… and next was to decide what to do with the other
captives. There was a spirited debate on the pros and cons of freeing the
cannibals for starters, Riley in particular not keen on potentially becoming
the tribesmen next meal if they were released. In the end, the party decided to
let them so free, but would try to recruit the other captive to help finish
exploration of the temple. They had no luck there; Bo and Sana were
uninterested in anything to do with the temple but wished simply to leave. The
merchant brothers Pothos and Bathos worked to convince the party to abandon any further
delving into the temple. Instead, they tried to get the party to escort them
back to their base on the coast, enticing them with a share of the profit from their elephant
ivory trade if they helped guard the next caravan. Kern in particular was intrigued, but the
party still wanted to recover Erijay’s sword and loot the rest of the complex.
So the merchant brothers joined Bo and Sana, and the four set out to flee the
temple. Kern followed invisibly and
silently well behind to make sure they left. He saw them encounter a small band
of bullywugs, who slew Bathos, but were themselves slain by the lighting fast
Bo and the feline Sana. Literally the feline Sana, as she transformed into a
tiger and tore the head off of the last bullywug. Once the remaining three had exited the
pyramid, Kern returned to find another argument in progress. Saaniya insisted
that since she had helped rescue Kern and Erijay as the jungle spirit Bjorn
requested, she was going to leave with the treasure she was promised. Much
wrangling ensued, but in the end the thief agreed to a choice of the remaining
chests in the hidden room. And to make sure she could get the treasure out, she
spoke to the four cannibals in their own language and recruited them as bearers
to carry the gold. Saaniya also agree to sell the Censor of Controlling Air Elementals to the party for a few minor
magic items and a share of the jewelry.
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Haggling complete (and after Kern ensured invisibly that Saaniya and the cannibals
did leave as promised), the party barricaded themselves in the head yg-ti’s
room to get some rest. Mercifully, the
night passed and they were not discovered, so they awoke refreshed and ready to
trash the rest of the temple. Heading down the only corridor not yet explored,
Kern slipped ahead and discovered it ended in a platform jutting into another
cylindrical room. This was unlike the first, as its walls were covered in slime
covered pods or nests. These were interconnected with tendrils and tubes. Vaguely
visible inside were humanoid figures, and crawling between them through the
tubes were snakes of all kinds. A continuous flow of ichors dripped down the
walls from the darkness above. This was all being tended by a flock of the
flying snakes, several of whom noted Kern’s light below and flew to
investigate. Kern retreated back to the party, who slew the curious snakes.
Seeing no other way to go, the party pressed forward. Darnorth prepared to
levitate up the shaft to look for another exit, but just as he stepped of the
edge he saw a massive snakelike creature climbing up towards the party. It had
a cobras head and body, but human arms and torso, and lashed into the dwarf
with its fangs again and again. Kern and Erijay attacked to beast to distract
it and save Darnorth, but the dwarf decided to take matters into his own hands
and smite it with the flamestrike
from his ring. The burned monster slipped from the wall and fell into the
darkness below. Darnorth floated down to make sure it was dead, and in addition
to its corpse discovered a mass of other humanoid bodies in various stages of
decay. He also found a scroll case with a scroll of ward against magic. Floating back up past the party, he also found
another platform to the right, about 70’ above the level of the first. With
help from the party, he rigged up a rope bridge and everyone moved across.
They found themselves in another corridor, and Kern once
more scouted ahead, finding a room shaped like a half sphere at the end. Here
he saw a fearsome guardian, a yg-ti / medusa halfbreed, armed with Erijay’s
constrictor sword and a huge shield. Luckily Kern did not meet her gaze, and
the still invisible thief slipped back to tell the party. They decided to go in
with swords and spells blazing, but with eyes averted. Which did make hitting
the creature a challenge. It first cast a fear
spell, driving off Gurruks snakes, as well as Vorn and Kern. While Riley chased after the fleeing party
members to cast dispel magic on them,
the yg-ti/medusa constricted Erijay with its snake tail and slowly started
crushing the elf. A series of web
spells kept it from doing much else, however, and the party was able to strike
it down, Erijay landing the fatal blow and claiming ‘her’ sword before it hit
the ground. She then looted the corpse
to claim another pair of star gems, one ruby and one sapphire.
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The party now became aware of a sickly green glow in
the room, emanating from a strange opening in the west wall. Looking in, they
saw a huge ectoplasmic sphere suspended in another spherical room. It had
hundreds of tendrils and tubes running to and through the south wall. Gurruk
questioned the snakes, who told him he was looking at the ‘heart of Yg’, and
they were in the presence of the god itself. Sending the snakes away (figuring
the sight of the party attacking its god wouldn’t go well), the party decided
to try destroying the thing. Darnorth bite into it with his sword, and struck
easily. However, a geyser of acid sprayed all over the dwarf causing massive
burns. Backing away, the party tried peppering it with missiles, but still some
of the acidic goo splashed them. Stopping their assault, they were trying to
decide what to do when someone noticed Vorn. The swarthy cleric was standing
staring through the opening, entranced by the sight, and swaying back and
forth. And before anyone could react, Vorn cried “For Veldes!” and threw
himself through the opening and into the pulsing sphere. It engulfed the
cleric, and started to vibrate and oscillate wildly. Around them the temple
dungeon began to shake. “Run” someone
shouted, and as fast as their treasure laden legs could carry them, they party
rushed back through the temple and burst into daylight at the top of the
pyramid. With a final shudder, the rumbling below stopped, and the silence of
the ruined city fell upon them.
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