The Template of Elemental Evil

Jeff Obarski is running Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. At some point someone (probably me, Alan) referred to it as the Template of Elemental Evil and the name stuck. For any C++ geeks reading this, naturally it's correctly expressed evil<elemental>.

The Return to the Temple of Elemental is loooong. Too long. It starts out well enough, with varied environments and goals. However, on June 1, 2002, we entered the Stalagos caves. On June 5, 2003, we were in the same caves. With that Jeff announced that because of the unreasonably long length and general dissatisfaction that the game was cancelled. Over our truncated adventure we defeated over 600 monsters, gained about four levels, and covered about two dozen sheets of graph paper with maps. It's a big dungeon. Unfortuntaetly it's probably too big of a dungeon. There will be no more session updates, but if I ever get inspired I may scan in our maps (including about 90% of the Stalagos crater caverns by our estimates).

• Player Characters
• Game Dates Covered
• Real Dates Covered
• History
• Things Defeated
• Other RttToEE Sites

Player Characters

Joined	Character	Player	Race	Gender	Profession	Left
Planting 28th	Steiner Whiteforge	Alan	Dwarf	Male	Fighter
Planting 28th	"Zook" Aarkadimir Sparklestone	Chuck	Gnome	Male	Cleric of Fharlaughn
Planting 28th	Cecil Finlay	Erich	Human	Male	Archeologist (Fighter)	Left party Richfest 2nd.
Planting 28th	Gimir	Mark	Elf	Male	Wizard	Killed on Flocktime 8th in fight with spies in Homlet
Planting 28th	Nica Greenleaf	Vivian	Halfling	Female	Adventurer (Fighter/Rogue)
Flocktime 8th	Silla	Mark	Elf	Female	Paladin of Ehlonna	Left party Sunsebb 7th.
Richfest 2nd	Tenaris Glimmerdawn	Karyn	Elf	Female	Fighter
		Originally NPC, played as a visitor character by Joe B. for a while. Finally taken as a full PC by Karyn.
Backup Character Pool
	Bendik the Frost Barbarian	(Alan)	Human	Male	Sorcerer
	Vlix	(Chuck)	Human	Male	Paladin/Monk
		(Erich)	Halfling		Evoker
		(Mark)	Half-orc		Monk
		(Vivian)			Monk (Cleric?)

Game Dates Covered

Days of the week: Starday, Sunday, Moonday, Godsday, Watersday, Earthday, Freeday

Real Dates Covered

2002

February 23, March 9, 16, 23, 30, April 7, 13, 20, 27, May 18, June 1, 8, 16, 21, 22, 29, July 13, 21, August 3, 17, 23, 31, September 7, 21, 28, October 5, 11, 12, November 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, December 7, 14, 21, 28

2003

January 4, 11, 18, 25, February 1, 15, March 1, 15, April 5, 19, May 3, June 5,

History

February 23, 2002

Planting 28th

We're on the road from Verbobonc to a town called Homlet. We've heard there might be ruins worth exploring in the area. As we're travelling, three orcs try to ambush us. During the fight, an ogre tries to flank us. The orcs are easily dispatched, but the ogre is a bit of a challenge. We eventually dispatch them, claiming a bunch of gold and a green jasper from their bodies.

An hour or so later, we arrive in the village fo Homlet. There are several large buildings including temples to Ehlona, Pelor, and St. Cuthbert. We get accomidations at the only inn, the Inn of the Welcome Wench. A battlehardened looking man by the name of Osler is the innkeep. During our conversation, we learn that he settled here after participating in a major battle where Fyrondy defeated a mighty evil force. His daughter Vesta helps run the place.

During dinner, a foofy elf with a terrible voice starts to play. I ask him how much for him to stop singing. For some reason he takes offense and leaves. Elves. As the evening wears on, it becomes clear that the Wench attracts townies as their primary customers. I head off looking for a bar with more atmosphere. I eventually settle in at Taragen's. The beer is piss, but it's cheap. From Taragen I learn that an elven bard by the name of Redinsar knows about the ruins of an old moathouse. He generously gives us directions to the moathouse. Drinks for the evening are free for me after I win a drinking bar bet with Taragen. I faintly remember stumbling back to my cot in the common room at the Wench early in the morning.

March 9, 2002

Flocktime 1st

I wake with a hangover. Hardly surprising. After staggering around town without pants looking for food, I rejoin the party. The party spends morning getting breakfast and considering our options. We learn that there is a ruined moathouse with a dungeon below about a day away. Further away is a haunted hamlet called Nulb. Near Nulb is an abandoned temple. Gimir visits Redinsar alone, apparently the rest of the party doesn't feel I'm up to dealing with the elven bard again. Gimir discovers that the old temple was known as the Temple of Elemental Evil, and the moathouse was as extension of the temple. Elemental evil, huh? Sounds cheery.

We refresh our supplies and head out to explore the old moathouse. As evening approaches we meet an old human man heading the other way. He's got long unkept hair and beard and is wearing furry hides. His name is Old Dell and he is a local fur trapper. He has seen weird priests, gnolls with unusually nice equipment, and a dragon at the moathouse. He recommends we avoid it.

Get travel a bit closer to the moathouse and camp for the night.

Flocktime 2nd

The next morning we head to the moathouse. Over the outer walls we can see that the wooden building inside is mostly collapsed. An old but recently patched drawbridge spans the moat.

We scout around the edge of the moathouse. To one side we encounter a giant frog. It mistakes us for food and we're forced to slay it.

We cautiously move into the moathouse. The tower's insides are completely gone, leaving an empty tube. The main building mostly burnt down some time ago. We enter the main building through a collapsed window. Most of the rooms are empty, save for occasional scraps hinting at prior occupants. One room has several rotten animal trophies.

In the main room we find two bodies, one a human man in ochre robes and the other a woman in black studded leather armor. Before we can investigate further, a blue dragon twice my size attacks us. It blasts us with it's lightening breath. As we assault the dragon, it swoops around the room, filling the air with dust, making it impossible to see. It's a tough fight, but we eventually slay it.

We're badly injured, so we quickly loot the room. Both of the human bodies have strange amulets, black iron triangles with upside down yellow "Y"s. I've tried to draw one. One of the bodies also has a lilac colored stone mask carved to look like it is screaming. We hack off dragon's head, claws, wings, and tail as trophies and retreat to camp. We spend the remainder of the day recovering from the fight.

That night, while the we try to rest, several dire badgers attack our camp. In our battered state it's a dangerous fight, but we prevail.

Flocktime 3rd

We're so drained from our fights with the dragon and the badgers, we rest at camp for the day.

Flocktime 4th

Recovered and feeling ready to face the moathouse again, we return. As we move into the courtyard, arrows fly out of the main entrance at us (the room where the dragon was). Gimir throws magical webbing into the room and the party runs for cover through the north-west window where we entered two days ago. We come into the main chamber from the side and take the four gnolls as they are breaking out of the webbing. We take them pretty easily.

As Old Dell had commented, the gnolls were unusually well equipped. They all wore well kept scale mail, black cloaks, and have well crafted battle axes. They also wore the strange triangular amulets.

In the southeast corner of the moathouse, part of the wall has collapsed allowing a small pool of moat water to seep in. As we investigate the water, a strange grey watery oozy thing that blends into the wall attacks us. It is acidic and damages our metal, but we dispatch it.

To the northeast we find a room with ebon tapestries in bad shape. One of the walls is partially collapsed. Gimir notices something unusual about one of the walls and finds a secret door leading to stairs down.

Heading down, we find two gnolls and a woman in ochre robes. They may have been examining some objects on white sheets on the floor, but we we arrive the gnolls attack while the woman flees. The human sends in some skeletons as support, but Zook easily destroys them with grace of Fharlaughn. Cecil quickly slays the gnolls and we chase the woman into the next room. The ochre robed woman charms Nica with a spell that causes Nica to flee. I slay the ochre robed woman. Unsurprisingly, she is also wearing a black triangle amulet.

Examining the white sheets, we find an iron torch, three black cones, a black sceptre with inlaid gems, a small black sphere, and a black metal scroll case. The scroll case has some rotted parchment infested with worms. No one in the party is able to read the writing on the parchment.

Further in we find a large L shaped room. Another gnoll is guarding the room. We dispatch it and move further in. Several undead, a ghast and ghoul attack as we explore the room further.

The the southeast support column, we find a secret door. It opens to reveal iron rungs leading down.

Hiding in a wrecked storeroom to the northwest a human man is hiding. He says his name is Spugnwar, he's a wizard who was exploring the ruins and fled inward when he ran into problems. He run the scroll shop in Homlet. We head back to camp with him.

Zook stays behind a bit and magically detects battle axes like te ones the gnolls have been equipped with. (We've taken all of the gnoll battle axes we've found so far). He senses one about 200 feet east of the keep's northeast corner and about 20 feet down.

We camp of the night.

March 16, 2002

Flocktime 5th

We return the moathouse and head down the the passage hidden in the column. At the bottom, a short cooridor ends in a secret door. Beyond is a crypt. There are sarcophogi in shallow alcoves. The secret door opens behind one of these sarcophogi. As we move in, four ghouls move to attack, but Zook quickly destroys them down with Fharlaugn's holy power.

Moving inward, we find a room with several beds, a few sacks, and an iron chest. While probing the chest, Nica triggers a spray of acid, but fortunately she is quick enough to dodge out of the way. Inside we find a journal. It discusses finding an obalisk and a secret cave. The obalisk is apparently for speaking with some imprisioned evil divine master. It involves some "Elder elemental eye."

Zook is pretty sure the eye symbols on the black robes and inverted Y amulets are symbols of the elder elemental eye. Those who follow may worship evil elementals. The last rise of the temple of elemental evil involved Zugtomoy and Iuz. Iuz's involvement somehow caused the fall.

Moving through several zig-zagging rooms, we come to a diamond shaped room. As we move in, seven gnolls jump us. We quickly dispatch them. One side passage ends in an unusally hard wall of stone that doesn't match the rest of the dungeon. We leave it be for now.

Natural passages heading south from the crypt leave to a maze of twisty little passages, all alike. After a great deal of exploring, we come to a natural chamber. A dark altar sits in front of a carved column of stone.

The alter appears to be a dark, porous rock. While searching, someone touches the altar. At the touch, it quickly becomes transparent, looking something like amethyst. Something dark writhes inside the altar. The altar is extremely cold, paralyzing Nica as she tried to search it.

The column has four sides in different colors. The black side shows a man in armor and robes. The green side shows a masked man in robes. The blood red side shows a man in a hood. The indigo side hows a man wearing a pleated robe. Searching the column, we find a secret compartment on each side. Behind the black face is a black, dull marble. Behind the red: silver wind chime. Indigo: a bronze bazier with three incense. Green: an ebon black, skin covered drum.

We retreat to the surface with the paralyzed Nica. She recovers after a bit. We camp for the night.

Flocktime 6th

We head back into the dungeon. On the stairs down on the second dungeon level, we're attacked by a foul undead whose smell turns the stomach. Zook quickly turns it, but it returns quickly supported by two spellcasters in cowled robes, one is black, one in purple. As the spellcasters approach, a new, more horrible smell fills the air. The second smell saps our strength, making defeating the threesome difficult, but we prevail.

Having slain them, we find that the cowled figure wearing black is a strange lizard being and is generating the foul smell, a troglodyte. it is wearing a pendant with an inverted ziggarat. The other is a human man. Their equipment is particularly high quality. We drag the horrible smelling undead ghast and the troglodyte to a side room we don't plan on returning to so we don't need to face the smell.

Down the stairs is a single room. A large pit dominates the room. We can practically feel ill forces below. Looking down, it's at least sixty feet deep. A stone plug that looks like it woudl fit the pit rests against the wall to the north. A platform hangs from a pulley system in the ceiling. The platform is clearly designed for lowing someone down. A smaller version of the four sided, four colored column is the in corner. We search it, but no secret compartments are found.

The platform looks stable, so we climb on and start lowering ourselves down. Some distance down we find the remains of the mortor holding the plug in place. Just above the mortor line water streams out of a small hole in the wall. Without the plug below, the water falls into the darkness.

Further down, the pit opens into a huge natural cavern on all sides. The air starts getting uncomfortably chill. About forty feet down we land on a pillar in the middle of the cavern. The pillar's top is slightly convex and is made of black, marble-like stone with jagged purple veins through it. The pillar is round and about thirty foot wide. At this point we can't see the far walls of the cavern, nor the real floor. Another pulley held platform hangs off the edge of the pillar, inviting us deeper.

A we look around, a large brain with tentacles floats over and attacks. It's tentacles paralyze me and tries to drag me away, fortunately I'm heavily equipped and not light myself. During the fight Cecil steps off of the platform. As he does, the purple veins animate into tentacles and approach. Cecil quickly hopped back onto the platform and the veins receeded back into the stone. Unable to drag me away, the brain monster paralyzed Gimir and started to drag him away, but not before the party slew it. Seriously injured from our fight, we retreat. As we do so, we toss a copper piece with light cast on it down the cavern. The cavern is so deep that it falls out of view.

March 23, 2002

We head back to town, arriving in the late afternoon. We sell much of the equipment we've claimed. I purchase a mighty bow. Now that we have a chance, we reread the journal more carefully.

The journal is by a "Geynor Ton." It refers to the Great Church and the Masters of All Consumption. Geynor apparently was working with scaly beastmen. Perhaps he was referring to the troglodyte. He looked forward to leaving the accursed town and it's flour mill. Is he talking about Homlet? A Chatrilon brought him venison and other food from a nearby inn. An "Elder Elemental Eye" is involved. Doomdreams prophecied a Dark Obelisk. Geynor had been working with a larger group including Gungash (who died), Master Thaque (killed by a dragon), and a Festrath. He also noted that he liked Tashi's spicebread.

At the Welcome Wench, we learn that Chatrilon was a guest and left three days ago. Around the same time, Maritoson, a barkeep left around the same time. Chatrilon had been at the inn for several months. Chatrilon is a tall, wiry human man with dark hair. We rest for the night.

Flocktime 7th

We spend the day resting while Gimir identifies the items we've found. That night, it's time for hard drinking.

Flocktime 8th

We sell magic items that we don't want and split our loot. I discover that I broke up a fight at Targen's last night when it interrupted my drinking.

We go see the captain of the guard, Elmo, about the journal mentioning the flour mill. Elmo is interested in consulting Jeru, the local druid. We head with Elmo and Jeru to the flour mill. The employees working there claim to not know anything. I head into the basement uninvited. Maritoson and others, including a half orc, are lurking in the basement. They attack. Jeru fights on the side of the spies, Elmo sides with us. It's a tough fight. Beads of force are thrown by both sides and our enemy raise the dead to fight. Gimir is killed during the fight. When Jeru is slain his body shifts to that of a grey, featureless form. He was a doppleganger.

One of the dead has an upside down ziggarat amulet. A female corpse has a triangle amulet.

Inside a trapped chest in the room we find a letter from Nanquit to a Master Dunrat. The letter instructs Dunray to set up a secret base in Homlet. He is to find an ancient shrine in the moathouse and retrieve the treasures of the dark god. The items are to be taken to the temple of all consumption. Dunrat can get a wagon from Tal Chammish in the village of Raster to haul to the items back to the crater.

We head to the druid's grove. We're suspicious of the druid's apprentice, Yundi. He is suspicious of us at the word of his master's death. We leave. Yundi runs to the temple of Saint Cuthbert.

March 30, 2002

Go to temple of St. Cuthbert, Zook warns them thatsome evil is active in town (shows them an evil holy symbol) and Jeru was a doppleganger. We're taken (with Elmo) to see the Canoness Y'dey. Yundi is there. She chastises us for harassing Yundi.

See says the Y is the symbol of the Elemental Eye, involved in construction of temple of elemental evil. The ziggarat is one of the symbols of the dark god. Various things we encountered are symbols of the dark god (Thorizden). We tell her of our experiences. Refers us to Priestess Jenethar at temple of Ehlonna to see to Gimir's last rites. She'll tell everyone else who needs to know. Offers aide of Terjon (one of the Cuthbert priests), we decline.

We go to the temple of Ehlonna. It's an open building. Zook suggests scattering ashes in forest, Jenethar agrees. Zook flies off and does so. Meet Silla, Paladin of Ehlonna. She suggests we destroy the evil holy symbols. Jenethar offers to do that for us. Silla offers to join us to help defeat the evil. We accept.

We go see Spoonwar, the potions (NOT SCROLLS) guy we rescued earlier. Ten year old girl there, Renee, his daughter. We pay him to identify some potions we've found.

Go see Zerosh Newbrick, scroll writer. he agrees to identify five of our items for 300 gold pieces. He'll be done at dinnertime.

We sell unneeded items and resupply. We have a loud, drunken wake for Gimir.

Flocktime 9th

We identify and sell remaining items and rest. Zook crafts boots of striding.

Flocktime 10th

We head back out to the moathouse. Nica notices four men hiding around path up some steep hills. As we approach, they pop up and fire with bows. Zook summons a magical mist to give us cover. We kill three, one escapes.

We arrive at the moathouse a bit after noon. We give the moathouse's ground floor and the first dungeon level a once over, nothing appears to have returned.

We camp a distance away. As we're preparing for dinner, we notice two somethings bounding in our direction. Their howls send chills down our spines. They're not touching the ground, almost flying over it. Like large, sleek, black dogs with glowing red eyes. When we kill them, they disappear like a puff of smoke. Cecil thinks they're yeth hounds, outworldly evil creatures.

During my watch, I hear something scrabble across some of the rocks. Three hobgoblins attack, I cut them down before the rest of the party gets up.

Flocktime 11th

We head into the moathouse and examine the odd wall. Zook uses Stoneshape to part the wall. Beyond the cooridor continues a short distance and ends in a door. Further on the passageway blends into a natural passage. The passage opens into a cave which opens by river some distance from the moarhouse. The entrance is concealed by large rocks.

Returning to the door, another door leads to a northern passageway. A sour smell fills the air. The room beyond full of river reeds, a broken rat statue in the corner, and two aggressive lizardy bird things in what looks like nesting. The sour smell is stronger. We defeat them. Cecil thinks they may have been cockatrices.

Further on, we encounter another cockatrice. We quickly slay it. The room has smashed beds and a decayed body. We find a bunch of gems in the room.

A further room was once well appointed, but everything is torn and decayed. There is a skeleton. The skeleton has a small spider medallion and a thin, dark, ebon rod. Silla thinks the amulet is evil. Zook thinks the amulet is a holy symbol of the spider queen Lolth.

We use the winch to lower ourselves down the hole. The air gets cold. Falling water fills the air with cool mist. The wide, tall platform we land on looks like dull marble with jaggy purple viens. The platform is slightly convex. Remembering our previous experience, Zook casts fly on Cecil so he can carry us over the stone one at a time. He releases us onto the second wood platform hooked up to pulleys. We lower ourselves about 200 feet, seeing nothing but the pillar.

At 200 feet we reach the real bottom. The black stone pillar narrows to a four sided inverted pyramid and appears to balance on a 30 foot tall, five foot wide mundane stone column. We're on the west side of the large platoform. There is are two large symbols on the floor to the west, a black ziggarat and a black flaming sun. On the west side the falling water collects into a pool. The floor itself is grey stone. The cavern appears to be about 100 foot. Outer walls appear to the roughly shaped.

As we begin to explore, we hear cackeling laughter. A flying human casts a spell at us. Cecil, still under the influence of Zook's fly spell, charges. Tough fight, he blinds Cecil. Silla crosses the sun symbol on the floor, messing with her mind an leaving her wisdom harmed. Silla barely shakes off an evil touch spell of some sort.

Guy was wearing ochre robes, full plate, and a Y amulet. Had a magic short sword and the robes (which are evil). He has a paper message:

The water temple will soon make its move against the forces of fire. Return quickly Festrath, for we need your aide. Together we shall win the favor of the doomdreamers and the Triad itself.

Nica and Cecil start feeling the cold bite into them, draining them of energy.

Silla, Zook, and myself make a quick circuit of the room. Nica and Cecil stay at the plotform. The stone piller supporting the obalisk has iron rungs leading up to the point. Obalisk appears to come to perfect point. The pool is shallow, maybe two inches, and seeps away into a crack in the wall.

To the east, an archway carved with writhing tentacles and serpants.. In the middle is a flat blackness. Zook tosses the Lolth holy symbol at it, the blackness seems to reach out and grab the symbol. A grell moves out of the darkness. It's a tough fight, but we kill it.

During the fight, Cecil and Nica are being further drained by the cold. We retreat to the platform and pull outselves up. Cold weather gear might help if we go back down. We head back to camp. Zook uses locate object to detect gold and detects some to the south and down of the journal room, perhaps in the deep hole of evil. We rest.

Flocktime 12th

Cecil is still blinded, Silla's wisdom is a bit better. Zook cures Silla's shaken mind. Zook cures Cecil's blindness. Cecil is still feeling weak.

That night, in preparation for the next day, Zook casts Endure Elements (cold) on all of us.

Flocktime 13th

We head back in and down into the hole. Cecil tries touching the floor of the obelisk with his foot, the purple worms again move toward him. We fly to the second platform (I'm carrying people) and descend to the bottom. We investigate the area.

Our light sources doesn't appear to generate as much light.

Cecil climbs the giant stone base supporting the obelisk. The obelisk appears to come to a pin point.

The archway doesn't seem to hide anything. We prepare for attack and Zook fires a bolt at the darkness, again the doorway seems to reach out and grab it and another Grell pops out. As we start to fight, most of the party realizes that the cold is really getting to them, sapping us of our strength and dexterity. We defeat it and retreat. Zook wants to take the corpse of the grell with us.

As we leave, Zook uses Stoneshape to try and seal the hole water is pouring out of in the shaft. After a moment, the water breaks through the stoneshaped patch. We retreat to camp.

We camp and recover.

April 7, 2002

Flocktime 14th

We head back to town. I check on my dragon head stuffing, it is not yet done. We talk to Joman, owner of the general store about rumors that his store used to be a hideout for the temple. It isn't any more. He comments that the local merchants are having problems selling the stuff we're selling them. He is interested when we suggest a caravan to Verbobonc.

We pay to get some stuff identified. The black torch is a torch of revealing, when specific incense is burned within it's cup, something happens. The black rod is a rod of doom with a single charge. The black cones are incense of dreaming, designed to be used in torches of revealing or black theribles. A +1 curved shortsword.

Stay at inn.

Flocktime 15th

We meet up with Joman. He sets up a caravan with Alphonse. Harris and Arthin will come with us. We head off to Verbobonc. We get there in two days.

Flocktime 16th

Arrive in Verbobonc in late afternoon. We stay at the Crow's Nest. We sell stuff. Nica buys a bag of holding.

Flocktime 17th

Cecil wakes up feeling weakened and vision fading. He sees the temple of Lendor, they say he has an illness, the blinding sickness. Silla heals him. It fixes his vision, but not his strength. We see the temple of Ehlonna to have his strength restored.

We see a local mage to read the scroll we can't read. It's about how to get to a pocket in time and space known as the "black cyst." Powerful ritual requiring multiple wish spells and sacrifices of many humans and necrophilia. It would take years to prepare and cast.

We trade my ring of mind shielding and brooch of shielding and some gold for two pairs of gloves of ogre power and a helm of comprehending. Myself and Silla get the gloves, Cecil takes the helm. We head back to Homlet.

Flocktime 19th

We arrive in Homlet late in the evening. We give the scroll describing the ritual to the temple of St. Cuthbert. I collect my stuffed dragon head.

We rest for a few days while Zook enchants the dragon wing cloak as a cloak of flying for Cecil.

Flocktime 25th

We decide to investigate Nulb. It looks like the Temple of Elemental Evil may be operating again and Nulb is the nearest town.

We head out.

Flocktime 26th

Near the end of the end, we come to the hamlet of Nulb on the other side of a worn bridge over the the Imeryds Run river. We're coming in from the northwest. The buildings are composed of sod, brick, and reused timber, many are decomposing or collapsing. It's abandoned and the forest is encroaching.

We cautiously move through the town. Just over the bridge, Zook detects undead and Silla detects evil in a fieldstone and timber building over the bridge. Further on one strong evil is detected on the ground floor in an weed invaded building with a faded sign, "Herbs".

We return to the first building. Silla detects one strong source of evil in the upper floor. Heading in, it looks like an old inn and tavern. Moving in, we start feeling cold. Something we can't see atacks Zook. Nica briefly sees something invisible flash into existance for the attack. We regroup. The thing reappears and attacks Silla, fortunately she is protected by armor.

We head upstairs to the guest rooms. The doors are all locked. In the last room, things are flying and spinning around, the bed is twitching. A female shreak fills the air. In the corner a young woman is huddled on the floor. The howling shakes Silla, Nica, and myself, briefly paralyzing us. It's touch spreads madness, draining Silla's, Cecil's, and my wisdom. It's mostly insubstantial, making it hard to hit. We eventually destroy it, returning the room to normal.

Under a loose floorboard where the ghost was, Nica finds a nice vial and a pair of jeweled earings. I notice some gold in the mattress. The coins are old Fyrundy and Veluna pressings.

Searching the ground floor, the area by the bar is still unusually cold. We all catch glimpses of motion out of the corner of our eyes. A ghostly male form appears behind Zook and backstabs him, almost killing him, then disappears. Silla thinks it's an evil creature that is bound to a place and hates all life, but they can't normally use weapons. It might be a ghost, but usually they use their fear attacks. We start to retreat, it appears with a horrible visage, but we stand firm. We get a few hits before it fades out again. We retreat out, Nica throwing alchemists fire against the bar. We move away as the tavern burns.

After it mostly burns down, we head toward the other evil. Two giant wolverines approach. Very tough fight in the street, but we prevail.

We retreat to camp for the day.

Flocktime 27th

When we wake, those of us whose minds were shaken by the screaming spirit still feel our wisdom shaken.

It's still overcast, it feels like it's going to rain. We head back into Nulb. We explore a bit more, we don't find anything of note. The boats around the docks are in bad state. We return to the second source of evil Silla detected, the Herbs building.

Moving in, Silla no longer detects any evil. A bed inside appears to have been recently used.

We head back to Homlet. On the way, an ankheg bursts out of the ground attacking my horse. It injures the horse, but we kill it.

April 13, 2002

Flocktime 28th

We arrive back in Homlet late in the evening.. Most of the party makes a donation to the temple of St. Cuthbert to get their minds healed by Canoness Y'dey.

Wealsun 1st

On our way back to Nulb we're attacked by two giant wolverines.

That night we're attacked by a pack of five wild dogs.

Wealsun 2nd

We arrive in Nulb. It starts to sleet. We search the remains of the bar we burned down. Under the rubble and the floor we find a ghostly decaying grey body in leather armor. A real looking long sword is at its side. The sword's crossguard says "Shadowblade" in ancient elven. The body is insubstantial, but the sword is able to cut it. Cecil decapitates the ghostly body with the sword.

The other building we previously detected evil in still has some evil in it. As we approach we hear a spell being cast, but we don't see anyone as we enter. Zook silences the room. We search without effect. Eventually the silence ends, the person inside casts a spell and touches Silla. The man's magic drains our will to attack him. He attacks us with touch spells and rays. It's a long fight, he is climbing on the walls making him hard to hit. One of his spells drains Silla of her vigor. We eventually drop him. He has magic bracers and cloak. He is wearing a ziggaraut amulet. Zook quickly identifies the cloak as allowing spider climbing. Silla takes the cloak.

We retreat to a nearby building and camp for the night. During the night various things pass by, dire wolverines, dark floating shapes, and large spiders. Fortunately, none bother us.

Wealsun 3rd

We explore the remainder of town near the docks. Silla detects evil in an old, rotten, forty foot long riverboat. The back half is mostly submerged. Silla says that the evil is in the back, probably underwater.

We board the boat and climb into the main area. The back half of the boat is submerged. Zook detects undead in the back. Silla crawls along the ceiling toward it. A yellowish form lashes out at Silla. I advance in, one lashes out and wraps around me. They're some sort of oozy things. They emit some sort of acidic goo that eats through my breastplate. Two ghostly pirates attack simultaneously. Silla slices one of the yellow things, it splits in two and both move independently. Zook turns the ghosts, they flee, we get a few hits against them as they flee.

The oozy things continue to split as we attack them. We retreat as it becomes clear we can't hurt them. I'm seriously injured in the fight. We flee the area. We head back to the house we camped in last night and rest. We see two shadowy forms drift by down the street. Zook thinks they may be wraiths.

April 20, 2002

Wealsun 4th

We wake. Yesterday Zook cast protective spells against acid on some of us. Outside it is still sleeting.

We head back to the boat. Cecil and I move in. I'm heavily protected from acid. We stay near the back, the two pirate ghosts attack through the walls. One his Cecil, draining his strength. Zook drives them away with Fharlongin's power, as they flee I kill one.

I move forward and the ochre jelly attacks. I hack it into bits. Zook summons two burning worms (thoqqua) which kills some of the bits of jelly. Zook uses a sound burst to kill the rest.

We wait a moment and the last ghostly pirate attacks again. Cecil and Silla destroy it.

We don't find anything in the cabinets besides rotten clothing and food. Zook finds a small, rusty, iron chest in the sunked part. I pull it out with a rope. It's rusted shut. I wedge it open. Inside are gold pieces and other coins.

We head back to town. As we head back, the weather improves.

Wealsun 6th

We get back into Homlet late in the evening. Almost everyone is drained from our encounters with the ochre jelly and various spirits.

Wealsun 7th

We see the Canoness Y'dey.

We pay the Canoness 800 gold, mostly from party funds, to help cure Silla's draining. She provides Zook with a scroll to handle it.

The Canonness is certain that Nulb cannot be cleansed, the town supported the Temple of Elemental Evil.

Zook explains what we encountered, including the man we believe to have been a priest of Thurizdon. Y'dey is fairly certain that it's Iuz based on Zook's report. Further details about the man who attacked us surprises Y'dey. The guy had a scar across one of his eyes. Y'dey says she took out his eye with her mace and killed him. She wants to see the body.

We head back to Nulb.

Wealsun 10th

It's still sleeting and hellishly cold. The body is gone from the shop where we left it.

We head on to the temple, an hour or so away. It sits in the middle of a plain, barren except for twisted scrub. The temple itself is fifty feet high of dark grey stone. The outside walls have been carved with vile and obscene imagery, devil and demons. The statues and reliefs seem malevolent. It appears to be about 500 feet long, 100 feet wide. Double doors are ahead of us, in the south wall of the temple. A ruined wall circles the temple. Dead trees dot the courtyard, vines with large thorns crawl all over. A burnt out building is northwest of the temple, a tower to the northeast.

Cecil uses his cloak of flying to scout around. He sees someone on the front steps run inside.

We set up a shelter under some trees with our tents to protect our horses. We head toward the ruined building. Inside the walls is a large group of dead trees. The building is burned out and empty. Two rotten celler doors reveal a two foot high celler under the entire building.

We head over to the tower. It's starting to fall apart. There is a single door and a number of tall, thin arrow slits. As we explore the outside, something green inside a arrow slit says something incomprehensible and fails to stab Silla with something. Silla crawls along the wall and peers in arrow slits. Things inside are talking excitedly and occasionally stab out an arrow slit at Silla unsuccessfully. After a bit, a thin, green, emaciated goblin like thing crawls out an arrow slit. Cecil can understand their shouting with his magic helmet, they appear to be shouting for us to go away, and occasionally say that we are ghosts..

We attempt to bash our way in without much luck. They stab at us through the windows and occasionally throw vials of alchemist's fire at us. Eventually Nica unlocks the door and Cecil opens it before someone inside can re-lock it. Inside are goblins and hobgoblins, sleeping space, some crates and barrels, and tables with food on them. I charge in and kill two instantly. The group easily kills them.

A back room has several ravenous rats and giant rats. I kill them.

April 27, 2002

Cecil flies around the main temple. It is roofed with slate tiles, many are broken. Barred, stained glass windows are on the sides. Light sources are moving around inside, there appear to be pillars.

We bring our horses into the tower. We head around toward the front of the building. Three hobgoblins attack around the corner.

The front has three sets of double doors, one on each face of a smaller jutting out part of the building. The west doors is wooden and has been sealed with lead. The southern doors are each twenty feet wide and high. The doors are bronze and covered with scratchings that look like writing. Cecil tries to read them with his magical helm, but they give him a headache. The doors look dwarven, but heavily modified. Wood doors on the east side have also been leaded shut.

Two chains are hooked to the building and dangle onto the ground. Two more hang from the southern doors, one per door.

I open one, inside are about two dozen hobgoblins and a few goblins. About half of the hobgoblins are mundanely equiped, half seem to be well equipped. One has what appears to be a dwarven urgosh and is intent on the battle, maybe bezerking. Zook sends in a summoned bison and we charge in after. It's a tough fight, the hobgoblin with the urgosh is able to tumble through the fight and dish out incredible amounts of damage. When Zook ties to drive him off with a Fear spell, an invisible hobgoblin cleric of Mogubleic (evil god of hobgoblins) appears and couters the spell. We'll battered and things are looking grim when Cecil finally takes the urgosh weilding hobgoblin with two mighty blows. The evil cleric heals the urgosh wielder. Meanwhile, Silla is surrounded by many well armed hobgoblins and retreats up a wall with her magic cloak. Several of the hobgoblins move to attack the rest of the group, Silla jumps onto one and slays the rest of that group. The cleric heals himself and the urgosh wielder with potions, spells, and a wand before the two are taken down for good.

Looking around, we're in the main chamber of the temple. The walls are painted with evil acts. The arches and pillars are carved with evil acts. Further in we hear dogs barking.

The cleric had magical chain, broach, amulet, wand, and two potions. The urgosh wielder has magical chain, urgosh, and two potions. The rest are equipped with generally mundane axes, though the well equipped ones had masterwork great axes.

We head back to Homlett and head on to Verbobonc.

Wealsun 14th

We arrive in Verbobonc late in the day. We have various magical items we've found identified. The human living in the herbalist shop had bracers of armor +1. The Shadow Blade is +1. The chain shirt is +1. The amulet is natural armor +1. The broach is of Shielding with 47 points left. The wand is of cure light with 21 charges. Chain mail +1. Urgosh +1.

We sell things we don't need and purchase equipment. I pick up some magical full plate. Zook makes a pair of gauntlets of ogre power for Cecil.

Wealsun 16th

We head back to the temple.

Wealsun 19th

We arrive back. It's still sleeting. We camp in the tower.

Wealsun 20th

Listening at the door, we hear dogs barking. I open the door and six dogs followed by a goblin attack.

The hobgoblin bodies are gone.

In the middle of the room is an oval alter of pinkish white alter. A darker stained humanoid shaped depression is in it. A deep pit is a bit beyond. A second broken alter is nearby. The paving blocks and pillars are different colors in each direction. We find a big pile of what looks like supplies, possibly stolen.

A door to the northwest looks like some sort of evil cleric lived in it. There are plants and dead animals hanging from wires. There is a bed. On a table is an odd book shaped rectangle of ash.

A door to the west reveals sleeping occompdations for seven things and a large rotten hunk of meat hanging from the ceiling. Stairs head down, but are full of rubble.

A door to the east opens to reveal an awful smelling room. Another set of stairs is collapsed. There is a badly mangled human body.

The back of the temple is a large bronze bazier, it looks like it's been converted to the hobgoblin god Mogubleic. The room beyond looks like an old vestry with worn couches, tables, and chairs. Two couches have been pushed together into a bed. While searching the bed, Zook finds an iron key and some other things. The key opens a large bound chest with some valuables inside. There is a life size elven bronze statue in the room, we leave it.

The dais in the back of the temple has a great throne of purplish basalt. Carved into the back wall, "The power of elemental death brings mortals low, but raises the nameless one high."

We head back to the tower to drop off our lewt.

May 18, 2002

We head down the central stairs. At the bottom are two bashed in, ten foot wide, bronze doors, broken iron chains scattered about. Something big and hairy charges us from beyond the door. It's a giant ape. Silla cuts it down with two blows.

Beyond the tunnel collapsed a long time ago. However, a shallow hole has been dug out a while ago, but it doesn't continue through. I'm pretty sure the collapsed section is quite long.

We examine the other stairwells, they also appear to be deeply collapsed. I poke around in the pit of offal, I don't find anything of note.

We decide to investigate Raster and "the crater." We head back to Homlet.

Wealsun 22nd

We talk to Elmo. The evil ones from the mill were burned, so Zook can't question them magically. We ask about any craters, Elmo remembers a round lake called Stalagos. It's near Raster, on the other side of the Kron hills, by the Lortmill mountains. I know that Stalagos is the name of a dwarven clan, a hold was built there. I don't know what happened to them since. Elmo suggests we see Rudolph, the dwarven owner of the stables if we want more information about dwarves in the area.

Silla spends the day meditating. The next morning her god grants her a unicorn mount.

Wealsun 23rd

We head out to Raster, heading around the Kron hills.

Wealsun 26th

Around mid-day, three dots in the sky approach. Zook casts fly on me. Cecil (using his wings) and I fly up to prepare. As they approach, they appear to be hippogriff's, winged horse-like things with claws and beaks. They dive toward us, Cecil, Silla, and myself kill them.

Wealsun 27th

Four ogres try to ambush us, but Nica notices them. We easily dispatch them. They have some money, mostly copper, and a partial suit of plate.

That evening we arrive in the small town of Raster. Raster is a muddy little mining hamlet. Buildings are squat and built of stone and sod.

June 1, 2002

There is no inn. We head into the local tavern. It's stone and mud with a sod roof. As we enter, everyone stops and stares. The patrons are a mix of humans, dwarves, and orcs. Lots of dwarves in the area have red hair. That's unusual in Ulek.

I talk with a local dwarf, Nulin. The tavern is known as "the grey place". The town's leader is a dwarven cleric of Moradin. The town is mostly miners, although more traders and craftmens have been showing up. Something is going on in the Stalagos crater. The Stalagos had "problems" and aren't around much.

A rough, almost human approaches me, accuses me of causing problems. Nulin introduces him as Jardeth. Jardeth doesn't speak clearly. He has extended lower canines. He warns me to not threaten anyone and storms off.

Nulin mentions that dark robed people are building something. He mentions that "some floofies" are around, woodworkers.

We drink and sleep on the floor.

Wealsun 28th

We head to the Stalagos crater. It's about a half a day away into the mountains to the south west. From our higher vantage point, we can see that two trails head from Raster. We're on the larger trail. A smaller trail leads to an encampment. While we discuss, some humans and dwarves equipped with mining equipment pass us.

After a bit, we come to a side trail into the mountains. It seems the miners who passed us went there.

Further on, the road ends at a cave in the mountains. The cave is forty foot wide and smooth floored. A huge wooden, iron-bound double door is in the back of the cave. There are barely visible arrow slits around the door. The left door have an iron ring, the right door has an orkan skull spiked to the door. Silla peers into an arrow slit and sees a gnoll with a short bow. The gnoll says in orc, "what are you doing?"

I knock on the door with the ring.

A gnoll sticks his head out. He tells us to go away, they close and bar the door.

We double back and check out the fork on the trail. The trail is narrow, we need to leave our horses behind. About twenty-five minutes in, we hear someone working with a pick-axe. We come to a clearing and a shallow cave. Two humans and a dwarf are mining the wall. The dwarf says that the crater is beyond the ridge (with the gnolls). He warns us to be careful of the gnolls and the purple robed people. The human is wary of speaking ill of the purple robes, "the rocks can have ears."

We head back to town.

Richfest 1st

We go to the gnoll door. I try to bluff our way in, impying we're working for Nanquit. The gnoll doesn't buy it since we don't have symbols. He calls for help and we attack. Nica dives behind him and quickly drops him.

We advance quickly. The area is finished, lit torches line the walls. The walls are plastered and painted with demons and scenes of disaster and carnage.

Down the southern side passage is a group of four gnolls. Three charge, one stays behind to pull a rope on the wall, sounding a bell as an alarm. Four more gnolls pour in from further to the south. Cecil and I face them. From a south passage four gnolls and four humans charge Silla and Nica. We kill the lot.

The humans were equipped with masterwork banded mail, small wooden shields, long bows, masterwork bastard swords, and a vial of some liquid each. The gnolls had ratty scale mail, battle axes, short bows, and large steel shields.

Looking around, it's clear that the hallways are of dwarven construction. The doors are equally high quality. The plastering and painting appears non-dwarven. In front of the doors to the west are four mosaic symbols in the floor. The first is a silvery-white circle, the second is a brown triangle, the third is an amber-red diamond, the forth is a blue green square.

I suggest we wedge the doors open, but the dwarven construction makes it hard. Nica wedges the crossbar so it can't hold the doors shut.

We explore. To the northwest is an arrow slit room for guarding the entrance. To the north is a roughly smoothed cavern that forks northwest and northeast. Both passages are very rough. The eastern passage has rough stairs going down. Two troglodytes charge from the northwest passage. They are surrounded with a vile smell. We slay them.

The northwest passage curves west and continues for some distance. We hear chanting in the distance and see light ahead. Nica scouts ahead. The passage opens to a cave that smells of loam and blood. The chanting would be hard for a human to pronounce.

A fifteen foot tall three tiered earth ziggarat has six men in black robes surrounding. The ground is soft earth. A watery mud colored triangle platform is on to. On top of the triangle is a being in black robes. This head priest has cut the heart out of a limp humaniod form on the top. Another being on top is beating on a drum. Dark brown tapestries depicting demons and evil acts cover the walls. There are a number of exits. As Nica watches, something rises out of the soil. The thing is round, has three hands, and a mouth on top. The head priest tosses the heart into the thing's mouth. The head priest and the thing appear to talk with the sounds of grating stone.

Nica returns and describes the scene. Cecil thinks the odd creature is a xorn, a type of earth elemental. We head in to stop this foul ritual.

As we enter the room we can feel a wave of dread covers us. Nica is unable to stand it and has to retreat to the entrance. As we fight the robed figures, the stench reveals them to be troglodytes, sapping the strength from us. The xorn dives into the earth.

We battle with the troglodytes. I hold off three while the rest of the party takes the rest. The head priest tries to enchant Silla, but she fights the spell off. The xorn bursts up from under Silla. The dread finally overcomes me, forcing me to retreat, getting battered by the xorn and the troglodytes. The head priests uses a spell to paralyze Silla. The troglodytes I was holding back charge the rest of the party. The additional stentch weakens Silla so much that she cannot stand in her armor. Nica tries to reenter the room, but the dread takes hold and she flees the area. Silla's unicorn finally loses spirit against the evil chamber and has to briefly retreat.

Cecil, Silla's unicorn, and myself very slowly pound on the xorn. It has an unnaturally hard, stonelike skin, making it hard to injure. As we scratch it, it seems to bleed pebbles. The head priest summons a thoqqua with a wand. The xorn drills into the earth and rises on top of the ziggarat, there the head priest heals it. I dispatch the thoqqua while Cecil uses his magical cloak to fly toward the head priest. The head priests dispells Cecil's cloak, supressing the magic, causing Cecil to fall to the ground. The xorn dives into the ground and tries to bite my feet, but I jump out of the way. The xorn retreats to the top of the ziggarat again and the head priest summons three melted, bloated sickly grey humanoids with pupiless yellow eyes. Cecil easily slays one. The dread catches up with me and I flee.

Cecil flies up and attacks the head priest. The xorn attacks Cecil from below but misses. The head priest leaps to the ground. Cecil is driven off by the dread in the air. Silla's unicorn attacks the head priest, the xorn attacks the unicorn. The unicorn retreats. I help Silla onto her unicorn and we retreat outside. Silla feels her strength come back. Silla's unicorn heals me, but insists I call it a unicorn, not a "horse." Silla heals herself and I.

We head back in, Nica scouts ahead. The head priest is atop of ziggaurat again. He is flanked by two small, shambling piles of rocks (mephits). As Nica approaches, he senses her presence. He gives the two things orders and they head toward the entrance. Nica retreats and we head in.

Nica sets some troglodyte bodies on fire with alchemist's fire. The two stone things breathe hails of stone and gravel. The xorn rises from the ground under Cecil. Silla's unicorn strikes a serious blow to the xorn. Cecil, Nica, and myself are driven off my the fear in the room. The xorn retreats. While we're gone, Silla and her unicorn press the fight, slaying the mephits. The xorn returns. The unicorn slays the xorn. The head priest summons three black and grey fiendish hyenas, a bluish slobbering thing (a dretch), three more fiendish hyenas, another dretch, and thre more fiendish hyenas. Silla and the unicorn work their way through the summoned creatures. After a long fight where the thrice cursed head priest uses up the wand summoning things, and everyone but Silla spent alot of time running away and back, the unicorn finally gets to the head priest and slays him. He is revealed to be another troglodyte.

Silla drags the bodies out of the blasted room room. We find some gold on the troglodytes. The head priest had full plate, large steel shield, a nice morning star, a gem, a brown triangle amulet, a large iron brown triangle, and a scroll (remove paralysis and protection from elements).

We head back to Raster. We see the priest of Moradin. The building is sunken into the ground, stone stairs lead down. The roof is close fit stone. Vririd Hammersong. Moradin heals us.

We sell some of the loot we've taken to the half-orc merchant.

We spend the night on the floor of the tavern.

June 8, 2002

Richfest 2nd

We head back to the evil temple complex and head in. The altar room still feels evil. I give Silla my mining pick to smite the altar with. Silla is unable to scratch it. Holy water doesn't sem to affect it. It's hard to to enter the room because of the magic in the room. I'm unable to smash the alter, it's too hard. I smash the drums on top. I pick some of the earth ziggarat ineffectively. I'm finally driven back by the fear in the room.

Silla scouts ahead. She runs into some troglodytes and flees back to us, troglodytes on her tail. We easily slay them.

We back up and chose another path. We come to a room with stones used as stools. Some meat and mugs sit on a large flat rot. There are three odd sigils on the wall. We can't identify their source, but Cecil's magic helm allows him to read them; hey say "Crush," "Destruction," and

"Devour."

Further down we hear metal on metal and smell urine and sweat. The room beyond is dark except for a brazier in the corner. Two human men and an elven woman are chained to the wall. We release them. The woman is Tenaris Glimmerdawn. She and her companions came to a strange lake and were grabbed by strange creatures from cracks in the ground, Maloris, the group's wizard, said something about a vile ritual. Other companions: Kelvin her brother warrior, Priest Borgrar of Pelor. They were taken off to be sacrificed for some dark ritual.

The men were miner's. They were branded with triangle symbols.

We take them to the entrance and send them toward town. Tenaris is interested in joining us to avenge her friends death. I test her a bit in combat, she has steel in her blood, I think her joining us in a great idea. Silla loans her sleeping breastplate to Tenaris. We equip her with a bastard sword from our loot.

We head back in and try another side passage. On a far wall of a medium sized room is an inverted black wooden ziggarat. There is a table on its side, chairs, a bed, a dresser, and a pair of manacles on the wall. As I advance in, a troglodyte in black robes bursts up from behind the table and shouts, "Advance my minions!" About a dozen zombies burst out of the wardrobe and the side passage. Instead of eyes, they have inverted black ziggarat stones. They're tough to slay with weapons, but we slowly cut them down. Silla destroys most of them with Ehlonna's word. The priest is heavily armored and hard to hit, but I finally slay him with a lucky blow to his head. During the fight Cecil was hit with a spell that blinded him.

I break the symbol on the wall. We search the room, we find a necklace, a scroll with unknown writing on it. The priest had platemail, a steel shield, a bone necklace, and some other loose items.

The side room where most of the zombies came from is empty and has bloodstains on the walls. We head back to town. Priest Hammersong heals Cecil's eyes.

We equip Tenaris with some basic equipment. We talk, she was heading to Verbobonc for the festival, Maloris has family there.

Cecil examines the scrolls. Some are divine spells. Cecil checks our loot for magic, the morning star is. Two of the iron holy symbols are unusually magical as well.

We sell some more armor to the local general store.

June 16, 2002

We rest for the night.

Richfest 3rd

We head back to the new temple. The front door has been unjammed and is barred again. Zook uses Stoneshape to widen an arrow slit. We climb in. We head to the front doors so we can open them so Silla's unicorn can get in.

As we approach, something flees down a far cooridor and rings an alarm bell. Ten humans and an ogre charge. The ogre is odd, he's completely shaved and is wearing goggles. The ogre is a mighty fighter, easily smashing through my armor.

From the double doors beyond the symbols on the floor burst eight gnolls. Zook knocks most of the gnolls briefly out with a magical blast of sound. Tenaris and I hold the cooridor against the humans and ogre while Silla takes the gnolls. Nica works to open the door to let the unicorn in.

A huge purple spiky thing ridden by a flowing haired elf charges in howling. The spiky thing bites Silla. The elf wields a bow but misses Nica. I hold the cooridor and Tenaris moves to help Silla against the gnolls and spiky thing. Nica opens the door and the unicorn moves in to battle the spiky thing. The spiky thing stabs the unicorn leaving two sharp quills stuck in. The unicorn attacks back savagely.

The rest of the party takes out the gnolls while I slowly thin out the coorridor. The unicorn and Silla finally kill the spiky thing. The rest of the party slay the elven rider.

The quills are barbed. They cause alot of pain to Tenaris and the unicorn, making it hard to fight. Pulling them out injures them more.

Looting the bodies, the ogre had a magical great club. The elf had magic studded leather, cloak, a potion, and two crystal disks.

The side room where the humans and ogre came from had another arrow slit into the cave. There is a barrel of bolts there. Deeper in another room has an arrow slit aiming down the pathway up to the cave.

A side room to the south holds a bunch of empty iron bins. They probably once held ore. The room looks disuse. Beyond a long room has rotten troughs along the walls. At the far end is bit. Into the pit is a leather tube hooked up to a huge bellows. The pit appears full of water. I'm guessing it's a sluse for filtering ore. Behind a through is a broken battle axe and a rotten book entitled, "History of the Clan Stalagos" We wrap it up in the cloak we found and Zook puts it into his magical backpack.

Further on a larger room is full of iron bins full of dust covered ore. There is a large processing machine with a giant sized crank.

Beyond that is a room with several ore carts on rails that lead out two rough hewn passages.. The carts have odd handles. A handle can be pumped to move the cart forward, a button on the top is a brake. It almost seems magical, very strange. The existance of rails suggests that the tunnels are deep.

We head back to the vile earth temple. The room looks the same as last time.

We head back to the entryway. The huge doors east open to another large chamber. It's clearly a dining room, long tables and benchs run most of the length of the room. Two dozen cold, partially eaten meals sit there. A huge chain that probably held the spiky thing is bolted to the south wall. Two ballista sit by the east wall. I destroy them.

A small northern room is clearly a large sized bedroom. We find some loose loot.

The southern door is locked, a key the elf had opens it. It's obviously his bed chamber. A folded note on the table says in elven, "Intruders left in Terrenygit's room." There is another candle with a purple flame. We saw another in the room with the zombies. The flame appears to be a continual flame.

The same key opens a chest in the room. There is finery, a capped quiver, and some coins. There is a letter in the chest. It mostly talks about recruiting local orcs as guards, interlopers have depleted their forces. As an aside it mentions that the clerics in the outer fain are busy searching for the champaign of elemental evil.

Zook is interested in the other candle we saw, we head to the room where we encountered the cleric. The room has been cleaned up, the candle is gone.

We head back to the dining hall. The northeast room is full of twenty bunkbeds, the place is a mess, rotten scraps of food litter the floor. It smells of dog. Clearly the gnolls lived here. The southeast room is similar, but doesn't smell as bad. There are chests with personal effects.

We bar the door and camp in the dining room.

During my watch I hear orc's talking outside. They're surprised by the bodies. I also hear a non-orcish voice speaking in orcish. The voices move away.

Richfest 4th

We head to the earth temple. The bodies of our last fight were removed. Nica scouts ahead. Nica sees a mephit prowling around the alter. It looks like it's watching the outer passage ways.

We move in. It starts howling, Tenaris and Silla shoot it down.

Zook tries to suppress the magic of the alter, but is unable to do so. He tries to reshape it, but there is a flash of purplish light his attempt fails. Zook summons a thoqua (fire worm) to dig through the alter, but as it touches it shrives into nothing. Stupid alter. Silla will memorize a spell to bless a weapon, tomorrow we'll use it to enchant my pick axe and we'll try again.

We go explore the mines. Down a side passage we encounter a gnoll standing guard. As we approach we discover it's a statue. Ahead we see another. It looks like it was running. The lower part of one of its legs is broken off and missing. We decide to retreat back and try the other passage.

Some distance down the passage it widens for a bit. As the group examines the rubble, two thoqua attack. We easily kill them. We head further in. There are various sie passages, at least one appears to connect with the parallel tunnel. Deep in we find a large chamber. A pit on the south end has a ladder leading to another tunnel with a track. The track has a bridge over the pit. A further room has a steeply banked track continuing on.

In another wider chamber there is a nestlike patch of straw and fungus in a south-western alcove.. There are bits of metal in there. The north wall has blue-green crystals embedded. As we move in, a green dragon rises from the nesting.

I charge. It mauls me with a flurry of claw, bite, and wing. It sprays us with acid, then takes to flight, kicking up a cloud of dust making it impossible to see. We hold back, it lands and blasts us with acid again. It flies to the other alcove and smacks a green floating triangle with its tail. The triandle falls to the ground and smashes. Black-green gas swirls and black green gorilla with fangs appears. (It's an ogrillon?) The gorilla pounds Tenaris badly, she barely stands. Finally some blows strike true and the dragon and the gorilla are killed.

We loot the lair. There is some loose copper in the next. In the alcove where the triangle was is the main stash. There is a large golden coiled serpant statue, a large steel shield with a rampant green dragon, a scroll, and an iron cauldron full of gold and a few gems. The statue is probably only has a surface layer of gold. We leave the statue behind.

We head back to town.

Richfest 5th

We rest and heal.

Richfest 6th

We head to Verbobonc.

Reaping 4th

We're travelling toward Verbobonc when the see a spec in the distance approach. It approaches, it looks like a wyvern. It flies toward us, we fill it with arrows, slaying it as it's about to strike. We scavange parts from it.

We head up the hill where Nica and I saw it take off from. There is a cave. Inside are some large hatched eggs and several dead horses. There is a bunch of gold in saddlebags on some of the dead horses. We head onward.

June 21, 2002

Reaping 10th

We arrive in Verbobonc.

I examine the book. It tells a brief history of the Stalagos keep until they left. It was rich in various ores and minerals. Evil priests called the Doomdreamers arrived and sent in Evil Ones of Darkness to kill the dwarves. The evil monsters have purple tentacles. The dwarves fought to defend their keep but were ultimately displaced. A surface map shows a round lake with a stone spike in the middle.

We identify some items. The crystal items we found are magical Eyes of the Eagle.

We sell accumulated loot, we each end up with several thousand gold. Nica hires a wizard to enchant her mithral chain shirt. She also pays to have two dragon claws made into shoulder pads on her armor. I pay Zook to give me a stronger cloak of resistance. Silla buys a ring of protection. Nica takes the shadow blade and sells her magical long sword to Tenaris. The party buys two scrolls of Break Enchantment. We buy some general supplies.

Reaping 12th

We head back to Raster.

Reaping 13th

As we're travelling, a huge lizardy thing leaps out of the ground. It's a bulette. Tenaris charges it for a vicious blow with her lance. Silla and Tenaris lay into it and slay it.

We try to track it back to its lair, but lose the trail.

June 22, 2002

Zook communes with Fharlanghn for advice on destroying the evil altar. Fharlanghn says that strength of flesh can do it.

Reaping 18th

Late in the day, we're ambushed by a gang of three giants with two heads, ettins. We're a bit battered, but we slay them. They have loose junk, some gold, and some large steel shields they were using as plates. One is magic. A magical wand has been used as a spit for meat. There are some magic crystalline dust in a pouch.

Reaping 20th

We arrive in Raster in the afternoon. The folks in the bar don't seem too keen to see us. We're encouraged to just quietly move on. Word around town is that we are the great evil in the Stalagos crater. I get a bit unhappy and cleave a table. A bar fight erupts. The half-orc law shows up and shouts, "Stop!" ending the fight. Jardeth takes me outside. He refuses to listen that we're not evil. Silla almost picks a fight when he implies that she is evil. We're told to leave town and not return.

Nica heads to the temple and sees Jardeth head in. She sneaks in after him. Jardeth is talking to Hammersong about our little incident. Apparently they were warned to look out for us and that we would deny our involvement. Thandain, a woman who has recently been through a lot will be told in the morning. Jardeth leaves.

Nica approaches the priest. She pleads our case. Hammersong explains that two trappers had seen a grisly sight. Two dwarves and a human miner had been slain at their claim. The trappers claimed they saw us do it. The elder had also heard strange reports of our doings. Turog, the general store owner was sold several hammers (from the trappers?).

We decide to rest until the wee hours of the morning and move quickly through town to the temple. As we head through several people follow us from side alleys. We camp a distance from the temple.

Reaping 21st

We approach the temple. The arrow slit Zook magically widened has been restored. Zook magically widens a different one. We head in. Three humans are waiting with crossbows behind an upturned table. I block the door and we slay them before they can sound the alarm. They have masterwork banded mail and bastard swords.

Nica scouts ahead. Three gnolls are waiting in the other arrow slit room. Nica kills all three before they realize what's happening.

We bring the horses in. Nica wedges the bar open. The back rooms are still empty. We pile what loot we've gathered into the elven room and lock the door.

We head to the evil altar room. Silla asks for her god's support and casts spells to increase her power. She borrows my pick axe and enchants it. Silla heads in to smite the alter. With several blows, she splits it in twain. The room immediately begins to shake. Dust is kicked up. Chunks of the ceiling fall, some hits Silla as she retreats. We head back as a plume of dust pours out of the room.

We head back to the horses to wait for anything that comes to investigate. Nothing shows up, so we go back to the alter room. The room is partially collapsed, we can make our way through. We head down the northwest passage. After a while it opens to a room with lots of iron ore in the walls. A mephit inside flees away from us.

Silla mounts her unicorn and chases after it. She runs it down and slays it. Two more mephits come from the sides and breathe a hail of stones, battering us. We easily drop them.

Down a side passage we find a cavern covered in bugs, creating a steady hum. There are hundreds of centipedes and millipedes. Some are very large. Rotting and an acrid smell mix. We're about to leave, but some party members here something beyond. From beyond, a robed figure tries to dispell magic on us.

Zook enchants me with magical flight. I fly across toward the spell caster, as I do the insects lash out at me. Some hit me, their bite burns in my veins, fortunately I'm of hearty constitution. I'm unable to hit it, he is either heavily armored or magically defended. A putrid stench drains the strength from my axe arm, identifying it as a troglodyte.

Zook dispels some of the magical defenses on it, making it easier to hit. Silla races through the room of bugs and attacks. The rest of the party moves across, some get bit. Zook is overcome by the stench and collapses. The troglodyte casts another spell that makes it extremely hard to hit. Nica resorts to throwing alchemist's fire at it. Tenaris throws latern oil to fuel the fire. Finally, the troglodyte is backed against a wall and attempts to break out. The unicorn and I land lucky blows and slay it.

The cavern has tapestries of rock creatures destroying buildings and killing. A skinned and blackened human corpse is hooked spread eagle to the ceiling. There are personal furnishings including a chest and an iron coffer. Magical items we find include the coffer, a pair of gloves, a potion, a brown inverted triangle pendant.

The troglodyte has a black metal triangle embedded in his forehead and is covered with brown triangle tattoos.

The chest has black robes, a masterwork mace, and loose non valuable items.

Nica inspects the coffer. It has a magical trap on it, small shimmering runes circle the edge. Silla and the unicorn heal Nica. Zook casts several protective spells on Nica. She tries to disarm the magical trap and does successfully. Inside are ten amythests and an amulet. The amulet is a loop around a crystal or glass piece. A metal bar sticks out the bottom. Looking through it, it makes things bigger. A piece of parchment under the coffer. It's covered with a language we can't read.

Zook summons a small humanoid made of lava, a magman. It's extremely hot. It heads into the room full of bugs and kills them with the heat.

We head back to the dining area. We bar the door and rest.

Reaping 22nd

Zook magically reads the note. It's written in draconic. The message begins with a greeting from Hedrack. It's addressed to the troglodytes. The troglodytes recently claimed the earth temple The earth temple fell to the fire temple about a year ago. Hedrack feels the troglodytes will serve the elder elemental eye and Ogremoch well.

June 29, 2002

We head back to the earth temple area. We find some stairs up. Nica scouts up the stairs. There is a four legged, rust red, leathery winged thing with spikes on its tail, a manitcore. It senses her presence and flings some spikes at her. There is a quick fight. It dies just at the top of the stairs, so we have to roll the body out of the way.

In the room beyond is shriveled hand with two rings on it. The hand has been cleanly cut off at the wrist.

To the left is a dead end room. There is a leather mat on the floor. A dwarven coming of age tattoo on the leather marks it's gruesome source. Gusts of warm air comes from a natural but refined vent in the floor. There is an odd smell coming from the vent, faintly sulfurus, faintly sharp. When we try to look down, it hurts our eyes. A net hammock hangs by a wall, humanoid bones and skulls have been nailed to the walls.

In the other direction is a room that looks like it was about to collapse. Supporting braces have been recently added. Inside a humanoid in black robes is speaking to a large humanoid of earth and stone. As Nica scouts them, they notice something amiss. The robed figure sends the earth elemental after us and begins casting with a female voice. The figure summons a smaller earth creature, then calls for help down a side passage.

We beat the two elementals into lose earthand move in. A jet black troglodyte with a great sword is talking with the robed figure. The robed figure magically supports it, but we quickly slay it. With a mightly blow I behead the cleric, another troglodyte.

The cleric had full plate armor, a ring, a cloak, a robe, a vial, a scroll, a quarter staff, and a curved knife. The armor was made of beatle hide and other insect bits. It's unusually light. The warrior had a great sword and half plate. The room beyond has two dart traps that Nica finds and disables.

Zook examines our loot for magic. One of the rings on the severed hand is magical, as is the cleric's ring, cloak, and the contents of the vial. A small piece of incense Nica found earlier is also magical.

Beyond the trapped room is another chamber. It smells of incense. There are black drapery. Black poles have skulls hanging from them. On the skulls are painted various runes. Zook magically translates them as Death, Destruction, and Decay.

In a chest hidden behind some drapes is a locked chest. Nica finds the key, inside is some clothing, a small statue, some vials of something magical, and coins.

Down another passage we find a storage room. There are some weapons and food, mostly fish.

In another room, two greatsword hang over the entrance. Stairs head down a passage to the right, we head left. Ahead we hear something, Nica scouts ahead and finds three troglodytes. After informing us, she heads forward, we follow. We easily kill them all. A large pit in the middle of the room is full of bones, wood shavings, and fungi. Niches in the wall hold humanoid skulls.

In a further room, a three inch tall, ten-foot square blue-green rock sits on the floor. The rock is painted. Two golden braziers in the far corners smoke, filling the air with a fishy, salty smell. Further ahead I faintly hear water. I take a few whacks at the stone with my pick, putting a gouge into it. We head on, later we're return to put a hole in the middle and see if it covers anything.

A further room has a wide pool to one side. It extends as far as we can see. There is a pillar faintly visible at the edge of our vision in the pool. A boat is moored to the near side. In the distance, down a side passage we hear metal against metal. I guard the side passage while the rest of the party uses the boat to examine the rest of the room and the pillar.

The pool is about 150 feet wide. There is a ledge on the far side. As they are moving out, something tall and lanky with sickly yellow skin, matted hair, and claws rises out of the water. The site drains strength from the party in the boat. Silla and Tenaris are too weakened to move. The group calls out. I'm unable to wade out, the water is too deep. I give Silla's unicorn a potion of levitation so he can float/swim out to help. Zook and Nica try to row back while being clawed by the thing. Silla's unicorn arrives and drives the thing back. The party makes it back to shore. We retreat to the room we've been camping in. We camp. We discuss possibilities for dealing with our dwindling food supply. Perhaps I could approach the cleric of Moradin to commune with Moradin about us. If that fails, perhaps Nica could find someone to trade with us undercover.

July 13, 2002

Reaping 23rd

We head deeper in. We sidestep the small lake. The next room is a mess. There are overturned tables and targets with arrows stuck in them. As we head in, twelve humans with bows pop up from behind the tables and open fire on us. We easily slay them, although I get cut up pretty badly. I knock one out so we can question him. They were armed with high quality bastard swords, long bows, and banded mail.

I question the captive. His name is Cedric. He used to be a brigand, but now works for a elf called Merclar, but never met him. He dealt with "smell guys" and gnolls. They were training. They were to guard against "coo-toes". He thinks they're water. "She shoots her bow underwater." The other exit leads to other smelly people. They were also supposed to recruit more people since they've been losing people to attackers (us, probably).

We strip Cedric of his equipment, and lead him to the entrance. I warn him that if we encounter him here again, we will kill him. If we discover he has returned to brigandry, we will kill him. We send him off.

We head back to the room with stairs we haven't explored. Silla suspects it connects back to the room we just cleared out. Downstairs in floor has a recently added triangle mosaic in brown stone. Crude black sigils are smeared on the walls. A far passage connects to the bowmen room.

The other exit goes through a winding passage that ands in a large room. There are stone chairs. A hot brazier has forks and meats in and near it. Skins of various creatures, including humans, adorn the walls. The room smells acrid.

As the rest of the party searches the room, I guard the far entrance. Someone in the darkness throws a tanglefoot bag at me, hitting me and slowing me down. Silla and I head down the passage after the assailant. As we do, two troglodytes appear behind us, attacking and filling the air with their vile, strength draining stench. Another appears in front of me in mid-strike with a long spear. We easily kill them. They're armed with javelins, long spears, a beetle breast plate. One has very out of place boots.

Further down the passageway is a large refined natural cavern. There is bedding for twenty. Bags and sacks hold clothing and some money. The is an iron inverted ziggarat in one bag. There is a book in another. The book is written in a language we don't understand. The passage continues onward to the earth ziggarat room.

We head back to the room with the small lake.

Zook enchants us to be able to breathe water. Zook enchants Silla's unicorn to be able to fly. Silla and her unicorn wait on shore with Nica's dog. The rest of us head toward the obalisk in the dingy. Something scrapes along the bottom. As I lean over to try and thrash at it with my glace, I see a hideous visage with matted hair in the water in front of me. Nica and I leap in after it, injuring it. It nicks me. It retreats and fires arrows at us. Nica climbs back into the boat, I sink to the bottom. Silla rides her unicorn out to the party, heads into the water and slays the thing.

We drag the body of the thing out. It's a shrivled yet bloated humanoid form with matteed greenish hair and claws. She has some metallic bracers. In a pouch are four exceptional quality pearls. They look to be ten times as valuable as a normal pearl. She has a quiver of arrows, but the bow is missing.

A quick search of the underwater area reveals no side passages.

Silla explores a side passage. It is another small flooded cavern. On a ledge ten or so feet up are two people chained up. One looks broken, only faintly acknowledging Silla's presence. The other is curled up and wimpering. The broke person is barely able to move, probably drained by the water fiend's evil gaze. Nica unlocks their shackles and we head back.

As we head back over the lake, we find the water creature's bow. Looking the obalisk closer, it's clear that it's just a huge, natural stalagmite.

Zook restores the strength of the more lucid man. They run into some gnolls. They followed the gnolls, but got captured. They were questioned by smelling lizards who asked about "people". Some fish people slew the troglodytes and grabbed them. The fish people were spooked by something, so the two of them tried to flee across the lake. There they ran into the water creature.

Quickly checking over our loot, Zook determines that the boots, the bracers, and the contents of twelve vials are magic.

At the entrance we see that it's midday. We head back to Raster.

On the way we notice motion on a cliff above us. Ahead six robed and hooded people approach, one is extremely large. They say that we're an obstacle that needs to be removed. Silla leads a charge against them, we slay them. Four gnolls, an ogre, and a human male with a triangle pendant.

We take the two men to the temple. Silla and myself help the men inside. Priest Hammersong says that the mentally stunned guy will likely recover in time. I ask Priest Hammersong to ask Moradin if we committed the crime we're charged with. Hammersong explains that he can only ask Moradin if our entering town is for good or ill. We agree, he casts a spell, then announces that Moradin smiles upon our actions. He will summonThandain Deepdark, a town leader.

Outside, Jardeth gives Nica and Zook a hard time. An angry crowd has gathered. Hearing the commotion, Priest Rerrid Hammersong heads out to see them. He warns the crowd to leave our thing alone or answer to the temple. He asks all of us to wait inside.

A female dwarf, Thandain, arrives. She is still suspicious and doubts the accuracy of the assessment. Rerrid points out that Silla is still faithful to Ehlonna, and the unicorn is in fact a unicorn. There is apparently no solid evidence of our guilt. Thandain agrees to let us into town, but if we break a single law, we'll the thrown out, and so will Rerrid.

We camp outside of town.

July 21, 2002

Reaping 24th

We sell some of our loot, then head back to the temple. The rest of the group is keen on clearing out the mines. Perhaps we'll find a better place to keep our horses.

Nica scouts ahead. In a large room she finds a large, eight legged lizard. As she watchs, the basilisk chews on some rocks. Zook summons two fire worms (thoqqua) and a glowing ball of light (lantern archon) which slay the basilisk.

While Nica scouts a side passage, some green slimy stuff falls from the ceiling. Nica jumps out of the way and quickly throws some alchemists fire on it, burning it away.

A bit further on, as the party searches a large chamber, we're attacked by a large bug and a two headed giant (an ettin). The ettin throws a thunderstone at us, but we resist. The bug is about the size of a dog and is light brown. It brushes my glaive and my magic armor with its antenna, turning both to rust instantly. Silla's unicorn and some bow file slay the blasted thing. I cut the ettin down Beyond we find the creatures' lair. There is some gold and a gem. We have some plate mail that we have looted from enemies, it fits me well enough to serve for now.

Further in the passageway splits. The left passage ends in an underground river. I stick the remains of my glaive in. The water is about four foot long. As I pull the glaive out, a yellowish tentacle lashed out at me. Two ochre jellies are in the water. Silla and I hack at them, cleaving them into smaller bits, but they continue to attack. Once we've cut them into small blobs, Zook blasts them with a magical sound burst, destroying them.

We're all battered, Zook is nearly out of spells. We retreat to the back room where we have been camping.

Reaping 25th

We head back to the river. Tenaris heads into look for loot, but there isn't any.

To the left the passageway narrows, leaving no air. To the right we can follow the edge of the water. Heading that way, we find another side passage with mine cart tracks. Further down the passage widens to a larger chamber. The river flows under a wall, there are three open exits.

The left passage ends a dead end. While we explore the chamber, it caves in. We all escape, but we get a few bruises.

The middle passage leads to a huge room. The walls, floor, and ceiling are covered with fungus. Mushrooms the size of trees stand around the room. Small animals are moving around in the odd underground forest.

A side passage has a four foot tall purple mushroom and odd puff ball things. As we explore, vines off the mushroom lash out at us. We easily cut it down. Amoungst the puff balls are two skeletons covered in purple fungus. They have a breast plate and some rings.

A different side passage leads to a chamber where a large gorilla like thing with a beetle head (an umber hulk). Its gaze confuses those it gazes upon, confusing Nica and myself during the battle. We defeat it. In the confusing haze, I attack Tenaris. As the party tries to deal with Nica and myself crazed, another umber hulk charges in from a side passage. I strike Silla. The rest of the party backs away. Nica and I, still slightly crazed, slay the second umber hulk. Eventually we recover from the effect.

Behind a rock is a stash of coins and a masterwork scimitar.

The passage ends in a small chamber. A blanket of fungus and bones covers a pit. in the room. Silla notices it before we stumble into it. In the back of the room is a large pile mostly covered with fungus. In the pile are a lot of coins, a few gems, a jeweled broach, a small copper statue of a dwarf warrior, a pair of gold candlesticks, and a hammered gold ring.

Zook checks our loot for magic. The hammered gold ring is the only magical item.

Down a set of stairs is a large room. Silla scouts it out. There is a large, headless, dessicated body. It looks like it was an umber hulk. Beyond is a chamber with a bone and refuse filled pit in the middle. Two large, humanoid, green skinned, pockmarked creatures stand by the pit, trolls. Moss and fungus has been piled into beds. Nica reports this to us and we head in. They call out, asking who we are. I ask who they are, they don't seem appeased and attack with their claws. When they hit with both hands, they rend their target. We take some nasty hits before dropping them. However, the damage we inflict quickly heals and the creatures rise to attack again. Silla recognizes the creatures as trolls and suggests fire or acid to kill them. Unfortunately we lack enough fire to burn them away. Silla and myself continuously hack at them to keep them unmoving.

As Zook prays for a spell to burn the bodies, something loud approaches from ahead. Nica and Tenaris take to troll hacking duty while Silla and myself face the approaching creatures. An armored troll with a two handed sword charges us. It strikes me several times, seriously injuring, but Silla and I drop it.

The armored troll has large masterwork half-plate, a large two-bladed sword, two vials, and two pearl earrings. Another troll has a carved coral pendant, and a jeweled ring on a skeletal finger.

We collect the regenerating bodies together. Zook summons a magman which burns the bodies with its magna touch.

August 3, 2002

In the next room is a large table with a wrought iron chandeler above. The dead umber hulk's head sits atop a spear.

Down a side passage is a small, closet like chamber. The back wall slides revealing another chanber. A green, stained curtain hangs against the wall. There are two large beds, a table, chairs, and a large trunk. A wooden shelf holds skulls.

The large trunk has a poisoned arrow trap, Nica narrowly avoids being hit. Inside is masterwork chainmail, a bunch of silver coins, a scroll case, and a small bag of bones. The bones are small finger and toe bones from humans, probably children. Every single bone is broken. The scroll case holds what we think is a map, or perhaps abstract art.

Further on, the area is clearly more refined. We double back to finish exploring the mines. A side passage from the river area leads to a large room with large droppings. As we leave, something from a ledge above sprays us with mild acid. The thing is two legged, brown, lizardlike, has tentacles and a short trunk (a digester). Silla climbs up with her spider cloak and faces it in melee while the rest of us open fire with bows. We slowly beat it down, then it blasts Silla with acidic phlem, almost knocking Silla out. We slay it before it can kill Silla.

We're pretty drained, we head back to our horses to rest.

Reaping 26th

We head back into the mines.

On the other fork that lead to the dragon the tracks end at a large wooden platform. The platform is about forty feet tall. A conveyer belt allows ore mined from the ceiling and wall to be moved down to the tracks. A side passage leads to the river.

Another side passage we skipped earlier has a pool splitting the room. It's pretty deep. On the far side the room rises fifteen feet to a ledge. Zook tosses a magically lot stone into the pool. In the murky water, two humanoid forms look like they were carved into the floor. Nica faintly makes out a third form near the bottom.

Silla climbs up to the ledge and explores. The ceiling is low, so she has to crawl. Up there she finds a vial, a rusty dagger, a rusty grappling hook, a masterwoork battle axe, and a rotten pouch full of coins, all sitting on a masterwork shield. The shield has the crest of a hammer in front of a sun. The metal vial has been stamped with the symbol of Moradin, common for holy water vials of more severe clerics of Moradin.

Zook magically imbues us with the ability to breathe water and we head into the pool to investigate. Silla detects some evil source near one of the forms. We dredge up the bodies with a grapple. They are two black robed humans. They had a thin coating of mineral deposits over them. Most of the coating was knocked off as we pull them up. One has the triangle amulet, the other has the ziggarat amulet. The ziggaret wearing one has a black iron censor.

The third form is a skeletal dwarf wearing a masterwork breastplate, a platinum ring, and a holy symbol of Moradin.

Zook examines our goods. The beastplate, the censor, the battleaxe, and the vial are magical.

We head down to the newly discovered area beyond the mines, Behind the first door we find an arcane room, alchemical equipment on a table, some sort of magical circle in red chalk on the floor, and magical symbols on the walls. A short, garishly dressed woman prepares to cast at us. I move in to stop her. A half-orc high on the wall casts a spell, causing us to notice him. Both retreat out the back of the room. The woman blasts us with a fireball. The half-orc tries to open a portcullis beyond which we previously heard growling. I cut down the half-orc before he can open the protcullis. Zook dispells the lightening bolt the woman tries to hit us with. Silla and Nica defeat the woman.

As we regroup, a huge orc like creature with wings and twisted horns comes flies around the corner. Its eye glow an unnatural yellow. It holds a huge sword. It mutters something and blasts us with a cone of freezing air and ice. We quickly encircle it. It grunts and vile wave of blackness emanates from it, injuring us and sickening us. We strike at it. Darkness suddenly falls over us and it teleports behind us. We encircle it again and slowly wear it down. Once we defeat it, we notice that it is slowly regenerating. Silla blesses her weapon and slays it for good.

The demon had big plate covered gauntlets, bronze plated belt, a chain shirt, and a huge great sword.

He is wearing an amulet on a leather strap, it is a red painted iron diamond with a four pointed star jutting out the sides. (kinda an 8 pointed star, flattened up down). The half-orc has a quarter staff, a bit of gold, and a crystalline wand. The woman has some silken slippers, a scroll, three potions, two daggers, and a bit of gold. Zook tries on the gauntlets, they magically size to fit him.

The lab has some alchemical equipment, clothing, some costume jewelry, and three books. Two of the books are silver bound, the third is an old, worn, leather book. The leather book looks like an accounting book, it references supplies for the Temple of Elemental Evil. It has a basic history of the place and mentions someone called "Lareth the Beautiful." He knows much of the cult of Thorizden and may be in the vicinity of Hommlet or Nulb. He was found in the moathouse and raised by the Doomdreamers. He is a loose end to be taken care of.

Zook examines one of the silver bound books and is blasted by a gout of fire. We guess they are spellbooks. Zook sets off the second book to disable it.

We head back to the portcullis. I peer around trying to see the thing beyond. A lizard like thing with short arms jumps in front of me and I'm only saved from being bitten by the portcullis. I smack it and it leaps away. At Zook's suggestion, I toss a forearm off the demon in to try and bait the lizard thing. It doesn't return. Nica disables the lever.

Down the hallway, Zook hears a high pitched voice calling, "Look out! Look out!" We all turn, a troll in chain mail with a great sword is right behind Silla. The hallway beyond is suddenly full of dust and cobwebs. It viciously rips me up, but we cut it up slowly, finishing with Nica dropping it unconcious. Zook summons a magman to burn the troll to ash.

In the distance we hear an indistinct squeaky voice shouting for help. We heal up a bit, but we're low on healing. We head toward the voice down the cobwebbed hallway. Nica scouts ahead. Glancing into an ajar side door is a room covered with crushed corpses. We ignore it and move on.

There is a large feasting hall, half of the room is cobwebby, the remainder looks regularly used. The far right corner has a throne on a dias. The throne is carved with scenes of fire. On the wall is a large chain, the end is coiled near the throne. A female halfling hangs from manacles on the far wall. The wall around her is maroon and heavily pitted. Near the entrance is a series of black iron spheres. Half of one of the side walls is a huge set of double doors.

Her name is Descrit. She was afraid Degrand, the demon with the horns, was going to kill her. Her stuff is in the room full of bodies, Degrand's room. She takes a scimitar, some chain mail, a bow, and loose equipment. She implies that she was caught stealing from them. She was captured about two or three weeks ago.

We head back to Raster. She is apparently not welcome in Raster either, she was caught stealing supplies. She heads off to the south.

We head into Raster. To ensure that we aren't framed during our trip to Verbobonc, we invite merchants to travel with us. Several are interested. We leave in the morning.

Reaping 27th

Zook checks our remaining loot. The troll's armor, the silver spell books, the slippers, the wand, and the demon ogre's gauntlets are magical.

We head out toward Verbobonc with the merchants.

Goldmonth 3rd

During the early night we're attacked by three black puma-like felines with six legs and two tentacles each, displacer beasts. They're hard to hit, they aren't quite where they seem to be. It takes some time until we hit them, but once we hit the displacer beasts prove to be weak foes.

Goldmonth 6th

We arrive in Verbobonc. We sell our non-magical gear.

August 17, 2002

Goldmonth 7th

Silla trades some of our magic items for several pearls of power. The elven mage, Melchior, who makes the trade is interested in hiring us to recover a scroll from an ancient elven tomb. He suspects it's a history of the city of fallen stars.

(This little diversion is not part of the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil, but is a modified version of the free adventure "Into the forsaken Temple's Crypt")

Silla is suspicious. The mage takes Silla in back. He mage has a captured imp like thing. The imp was a servant of a powerful sorcerer named Eleran the Splended and was present at the final battle at the city of fallen stars. The city was the capital of the great elven nation of Keledor. The powerful wizard betrayed the city and the emperor. He is now know as Eleran the Branded. The wizard was imprisoned, but the binding holding him may be weakening. The elven wizard is looking for information on how to reseal the binding. The tomb is about four days away on horse.

We gather to speak with him. The wizard is not happy when I suggest that we be paid for our services.

He does introduce us to Cedwith, who has a building with blue shutters on Sales Street.

Cedwith lets us use his library. We research while Zook works on some magical items. Silla finds information on Eleran the Splended. He is associated with many brightly colored magical clothing items. He may have created color spray and chromatic sphere spells. Tenaris finds a reference to a longsword named Shadowblade crafted by the elf Elwith. It was created for an elven hero who was trying to clean out the Velkwood.

Goldmonth 8th

We continue our research. Tenaris finds a reference to something called Thorizdon. It is a dark evil god. It is said that if you say his name, he knows where you are. She also finds information on the Quaal's Feather Tokens. He was an elven ranger. There are different feathers of different types. One of the feather types will turn into a carrier pigeon.

Goldmonth 9th

Further research. Tenaris finds some more information. The spider climbing cloak has stylistic patterns that suggest a drow pattern, perhaps tied into the worship of the evil goddess Lolth. The shield Tenaris is using looks like it was hit by hail, leaving a number of small dents. In research, Tenaris finds reference to a tower shield used by a hero that charged an army of orcs, drawing their fire, then bashed the orcs with the shield. The hero was known as "Shieldmasher."

Goldmonth 10th

Our last day of research. The people involved with the last rise were called "The Triad," Iuz the Old, Zuggtamoy the demigoddess of fungus and mold, and Imrix the demonlord of fire. It is rumored that the one by Hommlet was not the first site of the temple of elemental evil. "This is not the first time this configuration had happened."

Goldmonth 11th

Melchior indicates that the tomb is near the villiage of Oakvail. We head out.

Goldmonth 12th

On our way, a small boulder is thrown at us. A giant steps out of a copse of trees and rapidly throws boulders at us. As we advance to melee, another appears from further in the copse. We take some serious hits, but we defeat them. They have some miscellaneous items, a hefty boot of gold, and some magical pipes.

Goldmonth 14th

We arrive at the village of Oakvail in the afternoon. The man who hosts boarders isn't terribly pleased to deal with adventurer types, so we camp outside of town. The local sheriff stops by, apparently we made a bad impression. He's keeping an eye on us. The town doesn't take the nearby ruins to the south too seriously, they tell stories of boogey men to their kids.

We head out to the ruins to the south. We're heading up stream. As night falls, we see a wyrm of some sort flying in the distance. We camp under some trees.

During the night, a blue dragon the size of a man attacks and blasts us with its lightning breath. We rally and counterattack. Silla, Nica, and the unicorn seriously injure the dragon, then Steiner beheads it with a mighty blow.

Goldmonth 15th

Zook magically flies around looking for the dragon's lair. As he is flying around, he sees a hole in a nearby hill. The entrance has pillars and a crosspiece over it. We head towards it. The unicorn is pretty sure the dragon was living there. As we approach, we see two large stone doors laying on the ground nearby.

The inside has a flagstone floor. The walls have cracked plaster painted with an illegible, faded mural. Beyond stairs lead to a large chamber. Some of the walls are finished and plastered, others are rough. A slow river flows in the back, behind is a dirt mound. We faintly see something leave a partially submerged hole in the dirt mound. As we move forward to examine, two large lizards shoot out and tries to attack Silla. I cleave one with a mighty blow and seriously injure the second. Silla finishes the second. We pull them out of the water. They're sixty feet long and several feet in circumfrance.

The water is about ten feet deep and moving suprisingly quickly.

On the opposite side is a similar section of river, but no snakes.

The doors in the middle are broken open. Inside is a pile of gold, and other things. A set of door in the back are open but filled with rubble. We search the room without revealing much else. Silla does note some claw marks and a blue scale. Nica doesn't find any traps on the money, so we take it. There is bunch of platinum, gold, some gems, a masterwork chain shirt, a masterwork light hammer, a bone wand.

We begin moving the rubble out of the doorway. It takes a few hours. Beyond is a pair of metal bound wood doors. As we open the door, a horrible moldy stench is released. The walls beyond are coated in dark green mildew. The ceiling is dripping slimy mildew. The ground has a carpet of mold, occasionally mounded. In the back is a moss covered door.

Silla senses two evils fifty feet beyond. As we examine the moss, I notice that the mounds on the floor appear to have moved. Suddenly they form up into humanoid shapes and attack. Zook summons a magman to attack them. The magman sets the mold creatures on fire. The creatures attack me, one of them seriously bashes me. The fire rapidly spreads across the room. We cut the mold creatures down. One of them died on my dropped glaive, leaving it with a mottled green stain.

Now that the moss is burned away, we can see that tn the back of the room are two urns. The urns have some gold and pearls in them. One had a black pearl, the other a white pearl. As we move in, I notice a a slightly sunken area of floor. Nica investigates and confirms that it's some sort of pit trap. She disables the trap.

Beyond is a stairwell up. Near the top of the stairs is a body. As Nica checks the steps, the body animates. We quickly cut it down. It appears stitched together from different bodies. On the landing above are three doors, one to each direction. There is a skeleton in from of the far door.

Behind the left door is a room in which a battle obviously took place. There are skeletons, a few scimitars and long swords, and gouges in the wall. A sarcophogus on the far side is smashed. Behind the sarcophogus is a small tunnel. Nica notices a small pendant that looks faintly like an eye.

Down the twisting small passage it ends in a four way intersection. To the left is a large room. Hooks are mounted into the wall. Green slime trails down the walls from the hooks. There are bits of thread on the hooks. There is a faintly sulfurous smell.

August 23, 2002

We continue on straight ahead, ignoring the room of hooks. Sure enough, the passageway is roughly symmetrical to the one we came from. It ends in another broken open sarcaphogus. The room beyond shows signs of another battle. The room is littered with skeletons.

Searching the room, Nica notices several more of the odd pendants. One of the skeletons has odd, very thin, black arrow head like things in it.

For completeness sake, we decide to check what is behind the central door. Silla senses an evil presense beyond the door. Nica finds a trap and works on disabling it. As Nica is working on it, two ghostly forms reach out through the door and touch her. They may be wraiths or spectres. Nica shakes off the cold touch and battle is joined against the ghostly forms. The creatures are ethereal and hard to hit, but we manage to score a few hits. They retreat through the door. I smash the lock with my axe, the trap pokes me, but doesn't appear to seriously injure me.

We head in. Silla slays one of the things. Zook drives the other off by the power of his god. We regroup and wait for it to return. It returns and I smack it. It retreats. When it returns again, it is wielding a flaming blade with flecks of darkness dancing in the fire. Silla touches it and pumps the power of Ehlonna into it, causing it to fade away along with the sword.

The sarcophogus in the back of the room is unbroken. It is smooth, although it looks like the outer surface was chiseled away. Silla and I push it out of the way. Behind is another passage. We break open a panel in the back. The sarcophogus is full of dust. Silla sifts through it and finds a pendant on a fine chain. The pendant is a sliver of an arc with three stars on it.

Nica is weakened by the attacks of the ghostly things. We retreat to the surface to rest. Zook uses a spell to restore Nica's strength.

Goldmonth 16th

We head back in. The room of green slime and hooks appears harmless. On each of the twenty hooks or below it on the ground is a broach with the arc sliver pattern.

Further in is a large dining chamber with a long table. As we move in, we faintly see two dark forms on the far side of the room. The forms growl. As we close, the resolve into dark doglike forms. Their darkness makes them hard to target. One howls with an unnatural voice, shaking the party. Tenaris and I panic and flee. Nica and Silla slay one of the hounds. Zook chases Tenaris and I down and casts a spell to remove the magical fear on us. Eventually the second is slain.

The chairs and table are ancient and crumble at the slightest touch.

A wide tunnel twists and turns. It eventually opens to a large room. In the room is a robed humanoid form. Silla is certain that it is evil. As we approach, the being pulls back its hood, revealing a sunken elven face with long blond hair. Pinpoints of violet light come from its eyes.

We close further and the figure retreats to the corner. In the corner of the room on a diasis a statue of an elf looking haughty and regal. Once we get closer, we can see that its cloak is the same green as the moss and mold we've been seeing. It also looks slightly scorched. We also feel weighted down for unknown reason, our weapons don't feel as well balanced. Silla and I hit the being, revealing an emaciated body. Our blows almost spring back from the rubbery flesh. Only my fierced blows even slightly cut him. We pound on it and eventually destroy it. It was wearing one of the arc sliver pendants. Its palms are carved with a symbolic knnife surrounded by nine stars. The back of its hands are carved with the eye symbol.

The statue's palms have similar carvings to the body. Silla notes that the knife looks something like an old symbol of the cult of Venca.

Some experimentation reveals that there is some sort of anti-magic area in the corner with the statue. I smash the statue with my pick axe, but the anti-magic effect remains. Moving the statue's bits to another location doesn't change the anti-magic effect.

The door behind the statue is covered with some sort of facade. There is no apparent way to open it from this side. I chisel it away. It looks like some chiseled away the original surface of the door and someone skilledful but in a rush carved the eye symbol into the door. The two partial arcs of the symbol have a gold inlay, the center has a silvery metal inlay.

I pry the door open, smashing bits of it.

The wide hallway beyond has a faintly sulferous smell. As we follow the twists, the sulfer smell gets stronger and we start to hear bubbling. It becomes warmer. A wide masonry bridge stretches over a pit of bubbling tar.

As she approaches the bridge to check for traps, four xorn dig out of the earth, surrounding Nica. They are smaller than the xorn we faced before and we defeat them easily.

Nica notices a trapdoor near the center of the bridge. She disables it.

Beyond the hallway turns to the right. As we move in, our magical light fails and our strength enhancing items no longer help. Another anti-magic area. Nica digs out a lantern for light and we continue. The passageway ends in a stone doorway. There is a lock in the door. Another eye symbol with metal inlays marks the door. Tenaris notes very fine writing in inlays. It's elven, "Here is in imprisoned Eleran the Brand for crimes against the law."

Zook magically determines that there is at least one scroll beyond, perhaps the one we're looking for.

We rest in preparation for facing whatever great evil is beyond the door. Zook magically contacts the wizard who sent us. The wizard assures us that we need to go in.

Goldmonth 17th

We head back to the sealed door. Zook consults his god. Nica picks the lock open. Beyond is a triangular room with thick red carpet. Drapes hang from the ceiling. Full bookcases line the wall. A chair sits at the back. A man elf in fine clothing with blond hair stands in the middle of the room. As we move in, he speaks in a heavily accented elven, "Oh, thank you for freeing me from my terrible plight!" Tenaris and he exchange words, he's pleased to see us. Zook enters the room and his suppressed magical daylight spell returns. The elf curses and immediately begins casting. His edges blur, making him hard to hit.

He casts a spell on me, clouding my mind. In my addled state, I attack Tenaris, badly wounding her. Nica and Silla surround the evil elf, but he turns into a sickly green gas and floats toward the exit. Zook dispells the ill enchantment on me. Most of the party attacks the gas while Silla guards the exit. The gas flows out the exit and reforms into the elf. We fight with him in the hallway, he climbs around us on the walls, eventually getting to the bridge. He blasts us with a fireball.

Silla finally cuts him down. We hack at the body to keep it from regenerating. We drag him upstairs and into the sunlight, which dissolves him. Before he is totally desolved, Tenaris reads the tattoos on his chest. The tattoos document the crimes of Eleran the Branded. Tenaris can't read much, be Eleran appears to have summoned something evil.

Two rings, an amulet, a pair of bracers, a silver earring with a large black pearl, and a yellow rod.

Examing the books, they cover many topics, but are filled with random and crazed scrawlings. We find a letter to Eleran. He has branded himself with the symbol of the "traitor" and for this he will be imprisoned for eternity. "To know the true extent of your crimes, just look upon yourself." We find an ornate lantern. The chair looks to be of exceptional quality.

Zook detects that everything left behind by the vampire except for the earrings is magical. There is a spellbook under the chair.

August 31, 2002

We head back to Verbobonc.

Goldmonth 19th

We're riding along the hills north of the Kron Hills. Six giant praying manti hiding in the grass attack us. The grab Zook and Nica. Zook sends one of them to another plane. We eventually kill them.

Goldmonth 20th

We arrive back in Verbobonc.

Goldmonth 21st

We arrange to have our magic items identified by a different mage since we currently don't trust Melchior. We do some basic resupplying, then see Melchior. Apparently he wanted what was written on the vampire, unfortunately it's gone now. Melchior isn't real happy with this turn of events, but is consoled that the information isn't available to the enemy, whoever that is. He shoos us out.

It turns out that our magic items include pipes of haunting which scare people who don't see the piper, a chain shirt +1, light hammer +2, a bone wand of bull's strength, a ring of protection +1, a ring of counterspelling, bracers of protection +2, an amulet of natural armor +1, an amber rod of 7th level magic missiles.

Silla spends a great deal of time trying to trade magic weapons for the party, but is unable to secure a good deal.

We head back to Raster with the merchants.

Harvester 2nd

We arrive back in Raster. Zook teleports back to Verbobonc to work on the magic items. It will take sixteen days. We lay relatively low.

Harvester 3rd

Nica, Tenaris, and myself look for odd jobs. One person invites Tenaris in, slams the door behind her, magically freezes her, and knocks her out. A bit later the same is done to Nica. I fail to find any work, no one is willing to talk to me.

When Tenaris and Nica fail to show up, we go looking for them. Nica's riding dog is also missing. I remember hearing a dog behind a house, usual, since dogs are usually in the front. Silla and I investigate. Behind we find Nica's missing dog. We see at least one ogre inside.

Silla stays to watch the house. I go to see Priest Vriran Hammersong and explain the situation. The house is owned by Tal Chammish. Tal Chammish is a close friend of Thandain Deeperdark? Hammersong points out that if we need to go in, Thandain will likely get us thrown out, and that would get Hammersong trown out. So Hammersong is coming with us.

While Silla is watching, a gnoll arrives and leaves.

Hammersong and I go in the front, Silla and her unicorn go in the back. I bull my way in. The herbalist Chammish panics and cries for help. The ogre bursts the back door open. Silla breaks in the rear. There are three ogres, two gnolls, a shifty human, and Tal Chammish. Tenaris and Nica are tied up in back. The shifty fellow casts a spell on Silla that clouds her vision with a black cloud with purple tendrals. I cut down ogres. The unicorn cuts down gnolls. Hammersong magically freezes Tal Chammish in place. Nica wiggles free and deals the killing blow to the cleric.

Silla notes the smell of tanbrosh, a powerful, addictive narcotic that makes one strong and dextrous for a while, then weakens you. The back room has a large amount of tanbrosh.

Hammersong goes to get Thandain. We tie up the frozen Tal Chammish. He has two short swords, a blowgun, several needles, and two tins of goo. Silla identifies one tin as full of a sleep agent, and the other as a paralytic poison.

Hammersong returns with an irate Thandain. Hammersong acts as the voice of reason. The presence of the ogre bodies and the tanbrosh appears to brings her up abruptly. Thandain insists on having Jardeth taking control of the situation and questioning Chammish. Thandain is extremely insistant that we leave the building. Hammersong thinks Thandain is acting oddly. I'm pretty sure Thandain is lying when she says she is not involved.

On the desk is some correspondance involving the temple of earth and temple of fire. One from the temple of earth say,"Hopefully these ones will make it this time. Be sure to take care of these adventurers, they are beginning to bother us."

Nica fetches Jardeth. He's not real happy. Jardeth is shocked by the amount of the narcotic.

When I mention that I saw mention of the temple of evil in the letters, Hammersong reads through them. Apparently one of the letters mentions that Thandain is addicted to tonbrosh. Thandain breaks down.

I check the letters out again. They are simply signed by the temple's name. One letter mentions that someone will come looking for a cart to haul artifacts. Further letters state that the adventurer's lives should be made difficult, and are surprised that the first group never arrived. Apparently the blacksmith and others in town are addicted to tonbrosh, and attempts are to made to addict the elder (Thandain) or the priest of Moradin. All of the letters end in "praise be to be elder elemental eye."

Tal Chammish promised to leave town and how to cure the addicts if he is allowed to leave. Apparently tanbrush is fatal if you try to stop using it. Silla and Hammersong agree that it takes an antitoxin that takes weeks to ween someone off..

Silla uses one of the magic feather tokens to send a pigeon with a message to Zook.

Harvester 5th

Zook gets the message, purchases some of the anti-toxin, and teleports to see us.

In the mean time, we discover that Thandain, the blacksmith, an orc trapper, and eighteen others are addicted. Zook knows that neutralize poison can cure people. Zook and the unicorn work to cure people.

Unfortunately, to come help us, Zook interrupted creation of bracers I paid him for. His effort (and my money and his life force) are wasted.

Harvester 10th

Zook finishes healing people and teleports back to Verbobonc. The town is alot happier to see us.

Harvester 22nd

Zook returns. He has crafted the various items he promised, he made another pair of bracers for me,

September 7, 2002

Harvester 23rd

We head back up to the temple. As we approach, we are fired on from the arrow slits. Zook dimension doors us into the guard room. There are four orcs. They are trivially slain.

As we regroup, a horde of orcs and an ogre pour into the room. It's quick and gory, after just a few moments the hallway is full of orc bodies and the ogre is defeated.

We search the nearby areas. The orcs and ogre had been staying the in back rooms. There is nothing else nearby. We head through the mines to the area we believe to be the fire temple.

Nica scouts ahead and hears some people arguing about cards. We head in. There are eight humans armed with spears waiting for us. We slay seven quickly. The last calls down a back passage, "Rao, come quickly!" I knock him out. We hear a large pounding sound come down the hallway. A hill giant comes around the corner and throws boulders at Silla. We charge in and kill it.

As with previous groups, the human warriors had high quality armor and swords. This is one well equipped place.

After the fight, Zook stabilizes the human was captured. We tie him up and take him back to the room with the horses, dogs, and the unicorn. Zook says that the warrior will probably awaken in a day or two, he was badly injured. We head back to the fire temple.

The portcullis is still closed, we hear the angry beast deeper in. Down a side passage is an armory, weapons are arrayed along the walls. Beyond is a storeroom full of foodstuffs and other equipment. There is flour, fresh fruit, some vegetables, and other food. We have lunch.

Beyond the mess hall is a wide passageway that leads outside. Beyond is a wide stone bridge over the dark grey lake in the crater. Two stone statues of birdmen stands by the exit. Inset into the bridge's floor is a red, elongated diamond shape.

In the distance the bridge spans about a thousand feet to a tall stone pillar that is about four hundred feet across. The bridge appears to enter into the pillar. Way off to our left is another bridge.

Zook magically flies around and scouts. The central pillar has a deeper area inside. Along the pillar wall are thin black spires. In the center is a bigger black spire. Two other bridges span the crater.

We go back in and head further into the fire temple. Nica scouts ahead. Down one passage are voices. Down the main passage is a group of six gnolls on guard. We move in. I slay two quickly. One bangs on a shield on the wall, sounding the alarm. We quickly kill the rest, but reinforcements arrive. Eight humans come from one room, six more gnolls from another. Zook blasts the humans with two sound bursts, the humans fall unconcious. We move into the gnolls. A hill giant follows the gnolls. We slay most of the gnolls, the giant and the last gnoll hang back. They don't seem keen on moving in, so we take the fight to them. The gnoll goes down quickly. The giant takes a serious pounding and falls back, joined by a giant wolverine.

The room the humans came from has a mural of frenzied warriors bursting forth from a black triangle. Nica finds a flat blue-green square stone with "waves pound relentlessly" written on it in common. Bunks and lockboxes fill the room.

The gnolls's lair is nearby. Crude paintings of dogs and doglike humanoids cover the walls, twelve beds were in use. Miscellaneous equipment is scattered around the room.

Another room opens to a huge bed with a fur on top. In this room is a large lockbox. Nica opens it to reveal a large pile of gold, a number of weapons, and a bronze human head. The head looks like it was broken off a statue.

A side room is another food store. There is salted meat, wine casks, and other provisions.

September 21, 2002

We head further in. I'm forced to hack down a barred door. Beyond is a huge tunnel long ago formed by lava. It slopes upward. Further down steps up have been carved into the tube.

In an oddly shaped room, a big orc is ordering a bunch of orcs around. Eight are typical orcs, four others are well equipped, and the last is the leader. Nica and I quickly slay the weaker orcs. The tougher orcs head into melee as eight orcs with bows enter from the back of the room and open fire.

The boss orc and one other attack Zook. Tenaris cuts the boss badly and Nica finishes him. Tenaris slays the other orc on Zook. I cut down the three well equipped orcs on me. The orcs with bows drop their bows, draw spear and slowly retreat. I charge the retreating orcs. The orcs make a last stand and fight to the end.

There is some masterwork scale male on some of the orcs. The boss had a trident, a double axe, hide armor, and a potion of some sort. Zook identifies the double axe, the hide armor, and the potion as magical.

We take the loot back to our horses. We grab a barrel of oil from a storeroom on the way. We load our horses and head out.

We decide to keep the doors open for good. We set up a drop area for the doors, large rocks will hold the doors off the ground, bits of oil soaked matress and bed frame are scattered about for initial fuel. Zook summons thoqquas to burn through the hinges. We use the horses and my block and tackle to lower the doors. The thoqquas burn holes in the doors and set set them on fire. We head back to town.

Silla sells what she can to the general store, but it isn't much. Zook takes some of the more valuable items and teleports to Verbobonc to sell them. He also takes several unknown magical items to have identified. While in the city he works on a magic item.

Harvester 28rd

Zook returns in the evening.

Brewfest 1st

Brewfest starts. Lots of beer and ale is imported, including some Ulek beer.

Woo! Beer! It kicks ass!

Brewfest 2nd

Woo! Beer! It kicks ass!

Brewfest 3rd

Woo! Beer! It kicks ass!

Brewfest 4th

Woo! Beer! It kicks ass!

Brewfest 5th

Woo! Beer! It kicks ass!

Brewfest 6th

Woo! Beer! It kicks ass!

Brewfest 7th

Woo! Beer! It kicks ass!

Patchwall 1st

As I recover from the festival, I faintly remember something important about lightning. Someone I spoke with during Brewfest about it. I ask the party about it, no one remembers any such thing. Nica remembers me speaking with a skeevy looking woman in a cloak. I faintly remember her having black hair.

September 28, 2002

The bartender at the Grey Lodge suggests that I might have been speaking with Timarien. Timarien is a wizard of some sort, she occasionally stays in town and sells magical work. She has a place in town. We go see her.

She's still hung over from the festival. She used to be part of an adventuring party (although one with more wizards). They were flying from Celene to Verbobonc and passed by the Stalagos. They were shot down by lightning from the outer towers. They were captured by black robed figures. They tried to fight their way out but were captured by wights. Timarien was the only survivor. She lost her gear and spellbooks and does some work around around here.

She also mentions that Cornelious says that he is engaged to Nica.

We loan her our unused spellbooks. She translates a book we previously hadn't translated. (We found the book on Reaping 23rd.) It discusses the elder elemental eye and the day to day worship of it. It discusses the history of the old Temple of Elemental Evil near Hommlet.

She agrees to join us on our next trek into the temple.

Patchwall 2nd

We head in to the temple. As we approach we can see smoke ahead. As we approach we see that a wall of cart tower shields has been erected at the cavern entrance. Two bonfires are burning by the sides.

Nica scouts ahead, shielded in an invisible spell from a wand. Behind the shield wall are orcs. The orcs hear her and attack. We race up to help, but Nica has already killed most of them. We finish them off.

We head widdershins around the crater.

Nica scouts down a side passage. The passage opens in a large round room. A crude wood spiral staircase rises to a hole twenty foot up.

Above is a similarly sized room with no other exists. There is a shrine with a stone idol in the room. One of the eyes is red semi-precious stone. There is also a large bed. The room looks ransacked, there loose items scattered about. Zook thinks the statue is of Grummish, the orc god. I smash the statue.

Nica scouts further on. Below, the passage continues on to large natural cave. The air is very humid. Nica sees a seven headed dark brown dragon. It's far bigger than any other dragon we've fought.

We decide to double back and clear out some previously missed passages. One passage leads to a round room. A wood platform hangs from the wall. There isn't anything on it. There is a pile of furs and skins on the floor. A bag near the furs holds a dark glass vial holding a viscous liquid, a metal flask, some gold, and some semi-precious stones, a pewter mug, and a lock.

Another passage leads to a rough hewn room with several sets of bedding. There are some personal effects amoungst the bedding. Stairs lead downward.There is a garbage pit to the side. A man sized beetle lives in it.

The stairs lead to a maze of natural caverns and passages. They are mostly empty. In one room we find a metal war wagon. In another a store room, the food spoiling. Another room has a lage horned skull and hammer carved into the floor.

Down a side passage is a closed pair of stone doors. Carved into the doors are paired dragon heads coming out of hammers. Nica finds a trap that opens a pit in from of the door. Nica disables the trap and unlocks the door. The door opens quietly and easily. Beyond a long hallway stretches. The air smells old.

A side room has similar doors. A basin on four legs sands in the back. The font looks like it was carved out of a large gemstone. The walls are carved with stylized dwarves. A large stone hammer and anvil statue stands in each corner.

Zook summons some water into the basin. The water erupts in a boil of steam, milding burning. We head onward.

In front of a single door are two burned orc bodies. Nica locates a trap on the door. She tries to disable it, but makes a slight slip as she tampers with the magical runes. She leaps to the side... and nothing happens.

Inside is a large cross shaped room. Nica notices and disables another trap on the floor. Dark curtains line the walls. In the middle of the room is a large pedastool. The pedastool is padded with a dark blue cushion. On top of the cushions are six jeweled silver spheres. Each sphere is about four inches in diameter. They are made of silver-like substance and covered with small ruby-like gems. In various places on the spheres a hammer and anvil symbol is carved. Nica notices some very fine writing in the symbols. Zook verifies the spheres as magical and bearing magics of evokation and transmution.

The long hallway ends in a stairway down. The stairwell ends in a huge chamber of worship. The walls are carved with elaborate dwarven imagry. The floor has a grey hammer and anvil patterned mosaic. A huge stone alter shaped like an anvil dominates the far end of the room.

As Nica moves in to scout, she sees a tall statue of a dwarf rising from the floor. The statue is armed with a hammer and armored. As Nica retreats the statue sinks into the floor.

Large runes in the back read "Moradin destroys transgressers but rewards the faithful."

I enter, Zook following. The statue rises up and begins to move forward. Zook backs up. The status steps back and sinks into the floor.

I explore the room. Two gems sit on the alter. The door in the back opens into a nice chamber. The floor is marble. Obsidian pillars support the ceiling. A loamy smell and faint chanting fill the area. A silver chain from the ceiling suspends a large emerald. The emerald sits five foot from the floor.

Beyond is a hallway. I explore the area. Further in I find a set of iron doors. The doors have a dwarf's face with an open mouth. I see something inside the mouth, but decline to investigate.

In the back is a huge room. The vaulted ceiling. Two long stone tables run the length of the chamber. Each has an iron chandeler hanging over it. A silver pattern and server atop one table, a bronze harp atop the other. Six doors exit the room. Behind the doors are twenty foot square rooms. There are two private dining rooms, two are kitchens, the last two latrines.

October 5, 2002

Patchwall 3rd

Tymarion suggests we call her Marion.

We decide to leave the temple area alone. Nica attempts to rearm the pit trap but accidentally activates it.

We head down another side passage. Orcs ahead cry out "get 'em" and arrows fly out at us. We charge. We slay the group of orcs and goblins. Around the bend is a large room in which a number of orcs have been living. Female orcs and children cowered on the edges.

I order the orcs to leave at the threat of death. The orcs complain that I'm condemning them to death. Marion suggests that the nearby orc encampment may take them in. Marion tells the orcs to look for Krugina, the head of that encampment. In a chest they have several objects, a magnifying glass, two pewter flagons with dwarven markings, a ceramic bowl, a jug of ale with dwarven markings, a holy symbol to Moradin, and a dwarven sized silk robe. I claim the stolen objects. We escort the orcs out.

We head back to check out the hydra we saw earlier. The room is huge. The ground is uneven. We head in. We take some serious hits, but we defeat the hydra. In the room Nica finds a large steel shield and a nice sword. While search Nica unleashes a small collapse, but jumps out of the way to safety.

We head onward, ahread is a large empty chamber. As we approach I notice an odd rock in the wall. The rock looks out of place and may be a switch of some sort. I give it a twist. It pops into place. I push it and a section of wall pushes backward, revealing a secret door with that swivels down the middle.

Down the hallway I can see a pair of iron doors with dwarven faces in the doors. We've found a secret passage into the dwarven temple. We head back and close the secret door.

Past the huge, empty room stairs down lead to a fork. Nica scouts the way. Down one passage is a room in which a half dozen gnolls and something else are hiding. Nica thinks the something else might be a half-orc in armor. A breeze approaches from the far passage.

Down the other passage is a room with a high ceiling. In the center is a small tower with rampart. A half dozen humans with bows are guarding the rampart. Air strongly vents in from a far passage.

We head in after the gnolls. I call them out, the gnolls charge and are quickly cut down. Nica sneaks after the half orc, the half orc notices Nica and charges her. I rush to her defense and gut him.

As we regroup, eight humans with bows approach and attack. We defeat them easily. We loot the bodies. The half orc was weilding a masterwork great axe. The half orc also had a quiver full of masterwork arrows just like the elf riding the spiky thing.

We check the tower, it's now abandoned and empty. We head back to town.

October 11, 2002

We head back to town. I tell Priest Hammersong of the temple to Moradin in the the Stalagos. He agrees that it makes sense to retrieve any valuable objects from the lost temple to send off to the nearest dwarven Hold. He'll do some research into the orbs. He pointedly mentions that he hasn't seen me services. He suggests I see him at morning services for informtion on the orbs.

Patchwall 4th

I go to morning services. After the ceremony, I speak with Priest Hammersong. He believes that the orbs are Hammerspheres, artifact weapons of Moradin. They are usually protected against heathens, but there are reports of heathens using them. Perhaps the pedastool or cushions have some defense against heathens. Hammersong suggests checking the area for information that may make the safe path clear to the faithful.

The party reminds me of the two firey gems on the alter. Hammersong will check into them tonight. If we don't take them, I should get as many details as possible.

October 12, 2002

We head back to up the crater. We come across some gnolls pulling a cart toward the crater. We advance on them and they attack. We easily slay them. The cart is full of wood and rocks.

We reach the crater and head to the temple. The room with the spheres has silver walls with dark blue draperies. The spheres are on a pedastool padded with dark blue fabric. As I pick them up, I feel a compulsion to leave them there and defend them. Marion identifies some magical effects on me, Zook dispells it. Marion is interested in taking the draperies and cushion with her. We collect the drapes.

We head out and go to the back door into the temple. We explore the dining room and side rooms. One table has a silver service upon it, the other has a bronze harp. Chandeliers hang over tables. We collect the silverware up.

We head to the locked doors with dwarf faces on it. The mouths are open to a black hole. Nica checks the doors for traps. There is a trap of some sort. Nica also notices a flip up floor panel that reveals a keyhole. Nica attempts to disable the trap but fails, A twenty foot square stone block falls from the ceiling. The block crushes Nica, Silla, and myself partially. We crawl out.

Zook tries to stoneshape the wall out of the way, but his magic is dispelled. Zook uses stoneshape to carve the block near the door into smaller blocks. I pull the smaller blocks out. Nica unlocks the lock and I open the door.

Beyond is a large room. A dias in the middle of the room has a symbol of Moradin on each side. Sparkling objects sit on the dias and three trunks line the back wall. There is a box with inlayed gold with images of dwarves working on a forge. Inside are a bunch of amethysts. There is a golden url, a small gold statue of Moradin and a silver bound book with small inlaid gemstones on the dias.

Nica opens the locks on the chests. They're full of gold. Nica relocks them.

We head to the remaining locked door. A medium sized room lies beyond. It looks like living quarters. There are some books on bookshelves, a glass table, and a bronze jug on the table. There are two chests. The books are religious works. Nica searches and locates a secret compartment. Inside is a large gold key (a bit late now). In the chests are clerical vestments, a gold incense burner, mundane clothing, heavy maces, and a pouch holding thre alchemical stones (thunderstones).

We head to the arched room. The smell of loam and a faint chanting fill the room. From a fine silver chain an emerald hangs. I borrow Marion's climbing cloak, climb to the ceiling and unhook the chain. I lower the gem to my folded up cloak on the ground. I wrap the gem and chain in the blue padding that once held the spheres. As I wrap it the chanting and smell dissapates

I head into the main chamber. I examine the two gems on the altar. The glistening of the red gems doesn't seem entirely natural. I'm unable to pull or push them. We decide to leave them.

We move the silverware and the harp next to the alter so the statue will guard them.

We haul the chests and other artifacts out. Zook summons a stone wall to seal the passage to the main chamber. Zook then magically removes the orc warning marks on the ground.

We take the orc war wagon back to the gnoll wagon. We move stuff to the gnoll wagon and haul it back to town.

Hammersong is extremely pleased with what we've brought back. The chanting gem is the Gem of Knowing, a gift from Moradin, it gives any dwarf that touches knowledge of his past. As I unwrap it the chanting and loam smell returns. I'm curious and pick it up. I'm filled with knowledge of my lineage all the way back to Moradin. My clan once held a Hold near the Crystalmist Mountains. We were driven out by orcs and fled to Ulek. An ancient family relic was lost there.

Patchwall 5th

We head back to the crater and go counterclockwise around.

Nica scouts ahead. Down a passage is a chamber with a white marble dias and stairs. Atop the dias is a stone cirlce. Paintings and tapestries depict demonic creatures and people being destroyed by whirlwinds, tornadoes, and other forces of wind. On top of the alter something smokes. A man in purple robes with a silver sash is performing some sort of ceremony. There is an evil taint to the room.

We head in, splitting up to cover the two passageways in. He sounds the alarm on a horn. He summons an torando that seems to have eyes. It moves over me and buffets me, almost pulling me off the ground. We attack.

Reinforcements arrive for the cleric arrive in the form of a woman with long blonde braided hair. She is wearing an ochre robe, a silver sash, and a black cape. With her are four skeletal bear. "Invaders! You are great and wise, I shall aid you in your endeavors. After smiting your foes you must leave this area and go about the other way."

We continue to fight. The elemental focuses on me, battering me but repeatedly failing to throw me into the air. Silla attempts to turn the skeletal bears, the woman counter turns. Three of the bears collapse in a pile of dust.

The three fighters pound on the cleric. Marion blasts the last skeletal bear and the woman with a fireball. The whirlwind peters out leaving a vague airy form. We slay the cleric and move on to the elemental.

Silla attacks the woman, the woman begins casting, but is interrupted by Marion's magical bolts of energy. Silla slays the woman. We gang up on the air elemental and slay it.

The cleric has a magical twisted hazelwood rod, a magical thorny branch (Zook think he can use it), a scroll, magical full plate, a magical steel large shield and some mundane items. The woman has some dust in a ube, two scrolls. Each has a magical white painted iron circle and an amulet of an upside down black triangle with an upside down yellow Y in it. On the bottom point is a silver ring. Zook thinks that the ring is a symbol for air.

We heal up. As Zook examines the (non-magical) trumpet and censer, he feels something disquieting about them.

Nica notices that the alter slides. After a great deal of work we slide it away. Below in a cream colored velvet lining is a slender, silver longsword with a silver ring on the crossguard. I wrap up the sword in the velvet and pull it out.

Silla borrows my pick to deal with the circular altar. Silla calls upon her god and begins hacking away. After some time she cracks the altar in half. The evil taint fades away. The ceiling begins to shake. Silla dodges falling ceiling as she flees the room. Eventually the room stops shaking.

Under the rubble the horn and the censer appear to be evil to Silla. Silla and I dig them out.

As we're doing so, a horde charges in on us. There are twelve gnolls, three humans in banded mail, two ogres, and a human in blackened plate with sword and shield. Marion magically speeds me. Silla and I wade in to the fray. Tenaris and Nica follow behind. Zook uses magic to slow and delay our foes. The orcs and humans in banded mail fall quickly at our blades. Nica backstabs one of the ogres, slaying it. The fighters swarm the remaining ogre and drop it. We surround the man in black plate. He's visciously fast, wounding everyone, but we continue pounding on him. Tenaris finally slays him with a critical blow to his chest.

The black plated warrior has magical half plate, magical large steel shield with dragon on it, a magical long sword, a magical black cloak, a potion, and a key. Nothing else he has is of note. The humans and gnolls have the typical high quality equipment we've been finding.

November 2, 2002

We return to digging out the horn and censer. We wrap them in cloth (from the bodies) and pack them up for later consideration. We head deeper into the temple. I expect that most of the temple's defenders attacked us in a last rush, so we should have easy going for a bit.

A side door opens to a lavish bedroom and study. The air is heavy with perfume and incense. We loot the chamber. We find some clothing. There are two rows of books most of us can't read. Tymarian says that they are information on evil creatures. There are some nice paintings and an nice large rug.

Further on a doorway opens to stairs upward. Up them we hear a whistling, perhaps like something large sleeping. We head up. Silla thinks that it's wind beyond. Beyond another door is a huge balconey over the crater. A iron railing guards the edges. On one end is a table. There are two brass tubes on the table. Inside one is a dwarven treatise on volcanoes. The other history of a dwarven queen Tullian Saltheart and her diamond. When the area was evacuated the diamond was hidden somewhere here.

There are some papers and a book on the desk. The book is a ledger documenting mundane expenses. The papers are notes on managing the temple. The author was the air temple's high priest, Fachish. He had a female assistant called Choranth who had a half-orc lover called Graud. A note says that Kalal will soon be worthy of being granted the Sword of Air. Fachish revers the Elder Elemental Eye and Yan-C-bin. There are some references to an "Outer Thane" which can only be entered by someone with the proper blessing and some key. Apparently each faction has a different key. There are four temples, they don't get along too well.. The leader of the fire temple is named Tysemin. Apparently the air temple wasn't doing too well. This area was once dwarven living quarter's. Fachish found an old dwarven scroll suggesting that a valuable diamond known as Tullian's Eye is hidden somewhere nearby.

Heading further down the hallway we come to a side passage. Further down the main passage stairs curve to the right. A side room has food stuffs and mundane equipment.

We head up the second set of stairs. The curve into a tight spiral staircase. They end in huge reinforced barred bronze doors. Engravings depict monsterous heads.

We head back to the temple room where we had the huge fight. A door opens to a room full of bunks. Each wall has a crude silver circle painted on it. There is nothing of note in the room.

We take the unexplored exit. There is a doorway and stairs going up to landings. Behind the door is a large bedchamber. A circular bed is in the middle of the room. Glowing sphere with bone fragments floats above the bed. There are books on some shelves. Zook identifies the sphere as a Spirit Sphere, it grants an evil cleric additional power against undead. Zook summons his god's power against it, the sphere fades out and the bone fragments fall to the ground.

The books are mostly treatises on elemental air. There are also studies of various evil religions. There are large male clothes, ochre robes, white sashes, and brushes with blonde hair in them.

Marion finds a hidden compartment behind a wardrobe. Inside is an iron, ivory, and silver box. The box is locked. We re-search the woman's body for a key but fail to find it. Marion breaks open the lock with a dagger. Inside is a silver and pearl necklace, matching bracelet, and pearl earrings. Marion claims that the necklace and bracelet are her's, but complains that the charms are broken off.

We head up the stairs. As I reach the second landing, a bolt flies out. We advance into a large room with multiple exits. We move through, looking for a target when Marion cries out "look out!" and blasts someone on the ceiling with magical bolts. A man in banded mail with a crossbow falls from the ceiling. Looking up, we realize that there is a hidden platform near the ceiling for sniping from. A subtle set of footholds leads up the wall to it.

To the left is a large pair of reinforced bronze door with monstrous carvings. A bar blocks the door. A black and red rug depicts evil acts of men and demons.

Side passages lead to small guardrooms with arrow slits into an entrance cavern. One side rooms off the stairs opens to a room with twelve bunchs. Another side room is a toilet.

We head out to the cave. The outer cave has been carved to look like the mouth of large demon, the inside carved to look like the inside of the cave. A winding path heads on.

The large bronze doors are barred on the far side. I notice that there may be hidden plates in the door that cover arrow slits.

Moving onward, we find another reinforced bronze door. The positions of the doors suggest a central protected area.

A key we found earlier leads to a spartan bedchamber. In a locked chest opened with the same key we find some higher quality clothing, some smokesticks, and a vial holding a viscous liquid with metal flecks in it. Zook and Marian believe it's alchemist's fire.

Nearby we find another bunkroom.

Zook tries to stoneshape around one of the bronze doors. He opens a tunnel we can crawl through. Beyond is a large room. The sole decoration is large black stone circular dias in the mirror.

November 9, 2002

We head back to town. We leave our loot at Marion's house. We rest for the night.

Patchwall 6th

We head to the portcullis was passed many visits ago. The lever is broken. Nica and Tenaris fire the lizard around the corner, it retreats. Zook opens a hole in the wall and we move in. There are two large lizards inside. We slay them easily. There is nothing of note in the room.''

We head through the air temple. Down a long, wide hall, then down a side passage we find several rooms. One is empty. Another has three life size dwarven statues in blue stone, one of a male warrior in platemale with an urgosh and shield, one of a woman, and one of a miner.

Deeper in is a storage room. The sacks and barrels are burst and whatever was in them is black and heavily rotted. As we dig around, someone shakes up some yellow mold, kicking it into the air. Tenaris and Marian are weakened by the mold. Marian thinks that the weakness will pass. Zook summons a magman to burn out the mold. There isn't anything else inside.

Another passage leads to a wide room. From the left a fish like humanoid in a blue green robe with a staff. He asks who we are. He's Poldeg. He invites us in. We head in. Behind us is a group of six more fish things with tridents stand. We make some idle conversation, he seems willing to accept us, but becomes agitated when I mention that we're destroying the temples of elemental evil. The six in the back approach, Marian blasts them with fireball, killing all but one. The cleric fish casts a spell at me. I shake off the first effect, but he refocuses and I'm held in place. Zook dispels the magic an frees me. I cut down the cleric. Tenaris easily slays the last fish warrior. Marion identifies the creatures as Kuo-toa.

Searching the bodies, we find a ring, a grey potion in a glass vial, a large wooden shield, a heavy mace, 12 pp, and an upside down triangle amulet. On the bottom of the amulet is a ring connecting a blue-green rectangle. The warriors had tridents and wooden shields.

Beyond is a pier into the Stalagos crater. As we look around, something large bursts out of the water! I slash at it. It's a big crab with huge pincers and tentacles around its mouth. It's standing on its back legs and hunched over. It grabs me in its pincers and passes me to its tentacles. The tentacles ooze some sort of poison. It grabs Nica as well. Nica and I uselessly struggle against it as it crushes her and chews on me. Nica and I switch to small weapons and start hacking at it. Tenaris gets grabbed by the other claw. Marion blasts it several times with magical bolts, eventually killing it.

Marion identifies it as a Chuul, a magical mutation. We head back inside.

We check out the lair of the fish people. The chest opens to reveal some gold, a scroll, and a potion. The scroll has several spells on it, but is dedicated to Balobadib, the evil watery goddess of the Kuo-toa, so Zook burns it.

We head back to our hidey hole and rest. Tenaris is feeling fine, Marion is feeling better, but not perfect. Zook restores the rest of her strength magically.

Patchwall 7th

We head past the fish people chambers. A large hall bears dwarven reliefs of dwarven warriors triumphing against various foes on the north and south walls. The walls have partially vandalized, spikes driven into the dwarves and portions crudely hacked off.

As we head through, something drops on me. There is a shriek that shakes all of us. The thing has slit glowing eyes and claws. It looks like someone wearing a membrane like black cloak. It tries to smother me, but I pull out. A second thing moves in. They slightly injure me, but we defeat them without problem.

Searching the room Nica finds a flagstone that she can move. Beneath is a cache of gold, silver, a bracelet, and a masterwork mace.

November 16, 2002

We head back to check out some side doors we passed earlier.

One room is empty except for a window on the south. As I head in, Nica notices a ghostly hand rising from the ground trying to grab me. As I back out a blackish grey hooded form attacks, draining my vitality. We move in to attack, but many of our blows fly right through without damage. Still, we quickly defeat it. Zook magically restores the energy drained from me. Searching the room, Nica finds a wand wedged behind a bench in the room.

Another side room leads to an huge pit with downward pointing spikes on the walls. Next door is a room full of waste. There are three large statues of clawed and winged fiendish demihumans. Silla heads off to grab the bench we saw earlier to help pass the room.

While she is gone, the statues animate and attack. We defeat them without much effort. One of them has two gold bracelets, we take them.

Zook summons a magman to clear out the filth. As the magman is clearing the room, Zook hears screaming beyond. Zook pulls the magman back, Nica heads in to check it out. In the corner previous hidden by filth, partially burned is a chest. Zook summons some water to extinguish the chest. As Nica pulls the chest out, the side breaks off and silver pours out. Simultaneously a poison gas trap on the chest releases, but no one is nearby to be affected. Inside we find some gold and a great deal of silver.

In the next room is a dwarf tied up on the wall. His feat are scorched. On the other side of the room is a rabid dog. He's a bit delerious and says something about the halflings being right. Silla heals him. The dwarf identifies himself as Harchol, he's a thatcher and moutain trader. Silla magically cures the dog of its illness. His dog's name is Spot and is a strider, he would carry thatch. Harchol was collecting thatch when the gargoyles grabbed him. The gargoyles were going to make him high his dog in the pit.

Harchol lives with his clan in the Kron Hills, about half way to Verbobonc. We decide to escort him home, then head to Verbobonc.

Patchwall 11th

We arrive at his clan home and drop him off. En route he collected thatch.

We're welcomed with an impromptu feast. This is the hold that provided the beer for Brewfest in Raster. The local cleric of Moradin thanks us for saving their master brewer and thatcher, and for spreading the word of their beer. He provides us with some rewards. I'm given a stein carved with images of dwarven farmers and thatchers. Each time I put it down it magically fills with tasty beer. They also give us ten smokey grey quartz gems.

We head onward to Verbobonc.

Patchwall 13th

Just over a head we find five ettins. Silla and Tenaris charge in with their lances. Marion magically makes me faster, then Zook dimension doors be behind the giants where I unleash death. We take some lumps, but we kill them. In their sacks we find a bunch of coins.

Patchwall 15th

We arrive in Verbobonc.

In town I'm approached by a messenger. The message from the temple of Moradin thanks me for my effort returning the relics of Moradin. At the temple awaits a promissary note worth 10,000 gold pieces.

November 23, 2002

We spend some time in Verbobonc. We sell the heaping pile of equipment we've collected. With assistance of Silla's temple, Zook creates holy sword for Silla. Zook also enchants some new mithral armor full plate for himself and Tenaris. Nica purchased an animated shield to protect herself. Marion purchases a number of spells. I just claim some magical full plate from our loot. The entire party pitches in to purchase a portable hole to solve our load problems.

At the request of the temple of Moradin, I give weapon training lessons.

Ready'reat 16

We head back to Raster.

Ready'reat 21

That night four trolls with grey green skin make the mistake of attacking us. They don't take too long. Before we burn their bodies, we search them and find 500 gold, silver ewer (jug), fire opal pendant (worth more than a thousand gold pieces), ceremonial dagger (also worth more than a thousand gold pieces), black and gold vestments. All of the items share similar patterns and colorations. Marions says that they are ceremonial items of a small cult of Erithynul. In a small pouch is are two chunks of amber and some clear crystal, and a magic gold and platinum ring. There are two scrolls, a potion, and a magic amulet. The amulet has a skull and crossed hands on it.

Ready'reat 23

We arrive back in Raster.

November 30, 2002

Ready'reat 24

We head back into the crater. As we enter, we hear chanting down the side passages. From each side comes a black hooded figure and a group of troglodytes. Tenaris is briefly magically held, but Zook releases her. I cut down two troglodytes before one of the clerics clouds my mind with darkness and purple tentacles. Another spell sends Nica fleeing. Despite these setbacks, we defeat the troglodytes. The final one flees, but Silla gives chase on her unicorn and runs him down.

The troglodytes are carrying a great deal of gold and some valuable emerald amulets. The clerics have some valuable equipment including magical steel shields and some magical blowfish-like water skins.

Returning to the unexplored areas. A side room hs a high shelf upon which there are old dusty bottles. There isn't anything of value in the chamber. We head onward.

Further in we come to a medium sized room. On the floor is a mold filled carving of a hammer and anvil. There is a badly cut up gnoll body on the floor. His equipment and clothing is badly shredded. Beyond is a short hallway ending in double iron doors. Nica checks for traps but doesn't find any. Beyond the door she hears metal clanking and a low growl.

As I advance toward the door, the doors burst open to reveal a ghostly bald dwarven face with a huge beard. He is surrounded by a weapons spinning around his head. An unearthly groan fills the air. My axe and Nica's dagger pass through the head without effect. I start hacking at the weapons, breaking some of them. Marion successfully blasts it with magic missiles. We surround it and attack the weapons. There is some sort of compulsion surrounding it, we mostly resist, but Tenaris briefly succumbs and strikes herself. As we break weapons, the apparition pulls more weapons from behind it. Marion blasts it with a fireball and it howls, but we're all scorched a bit as well. The fireball also destroys several more of the weapons. Nica's shadowblade doesn't appear to seriously effect it, but Silla's holy sword digs into it. Zook summons healing energy into the creature, it fades away and disappeares.

Beyond is a large room. It clearly once a large forge. There are weapon racks, molds, fire pits, and dusty tools. We find a bunch of masterwork weapons. We shovel it all into our portable hole. There is a skeletal form near a side entrance. Marion thinks that it is from a destrachan, a bipedal lizard which makes sonic attacks. Marion thinks that the ghost was a weapon maker, a smith, or a warrior that was tied to this location.

The side passage leaves to an uneven cavern to the side. There are a number of tunnels leading away. One passage had a door that was once chained and sealed, but has since been broken. The walls look unnaturally formed and ridged. Marion identifies it as haveing been formed by a wave-like force, perhaps the destrachan.

Zook checks with his god and determines that casting silence would be good, so he does.

A side chamber shares the rippled walls. Inside is the burst body of a temple guard. Further in is a chamber with a pit full of sand. The side a pile of bodies. On the other side of the pit are two destrachan. They shriek at us, but the zone of silence protects us. The ground shakes, but stops at the edge of the silence. One backs off and blasts the earth on the edge of the pit, shaking the earth, but failing to knock any of us off our feet. We advance on one and start hacking at it. It fails to blast us with it's sonic attack and ineffectively claws at my armor. We slay it. The second attempts to stay on the far side of the pit. We pull out missile weapons and open fire, killing it in a few volleys.

Searching the various bodies, we find them all exploded and their equipment destroyed. The bodies include a human temple guard, an elf, an orc, and two humans. They look like they were tortured. Their destroyed equipment looks like adventuring gear. We lower Nica into the pit to check it out. The floor is a sandy brown, similar to the color of the local rock. As she reaches the bottom, she begins sinking ino the dustlike sand. I pull her slightly up, she searches the area and finds nothing.

The once bound passage leads back to where we came from, leaving a single passage onward. The passage onward leads to a room with some rubble. One section of the rocks faintly looks like a snake. A main passage continues on. A side passage leads to a balcony over the crater. From the vantage point we can see a small dock on the center island. Nica sees faint marks of handholds to underneath the ledge. Nica climbs under and finds a little box which she retreives. It's a small dwarven lock box. Nica doesn't find any traps and tries to open it. Inside is a large leather pouch. Tied into the strings is a facetted reflective silver ring. I untie the ring, inside are ten golden yellow topazes and a white opal. The ring has some sort of abjuration magic.

We head back to rest for the day and allow Marion to examine our magical items. Marion examines the items. We ended up with a ring of force (which creates a small magical force shield that wizards can use), an amulet of undead turning (makes paladins and clerics effectively more powerful against undead), two large steel shields +1, a few potions of cure serious wounds.

Marion has decided to focus herself toward research, to become a sort of loremaster. She works on studying divination spells, Zook teleports to Verbobonc to purchase the scroll and sell some of our loot.

Seeing my desire for the full plate mail chitonous armor we found, Zook offers to enchant one of them for me.

December 7, 2002

Ready'reat 26

Having run into troglodytes, we decide to check the earth temple out again. Entering the alter chamber of the earth temple, we see forms moving at the far exits. I challenge them to step out, they throw javelins at us. We retaliate. They're kuo-toa in black robes. They are using shields with some sort of sticky coating. Whenever our attacks are blocked, they try to wretch our weapons from our hands using the sticky shields. We defeat them pretty easily.

Zook has to pull his mace off one of the shields. He smartassedly suggests I lick his mace clean, so I stick the mace to his face. Heh. They had masterwork half-spears, but otherwise their equipment is not noteworthy.

Marion belives that the sticky substance is something that the kuo-toa excreet from a gland. She is interested in harvesting it, but other party members believe it to be wrong.

Heading in further, we encounter a half dozen more robed kuo-toa. One of them magically paralyzes me. Marion traps them in a magical web. They slowly advance as we cut them down. Behind a kuo-toa cleric advances. Zook uses the blessing of his god and Marion uses the spider cloak to move into the web and attack the cleric.

After slaying them, we loot the bodies. The majority have mundane equipment and high quality half-spears. The cleric has an inverted Y triangle with an aqua colored rectangle hanging below it. He has two scrolls. One is sealed and one is written on sharkskin. The sharkskin one has some divine spells. The other is written in an odd language. Marion casts a spell to read it.

Hold the temple of earth against the invaders. We will expand our strength and flood the accursed fire temple to B'lub'a'dub. All hail the elder elemental eye. Through his accursed glory he shall reign in darkness forever. -- Oom'can.

Marian explains that B'lub'a'dub is a kuo-tah diety.

December 14, 2002

We head further in. We encounter a group of six more kuo-toa. They throw javelins at us and retreat. We chase down and kill three of them before they escape into the underground lake clockwise from earth temple. They have some equipment and some fish that appear stuffed with potions of some sort.

The kuo-toa have been a problem for a while. The rest of the party is pretty keen on clearing out the water temple. I'm not happy about it, but everyone else is determined. Most of us take the little boat across while Silla flies and Marion cliimbs on the walls.

The passages and rooms beyond appear to be mostly natural.

Nica scouts ahead. There is a guardroom covered in blood. Three bodies lay on the floor. Further in two owlbears are chewing on the remains of three more guards.

We head in. We cut down one of them, Zook magically banishes one to another plane.

One side passage ends in a masonry wall with a door in it. Beyond are finished hallways. Down one is a guardroom. The guards see use and attack. The fall at our blades easily. There are three humans and three elves. The elves have masterwork swords and high strength bows. The humans have masterwork banded mail and bastard swords. It looks like the elves were playing some elven tile game. Marion says it's called "Wayward Wind" and takes the tile set. We eat the remnants of the guard's lunch, including several bottles of good elven wine.

Nearby is a dining hall. The walls are painted with scenes of armies sacking cities. And iron level stands near a keyhole in the wall. Scouting around the corner of the room, Nica finds a chimera. The chimera is chained to the wall. I step out to see if it can breathe fire or something at me. It tries to blast me with a wave of cold. I dive out of the way, but it doesn't look like I can reach it. I shoot it with and arrow and it retreats into an alcove. Zook and I run down the hallway. We get blasted with cold, Zook dodges out of the way, I'm slightly frozen. Zook tries to send the chimera to another plane, but the beast resists. Into melee we wade. We get nicked up, but it's not a real threat. I claim the heads.

Behind the chimera is another covered bridge over the crater.

Out of game note: Jeff made a slight error while running the game and two of the map segments where played through in reverse. This is why one of the bridge segments into the crater faces outward on our map. Because it was some time before we noticed this, it was decided to let it be and ignore it.

As we're looting the bodies, Silla peers down the previously unexplored hallways. From one comes a hail of arrows. A group of archers in the hallway falls back to an well decorated room. Long tables have high quality chairs sitting at the end. The walls are decorated with red and gold tapestries. As we move in, we see an eight foot tall goblin like thing. The archers flip one of the long tables on its side for cover.

As we move in, the giant goblin suddenly appears behind me while a dreugar (dark dwarf) suddenly appears in front of me. I take a volley of hits. I take some viscious cuts out of the giant goblin. Tenaris moves in from behind and slays it. It falls back and disappears. The evil dwarf focuses and grows to about the height of a normal man and hits me again. Nica moves beind the dwarf and stabs it in the back. Zook surrounds him and kills him.

Marion thinks the giant goblin is a barghest, a corrupted soul from one of the lower planes. The smaller ones can look like dogs or wolves, larger and more powerful ones can look like this. Marion also mentions that druegar can enhance their size.

Marion detects magic. The dwarf's war axe, full plate armor, and bracers are magical. The dwarf is carrying a number of low value gems and a key. On a table is a map. The map appears to be of the local area.

December 21, 2002

In a side room we find a human chef working in a kitchen. He's wearing a poofy hat. He identifies himself as Matrese. The chef used to work for Omarthis, the druegar. Omarthis was the north bridge commander. He took the job after his previous employer was slain by the temple. Omarthis worked with Relotis, an orc-like thing and a bunch of guards.

He mentions that north through the caves, then west are ape-things, raagen. He hasn't seen other temple folk for a while. Omarthis wasn't affiliated with any temple. Clockwise is the water temple. The bridge goes to the Outer Fane. Omarthis would verify that visitors had a key? He may have gotten his orders from people across the bridge. The people across the bridge word black and ochre robes. He confirms a few symbols. A brown triangle is earth. An aqua square is water. The party decides to hire Matrese. We'll bring food for him to prepare.

We head to Omarthis's room across the way. The antechamber has a bow trap, but it fails to injure Nica. The bedchamber proper is well appointed. The wall has a fresco of skeletons dancing around a bonfire. We find a collection of stuff. There are twenty books and an drying letter. One of the books is a "Secret History of the Temple of Elemental Evil."

The letter on the table still covered with sand. It is signed "Omarthis, Commander of the North Bridge Complex." In it, he mentions that it has been a month since anyone has wanted to use the bridge. He complains that his men are harassed by the water and earth temples. His men are also being attacked raagens, or cave-apes. He can't send troops out to deal with the problem without risking the security of the outpost, so he requests support.

A side room proves to be a latrine. A side room has six rotweilers. Nica and Tenaris spend some time calming them down. They appear to have been trained in common previously, they respond to "Sit."

Nearby is a crowded barraks with bed for twenty. There is a small pile of books, a small wolf statue, personal effects, and some weapons. Behind is storeroom with equipment and food.

Heading back, Nica scouts ahead. There is a large cave full of bones and animal waste. There are four cave apes. Two have manacles with broken chains on their legs. One of them smells her and gives chase.

Nica quickly slays two. As the rest of us head in to support her, a giant ape with a shock of white hair does its back charges us from deeper in the cave. Marion blasts the apes with a fireball. Nica and I are barely hit, I'm slightly singed, Nica escapes unscathed. I cut down the two remaining smaller apes, then the group lays into the giant ape. It pounds on me a few times, but we take it down.

Zook decides he wants one of the bodies for some purpose.

From where the giant ape appeared, we found some more waste and a natural pool. Searching the room Nica finds a pair of masterwork daggers and a long sword. In the pool is a magic long sword.

A different cave holds a dead giant ape.

Heading back toward the kitchen, we check out another room. It's formally appointed with several divans, comfortable chairs, and tables. The walls are painted with men riding dragons. Boxes depicting dwarven, gnomish, and halfling smokers hold tobacco. There are several pipes in the room.

A side room has hooks on chains hanging from the ceiling. The floor and walls are stained a reddish brown.

Further in we open a door to find a room holding a giant with three arms. He is guarding a chest in the center of the room. Marion warns us it might be a Athach and dangerous in combat. It has incredible reach with its three clubs. It bites Tenaris, poisoning her. We take a few hits, but defeat it relatively easily.

The chest proves to hold a bunch of gems.

Marion and Zook set up one of the money bodies to drain of blood. We then head back to the chef for dinner. I throw the bodies in the dining room off the ledge into the crater. We eat well. The chef is very skilled.

Ready'reat 27

We enjoy breakfast courtesy of the chef. We discuss possibilities to protect the chef, but don't come up with any good plans. Guards seem like it will a bother. We make several trips back to town to bring back the kitchen Marion reveals that she purchased Tal Chammish's place and that we can put the chef up there. We bring the six rottweilers back as well.

Marion examines our loot. Most notably, the long sword is The Sword of Water and bears a second level bonus in combat. It can also shoot a damaging blast of water fifty feet once per day. When it is drawn, the weilder can more easily resist cold. There are bracers of health, mildly magical full plate, and a mildly magical dwarven war axe.

Zook teleports to Verbobonc to sell our collected take. Marion asks him to bring back an animal trainer for the dogs.

Ready'reat 28

Zook returns from the sale. We take a quick trip into the dungeon and bring the dogs back.

We sort out how to handle the chef. He'll get two gold per day. It will cost about three hundred gold per month to feed the entire party. Matrese will buy what he can in town, supplimented my Zooks occasional trips into Verbobonc.

We head back into the dungeon.

Further in, we find what is clearly the entrance to the earth temple. The room is lit with aqua colored laterns. A statue of three koh-tao holding terrified humans while riding a huge eel-like serpant dominates the room at twenty food long. As we explore the room, a zone of darkness falls over me. From behind curtains in the back, a kuo-toa with batlike wings, horns, and glowing red eyes charges out into the darkness and attacks me. Marion summons magical sunlight to dispell the darkness. We slay it.

Marion thinks it's a half-kuo-toa, half-demon. It was wearing an inverted triangle amulet with an aqua rectangle below. It was also carrying a magical large aqua square and a magical large steel shield.

The curtain turns out to be wet seaweed. Behind is a small room with a mat and paintings of sea creatures on the walls. While exploring, Nica accidentally triggers some sort of magical trap. It leaves her feeling "heavy", but nothing else. Silla and Zook are unable to diagnose the problem. Marion faintly detects some sort of magical effect. Zook dispells the effect. Hidden behind some rocks we find a magical rod, a potion, and some money.

December 28, 2002

The hallway deeper into the water temple leads to stairs down into water.

A side passage leads to a large room with a small pool in the middle. While the rest of the party examines the room, I watch the pool suspiciously. Sure enough, something moves in the water, I strike at it. It's a green emeraldy shimmery women's head with aqua hear. Silla calls to me to back off. As it rises, it reveals a huge snake's body, it's not gemlike, it's scaley! It's a naga. "Foolish dwarf, you shall die." It wants to know which faction we are from so that it can extract its revenge. It casts a spell on us, most of us shrug it off, but Nica and Silla are slowed. It immediately follows by blasting us with a lightening bolt, then sinks back into the pool before we can react. Silla manages a quick blow, but my axe flies right through it. Nica hacks at it and Marion throws a fireball into the pool after it. It suddenly disappears, but reappears as quickly when Zook casts a spell dispelling the invisibility. Given the pounding its taken, it wisely retreats deeper into the pool. Marion tries to hit it with magical bolts, but the bolts disappear right before they hit the beast. Zook summons two small water elementals to press the fight, but they are quickly dispatched.

We back off and wait. It sticks its head up briefly, but disappears back into the water when Nica tries to throw a dagger at it. I move closer, preparing to ambush it, it pops up, but I miss. It believes we were sent by "them," and threatens to haunt us when we slay it. Nica stabs it in the back of the head and it sinks back into the pool.

After watching for a while, it doesn't rise again. Silla no longer senses evil, it may have bled to death. Nica dives in. Sure enough, it's dead. Nica ties a rope around it and we drag it up. Marion identifies the creature as a water naga.

Nica swims back down to search. The pool goes down for a distance, then widens into a larger chamber. On the far side is an opening on the top into another room. Nica finds a human skeleton wearing nice full plate and two rings. Nearby is a battleaxe and a quiver of bolts in excellent shape. Nica swims down again, fills a sack with the loot, and we pull it up.

Nica returns yet again to investigate the other exit from the room. It opens to a small room. Another hole in the floor blows cold damp air up. the hole extends as far as she can see. She returns to report on teh room.

After much discussion, we decide to investigate the hole beneath the hole. I'm not fond of the idea, but it looks like to continue in the water temple we'll need to head into the water eventually. Zook enchants us to breathe water and we head in.

This section of the dungeon is apparently part of the web enhancement for the module.

The room below is strangely barren and smooth walled. Zook enchants a copper piece with magical light and we toss it down the hole. The hole is deep enough that we don't hear it hit bottom, but we do still see it. Zook magically grants me the ability to fly. Nica and Zook climb into the portable hole.

The shaft goes three hundred feet. It's damp and smooth. The bottom part of the shaft is lined with iron and ends in a grate. The iron gates are carved with images of fish creatures torturing humanoids in front of a tentacled horror. Level with the grate is an iron door in the wall.

Heading through the door, we find ourselves in a large cavern. The metal pit is a pillar in the center of the room. A number of natural but refined passages exit. The walls are carved with fish and tentacles devouring surface dwellers.

Heading down one passage, the ceiling collapses ahead of us. No one is hurt, but the way looks blocked. Nica examines to see if we accidentally triggered a trap, but notices that the rocks don't seem entirely substantial. Once it's pointed out, most of the party can see through the illusion. It takes me a second to notice that the rocks look wrong for a collapse, but I see through it.

Beyond is a large natural cavern with a large pool. Huge stalagtites continuously drip water into the pool. Some poking around reveals the pool to be at least ten foot deep and with a steep bank.

We head clockwise around the lake. I fly slightly over the lake and use a long spear to probe the depth occasionally. As we move around, Silla notices the presence of evil. Suddenly a greenish pale tentacle lashes out of the water and smacks me. Out of the water near the center rises a large thing of tentacles and teeth. It looks like a giant mutant catfish with freakish claws. It summons some sort of darkness and stench around us, nausiating us. I fly out to it and attack. I take a chunk out of it, but it takes several big chunks out of me. Marion magically speeds my actions. Zook magically shares my injuries to protect me. The rest of the party readies Nica to challenge the beast; Marion magically makes Nica invisible while Silla givs Nica her cloak of flying. The creature claws me viciously with its freakish claws, without Zook's spell I would have been slain. I take a parting swipe and retreat back to the healing of Zook and Silla. My leg is clearly infected with something and is turning slimy and transparent. Silla cures it. Nica flies out, stabs the surprised creature in the head and slays it.

Nica pokes around in the water to recover my glave and her sword. She finds some fish statues at the bottom. Nica and Marion (still able to breathe water thanks to Zook's magic) head back in to investigate. Nica finds some pouches on the creature and a stone box. We wade in to pull the chest out. The chest is very large and heavy, making it difficult to remove. This is complicated by the presence of magical runes, perhaps traps, on the chest. With Silla's help and Zook's magical strength enhancement, we pull it out and bring it to shore.

Marion, having looked at the statues, believes the evil catfish to be an aboleth, and rare, evil creature that is the master of illusion. However, the teeth and claws are unusual, even for an aboleth.

Nica tries to disable the runes with uncertain results. We open the box. It's filled with gold and platinum. There are three blue glass vials with bulbous bottoms and frilly corks, a small empty obsideon urn, a coral inlaid box holding a gold and ruby necklace, a bone case holding a steel rod, five stone tablets written in a strange language, and a book with a gold inlay and platinum edging. The book has a white metal circle, upon which is a bronzy flames, upon which is a silver sword. Marion claims the book as her lost spellbook. (Silla later mentions that the symbol is a less common symbol of Mayaheim, a sub-diety of Pelor The outer circle might represent Boccob.)

Checking for magic, Zook finds that the axe and bolts we found earlier are magical, as are the leather bracers Nica found on the aboleth, andthe potions and the steel rod from the box.

Zook studies the area, then teleports us back to the room with the horses. We head back to town.

Marion checks out our magic items. They include bracers of defense, a wand of magic missiles, a mildly enchanted battle axe and bolts. The potions are neutralize poison, flying, and fire breath.

January 4, 2003

Sunsebb 1

Marion translates the tablets. The thing we fought was "the replacement for the second" and was called the Master, the new master. It rose to the top of a cabal of aboleths to replace the one that became the second of the traid that went to the inner fain, the doomdreamer's sanctum. This aboleth rose to power because it got much of the magical equipment from Marion's party. The cabal of aboleths have been present here for a long time. The old master is discussed in some detail. The old master no longer needs to sit in pools of water, it brings the water with it in a sheath of water. He is a master of illusions. The second has a large number of scrolls of protection, from fire, elements, and other things. The second uses an Ethereal Jaunt spell as a last resort to flee. The second guards the gate to something. Zuggtomoy, the demon queen of fungi and lichen, is referenced in strange ways.

Our chef gives us some lunches and we head back to the dungeon. We leave our horses behind. We head back down to the level below the pool. Zook grants us the ability to breathe water and fly.

The aboleth's lair has no more exits. Another passage leads to stairs down into water. We head in. We come to a room completely covered in a maze of spikes, making it dangerous to swim through. It's difficult to communicate, but we discuss possible ways to pass. We don't come up with any good solutions. We explore another passage.

The passage leads to a room only partially full of water. Heading up, it becomes clear that we've entered the bottom of the aboleth's pool.

Another chamber holds a statue in an natural alcove. The statue is of a goggle eyed fish man with a spear. As we surface on a nearby ledge, Nica and Ternaris warn us that they think there is something wrong with the statue. We head back to check it out.

As we surround the statue, something attacks me from behind. It's a kuo-tua in robes. As we attack it, two aboleths attack from side passages. These aboleths lack the claws. We quickly kill the kuo-toa and face the aboleths. Zook sends one of them off to another dimension. Marion transforms the other into a bird. We move in to slay the ex-fish. It dazzles me with some sort of magic. Silla finishes it off.

Looting them, we find some magical fish leather armor, a magical half spear, a magical blowfish, and a wand of cure light wounds. Marion mentions that the weird clear skin disease that the aboleth's spread makes you require wet skin. Fortunately Silla can easily cure the minor injury Zook sustained.

Further down the passage we find the other side of the spiked room.

Heading onward we encounter another aboleth and four crosses between humans and fish. We kill them. In the room we find a statue of a frog-like demon. The room rises up out of the water. As we regroup and head further in, we hear scraping noises.

A further ahead cave's walls are covered with crude paintings of battle and cruelty. There is a small pile of bones, some of fish and some of land creatures. In the room a group of fish-humans is dragging an aboleth statue around. The statue has an unusually large number of tentacles. Marion sneaks ahead with Nica to ambush them. Marion blasts the fish humans with a fireball, then the rest of us charge in, but the fireball killed them all. On the fish-humans we find several waxed paper bags holding some sort of blue liquid, and a mundane ring.

Marion says that the statue is of the Guardian of Whispers, a figure of aboleth myth. It's not magic.

January 11, 2003

Nica scouts down an unyet explored passage. A wall of flame shoots out, burning Nica. Searchiing the area in front of the wall, she finds a bunch of small vents. As she examines them, a green gas starts pouring out, coating Nica, then igniting.

Nica retreats. As we discuss how to proceed, the wall of flame disappears. Nica heads forward to see if the trap is still present. Sure enough, it still is, and Nica is again surrounded by flame. She tries to disable the trap, but fails, becoming badly burned while doing so.

Heading down a different passage, we find an empty chamber with a large natural pillar in the middle. Further on the walls become finished. The walls to one room are covered with images of kuo-toa depravity. Exits leave in multiple directions and the room widens further in. As we start searching the room, two secret doors pop open and eight kuo-toa charge out. The kuo-toa aren't very skills and we cut through them easily. As we fight, two large kuo-toa advance from deeper in the room. They are wearing robes and carries staves with claws on the top. One summons magical darkness, but the magical light we've been carrying negates it. The other drinks a potion and disappears from sight. They're tough opponents, using magic against us and strong enough to take our attacks. One spell blasts my mind with purple and black tentables, leaving me stunned We eventually defeat them.

The two large kuo-toa are wearing inverted ziggarat amulets. One has a pearl on a necklace. Another has a blackened fish bone. The bone and the necklace are magical. Also, the further end of the room is faintly magical.

The far end of the room is carved from coal. The walls are carved like dark serpants. The floor is a woven mat with occasional reddish brown splotches.

In the back of the room, a dark nimbus of energy in the air pulses menacingly. Silla is briefly overwhelmed by the magnitude of the evil present. Zook tries to turn the thing; it lashes out at him with a tendril, but doesn't touch him. Zook and Silla work together to try turning it, but again fail.

We check some nearby rooms, they're empty. We teleport to Verbobonc.

Checking our loot for magic, we find some minorly enchanged leather armor, a half-spear, a pearl of power, and a wand of darkness. The bags we found are like freezing tanglefoot bags.

January 18, 2003

Sunsebb 2

Identifying a few more things, we discover we have a magical shield +2 and "The Lesser Key of Water" (the aqua rectangular piece of metal). We now have two keys (we also have the Lesser Key of Air).

Zook and Silla research the evil throbbing energy thing. The place is probably consecrated to the worship of the dark lord, Thorizden. The energy will be extremely hard to destroy, it may not be possible for us.

We teleport back to Raster.

Sunsebb 3

We head back to the dungeon. We return to the underwater section and explore a side passage from the evil temple. Nica scouts ahead. The passage opens into a large alcove on the edge of a huge room. The room is dominated by a deep pool populated with a variety of fish.. In the center is a dias on which is a statue of a human female with lobster claws and a crustateon head. The statue is covered with some sort of junk. Silla recognizes the statue is of Blibdoolpoolp, the evil godess of the Kuo-toa. Getting closer it looks like the statue has been defiled with feces and scratches. The water is very clear, making it easy to see the fish. Silla notices a faint sense of evil coming from the statue. On the far side of the room are two doors, the one of the right is iron bound.

Behind the non-iron bound one is miscellaneous tools and storage.

Beyond the iron bound door we find a dark dank room that smells of waste and sweat. There are manacles on the walls, two humanoids are chained up. One is a human, the other is a troglodyte. Nica unlocks the manacles on the human. His name is Tarren. He is from north of here. He is a mason, he was recruited to work on the temple. He tried to leave when he realized how evil his employers were. The kuo-toa caught him. He has been imprisoned for a long time. He worked for people and an ogre. One was a blue ogre with wings called Ogrark. There were several half-orcs and a large ugly women dressed in too-tight clothing. Talking with him it becomes clear that he was working for the people near the first bridge. Apparently the halfling was working for the ogre for a while and was stealing from them. Terran volunteers some information after we assure him that we'll take him out of the temple and offer him a set of stonemasonry tools (that we found next door in the storeroom).

The troglodyte was captured by kuo-toa which attacked them. Its name is Sisrock. Zook tries to convert him to Fahrlangin. The troglodyte agrees to give it a try.

The other exit from the evil shrine leads to a large room. The chamber holds a large, moderately shallow pool. We head across to a door on the other side. Beyond is a hallway with multiple exits. To the side is an open chamber with a pool, there are kuo-toa in the pool. Nica scouts ahead. The pool is deep. The walls obove and below the water are painted with images of water creatures. There are four kuo-toa in the pool. We charge in. There are some tadpole things in the pool. I kill the four adults easily. We take their equipment and a few sea creature potions. After some soul searching we decide to leave the tadpoles in the pool.

Another side room is a storeroom. On the walls are banners on scaly flesh. The banners depict pincer staves holding skulls. We find some platinum coins and loose equipment in the room. We find a strange, crusty, battered, triangular, bloated fish. The next room is similarly appointed.

Nearby is a room with a number of statues. Maron explains that the statues tell the story of a dark god of destruction who came to the aboleths and shared secrets of power with them.

The last room has a large wooden basin (about the size of a bed) filled with water. Shells on strings hang from the ceiling. There is a large humanoid statue made of coral and shells, it animates and attacks me. There is also a kuo-toa in a robe with a spear. We defend ourselves, battering the golem. Silla slays the kuo-toa. As the kuo-toa falls, the golem explodes.

The kuo-toa has a conch shell horn and two amulets. Nica finds a burlap bag in the basin. There is some platinum and some gems in the bag.

A different passage leads to an empty room. All that is left is the passageway with the fire trap and poison gas. Zook magically protects Nica from fire and she heads in to try and disable the traps. After a great deal of work Nica succeeds in disabling the traps.

Beyond we find a cave with carvings on the walls and statues of freakish fish creatures and tentacled fiendish. There are five statues total. A half-fish, half-man statue with a frog like head is in the certer of the room. It holds a bronzed scroll case in its webbed hand.

Marion recognizes the story told by the statues. Marion explains that there used to be aboleths. A long time ago "The Dark God of Destruction", a primal force of destruction, came to the aboleths and told them "The Secret of Destruction." The aboleths worshipped the being.

Marion touches the scroll tube, then suddenly blasts Nica with magical bolts. Silla restraints Marion. Zook tries several spells to break the effect, but doesn't appear to succeed. Zook smacks the tube with his mace and falls until the same effect, a magical confusion. Zook realizes what is going on and asks us to hold him down. Tenaris holds him. Nica smacks Marion around until Marion falls unconcious. Nica ties up Marion and Zook. Ten minutes go by and they remain confused. We drag them back out to the previous room. More time passes, but they remain confused. We head back to the surface. They remain confused. We head back to town. They continue to be confused. The group waits at the end of town.

We prepare to send Terren away, but I notice something hidden in the masonry tools. I confront him, he throws the tools and bolts. Silla calls her unicorn from town to intercept the thief. The unicorn tries to stop him, but accidentally tears off Terren's legs and kills him.

Nica heads in to find some clothes for Sisrack.

January 25, 2003

Silla heads off to get Jardeth, the town's defacto law. I head off to get Priest Hammersong.

Jaredth isn't too concerned about the death of the thief and suggests we dump the body in a ravine.

I bring Hammersong back and he examines Marion and Zook. While he does so Marion escapes her bonds. Several party members hold her down. Marion warns us that she is afflicted with Insanity, not Confusion, and Greater Restoration will be needed.

Zook doesn't know the spell and neither does Hammersong. Hammersong offers to magically contact someone to try and bring someone who can help us.

Sunsebb 6

Hammersong returns with a tall, lanky human. The human identifies himself as Efeld Longstride. He is a priest of Farlaughnin. We invite him to dinner. Efeld knows Zook. Efeld uses a spell on a scroll to heal Zook and Marion. When Zook is freed Sisrack prostrates himself before Zook. Efeld and Zook have an extended discussion in a language I don't understand. Later Zook explains that they discussed Sisrock and they plan to send him elsewhere with Efeld for training.

We have a small celebration. Everyone enjoys the meal and Matrese is happy to have guests to serve.

Sunsebb 7

Efeld and Zook exchange slightly personal items to act as focuses if they need to call each other.

Efeld and Sisrock teleport.

Hammersong approaches us about repayment for his and Efeld's work. Hammersong explains that the lore mentions a Gem of Tulian or Eye of Tulian.. It is named after a strong dwarven clan queen. Her last stand against a great dark evil was in the ridge mines. She hid the gem in the mines to protect it from the evil.. The elders would like us to recover it. Hammersong warns us that it is an object of reverence to the dwarves and it may reject the touch of non-dwarves. Non-dwarves who have stolen it are found dead or near dead with welts shaped like the symbol of Moradin and tainted with some sort of illness.

Checking the notes we found earlier, the only additional information we find is that the diamond was cut by Tulian's craftsmen from a raw diamond found in the mines. Varioues stories suggest that it was loose, or mounted in her armor above her heart (but easily removed), or mounted on a necklace and sher peered through it.

We head back into the dungeon. Nica scouts ahead. We go left and head in the direction of the cave apes. In a large room we find a massive throne of pink shells and coral. The throne sites on a large green marble dias. Silver platters of sea food are in front of the throne. Two statues of kuo-toa with a spear flank the throne.

Nica scouts further ahead. After a moment we hear her scream and head after her. As we approach a lightening bolt shoots down the hall and blasts us. It's immediately followed by magical slowness and silence. At the end of the hall are two humanoids. One is a human woman in ochre robes with green hair, a crown, and a scepter. The other is a kuo-toa in blue robes. I charge them and fall into a pit, joining Nica. The pit is about fifty foot deep and encompasses most of the room. Having seen me fall in the rest of the party becomes aware of the illusion hiding the pit. A small ledge allows passage on one side. Marion blasts the attackers with a fireball. We head forward. I drink a potion of flying and fly myself and Nica up to the attackers. When we finally reach our attackers we easily defeat them.

Searching them we find a wand, a magic crystaline oblong sphere wrapped in silver on a chain, a scroll, a coral crown, a vial, a magical slightly sticky brown rod, a magical thin glass rod, a magical pin, a magical coral ring, some gold, lose valuables, and some arms and armor. Zook feels he can use the first wand to inflict wounds. Marion can us the sticky wand (which is sticky with molassas) to slow people, the glass wand is levitate, and the pin casts mage armor.

We explore further on. Nearby is a small room with a hammock, some dishes, a tapestry of an underwater scene, and a chest of drawers. Amoung the junk on the table is a silver statue of an angry octopus. Nica finds a trap on the chest of drawers but fails, taking a slight shock. Inside is some clothing, gold, and potions.

In the other direction is a simlar room. The room stinks of fish. There is a chest and bookcase. There is a blue-green rug and part of the room shielded by a paper wall depicking a wave crushing a human city. The book shelf has low quality books on magic. Hidden in a hole Nica finds a lock box and a book. In the box is a bunch of gold and other coins. The book is magic and appears to be a spellbook.

The other passage out of the throne room leads to a large circular room. The room is stocked as a kitchen and dining area. Fish stew is cooking. To the side part of the room is roped off as a fighting ring..

February 1, 2003

Out of the kitchen is a hallway that widens into a rough-hewn chamber. Parts of the chamber are finished with masonry stone. A ladder leads up to a balcony overlooking the area. As we enter the ladder is pulled up. I fly up (as I'm still enchanted by the potion of flying I drank earlier. There are eight human guards with crossbows waiting. I warn them to stand down. Silla walks up the wall to face them. They foolishly draw swords. I cut two down, Tenaris shoots one down. The attack, missing me and Silla. Marion snatches the arrow fired at her out of the air! We slay them easily. They have typical equipment.

Beyond we find a square room. Part of the room holds a pool with a stone rim. There are chairs and tables. Scrambling out of the pool are six scum with yellow symbols on their chests. The symbol is of a human skull entwined with something tentacle-like. The symbols are grown into the scum's flesh. The scum try to hold us at bay with long spears while cowering behind the pool's rim. We shoot them dead with arrows.

The pool proves to be six feet deep. We don't find anything of note.

A door out of the room proves to be barred. After a few kicks we open it. Down a hallway are four humans with bows and a kuo-toa with a javelin. The humans open fire but miss. Nica charges down the hallway and is burned by a blast of caustic liquid from a side passage. Fortunately Nica dodges out of the way. It's three foot high watery creatures in a pool. I cut through the humans and kuo-toa while Nica faces the two water creatures. From a side door comes another short water creature. Teranis and Zook smack down the new interloper. Nica and Silla take out the other two.

The side room holds a small room with a tub. The side chamber holds a pool. A side hallway leads to a barraks with two dozen beds. There is nothing of value in the room.

Further down the main hallway we find a room with three large banners with squares of varying blue-green colors. A table is full of food and wine sits against the wall. Down the side angled coordiator is a large room. There are four shields with varying coats of arms. There are a number of large beds, a table covered with books, and miscellaneous other mundane items. A small closet lies off the side. We search the room. We find some weapons. The books are written in elven in a tight script that cover history, science, and magic. One is magical writing. Marion identifies the book as a spellbook, once owned by Kedis.

The next room holes iron bins of ore covered in rust and dust. A massive machine dominates the center of the room. The machine has a large gient sized crank. A hallway continues onward, doors go right and left.

The door to the left leads to another room with bins of more ore. As we search the room we're attacked by five big black scorpians that jump down from the bins. We kill them easily.

The opposite room is a storeroom holding mining equipment.

Deeper in is a large room with three exits on the far side. Each exit has iron tracks down them. Battered ore carts lie around the room. It looks like mines lie ahead. We're interested in clearing out the water temple, so we double back to the chamber with the giant eel statue. There is an unexplored underwater passage onward.

Zook enchants us all to breathe water and we head in. The tunnel widens into a cave full of stagnant water. A flickering blue glow illuminates the cave.

From up ahead bolts come flying at us. I head up, there are three really big scum with the yellow symbols on their chests. They're carrying complex crossbow like things. They begin clawing and biting at us, taking a big gouge out of me. Tenaris and I take two down relatively quickly while the rest of the party moves slowly through the water. As the rest of the party arrive I slay the last one with a vicious flurry of blows.

Silla announces that this question is keeping her too confined and away from nature. She leaves the group.

Silla's player leaves the group.

February 15, 2003

The crossbows and strange clockwork apparently modified to be effective underwater.

A flickering blue light appears down the cavern and we hear a dull hum through the water. The light dimly illuminates the cave.

Further into the room the ceiling rises above the water level. A wide pillar or mesa is at the end of the room. I rise up to investigate. Atop the pillar just above the water level is a large green stone square, the area feels evil. A faint shimmerly light illuminates the area. On the platform are three pools. One is clear, one is green and slimy, one is black as ink. The pools surround a translucent blue cube. Atop the cube is a brass knife and a pair of horns shaped like fish.

Nine kuo-toa with spears attack me. I retreat to alert the party. Tenaris flies up with Nica. As I'm helping Marion and Zook up a whirlpool forms around us. We're buffetted and sucked to the center of the whirlpool. We try to fight out way out, but are continually battered. Tenaris and Nica slowly whittle away at the kuo-toa. One of the kuo-toa has martial arts training. Zook suggests we may be surrounded by a water elemental. I attack the whirlpool. The vortex abates and the elemental attacks me, bashing me badly. Seeing that I'm badly injured, Marion and Zook try last ditch spells. The elemental shrugs off Marion's polymorph attempt, but is sent off to another plane by Zook. Freed up we head up to helpTenaris and Nica mop up.

Searching the bodies we find spears, some gold, and the strange potions in blowfish. The martial artist has a magical pin around his neck, magical leather bracers, and a diamond. The horns on the cube, the cube itself, and the pool are all magical.

The party backs off and I begin attacking the cube with my pick. After a few minutes I split it in half. The mysterious light goes out. I head back to join the party. As I'm heading back the water begins to swirl. The ceiling falls down in places, the green platform snaps and slides into the water. After a minute things settle down. One of the horns was crushed. Checking the other, it feels very evil. I crush the evil horn with my pick. My pick feels tainted, I leave it in the water.

We head back to town.

Marion identifies some of out loot. The iron square is another lesser key of water. We have a variety of useful amulets and rings. We divide some of it among ourselves. Zook teleports to Verbobonc to sell what we don't want.

March 1, 2003

Sunsebb 12

During our break, Zook creates two monocles. One detects evil, the other detects magic. Zook notices that Tenaris's water shooting sword has become de-enchanted.

We head back to the dungeon.

To the left of the mesa room is a cavernous area. Hanging on the wall above the water are a coral sword and a clock. From the ceiling hangs a censor with an oily flame.

The next room is large and curves to the right. On some ledges we find some nasty fishy alcohol and some shells.

That appears to be all the rooms in the area. We double back to the mines we haven't yet explored.

Nica scouts ahead, finding mines carts are supplies. Down the right passage is a high chambered room. Twenty five foot up a bridge allows another passage to cross the room. In some mine carts on the bridge are five men in armor and a white haired elf in black robes. Listening in, Nica hears something about bugbears, and two names, Kadees and Kalashan. The carts are slowly moving right through the room.

Further down the passage are several bodies. There are three dead humanoids covered with reddish brown hair and leathery hides. They are probably bugbears. There are also two dead squidlike things. Marion things the squidlike things are darkmantles.

One room in the mines has a floor covered with loose sparkling stones. The wall is covered with runes in blood. Two bugbears lurk in the chamber. Ones flesh is covered with symbols, the other wears armor with fetishes attached.

Hanging from the walls, spread eagle, blocking the passage is a human body. It's stuck with fetishes, carved with symbols, the mouth is stuffed with plants, and the eyes have been replaced with glittery stones.

Down the right passage is a side passage to another cart run. Four dead humans clad only in breech cloths are on the floor. Further on is a large chamber.

We head after the bugbears. As I charge in, I'm magically held. Zook frees me. As we move in, one of the bugbears blasts us with a fireball. As Nica and Tenaris head in through the other passage, they're blasted by an acid spray trap. As Nica and I close on the beasts, one stuns us with a magical sound blast. Marion blasts them back with a fireball, slaying them.

Searching the room, we find some magical bracers, a magic wand of magic missiles, two potions, a moderately valuable bracelet, some gold, a small magical wooden shield, a magical cloak, a magical pearl, and an expensive morning star with a gem in the hilt.

Nearby is a pot. Zook detects an odd source of magic in the pot. As he opens it a sound burst erupts, but Zook dodges most of it. Inside is a bunch of gold, a bracelet, a scroll, and a vial. The vial is labelled anti-toxin. The scroll has several clerical spells on it.

Near a wall is the corpse of elf. It's relatively fresh. Runes are being carved into the flesh, the mouth is full of herbs, and fetishes are being sewn into the skin.

Marion identifies the ritual being done on the human and elf bodies. It is designed to channel evil energies and bind the soul. When the ritual is done, the body explodes.

I drag the elf body under the human body. We back up and Zook shoots the human body. It explodes is a mass of flesh, bone, and insects.

We head onward. I use some of Nica's alchemists fire to cremate the remains.

Further on a small side chamber holds a small pool, just a few feet across. The water is very clear and extends at least thirty feet down. Nica suprises the group and jumps in, quickly falling down. After a few minutes she swims up. Sending Nica down with a rope, we discover that it heads at least two hundred feet down. Using further rope, after another one hundred or so feet it narrows and ends. We head onward.

A side passage off the rails leads to a chamber holding a horde of bugbears and a boar. As we enter, they throw javelins at us. Zook uses calm emotions to slow the fight. Everyone wades into melee, even Marion. We wade through them like water.

March 15, 2003

We explore a side passage and find several bugbears waiting in ambush. We jump them. We quickly dispatch the four that were hiding. A large female bugbear charges down the hall at us. As it arrives at the fight I strike it down with a lucky shot. We find a magical bastard sword and four potions. Beyond is room with eight straw bedding piles. There is a pouch burned shut with a brand. inside is a medallian, a scroll, and some gold. The scroll reads "Offer bribe to chief to join the fire temple. -- Tessimon". The medallion is a reddish and shaped like diamond with four spikes out of the sides.

The next room holds a a huge eight foot boulder. On top of the boulder are melting candles, goblin words are painted onto the rocks. Behind the boulder is more bedding.

Further down the tracks we find a deep room where the tracks spiral down.

A side passage is clear of debris, but has a moist slimy coating. Further down a second room opens to a inky black slime, twenty foot across, that fills most of the room. Marion thinks it's a black slime. She warns that it may split when struck with weapons, and it may destroy the weapon.

Zook magically protects himself and I from acid. We put our equipment into the portable hole and use some of our looted gear. We head in. I draw its attacks. Zook casts a spell and touches it and it disappears.

In a wide room the tracks end, burned away by as if by acid. Melted mine carts are strewn about. Climbing up a ledge we find another set of tracks that end. We head back along the tracks. Six winged creatures above wach us pass (Marion identies them as darkmantles). The tracks lead to the round room we saw before. Iron ore is visible in the walls.

We head back to the end of the mines. Nica scouts ahead and finds a cave filled with bones and feces. There is a well worn path through the center of the room. Two cats with tentacles on their backs lurk. We join up with Nica, but one of the cats is missing. We kill the displacer beasts.

April 5, 2003

We head onward. I notice that the next room is unstable in the south east corner. Nica scounts further in. The next room has six humans and two trolls. There is an alarm bell. She returns and reports the situation. She heads forward again to disable the bell.

As she sneaks in, one of the guards hears her. She calls for help and we charge in. Marion blasts the enemy with a fireball. Four of the humans fall instantly. Nica slices the rope on the alarm to disable it. We slay the trolls quickly. Zook sets the trolls on fire. The last guard surrenders.

His name is Edward. He's pretty young. He was hired by black robed people. He thinks he might work for the fire temple. He works for Erredick, a wizard. He says down the south passage is Erredick's summoning room. The bridge is past the summoning room. The north passages both go to a pit trap. Further on is "Tack's" area, he's mean. We offer to send him off, but he's afraid he'll be killed. We let him tag along for now.

To the left is a hallway. It ends in double doors ahead and a single door to the left. Edward warns us that there is a troll be hind the single door. I charge is and seriously injure it. Nica moves in and finishes it off.

The room is adaquetely furnished. There are some casks, a fireplace, and other supplies. There are niches in the wall, they hold some idols. Some are of a humanoid form sheathed in flame. Some are a humanoid form with a rocky appearance. Some are a rearing wave with a human face. Some are a pearly white storm with arms. There are three of each idol.

Checking the room, Nica finds a secret passage in the wall. She unlocks it and opens it. Inside is a twenty by twenty room. There is a well crafted stone dragon in the room. The walls have been carved to look like columns. The dragon has good worksmanship. It's probably not elven or human. Nica notices that upraised claw looks like it can move up and down. Nica moves it up. The secret door closes and the ceiling opens revealing a passageway up. The floor rises up for several minutes. The door opens to reveal a twenty by twenty room. The walls are ornately carved with images of dwarven armies fighting hordes of monsters. There is an iron rack holding six nice urgoshes, three nice looking great axes, and a battle axe. There are sleep mats, a keg, and a box. Zook identifies the keg and the box as magical. Inside the box are six hearty non-magical biscuits.

We take the elevator down to the level we came from, then further down. Nica examines the door, it opens into a tunnel. There is a rush of water down the tunnel. The water fills the dragon room and starts rising. Zook enchants me so I can fly. The dragon's arm is stuck and won't move. I grab Edward and Marion. Nica grabs on, I fly up. Zook grabs Tenaris and teleports away to the troll room. The middle door is closed. Nica unlocks it. We fly through.

After a minute or so the water stops rising. Zook enchants us to breathe water. I fly down, grab my spear, and check the area. The passage heads a hundred yards or so and opens to a wide area filled with brakish water. I return to the party.

April 19, 2003

Nica scouts the south passage. As she moves ahead, a huge enraged bear charges her out of the darkness. The bear's fur is matted with dried blood. Nica leaps back, the bear is pulled short by a chain mounted on the wall. The rest of the group advances. The bear attacks me, badly mauling me. I back off. Tenaris, Zook, Marion, and I open fire with bows and crossbows. Badly injured it retreats around the corner. We head in after it and engage in melee. I take some big gouges out of it with my axe, Nica tumbles behind and slays it.

It's a medium sized room. The chain that the bear is connected to goes into a hole in the wall.

We head back and check out the door behind us. The room is richly appointed with fine furniture and tapestries. There is fine wine and other nicities. Nothing appears to be magic. Zook announces that the bottles look evil, and he'll deal with it. He opens one of the bottles of wine and we all have a drink.

The next room is a bedroom and is also well appointed. An eyewatering stench fills the air. A black robed troglodyte waits in the room. A black triangular plague sits on a dresser.

He asks who we are, I identify myself as Steiner Whiteforge, and I am reclaiming the mines for the dwarves. He is Ryool Calatan. He identifies us as "The Slayers," the ones who have been destroying the temples. He asks if we have met Tissimon. She is apparently a human woman and head of the fire temple. He is not friends with her. He is a guest of the elder elemental, those of the inner fane. He confirms that we're near a bridge. He realizes that we would kill him, so he is being helpful and isn't going to fight us. Across the bridge are the fanes, the sanctum. From under his robes pulls out an amulet, a brown triangle. He is here to ensure transit for his breathern. He was worried Tssimon might not let people in. He says that his amulet is useless because his alter was destroyed. Two keys held above the alter when the scared phrase is said will create the Key of Passage. The key is necessary to pass the guardian towers and for the doors across the bridge. Each alter has two keys associated with it. Tissemon likely has one of the two keys for Fire. Sysreq and Theamiqlomack also had earth keys. (Sysreq was the troglodyte behind the room of bugs).

He is hoping we'll let him leave. The nearest exit is to the south in the temple of air, through the temple of fire.

The fanes hold mysteries of the elder elemental. The elder elemental eye is simply a form of a much greater being. We let him leave.

We double back further. We come to a pair of passages we passed earlier. Nica scouts ahead. There is a room full of rubble. Another room has some movement. There appears to be a dead cow lieing near the entrance. Whatever is inside sniffs around and grumbles. Nica retreats. We head in. Whatever is down there growls. Into our view walks a nine foot all hunch-backed creature. It's smooth, muscular, hairless, and grey skinned. It's head smoothes down to huge jaws. Its arms end in savage claws. On its chest is a tattoo of a large black triangle surrounded with six smaller tattoos. Three of the smaller tattoos look faded. It looks hostile. We head in.

I lead the charge and stab it a few times with my spear. The being pounds its chest. One of the small tattoos glows, then fades. It tries to bite and claw me, but misses. Nica rolls around behind it. Tenaris cautiously moves up. Marion blasts the creature with magical bolts. Zook heads in, the creature seizes the opportunity and bites him, holding on, dangling Zook above the ground. I move in closer and cut some chunks out of the thing with my axe. The creature contines to gnaw on Zook and lashes clumsily at me. It pounds another symbol, the symbol glows and fades out. A white light bathes the creature and some of its wounds close. Marion continues hits the creature with magical bolts and the rest of the party lays into it. We quickly slay it.

Marion says the creature is a grey render. It's a hunter, but can be tamed. The tattoos are unusual. There were some enhancement tattoos and a healing tattoo.

May 3, 2003

We scout the nearby chamber. There is a long steep slope, we fall down several times descending. Further on the chamber ends in a ledge.

Beyond the double doors we find a large room. Tables are jammed in the corners.The floor is dominated by a glowing magic circle that streaches from wall to wall. The lines glow green and it is surrounded with silver and gold sparkling runes. There once were tapestries on the walls, now only one of skeletons charging over a hill, one with a burning city, and one with a dragon remain. Marion thinks the circle is a summoning circle of protection.

I throw a chair leg into the center and suddenly a huge spider beast appears. Marion says its a demon. Zook tries to shift it to another plane, but some sort of spell in the room blocks him. I hack at it. Marion blasts it with fireball. The fiend stabs me and tears Zook's armor into shreds. The rest of the party, unable to strike it, back off. It tries to tear off my armor, but I pull away. I hack at it several times and it dies. Marion identifies the fiend as a bebilith, a hunter of demons. I split the creature in half to ensure that it stays dead. Zook grabs his destroyed armor.

We head back to town, dragging the mook with us. We let the mook go.

Our chef cooks us a great meal.

Sunsebb 13

We head in and go counter clockwise around the crater. We come to a smooth spherical room. Marion thinks it might be a lair of the sound monsters. Suddenly we're attacked. Before we can react, we're blasted with a sonic attack. We head in, but we don't see the attacker yet. Zook puts up a magical effect that deadens sound to protect us. We head in, the sonic attacks are coming from a side passage. It's bouncing its sonic attacks around the room to get us. We head up and kill it.

June 5, 2003

On June 5th our Dungeon Master cancelled the game with the following message:

I needed to cancel this week again, and it its becoming clear that we will not be finishing the Template in any reasonable amount of time. Between summer and travel and general dissatisfaction it has defeated us. I think it would be best to call it now instead of let it drag on. This will give all involved to make alternate plans for their Saturdays.

With this announcement this site joins the many other unfinished campaign journals for the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil.

Things Defeated

1 GM Bonus 1 aboleth, boss 3 aboleths 1 ankheg 1 athack 1 barghest 1 basilisk 1 bear, dire 1 beblitith 1 black pudding 1 blue dragon 1 blue dragon, young 1 boar 1 bug swarm 1 bugbear boss 2 bugbear rogues 2 bugbear wizards 13 bugbears 1 bulette 1 chimera 1 chuul 3 cleric 1 cleric, wall crawling 2 cloakers 3 cockatrices 3 destrachan 1 digester 1 dire ape 3 dire badgers 2 dire rats rats 3 dire wolverines 2 dire wolves 5 displacer beasts 6 dogs 1 druegar 1 elemental, air, large 1 elemental, earth, large 1 elemental, water 1 elf 3 elven guards 9 ettins 1 evil spirit (spectre? wraith?) 1 gargoyle, large 2 gargoyles 1 ghast/ghoul 4 ghouls 1 giant beetle 1 giant frog 6 giant manti 1 gnoll leader 77 gnolls 8 goblins 1 golem, flesh 1 golem, sea 1 gorilla, large green 1 green dragon 2 grell 1 grey ooze 1 grey render 1 half-orc 1 half-orc wizard 4 hill giants 3 hippogriffs 1 hobgoblin bezerker 1 hobgoblin cleric 17 hobgoblins 10 hobgoblins well equipped 4 human bandits 18 human bowmen 2 human cleric 2 human cleric, air 50 human guards 1 human male

3 human spies 1 human warrior 1 human wizard 1 human, Tal Chammish 17 humans 1 hydra, tan, 7-headed 50 kuo-toa 5 kuo-toa clerics 1 kuo-toa monk 1 kuo-toa wizard 1 kuo-toa/demon 2 lizards, large 1 mage 1 manticore 4 mephit, earth 3 mephit, water 1 mummy elf (a bodak?) 1 naga, water 2 ochre jellies 1 ochre jelly 1 ogre mage demon 1 ogre, shaven 12 ogres 1 orc boss 18 orc bowmen 46 orcs 2 owl bears 1 purple spiky thing 4 raagen (cave apes) 1 raagen (cave apes), large 1 rust monster 5 scorpians, medium 18 scum (fish/humans) 3 scum, big 2 shadow mastiffs 2 shambling mounds 4 skeletal bears 3 skeletons 2 snakes, large 5 spirits 2 thoqua 2 trap 1 trap, acid 1 trap, arrow 2 trap, book 4 trap, chest 1 trap, falling block 1 trap, fire 1 trap, green slime 3 trap, magical 1 trap, magical weakness 4 trap, pit 1 trap, poison needle 6 troglodyte clerics 1 troglodyte, black 27 troglodytes 1 troll fighter 1 troll, armored 9 trolls 2 umber hulks 1 vampire 1 violet fungus 1 water fiend (hag) 5 wild dogs 2 wraiths 1 wyvern 1 xorn 4 xorn, small 1 yellow mold 2 yeth hounds 12 zombies, ziggarat 647 TOTAL

Other RttToEE Sites

Here are some other sites relating to the Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil that may be of interested to you:

• Official Web Enhancement - Adds some more sections to the dungeons near Raster.
• interactivemaps group at Yahoo - Someone taken the maps from the module and made them interactive so you as the GM can slowly unveil parts as the players see them.
• Monte Cook's semi-official forum - The author of the module's forum for discussions.
• Recommended miniatures list for characters in the game
• Some other campaign journals:
  • David Raynes
  • PeloVish.com
  • Luke Withrow - appears to have petered out.
    • Associated Yahoo group

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