Return to the Necropolis: Prologue
Following is the beginning of the long-awaited sequel to the Skirmisher Publishing LLC fantasy novel Swords of Kos: Necropolis! It picks up right where the book left off but is a self-standing novella and will be presented here in serialized form for the next several months. A number of the places that appear in the story, such as Paros's alchemy shop in this Prologue, are fully described in Kos City, the first volume in the "Swords of Kos Fantasy Campaign Setting" (and we have included the map from it with this story). We hope you will join alchemical rogue Paros, Elven barbarian Parthenia, and moon priestess Selene in their Return to the Necropolis!
For three days after they returned to Kos City from the abandoned necropolis known as the Elysion, wily Paros, barbaric Elf Parthenia, and moon priestess Selene did little more than eat, sleep, and recuperate from the physical and mental rigors they had experienced. By the morning of the fourth day they felt sufficiently recovered to set out with the priestess's recently acquired cart and mule to retrieve the items from the embalming chamber for Paros's new alchemy shop. Ideally they would have waited a little longer but Selene was eager to return to her hamlet in the interior of the island as soon as possible and, if Paros wanted avail himself of her equipment and assistance, he would have to do so now.
The companions decided that during this brief return they would enter only the outer areas associated with the black marble hillside temple of Hades Polydegmon — namely, the statue-filled entry hall, the chapel to dread Thanatos, the priestly dressing room, the chamber of the Styx-stream, and the area behind the secret door containing the storage room and the laboratory where they had battled the mummy. This latter room was, indeed, the object of their quest, and from it Paros wanted to carry away as much of the alchemical equipment as possible, along with any substances that were still good. While they were there they would also thoroughly re-search the other areas for anything of potential worth that they might have missed the first time.
But on this foray they resolved to abstain from exploring any other parts of the sprawling aboveground necropolis, and by no means to cross over the subterranean brook that seemed to both be symbolic of the River Styx and to share some of its characteristics. Whatever supernatural forces had led to them becoming trapped there before were presumably still in effect, and there was no reason to think they were better equipped to deal with them now than they had been before. During their previous incursion into the catacombs beneath the necropolis the adventurers had fully expected to encounter any number of hazards or guardians, but were not prepared for the place itself to be a giant deathtrap. They still had a large hoard of treasure hidden there, secure in the Anemoi family tomb and deep into the maze of underground vaults and sepulchers, but collecting it would have to wait until they knew more about what they were dealing with and had a better sense of how to leave the place when they were ready.
The party departed Kos City as early in the day as possible, knowing that they would be slowed by the cart and mule once they left the highway and began their ascent along the rougher tracks leading up into the hills. The entire trip was only about six miles, but it was slow going and, in the event they were delayed in any way, they did not want to arrive even close to the onset of darkness. As the companions had learned during their first visit to the huge cemetery, the corpses of those buried there rose up once the sun went down and that revelation had almost spelled their doom. They arrived at the wrought-iron gates to the place, however, a little after noon, and thereafter worked their way cautiously through the labyrinth of overgrown mausoleums, crumbling cenotaphs, and other funerary structures, and the trees, shrubs, and other flora that had grown up amongst them during the century since the last person had been buried there. When the cataclysmic eruption of the Thera volcano had destroyed the world as the people living at that time had known it, the Elysion was abandoned and had never been used since. Some few bands of adventurers appeared to have visited the place over the proceeding hundred years but it was still largely unexplored by the time Paros, Parthenia, and Selene had mounted their expedition to it.
The three of them were not molested during their brief passage through the cemetery to the mausoleum at the base of the hill containing the secret door that led directly into the embalming laboratory. Once there, they backed the cart into it and unhitched the mule; they would not try to complete their tasks and leave this day and would instead spend the night in the room that lay beyond, as they had done before. The secret marble slab that led into the laboratory, however, was dead-bolted from within and Paros had no means of opening it from the outside, so they would have to get to it by going through the temple of Hades on the hill above. Paros and Parthenia would do this, while Selene stood guard over the mule, and then open the door from within so that the priestess could join them. Then, they would secure the door to the mausoleum-stable to keep the mule safe during the night and turn to the business at hand.
As Paros and Parthenia headed out they heard Selene slide the iron bar they had brought with them through the handles on the inside of the mausoleum's bronze double doors. They then made their way over to the path leading up onto the wide, overgrown plaza before the black stone temple built into the side of the hill. Once there, they paused at the great green metal portals so that Paros could examine them for evidence of traps or other hazards, but the entryway did not seem to have been tampered with in any way since they had last passed through it. Inside, the statues of the eight gods peered down from their wallside pedestals at the companions, dark Hades, fleet Hermes, mighty Herakles, grieving Persephone, the three Judges of the Dead, and the archaic, three-faced goddess whose identity was still unknown to them. Paros and Parthenia walked past them and then down the broad stairway that led into the depths of the hill, hastening through the landing with the relief carving of dread Thanatos, god of death, and then into the chamber of the Styx.
Nothing had changed in this semi-improved natural cavern, and water still flowed out of a fountain carved in the form of an infernal Fury and thence across the chamber into a small pool at the base of a pedestal. A bronze statue of Achilles had stood upon that stone platform the first time they had entered this place and, after it came to life they had battled it, and it lay on the floor still, sundered and with Paros's dagger embedded in its heel. Beyond the stream a wide passageway disappeared into the darkness to the west and, as the companions had been magically prevented from crossing back over the water the last time they had gone in that direction, they had decided to avoid doing so this time.
The rogue and the female warrior went north first, to the room full of cabinets and moldering vestments that had apparently been used by the priests who once tended this place to dress and prepare themselves for their ritual duties. The companions had previously found a number of leaden amulets cast in the likenesses of ram skulls in a magically-trapped box there, but these had little apparent value and they did not find anything else. They briefly perused it and then moved on, crossing the stream chamber again to the place on the southern wall where they knew there to be a secret door. Passing through this portal and then closing it behind them, they walked up the narrow passageway, through the storage room full of tools and building supplies, and to the reinforced wooden door that secured the entrance to the embalming room. Paros had locked it the last time they were here and unlocked it now with the makeshift key he had fashioned and then pulled the door open, revealing the large room full of cabinets, workbenches, and a stone embalming bier. As with everything else, it was just as it had been weeks earlier, before they had become trapped deeper in the catacombs and unable to return, and the gear they had left here during their last visit was undisturbed.
Paros walked over to the iron door in the east wall, shot back the two deadbolts, and then pulled it open, revealing Selene waiting for them on the other side; the heavy portal was faced with marble on its other side so, while it was clearly visible from inside the room, was not apparent from outside of it. This concealed entryway had apparently once been used for discretely bringing bodies into the embalming room, and the eminently presentable mausoleum had probably been used as a model for the sort of thing affluent clients could have had built for themselves in the necropolis.
Paros had already conducted a thorough inventory of the laboratory's contents and now began to pack and move onto the cart everything he had decided to take with him; Parthenia and Half-Elven Selene both offered to help him but the fastidious alchemist-rogue preferred to work alone and firmly declined their assistance. There was not much in the way of loot for the two women but, as they were here as a favor to Paros, he agreed to let them split anything they wanted that was not strictly alchemical in nature. This included a box of semi-precious stones etched with arcane symbols and used in the preparation of bodies that was once done here. The rogue was not entirely happy with this arrangement, as it seemed to violate the convention for splitting loot dictating that items acquired for personal use did not count toward the monetary treasure that would be divided amongst the adventurers. Had he been given some sort of an offset when they claimed the sets of masterwork hoplite armor that they even now wore? The fact that they had needed to come back for these items should not have made a bit of difference, but he had gotten used to the irrationality of the women to some extent and decided to defer to them on this point. Purchasing everything he would need for his alchemy shop likely would have cost him about as much as the building he had bought for it — and he had little left after doing so — so it was still worth it to accede to their demands in this regard.
There was no hurry as they were in for the night, so Paros took his time sorting and loading his glassware, burners, tools, jars of chemicals, and other items. While he did, the women made themselves comfortable on their bedrolls, got out their dice, and began to play one of their complex games of chance, using the hoard of gems they had split for wagers. When he was done, Selene collected some of the containers and other items Paros had not chosen and took them to use back in her village.
During the night, the walking corpses that haunted the cemetery sensed the presence of the mule and began to pound and claw at the door of the mausoleum in an attempt to break into it. It did not seem likely that they would succeed, but their eerie moaning caused the animal to become panicked and it began neighing, kicking, and banging itself into the walls; the adventurers became concerned that it might injure itself or even knock the door open and be killed by the undead monsters, and so they brought it into the embalming chamber to spend the night with them there. Confident though they were in the security of the room — and in their ability to flee through one of the doors if the other was breached — they had a night of fitful and nightmarish sleep and rose early so that they could be ready to leave right at dawn.
When it was light, the party departed and made good time back to Kos City, stopping to buy lamb kebabs from a street vendor once they had passed through the gates and then going straight to Paros's shop on Lead Street. They took the wagon through the alley behind the building and into the little walled courtyard at the rear of the building and then Paros spent the rest of the day hauling in equipment and setting up his alchemical laboratory, while the women drank and rolled their dice.
The next morning, Parthenia and Selene packed up their gear and left for the hamlet of Titan worshippers up in the hills where the priestess dwelled. Before they went, they shared cups of tea and vowed to meet back in Kos soon so that they could mount their next expedition to the necropolis, to retrieve the treasure they had left behind — and perhaps even find more.
Read "Return to the Necropolis: Chapter 1"
