The Garden of Eternity
Deep within the core of Sahu, somewhere beneath the Vishap’s Spine, rests an
ancient prison for an undying priestess of Thasmudyan, the lich Vermissa (see
her NPC sheet). Imprisoned in the Garden of Eternity by King Uruk and eight
lesser barons, Vermissa was abandoned in her subterranean abode and all but
forgotten. The Garden is not a physical prison, but a magical binding that prevents
Vermissa (or her spirit) from leaving. Others can enter and leave the Garden
freely. Vermissa gives regular audiences from her prison to a steady stream of
undead followers and living cult members.
The magical binding was formed with nine magical seals, each enchanted with life force transfer and wrought into the main doors of the Garden by a different necromancer.
Vermissa will need another nine similarly powerful necromancers to free her, each
casting revoke life force transfer on an unbroken seal.
Recently, Vermissa persuaded Kazerabet to break one of the seals, just as she
convinced Nebt Bhakau (Pizentios’s former master) and four other powerful
necromancers in the past centuries to aid her, for Vermissa knows the secrets of
lichdom, and she gladly bestows them on wizards who aid her. It is only a matter
of time before she is freed, but just to help matters along, Vermissa bestowed
her patronage on the young Pizentios, expecting him to break the seventh seal
when he becomes sufficiently powerful.
The garden itself is in a vast cavern whose walls have been magically
smoothed. The ceiling has been imbued with continual light, and the rich soil has given root to many strange plants that Vermissa has
augmented over the centuries of her imprisonment. The trees and flowers in her
garden give bloom to many horrendous human parts with grotesque limbs and faces
grafted into the scaly brown bark of twisted mauve bushes or somehow fused into
giant orchidlike flowers. These pale limbs and contorted faces are not dead,
for that would be merciful and provide little entertainment for Vermissa. The
trees and flowers in the Garden are alive, after a fashion, twisted into pathetic,
fleshy things that crave new fodder. Vermissa feeds her Garden frequently,
sometimes with the occasional visitors when they displease her, or with
hand-picked enemies from the surface.
Vermissa lives in a U-shaped palace that wraps around one half of the Garden,
embracing it in a semicircle as if it were an outdoor courtyard. The largest
chamber in the palace, besides the audience hall, is a huge cathedral to
Thasmudyan, beneath which rests a hidden treasure vault containing Vermissa’s
phylactery. The palace contains an extensive library of necromantic lore (stolen from
Uruk’s vaults in Nycopolis by Vermissa’s ghouls) and a tall trophy room, where
the lich saves the animated heads of her most entertaining visitors for moments
when she craves light-hearted conversation. There is an entire wing of “guest”
rooms, though only the necromancers Pizentios and Kazerabet (and other
prominent, living cult members) make frequent visits.
Reaching the Garden is not an easy task, as it lies beyond a mazework of
twisting tunnels, protected in key regions by powerful glyphs and symbols or guarded by well-organized detachments of Vermissa’s Bone Legion, an elite
force of mummies and ju-ju zombies. These caverns rise to the surface in a
number of locations, such as the hidden shrines outside Misbahd and Jinutt, the
ruins of Ereshkigal, and the tower of Pizentios. Cult members have a secret
password that they use to gain passage through the various traps and guardians of the
Underdark, but these code phrases change frequently (once every few months).
Perhaps the most direct way into the Garden is through the multiple gates leading from Nycopolis to the Summer Palace, and from the Palace to the
Garden, but these magical portals are used only by Kazerabet herself and would
probably require her personal permission (unlikely given).
The Garden of Eternity is the secret core of the Necromancer Kings campaign,
and knowledge about its location and true contents should be kept mysterious for
as long as possible in the campaign. Infiltrating the Garden, confronting
Vermissa, and defeating the lich priestess should only be attempted by the most
powerful and resourceful parties.
A more likely scenario would involve the heroes’ attempted infiltration of the
garden, and their subsequent capture by the lich, who would be more then happy
to give them a tour of her facilities, providing at least some opportunity for
role-playing. If they entertain her sufficiently (or somehow manage to beat
her at chess), the lich might release them. Otherwise, they will have to devise
their own escape (possibly aided by Kazerabet if she has grown fond of the PCs
by now). If not, the party will end up as souvenirs in the trophy room or as
screaming nourishment for Vermissa’s Garden.
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