which are 8’ high silver metal posts topped with a black sphere about 9" in diameter. Each metal post had a small geometrically shaped depression of different shape about 6" from its base. Two fit the two geometrically shapes the party found earlier, the rectangle and the triangle; only the circle was missing. In the center of the floor is a large, circular red metal plate with a sword-shaped depression in its center, the size of a greatsword. There is also an inscription on the wall: Take that which is not there | Follow the warm way | Say thee the prayer | And the sword is yours.

With their memories refreshed of what they found earlier they continue to the next room, Gorthol still counting the number of doors. In this room they remember reading the tale of a great wizard named Devron who thrived in Barakus for fifty years before a great falling out and he became “one who does not die.” The tale tells how he was imprisoned “deep beneath Barakus” for his heinous crime. It continues to say that the key to the prison was hidden beneath the “three islands” and that a key was given to the high priest of each island should a “champion ever be chosen.”

Another wall has the following inscription: Pass now if though art a guardian strong | Pass now if though art a keeper of the sword | Pass now if though art a warrior fearless | For he who waits fears nothing and knows only death | Pass now if though speakest the word that all men wish to know

The party remembers that when they first read the inscription and then uttered the word “fearless” a secret door was revealed. Inside the room was a 3’ high stone pedestal with a brass triangle inside a triangular indentation.

Crawling Head

Having learning nothing else the party moves on, Gorthol counting the doors once again. They go through a simple maze where they had encountered a minotaur their first time through and head to where they had encountered a cockatrice. This time they encounter a huge, bloated head quickly moving about on the entrails of intestines, arteries, and veins spread out from the neck of the head. The crawling head attacks with a fear spell that causes Gorthol to flee the room. Without their fighter the remaining party members fear for their survival. The grotesque head casts another spell before attacking Sue with it’s overdeveloped mouth filled with multiple rows of sharklike teeth. Sue doesn’t have a chance to defend himself as the crawling head bites Sue’s head off. His headless body slumps to the floor, spurting blood. The two remaining clerics fight with every bit of strength they can muster only to have Rukii fall to the floor unconscious.

Albrish continued to fight the bloated head. Will he fall like his comrades? Will Gorthol eventually recover from the fear and return to find his party members dead? Albrish has to make a quick decision, heal himself to survive one more blow or attempt to strike the head and pray it’s the killing blow. He decides to strike at the head. With his body bleeding from multiple wounds he makes one final attack and manages to kill the crawling head. Albrish quickly heals Rukii before she succumbs to her wounds and Gorthol returns from his fear induced sprint.


