Post by David on Nov 7, 2006 18:45:26 GMT -5
After using a cure critical wounds to restore Verna, Black Robe cast a legend lore on the half-orc priestess in order to understand her perception of her near-death experience in the Temple. It would seem that Ghaunadaur, the Elder Elemental God, is not alone in the Temple. Moreover, there are four gates binding both these entities into the Temple. As a side effect, these gates also the bind the spiritual nature of all other beings within the Temple region, effectively allowing the nearest "bound" deities (Ghaunadaur and this other demoness, Zuggetmoy) to claim the spirits of such unfortunates...as almost happened to Verna. Unfortunately, these beings are feeding on the souls of those slain in the Temple and will one day have amassed sufficient power to break free...
The heroes decided to return to the Temple in order to deconsecrate the various holy sites these beings use to empower themselves. Kara produced an itemized Ulaanbaatar and gave the Suloise wizardess a few spells which she in turn shared with Pigñolé.
Shortly thereafter, a mysterious man appeared out of nowhere invisibly. Chastity spotted him and he became visible. It was Torr's uncle, Phillipe Redlocke. After a bit of discussion, Phillipe suddenly went crazy and transformed into a werefox, but Black Robe held him. Chastity tried to convince Torr to "borrow" his uncle's magic sword, but the young paladin declined. The heroes, under the benefits of Chastity, Kara, and Black Robe's spells, then left for the Temple.
In the Temple, the heroes made a bee-line for the Earth Temple. There, the combined fighting force of Claudia, Torr, and Ziyi along with the magic missiles of Pigñolé and Ulaanbaatar managed to destroy two of the four 16 HD earth elementals while Verna held another off. The gnome even managed to faerie fire one of the elementals, although accidentally caught Ichi in the effect too. 8-( Badly wounded, however, the heroes were forced to flee before they could finish their task. Right on cue, the party's former foe, the type III demon, reappeared and attacked.
Although the heroes fled the Earth Temple, the demon merely teleported ahead of them and used its fear power to split them up. Luckily a Joyous Word from Verna foiled this. The demon couldn't seem to do any serious damaged to the party in melee, so he tried another fear, this time driving off Claudia and Ziyi. Ulaanabaatar tried to figure out where the pair went, but they were too fast. Meanwhile, the heroes were slowly whittling away at the demon. Soon, Claudia circled back in a blind panic, unaware that she'd made a loop of one section of the dungeon. Luckily, Verna had cast a serenity spell earlier, which instantly negated the fear affect and allowed the storm giantess to regain her sense. Soon afterward, mostly through the support of Ichi's fighting, the heroes vanquished the demon.
The group then began looking for Ziyi. They couldn't really track her, so Verna cast a locate object on the trinket she had given the acrobat earlier. The heroes used the spell to get a fix on Ziyi, but she was moving. After a chase through a good section of the first level of the dungeon complex, the party went through a door and came upon Ziyi's unconscious body in the possession of an ogre. The monster didn't last long (one hit from Torr and one from Verna), but unfortunately, it had seriously wounded the half-elf, including biting off a chunk of her lips in some carnivore-kiss.
After restoring Ziyi and the other fighter's strength through Verna's spells and Torr's paladin-healing, the group decided to finish off the last two earth elemental while the spells from Chastity, Kara, and Black Robe were still in effect. The group returned to the Earth Temple and after a tense fight, finished off both of the creatures. Verna then sanctified the site in the name of Myhrrisa, breaking Ghaunadaur's hold on it. As the group left, Pigñolé grabed a bronze chest full of sacrificial gear and Ichi noted several buried caches under the earth, but the party chose to investigate later.
The heroes traveled back to their campsite, where Black Robe immediately got to work healing their wounds...
The heroes decided to return to the Temple in order to deconsecrate the various holy sites these beings use to empower themselves. Kara produced an itemized Ulaanbaatar and gave the Suloise wizardess a few spells which she in turn shared with Pigñolé.
Shortly thereafter, a mysterious man appeared out of nowhere invisibly. Chastity spotted him and he became visible. It was Torr's uncle, Phillipe Redlocke. After a bit of discussion, Phillipe suddenly went crazy and transformed into a werefox, but Black Robe held him. Chastity tried to convince Torr to "borrow" his uncle's magic sword, but the young paladin declined. The heroes, under the benefits of Chastity, Kara, and Black Robe's spells, then left for the Temple.
In the Temple, the heroes made a bee-line for the Earth Temple. There, the combined fighting force of Claudia, Torr, and Ziyi along with the magic missiles of Pigñolé and Ulaanbaatar managed to destroy two of the four 16 HD earth elementals while Verna held another off. The gnome even managed to faerie fire one of the elementals, although accidentally caught Ichi in the effect too. 8-( Badly wounded, however, the heroes were forced to flee before they could finish their task. Right on cue, the party's former foe, the type III demon, reappeared and attacked.
Although the heroes fled the Earth Temple, the demon merely teleported ahead of them and used its fear power to split them up. Luckily a Joyous Word from Verna foiled this. The demon couldn't seem to do any serious damaged to the party in melee, so he tried another fear, this time driving off Claudia and Ziyi. Ulaanabaatar tried to figure out where the pair went, but they were too fast. Meanwhile, the heroes were slowly whittling away at the demon. Soon, Claudia circled back in a blind panic, unaware that she'd made a loop of one section of the dungeon. Luckily, Verna had cast a serenity spell earlier, which instantly negated the fear affect and allowed the storm giantess to regain her sense. Soon afterward, mostly through the support of Ichi's fighting, the heroes vanquished the demon.
The group then began looking for Ziyi. They couldn't really track her, so Verna cast a locate object on the trinket she had given the acrobat earlier. The heroes used the spell to get a fix on Ziyi, but she was moving. After a chase through a good section of the first level of the dungeon complex, the party went through a door and came upon Ziyi's unconscious body in the possession of an ogre. The monster didn't last long (one hit from Torr and one from Verna), but unfortunately, it had seriously wounded the half-elf, including biting off a chunk of her lips in some carnivore-kiss.
After restoring Ziyi and the other fighter's strength through Verna's spells and Torr's paladin-healing, the group decided to finish off the last two earth elemental while the spells from Chastity, Kara, and Black Robe were still in effect. The group returned to the Earth Temple and after a tense fight, finished off both of the creatures. Verna then sanctified the site in the name of Myhrrisa, breaking Ghaunadaur's hold on it. As the group left, Pigñolé grabed a bronze chest full of sacrificial gear and Ichi noted several buried caches under the earth, but the party chose to investigate later.
The heroes traveled back to their campsite, where Black Robe immediately got to work healing their wounds...
