The dust of the journey still clung to their cloaks as the Feinting GOATs passed through the massive gates of Nimmur. It was a city frozen in the amber of the Bronze Age, a sprawling metropolis where humans walked side-by-side with creatures long thought extinct; chief among them the Tlincalli, proud scorpion-centaurs whose chitinous legs clicked rhythmically on the sun-baked cobblestones. At the heart of this ancient civilization sat a throne of polished limestone, occupied by the legendary king, Gilgamesh. A giant with skin like weathered stone and a presence that commanded the very air around him, he ruled with a code of justice as absolute as it was brutal: an eye for an eye. This fact caused Elyndra no small amount of anxiety, considering her satchel was currently heavy with potions freshly pilfered from a local apothecary.
The party approached the throne to petition the King for aid against the Titan Khumbaba, a beast of living earth and magma. Gilgamesh listened, his face a mask of ancient sorrow, before shaking his massive head. "I cannot," he rumbled, his voice like grinding tectonic plates. "Khumbaba is a nightmare I cannot face alone. Not without Enkidu." The name hung in the air, heavy with grief. His best friend, his brother-in-arms, was dead, and without him, the King was but half a warrior.
Seeing an opportunity to turn tragedy into strategy, the party proposed the unthinkable: they would go to the Underworld and retrieve Enkidu. A spark of hope ignited in Gilgamesh’s stone eyes. Though banned from the realm of the dead himself for past transgressions, he revealed a secret back door; the Tomb of the Forgotten Soldiers. He also bequeathed to them a favor owed to him by Nergal, the ruler of the Underworld. Enik, the party’s Sleestak guide, was horrified. He dragged the group back to the city’s Pylon, delivering a frantic lecture on the metaphysical dangers of Mysterra’s "Outer Planes" before flatly refusing to join what he deemed a suicide mission. "I will wait here," he hissed, "to catalogue your demise."
Undeterred, the GOATs descended into the Tomb. The air grew cold and stagnant as they navigated the sepulcher. They ignored the wailing of a spirit begging for its bones to be moved and bypassed a glowing crystal skull that practically hummed with cursed energy, heeding Gilgamesh’s warnings about the "rules" of the dead. Deeper still, they faced the Three Puzzle Doors of the Nergal Priesthood, ancient barriers designed to filter out the foolish. Working in concert, they solved the riddles of life and death, unlocking the path to the true depths. They descended past a dizzying underground pond; which Korloth wisely decided not to mess with, and followed a cascade of molten rock down a lava waterfall into the heart of the abyss.
There, in a cavern lit by the glow of magma, they found a throne of obsidian. But Nergal was gone. In his place sat a smug, colossal figure flanked by a snarling, three-headed hound. "Nergal is ancient history," the giant scoffed, introducing himself as Hades. "Anubis took his place, and when the dog-headed fool vanished, I took the chair." Unlike his predecessors, Hades was a tyrant of absolute containment. "No deals," he sneered. "No one leaves my domain. You are here forever."
The party explored the twisting, non-Euclidean geography of Hades' domain, eventually encountering a harried dwarf claiming to be an assistant to Hephaestus. The smith revealed a crucial secret: Hades controlled the very layout of the Underworld. There was no map, no escape route; only the will of the ruler. To leave, they would have to break the ruler. They returned to the throne room, weapons drawn.
The battle was a clash of mythic proportions. Hades wielded the power of a major god, summoning waves of necrotic fire. But the GOATs were relentless. They layered buff upon buff, weaving a tapestry of magical protection and enhancement, while simultaneously stripping away the god's defenses. The turning point came when Adrian leveled his God-Killer Gun. The shot rang out like a thunderclap, shattering the divine wards. Hades looked down at his chest in genuine astonishment as his form began to dissolve. With a final roar of disbelief, he and Cerberus faded into nothingness, leaving the obsidian throne empty.
In the silence that followed, Elyndra saw her chance. Driven by impulse and ambition, she sprinted to the throne and sat. But the mantle of a god is heavy, and mortality is fragile. The cosmic weight crushed her instantly, disintegrating her body into dust before reconstituting her as a glowing, translucent spirit. Hephaestus emerged from the shadows, nervously wringing his hands at the knowledge of his slain uncle. "Only a God of the Underworld can free the souls here," he stammered. "Whoever sits on that throne and *survives* makes the rules." Desperate to avoid his uncle's fate, he offered a bribe: Immortal Barding for the party’s pets and mounts, armor forged in the fires of the dead that would render them nigh-indestructible.
With Elyndra compromised, Loarkin stepped forward. He looked at the throne, then at his friends. "This," he declared with a grin, "is the most metal thing I could possibly do." The party poured every remaining spell and prayer into him, fortifying his body and soul. He sat. The magic flared, the ground shook, but Loarkin held. He survived the ascension. He was now the God of the Underworld.
His first act as a deity was to summon the spirit of Enkidu. The wild-man appeared, sorrowful and weary, wishing only to remain in the peace of death. But looking upon Korloth, he saw a kindred spirit: a warrior of wild, untamed power on the precipice of becoming "civilized." "I will not return," Enkidu said softly, "but I will lend you my strength." He poured his essence into Korloth, a gift of primal fury to aid in the fight ahead.
After a tearful farewell and a heavy metal celebration complete with commemorative tattoos, Loarkin used his new power to transport the party back to Nimmur. Elyndra was restored to life, though she returned forever altered, her spirit marked by her brief brush with absolute oblivion. True to his word, Gilgamesh opened a portal to the active volcano caldera where Khumbaba dwelt. Empowered by Enkidu’s essence and the confidence of those who have killed a god, the Feinting GOATs fought with the fury of a storm. The Titan Khumbaba roared and raged, but he fell before them. His essence was sucked into the Anubis Box, sealing another victory and concluding a chapter that had once again taken them to hell and back.
Note: The following writings are from the character's perspective and are often private to the character. They are not considered "in-game" knowledge to the other characters, and any in-character reference to this information would be considered meta-gaming.
Letter to Master Kagemitsu at Tengai-no-mori Monastery by Caylen Redden
Dear Master,
In my previous letter I described my experience with Thaegrymm, the Titan of Fear. The rest of the GOATs all had similar experiences; the details varied slightly – for example, where I used a rock, other GOATs found other objects or other methods – but the end result was the same, and the titan was defeated. A few of the others noticed an important detail that I missed: when Malinka disappeared, it was because she also went into the Anubis box, and she appeared pleased about it. I have some concerns about us bringing home all sorts of extra, unintended passengers, and what that may mean for Alluria, but I don’t think anything can be done about it now. We will just have to hope the good we are doing will outweigh any negative consequences.
We took a little time to gather ourselves and shake off the lingering effects of the nightmares, but we were soon on our way toward our next target: Khumbaba, the volcano titan. Enik brought us to Nimmur, where we encountered a city of stone buildings in another dry, desert landscape. The population was fairly diverse, with everything from humans to large scorpion-like creatures, and the locals paid us little mind. We stopped briefly at an apothecary, hoping to resupply with some health potions and other useful items and had some success, but we also had to leave before Elyn caused a scene arguing with the proprietor. We continued toward a large ziggurat, which seemed like a central feature of the city and a likely place to find someone in a leadership position, and sure enough, our path led us directly to the local legend, a giant named Gilgamesh. There was a long line of petitioners awaiting audience with the king, and we chose to practice patience, calmly waiting our turn. This gave us an opportunity to overhear some of the surrounding conversations and gain a little more understanding of the local culture.
Our initial meeting with Gilgamesh was brief. Although he was willing to assist us against Khumbaba, he said it would be impossible. When he previously faced the titan, he had done so with the aid of his best friend, Enkidu, but Enkidu was unfortunately deceased, trapped in the Underworld. Gilgamesh explained that while he and Enkidu had cheated death before, the ruler of the Underworld, Nergal, had since forbidden Gilgamesh from entering. The Feinting GOATs had no such agreement with Nergal, however, and we’ve never let death stop us before. Sensing an opportunity, we offered to retrieve Enkidu in exchange for their assistance. The quest seemed straightforward enough, especially since Gilgamesh also told us that Nergal owed him a favor. We expected to get in, make the exchange, and get out. Enik, conversely, was convinced that it was a suicide mission and refused to join us, but we were not greatly affected by this.
Of course, things rarely go according to plan. We entered a tomb with a gateway to the Underworld and began our descent, avoiding spirits as we had been warned and encountering little difficulty. There was a series of puzzle-locked doors, designed to prevent anyone from wandering into the depths unprepared, and these were quickly solved, after which we followed a river of lava downward until we reached a chasm where the lava plunged into the deepest, hottest part of the abyss. The quickest way down was over the falls, and we employed various means of flight to make the descent safely. At the bottom, we found an enormous obsidian throne, the seat of the Lord of the Underworld, but the resident god was not the one we expected. The figure on the throne introduced himself as Hades, and his giant, three-headed canine companion as Cerberus. He explained that Nergal was gone, the throne first usurped by Anubis, and then when Anubis disappeared, Hades. Hades was not at all inclined to honor Nergal’s agreement with Gilgamesh, having no part in it, or to negotiate in any way. He was adamant that the Underworld was eternal and no one would leave.
Hoping to avoid direct conflict, we opted to explore further, but we found no alternate route or anything that might be of assistance. The only other being we encountered was a dwarf who explained that he was on an errand for Hephaestus, Hades’ nephew. The dwarf and the god he served were able to move through the Underworld only because Hades allowed it. The Underworld had no set layout, no secret paths or hidden chambers; Hades had absolute power and the domain would appear only as he willed it. With no other choice, we returned to the throne room with weapons in hand. There was still a brief moment where I hoped for a less violent resolution. Hades left his throne to challenge Korloth, and I hopped onto it, wondering if the simple act of claiming the seat would be enough to claim the position, but to no avail. The power in the Underworld did not originate from the throne, and it could not be claimed until the previous occupant was overthrown. It was a difficult battle, but made simpler when Adrian’s god killing gun did its work. Hades’ taunts quickly turned to disbelief, then both he and Cerberus faded away, leaving us alone in the chamber.
As the dust settled, Elyn was the first who attempted to claim the throne, which made sense considering her ambition and necromantic interests. Unfortunately, it seemed she did not have the fortitude or force of will necessary to contain the power and responsibility of a god, and she exploded into dust before our eyes. A moment later, she reappeared as a spirit, similar to those we encountered earlier on our quest. We had no time to process that development before we were joined by another figure, who introduced himself as Hepaestus. He lamented the loss of his uncle, but more so the loss of his access to the fires of the Underworld, which he used to forge wonderous weapons and armor. He had no interest in claiming the throne for himself, but offered some information and a trade for whoever would: if he was allowed to continue visiting the Underworld for his work, he would provide Immortal Barding for all of our various mounts and companion animals.
Loarkon, inspired by our encounter with Muse, the Queen of Hell, stepped forward. He declared, “This is the most metal thing I could possibly do.” We conferred briefly and offered what spells and other support we could, then Loarkon took the throne. The cavern shook, but Loarkon remained in one piece, successfully becoming God of the Underworld. He restored Elyn to life and summoned the spirit we had come to find, Enkidu. Enkidu did not wish to be returned to life, instead preferring the peace of death, but for our trouble and for the sake of his friend Gilgamesh, he did offer to lend his strength, willing some part of his primal essence to Korloth for the battle ahead.
We lingered in the Underworld to recover our strength and as an excuse to steal some more time together, but all too soon we said our final goodbyes to Loarkon and the new God of the Underworld transported us back to Nimmur.
We reconvened with Gilgamesh, and true to his word, he conveyed us to battle with Khumbaba. This was another encounter of brute force and raging fire, and although my improved mobility helped me avoid a great deal of damage, I was likewise unable to contribute a great deal of damage. As a team, the Feinting GOATs prevailed, but I felt my contribution was lacking. As always, there is room for improvement, and I will seek areas in which I might intensify my training. Perhaps I will return to Tengai-no-mori for a time after this adventure, but we still have three titans to go before we can return home. I won’t ask you to wish us luck, because if you are reading these letters it means the adventure has already ended, one way or another, but I’m sure we are in your thoughts even as I write this, even without asking, and surely the support of our friends in Alluria and beyond will lend us strength.
Yours,
Cut-Cut