Returning To Hyperborea - The Gardens Of La Tsing - An Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers Of Hyperborea Rpg Campaign - Set Up

Today, I was reminded that I have a party of adventures out in the jungles of Hyperborea and they are almost to an ancient temple of the former Atlantian survivors!
These survivors are the remains of a colony of former survivors from the once mighty empire herself.
The jungles have swallowed these men up and only their weird rites, strange sacrifices, and unholy connections to the Great Old Ones are spoken of in legend. 

The party is staying within a nearby village at the foot of a river near the fabled Gardens of La Tsing. Many months ago the party came across a Jade tablet inscribed with the rites and runes  from ancient Atlantis herself. They wisely chose to remain until back up arrived. That was months ago and now the party is almost ready to start the expedition once again. 

There are legends of serpent men and their degenerate Atlantian worshipers deep within the jungle interior. Their pyramids of stone work and the drums that echo through the night can sometimes be hear and seen when the moons are gibbous and strange.
The screams of sacrifices cut through the night as another victim falls under the obsidian knives of the priests and clerics of the Old Ones.The pyramids are mute witnesses to the horrors that occur under weirdly lit Hyperborean nights. 



It is said that the Old Earth priests of La Tsing are surrounded by strange cut jade crystal batteries that the power of the Old Ones flows through and they watch the spaces of the Outer Darkness that surrounds Hyperborea for when the stars are right once again. They chew and and smoke Chrei'li a potent drug that replaces food, water, and nurtures them even as it replaces the very tissues of their bodies. Time and space bends and moves weirdly around these Gweri or Watchers to the North Winds.
It is said that the visions that they have seen and the things that they have spoken to have rendered them quite mad and beyond the ken of ordinary men. 


The deeper one goes into the stepp pyramids of the cities of La Tsing the more gold, riches, and jade one finds in the levels but the more degenerate and dangerous the depravities of the inhabitants. The priests are a combination of necromancers, ancient liches, and horrors beyond the ken of most Hyperboreans. The councils of  Tsing frequently order their cults of warriors to bring them sacrifices and slaves. It is whispered that some of these are brought before the Crawling Chaos or Tri Lobed One in some of the lowest chambers to feed the ancient god thing's appetites for flesh and souls. 


Within the villages and communities that surround the jungles of La Tsing are often found the least remains of tools, artifacts, and lesser treasures as well as trinkets that find their way to the marketplaces and bazaars.
Here is a random table of minor treasures of La Tsing 
1d10 Lesser Treasures and Trinket Table Of La Tsing 

1. Jade wand that glows in the presence of magic and bleeds when iron is present within twenty yards of it. Worth 20 gold pieces in the outside world 
2. Obsidian knife that is +1 and houses a lesser swamp spirit. The thing howls in the mind of its user when a sacrifice to the Other Ones is within ten yards. Worth 75 gold pieces to certain orders of clerics and wizards. 
3. A minor soul cylinder which contains part of the mind of a lesser cleric of Tsing. The jade cylinder will murmur secrets of the 2nd order and once every new moon may teach a first or second level cleric or magic user spell. The user however must bleed a bit for one point of damage on it. Worth 80 gold pieces to the right collector or wizard 
4. A jade mirror that shows the user the true state of their soul. The user must sing to it under the moonlight in order to activate its powers. There is a 20% chance of some minor god of dreams taking notice of the PC or owner. Worth 40 gold pieces 
5. A pair of dice made from the knuckle bones of a small humanoid. These dice will show the user eight possible outcomes each time their used as the visions of chaos dedicate. 
6. A set of prayer beads dedicated to the Crawling Chaos which are carved with horrors and strange carvings. These carvings when worn in twilight allow one to summon a giant bat creature and a victim must be waiting. Or the thing will feast on the summoner himself. These beads are worth forty gold pieces for few know their actual purpose. 
7. An obsidian razor knife that allows one to summon a type II demon dedicated to the service of the Crawling Chaos. The knife is a extremely sharp and cut the own for one point of damage once picked up. The demon may try to possess the user or use them as a window into the world. Worth 40 gold pieces to certain demon worshiping clerics. 
8. Jade bell, this seemingly carved jade child's toy is actually a banishing tool made so that anyone may banish the minions of the Other Ones or the Great Old Ones. There is a 25% chance that this bell can be used to banish the least servants of those ancient horrible gods. These bells are highly collectible among certain sects of Law. They will pay 100 gold pieces for a working bell. Atlantian temple assassins will try to kill anyone whom they find out possesses one of these items. 
9. Nose flute of Harisishi - This instrument can be used to play a song of praise to the spirit of Harisishi and once per week it will cast a cure light wounds spell to a worthy victim of violence. The user's mind will also be subject to the whims of this spirit of Law and their thoughts will be orderly and precise. Worth 63 pieces of gold to a worshiper of Law and Order. 
10. Ring Of The Jade Murderer, this ring of pure jade once per day will change into a razor sharp dagger. The weapon can be used as a +1 weapon and it drink the blood of its victim whose soul will be devoured by an ancient Atlantian spirit of degeneration and murder. There is a 40% chance of the eye of one of the Great Old One's looking upon the user for every ten victims killed with this too common of a weapon. The user may be whisked off to join in the dance of madness and horror around the orbits of dead stars and ancient mysterious unless the correct saving throw is made.
    
    More to come in the following weeks.
     Stay tuned!