Gygax & Greyhawk Session # 54 - A Disastrous Success

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Skeef Hawkridge (Half Elf Druid 6/ Thief 6) 
Goro (Half Orc Cleric 5 / Fighter 6) 
Chanee (Human Paladin 3)
[Svagola (Human Fighter 4)]

Date/Time
Needfest 577 Earthday (afternoon) - Fireseek 4

The party ignores the sigil for now and instead focuses on taking care of the trio of cultists behind the locked portcullis next door. The first step is to hide their captive in the armoire. Then they truss  up Chanee as a fake 'prisoner', while the the other three don the cultists robes. They bluff their way through the portcullis, and then suddenly turn on the cultists. This does not go as planned, for very shortly all four have been ensorcelled by hold and/or fear. Now they are all bound and gagged, and their equipment taken from them. And are then unceremoniously pushed one by one onto a similar sigal in this room.

They end up teleported to another non-descript cult room, and are quickly lead through a series of chambers lined with books and filled with cultists frantically searching through them. Their captors lead them to a final room where two obviously high priests (Corvan of the Lightless Dark and Tarabus of the Ebony Dark)  sit at a table scanning more ancient tomes. After some mocking interrogation, Corvan makes an interesting offer. The party's freedom in return for Goro's help in performing a ritual that will shut the gate to Hell in the shattered alter stone; the  ritual must be performed by a good cleric.  Corvan points out having uncontrolled and chaotic arrival of diabolic denizens is no better for their cult than it is for the surrounding countryside. When asked, he does tell the party that the temple was not always here but that the above ground 'cube' has a life of it's own, moving on it's own volition to sites of great evil and taking the cult with it. They are relatively new to the snow covered slope, and the alter split after their arrival, a result of some terrible rumbling and quaking from under the mountain.  

In return for a contract of safe release and return of their stuff (minus what they stole form the cult), Goro agrees to help. After a night of prayer, the cleric blesses some holy oil and following the cultists instructions, successfully closes the gate. After a few tense moments, the party is led outside to the snowy mountainside, their weapons and gear are all left in  pile at the edge of the clearing. Annoyed and disappointed , they gather their things, recover horses from the nearby farmstead, and begin the cold and blustery trek back to Nevond Nevnend. Their  annoyance is only increased when on their last day before entering the plains of Tenh, a trio of griffins from the mountain crags attack and carry off a pair of their horses. But they get back to civilization in one piece, and report the success of their task to the the High Priest at the temple of Heironeous, the Glorious Sonnen Tarrikastier.

GAINS

none

KILLS/VICTORIES

1 cultists of Moloch

LOSSES

none