Chapter Nine: the Ragged Man (clues in the temple)

But plans change . . . having thought they would go after the black pudding in the upper levels of the temple, the heroes instead set out down the steps to the lower levels. The beckoning ghostly elf lady seemed to want them to go there . . . so they did.

On the stairs leading down Kettle found two secret doors. One led to a map room that showed a three dimensional detail of some temple. Rygorh sketched out the map. Meanwhile, Kettle and Alev investigated the other secret door where they found dozens of clay containers smelling of vinegar. A small glass vial held oil of keen edge and a large clay pot held a preserved and beating heart. They smashed the jar containing the heart and left the room quickly.

The Starborn headed down the grand stairs into the depths of the temple. Here they found a massive cavern filled with water and vines hanging from the ceiling:

The corridor opens out into a gigantic cavern, not at all the kind of thing you would have expected to fid under a swamp! The roof is some sixty feet above you, with countless vines and dangling growths hanging from it, as if the vegetation of the world above had broken through into the world below. The vines are so thick and multitudinous that you cannot see the ceiling. Tiny dark shapes flit to and fro among them. Below, an expanse of dark water shimmers, ripples spreading through it from an unseen source. The bottom of the cavern is flooded to an unknown depth. In the centre is an overgrown island with a small white structure on it that has a pyramidal roof. There are eight piles of loose stone breaking the surface of the water, in two rows of four. At the far southern end of the room is an archway, flanked by two statues. After only three steps, the stairway leading down into the cavern is broken, as if some huge hand had struck it. From the few remaining steps on the island, you can see where it originally led. Now, there is only a sheer drop.

The heroes stared at the water and the pyramid in dismay and spent a great deal of time planning their next move. They finally settled on rappelling down to the pyramid using rope and a grappling hook. Casey headed down first. As Tilk moved to join her a pair of giant preying mantises attacked Casey. The heroes worked well together to dispatch the insects rather quickly.

After securing a position on the pyramidal island they set to investigating the water. They determined the water was about twenty feet deep with a rope and grappling hook. They also saw a swirling in the water that they identified as a swarm of flesh eating fish. They decided to craft rafts out of the wooden doors from upstairs. Some couple of hours later they sailed across the massive cavern to the statues and door on the southern wall.

Two stone statues tower above you on either side of this gateway. They must once have been painted in bright colours, for you can see tiny flakes of paint on the mottled stone. The one on the left has the face of a solemn adult elf and is raising his right hand; the one on the left has the face of a naked skull and is raising his left. Each statue holds a simple club or mace in its off hand, resembling a cylinder with a ball on the end.

After inspecting the statues and gateway they moved on to the temple ahead:

This room is strangely featureless and has a lifeless, hushed feel to it, as if it had been cleansed of all living things. The floor is tiled with white marble and a rough-hewn stone altar is at the south end. Five feet in from the door, there is a broad black burst on the floor, as if something had exploded there, or been burned in a bonfire. Against the west wall is a large brass gong, hanging from a twisted black iron frame.

The heroes inspected the temple rather closely and eventually determined that this was a sacrificial chamber of some sort. They spent a great deal of time arguing and deciding what to do. They sacrificed a body of one of the preying mantises to little effect . . . except for the massive flame strike that comsumed the insect. Eventually they determined to "sacrifice" Seebo to see what would happen. Seebo avoided any damage from the flames and the alter became translucent. Alev saw a sceptre inside the altar and grabbed it.

At that point all hell broke loose. A dozen zombies rose from the waters and attacked. Neil and Rygorh dispatched most of them with their holy powers while the others were laid low with more direct methods . . . swords and clubs to the head and body.

Neil identified the sceptre and determined its powers: it grants the ability to rebuke undead once per day and to cast slay living once per day and animate dead three times per day. They held on to it assuming it may serve some other purpose in the temple.

Having explored as much as they felt they could handle for the day the heroes retired again to the entry chamber to the temple.

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