Part Four: The PCs Get to a "R'ylee" Dangerous Island.

Get it? It's a pun. Oh, never mind...

When the PCs see R'ylee, they'll know what they're looking at. The place is shaped just like a gigantic skull, at the base of which lies the crumbling ruins of gigantic stonehenge-like structures. Disturbing occult runes adorn every inch of the place, gigantic carrion birds circle overhead, and the place smells even worse than the surrounding sea.

In short, the place is about as pleasant a place to visit as Hannibal Lechter's kitchen.

At any rate, after landing on the island Joey turns to the PCs and makes the following speech:

"We have finally reached our objective my friends! At last we stand upon the island that must surely be our graves, and can praise the infinite diabolical wisdom of mighty Kuthoolu for our temporary and essentially meaningless salvation.

"Now we must make haste and find the sacred rune of Yog-TheFroth, the Gate to the Key! Only by doing so can we ensure the unspeakable fate that we so richly deserve!"

After a meaningful pause (most likely punctuated with the whiny, lame complaints of the PCs), Joey will go on to explain what the sacred rune looks like.

"The sacred rune resembles a large octopus performing a impromptu vivisection upon a hapless victim. It exists somewhere on this island, and it is up to us to find it!"

With the entire matter adequately explained (at least as far as Joey is concerned) the evil mage will immediately head off to start examining the literally thousands of symbols that cover the great skull-like rockface. If the PCs are smart they will take this opportunity to sneak back on board the Bloody Marauder and abandon their maniacal employer to his self-imposed suicide mission.

However, since the possibility of them being smart was safely eliminated by the fact that they went out to sea in the first place, it can be assumed that they will start looking for the rune

After several hours of searching for a symbol that matches the description given to them by their employer, have all of the PCs make normally difficult Greymatta rolls. A normal success or better means that they have finally spotted the marking that Joey was looking for.

Interestingly enough, chiseled into the rock just below the rune is a small hole, inside of which is a wooden box. Inside the box is a fortune cookie.

Breaking open the fortune cookie reveals a small slip of paper. On the paper is written the message:

Danger! Reading this message will open the passage to the crypt of Great Kuthoolu.

Author's Note: Do I know how to railroad the PCs through an adventure or what?

A terrible rumbling begins in rock face, and a giant hidden doorway begins to open before the PCs. Revealed is a dark corridor leading down into the depths of the island - almost like the entrance to a dungeon.

Hearing all the commotion Joey Lovecraft comes running, beside himself with glee at the prospect of finally finding his awful master.

Congratulating the character who found the rune he tells the characters to grab their flashlights and follow him down into the stygian blackness. What? You say the PCs don't have any flashlights? That's okay, because Joey has a whole bunch of torches in the boat along with a tinderbox.

HM Note: Torches are great because they can burn out at the Holmeister's whim. Falls, gusts of wind, spurting fountains of blood, and numerous other things can all extinguish the torches, leaving the PCs stranded in pitch blackness.

By the way, Great Kuthoolu can see perfectly in the dark.

Hol Lot of Trouble

Introduction
Part 1: Arrival
Part 2: Recruitment
Part 3: Set Sail
Part 4: R'ylee Island
Part 5: Dungeon
Part 6: Lair of Kuthoolu
Appendix

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