Down with False Gods

And so the party was dead in the water off the coast of Carthage in a charred, sinking hulk of a boat when the other craft swiftly pulled up and glided to a stop, the skeleton crew at its oars backwatering ever so gently to cease its forward movement. Looking down upon the party from over the gunwales was a host of other undead, including zombies and a pair of gibbering ghouls. At the stern of the craft, surrounded by several other humans and a massive gnoll, stood a massive blonde human in Greek style hoplite armor, that looked hell-burnished bright. Horus, the Paladin of Set had returned.

With that, he, the ghouls, several of the humans, and a few zombies, jumped down into the party?s barely afloat craft. Horus roughly smacked the ghouls back aboard his boat with ?Don?t be rude. It is not lunch time yet, boys!? while the humans and the gnoll bound up the rest of the party in iron fetters. Finished with remonstrating the ghouls, ghouls, Horus gave the party?s mage a warm embrace and the cleric of Athena a friendly nod.

In rapid succession he glibly greeted the party?s old cadre with ?I did not know that it was you! What a surprise! Who would have thought! How nice to see you!? Then there was a slight pause in his cadence and re recommenced. ?Oh, this is kind of awkward? I work for someone else now so I know you?ll understand but you are my prisoners now?? With that, the mage and the cleric were also cast into fetters and the whole party was brought aboard the Paladin?s war craft.

The zombies and the humans stripped the party of the clothing and belongings as they lay shackled to the hull. The elf, in an effort to conceal a poisoned arrow head in his buttocks, managed to stab himself in the posterior and immediately went into convulsions. The Paladin of Set, slightly amused, went over and used his healing magic on the unfortunate and uttered ?Foolish boy, nice try but you are far more valuable to me alive than dead?.

As the craft approached an island, Horus said ?When I bought it, it was called Great Kuriat Island but I changed the name to the Island of the Skulls. I was thinking of that or maybe Skull Island. Which sounds more ominous and grim? What do you think?? he adds. The party was quickly unloaded from the craft with the newer members dragged ashore while the veterans were led down a gang plank by Horus. He says, pointing to a crew of kobold stone workers chiseling away on a rock face overlooking a cave, ?Does it look like a skull yet? It is still a little rough, no? But it is coming along, don?t you think??

The Mage and the Cleric of Athena were unbound, led to their rooms, not quite spacious but quite nice with furnishings including a bed, dressers, chamber pots etc. Horus said ?Make your self at home. I?ll have some clean clothes brought up to you shortly. If you want some reading material, there are some magazines there. I am sorry that they are all in Latin. I stole them from my neighbors. Evil never rests, you know.?

The rest of the party, still fettered, were led past an exquisite torture chamber ? in full operation on some other guests -- and then chained to the walls of a dungeon that had varying levels of sea water in the on the floor, depending on the tide.

After several days of such treatment and several private conversations in which he explained that he did not want to turn the party elders over to the Persians to face desertion charges and some exchanging of gifts (The Paladin explained that he needed some of their magic items to keep his henchmen happy) with the mage and the Cleric of Athena, Horus explained that he has sent a ransom demand to the Island of Delos and that, in the mean time, he needed the party to attend to some business for him. To the elf he adds with a smile: ?The drow at Carthage have expressed considerable interest in getting their talons onto you!?

continued on the uploaded file.....