No, they were too scared to investigate further - several sessions later (I'm behind on my posts) they returned to discover that they simply led up to the top floor hehe.
Deciding to take the corridor leading south out of the hydra's lair you followed a long winding corridor that opened out into a room guarded by five bugbears wearing short scarlet capes. Although they posed little threat one of the guards managed to land a vicious blow on Yav fracturing his forearm. Pushing on you discovered a small waiting room occupied by a half-orc robed in scarlet emblazoned with a gold skull upon the chest. Although he was prepared for you your greater numbers meant he was quickly subdued allowing you to continue into suite of rooms plushly appointed in fiery hues.
Here you encountered another red robed priest and a martial man in a dark red cloak clutching a fiery sword. The two men were flanked by bugbears. You quickly felled the red-robed man suspecting him to be a priest but his colleague quickly subdued you with a magical rope leaving only Pan and Lyria unbound. The man, who introduced himself as Lupocullo, threatened to crush with his rope if you didn't surrender. Taking a chance Pan used his magic to inflict fear upon the man causing him to drop the rope and flee from the room. The remaining bugbears proved little trouble for you.
Exploring the two doors that led from the chamber you discovered a study with a treatise on the Elemental Plane of Fire to the east and two the west was a chamber containing another red-robed man who without looking up from the letter he was writing mistook you for his minions. Eventually a fight ensued but you found his magic readily able to thwart your attempts to attack him resulting in a magical duel between the man you realised was Prefect Alrrem and Yav. Finally Yav triumphed and you subdued the head of the Fire Temple. Interrogating the man you learned very little other than that in the levels below lay greater threats such as ettins and giants and Alrrem proposed an alliance. Talk of sending to the dungeons in Gullscry caused Fulco to balk at the idea of having the insidious priest in his home and in an act of rashness he slit the throat of the Prefect to the surprise of the whole party.
With your willing source of information silenced you had little option but to search the chambers revealing much wealth. Your looting finished you wandered on to a room draped in tapestries behind which you discovered a passageway and a concealed door. The concealed door opened onto a fast fiery temple of red marble and bronze and brass fittings. Xâkestari, warded by the ring of fire resistance, tentatively entered the oppressively warm room and approached a 20 foot long brass tube hanging in front of a shallow fire pit. Striking the tube with his weapon he caused it to ring out with a loud reverberating chime. Loosing his nerve he returned to the concealed door where the rest of the party lurked behind the tapestries.
With your spells depleted after only a brief time back in the temple but with the hour having gone past midnight you decided more rest was required and you settled down in the fire temple clergy's suite of rooms to recuperate.
You rest in the chambers of the Fire Temple priests was interrupted a number of times by bugbears, ogres led by the officer bearing a flaming sword and finally trolls. Whilst the first two encounters were little to concern yourselves about the trolls proved a different story. A furious fight ensued in which a number of you were savaged by the trolls' claws and fangs and left bleeding to death on the floor. A close call, you finally triumphed and in a very bad state managed to last until Brother Fessahr opened a portal to Gullscry and you quickly returned to the safety of your homes.
Perhaps shaken up by your brush with death you seemed in no hurry to return to the Temple and whilst Xâkestari trained in the ways of the sha'ir the rest of you found personal distractions to while away the time.
Opening a portal to Alrrem's chamber you returned to find the place ransacked and despoiled. Someone or something had obviously been here since your last visit. Deciding to return to the Fire Temple you discovered that it was untouched and so you cautiously entered to investigate further. After some examining of the altar, Fulco used the copper ladle to pour some of the glowing oil over it. A gilded skull on the altar demanded a sacrifice of great value and the flames of the fire pit in front of it began to grow and coalesce into the the forms of a type of fire elemental-kin Xâkestari recognised as salamanders, wicked denizens of the Elemental Plane of Fire. Despite placing a zircon upon the hot coals of the fire pit it did not seem to be a valuable enough sacrifice and the salamanders started to materialise fully. Fearing a confrontation with so many of them you quickly retreated from the Temple. The salamanders did not pursue you.
Investigating in a different direction you found yourself in a processional corridor bearing images of the Fire, Air and Water temples. Priests of each faction were depicted leading ceremonies; some in grey robes with a square symbol, some in green robes with a circular symbol and some in red robes with the symbol of an 8-pointed star. Two large bronze doors faced each other at one end whilst the other opened out into a huge hallway that was filled with the signs of a great battle. A smaller door led into a strange white room in which a crystal panel in the wall glowed and revealed the images of two angelic figures who claimed to be guardians of Good left here after the fall of the Temple to aid any champions fighting against Evil. They told you that if you left your belongings in the room and returned after a count of 77 the possessions you left behind would be infused and enhanced with holy power. Fulco left a couple of mundane items but Xâkestari left all his magical wealth.
Returning to the room after the required pause you found your items gone. Bursting through the door opposite two lupine humanoids attacked you but you easily defeated them. Your possessions were nowhere to be seen. Resigning yourselves to their loss you explored on and discovered a large octagonal chamber of grey stone with an eerie mist creeping about the floor and a crystal alter. A shaft in the ceiling led upwards to, what you believed, might be the cathedral level of the Temple. In the north were double doors of bronze inscribed with the same magical runes of warding you had seen elsewhere. Deciding not to linger in this place too long you explored the large doors to the south.
The doors opened on to a corridor but as Fulco and Xâkestari each tried to enter an icy charnal wind blew them violently backwards. Instead you decided to investigate the doors set in the eastern wall.
These opened out onto a ceremonial corridor similar to the one in the west and ultimately led you to another temple of green marble with aquatic fixtures of verdigrised bronze and motes of blue and green light that made the whole place feel underwater. Suspecting that this must surely be the Water Temple you decided to leave it be for now until you had explored more of the level.
Following a new corridor you found it end in two wooden doors. However you had neglected a side corridor and all of a sudden found yourselves flanked by a group of angry bugbears behind you and the noise of more adversaries coming from behind the doors in front of you. Fearing that you were about to enter into a tricky predicament you readied your weapons and prepared to fight for your lives.
Trapped by bugbears emerging from every direction you had little choice but to fight the attackers, who, garbed in grey kilts and cloaks emblazoned with a black square, you determined were servants of the Air Temple. Despite their numbers the bugbears were not as skilled as yourselves and it was only a matter of time before you defeated them despite taking a number of severe wounds. However, during the fight an unseen assailant had used magic upon you but no trace was found of them after the battle was over.
Questioning two gnolls who had cowered behind the bugbears you learned that Prefect Kelno was in charge of the Air Temple and that his chambers were located near to you. The gnolls knew little else and you let them go. Exploring the rooms that had previously occupied the bugbears you found little of note. Kelno's apparent quarters had little of value in them other than some ceremonial robes. Of the Prefect himself, there was no sign.
Upon the urging of Xâkestari you returned to the room where you had been duped by the werewolves masquerading as angels and after searching the area found a secret door leading to the lycanthropes' lair. Here you found your missing goods as well as other items likely belonging to less fortunate explorers. Many of the items were of silver and you found holy symbols of the lesser gods; Fortubo (smithing & metal), Lydia (daylight, music & knowledge), Atroa (spring, East Wind & renewal) and a symbol of two clasped hands bound with cord that you could not identify.
Returning back to the site of your previous battle you continued to search the area discovering a long corridor that led to a large room containing a statue of a minotaur sat upon a throne in front of a dried up fountain. As you tentatively enterred the room the minotaur sprang to life charging at Fulco but Yav quickly turned his baleful gaze upon the beast and channelling Ralishaz's power caused the minotaur to fall into a deep slumber. After searching the room (finding little of note other than a secret door and a magical scroll) you decided to execute the minotaur before it awoke.
Fulco then opened the secret door and narrowly avoided a spiked log, sharpened at one end that swung down through the doorway quickly followed by cries of alarm from the figures within. Readying yourselves for yet another fight you drew your weapons and prepared to charge.
Good job wolfing. Good to hear you are still playing. I have had a couple weekends this winter and the party has 3 gems and just entered the earth node.
Maybe its your writing style but your game sounds funner than mine
Thanks mcneilk! I'm afraid my updates are well behind where we are at in the game so I'll try and catch up without bomarding the thread!!
I agree rangnar - I think that ToEE gives the DM lots of scope to make things epic for the party especially when you start working out how the factions would interact and think about the timescale and coming and going of the PCs and what the Factions do in those periods of player downtime!
As you prepared to attack the men in the room behind the secret door you had stumbled upon, Pan opened a portal from Gullscry to join you. As the portal closed a rippling affect occurred and Xakestari was pulled back through but believing him to be safe at the Keep you kept your attemtion focused on your assailants.
The men attacking you all appeared to be human and garbed in black but were no match for your superior skill and strength. However, one of the guards slipped through a secret passageway activated by a sliding torch sconce and alerted reinforcements. A long struggle ensued in which you fought numerous black clad men and half-orcs including a couple who appeared to be their leaders. By the end of the battle a score of dead lay at your feet but one half-orc who had thrown poisoned darts at both you and a stealthy opponent garbed in a black cloak adorned with red skulls escaped along with the human who had activated the secret door earlier.
A search of the adjoining rooms turned up a few items of value but no sign of the escapees. Yav believed that the horned red skull symbol embroidered upon the cloak of one of the men could be the symbol of Iuz, a mortal man who rose to become the demi-god of pain, oppression and deceit and unusual in that he resided within the Flanaess in his grim fortress city of Dorakaa and not within one of the Outer Planes like most gods. As to the connection between this symbol and the Temple you were unsure.
Turning your attention to a chest in one of the smaller bed-chambers, Cunigund overlooked a poison needle trap but Pan's quick attentions saved the poison from taking full affect. Relieved that no harm had come you opened the chest to be surprised by a secondary and more deadly trap. A cloud of poison gas quickly filled the room, instantly killing Fulco, Syf and Gristle. Shocked, you decided you had no other option except to wait until dusk for the portal to Gullscry to be opened.
Returning to the room in which you fought the minotaur, Lyria, Yav, Pan and Cunigund settled down for the four hours of waiting. Half way into their rest they were stumbled upon by a band of ogres which through the use of the magical rope and spells were defeated. Your resources dimished you settled down again but fortune was not on your side as not long after a second band of ogres stumbled across your resting place and you leapt to defend yourselves and the bodies of your fallen comrades. Will you prevail or have you finally met your end in the Temple of Elemental Evil?!
Roused from your rest by a group of ogres that had stumbled upon you by chance you bravely fought them off with little harm to yourselves other than the threat posed by reduced magical resources at your disposal. Once again you settled down nervously awaiting the portal to the safety of Gullscry. However, fortune was still not on your side. A vile insectoid creature nearly 10 feet in size, a pale grub like body and eight twitching tentacles upon its face skittered into the room. Unlike the ogres this creature posed much more of a threat. Climbing up the walls it attacked down at you with its tentacles. One by one you found yourselves paralysed by a sticky ichor left by the tentacles until only Yav, protected by his phylactery of freedom, remained able to fight back. Trusting in his stout cudgel he managed to bludgeon the already weakened vermin to death.
Ten minutes later a confused Xakestari stepped through the portal to find most of his companions either dead or standing frozen like statues. Yav's relief was short lived as yet more noise could be heard coming down the corridor. Frantically, Yav and Xakestari bundled the bodies through the portal as two trolls arrived. Quickly activating his marble elephant, Xakestari was able to block off the entrance to the room with Yezdigerd buying you time to safely transport your comrades to Gullscry Keep.
Just as Yezdigerd looked ready to fall to the savage blows of the remaining troll (the other troll having been felled by the Baklunish elephant's tusks) Xakestari returned him to statuette form and fled through the portal, closing it behind him. Breathing a huge sigh of relief the survivors set about picking up the pieces. After nearly two hours Lyria, Cunigund and Pan were able to move once again and you decided to travel that very evening to the Temple of Rao in Safeton where you negotiated for the raising of Fulco, Syf and Gristle. Leaving the bodies at the temple you returned to Gullscry to gather enough funds to pay for this powerful magic as well as to identify some of the magical items you had discovered. Eventually you all scraped together enough to raise your fellows and escort them back to Gullscry to spend a week in recovery.
During this period of down-time the rest of you pursued various personal goals until you reconvened at Gullscry on the 14th Patchwall. Here you discussed your next steps and Xakestari, the most recent addition to your party, quizzed you about what was actually transpiring at the Temple of Elemental Evil making it clear he was not content to simply wander from room to room. You turned your attentions back to a long and cryptic poem left to you by a mysterious old man in Nulb pondering the references to a broken key of some kind. Fulco was able to recognise references to the lands of Veluna and Furyondy as well as the Order of the Knights of the Hart (associated with both those lands) which made sense as both countries had been involved in providing troops in the Battle of EMridy Meadows ten years ago when the temple was first brought down.
Lyria also remembered that Crown Prince Thrommel, the leader of the Forces of Good had later disappeared and that your former companion Woden, a priest of Trithereon, had believed the Prince connected to a sacred blade of his god named Fragarach "The Answerer". Woden had received a vision which he was convinced led him to the Temple but had unfortunately died before he could enter the great cathedral of Evil.
You finally decided that you would return for a brief sortée into the Temple to explore beyond the sundered rune-covered doors that you had commanded the earth elementals to destroy in the Earth Temple. Using the portal to return there you nervously approached but found the results anti-climactic. The stairs beyond simply led to the top level of the cathedral! Returning to Gullscry immediately you debated whether you should continue you exploration of the Temple or seek more information on what was actually transpiring beneath the the ruins of that place.
Lyria and Xâkestari decided to undertake an information gathering mission whilst the rest of you continued your down time. Using the mirror they travelled to Hommlet, Nulb, Verbobonc and Greyhawk and discovered a number of interesting facts about the mysterious poem you had received, Prince Thrommel IV and his sword The Answerer. You determined that Iuz was part of a partnership behind the Temple but as to who his partner in crime was no-one could tell you anything other than she was likely a demoness.
A little better armed with knowledge you returned to the Temple and after a brief visit to the Earth Temple level returned to the next level down where you explored a number of empty store-rooms until you stumbled across a refuse room where you encountered a strange spherical creature with three stumpy legs, a wide mouth filled with sharp teeth and two vicious tentacles. Quickly dispatching the beat you pushed on only to encounter a suite of rooms filled with black clad bugbears. After a large fight you defeated the hairy goblinoids allowing the non-aggressive women go.
After searching their chambers you moved on to another unexplored area of the Temple and came across a prison block guarded by an ogre and single bugbear who you swiftly dispatched. Four cells, each marked with a symbol of one of the four elements were found. Within the Fire cell were three naked men and within the Water cell were four naked elves, one of whom was the Countess Tillahi whom Fulco had been questing to save. Immediately freeing Her Noble Grace and her consort Sir Juffer and the two other members of her entourage, the Countess explained how had you been a day or two later they would have been sacrificed and she thanked Ehlenestra for guiding you to her.
Pondering over whether to release the humans or not you also considered your next move regarding your rescued captives.
After briefly questioning the human captives in the Fire cell and learning that they were generally from the Viscounty of Verbobobc you decided to release them for which they were all grateful. As you decided how to see the captives to safety Yav and Gristle appeared through a portal from Gullscry meaning that you had a convenient way to send the four olves and three humans to safety.
The capitves having been dealt with you searched the room and then continued your explorations. Whilst you all searched a small empty chamber, Yav, restless with the waiting, wandered off down a flight of steps to the next level down. Allowing himself to be guided by his bone sticks he encountered no-one on the third level and eventually decided it better to return to his companions.
Once back together you returned to the Fire Temple to test out a theory that Fulco had formulated. Pouring holy water onto the glowing coals you were able to extinguish them, allowing Fulco to rummage about and discover a large iron box. Using Pan's magic to locate a trap within the box, Cunigund was able to disable a nasty scything blade that would clearly have severed any hand withdrawing an object from the box. The box itself contained a magical ring and potions as well as a beautiful longsword that surprised you all by speaking in the Common tongue with a strong Oeridian accent. It introduced itself as Brandbluss, a foe of fire. Despite being somewhat misogynistic and critical you decided to hang onto him for now, having sensed strong magic emanating from the blade.
Moving onto what you deduced to be the Air Temple you spent some time searching the room and trying to unlock its mysteries. Crystal braziers that spewed forth smoke when tampered with and a flash of light that subsequently occurred in the central pit all led to confuse you and in frustration you left the place feeling no closer to unlocking its potential mysteries.
Hah, you have your own version of the frost brand. IMC that was Snowfang, and it's become almost as much a part of the party as the bard who wields it. :)
Hahah yeah, my version of the sword is a royal pain the butt. He's constantly brow-beating the party for not being worthy, for being cowardly, I think they secretly love him though although they do give him away in the end to a more worthy home haha, also for some peace and quiet!
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