Return to the Temple

18th – 28th Day of Coldeven, CY 592

The Remains of the Outer Fane
After the coronation of King Thrommel, we spent some time preparing ourselves for the final portion of the Outer Fane.  All the major figures had already fallen, but there are always surprises to be found.  

We found the holding cells, and after some playing around with the levers and magic circles figured out how to operate them.  A number of prisoners were being held there including an azer name Renoux; a female elf named Vister, who had once been part of Tymerion’s ill-fated party; a lammasu named Maluccus and Lucas’ old master, Carthesus.  Since we were planning on exploring the remainder of the fane, we decided to leave them there for the time being.  In Hedrack’s chamber we found some remaining treasure, his journal and a book that will enter our story later on.

Before we were able to enter the Greater Temple, we had to fight a dangerous group of ancient eidolon guardians.  Upon entering the vestibule, we found a horn and three levers.  With a little bit of trial and error, we were able to use them to their purpose.  It created a purple veil of energy, and we passed through it.  The room had a large black altar.  A voice (presumably Tharizdun) said, “Once more mortals trespass in the Black Cyst.  Kneel before the essence of Tharizdun and accept his gifts.  Mock the Dark God and face annihilation.”  Upon kneeling before the altar and speaking his name, a silvery egg appeared.  We had found the Orb of Silvery Death!  Apparently, Hedrack did not confide its location to Varachan.

The Greater Temple was a site to behold.  Railings that looked like writhing serpents flanked the entrance.  Statues that were placed at the edges of the room mocked those who were not able to resist their taunts.  And the massive altar stood at the head of the chamber.  This was clearly the room that Vannay scried upon to view the testing of Tessimon.  Before we could explore much more though a battle ensued with the dread wraith guarding the temple.  We did not examine the altar a great deal, but it looked similar to the one in the Fire Temple.

We then faced the questions of the Dark God.  In the form of a child he appeared at the tunnel exiting the room.  Violet walls prevented passage until we could answer the questions of the god-child.  We managed after a few failed attempts to answer them.  The blasted yard lay beyond it.

The entire place looked like a burnt fire plain.  In the middle of the great open area, the Black Spike towered over the area.  It looked as if it was pounded down into the wounded earth.  Chasms of magma stretched out from it like tendrils.  The entropic skeletons called Ehloriads were quick to respond to our intrusion.  After a short battle, we were able to dispatch the host of undead.  After speaking briefly with the adamantine door that was the only visible entrance to the Inner Fane, we left the Temple of All Consumption.

The Watcher and the Well
Another minor teleporting incident split our party up.  Those who went to Nulb had the opportunity to explore the dilapidated bay, which Lareth had encouraged us to visit some ten months prior.  The remains of what was probably a pirate ship contained a few wights and an ooze.  The next morning our party rejoined, and we returned to the Temple of Elemental Evil.

No clues were to be found of an excavation in progress around the temple site.  A thorough search of the grounds revealed the skeletal remains of some unlucky folk.  Among their possessions was a sketch of a secret entrance into the lower levels of the temple.  As we made our way to the farmhouse indicated on the map, Vannay discerned that we were being scryed upon.  We decided to lead the scryer away from our true intentions, and we made north.  The next morning upon approaching the farmhouse, the scrying was detected again.  This time though we learned that it was a succubus hidden in the barn.  She teleported away before we could engage her.  It appeared that the cultists were going to know of our arrival.

The farmhouse was abandoned, but the well outside had seen some activity.  We uncovered the false bottom and descended into the lower levels.  A long walk down a hall with supported earthen walls led us to the area we sought.

Goblins and Giants
The guards consisted of hobgoblin archers, an earth elemental and a spike chain wielding stone giant.  After the skirmish was resolved, we pressed on into the recovered temple.  We came upon a small grouping of hobgoblin slaves, who remembered some of our party.  They were quick to give up what they knew.  There were more stone giants in a hidden area, and they were led by a half-demon giant.  The old head wizard, Falrinth, of the original temple was also nearby.  And the one they spoke of with great fear was the chief excavator.  His description fit that of a beholder.  The battle with the remaining giants was challenging enough that we decided to rest afterwards.

The Colors of the Rainbow
Falrinth used the powerful guards and wards to impede our progress the next morning.  He chatted with us a bit (in draconic) about the binder that we were carrying.  He informed us that his loyalties still lay with Iuz, and he intended to return to his master with all the binders.  He offered us a partnership, but suggested that our code would not allow it.
When we finally got nearer to him, he offered to let us prepare fully for the battle.  Since he had an abjuration that prevented us from coming to him, it seemed like a good idea.  The deal was that once we were all ready, he would get rid of the abjuration.  The bastard instead showered us with a prismatic spray.  Vannay was killed in the attack, and Thurlkosij was turned to stone.  Delvanos tried to close the distance, but he was plane shifted by the purple veil around the wizard.  The rest of the party dimension doored next to him, but this caused Safadin to plane shift as well.  Falrinth unleashed his kaleidoscopic doom upon Creden killing him immediately.  Victor and Uthgar used one of Varachan’s refuge sticks to escape.

The City of Brass
Safadin contacted us letting us know that he was in the Efreet City on the Plane of Fire.  Delvanos also contacted us stating that he was in a beautiful meadow somewhere.  Once we had Vannay and Creden raised in Chendl, Vannay was able to discern that Delvanos was most likely in Elysium.

We prepared for a day of hopping around the Great Wheel, and we went to the hot place first.  Scrying upon Safadin revealed his location to us, so we teleported into the Commoner’s Market in the City of Brass.  Safadin chose this place, since it is the largest gathering of non-efreet.  We were approached by an efreeti named Melchoir.  He said that he was the information broker in town, and he even recognized us.  He said that we were the ones fighting the “Cult of Imix”.  This begged the question as to the disposition of the Grand Sultan towards Imix.  There was no doubt on this score.  Imix is not in the favor of the Efreet Kingdom.  Once Melchoir mentioned that he was off to the slave auction, things got a little tense, but we left the city without incident.

The Blessed Fields
We went from there to a much nicer place, Elysium.  We did not locate Delvanos right away, but just wandering around the place was a true joy.  The cares of our home world began to fade.  A pair of angels visited us, and they were very interested in our arrival.  They were eager to recruit us to help in the troubles of their world.  We explained our quest, and they understood.  When we mentioned the encounter with Galgaliel, they became even more interested in our mission.  They offered to find our lost friend for us.  We spent the most peaceful night in many months under the stars of Elysium.  The next morning, one of the Five Champions came to meet with us.  He was a stag guardinal named Lord Rhanouk.  He was quite friendly and interested in a longer stay, but he also understood.  They offered to use their magic to send us home, and we accepted.

The Matter of the Book
The next morning in Chendl, we divided up the spoils of our adventuring.  Uthgar and Delvanos made off to get a report on the progress of the war.  Creden and Victor went to lend their aid to the wounded soldiers.  Safadin and Vannay went to the mage’s library to study up on prismatic magic.  Safadin brought up the topic of the book that Vannay failed to turn in with the rest of the treasure.  Vannay became quite belligerent at this point stating that the book was his.  It was not party loot.  Safadin relayed this story to the rest of the party that night, and Vannay suspected something was up.  He stated that he was off to the library (in the late hours of the night), and Delvanos made to follow him.  Vannay shook his tail quickly with a little magic.  We decided that the best course of action would be to get Vannay back to our suite at The Wyrm by any means necessary and get the book from him.  Clearly, some powerful enchantment was at work.  Vannay is a bit bull-headed and he can be greedy, but this was stretching the limits even for him.  The plan went off without a hitch.  It ended with Vannay being knocked out by a silenced Victor.

So there we all stood around the body of our fallen comrade.  We went from the beautiful fields of Elysium where the cares of the world seemed like a vapor to our party on the verge of upheaval.  A lot can happen in the space of a few days.