Post by hubertbartels on Apr 27, 2022 15:20:12 GMT -5
NYR08 – In the Temple of Iuz
The dinner at the Winter Court continued late into the night. Gideon gravitated to a group of nobles and spoke to them about supporting her efforts to be assigned more Royal Troops. Dunkin persuaded a number of guild masters to help him with the orphans at his orphanage, making apprenticeships to his lost children. Aerwyn talked to the magical folk of Rel Mord. She had hoped to get an invite to the magical guild but all she was able to do is be allowed to sit for entrance examinations. Swearing under her breath, she retired to her rooms.
Shortly after midnight, she is awoken from her rest by a muffled screaming coming from the courtyard outside. Gideon, woken first, stood at the door and watched as large armored hound ripped apart a guardsmen. The hound has a smooth skin, inserted plates of oily iron and a huge gaping mouth. The thing turned from its kill and jumped at Gideon. Gideon shifted into a large snapping turtle as Kerwyn rushed into the fray.
As the hound died, Aerwyn recognized it as a Canolith, a mercenary demon summoned to perform duties for a mage. Dunkin remarked that the thing bore symbols of Iuz on its carcass. Following its trail, we came to an opened postern gate. Someone had unbarred the gate from the inside or used magic to get the hound to us. At this time, more guardsmen showed up and took control of the scene. After a series of inquiries and statements, our party was able to return to our rooms.
In the morning, we headed back to the Vineyards. We descended down the tunnels, past the shattered golems to stand in front of the smooth stone door. Aerwyn cast a spell to unlock the magical locks and we pulled the stone door aside. In the room behind the door was a singular figure, clad in plate armor. Gideon remarked that he smelled of clay. The figure moved to attack the intruders. The golem hit hard and was hard to hit. It also moved quickly but finally, we were able to wear the clay golem down. Behind the clay golem was a second smooth stone door.
Kerwin opened the door and Gideon wedged a small stone to keep it open. We now stood in a brightly lit corridor. Passing doors on one side of the corridor, we moved forward until we entered an octogonal sanctuary. In the center of the sanctuary was a rectangular altar, equipped with chains and decorated with symbols of Iuz. More Iuz symbols decorated the plaster relief around the walls of the octagon. As Kerwin began searching the altar, four figures dressed in armor moved from the corners of the octagon, ready to attack. They were in black armor and it seemed that they were filled with faintly glowing blood. Each time our attacks hit one of them, they would release a spray of acid.
When they were defeated, Gideon went to examine the plaster relief around the walls. Stripping the plaster off the walls, he uncovered mosiacs dedicated to Hextor. This was an old temple to Hextor before the Iuz worshipers took control.
Exploring the rest of the temple, we found the other doors in the corridor held temple stores. Proceeding in the other direction, we killed several priests of Iuz in their room. While we were examining their bodies, more priests tried to trap us in the room and throw spells at us. Saphy shattered the door and Dunkin’s fireball spell cleared the rest of the priests. They were led by the high priest of Iuz – who promptly disappeared when his plan failed.
Going on to the next corridor, we found the head priest had been busy organizing a counter attack. The temple guards, all veterans of the wars, were forming up to retake the temple. They had formed up in a wide corridor leading out to the sewers of Rel Mord. Sir Thabo charged them, crashing into their line and dropping one of them with his first blow. Gideon, Kerwin and Dunkin followed up, keeping the guards from re-forming and cutting them down. The arms master fought hard but he was the last to fall.
In one room, we found six prisoners. Gideon then sent a sending spell to the Grey Seer, informing him we had discovered the hidden temple and that we would need troops to hold the temple. He replied that he would bring his forces and have a look.
While we waited for the Grey Seer to arrive, we collected the treasures of the temple. In the high priest’s chambers, we found several paintings, made by a famous artist that suddenly disappeared a hundred years ago. There is one frame covered by a velvet cloth. While peering behind the cloth, Gideon and Aerwyn suddenly disappeared.
It turns out the thing behind the velvet cloth was a Mirror of Life Trapping. Kerwin was able to identify it and learn the command word to release those held inside. In addition to Aerwyn and Gideon, there were other people trapped inside. One of them was the artist that had done the paintings kept by the head priest. Others were young men and women, taken off the streets by the priests of Hextor and kept as sexual prisoners in the mirror. The head priest of Iuz had also used the mirror for the same reason, trapping a young man named Henri for several months.
Duncan promised that his orphanage would be responsible for helping those freed from the mirror. Between our descriptions and Henry’s memories, we were able help the Grey Seer’s artist to render a good portrait of the missing head priest. The Grey Seer looked at the portrait and felt that he should know the man – but he had no recollection of ever meeting him.
The dinner at the Winter Court continued late into the night. Gideon gravitated to a group of nobles and spoke to them about supporting her efforts to be assigned more Royal Troops. Dunkin persuaded a number of guild masters to help him with the orphans at his orphanage, making apprenticeships to his lost children. Aerwyn talked to the magical folk of Rel Mord. She had hoped to get an invite to the magical guild but all she was able to do is be allowed to sit for entrance examinations. Swearing under her breath, she retired to her rooms.
Shortly after midnight, she is awoken from her rest by a muffled screaming coming from the courtyard outside. Gideon, woken first, stood at the door and watched as large armored hound ripped apart a guardsmen. The hound has a smooth skin, inserted plates of oily iron and a huge gaping mouth. The thing turned from its kill and jumped at Gideon. Gideon shifted into a large snapping turtle as Kerwyn rushed into the fray.
As the hound died, Aerwyn recognized it as a Canolith, a mercenary demon summoned to perform duties for a mage. Dunkin remarked that the thing bore symbols of Iuz on its carcass. Following its trail, we came to an opened postern gate. Someone had unbarred the gate from the inside or used magic to get the hound to us. At this time, more guardsmen showed up and took control of the scene. After a series of inquiries and statements, our party was able to return to our rooms.
In the morning, we headed back to the Vineyards. We descended down the tunnels, past the shattered golems to stand in front of the smooth stone door. Aerwyn cast a spell to unlock the magical locks and we pulled the stone door aside. In the room behind the door was a singular figure, clad in plate armor. Gideon remarked that he smelled of clay. The figure moved to attack the intruders. The golem hit hard and was hard to hit. It also moved quickly but finally, we were able to wear the clay golem down. Behind the clay golem was a second smooth stone door.
Kerwin opened the door and Gideon wedged a small stone to keep it open. We now stood in a brightly lit corridor. Passing doors on one side of the corridor, we moved forward until we entered an octogonal sanctuary. In the center of the sanctuary was a rectangular altar, equipped with chains and decorated with symbols of Iuz. More Iuz symbols decorated the plaster relief around the walls of the octagon. As Kerwin began searching the altar, four figures dressed in armor moved from the corners of the octagon, ready to attack. They were in black armor and it seemed that they were filled with faintly glowing blood. Each time our attacks hit one of them, they would release a spray of acid.
When they were defeated, Gideon went to examine the plaster relief around the walls. Stripping the plaster off the walls, he uncovered mosiacs dedicated to Hextor. This was an old temple to Hextor before the Iuz worshipers took control.
Exploring the rest of the temple, we found the other doors in the corridor held temple stores. Proceeding in the other direction, we killed several priests of Iuz in their room. While we were examining their bodies, more priests tried to trap us in the room and throw spells at us. Saphy shattered the door and Dunkin’s fireball spell cleared the rest of the priests. They were led by the high priest of Iuz – who promptly disappeared when his plan failed.
Going on to the next corridor, we found the head priest had been busy organizing a counter attack. The temple guards, all veterans of the wars, were forming up to retake the temple. They had formed up in a wide corridor leading out to the sewers of Rel Mord. Sir Thabo charged them, crashing into their line and dropping one of them with his first blow. Gideon, Kerwin and Dunkin followed up, keeping the guards from re-forming and cutting them down. The arms master fought hard but he was the last to fall.
In one room, we found six prisoners. Gideon then sent a sending spell to the Grey Seer, informing him we had discovered the hidden temple and that we would need troops to hold the temple. He replied that he would bring his forces and have a look.
While we waited for the Grey Seer to arrive, we collected the treasures of the temple. In the high priest’s chambers, we found several paintings, made by a famous artist that suddenly disappeared a hundred years ago. There is one frame covered by a velvet cloth. While peering behind the cloth, Gideon and Aerwyn suddenly disappeared.
It turns out the thing behind the velvet cloth was a Mirror of Life Trapping. Kerwin was able to identify it and learn the command word to release those held inside. In addition to Aerwyn and Gideon, there were other people trapped inside. One of them was the artist that had done the paintings kept by the head priest. Others were young men and women, taken off the streets by the priests of Hextor and kept as sexual prisoners in the mirror. The head priest of Iuz had also used the mirror for the same reason, trapping a young man named Henri for several months.
Duncan promised that his orphanage would be responsible for helping those freed from the mirror. Between our descriptions and Henry’s memories, we were able help the Grey Seer’s artist to render a good portrait of the missing head priest. The Grey Seer looked at the portrait and felt that he should know the man – but he had no recollection of ever meeting him.