From the diary of Vida Pankhurst
Together we scowl
together we play the dark
upon the land and sky and mind
So I woke up to take my watch and things seemed fine, both internally and externally, until some bloody big fungus blob like thing percolated out of the darkness and engulfed both Ugg and Fillian whilst they slept. I woke Sameson, knowing him to be the expert on weird plants. He called upon Obad-hai to turn the creature, which finally released the two and slid off back into the crypt. As a consequence of the attack not all of us were fully recuperated!
Joe it seemed had pricked his finger upon a poisoned needle during the previous day so Sameson cured him of this malady. I think Sameson must have had some kind of kicker in his breakfast that morning because he seemed even more pro-active than usual, and he decided to use his powers to speak to the dead earth temple priests in the crypt. He questioned them about the best way to circumvent the earth elemental that blocks our path and they told him of an earth temple robe that stops the earthy guardians from attacking. The dead priests told him that it was in the possession of Rommag the leader of the temple and gave us sketchy directions on which way to go to collect it. Well…at least this is what Sameson told us, but for all I know he could be making it all bloody up and he just has some kind of morbid fascination with talking to corpses; who knows how these acorn lovers get their kicks.
So off we went and found a secret door from the deceased priest’s instructions. We found a narrow passageway behind it so we stepped back and allowed Joe to do his sneaky thing. Bloody net-maker my beard. Anyone he skulked down there to look behind a curtain with Fillian and then Joe gestured me to come forward, so I bloody came forward and he had the bloody audacity to rebuke me for making noise. I would like to see him try bloody sneaky sneaky about in full chainmail armour! Besides it was the lumbering Ugg that was making all the noise, but obviously it is always the woman’s fault in their narrow little human brains.
So we obviously alerted a magic user inside the room behind the curtain who threw a sonic blast at us that knocked Fillian’s wand and rapier right out of his hands. Joe pulled the stunned elf to safety, and Ugg and I marched in to the room to get the bugger who turned out to be Rommag himself (the earth temple cleric in charge). He began yelling for his men; pfft always bloody men, whilst Ugg and I advanced on him. Then he lobbed a sonic boom at us again. Ugg was knocked senseless but I shook it off. I’m a bloody dwarf after all, magic barely touches me. I conjured my goddess’ holy weapon and set it about knocking chunks out of the cleric, before attacking him with my own war hammer.
At this point another bloody cleric entered the fray from a side chamber. Joe, Fillian and Sameson attacked him, but he retreated back behind his curtain. Ugg recovered from the sonic blast and with Sameson and Fillian pursued the cleric. Joe tried to circle behind Rommag to place a dagger between his ribs, but the clever bastard backed up against a wall. So Joe and I went head to head with the head of the earth temple. He was a strong git, attacking us with his mighty mace and magic. From the side chamber I could hear Fillian conjuring magic and the calls of many men, the soldiers of the earth temple, dying. They had ran into the soldiers of the earth temple, but I knew there was nothing we could do to aid them because, along with Joe, I was locked in a deadly battle of my own with Rommag.
Just when we were kicked his earthy butt he evocated a powerful darkness and slipped away. But be damned if I would let another evil cleric slip out of my grasp so I decided to plunge into the darkness and hope for the best. Joramy be blessed I found a wall and felt my way along it till I found a curtain leading to another smaller room. I stepped out of the darkness and saw Joe grappling with Rommag on the floor. Bloody barbaric men! Rommag cast Joe aside and climbed to his feet, but the room was not lit and he stumbled blindly around. Natural darkness, of course, is no problem for us dwarves and so I seized the advantage. I called a warning to Joe who leapt to the floor just in time as I cast my goddess’s mighty flames at Rommag. Near to death and knowing himself alone, and outclassed, Rommag prudently surrendered.
He agreed to help us defeat the water temple. So Joe and I marched him back into the bigger room and found the others had dispatched of the soldiers and got the other cleric, the 2nd in command called Harstch, to surrender too. The two bloody fools started arguing with each other about whether they wanted us to destroy the water or air temple. Eventually, we decided the water temple was the biggest threat so we would put them down. I bloody hate water anyway.
Rommag told us their leader is a man called Balsonic (whose name I’ve heard before I’m sure). The clerics then gave us some directions on how to enter their temple. Whilst we were having this conversation Joe bloody well decided to try to loot some treasure from Rommag’s chamber and ended up pricking himself on another poison needle. Bloody thieves never learn!
In the end we just took the key to the chest off Rommag and looted some dosh, potions and scrolls.
After much heated debate (I do love heated debate!!) we set off to find the water temple but ended up stumbling upon a part of the air temple instead. Some bugbears had set up a barricade, so we bashed it down and cut them to pieces. Further on we encountered an air temple cleric with gnolls in her service. She hurled some spells at us like the last lot, but was no match for our combined might. She cast a silence spell on a coin and threw it at Fillian. Nimble bastard managed to catch it and throw it back at her; consequently, she was powerless to use her own magic. That’ll bloody teach her to try and be clever with her evil powers. Then she surrendered! What is it with everyone bloody surrendering today?! Turns out she was Kellno, the leader of the air temple!
So we tried to convince her we wanted to join the air temple, but she wasn’t having any of it till we gave her proof. She did give us the useful information that the fire temple had offered her an alliance against the water temple. Most interesting! Anyway we left her promising to return with proof we wished to ally with her. We went round the area until we reached the Great Corridor again and this time we found a secret door near the east. As we opened it mist brewed out and we discovered we were back at the bloody water temple again.
This time, as I seemed to be getting used to the eerie being underwater affect, I took the time to take in the huge hall with its many buttresses and arches. Some magic had evidently been placed here because the walls, that are covered in slabs of blue azurite-malachite, give out a soft cloudy greenish luminosity that seemed to seep from the very walls and floor making the whole chamber appear as if deep underwater.
Even the damp air seemed to smell of the bloody sea. Besides the altar and fountain (which Sameson tried to raid a few days ago) there is an alcove ten feet deep in the back wall of which is covered by a drapery apparently fashioned from seaweed and water! Thank Joramy that the bloody behemoth Juggernaut thing wasn’t activated anymore. It was back standing behind the fountain blocking the alcove which must be the entrance to where the water temple leader resides. This time I noticed that each corner of the hall was filled by a triangular plinth. Atop each of these columns was a gargoyle-like statue made of bronze and coated with verdigris.
So Joe tried to sneak through this room but to no one’s real surprise the gargoyles came alive and swooped down to attack us. Ugg, Sameson and I leapt forward to do battle with the ugly monsters, whilst Fillian looked through his spell book for something to fling at them from the corridor. The things hampered from the sky for a bit before landing and attempting to claw us into bite size chunks. I remember hearing Fillian’s new toy (his magic missile wand) banging away whilst I smashed one of them into rubble with my trusty war hammer, which I had blessed with the might of the raging volcano.
They were tough little bastards though and smelt worse than Ugg’s pits. “They’re undead,” I heard Sameson cry from near me. Bloody great, I thought and the two of us drove them off with our holy symbols held high. We made haste through the hall and decided to try one of the other doors in there. Inside was a magically enchanted corridor that once stepped inside felt like you had been plunged bloody miles underwater. Before we could drown we quickly stepped back into the water temple hall, but right back into the clutches of the gargoyles.
Infuriated by this point we fought with increased fervour and hacked the flying beasties into nothingness. On one of the corpses we discovered a cloak. Sameson, with his characteristic disregard for caution, put it on and turned into a bloody gargoyle himself. Frankly I thought it was an improvement to him! Quickly he took it off but decided to keep it; so he could spend his days off perched on some pillar leering down on a temple full of vestal virgins I don’t doubt.
Anyhow, we decided to try our look squeezing past the Juggernaut to the alcove behind, but it activated again and rolled towards us menacingly. We legged it sharpish back to the underwater corridor and took our chance there instead. Being a dwarf and all I managed to hold my breath without difficulty, but my companions with their tiny human/elf lungs struggled. What’s more is they moved at a rock slug’s pace due to the corridor’s enchantment. The phylactery that I pilfered from Lareth made me immune to this effect and so I immensely enjoyed laughing at the men plodding their way through like demented golems. Eventually I took pity on Joe and gave him a water breathing potion to stop him drowning.
On the other side of the corridor once one emerged from the underwater spell you ended up stepping into another spell. This time great gale force winds buffeted us, sending chills right up my…chainmail. Pushing our way through this we emerged with frosted eyebrows out into the corridor which separates the chambers where we fought the hydra and owl bear.
Now we were unsure how to progress. I want to off the water temple leader, since they are the most powerful temple, but that bloody Juggernaut blocks our path to him. The second most powerful temple is beyond our powers to knock down too due to the bloody great hydra blocking the path to its leader. I suggested that perhaps we ally ourselves with the fire temple to bring down the water one. To do this we should join the air temple and convince Kelno to agree to the suggested alliance with the fire temple. Then together we can deal with the Juggernaut and the temple’s leader. Though to join the air temple we should give Kelno proof that we have humbled the earth temple. We could do that by recapturing the earth temple cleric leaders and giving them to Kelno as a good will gesture. After we have all dealt with the water temple we could turn on the other two, who should be weakened by the fight, and then we can march off to the greater temple and throw that down and then presto…no more bloody temple of elemental evil.
Bloody el I think she’s having an influence on me because I seemed to be getting good at this bloody sneaky politics stuff. Of course my plan fell on deaf ears with these bloody men. They ignored me as usual, I’m ‘only a woman’ after all, and they thought it might be more fun to plod off to the greater temple now and do some exploring. Grudgingly I went with them knowing that in a few hours time, after we’ve been beaten about a bit one of them will agree to my idea and bloody claim it was their own.
So we had a quick scuffle with an ooze like creature, which had been devouring the corpse of the owl bear we killed days ago, and then we walked back down the secret passage where she..we had slaughtered the Lamir. Treading carefully through the fungi here we travelled down some more stairs deeper into the black heart of the temple. We entered a room which contained the remnants of food and a piece of torn parchment with a picture of a crowned skull on it. Despite how bloody creepy this is we decided to press on and carried on down some stairs till we reached a crossroads. Ignoring turnings left and right we carried on down some more stairs till we reached a grand corridor with macabre motifs all over the place. Joe, bravely, opted to scout ahead. He returned suggesting we get the hell out of here because in a hall a little way on was two of the biggest trolls he had ever seen and four more gargoyles to boot.
We wisely scarpered back up the stairs and decided to come back here MUCH later. At a higher level of the temple we opted instead to investigate another route from the Lamir’s chamber. We climbed another staircase and emerged into a woodlands area with rocky floorings and cracks where the exit lead to two cave-like holes in the south-east and south-west. Suddenly an ear piercing scream reverberated through the chamber. Must be some damsel in distress, my idiot companions thought and rushed to the cave holes to save whoever had released this cry for help. Only there was no damsel but instead two of the oddest creatures I have ever bloody seen. They had long bodies like the giraffes you see on the plains and the head of what can only be described as some kind of rabid badger!
We retreated from the caves and they pursued us on into the woodlands area, biting at us and kicking out with their long back legs. Finding myself split from the group and summoned a ring of blades to protect me from one of the creatures, who soon found itself a bloodied corpse at my feet. The others dispatched the other creature, but not without substantial injures. We entered their lair and found two skeleton corpses of dwarves who had fallen foul to the monsters. I uttered a prayer to Joramy to take those of my kin to her warm embrace. Most likely they were bloody Morridin worshippers anyway though. Most of the men dwarves are! Still, they did not deserve to die in such a horrid place.
Dead they were though and so they had no need of their weapons, armour or treasure and so we liberated these from them. Finally, a nice set of chainmail that bloody fits me! I also got a new axe and Fillian took a belt with many pouches that contained gems. All of these glowed magical under detection. The last fight had taken its toll on out health and so we decided to rest here for the night.
No comments:
Post a Comment