Our fearless group of PCs continued their trek into the abandoned temple of Larm. This time, Dai, Arsenios and Melian were joined by Adrog and Ruby. The full roster:
- Dai, a human fighter
- Melian, an Elf
- Arsenios, a human Cleric
- Adrog, a Dwarf
- Ruby, a Halfling
The party showed some nice tactics in the face of a cleric who could not make a successful turn roll to save his (or anyone else’s) life.
~
After resting a few days at the Borderlands Tavern so Dai could regain his strength, the party headed back to the old temple, emboldened by Adrog and Ruby’s presence. They were unable to secure any more healing potions from Abbot Salor, but they were gifted with a walking stick of continual light. They entered the temple and descended into the crypts, proceeding quickly to the last occupied room, now ready for the four undead skeletons within. Adrog opened the door the skeleton room, but did not enter. Melian took one skeleton out with his bow, while Ruby stayed at Adrog’s side and together they made short work of the three remaining skeletons, as the creatures moved to attack one at a time, their movements restricted by the doorway and wall.
After determining their was nothing of interest in the skeleton room, the party entered another long and narrow room through a door on the west wall. Inside, as if in wait, four zombies slowly hefted silver war hammers and moved to attack. One zombie fell to Dai’s bow, while the others were killed by Adrog and Ruby, again waiting at the door to pick off the undead one at a time. Ruby was not so lucky this time however, and was wounded by a zombie hammer strike. The party collected the four war hammers, which seemed of fine make and had the symbol of Thaxon engraved on their silver heads. Arsenios tended to Ruby’s wounds, then the party proceeded through the only door available, on the north wall.
Beyond the door, the party saw yet another long and narrow room. Inside they saw four twisted, greyish creatures wearing Thaxon robes and wielding silver swords. Each was kneeling in front of an unlit black candle, with each of the candles perched on a glass candlestick. Arsenios surmised they were ghouls, and further suspected they had been priests of the temple, given their robes and armaments. The ghouls rose to attack. Two of them were wounded by arrows while Arsenios attempted to turn the creatures. He was again let down by his God, however, and the party was forced into melee. The wounded Ruby hung back, while Adrog and Dai took the front position in the doorway. This battle was not so easy – both Dai and Adrog were wounded, with Adrog succumbing to one remaining ghoul’s paralyzing touch. Melian stepped in for him at the last and finished off the beast. The party gathered the candles and silver swords, and examined the rest of the room while Adrog lay paralyzed but out of danger. Arsenios tended to him while the others searched. They found an inscription over the only exit door, it read “Only the will of the Gods can help you now”. Try as they might, no one in the party could open the door. However, all was not lost as Arsenios remembered he was still in possession of the Thaxon holy book from the party’s first incursion. With Adrog healed and no longer paralyzed, Arsenios was able to study the book for a time but found no clues to the mysterious door. He passed the book to Melian, who found references to the Sword of Thaxon, which it was said imbued the wielder with powers if they spoke the name of the God. Dai drew the sword and spoke ‘Thaxon!” aloud – immediately the sword glowed with a blue light and thus empowered, Dai was able to open the door.
Beyond this door was a small room containing a stone pedestal, atop of which sat a gargoyle. The gargoyle jumped from his perch and approached the party. “I see you display the mark of Thaxon. You may proceed,” the gargoyle said as he pointed to a door across the room. Not wanting to tempt fate, the party proceeded across the room and Adrog opened the door. As he did so, the party was surprised by thick, black smoke that poured from the open door. They ducked and waited for it to subside, when it had, they saw a stone sarcophagus in the middle of a small room, with what appeared to be paper ashes scattered about the floor. Four undead creaturers surrounded the sarcophagus, each holding a candle and each dressed in robes of Thaxon. Seeing the party, they turned to attack – a skeleton, a zombie, a ghoul and one undead creature Arsenios had not seen before – a grisly, twisted human-like form. In the ensuing battle, Melian, Dai and Adrog were wounded, Adrog seriously so. The party was victorious in the end, however. They decided not to open the sarcophagus, but collected the candles that had been held by the creatures, and returned to the Village above to rest and seek advice on the candles and silver weapons they had collected.
~
Smoldering Wizard 
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