THE ECUMENICAL TEMPLE
15th Meadowlark
Characters:
Gorr, Ranger 2
Robert the Swift, Fighter 1
Suba-Jin, Cleric 1
Eric Withakay, Cleric 3
Lothos the Undesirable, Elf 2
Aladar IX, M-U 2
Aftermath
Recovering from their ambush by shadowy dogfolk, the group were joined by the belated magic-user Aladar IX and his unfortunately-named dog "Mincemeat 2."
Progressing further into the building, the group triggered a pit trap with a sweeping wooden plank that knocked half of them in! They now realized what the other plank they had seen before actually was for. With no obvious way to close the pit, they climbed out and kept going.
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| Artist's Rendering may not be exact |
Many odd and inexplicable things were found:
-A wooden face floating in a pool of black tar, that animated and gnashed its teeth when touched. Eric took some of the tar in a waterskin for later.
-A carefully arranged pile of debris, scraps and furniture. The group removed a large wooden table and began carrying it around the dungeon with them.
-Stairwells led upwards, covered with carvings & graffiti. Not all was understandable, but some pictographs showed people throwing things into a round basin and waves coming out afterwards.
-A room with carvings of buildings: A great castle under construction in a field. A tower high on cliffs above the sea. Thin, crooked & impossible towers twisting above dense woods. A fortress in the mountains blending in to the cliffs. A short, round tower on an island with a yellow tree.
-An altar with a faintly flickering slab of quartz resting on it, shaped like a clear disc with a yellow triangle inside. Suba-jin pried the quartz off the stone, but cracked it in half in the process.
In a room with a round altar covered in odd pictograms rested a huge glass basin with swirling brown & yellow colours at the bottom. After a few tests to see if it was safe, Gorr climbed inside. Passing through the swirling colours, he found himself in another world: cloudy grey skies and cracked brown & yellow landscape stretched in every direction. First he planted one of the Great Tree's acorns. Next, he began searching through the rubble and detritus piled up around the entrance and found a strange Y-shaped ivory crucifix of a hollow-eyed figure with a sinister, toothy grin. This treasure gained, he jumped back through the pool of colour before he could encounter any dangerous locals.
Upstairs
In a room with three tall statues of robed & ancient crones, the group were ambushed by a group of four dogfolk, but the large table they were carrying proved a useful barrier and the shadowy foes were dispatched with ease.
They found the source of the constant incense-smoke: a room with a dozen smoking braziers burning exotic & fragrant purple wood. The braziers were engraved with images of a king making strange hand gestures receiving benediction from robed monks, decorated with carvings of a cat. Turning over the braziers and quenching the fires allowed the smoke to disperse somewhat. Some spare bundles of scented wood were taken.
In a shrine with a stone cat idol, the group got into a brief fight with some shadowy satyrs through Gorr's readiness with a bow. After destroying one, the other surrendered and asked them to play a dice game. He offered to tell them a secret about the Sage of Lune, but instead hustled the group out of some minor treasure (Suba-Jin lost the double crescent-moon amulet he had found in Eralion's ruined keep). He did tell them about a blessing the shrine bestowed: rubbing the top of the cat's head granted a minor boon of luck.
[+1 to all d20 rolls for the remainder of the expedition. Players must remind me of this bonus when applicable!]
In a garden room with some thirsty talking plants, the group encountered a 9' tall knight clad completely in engraved brass armour. Not speaking, it pursued them slowly but relentlessly wherever they went.
They led the brass soldier towards the three statues. When it passed through the center of the three crones, they animated and began discussing it in approving tones: "Ah, very nice. Unbreakable grip. Impervious to mundane harm. Even immune to electricity. Sadly, you are controlled by someone else." Then the crones began asking questions and were roundly ignored by the brass man, which everyone was now sure was some kind of automaton or golem.
Seeking an alternate solution, the group managed to just barely trip the man of brass by ramming it repeatedly with their wooden table, sending it down the stairs. It didn't seem out of action, as they heard its joints creak & clank as it got up & walked around the lower floor.
The last room they explored had four massive wood columns carved as women in the four stages of life: young, adult, mature & venerable. In front of one column stood another brass man, but it did not seem to take notice of them.
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| 2nd floor |
Finally, the group decided to experiment with the three crones and discovered some amazing things. The statues had keen insight into the nature of anyone who stepped into their triangle, and could even reveal previously hidden information about someone's status or equipment. Anyone entering was described at some length, then offered the chance to 'trade' or 'swap abilities' although it was a bit unclear how this was to be accomplished.
Gorr was labeled as "an aesthete" who will soon feel a great strain, and they observed that "the outer realms had best take care" with him around.
Aladar IX managed to get a clue about the wand he recovered from Orelia: "Your opponents must find it hard to breathe."
The most shocking of all was when Lothos entered. "Ah, like to consort with long-dead sorcerors, do you?" asked the statues. Eventually it seemed they weren't even speaking to the elf: "The corruptor of Bishop Gray! [See session 1] You have travelled many years to be here. Are your people still lost in the nightmare, or have they returned to the waking darkness?" It became clear they were addressing Pheldrazash, the strange 'talking book' Lothos carried.
Pulling out the book and asking if Pheldrazash wanted to trade for anything, it replied: "I want to have a body again." Gorr suggested they might somehow 'donate' to make it a brand-new body, and Lothos offered to trade his own body for the wizardly book's magical knowledge...
Treasure:
Ivory Y "crucifix"
2 bundles of scented purple wood
Broken quartz disc
Enemies Defeated:
4 shadowy dogfolk
1 shadowy satyr
TOTAL: 127 xp (21 each awarded)
Current experience totals
Based on monster & misc XP from last few adventures, but not treasure.
