Run Date: July 7, 2024
PCs
Helena:
Lv3 Bladedancer (Waste That Walks)
Gwendolyn: Lv3
Fighter
Adelbert: Lv1 Paladin
Hench
Mercedes: Lv1 Priestess (WTW)
Lothor: Lv1 Vaultguard
Eduardo: Lv1 Mage
Athena: Lv1 Priestess (Clotho)
Hugo: Lv2 Ravager
Legends of the Unhidden Temple
During downtime, Helena purchased a map from an Explorer the group previously hired (more about that later). After going over the various points of interest with the others, the party decided to make their way toward the Unhidden Temple. Before that, however, Helena wanted to drop some laborers off for her boyfriend, Ryder.
While crossing the prairie to the Greenwood, Helena’s scout stopped the group (and their mercs) and called her forward. He pointed out an excavated pit trap hidden among some tall grasses and they weighed whether it was Porco Rosso’s doing before moving around it. Shortly after entering the Greenwood, the scout stopped the army again. This time, it was to point out that the area was despoiled; desiccated, half-petrified plant life gave off a horrifying aura. The henches and hirelings were more than happy when Helena ordered the scout to find a path around it.
Since the group couldn’t make it to the Golden Sun within the day, they set up camp and watches with the laborers at the center. Around midnight, some of the watchmen got a bad feeling and woke Helena up. As she roused the camp, the watch tossed a couple torches out into the woods and revealed a pair of Giant Adders. The torches and mass amount of movement from camp were enough to spook the creatures. Instead of settling back in, Helena ordered the march to continue in the hopes of having a safer place to rest at the shrine.
It was daylight before the group arrived. They spotted the makeshift palisade set up outside the entrance to the shrine; abuzz with activity! A swarm of Giant Carnivorous Flies were engaged with the men on watch. Helena promptly marched her mercs forward and the PCs joined the fray. After clearing out the flies, and finding one of the men disemboweled, the group were invited in to rest. The group had a short Q&A with Ryder and the day went by. The following morning, they headed out in search of the Unhidden Temple.
The party’s progress was extraordinarily slow as the terrain shifted into forested hills. The party, now down their laborers and mercs (gifts to Ryder), were forced to camp out; during which they received a visit from a curious NonTrademarked (or whatever) beast! Lothor was the one that spotted the bear-like creature stalking in the underbrush, and he soon spotted it’s beaked face. The creature did not appear immediately hostile, despite these creatures being known for excess aggression, but Lothor shouted nonetheless. This shout was taken as a threat and the Owlbeast charged! Lothor held is own, as any Arken (dwarf) would. Gwen rushed in from the side and laid her morningstar into it; and the following round crushed its head. It was a quick fight. After going over some ideas regarding harvesting, Helena put one of the henches (I think it was Mercedes) to work plucking feathers and trimming some meat.
The following day, the party arrived at the Unhidden Temple. They marched around the edge of a nearby lake and found the entrance atop a flattened rock plateau. A ring of 8 waist-high pillars surrounded a platform that ended in stairs leading to an arched rockface; clearly a pair of stone doors, unadorned. The odd stone doors were sealed by magic. Athena, being a Priestess of Clotho, explained the significance of the pillars as a Flame Gate; light the pillars, gate opens. The group scavenged the surrounding wood for some usable firewood and spread their torches around. On Athena’s count, all the pillars were set alight and the unadorned door embossed itself with the Wheel of Fortune; Clotho’s telltale symbol. Who needs Din’s Fire when you can just spin the joystick really fast, amirite?
The group set their battle lines and began the delve. Upon entering the first chamber, the group spotted a strange statue; a cloaked figure holding a skein of twine and a pendulum. As the light danced below the cloak, it revealed their own face. A few rolls later and about half the group realized this statue was an illusion, and the real one was simply Clotho weaving at her loom (a Wheel of Fortune). However, seeing through the illusion also revealed several dull orange lights moving about the statue. They decided to ignore those and open the eastern door.
Turns out, opening the door angered the lights and battle commenced. Hugo, a Ligerian Ravager, rushed to defend the backline and used his claws to slaughter most of the lights. As wounds opened and oozing blood splattered, the shapes of the creatures began to reveal themselves. After a short back and forth, the party realized these were simply Luminous Beetles; though somehow invisible.
The party continued through the eastern door and into a narrowing spiral room that threatened to make them dizzy. The exit popped out into a small spiral chamber with square cuts in the walls. They spent time examining each exit; finding 2 stuck doors and 1 locked. The southern door lead into a room where the “wallpaper” of eyes watched their movements. Athena was left to pray here. The northern door lead to an open chamber with a spinning statue at its center.
The rotating statue was cloaked, the face a skull. Its hands were positioned as if to be holding something, but were otherwise empty. The group noticed a fresh and gentle breeze in the room and stayed in the entryway for some time. Helena threw a torch toward the statue and spotted a descending stairwell at the northeast corner of the room. The group then watched as the flame of the torch danced in bursts, as if pushed by airflow. Adelbert took the lead and finally stepped into the room with the intent of “hugging the statue.” He didn’t get more than a step before being spiraled and pushed back; a clean cut across the side of his armor and belly.
During the battle with the LumBeetles, Adelbert had broken his spear. The party took what was left of the shaft and used it to test the cutting winds. They soon realized there was a spinning blade at waist-height; invisible. They returned to speak with Athena for a bit then formulated a plan to army crawl toward the stairs. Good job!
Upon descending the stairs the party found themselves in a tiny walled roomed. At this point, the group had taken the hints regarding this temple and Helena took point. She began methodically working through the strange walls (see: Labyrinth) before discovering an exit that lead to a wide gallery. There was another statue of Clotho to the east, and a fear that some trickery was afoot. After a quick conversation, the group examined the statue and found it was, thankfully, mundane. They then headed west a short ways and spotted a shadow pacing around. It appeared to repeat the same few movements before turning in surprise and being cleaved in two. After which, the pooled shadow would return to its starting point. Helena tossed a torch near it, revealing that this seemingly open chamber had invisible walls!
Time was running low so the group plotted their retreat and worked their way out. Just before hitting the exit, they were accosted by a pair of invisible monsters. The party made easy work of them; the bloodspatter revealing they were goblins (lynx-like in this neck of the woods). No encounters hit on the way back to the shrine; where the players decided to stay instead of moving all the way back to Coxhaven.
Rewards (Totals)
11
GP
25 XP
Afterword
The events leading into this session brought up an interesting conundrum regarding inter-party/PC interactions. Anthonie’s player negotiated a deal with the Explorer’s/Helena’s player during the session in which the Shadow Valley relic was discovered; more or less hiring the Explorer for map-making and exploration purposes. Anthonie having died last session meant that Helena’s player would be paying himself for his own map. I’m unsure if there are any future pitfalls I should be concerned about with this sort of interaction, but the deal/RP was in order so I’ll table it for now. The end result was a transfer of information and the Explorer getting a fat payday.
That’s all for now. Take care.
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