Chapter 9, Part 2: "The Psyclops..."

Our Entertainment:

Buzz Brazelhatch - Australian Womanizer and Fighting-Man
Corporal "Radar" O'Reiley - Earth Man Rocketship Soldier
Dickie Dee - Bone Man Intoxicant Addict and Sorcerer
Kal-Mor the White Jackal - Hyperborean Bigot and Assassin
Kalervo - Cactoid Fighter
Monster Monagin - Earth Man Sailor and Bully
Rodan the Scrounger - Zermish Man Scavenger and Fighting-Man
Thragg the Skyman - Zermish Man Ornithopter Passenger and Fighting-Man
Xarnagan Vrokk - Haasht Man Fighting-Sage

Hobab - Lhoyg (piebald) Mountain Man and Guide
Vrroomish - Tikalg Man Dandy and Adventurer
Two Nguamodons - Pack Lizards

Part I Here, Part III Here, Part IV Here.

The party rests in their mountainside campsite, taking full advantage of the opportunity to dry the cold moldy damp of the Forbidden Mist Valley out of the clothing and gear and for some of the fighting-men to recover from their injuries.

The party's guide, Hobab, is visibly troubled and makes several pathetic attempts to ingratiate himself with the party, but his overtures are mostly met with cold, if not subtly hostile, rebuffs. Buzz Brazelhatch runs out of rations and the flamboyant dandy Vrroomish gives him spicy sugared wafers of seeds and grubs from his own supplies before sharing the last of his liquor with the party.

As the party enjoys the spiced brandy and a companionable air settles over the camp, Hobab stands up and makes a stammering speech that claims that with the orientation available at their campsite he could plot a course that would lead the party to the crashed alien sky-vessel, with several apologies for the inconvenience accrued in the previous fruitless forays into The Forbidden Mist Valley.

Perhaps it is the warm glow of the liquor in the companions veins, or perhaps the visions of cutting down foes with the molecule-destroying beams of alien energy weapons, that lends the party to find the proposal worthwhile and they decide to make another foray down into the valley for the flying saucer tomorrow.

As the party settles in for the night a clipping sound is heard. Sitting on a rock is the Cactoid Kalervo, with a suit of scavenged splint mail from the party's baggage lying on the ground, carefully cutting off his spines in order to wear the fighting-harness.

The next morning the band marches down into the cold, wet, disorientating Forbidden Mist Valley. At approximately midday the black basalt fragments of a crumbled ruin are spotted atop a hill, the party investigates and finds the remains of an inconceivably ancient fortress, with a large tunnel of smooth, fused stone descending downwards in the direction the party was heading. The companions decide to investigate and agitate two glow-fluid lanterns before traveling onwards and downwards.

Soon the tunnel levels, and several hours later it ascends in a steep slope. The rugose texture of the tunnel floor somewhat ameliorates the steep angle of the passage. After traveling for what seems like forever in the tunnel sunlight is spotted ahead. The party cautiously proceeds and they find the tunnel exiting in the midst of a massive complex of black basalt ruins; the iridescent copper, green and purple peaks of the Bornite Mountains rising beyond the cyclopean crumbling walls.

As their eyes adjust to the sunlight and they take in the ruins, a bestial howling is heard before a gigantic deformed, hoofed, and horned humanoid with a single massive eye visibly oscillating with preternatural energy, emerges from the ruins.

As several party members break for the ruins to the left and others lurk behind in the tunnel with the pack reptiles the giant thing casts it's malevolent gaze on Hobab, who's nose immediately begins bleeding as he howls in pain. The black-and-white mountain guide attempts to retreat into the tunnel, but Buzz Brazelhatch is behind and shoves Hobab forward.

Meanwhile Xarnagan the Fighting-Sage mounts one of the Nguamodons and attempts to ride it forward into battle. The dim-witted herbivorous reptile panics instead and runs back down the tunnel with the scaled Hassht Man clinging to it's back.

The monster continues to gaze at Hobab who begins to bleed from his ears are well while Buzz grabs Hobab's shoulders and holds him in the beast's gaze.

From the ruins to the left a crossbow twangs but the bolt bounces off the thick, warty hide of the beast. Several party members scurry through and climb the ruins, weapons in their grips. From a niche in a tumbled pile of stone blocks Dickie Dee attempts an incantation upon their giant foe but it is ineffective.

Hobab howls in agony as his eyes begin bleeding before he tears himself out of the Australian's grip and runs back down into the tunnel. A volley of missile fire, including laser beams from the party members lurking in the ruins, rains upon the monster which is injured as a pair of stout fighters rush forth and engage it. Vrroomish lurks beside Dickie Dee, aiming a silvery needle-barreled pistol as he attempts to line up a good shot. The creature gazes upon one of the combatants who feels terrible psychic forces assaulting his brain, but manages to resist.

Meanwhile Xaranagan manages to calm the pack lizard and cajoles it into turning around and advancing.

Several blue and violet coruscating beams lance out of Rodan the Scrounger's laser pistol and into the flesh of the malformed titan as others rain attacks upon it. It attempts to use evil eye upon another but once again the psychic attack is resisted before it falls from it's injuries.

After binding their wounds the party examines the creature and an decision is made to gut it in search of treasure. In it's bowels are found corroded lumps consisting of several thousand copper and silver coins and a handful of crystals of moderate value.

As the triple suns of Algol set the part decides to make camp in the cyclopean black ruins and explore in the morrow. Although nothing disturbs the party's rest during the night in the morning screams are heard emanating from the thrashing form of Buzz Brazelhach, who appears to be in the throes of a terrible nightmare. Vrroomish dashes forward and takes Buzz's head into his lap as he rubs Buzz's brow with a brandy-moistened handkerchief while making soothing noises.

Buzz gasps and awakens, immediately writhing out of Vrroomish's ministrations and lurching to his feet to tell of terrible nocturnal visions: Of a sprawling, massive fortress of black basalt, the ruins the party are currently exploring, in past splendor of primeval times. He told how he saw it inhabited by hordes of mottled serpent men sorcerers who performed mass tortures, rituals, experiments and sacrifices upon thousands of humans, naked and chained. All this culminating in a terrible rite performed by an army of reptilian warlocks upon a colossal pile of sacrificial victims all in order to bring forth a thing too horrible to remember, and of a scale to dwarf the fortress...

Once Buzz concludes his tale, the Hassht Man Sage, Xarnagan Vrokk, calmly confirms that the ruins that the party are currently located within are indeed most likely that of the Elder Race of Serpent Men who bred proto-humans in order to use them as components in their sorcery.