"The usual...gold, revenge, and because the Queen wants us to. Tell you what, mate...once we're back to where the weather's more reasonable, let's go after whatever door your dagger was supposed to open. Think of this as practice, hey?"
Kaul grins, his beady eyes glittering;
"Hur... Blood too. Bloody blood... an red-handed deeds.. fir our Bloody Queen..."
The brute shifts, his smile becoming a grimace;
"Who'ver did this was 'andy with their axe an' teeth. Lopps wants to meet 'em. See whose bites bigger.. Hur-hur-hur..."
The axe bobs excitedly in his hand.
Richard quickly slithers up Dingus' robes and warms his cold heart against his Big's belly.
Corliss considers the compass and journal and recalls that they'll need to report back to Sheila Heidmarch about the expedition to the Watchtower at some point.
Jim packs up the compass and the journal. "Cap'n should know about this." He pulls out the scroll. "Can't recall...do you have to be a magicker to work this thing?"
"Not the impression I got," Corliss replies to Jim's query. The priest then casts a quick detect magic spell to scan the area for any mystical emanations.
The compass detects as magical.
Jim finds that any mark he makes on the sending scroll briefly glows as if it were being activated. He assumes that means the mark is being transferred to the twin scroll.
Corliss dutifully reports his findings quietly to the others.
"Hmmm...could be anywhere from a couple o' weeks to a couple o' months," Corliss responds after examining the bodies and body parts. "Depends 'pon how cold it'd been in these parts afore we sailed into port. It's certainly been cold enough to preserve the bodies o'er the last several days."
Kaul pokes at the body with a booted toe and grimaces;
"Hur. Leastways we know who'ever did for 'em ain't an eater o' rotten meat."
The brute bosun turns his beady eyes and nose to the surrounding area, trying to discern anything that might give the crew some clue to the nature of the murderous attackers;
Kaul looks around more closely and finds a few more sets of the weird two-toed prints. He senses that the assault was sudden and furious but there isn't anything else to see other than the trail leading northeast, deeper into the ruins.
Jim writes in a small hand, heritage of long experience filling out ship's logs when paper was scarce. Found dead Pathfinders in city. Killed 2wks - 2mos. Following trail.
A response appears on the sending scroll- It worked! Pace yourself, Jim. Fairweather says these only work once a day!
The crew follow the trail through the ancient ruins until they come to an enormous intact structure constructed of tightly fitted blocks of brown stone covered with intricate engravings depicting humans engaged in acts of terrible self-mutilation. A pillared portico girds the eastern front of the great temple, the carved columns resemble cat-o-nine tails. The structure stands about 20 feet tall, though a great dome rises out of the center another 20 feet. How this place could be more than 10,000 years old defies logic—some sorcery must have preserved the stone.
The stench of carrion is the only greeting upon arrival at the excavated temple. Before an imposing stone structure lie a few stripped and eviscerated bodies bearing terrible wounds that go far beyond the marks of battle in their viciousness. Blood streaks over the blocks removed from a wall indicate that others have been dragged inside.
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Jim shakes his head. "To think, all that violence and we didn't commit any of it. Scarce seems fair, hey? Let's see if we can catch up." He pauses, struck by a thought. "Corliss, who's this a temple to?"
Corliss steps to the side and then forward to get a better look at the awesome structure. He also quietly casts a guidance spell upon himself, figuring this might be a subject beyond his somewhat damaged memory. Rubbing the bump on his head, his eyes suddenly go wide, like perhaps he's had a revelation.
Corliss considers the temple. It's not for any contemporary god that he can think of. He knows that in the time before Aroden, the Azlanti had many minor gods that are now long forgotten. Based on the whip motif and the obvious magics that have kept the temple standing for millennia, Corliss guesses that it was a god of discipline and magic. There's not much more to go on out here but maybe there will be more clues inside.
Trade Show this week. I'll be AFK till Thursday at the earliest.
Kaul emits a hacking chuckle at Jim's gallows humour.
"Hur-hur-hur... So we goin' inside then lads?"
Lopper's eye swivels in anticipation between the crew and the temple...
With Kaul's urging, Jim leads the way inside the strange temple. It looks to be about 150 feet long and 90 feet at its widest. Eight great pillars, larger versions of the cat-o-nine tails carved columns found at the pillared portico, encircle an enormous mosaic about 60 feet in diameter on the floor. The tiles of fading greens, reds, and yellows form a seven-pointed star.
The dome peaks about forty feet overhead, its center pierced by an oculus five feet across. Near the front of the temple are the remains of a marble statue, smashed to bits. What it once was is unclear, as the vandal did a rather thorough job destroying the ancient work of art.
Toward the back of the wide open space, a long, five-foot- deep pool lies in this western alcove, empty now, though the irregular red-brown stains on its surfaces leave little doubt as to what once filled the basin. Standing at the center of the pool is an eighteen-foot-tall marble statue of a strange being. Its body is female in shape but its head is a vertical representation of the seven-pointed star.
Dingus walks in his eyes wide open in amazement. "Not sure I agree with their interior decorator's style... but I guess it could grow on you".
Dingus recalls reading about the seven-pointed star symbol in the Traces of Thassilon text which he looked over while visiting K'Stallo. The symbol, called the Sihedron, was basically the symbol of Ancient Thassilon and represents the seven types of magic. The God that used the seal was called Lissala or something like that.
That spurs Corliss' memory a bit more and he recalls that Lissala is a dead God of the Azlanti that ruled over magic and discipline and definitely wasn't good at the end of the empire.
Dingus detects that the walls of the temple have been infused with a moderate abjuration magic. Likely protection to keep the temple standing all these millennia.
Jim rubbernecks a bit, looking around at the structure. "Quite a place. Let's see if there's an exit up by yon pool. Seems to me that's where priests might come and go, and where there's priests there's a chance of treasure."
Jim investigates around the inside of the temple entrance and believes that the statue was busted up violently over time. Some broken pieces scattered far from the base are dustier than bits that were repeatedly smashes into tiny fragments nearby. He spots random chips on the pillars and floor as well. The only consistency to the damage is the pointless destruction.
He also finds more of the two-toed tracks marked in blood-soaked dust leading from the entrance of the temple to the back right corner by the dark trough and the intact idol. As the group nears the rear of the temple, they see a crumbled wall on the right that leads into a small chamber. Before they can investigate further though, there is a metallic shriek as the sihedron head of the statue detaches and rises onto seven spindly legs balancing on the neck of the metal idol.
Keelhaul Kaul-
Madman Jim-
Dingus-
Corliss-
foe-
The sihedron emits a blue beam right at Jim and he feels an icy cold that permeated his body and numbs his limbs!
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"Don't see that every day, now do ye?" Corliss comments wryly as he turns to behold the spider-sihedron. He mutters a few words and a magical copycat of himself steps out of his body. Both the copycat and the real Corliss shake their heads, and at least one of the twins says, "No, ye don't...."
Then the priest mutters a few more magic words and a giant, glorious, glowing rapier appears next to the metallic monster and attempts to stab it in the eye!
for
As the thing starts to move, Jim gapes in astonishment. "You gotta be feckin' kidding." The impact of the ray does
little to slow him down. "Good thing we didn't run into something like this at home, 'fore I got used to the cold!"
As the big glowing rapier strikes the stalking sihedron, the blade flickers and does not appear to have any effect on its target! Jim shakes off the freezing ray to prepare his action.
With the peculiar enemy still some distance away, Jim readies his elf-bow and sends an arrow at the spiky star.
Jim's shot flies true scoring a direct hit on the construct squatting on the idol about 12 feet up, but the arrow does little damage to the iron form.
Dingus racks his brain to remember what he might know about Constructs.
Spellcraft?
Then casts Haste on his team of miscreant adventures.
Dingus speeds up the action and recalls...
"It's tough... but lightning might short it out or something"!
Kaul grins;
"Hur. Tough ain't Lopper bite tough..."
The brute bosun lumbers toward the construct, then swings at the statue it hunkers upon;
Kaul ambles up and Takes a chop at an iron leg supporting the statue. Lopper bites into the thick metal column about a half inch. The sihedron tilts one side down on its multiple jointed legs and emits a freezing ray striking Kaul below it.