... don't stab the walls! ...
Kalik, halfling initiate of Avoreen;
Vesper, (NPC) human fighter, henchman of Kalik;
Milik, halfling sorcerer;
Kendradell, female half-elf bard & initiate of Lydia <absent
this week>;
Nikolai, suloise human acolyte of Lendor <absent this week>;
Marcus, half-elf acolyte of Hieroneous;
Tarqualan, high elf mystic;
Naazi, centaur mystic and initiate of Tritherion;
and introducing;
Talon Bloodfist, (a different) dwur initiate of Clangeddin <absent
this week>.
[11th of Patchwall, 578]
When we left our intrepid band last week, they were riding north in an effort to utilize the secret exit Talon knew of to effect a raid into the temple of Tharizdun known to be located in the Clatspur Gap. Wishing to avoid the patrols they knew existed in the Gap and along the Velvedyva, they rode west through Veluna and north into Ket, approaching the Yatils from the southeast.
After several days of riding into the mountains, the group was ambushed
by a small patrol of heavily armored hobgoblins mounted on war-horses,
whom they dispatched. Several days after this, they encountered a giant
who had a lookout post on a higher peak, who landed a solid blow on Marcus
and his horse, after Marcus struck him with a bolt of lightning. The horse's
injuries were substantial enough to warrant it's being put down, and after
being healed Marcus selected one of the mounts taken
from the hobgoblins they'd fought previously. A winged creature was
seen fleeing the giant's post up above, presumably to report their approach...
Another day and half brought them to the valley where Talon had originally escaped the temple into, and it was eventually decided to leave Vesper outside to care for the horses. After several minutes of traveling down a twisting tunnel, the party finally emerged into a vast cave whose sole occupant appeared to be a stooped female figure wielding a broom. When Milik's magical sight revealed that she was not what she appeared to be, he struck at her with twin blasts of fire, which provoked Marcus and Naazi to engage her in melee.
Though she managed to summon a quartet of shades before being vanquished,
Glud the Annis eventually fell to a combination of Marcus' axe, Naazi's
sword, and Kalik's swords. As Talon led them deeper into the complex, Naazi
chanced to notice that the carvings on either side of the long hallway
they were entering seemed to be turning to look straight at him. When he
attempted to strike one of the carvings with his sword, nearly a dozen
insubstantial figures stepped down from the murals, and reached out in
turn to touch living flesh. Those that accomplished this were made whole
once more, and gave the party a fight worth singing about, while it lasted.
Once vanquished, however, the rest of the party cautioned Naazi not to
take offense at the lingering stares
of the wall, lest they let him fight off the apparitions thus released
alone.
At the midpoint of the long hall, they encountered a strange ovoid stone lying on a low dais, which Milik gazed into, sensing a distant, powerful source of power. Not wishing to disturb that which posed no threat to them, it was ignored. At the end of that hallway, however, they were not so lucky; A four faced statue of ancient design stood there, and when asked, Kendradell read the inscription at it's base without thinking, thus invoking the statue's power. Naming Tharizdun, and siting her own magical weakness, the statue granted her additional power, but sought to chastise her as well, for it sensed that she was an unbeliever. A quick call upon Lydia's grace saved her from the statue's price, but the cost in power was more than she'd gained for her initial folly....
Finally they reached the steps that climbed upwards into the mountain, and at their summit, the ladder leading upwards into the gulf. Naazi formed the first obstacle to their climb, as his bulk was too great to be supported by the ancient ladder, and the locked door covering the exit the second. Milik's familiar finally cast a wood warping spell upon the door, allowing the party passage above, after which Naazi was teleported past the ladder to rejoin them above.
Soon the party found themselves once more in the hidden cloakroom they'd
discovered on their first foray. Lacking any other plans, they elected
to retrace their steps from before, once more coming down the stairs into
the temple proper, and nearly alerting the hobgoblins who stood guard in
the great hall below. As the party lurked on the stair debating their options,
footsteps were heard approaching, and Naazi caught a quick glimpse of a
skeletal figure mounting the steps from below. Signaling Marcus that enemies
approached, they met the undead revenant there on the steps, causing one
of the guards below to flee for help
while the other joined in the fight.
Early on, the undead liche struck Marcus with a clawed hand and held
on, slowly draining him of both vitality and skills; while others of the
party engaged the guard or fought with the wall of spinning blades it conjured
and set among them. Though most members of the party emerged with light
wounds, Kendradell's pet hunting cat was sorely injured, and quickly infested
by the minor wound spirits that plagued these unnatural halls. Marcus eventually
broke the hold of the creature before him, but
not before it aged him nearly a decade, turning his hair white in the
process.
Nikolai finally managed to capture the liche with his temporal spirit, trapping it in Time; but even as the lone hobgoblin guard on the steps fell to the blades of the group, more could be heard rushing to repulse these invaders....
[11th of Ready'reat, 578]