The Age of Worms/ The Spire of Long Shadows pt. 12 / Bora the 1st, 3593 CE / 11-26-23

Deep within the ziggurat of Kuluth-Mar, Not By Choice stands before the precipice of a lake of worms and ponders how best to proceed. After some discussion, and a bit of scouting by Nari in her air elemental form, it becomes clear that the surer footing is on solid ground. Lulu and Taavi scout a door to the west while Nari and company concerns themselves with the chamber to the east filled with well-preserved corpses, yet no sign of Caius worms. Despite Nari's hesitation, combat ultimately comes from the east, as Rados, growing impatient, bursts through the door and casts fireball at the two worm callers within, who are guarding a strange obsidian fountain. Rados, Taavi and the sword archon made quick work of these foes, but the sword archon also warns the party to exit the room, as the cursed fountain attempts to take hold of their minds. Rados then makes plans to burn the bodies in the western room, though after some protesting, he gives the party time to search the bodies. Nari concludes that the room has a permanent spell of gentle repose cast upon it, and that these were probably willing victims of Caius who hoped to be raised later as his undead servants. Lulu also discovers a holy symbol of Caius which triggers another of the strange visions which have plagued the party since they arrived at Kuluth-Mar. In this vision, Lulu observes the ritual by which Caius attempted to achieve godhood, as thousands of his followers are struck down and he becomes a monstrous creature made entirely of worms. But in the vision, something goes wrong, and Caius becomes trapped in the obsidian monolith at the top of the Spire of Long Shadows, the same monolith which the party knows from a previous vision was later stolen by a dragon. As Rados begins destroying the bodies in the Chamber of Repose, the party is able to resist the choking smoke of cremation thanks to Nari's spell of ashen path. They proceed to another chamber where skeleons are all that remain as evidence that at some point, Caius's preservation magic had faded over the passing centuries. Proceeding south, the party finds a room in disarray and filled with books, housing another one of the giant worms with humanoid faces of the type that previously assaulted them in their descent down the shaft. This one however is more of the talkative type, and apparently has spent the passing centuries studying all the volumes in this chamber in order to improve on Caius's failed ritual. The party learns that the humanoid worms were once Caius's high priests and received this mutated form as a blessing from their master. Rados attempts to negotiate with the creature, but quickly decides that the risks of allowing this creature to escape to the outside world outweigh the rewards of allying with the monster, and the party extricates themselves from the conversation, leaving the "book worm" to his reading, but not before a promise to visit once more before departing Kuluth-Mar. With the rest of the compound as secure as it can be, the only path ahead now lies across the lake of worms. To that end Rados casts flight spells on the party, while Nari resumes her air elemental form. However halfway over the tepid, writhing waters a gargantuan overworm being ridden by Indarna the Caius knight surges forth with the party's destruction as their obvious goal. Lulu and company flee to the branching corridor to the east, quickly followed by Rados. Nari & company and the sword-archon clash with the worm, with Rados providing aid in the form of a fireball spell. In addition to the danger presented by the overworm's gargantuan size, the party discovers to their horror that injuring the monster causes more worms to spill forth from the creature's wounds, as they burrow into Jozu and the sword archon.