-- GillianWiseman - 27 Dec 2008

December 13, 2008

The party, minus Cinoi, and including Dex, whom they geared up, head up the hallway to see what is there. Here, we discover we're in a pit. The stone wall rises up 20 feet on either side (to the actual temple floor above). Ahead (across the room, hidden by the map's darkness) is a set of stairs. On either side of the landing, 20 feet up, are two flaming skeletons, which promptly attack the party. The roof is completely gone from this area, and the floor is made of sand and rocks.

As usual, Osrik is all gung-ho to fight. +fighting is his job; he has to enjoy it or it makes no sense+. Alecsa is just about sick of skeletons, especially when they are on fire. Gloriana is not too fond of them, either.

Chaedi uses icy terrain on skeleton #2, managing to knock him prone but not off the 20 foot wall. +that would have been a fab touch, huh?+ The skeleton hits Osrik, setting him aflame. Osrik shoots at it in turn, but misses. Dex runs across the floor, yelling, "Look! There's stairs." Since Gloriana is too far away to turn, she tries shooting skeleton #1. She misses. Alecsa's shot misses as well.

Chaedi misses #2 with cloud of daggers. #1 hits Gloriana, setting her on fire. Osrik races his trotters upstairs, tossing his crossbow to Dex as he goes by. He comes out at the top of the temple and moves over to Skeleton #2, drawing his axe. Another skeleton rises up out of the ground to bite Chaedi, but it misses. Gloriana destroys the newly arrived skeleton with Lir's radiance. (aka Pelor's radiance) Dex just stands up there watching the carnage. [Yep, he's useful.] Alecsa shoots at skeleton #2 and misses.

Chaedi's thunder wave misses #2, who then hits her and sets her on fire. She now declares she hates skeletons. #1 hits Alecsa and sets her on fire. Osrik moves to #2 and performs a spinning kick, knocking it prone and putting out his own smoldering beard. What's left of it, anyway. +poor beard, I think it is gray, by now, if it isn't burnt away+. Dex finally runs upstairs to bullrush #1, pushing it off the wall, which leaves it prone in front of Alecsa and Gloriana. [Look, he finally did something helpful!] Gloriana turns #1, sliding it into the wall. She also manages to put out her fire. Alecsa hits #1 with a torturous strike and then put out her fire, as well.

Chaedi hits #2 with Cloud of daggers and puts out her fire, too. Both skeletons stand up. Osrik misses #2 with his brute strike. Feeling heroic, he expends an action point to make a sweeping strike, doing it some major damage. Dex shoots #2 from the opposite wall and kills it. Gloriana uses healing word on Chaedi. Alecsa hits #1 with a trick strike and kills it.

More clacking is heard from behind Chaedi. She is attacked by another skeleton that rises up out of the floor. She misses it with her Cloud of daggers and runs up the stairs. Osrik looks around upstairs for any more foes but sees none. He sees a lot of pillars and an altar with some objects on it. Dex's shot misses the skeleton. Gloriana heals Alecsa, who then kills the skeleton.

Another skeleton rises from the dirt to hit Alecsa. From the wall, Chaedi kills it with Cloud of daggers. Alecsa and Gloriana are finally able to escape to the upper walls.

On the altar, Osrik finds a skull, a golden bowl, a small lamp, and a knife made of bone. He's all quick to smash everything, but Alecsa forces him to wait until she checks the items. However, he smashes the skull before she can stop him. Chaedi greets Alecsa with "Lexa" again, for which she's told to stop. Then, Dex has to jump in with a "Lexy." Who does this guy think he is?! Alecsa tells him to knock it off, too! And stop smoking strange things! When Osrik jumps in with his two cps, Alecsa informs him he's yet to look into a mirror.

On the opposite side of the room, there are stairs that lead out the other side of the temple. Looking at the altar, Alecsa thinks it's been recently used or at least cleaned up. They can see writing on the altar and the bowl. Gloriana determines the language is Abyssal. She also believes the altar and the implements were used in some undead raising ritual. [So surprised] Alecsa copies the markings from the bowl and altar for Cinoi, and gets him a pebble, too.

The bowl is made of gold, and Alecsa appraises it at about 40 gp. So, Osrik pounds it into a lump and divides it four ways, for himself and "his girls." [Does that phrase make your skin crawl, too?!] He shatters the knife of bone, as wel

Alecsa notices a ring in the floor and finds it is part of a trapdoor that looks like it may have been used recently. She keeps Osrik away from the ring while she looks for traps or any other unpleasant surprises. The party decides they need to rest up a bit before taking the trapdoor, since most of them are pretty beat up. So, they head back outside.

XP 506

December 14, 2008

For those wondering where the hell Cinoi was:

Cinoi was increasingly agitated after checking out the graves and heading toward the temple, so while everyone milled around getting ready to rush into the dark evil temple, he decided to make a quick run back to that damned stone circle and see if he could find any treasures, archeological or material.

The path to the stone circle cuts through a forest, but as it doesn't seem like a particularly MEAN forest, Cinoi runs up the path, stopping to examine old fragmented ruins and earthworks along the way. Nothing looks particularly fascinating, so he goes on up to the stone circle, which consists of a flat paved area surrounded by megaliths. He finds a circular depression in the area consisting of a ring of stones with Rellanic inscriptions bordering a darker area in the center. Three of the stones, he will notice later, are missing. While the script is too old for Cinoi to decipher, he recognizes some of the symbols as being astronomica/astrological in nature, starboy that he is.

As he's examining it, an old man (who later identifies himself as Gro Hadan) steps out from behind a stone, and he and Cinoi exchange pleasantries. The old guy seems to know quite a bit about the circle and claims to be able to read the inscriptions. Cinoi comes to the conclusion that the circle is an observatory and/or a temple to the stars, both of which seem to be reasonable in light of following events...

The old guy offers to provide a more detailed explanation of the functioning of the circle, inviting Cinoi into the middle area, after he realizes that Cinoi is a scholar of sorts. Cinoi suspiciously enters, as he realizes that circles can be dangerous based on his knowledge of arcana and religion, but he figures he can handle a single old man. The old man mutters something at the stones and basically the entire circle turns into a planetarium with the dark center area showing stars that are clearly not of this world.

The old man explains that this place is indeed the Well of Stars, sealed when the Lords of Civari removed the aforementioned three stones. The old man says that, unlocked, the Well leads to many places, including Zail where Kinis went (presumably with his weapons and that sought-after shield which the Duke wants as a sign of Kingship) after defeating Ugar. Cinoi asks where the stones might be, and the old man speculates that Throf Equagnol and his companions had them, perhaps Zorb of Orb (not heard from in 40 years). He thinks that the Master of Castle Har may have one, as well as identifying Balzak's Tomb as the resting place of another. Additionally, he says that anyone wishing to use the Well must locate the necessary rituals.

Having nothing else more to say, he and Cinoi wish each other well. On a whim, Cinoi asks the old man which of the other-worldly stars are his favorite, and the old man replies cryptically (in Cinoi's opinion) that Albemuth guides him. The old man warns that other people seek the keys as well, and implies that they may not take kindly to finding out Cinoi is looking for them. He suggests that Cinoi might wish to check on his friends, as Golnath Haud is "an evil place." Cinoi takes that advice and heads back to the temple, meeting nothing else of interest on the way.

SessionSixteen