Chapter 1: Shunet El Zebib

There are lit torches in the wall sconces here and there.

There are no obvious exits at this level unless you count the door Soro found in the south wall that started all this trouble. The nearest exits, as you have observed before, are on the levels above you.

What do you do?

The swarm recoils from the flame of Jana's torch exactly the way ordinary bugs would. There is even the sizzle and acrid stink of burning insects as some of them are caught in the flame.

Nechepso roars with rage and the entire crypt shakes.

Battle Music

Swordsman and Akh, something has been nagging you this whole time. Everything about this place has been about bugs, from the myrmeleons, to the giant wasps, to the stories recorded in the murals, and this swarm form that Nechepso has taken. What of the stone leopards in the antechamber? They seem sorely out of place. But now you remember where you've seen their like before: the tomb of the Forgotten Warrior. Your minds go back to that ill-fated expedition where all but the two of you survived. From where no one made it out of the collapsing tomb except two men and an ancient sword. Now, as the pillars tremble here in the depths of Shunet El Zebib, your gazes meet and you each know both of you are having the same recollection. But what could possibly be the connection here?

What do you all do?

Being nearest to Nechepso, the Swordsman notices a worn-out sword scabbard inside the sarcophagus, half-buried by seething scorpions and centipedes. Curiously, it bears a striking similarity to the Sword of Vengeance. There seems to be no end to the vermin. Akh watches the the vague face-shape fleetingly discernible in the swarm, and knows that is where everyone must direct their attacks if they hope to defeat Nechepso.

While Soro climbs the rope, he and Jei'nine are defenseless against the swarm. What do you all do?

Attuned to the language of even the lowliest of beasts, Jana opens her mind to the voracious chittering of the swarm. The impetus is base, primal: Kill. Devour.

Akh's magic slams into Nechepso's face, drawing an enraged roar from the undead sorcerer.

The Swordsman's fingers close around he ancient scabbard, but gets viciously stung. He fights to maintain his grip on the relic as venom is pumped into his flesh.

Battle Music

It's an empty sword scabbard, worn with age. The nameless swordsman doesn't know why, but the ancient relic feels right in his hand, almost like it wants him to possess it. The last time he felt this way was when he first grasped the Sword of Vengeance. Several large centipedes, long as a man's arm, wind themselves around the warrior's arm and bury their venomous pincers in his neck! His vision swimming with more and more venom in his veins, the Swordsman struggles to stay upright. Just then, Jana rushes up with a vial of possibly lifesaving antitoxin.

Harried by the cloud of angry bugs, Soro and Jei'nine must fight for every inch up the rope. They're one level up when Soro turns around and hurls the torch at Nechepso's face.