8th Day of Flocktime, CY 579 (continued)

Continuing from the previous session, it is still the 8th Day of Flocktime and the party is down one barbarian. They decided to take the time to carefully search the area for the elemental power gem(s). (DM Note: this was the first session after I instituted new house rules regarding the timing of searches, and this resulted in more random monster rolls while the party was doing this). Athan managed to find a couple of ochre jellies (or they found him) while searching around. The jellies immediately began attacking him, hitting him with blobs of acidic jelly that burned his flesh. As he screamed in pain, the rest of the party rushed in to help, attacking the jellies with everything they had. Athan started using Magic Missile to hit the jelly that was starting to crawl onto his body. It was having an affect, but he was still getting hit multiple times every round. When he was down to only a couple of hit points, Luapan asked if needed healing, but Athan proudly answered "no, I'm okay, I got this" before getting hit twice more, taking him to -13 damage.

The rest of the party managed to kill the jellies before they made a complete meal of their former party member, but he was otherwise beyond saving. They placed his body in the portable hole, along with statue-Pontus, in case they should be able to find a way to bring him back - though the clerics knew that would be nearly impossible to do for an elf. And so the tragic story of Athan came to an end.

As the party was finishing up their fight with the jellies, a strangely robed man with a shaved head appeared before them, swinging a glaive-guisarm. After the fight, he introduced himself as Shan-Ju, a Disciple of Zuoken who found himself unfortunately trapped in this strange place after botched attempt at planar travel. He had been here for a few weeks, staying out of sight, looking for a way out. He was watching the party for some time, seeing if they were people he could trust, and decided to reveal himself when he realized they were good people. The party accused him of not helping their friend, but he insisted he did try. To prove his trustworthiness, he would reveal to them everything he knew about this place. He started by drawing a map, and pointing out where the worsts dangers were. He also led them to a place he determined would be safe for rest.

The party, severely wounded and out of spells, knew they had to rest somewhere in this inhospitable place, so they followed the monk down a tunnel and into an alcove where the the natural dangers of falling rocks, etc., did not seem to be severe. The party setup watches and got some very limited sleep. They were attacked in the middle of the night by Xaern's - strange rock creatures that eat metal weapons and absorb their magic. The party managed not to lose any gear, but the encounter prevented them from getting a full rest. The next morning (assuming it was morning), Sarril recognized that they needed to find these gems quickly, as every minute spent in this place was wearing the party down, and they already lost two members already. He had the brilliant idea to use a Potion of Treasure Finding that he had recovered from portable hole in Senshock's quarters. Using the potion, he was able to determine the direction of treasure, which appeared to be in a large cavern to the south, according to the map that Shan-Ju drew for them. He hoped the gems they were looking for would be there.

Taking the most direct route, Sarril, Jarrus, Luapan and Shan-Ju came to the cavern where they were immediately attacked by Chaggrin Grues - nasty creatures from the elemental plane earth that stick their claws in their victims and rip them apart. The grues gained a surprise round by rising up out of the earth to attack the party. Some party members got claws stuck in them, taking auto-damage every round. There were five grues and four party members, ensuring that everyone got at least one set of claws, with some taking two sets. It was all Luapan and Sarril could do to keep healing everyone while Jarrus and Shan-Ju fought them off. It was another very near TPK, but the party managed to survive. Everyone was near death, healing spells were mostly used up, but everyone was still breathing.

Sarril found the treasure pile and, using Detect Magic, tried to quickly find the gem he was looking for. He found it in the form of a garnet, and as soon as he touched it, he disappeared, leaving Jarrus, Luapan and Shan-Ju alone in the cavern on approximately the morning of the 9th Day of Flocktime - at least for those back on Oerth.

8th Day of Flocktime, CY 579

We started the session with the party having just released an "elf" with blue hair and blue skin from the mirror. The strangely attired, and strange looking, elf attempted to speak with the party using a variety of different unrecognizable languages before Sarril said something in Ancient Suloise that was understood. The elf asked where they were and what year it was, and then asked Sarril to hand over the mirror. As the elf started to cast a spell, Sarril handed over the mirror and the elf's spell destroyed it, releasing Athan, several horses and squirrels, and an apparently human figure in red robes with arcane symbols on it, and a water weird. The party didn't get much of a chance to assess the situation before what Sarril believes was a time-stop spell was cast. Within a blink, the blue elf, the red-robed man and the water weird were gone, leaving behind Athan, the horses and the squirrels.

The party decided to look for a new place to rest, being that this building was demolished. They settled on an abandoned temple of St Cuthbert, which was still mostly intact due to its solid stone construction. While the magic users did their thing, Athan and Luapan and Jarrus went exploring. Jarrus walked around town to see what the townspeople were like (answer = skiddish) whole Pontus and Luapan investigated the broken mage tower. While nothing of value was discovered in the tower, the eerie shadows moving inside indicated it was not entirely empty. Pontus managed to fall through two flights of rotten stairs and got some splinters in his butt, but is otherwise okay. The party spent two nights in the temple, discovering on the second night that demonic creatures were circling overhead, and realized it was time to get moving again. So on the morning of the 7th day of Flocktime, the party headed back to the temple to look for the power gems needed to complete, and then hopefully destroy, the skull. Finding a, once again empty temple, they headed straight the portal teleporting them to the Earth Elemental Node (demi-plane of earth).

This harsh environment, resembling a series of caves winding and twisting every which way, was filled with dusty, very cold air that was hard to breathe and difficult to see in. The environment was also dealing damage from falling debris every turn. The party soon learned they can limit the damage by use of helms and shields, though the visibility and general cold continues to be a problem. Following the caves around, the party eventually came to a lair of a small black dragon protecting two eggs. While the two fighters managed to make short work of the dragon, its mate was sneaking up from behind to hit the remaining party with its breath weapon. Sarril managed to avoid it altogether, while Athan made his save. Unfortunately, Luapan failed to save and his clothing and most of his skin was burned/melted off by the caustic acid. He dropped to -4 hit points. Athan released a lightning bolt, followed by Sarril shooting magic missiles, bringing the second dragon down. Sarril was then able to fully heal Luapan, who, in addition to losing his clothes, lost some of his items due to the acid as well.

The party explored further, running across a couple of Galeb Durr (earth-elemental type creatures with magic abilities). The party decided to talk to the Galeb Durr, who expressed appreciation for dispatching the black dragons who were not respectful of the earth. The galeb durr warned the party about the gorgons up ahead, which ended up being the next encounter. The party found a large cavern full of stone statues - a sure sign that this is where the gorgons must reside. Because of the extremely
low visibility with the dust, the party was unable to see the gorgons, but Pontus heard their breath, which prevented a surprise attack. Two gorgons attacked, with the first being quickly dispatched by Pontus and Jarrus working in unison, but the second turning Pontus to stone with its breath weapon before being dispatched by the rest of the party.

To keep statue-Pontus safe from breaking, the party placed it in the portable hole before checking their inventory and determining that no one has a stone-to-flesh scroll. Luapan (at the time being voiced by Ian since Graham had to leave early), wisely suggested speaking with the galeb durr again. Unfortunately, stone-to-flesh is not a spell they were capable of, so at this time, Pontus is to remain a statue unless/until someone can figure something out.

It is the afternoon of the 8th Day of Flocktime, in the year CY 579 - with the party trapped in a demi-plane somewhere. . .

6th Day of Flocktime, CY 579

On the afternoon of the 6th day of Flocktime, 48 hours had passed and Jarrus and Pontus were released from prison. While Pontus and Jarrus were sitting in a cell, Luapan sent a message to the Temple of Celestian in Verbobonc to update them on what was found in the temple, and Sarril used the mirror to visit his master in Almor to update him on what was happening. Sarril and Athan then decided to use the mirror to contact Iuz and let Iuz know that the party is in Hommlet. Luckily, this was on the last day and the party was able to skip town as soon as Jarrus and Pontus were set free.

DM Note: Sarril was actually trying to use the mirror to scry into the 3rd level of the temple. However, trying to use a scrying device like this to scry within a temple controlled and watched by a demi-god is never wise. Just ask a half-elf named Zolan (oh, sorry, wrong game). Athan wisely smashed the mirror before Iuz could snatch Sarril and have his way with him. Good thing for Sarril is that he managed to pick-up an amulet of proof against detection, so other than messing around with the mirror to say hello to him, Sarril is otherwise invisible to the demi-god who would like to take revenge on him for making him dance.

The party headed straight back to the temple, now empty again, to search the Wizard Senshock's room. Many interesting magic items were found, including a Portable Hole and Mirror of Life Trapping. After taking everything of value or interest there, the party moved to Hedrack's room, where they discovered a few more items of interest (although Hedrack had most of the good stuff on him at the time of his first death). They also discovered two women who were charmed into Hedrack's service. After dispelling the charms, some of the party agreed to escort them out to safety, with Athan thinking they would be a hindrance and Pontus seeing an opportunity to act creepy (a real shame, since he is the best looking and most charming, when he wants to be, member of the party - but he's also a barbarian, and their ways are strange). One item found was a figurine which is used to contact and summon Iuz. As Athan was playing around with this figurine (as he tends to do), a summoning was triggered which the party recognized as a sign to get out fast, and they all ran for the exit to return to Hommlet. As the party got close to Hommlet, they could see the smoke still rising from burning buildings. It looks like the entire village was decimated, with no signs of life anywhere. The party then changed course to head to the next closest settlement, the Town of Sobbanwych, which is also the town from which the women had been taken.

Sobbanwych was a once thriving town, walled and under the protection of a local lord who had a keep within. Today, few people still remain, with about 2/3s of the building empty and many, such as the mage's tower and the keep crumbling in age and disrepair. Luapan gave the rescued women several gold pieces each to begin a new life, being the good-aligned cleric that he is (note to DM to give Luapan some bonus exp) and let them go on their way. The party then settled into an abandoned warehouse building to study/pray/identify. When Sarril cast identify on the mirror and looked at it, he was (apparently) polymorphed into a Purple Worm, which the party immediately had to fight. The worm was so large that is destroyed the roof of the building. Even with the massive damage dealt by Jarrus, the fight was tough, with one party member getting swallowed whole (but living to tell the tale).

After the fight, Athan picked up the mirror and was polymorphed into Sarril. That's when Sarril explained that this is a Mirror of Life Trapping and that looking into the mirror actually transports the victim into an extra-dimensional space, trapped in stasis. There are 12 "slots" in the mirror and, because the slots are all full, whenever someone looks in the mirror and gets pulled in, something else gets popped out at random. Based on this knowledge, the party decided to use the mirror to start trapping harmless animals, in turn popping out a random creature or person, one of which would eventually be Athan. Following this process, the party started trapping horses until they ran out of horses, then started trapping squirrels. Many things popped out of the mirror, most of which had to be fought and killed, but due to dumb luck, Athan wasn't one of them. The final "creature" that was released was a blue-skinned "elf" in strange dress. This is where the session ended.

3rd Day of Flocktime, CY 579 (online session)

After that exciting encounter with Iuz, and the intervention by St. Cuthbert himself, the group was chomping at the bit and couldn't wait two more weeks to see what happens next. While I am generally opposed to online play because we can't always manage everyone's time equally (especially those of us with kids), I did agree to make some exceptions this time. I agreed to that the party could search the Greater Temple, open chests, etc., and I would reveal what they find. If they do anything requiring an initiative roll, however, I would stop gameplay until our next in-person session. Here is what happened online.
____________________________________

Hedrack had nothing of value on him due to the fact that all of his magic weapons, armor and items were destroyed (while this is a shame on one level, because he had nice stuff, it probably also saved the party as they wouldn't have been able to deal with him easily otherwise). The other enemies that had any loot were turned into monster zombies by Iuz, then turned by the cleric and they ran down the side halls. The party went down those halls to look and found portals that they decided were best not to enter right now. So that loot was gone.

But there were four nice sized chests in the hall behind the purple fungi curtain. Each chest contained multiple magical traps and wards. Dispel Magic was successful on the first chest, which contained a massive amount of platinum coins, as well as paperwork detailing debts owed to the temple by various temple members. These names would be handy to identify villagers and others in the surrounding area who are part of the temple. Sarril grabbed the paperwork and a magic wand before moving on to the next chest. Dispelling traps on the second chest was unsuccessful, but the party had Pontus open the chest anyway, as he can generally take the damage. This set off a fire trap, destroying the chest and burning all of the papers inside. The disturbance also triggered something else, and the room suddenly grew dark and cold. Sensing something was amiss, Sarril "pulled a Gandalf" and yelled "RUN! (you fools)" and all of the party except Athan ran as fast as they could down the hall.

Nalfeshnee (Type IV Demon)

Athan stayed to search through the broken chest for items of interest. Pontus, confused by the split in the party, stopped halfway out. Once the party realized that Athan wasn't with them, and that he still had the skull, they realized they need to go back for him and that they would have to force him to come along. So back they went. While the rest of the party distracted him, Jarrus attempted to knock Athan out by hitting him on the head, but fell just short of knocking him completely unconscious. An angry Athan agreed to leave with the party and they all ran away, just as a Type IV, Type II and two Type I demons gated into the room.

The Type I demons flew at the party and were about to overtake them when two dozen bugbears emerged from the side rooms and engaged the demons. The Type Is and the Type II demon were ripping apart bugbears as the half-orc seen previously with them ran toward the party also pulling her own Gandalf impression. This time, the entire party, including the half-orc, kept running and didn't stop until they were out of the temple.

On the road back to Hommlet, the party learned that the half-orc is Kella, Commander of the Greater Temple troops. She offered to reveal all of the information the party wants to know if they will escort her to see Jaroo, and so they did.

Arriving in Hommlet, a few hours past midnight, the party was challenged by some new guards who looked much better equipped than the Hommlet militia or "Burne's Badgers" they had seen before. These guards were sent from Verbobonc by the Viscount, apparently at the request of Lord's Rufus & Burne, who were called away by the Viscount. These new guards report to someone by the name of Sergeant Brogan, and they have instituted a curfew in-town. After seeing that the party checks out, they let them pass but tell them to go straight to the inn. Delvin takes Kella to the grove and the rest of the party checks into their room at the inn, which is a bit small now that Jarrus and Luapan have been added to the group.

Kella, Daughter of Jaroo

The next morning, Athan stayed in the room writing spells and Delvin came and got the rest of the party in the morning to say that Jaroo was ready to meet with them. Leaving Athan in the room, the rest of the party went to the grove to hear Kella's story. Kella removed a necklace from around her neck, transforming into a human woman, and immediately bringing tears of joy to Jaroo's eyes as he recognized his long lost daughter.

Kella described how she was sent to spy on the temple and was deep undercover. While undercover, she learned many things that needed to be shared now. The following is a transcript of the conversation:




Jaroo says "I begged Earthramus not to send you to that foul place. . ."

She interrupts him "I went willingly. You should know that."

"When I didn't hear from you, I assumed the worst"

"I am sorry, father, but I was deep undercover. I learned much, but I couldn't risk blowing my cover to get out. That is, until this party came along, and I had to make a move. The stakes are too high now."

Jaroo says, "please, for all of us, tell us what you have learned, so we may determine our next steps."

She looks at the rest of the party and and says "for everyone's benefit, I will start at the beginning, as I promised on the road that I would."  

She starts. . . "After the battle of Emridy Meadow, a smaller force of powerful warriors led by Prince Thrommel of Furyondy pushed into the temple to destroy the remaining forces and raze the building. But what they discovered inside was too strong even for them. A demoness of incredible power who had bound her essence to the temple itself, thus removing herself from the abyss and becoming a native of the prime material plane. Clerics of St. Cuthbert were summoned to assist, along with some of the most powerful archmages known. They were able to defeat her, but not destroy her essence, which was part of the temple itself."

"So they decided the best course of action would be to use the power of St. Cuthbert to lock her into her own temple, turning it into a prison from which she could not escape. You have all seen the doors. Probably some of you could not bear to look upon them. This is by design. If you had any evil in your hearts, the feeling would be far worse, and you would never be able to approach the doors. Thus helping to ensure that agents of the temple don't try to free her again" 

She pauses a minute "I apologize if this is all background you have heard before."

"So the priests of Cuthbert believed themselves victorious, though they were wise enough to know that they needed to keep an eye on those doors. Thus Canoness Y'Dey and others were sent to do just that. Keep a watch on the temple." 

"But those of us of the Old Faith," she says, looking at Jaroo and Delvin, "we knew there was more to it than just a demoness trying to enter our world to do harm. The temple is called the Temple of ELEMENTAL Evil for a reason. We druids have always understood the power of the elements. Natural, chaotic forces that blend in harmony to make the world around us. But the elements are also destructive. There is a legend that some believe, of a lost Elder Elemental God, whose cults spring up from time to time. These cults are usually small and harmless, but they believe that there are nexus points in the world, places where the fabric holding the prime material plane together is weak. And they believe that in these places, deep below the surface, the Elder Elemental God slips through into our world from the void where he is imprisoned."

"In these places, only a sliver of his essence can be reached, but it is enough power, some believe, to rival, and even destroy, a god."

"These are all rumors and myths, of course, and most sages will tell you the Elder Elemental God is not real, but we druids know one thing, and that is, god or no god, the elements are powerful forces that can be incredibly destructive, especially if turned to evil purposes. We wanted to know what was really going on in the temple, and learn what we could about the cultists that practiced there."

"As it turns out, the demoness chose that specific location for her temple for a reason."

"It didn't take long for evil beings to begin making their way back to the temple. And of course they had a secret way in. There is always a back door or secret entrance. When Prince Thrommel was kidnapped, most people assumed it was the Horned Society behind it, but others suspected it might be agents of the temple who had escaped the battle and wanted their revenge on the prince. Regardless, it had a devastating political effect, as Furyondy and Veluna did not merge, and a distraught King Belvor could no longer make good decisions. The Horned Society has definitely benefited from this. . . but I digress. We recognized that the temple was a magnet for evil, and always would be unless it could be dealt with permanently."

"So I was given the task by my order to infiltrate the temple, discover its secrets and learn the plans of those who now inhabit it. I took on the disguise of a half-orc warrior and joined the troop ranks. Through acts I am ashamed to discuss, I was able to rise in the ranks until I became the Commander of the Greater Temple troops. It was dangerous for me for many years. I had to employ multiple magic items to evade the scrutiny of Hedrack and his mages."

Jaroo says, "and what did you learn in this time, my daughter?"

She takes a deep breath and continues, "First, that elemental evil does, indeed, exist. Each of the temples was powered by an elemental entity that had been corrupted by evil in a most unnatural way. The priests who worshiped the evil received spell power like any other cleric of their rank. This power could not have come from the demoness, who was locked away."

"But the priests also believed the demoness was an aspect of their elemental god, or a conduit, or something or other, and that they needed to free her. Much of their time, when it was not spent fighting with each other, was spent figuring out how to break the seals."

"But the most eye-opening discovery I made, is that Hedrack, the leader of the Greater Temple, did not believe in the elemental god. He was a priest of Iuz, as you all now know."

(Jaroo appears shocked at this revelation)

"It took a long time for me to discover what Hedrack was doing. He encouraged the temples to fight one another for domination. He invited adventurers like yourselves in to create havoc and destruction - even going so far as to plant rumors out in the world of great treasures to be found inside. Most of the weak adventurers didn't make it very far, but some of the more powerful ones managed to destroy the elemental temples and kill the high priests from time to time, before finally falling to Hedrack, who would catch them and throw them in those portals you saw. It was a twisted game of survival of the fittest. I believed for a while, as most his followers did, that this was how he made the temple stronger. With each successive attempt, those that survive are stronger. The rest start over. And it brought in a regular supply of magic items and other goods. No matter how many times one of the temples was destroyed; it would always come back after a time. A new priest would always be found. Evil men are drawn to this place."

"But then one day I discovered the truth of it. He wasn't doing it to make the temples stronger. He was doing it to keep them weak. As long as they were fighting each other, or fending off outside invaders, they weren't freeing the demoness."

"I discovered this when I realized that every time one of the priests was close to finding a way to break the seals, he promoted them to a position in the Greater Temple and replaced them with a lesser priest. And as it turns out, breaking the seals is so much easier than you might think. No magic is going to do it, not even a Wish Spell. But the doors can be physically broken by something large and strong enough. Like a giant. Those with evil in their hearts cannot approach the doors, but everyone else has a chance."

"And just recently, the earth temple was close. . . so very close. A hill giant by the name of Scorpp managed to approach the doors without any issues. When Romag, the High Priest of the Earth Temple, discovered this, he decided to work on turning Scorpp against Hedrack, so he can then use him to break the doors. Luckily for all of us, you guys came along and killed Scorpp. I understand he briefly tried to ally himself with you. It is good you did not fall for it."

"In the Greater Temple, there is a statue of the Old One and the demoness. At first I would have thought the Old One to be allied with her, maybe even trying to free her. But it was suspicious because deep inside the Greater Temple, behind the purple curtain, is a throne similar to the one on the first level. Anyone sitting on that throne is in contact with the demoness. That is how she was giving orders to her priesthood before Hedrack came along. But after Hedrack took over, only he was allowed to use that throne. But I never actually saw him sit on it"

“That is why she wanted Hedrack dead.” Sarril said.

She looks at Sarril, "How do you know this?"

"Zuggtmoy is the one sealed. Athan was controlled by her for a bit through magical suggestion."

"How did you contact her?" She asked. "I never saw him use the throne"

"We found a crystal ball that was linked to her.  Through it, she controlled Athan.  That item is destroyed now. Also, we know how to get to her, behind the seals. . . This is all information that I need to get to my master." Sarril says.

"Hedrack knew it was the key to destroying the temple, and thus destroying Zuggtmoy. But the demoness was smart. She split the four gems and scattered them into demi-planes of her own creation, then hid the skull far away. But it looks now like Falrinth possessed the skull all along. For some reason, he never told Hedrack."

"And your party is in possession of the skull now. And it nearly got in the hands of the Old One himself. I am certain he did not want to free her with it, but I don't know what else he might have done with such a powerful artifact. Rumor is that part of his essence is tied to that skull as well."

Kella also told of a visitor named Warduke, who came to visit Hedrack and call in a favor owed to him.  He seemed to be influential in Furyondy politics and was offering assistance to the Old One in exchange for assassinating some nobles. She didn't hear the names. (Jarrus knows that Warduke is the nickname of Sir Damen Tynneman, eldest son of Duke Tynneman of the Reach. If anything were to happen to King Belvor, without an heir, Duke Tynneman would be next in line of succession).

After the meeting, Jaroo told Delvin and Kella that he needed them to investigate a strange phenomena reported in Istivin. He thought it might be related to the black shards that the party reported about when they first arrived in town. Jaroo then went on to warn the party about the evil skull artifact and encouraged them to leave it with him so he can find a way to keep it secure and learn how to destroy it. Since Athan still had the skull, the party said they would consider, then parted ways.

This was the morning of the 4th day of Flocktime, CY579. After this the party members went separate ways, with the intention of getting back together on the morning of the 4th to return to the temple in order to look for the gems needed to destroy the skull. Unfortunately, Pontus and Jarrus got into a brawl with the new guards at the inn, and ended up in the hoosegow. They are scheduled to be set free the afternoon of the 6th.

3rd Day of Flocktime, CY 579 (continued)

It is the morning of the 3rd Day of Flocktime, CY 579. The party has just driven off or slain most of the inhabitants of the Greater Temple of Elemental Evil, including Hedrack, when, into the middle of the temple appears The Old One himself, Iuz - in the flesh.

Iuz scans the room and begins to probe everyone's mind, searching their darkest, innermost secrets. To the great warrior, Pontus, Iuz proclaims that his lost god will return soon. To Sarril the cleric, he casts doubt about the legitimacy of the one he prays to every day. But for Athan, the skull-bearer, he took particular interest. Athan quickly burned a Scroll of Protection from Magic to protect himself from whatever the demi-god might throw at him. But Iuz did not attack. He simply commanded Athan to hand over the skull. The compulsion was so strong that Athan could not resist, but when he tried to comply with the command, he found that it conflicted with an equally powerful, but opposite command from another. The conflict overwhelmed Athan's mind, causing him to lose consciousness. But the circle of protection remained where he fell.

(DM's note: The command from Iuz for Athan to hand over skull was in direct conflict with Zuggtmoy's command for Athan to bring the skull to her. Both commands were of equal power, which caused the suggestion spells enthralling Athan into Zuggtmoy's service to finally be broken.)

Pontus picked up the dead body of Hedrack and ran to stand over his friend to protect him. Moving into the circle caused all of Hedrack's magic items to be nullified, and most of Pontus' as well (DM's note: I realized later that I misinterpreted the spell, and the Protection Circle is supposed to be broken after the first magic item is nullified, but this one nullified dozens). Breaking free of the web, Luapan also ran over to intervene, as did Delvin and Sarril. Iuz then cast Dispel Magic on the circle, reached down and grabbed the pouch that contained Gareth's finger. Delvin tried to stop it but couldn't get his spell to penetrate Iuz' magic resistance. Iuz' next move was to take the skull, but before he could act, Sarril burned a scroll of the 8th level magic user spell "Otto's Irresistible Dance." Through sheer luck of the dice, he managed to penetrate the demi-god's magic resistance, and the spell worked! Iuz the Old, Lord of Deceit and Pain, began to dance a jig. That was the cue to everyone left in the room to run like hell! Pontus grabbed Jarrus' body and everyone ran down the hall, being chased by the remaining trolls.

Halfway down the hall was a Wall of Force, behind which were ogres, bugbears, another giant, ettin and a half-orc. One of the magic users was able to dispel the wall of force. Athan brandished the skull, sending the bugbears and half-orc fleeing (and losing another point of charisma). The party fought the remaining enemies, through physical combat and a holy rain of fire. The victory was short lived, however, as the spell keeping Iuz at bay wore off, and he began in anger to slay party members left and right, taking out Delvin and Luapan. Just as Sarril and Pontus were about to meet their doom, there was a clap of thunder and a loud voice shouting "Iuz! Stop!"

St. Cuthbert

In the middle of the hallway appeared St. Cuthbert himself, in his gleaming plate mail, brandishing his famous cudgel. After a brief dialogue between the two gods, they disappeared together in a puff of smoke. All of the dead party members were raised from the dead and fully healed, but so too was Hedrack raised from the dead and the other dead enemies were animated as monster zombies. Luapan immediately turned the monster zombies, who ran down the side hallways and disappeared. Hedrack, all of his magical armor and items destroyed by the Magic Protection Circle, could not withstand an assault from Jarrus, who managed to exact his revenge on the evil priest, slaying him with extreme prejudice.

Pontus began messing around with the purple curtain behind the altar, which was actually a wall of Violet Fungi, whose tentacles infect their victims with rot that destroys limbs or kills their victims in a single round, unless a cure disease is cast. Lucky for Pontus, Delvin was able to cast Cure Disease immediately, saving him from permanent disablement or death. The party decided to use the massive amount of flaming oil they found earlier to set the curtain on fire, easily killing the fungi and revealing the room beyond.

This ended the session as we moved on to watching the Super Bowl.

3rd Day of Flocktime, CY 579

DM Note: You know it was a good session when a character dies. Also, I love ending with a cliffhanger. . .

Picking up where we left off from our January 8th session, the party was done exploring the ground level of the temple and decided to head back down to the first dungeon level in hopes of finding and destroying the air temple. Starting in the room where they had fought an ogre earlier in the day, they opened a previously unopened door and began moving through rooms. All of the rooms they came across were empty, and in many cases, hastily looted. The party searched from room to room, finding little of value and not a lot of clues, but they were certain that humanoids previously occupying these rooms as temple troops/mercenaries, etc., were on the move.

The party's explorations led to a large library, and Sarril and Athan both insisted on spending time there to look through all of the contents. This took an hour. No spellbooks or anything of value were found, though Sarril reminded the party that knowledge has value, and he was thinking about how he might be able to get these books back home with him (wherever "home" is these days). When the searching led the party to the north end of the library, someone heard some sounds - perhaps the sound of fighting from the yelling and thuds, but faint in the distance. The group asked Athan to listen at the door and so he spent some time listening very carefully, but couldn't make out anything useful. They then decided to exit the library and explore the hallways, which eventually led to a wider processional hallway on the east side of the Earth Temple. There, along the wall, they saw what was a secret door that had been thrown open and went through it and a series of other secret or concealed doors that had also been thrown open and saw the remains of a battle. There were dead hobgoblins, dead Earth Temple guards and a couple of dead priests, one of whom appeared to be the high priest. The party briefly followed the bloody footprints until they disappeared (the footprints were both human and humanoid), but realized those responsible were long gone.

The party then decided to search the priest's room and found a chest which they opened to collect some minor treasure and the diary of Romag, High Priest of the Earth Temple. They read Romag's diary, which contained some interesting information about what was going on. From the diary, they were able to ascertain that the Air Temple was actually the large round room that they first came into when they ascended to the second floor. Intent on destroying the temple, the party headed down to level 2.

After an interesting encounter with a crystal mirror in a white marble room, in which the projection of some angelic beings were praising the benevolent goodness of Iuz and offering a gift of his generosity if the party would but place their weapons in the room to have them blessed (the party was having none of it), they went into the Air Temple and starting messing around with the two braziers. This led to the room filling with a choking fog that was causing damage to everyone. Athan was able to burn a scroll (Gust of Wind) to clear the room, but the fog was starting to return. Pontus left the room to go up to the first level so he could lower the platform which they could now tell would lower neatly into the round depression in the middle of the room. While Pontus was gone, the party figured they should try to put the braziers out with holy water. This worked, but also summoned two Type 1 demons (Vrocks) in the process. Sarril expended some charges on his wand of lightning while Jarrus hacked and Athan shot with his bow (using up his last two +1 arrows).

After this victory, the party decided it was time to rest before going to confront Hedrack. Experience points were distributed, which included bonuses for each temple that was destroyed. All party members except Athan and Pontus gained levels. Pretty much everyone rolled "2" on their hit points, and that only being because I instituted a house-rule that players get to re-roll 1s when rolling HP, otherwise, there would have been lots of 1s rolled. It was really a low-point of the day.

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In the morning, with spells refreshed and everyone healed (except Athan, whom nobody really wanted to waste heal spells on), the party prepared to go down to level 4 and confront Hedrack. At Athan's suggestion, the party took the southwest staircase from level 2 to level 3, which took them through the fungus room. Athan said he was very fond of fungus and the smell of it really helped energize him (the fungus is non-magical as far as anyone could tell). The fungus room was close to one of the two sets of stairs that lead to level 4. Along the long hallway leading down, written in what appears to be blood on the wall, were the words "This Way" with an arrow. The party headed down to level 4 where they appeared at the southern end of a very long and wide hallway made of polished black marble or onyx, with red veins throughout. The place was eerily lit all around, with no apparent source of the light. Written on the floor was an arrow that said "This Way" pointing north. Delvin decided to go invisible, only to find that, when he did, his invisible body began began to glow with a blue outline. The same happened to Delvin and Sarril's invisible familiars.

As the party headed north, they could hear their footsteps echoing loudly up and down the  otherwise quiet hall. It was clear to everyone that Hedrack knew they were coming, and they came up with a plan to negotiate with him, rather than try a full frontal attack. After a brief distraction down a side room that led to wizard locked door that no one could open, the party stepped forward into the Greater Temple. This massive room has a central altar at the top of several steps, which is flanked by two statues. The statue on the left looks like an old man hunched over carrying a staff. The statue on the right is of a large, bulbous figure with elephant-like legs.
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Standing at the altar was a man in shining black plate mail, which gave off a red reflection when light hit it. He was carrying a shield and a large war hammer (Hedrack, we presume). All around the room in alcoves were gargoyle statues. There was also a magic user (Senshock - who was mentioned in Romag's diary), another cleric, a half-elf mu/cleric, two hill giants, two ettins and four trolls. Hedrack began by clapping, then thanking the party for taking care of the pesky elemental temples upstairs - though, he admitted, it wouldn't last - someone will always take their place. He thanked the party for bringing him the golden skull he has been looking for, then called to Athan by name, held out his hand and asked him to hand it over. Athan didn't answer, nor did he hand over the skull. He just stood in place, sweating profusely. Pontus and Jarrus both engaged in some banter with Hedrack and offered to make a deal. Hedrack said he would, of course, spare their lives if they handed over the skull. Pontus tried to up the ante a bit, but Hedrack reminded him that he had the power in this negotiation and they would be wise to accept his generosity while it is still on offer, as he could easily kill the party now and take the skull anyway. Athan decided it would be wise to invoke the power of the skull at this moment and demand that Hedrack bow before him. It didn't work, but it did result in lowering Athan's charisma by one point (it should be noted that Athan had done this at least once before, successfully, but was starting to get pretty low on charisma).

As has been the case in the past, Jarrus decided to attack first, and the closest thing to him was a hill giant. This action triggered an initiative roll, which the magic user won, immediately casting web on the party to hold them all in place. Pontus was immune due to a Ring of Free Action and Jarrus, who had just drank a potion of speed and had a strength spell already on him, was able to rip his way out. Athan made his save, but everyone else was held in place for the moment. Hedrack then cast a hold person at Jarrus but he made his save. Pontus was able to break free on his turn while Athan cast mirror image before beginning to blow through more spell scrolls.

During the fight, Hedrack continued to talk to Athan. He said that he can see why Athan won't hand over the skull. He can tell from the conflict within him, the way he is sweating. "I can see that you serve her now" he said, to which Athan replied "yes, I serve my lady Alyndra - who do YOU think it is that I serve?" Hedrack laughed lightly and said "you have reached out and spoken to her, you know the one I speak of" and Athan replied "no, really, I don't, why don't you tell me."

The battle would not have gone well at all if it wasn't for a couple of things. First, Jarrus immediately turned his attention to the magic user, and with the combination of haste and strength spell, was able to kill him in one round before he did anything else. Second, both Hedrack and the second cleric in the room attempted hold person spells but everyone either made their save or was immune and third, most importantly, Delvin the druid, who had a leprechaun familiar named Lucky, cast an illusion. Since Delvin is an NPC, I have only ever allowed Lucky to be one other time to save the party from a TPK, which was when they faced the Ogre Lubash in the Moathouse (the reason Lubash turned away from the party and was swinging at the air was due to an illusion cast by Lucky, which gave the party a second chance to throw their flaming oil). I would not have allowed it again, except that Delvin was being played by one of the players and it was the player that came up with the clever idea. So Lucky cast an illusion that made it look like the weird statue on the right
had come to life and was attacking the enemies. The ettin and two trolls, along with the cleric that were on the east side of the room all freaked out and ran away down some side hallways. Thus the party survived the first round of spellcasting and eliminated half of the enemies, making the fight much more fair. A good thing, too, since the back hallway where the party came from had filled up with several dozen bugbears and ogres, blocking any retreat.

Sarril and Luapan were able to break free from the web and start casting spells. Sarril blew off another two charges from his lightning wand and Athan burned another scroll, Charm Monster, charming the second hill giant to join the party. The hill giant turned and smashed the half-elf magic-user/cleric into a pulp, thus leaving Hedrack as the only enemy spellcaster in the room. Jarrus left the trolls and first hill giant to fight against Sarril and Luapan, and went directly after Hedrack with a vengeance. Hedrack, in turn, cast Slay Living on Jarrus, killing him instantly.

In the meantime, Luapan used a scroll of Flamestrike on both remaining trolls, severely wounding, but not quite killing them. Either Sarril or Luapan ended up casting Silence 15' 'radius on Pontus, who then engaged Hedrack. Hedrack was able to move out of the radius and cast another hold person against Luapan, which failed. Sarril threw his second bolt of lightning at Hedrack, severely wounding him and bringing him close to death. Pontus leapt off the altar, swinging his sword high overhead to come down with an epic finishing move - but Hedrack easily blocked the attack with his shield. What he couldn't block, however, was the magic missiles that Sarril then unleashed at him, bringing him down to just below zero hit points - dying, but not yet dead. As he fell, he called out "Master, help me!!!" which could only be seen by those who read lips since he was in the silence radius at the time.

As Hedrack mouthed the words, he was clutching at something around his neck (a holy symbol, perhaps), and the room became eerily quiet and the air felt suddenly thick and nauseating. The room looked like it was starting to warp, causing a dizzying effect. The room appeared to be warping toward a central point in the altar, then suddenly everything snapped back into place nearly knocking everyone over. Standing in the center of the altar is now this being:

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And so we ended the session here. It is the morning of the 3rd Day of Flocktime, CY 579. One party member is dead. Another (Sarril) is injured from troll attacks. Hedrack is dying, but not yet dead, and the party is still deep in the Temple of Elemental Evil surrounded by enemies. Whatever just teleported into the room does not look happy.

2nd Day of Flocktime, CY 579 (Afternoon)

On the afternoon of the second day of Flocktime, the party spends some time sorting through the storage room where they just killed a Su-Monster. This room contained a lot of stuff, and was pretty well preserved as it seems no one has messed with it in a while. Presumably, the creature in the room kept everything else away judging by the bugbear skulls. Jarrus was able to find the original clothing that he and his father were wearing when they were captured over a month ago, and Jarrus is now starting to look more like how his player imagines his character looks. The party rested for the night in the same room, which was reasonably well protected, with the only entrance being through a long, angled hallway where those on watch could see things coming. That night, a female bugbear poked her head around the corner to see what was going on, saw ythe party, and took off running. Pontus chased her down and gave her an agonizing wound, after which Jarrus put her out of her misery. Later that night, a couple of bugbear cubs came to sniff around where the body was. I forget who was on watch, but they moved in to engage them but another bugbear female cried out to them and they ran in the direction of the sound. After some debate, the party decided to leave bugbear children alone.

The next morning, on the third day of Flocktime, the party set out to explore the rest of the second level of the Temple of Elemental Evil, mapping out most of what was left. They came across an Otyugh in a trash room (killed it) and discovered an empty bugbear den with signs that it was recently abandoned. Looking for the bugbears, they came across a torture chamber and jail cells, complete with bugbear guard and a small, frail, ugly human inquisitor (torturer) wearing black Greater Temple robes. There was also the body of a high elf stretched across the torture table, having been disemboweled not too long ago. Since the party was also wearing the Greater Temple robes, Athan was able to engage in conversation with the inquisitor, demanding a report on behalf of Hedrack. The inquisitor seemed shocked, saying that he had already given his report to the Ettin. Athan continued to press him for information and the inquisitor, being suspicious (it IS his job to "read" people to get information), responded that he hasn't seen the group before and demanded the party identify themselves. In the meantime, Jarrus was walking over to the torture table to confirm that the dead body was, indeed, his father, Correal Sunleaf (may he rest in peace). All of this, of course, led to a fight that was pretty quick as the inquisitor was a low level human with no arms or armor on him. Checking the cells, the party found four high elves. One female introduced herself as Countess Tillahi of Celene, along with her consort, Sir Juffer. The other elves (whose names are unimportant) were part of their party. They were on a diplomatic mission from Celene to Furyondy when they were captured about two months ago (Athan and Jarrus know, from their knowledge of current political events, that Queen Yolande of Celene closed the borders completely, so either something has changed, these elves are lying, or this diplomatic mission was not sanctioned by the queen).

The party decided to equip the elves as best they could, which was actually pretty sufficient, and escort them to the surface using the tunnel on level 3. When they reached the secret door that leads out past Falrinth's quarters, Athan started acting weird again. He said he would stay in the temple while everyone else went out. He kept saying they needed to kill Hedrack and Hedrack was in the temple, not outside. Some arguments took place between Pontus and Athan. Athan tried to tell Pontus a story that his master once told him about an elf who found a powerful artifact and used it to communicate with a god, but fell under the control of that god and was unable to make good decisions afterward. He felt there was a lesson in that story somewhere and reiterated that the party needs to listed to what he is not saying. Pontus was not interested in the story, but he did decide to stay behind with Athan to make sure he didn't get into more trouble. The rest of the party escorted the elves out, and Jarrus requested that they take the body of his father with them, so he could be properly laid to rest. Sir Juffer, who is a ranger/cleric of Correlon, agreed to take on the task, and so everyone said their goodbyes. The elves asked where the party would be staying after their adventures here, should they wish to find them in the future, and they answered that they were most likely going to Furyondy next (which is a huge kingdom, so who knows. . .).

Back in the temple, the party decided to finish mapping out the second level. They started by properly destroying the Fire Temple by putting out the coals using massive amounts of holy water (there was only one way to destroy the temple and they managed to do it in a clever way). Exploring around, they encountered an empty troll den (or maybe more than one dens - hard to tell), a chained up hydra and a chained up owlbear. Athan plinked arrows at the chained up owlbear until it was killed, but the party left the hydra alone (probably for the best). The party then headed up a sloped passage that led to another part of the first level, and began to explore. They came across multiple rooms in which there were freshly slain hobgoblins and/or bugbears wearing brown robes. They found a living ogre in one room, which appears to have been left alone from the rest of the slaughter that apparently went on, and easily dispatched him. They also found a room full of giant rats (killed them easily) and eventually found the grand entry hallway of the first level, which was piled high from one end to the other with the skeletal remains of humans, gnolls, hobgoblins and bugbears. This was clearly where the temple made its last stand after the Battle of Emridy Meadow, before the temple was sealed. Pontus began searching through the bones, disturbing the spirits resting among them and causing several skeletons to rise up. They were easily turned and then killed. In the middle of the north wall of the long east/west hallway was an entrance to a large circular room, with a narrow winding ramp going up. The party walked up the ramp to find themselves in the middle on the ground floor - the temple cathedral proper. After searching around a bit, the party eventually made their way to the north end of the temple where there was a large dias and a throne. Sarril (being played by the DM), stated that this was the throne he saw in his vision when he touched the golden skull. Presumably, if one were to sit on that throne while holding the skull, the throne will sink down to a secret area on level 3. Athan confirmed the vision, but reiterated that the party MUST first kill Hedrack before going down to the throne room. Everyone else agreed and the party headed back down.

2nd Day of Flocktime, CY 579 (Morning)

The party spent to rest of the afternoon of the first day of Flocktime searching the rest of the Fire Temple, including Prefect Allrem's personal quarters. Some minor treasure was looted, including a book about the Elemental Plane of Fire, which was open to a page describing an Elemental Grue known as a Harginn. There was also a partially written letter addressed to Kelno, high priest of the Air Temple, which read: "Your rewards will be great if you bend your knee to Fire. Bring all of your forces here to me now, and swear fealty. If you fail to heed this advice... "

That evening, the party decided to stay inside Prefect Allrem's quarters to rest, since they could lock the door. During the night, a noise was heard outside the door, and the next morning, when the door was opened, a letter was found addressed to the party from Kelno, the Air Temple Priest, thanking the party for defeating Allrem, praising their worthiness and power, and asking them to parlay with him in the northwest corridor. The party took a round-about way to get there in the morning, defeating a minotaur along the way, mapping out some more of level 2 of the ToEE, but otherwise moving quickly (i.e. not searching) in order to maximize the use of the strength spells that were put on Pontus and Jarrus. The party eventually came in contact with Kelno and what appeared to be the remainder of his temple forces (more bugbears). Kelno asked the party to destroy the Earth Temple on the level above and offered a vial of poison with instructions to place the poison inside the altar to destroy it. If the party did as he asked, he promised to provide them with the information needed to destroy the Fire Temple.

Just as the party was finalizing the deal, Athan brandished the Golden Skull and demanded that all bow before him (losing a point of charisma in the process). The bugbears cowered in fear, but Kelno was unaffected. Jarrus then lept at Kelno, striking a critical hit with his new frostbrand sword (max damage, doubled with a 20, insane strength bonuses, etc.). Kelno exploded into millions of shards of ice, with only one or two magical items surviving the hit. The bugbear leader, witnessing this, immediately turned to Jarrus and said something to the effect of "you boss now."

The party then directed the bugbears to go up to the first level and kill everyone they see. The party then searched through what was left of Kelno before heading upstairs to follow the bugbear trail of death. The first thing they came across were a bunch of jail cells. Luckily, the only inhabitants were zombies, which the bugbears took care of. Following the sounds of fighting, the party eventually catches-up with the bugbears, who had led them in the direction of the Earth Temple. The Earth Temple was a large room with a dirt floor (go figure) and a pyramid in the middle. As the bugbears entered the room, they caused the earth elemental guardians to rise up out of the floor. Four of these 16 HD creatures appeared in total, which would have likely been more than the party could handle had they not had the bugbears to basically take the hits for them while Sarril drained charges from his wand of lightning. (There were several ways in which the party could have defeated or avoided the elementals, and using the bugbears as fodder in order to fight them head-on was creative, even if that wasn't their original intent). After the elementals were killed, Athan poured the vial of poison into an offering box on the altar and closed the lid. After some dramatic earthquakes, the pyramid crumbled and the floor cracked. The party took the opportunity to run back downstairs.

The rest of the day was spent going back over territory previously visited, searching for treasure/secret doors, etc. At one point, Jarrus found a piece of his father's armor (a magical breastplate), and otherwise, minor treasure, rations, spell components, etc. were all able to be replenished. The party did a little more exploration of Level 2 and came across a Su-monster, which is an ape-like creature with psionic abilities. The creature hit Luapan with a psychic crush attack, incapacitating him for a time, but the rest of the party was able to finish the beast off and Luapan eventually recovered. The party decided to it was best to take another rest, thus ending the session on the afternoon of second day of Flocktime.

1st Day of Flocktime, CY 579

Starting the morning of 1st Day of Flocktime, the party began by searching the water temple clerics' room and picking up some small treasures, including some clerical scrolls. Once done searching, Jarrus, Pontus and Delvin donned water temple robes, strength spells were cast on Jarrus and Pontus, and the party set out to explore the temple, deciding not to spend time searching for traps or secret doors along the hallways in order to maximize the time during which the strength spells were in effect.

The group went back up through the curtain into the altar room with the hideous aquatic statue and offering basin they ignored earlier. Athan started to reach into the basin to collect the coins and gems that were there, but Pontus stopped him, noticing that there were track marks on the floor heading from the statue to the altar, indicating this thing moves. The statue also emanated magic, so the party began investigating what was going on. Sarril decided to "pull an Athan" and toss a coin into the basin atop the altar, which triggered the statue, which was actually a Juggernaut, to come to life. Juggernauts are mythical constructs ("mythical" in the sense that they are rumored to exist but no one has ever seen one) that roll over their victims, crushing them to a pulp. The good news is that they aren't very maneuverable and they take a couple of rounds to pick up speed, so the party was able to stay away from its crushing attack for the first couple of rounds. At the same time the juggernaut came to life, the four gargoyles in the corners of the room awoke and moved in to attack. Jarrus went after one of the gargoyles and did enough damage to reveal that it was actually a zombie wearing a gargoyle cloak. Sarril then turned the zombies, allowing the party to focus on killing the juggernaut, which wasn't too much of a problem given that Luapan had gained a Rod of Smiting from Prefect Belsornig, which automatically does triple damage to constructs. He managed to deliver a killing blow one round before the thing would have crushed Jarrus.

The group finished off the zombies and headed east through the double bronze doors, across a long wide hallway and through another set of double bronze doors into what was obviously the fire temple worship area. This large room contained a diamond shaped pit in the floor in front of a wall full of jeering skulls. The pit was full of burning hot coals and Pontus detected some magic buried under the hot coals. Knowing this was the fire temple, Delvin had cast Protection from normal fire on Pontus and Jarrus and, since the hot coals were considered normal fire, the two of them were able to enter the hot coals and retrieve a buried iron box, inside of which were discovered a Frostbrand longsword, ring of fire resistance and a potion. Jarrus reached into the box to pull out the longsword and had his left hand removed by a scythe trap that was spring loaded to go off when the sword was lifted from the bottom. He screamed in pain until Sarril cast cure light wounds to close the stump and stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, the noise alerted a guard captain and a few bugbears who came through a concealed door to the north to investigate. When the guard captain saw the water temple robes on Jarrus, Pontus and Delvin, he yelled loudly for Allrem, proclaiming that the water temple was attacking.

This small group was easily dealt with, but they summoned 5 more bugbears and a half-orc cleric, followed by Prefect Allrem, chief cleric of the fire temple, and another lesser cleric. The party easily dealt with the bugbears and half-orc (while Athan pickpocketed the guard captain, who happened to be held at the time), before Sarril used his Staff of the Serpent to crush the life out of the captain. The party attempted to briefly parlay with Prefect Allrem, claiming that a new order was in place from the greater temple and that he is to submit. Allrem argued that such an act was unprecedented, and wanted to know why Hedrack was favoring the water temple, which would be a betrayal. Some additional attempts were made to convince him, but when he saw the frostbrand sword that Jarrus was carrying, he got angry and attacked. Of course that was his mistake. Some back and forth Hold Person spells were cast by multiple clerics on both sides, ending in the party's victory over the second elemental temple (that's two down).

At this point, the party started to slow down and search rooms, collecting small treasures, scrolls and magic items and heading north until they came to a long hallways that wrapped around the outer perimeter of the temple. Not wanting to go too far without having thoroughly explored the areas where they had been, the party decided to go back to the main fire temple and search the altar room. Around the room were bowls of hot oil with continual light cast on them. Each bowl has copper ladles by them. This time Jarrus decided to "pull an Athan" and started playing around with the hot oil. Someone (I don't recall if it was Jarrus or Sarril) poured some of the oil into the coal pit, which triggered the start of a sacrificial ceremony. One of the skulls on the altar began speaking to the party, telling them to place a sacrifice into the pit. Four small salamanders (creatures from the elemental plane of fire) appeared in the coal pit , and started growing in size. Pontus ran back into the other room and grabbed the dead bodies of Allrem and another cleric and came running back. While he was doing this, the rest of the party was getting fire resistance spells cast on them. At round four, the salamanders had grown to full size and multiplied into 16 salamanders. Pontus threw the dead bodies into the pit where they began to burn, but this was not the correct sacrifice (though not a bad idea), and the salamanders attacked.

This was the only real difficult battle the party had, and Jarrus' new frostbrand sword proved to be a really effective weapon against the salamanders. As a matter of fact, Jarrus was starting to show his real capabilities, as he is double-specialized in the longsword and this Frostbrand just happened to be a longsword. The party didn't miss Gareth quite so much anymore (and jokingly referred to Jarrus as Gareth 2.0). The fire protection everyone but Pontus now had on them probably saved them as every attack the salamanders made carried additional fire damage. It turns out there were only four salamanders, each with three mirror images. This kept Jarrus from completely owning them for several rounds, giving them the opportunity to do some damage. Athan got caught by one of the salamander's tails and started getting crushed to death, taking damage every round. He was knocked unconscious (below zero HP), but Sarril, Delvin and Luapan all kept hitting him with heal spells every round until someone was able to kill the salamander holding him. That was probably the only close call the party had. Once the salamanders were killed, the party thought it would be best to rest and recover spells before continuing, so they spent the rest of the afternoon and the evening locked inside the fire priest's bedroom.

27th Day of Planting, CY 579

Starting at about mid-morning of the 27th Day of Planting, Year CY 579, the reunited party has discovered that Athan just inadvertently summoned a demon, the result of a trap placed on one of the scrolls in the alcove he was searching. The clever demon used its gaze attack to weaken the fighters and, due to its innate magic resistance, was not succumbing to any of the cleric or magic-user spells thrown at it. The party quickly came to the conclusion that they were outmatched, and running away was not going to be an option without casualties. Thus, Athan, after trying to pick Pontus’s pocket for some reason, decided to read the most powerful magic scroll in his possession, Limited Wish, to wish the demon to immediately return to its home plane. Given how high of a level the scroll was, there was a decent chance of failure, but a risk he felt he needed to take. The gamble paid off, and the party was now minus one demon and minus one 7th level spell scroll – and very much alive to explore the rest of the dungeon.

At some point during all of this, Athan apologized to Sarril for being the one to steal and hide his magic mirror - the act that sent the party into the dungeon to begin with. That was a pretty big reveal, and the party was a bit too busy to process what all of that meant – perhaps to Athan’s benefit. He did say he thought it was the right thing to do at the time, but admitted to making bad decisions. He also asked Sarril to touch the golden skull, which he reluctantly agreed to do. After doing so, Sarril was visibly shaken, saying that something powerful and evil is aware of who he is and where he is right now.

After exploring a few more alchemical labs and storage areas, the party came into the last unexplored room in the northeast corner of the dungeon map. Here they encountered a total of 16 shadows, which were easily dealt with once the clerics turned them. Jarrus took a liking to some gold dinnerware, and filled a large sack with heavy gold plates, serving dishes and the like, effectively becoming a loud walking wind chime.

The party proceeded to move up to the second level of the dungeon and found their way into a large octagonal room with a pit and some braziers, as well as a slab with a sacrificial crystal dagger and bowl on it. Pontus picked up the dagger, setting off a trap (which did some damage to him) and an alarm, which summoned a kind of wraith guardian into the room, which, like most opponents that have not been demons, was easily dispatched. The octagonal room had four large bronze doors, heavily barred and chained going in each direction, with the northern door being warded with the same magical symbols that warded the outside entrance of the temple. The party was able to find a secret door leading out, thus not having to break any of the bronze door locks.

After some brief exploring and finding another set of bronze doors with magical wards at the bottom of a staircase, the party headed southwest and found what appears to be the Water Temple. There they met the high-priest Belsornig and two of the lesser priests. After some brief introductions, slaughter began. Once again, the party proved to be too much for these lowly temple dwellers, and one of the lesser priests retreated into a room with a pool of clear water and prayed aloud to the water (or something in it) to save him, then jumped into the pool which turned out to not be water at all, but highly corrosive acid. Jarrus ran to the edge of the pool to see if he could pull the priest out and then, for some reason, decided to jump into the pool of acid himself. Delvin saw this and ran over to the pool to help, then he decided the acid looked nice and jumped right in.

Sarril yelled to the rest of the party for help (Pontus and Athan had stayed behind to guard Luapan, who was still under the effects of a Hold Person spell). Pontus and Athan came running into the room and Pontus, ever the hero, jumped into the pool of acid, grabbed Jarrus and Delvin both around the waist, and pulled them out. It became quickly apparent that the pool, or something in it, was using some kind of suggestion spell to make people jump into it. Anyone failing their save was jumping into the acid, taking 2d10 damage per round and losing their equipment (although everyone’s magical equipment made its saves for the one round they were exposed, the creature did have the ability to destroy magical items and absorb their properties to use them against the party). Seeing what was going on, the party ran from the pool room and took refuge in the high priest’s chambers where they healed as much as possible before thoroughly looting the place like a good adventuring party should.

During this looting, the group discovered some clerical scrolls which included Part Water and Purify Food and Drink. Delvin, being a druid with knowledge of the elements, recognized these spells and theorized that the creature in the pool may be a type of elemental from the elemental plane of water, which has been corrupted by evil - hence the acid. These spells may have been a backup plan for Belsornig to destroy the thing if it turned against him. If so, he also theorized that a Purify Water spell would have the most direct effect against it.

With this information, the party hatched a plan. After resting overnight, they tied a rope around Delvin, which Pontus held onto so he didn’t try to jump in the pool. After buffing him with Athan’s ring of protection and a Bless and Chant from Luapan, Delvin stood in the doorway and cast Purify Water at the pool. The spell did 10d6 damage, which is quite a bit, but not enough to kill it. It tried, unsuccessfully, to make Delvin stop with a suggestion. Delvin hit it again for another 10d6, making it angry, but not killing it. It then ordered Pontus, using a suggestion, to kill Delvin. Pontus resisted. After Delvin hit it again, it still wasn’t dead, and it tried and failed to make Athan do something – after which it telepathically stated that it was obvious that “you already serve her.” The creature then began, through telepathic communication, to tell the party that Belsornig was weak and that they are worthy to lead the Water Temple. It also offered them anything they desire, which would have been in the form of a Wish if Sarril hadn’t then blasted the thing with a Purify Food & Drink scroll, killing it.

The destruction of the creature created a massive explosion that caused the lapis lazuli basin containing it, as well as the crystal dome over it, to shatter into millions of pieces. No one was in the room to take damage, so all ended well. Of course Athan began sifting through the rubble, a process that took several hours, during which he found a half dozen valuable (but large and heavy) pieces of lapis lazuli that Jarrus gladly took and placed into a sack to replace the gold dinnerware that was destroyed went he went swimming in the acid. Athan also found a scroll case, and inside was a piece of parchment with the following written:

On three, in six, lies nine - but none shall ever see
Vile Good cloaked by fair Evil for eternity.
Will you answer, Answerer? Where is your power, pray?
With the whelp of Mitrik and there until doomsday.

(Note: Mitrik is the capital of Veluna, and this poem was a clue about Prince Thrommel, whom the party had already rescued)

The remainder of the day was spent sorting through rubble and the party sealed the doors and spent the night in the comfortable bedrooms of the priests of the water temple.

26th Day of Planting, CY 579

Continuing to explore the third level of the temple, the party came across what looked like an arena with two Umber Hulks within. One of the Umber Hulks completely eviscerated Gareth, ripping him in half. And so, the party suffered its first death (though he was a non-player character, so sad, but not devastating to any of the players). The rest of the party finished off the umber hulks and found some good treasure amongst the junk piles.

The temple levels are pretty large, and nearly every room on the third level had something interesting to deal with, so I won't elaborate on every detail, but the party was quickly gaining experience and treasure as they carefully cleared the place out. There didn't appear to be any organized clerics or temple troops on this level, so the party didn't have to worry too much about alarms being rung and so forth. The most significant things that happened were the following:

The party rescued a half-elf named Jarrus, who claimed to be captured along with his father while in the surrounding countryside. Jarrus was concerned about his father's well-being and asked the party to help find him and they agreed, so Jarrus joined the party for the time-being.

They also came across the body of an assassinated drow woman. Though the blood was not fresh, the body had not yet decayed, so it didn't happen that long ago. She still had the assassin's dagger in her back. She must has been paranoid about being assassinated, as she was carrying a Periapt of Proof Against Poison. The party had to deal with a banshee in the room (most likely the spirit of the dead dark elf) before searching, but when they did, they found the following letter:

Mistress Eclavdra,

I have determined it necessary to contact you using more conventional means, as I am certain this former temple is being watched by both arcane and divine powers. I can confirm that the temple was indeed sealed, and the demoness must be trapped somewhere – her power bound, but not destroyed. The priests who inhabit this place now are either unaware of her presence, or don’t seem to care, as no overt attempts to free her have been made. Perhaps that is for the best.

Hedrack has accepted me as his guest, at least for the time being. He is a worshiper of Iuz, and he makes no secret of this, even to the other elemental priests. The others fear him, and he seems to channel real power, so it seems we may soon have another upstart demon to deal with. He is obsessed with finding a human named Gareth from Verbobonc and a gnome named Lysander.from the Kron Hills. He is expending most of his resources searching the countryside for them, so the temple has been relatively quiet lately. I believe the gnome may have discovered the location of another nexus near some place called the “Perrenland.”  If Hedrack wants this information, then he knows more about this place than we first thought.

The wizard named Falrinth has become quite suspicious of my motivations. I am always on the lookout for the assassin that hangs out with him, and I am now cautious about poisons. If you do not receive another report from me, you should know that I died keeping our secret safe.

---  Aunrae of House Eilserve

But the most significant thing the party did came next, when, due to a very fortunate roll of the die, combined with the decision to search the most unlikely of places, the party found a difficult to find secret door leading to a small chapel inside the temple. Inside the chapel, again due to some spectacularly unlikely rolls of the dice, the party discovered another secret door, leading to a room with a coffin and sleeping vampire inside. Pontus decided it would be prudent to detect magic around the vampire before doing anything, and he was successful in his check, sensing magic emanating from the coffin. But while he could sense the magic, he couldn't find anything obvious. After a time, he decided to use another of his unique barbarian skills - detect illusion. Though the chances of success were slim, he managed to make his roll, and saw through the illusion that was in place. This was no vampire. This was a human knight, wearing the coat of arms of Furyondy.

The party picked up the knight and carried him out of the room, whereupon the illusion and the stasis spells were broken, and the man woke up, groggy and incoherent. He did not know who he was or how he got there. The rest of the party continued to search the room for clues, eventually discovering that the cross on the top of the coffin was actually a sword - a very nice one by the looks of it. Luapan handed the sword back to the knight and as soon as he touched it, all of his memories came flooding back. He proclaimed that he was Thrommel II, Crown Prince of Furyondy, and that he was on his way to Veluna to marry his beloved Jolene when his party was attacked. His signet ring, coat of arms and the fact that this was no illusion seemed to confirm that he really was who he said he was. Though he could barely walk, he insisted he needed to leave this place immediately so he can get to his wedding. It was Sarril who broke the devastating news to him that it was the year 579, and six years have passed since his disappearance. The prince fell to the floor upon hearing this, at which point the party recognized they needed to give him some time.

Prince Thrommel II

After some rest, the prince was ready to resume, thanking the party for his rescue and insisting it was time for him to head home. Athan insisted that a Paladin Lord with such a nice sword would really help them to kill Hedrack, which should be the goal at this point. Prince Thrommel stated that he would gladly return with a host of knights to clear this temple once and for all, but right now, the most important thing to do is to get back to his kingdom and set things in order. While the rest of the party agreed, Athan felt the prince was being selfish and should see his own way out. The rest of the party would have none of that, and they escorted Prince Thrommel out through the tunnel. Since they knew the tower was unsafe, they decided to try the other branch of the tunnel that sloped up, to see where that went, and it led to a burnt out farmhouse in a field some way away from the temple. Athan did not follow. Luapan went back to look for him in the tower, and found that the fires had collapsed the remainder of the roof, making the tower impassable, but there was no sign of Athan. Sarril provided Prince Thrommel with an Ebony Fly that he had found in Falrinth's chamber, saying "its no horse, but its the best I can do right now." The prince wished the party the best of luck with the temple, gave Sarril and Jarrus a ring and a medallion, and told them he would return as soon as possible.

Athan, in the meantime, following his orders not to take the skull out of the temple, stayed behind when the party entered the tunnel. Not sure how long it would take the group to return, he decided to go exploring. He found a Lurker that immediately engulfed his face, attempting to suffocate him in five rounds. Athan barely managed to survive, and realized after that close call that he should wait for the party, so he went back to the small chapel where they found Prince Thrommel, closed the door and waited, using his listening skill to determine when the party was back.

When the party finally reunited, they checked out a nearby magical laboratory, where Athan and Sarril were able to stock-up on spell components and other items. Pontus started searching for a stronger container to put his black pudding into, and encountered a Roper which, because the DM didn't read the Monster Manual description correctly, ended up being much easier than it should have been (it won't be next time, I promise). In an alcove, Athan started searching through scrolls, setting off a trap that summoned a babau demon. And thus ended the session for the day (on a nice cliffhanger).

What Really Happened Outside the Tower That Night

The terrible secret that would be kept from the rest of the players for the next several months, was as follows.

There was no "thief" who snuck into the tower and stole the mirror and crystal ball. The very thing that drove the characters on a chase into the Temple of Elemental Evil was a lie, perpetuated by Athan. It seems that Athan's curiosity always has a way of getting the better of him. In this case, during his watch overnight, he decided that he wanted to experiment with the Golden Skull and the Crystal Ball to find out what they were and how to use them. Being a supra-genius, he was certain he could handle these items without risk to himself or the party. But what Athan and Sarril didn't know (and didn't have the means to find out), is that the crystal ball was actually a Crystal Hypnosis Ball, and it was attuned to the powerful demoness, Zuggtmoy, goddess of fungi, who was trapped and bound within the temple. This magic item is one of the few methods of communication she has to reach the outside world, and she was intent on using it to its fullest.

According to the Dungeon Master's Guide:

Crystal Hypnosis Ball: This cursed item type is indistinguishable from a normal crystal ball, and it radiates magic, but not evil, if detected for. Any magic-user attempting to use it will become hypnotized, and a telepathic suggestion will be implanted in his or her mind. The user of the device will believe that the desired object was viewed, but actually he or she became partially under the influence of a powerful magic-user, lich, or even some power/being from another plane. Each further use will bring the crystal ball gazer more under the influence of the creature, either as a servant, tool, or possession object.

This was not good for the unfortunate Athan, who immediately became a thrall of Zuggtmoy. To make matters worse, he did not even attempt to resist her when he discovered who she was. He was curious, and thought that by continued engagement with her, he could find out useful information to help the party. And so, every night, starting around the 18th Day of Planting and continuing to the 24th, Athan used his time on watch to sneak outside and communicate with his mistress. By the second or third time, when he began to realize this probably wasn't a good idea, he was so completely enthralled by her suggestions that he could not refuse her requests.

The thing about suggestion spells is that intelligent beings are generally aware they are under the spell, and can find ways around the suggestions - loopholes in wording of the orders they are given. But a powerful being with the intelligence of a goddess also knows this, and Athan spent enough time with her that she was able to make her suggestions air-tight. The most sinister of all being that he was not allowed to let anyone become aware, through any means of communication whatsoever, that he used the crystal, spoke to Zuggtmoy, knows who she is, or is under her spell. Layers upon layers of suggestions were placed so deep that even Athan's supra-genius brain could not unravel them. Then, only after her control over him was absolute, did she begin to make her real demands, which were:

1. To get rid of the crystal ball and the Mirror of Mental Prowess so that the party cannot get them. Athan fulfilled this request by burying both items on the temple grounds, then intentionally creating tracks down the trapdoor up to the secret temple entrance. Knowing there was a ranger in the party that could track, this would lead the party into the temple and closer to achieving the goal #4 below.

2. To collect some special spores, which Zuggtmoy's limited powers were able to create on the grounds, and place them at the entrance to the tower. These spores grew into Black Pudding, which prevented the party from leaving, driving them back into the temple.

3. Athan is never to allow the skull to leave the temple

4. Athan must encourage the party to kill Hedrack before

5. Taking the throne from the ground level of the temple to the secret room on the third level where Zuggtmoy resides, and turn the skull over to her

Over the next several sessions, Athan executed the will of Zuggtmoy faithfully, despite the internal conflict it created. And thus the story of Athan would become a tragedy. . .

24th Day of Planting, CY 579

It was approximately 4:00 am in morning and Athan was on watch when he woke up the party to inform them that he was outside making his rounds when he heard a noise and came back in to find the trap door open and the mirror missing. The party immediately sprang into action, with Gareth using his tracking ability to find out where the thieves came from and where they went, while the rest of the group secured the remainder of their belongings into the locked chests. While securing items, they also discovered the crystal ball was missing, but nothing else.

Despite rolling really well on his tracking check, Gareth had a hard time differentiating the thieves tracks from the parties tracks. It appears the thief was an elf, based on the size and type of soft boots worn, weight and (because he rolled so well) the pattern of his walk. But since Athan, also an elf, was on watch at the same time, the tracks were all mixed together. It did appear that a set of fresh tracks came out of the trap door and another set went into the trap door, suggesting that’s where the thief came from and went back to. The party was able to track up to a secret door in the hallway outside Falrinth’s room, just past where they had fought the illusory Basilisk.

The party went through the secret door and followed a tunnel several hundred feet to a ladder with a trap door above. The party went through the door to come to a dusty, trash filled room full of old cobwebs. A broom in the corner appears to have been used to cover the secret door as well as any tracks. Gareth was unable to track anything successfully after this point, but the party went forward in the hopes of running into a sign of the thief somewhere. Exploration of this dungeon level quickly revealed that they were on Level 3 of the Temple of Elemental Evil, as verified by a map they took from Falrinth’s quarters. The party went north through a door and came to a triangular room with four doors and stairs going up.

This was known as the “Chamber of Eyes” by the depictions of the symbol of the burning eye of fire (as seen previously on Lareth’s robes and others) and paintings of eyes, human, humanoid, and monstrous, all over the walls. Luapan was able to inform the party that the eye of fire (depicted either as a yellow flaming eye, or as a triangle with a Y inside it) are holy symbols associated with a mythological Elder Elemental God.      

The party began searching rooms, and in the first room came across two bugbear leaders who were easily dispatched. In the next room they found 6 bugbears, also easily dispatched (everyone except Delvin has a really good AC at this point, and are subsequently very hard to hit by monsters of less than 10 hit dice).

The fight with the second set of bugbears generated enough noise to draw the attention of Scorpp, the Hill Giant in charge of these bugbears. Scorpp came out of his room with his pet warg, and carrying two large boulders ready to smash someone with, but otherwise seemed willing to talk. Athan engaged in conversation with Scorpp for a while, and was able to say a few things that tricked the giant (who was smarter than the usual Hill Giant, but not by much) into thinking he served the “Temple Mistress.” Through this deception, he was able to gain some valuable information, primarily that the levels above are the “lower temples” and the level below is the “Greater Temple” run by someone by the name of Hedrack, whom Scorpp seems to detest. Although Scorpp seemed very trusting of Athan while speaking to him, he was very leery of Pontus, Gareth and Luapan (Delvin and Sarril were invisible at the time). This eventually resulted in a breakdown of communication and a fight ensued, with Scorpp summoning four ogres from a nearby room to join the fray.

It was a difficult fight, but the party eventually prevailed, albeit extremely wounded and completely exhausted of spells. Because of this, the party made the difficult decision to break-off pursuit of the thief and return to the tower to recuperate. Before returning, Pontus and Gareth dragged the bodies around to make it look like the giant, bugbears and ogres had fought each other. The party also stripped the bodies of their loot, searched each of the rooms and took what few magic items they found, and removed the black cloaks with the Elder Elemental God symbols on them from the bugbears. Sarril identified a potion recovered from Scorpp’s room as a Potion of Red Dragon Control. The party then returned to the tower, using the broom in the trapdoor room to cover their tracks.

Upon returning to the tower, they found the front entrance to be covered in a thick black ooze, which Sarril was able to identify as Black Pudding. This particularly vicious substance is the worst of all of the jellies and oozes one can find. Only fire can affect it, and being a 10 hit dice monster, it takes a LOT of fire to get rid of it all. There was enough of the substance covering the entire entryway to make the party believe this was likely more than one such creature, all running together into one massive blob. The party quickly hatched a plan to ignite several bonfires to contain and destroy it, using Delvin’s “Affect Normal Fires” spell to accomplish this. The plan was successful in containing, but not completely destroying, all of the pudding as the fires had to be put out before causing the tower’s wooden support beams to collapse. The party then decided that the tower location has been compromised, and decided to move their headquarters to Falrinth’s chambers below, wherein Sarril was able to place a Wizard Lock on chamber doors to add further protection. While the rest of the party was resting, healing and recovering spells, Pontus decided to go back upstairs and collect some of the Black Pudding in a glass vial, figuring it may come into later use. The rest of the party warned him about how dangerous it would be to have a glass vial of such a corrosive substance carried on his person, but Pontus was confident that it is worth the risk to have something so useful.

It actually did prove useful the next day when the party explored a secret door they had found in the bugbear room that lead to a cell containing a troll and a very large iron key hanging from a massive iron chain affixed to a block of stone. Presumably because the party was wearing the temple robes, the troll did not attack, but did demand to be fed. The party fed the troll with the bodies of some of the bugbears while Pontus used a drop of the pudding to dissolve the chain holding the key. The party then discovered there were four of these troll/key rooms and repeated this process four times, coming into the possession of four large iron keys while simultaneously getting rid of all of the dead bodies from two days before.

At this point, the party decided to backtrack and head south from the original passage where they had entered the dungeon. This led to an interesting room full of statues of various monsters in a circle. Each statue seemed to be guarding a magic item of some type. Also in this room, providing an eerie light source, were four Wil-O-Wisps, which attacked the party once Athan begin investigating the magic items. With an AC of -8 and near complete magic immunity, the wisps proved to be too much for the party to fight. The good news is that they move very slow, so the party was able to run away into an adjoining room where the wisps did not follow.

This room was a virtual forest of fungus, with glowing mushrooms of all kinds. The voice of a woman called out to the party to be still, as some of the fungi in this room are incredibly toxic and will cause insanity. A beautiful woman glad in armor and carrying a short sword began winding her way in a pattern through the fungal forest toward the party. She attempted, and failed, to charm Pontus as she called out to Delvin to help her check the rest of the party for signs of infection. She then attacked Gareth. It was a quick and easy fight and as soon as the party defeated the warrior, the illusion she had placed on herself dropped, and they discovered she was actually a Lamia – a type of magical beast that has a woman’s torso, with the body of a horse and hind legs of a lion. Thanks to Gareth’s superior armor class, he was able to avoid her touch attack, which would have permanently drained him of his wisdom.

As we had already run an hour over our planned session time, we had to end it here, mid-dungeon. It is the morning of the 26th Day of Planting.