Ema heard her lion implode as it was destroyed by the hound. She quickly tore open another rift and summoned a much larger creature. A very angry looking creature, that glared at the hound, lowered it's charge as it smote the thing, and charged! As it did Ema converted some of her spell energy into her reservoir.
Victrix's chop finishes off the most wounded of the hounds, then Ema's conjured rhino charges into being. Its horn completely impales the remaining creature, slaying it instantly! The thing slumps on the celestial beast's horn before evaporating into greasy mist. The other hound follows suit.
In the aftermath, you have time to search around the pillars some more. Atop the tallest of them, you can find two magical items: a circlet of persuasion and a dusty rose prism ioun stone. A strange, almost magnetic force holds the items in place, but you can pull them free with a strong enough tug.
Because the tallest pillars are taller than the surrounding trees, they afford an excellent view of the surrounding terrain. You notice giant bees flying over the forest to the east, and to the south, you see a curious formation of stone blocks in the marsh.
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While drinking an extract of CLW, Simon considers the rhino, and wonders if it would be ok to ride it. Then, he looks at the gore dripping off of its horn and decides to keep his distance.
"Giant bees? I think we should leave them alone. Let's remember to skirt around that area. If we need some honey at some point, maybe we can come back and smoke them out, but I see no reason to mess with the local ecology.
What do you guys think? Should we head back to the ship for the potions and then "Home", or should we check out this other rock formation first?"
Ema was pleased to hear the last hound fall to her rhino and she came out of cover and approached where the great beast snorted in triumph at the death of the hound. She froze when she saw Simon look at it and worried that he would approach it. Fortunately he thought better of it and kept his distance. Focusing Ema tore open a gate again and sent the rhino back home.
Looking around the area Ema was pleased when they found the items and Simon got a good look around from atop the stones. She examined the items carefully with magically enhanced senses to determine what they were.
"I'm not quite sure what the ioun stone does but the circlet is helpful for persuading people socially," she looked around at the group and asked, "Who would these be most helpful for? I rather like the circlet but I can pass it on if another needs it more."
As the discussion turned to their next destination Ema considered what Simon said and nodded agreement, "I think avoiding the bees is important and if we have the daylight we should go ahead and check out the new area you spotted."
Still flying, Calamity retrieves the items atop the pillars and floats gently down. "I-I've had enough of giant stingy insects to last me a, a while, myself. B-but neither am I ready to go into the heart of the, uh, creatures' territory."
As the party makes to leave, she asks them to wait and reads a quick fortune for Victrix. Her body flushes with life and energy, healed.
"This is you," she explains, uncharacterically confident, displaying the Neutral card of Strength. "The Bear. Strength at its purest, dizzyingly frightening when provoked, but gentle and kind in moments. Don't deny yourself, and don't pretend otherwise."
You head south from the pillars, reaching your next destination in the late afternoon. Six twenty-five-foot-long stone blocks, each tapered like an arrowhead, are arranged in a vaguely flower-shaped formation in the moist ground. Some of the ancient stone blocks are cracked and splintered, while others are half-sunken in the marsh.
The large, flower-shaped monument in the ruined garden bears two sets of carvings on its stone petals. The first set depicts the sun setting near the stone monument and a few radiant globes flying overhead in a complex and attractive formation, suggesting that something happens after dusk. The second set of carvings shows a bee flying from a hexagonal building to what looks like a temple, suggesting that there is a connection between the two.
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After sketching the carvings, Simon sits down to think.
"If these sketches are to be believed, something will appear here at the temple at night. Perhaps more will-o-wisps?
I certainly don't relish running into any more of them."
He considers the other image. "The bees, presumably the bees we saw, will at the same time head from their current location to a temple."
He looks back up toward the standing stones.
"It seems to me that the best course of action is to avoid all of the creatures. If we wait at the standing stones, we can watch as the bees move from their current location to the location of the temple.
We won't have to worry about these will-o-wisps, or whatever they are. We will also know where the hexagonal building is - where they are now - and where the temple is.
We can explore each, by visiting the temple during the day and the building at night.
Neither needs to be explored today, if we would prefer to go back and follow the trail of the settlers. That should remain our primary focus, but something tells me that we might find something useful in these building."
Simon shrugs. "Or, I could be reading the situation completely wrong. The balls of light could be angels come to grant the wishes of anyone brave enough to stay around.
Still, I'd prefer to go back to the standing stones to wait for nightfall. What do you guys think?"
Calamity gulps. Even seeing pictures of the bees made her uncomfortable. "Is, is that temple the bees are going to on your map?"
Ema considered what Simon said carefully and said, "I think we can handle at least one of the buildings today. If we got to the temple now can we get back to Hullhold before dark if we need a safe place to rest and recover before dark?"
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Ema considered what Simon said carefully and said, "I think we can handle at least one of the buildings today. If we got to the temple now can we get back to Hullhold before dark if we need a safe place to rest and recover before dark?"
Smiling and nodding, Simon responds to Ema. "The temple does seem like a more interesting choice than some random hexagonal building, but we are going to need to follow the bees in order to learn where this temple is.
We won't be able to do that until nightfall. Perhaps later if the temple is far away and we can't see where the bees fly to.
That is why I suggested returning to the high spot to observe where the bees go. We can explore the hexagonal building at that time, once the bees are gone."
You return to the high peak to observe the bees' behavior, then travel towards the site where they are congregating. It takes about two hours to reach your next destination. The sun has fully set and night blankets the land as you emerge from the forest into a clearing. Two thirty-foot-tall hexagonal stone towers, perforated with many even rows of square holes, flank a third, similarly hexagonal building only ten feet tall. A loud buzzing echoes throughout the structure, and the air is heavy with the sweet scent of honey.
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"While I hesitate to be separated from the party again, after what happened last time, I could go in invisibly to scout out the situation.
If there is anything worth exploring in more detail, maybe we can figure out a way to create enough smoke to keep them from attacking us."
While waiting, Simon will retrieve the swarmsuit from his Haversack and don it, just in case only little bees remain.
"That might be a good idea. If anything tries to get at ya, get back to us as quick as you can."
The sound of the bees was an unpleasant vibration against her nerves particularly as they were something Ema had always disliked. Still, it was good to know that not all of them had left the temple and it made Simon's suggestion very appealing. While he drank his potion and headed inside Ema prepared to tear open a gate if needed and summon something to help him should he bee discovered.
Simon creeps forward invisibly towards the House of Bees. A few of the giant insects buzz lazily about the towers, but if they notice the bad, they pay him no mind.
Each of the towers serves as an enormous bee hive. The walls of the hives have holes for the bees to fly in and out. The bees store their honey in niches in the walls and seal them with beeswax. These hives appear more wild and natural than a well-maintained hive. The floor is sticky with honey. Simon might be able to harvest some of the honey, or even royal jelly, but doing so might disrupt the dozens of bees that crawl and fly around here.
The smaller building in the middle appears to have once been a storage area. A dormant clockwork construct shaped like a small bee lies on the floor.
One stone cabinet here contains two suits of +2 mithral chainmail, along with 3 vials of antitoxin. The other cabinet holds a few pieces of bee-themed jewelry carved from amber and gold (worth 1,500 gp) and a golden key (worth 500 gp) that seems to fit the clockwork here.
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As quietly as possible, Simon gathers all of the treasures and returns to the party.
Knowing how interested Ema in in clockwork contraptions, he hands the device and key to her.
"Well, that appears to be all there is to find here. There is no way I am risking disturbing the hive to harvest any honey though.
We should head back toward the shipwreck. We can decide whether to attempt finding the temple tomorrow."
Calamity concurs. "Yes, those wooden folk seemed quite, er, friendly."
You make your way back across the island, reaching Hullhold a few hours after sunset. The trip back is uneventful, and you are able to rest peacefully inside the wyrwoods' home.
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Waking up in the morning, Simon is torn between possible paths.
"So, the bees don't fly toward the temple automatically. Apparently we needed to do something with the glowing orbs to make that happen. Maybe the orbs weren't will-o-wisps and I was just being too frightened."
Approaching the elder wyrwood to collect his potions, Simon dsitributes 2 potions of Protection from Evil to each party member.
At the same time, he inquires of the elder's knowledge of the island.
"Last night, we encountered a structure that leads us to believe that there is an old Azlanti temple in the woods nearby. Do you know where this structure is?"
"I do not know much about the southern part of the island," Locwudu replies. "But perhaps there are others that can help. The ghost lanterns--intelligent, flying balls of light. There is an ancient place built from stone where they gather at dusk. It is said they know everything that happens on this island, but I should warn you, they're not very welcoming to visitors. The stories say you should carry a lantern or other light source when you approach them or they'll think you're an enemy."
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Simon smiles with relief.
"We actually found this ancient place, but were too cautious to wait for the balls of light to appear. This is very useful information, Locwudu. I thank you."
Turning back to the others, he questions them. "Perhaps my curiosity is getting the better of me, but I would really like to see this temple. If we can visit these balls of light again, we might be able to ecplore the temple and take that knowledge with us on our quest for the missing people.
Does anyone have a lantern? Or, do you think we should press on toward this home location first?"
When Simon returned with the little clockwork bee and it's key Ema looked at it with interest. Granted the shape of the thing made her shudder a bit but it was fascinating enough that she pushed through that to examine the device. "Thank you Simon. I'll let you know if it does anything particular once I figure it out."
When they returned to the Wyrwoods to rest Ema listened with interest as Simon asked about the temple. The description of these "ghost lights" reminded her a lot of that willow-the-whisp they had fought before. She hoped that it wasn't part of this group or this could get very ugly. At the suggestion of having their own light source when they approached Ema thought for a minute and then said a few words with a couple of gestures and a quartet of glowing lightballs appeared, "You mean something like this Locwudu?"
"That should prove to be sufficient," the wyrwood says.
Calamity is very glad to leave the beehive, padding along nervously all the way. Though she doesn't understand the discussion taking place between Simon, Ema and the wooden people, but when Simon asks about a latnern and Arcanist shows off her lights, Calamity follows suit and summons a set of spinning lights herself.
"I, uh, think we should take our time where we need to. The more we know the better?" she suggests timidly.
"We still need to find the colonists--don't forget why we're here, Simon."
"...that being said, I don't know if we're ready to take on the aboleth on its home turf yet. Maybe investigating the temple would give us some insight into how to protect ourselves from it."
Ema considered the question Victrix posed and then said, "I think we should visit the temple first. It could be that they can give us some insight on how to deal with the aboleth and survive."
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Nodding in acknowledgement of the group decision, Simon says, "OK, tonight we return to the flower monument and wait for the orbs to appear with lantern lights visible.
Hopefully these beings will be willing to help us activate the bees to go to the temple.
In the meantime, we have some time to examine that Bee, Ema? Perhaps turning the key would activate it?"
Ema considered what to do with the clockwork bee. Yes, the key would probably start it up but what would it do if she did? Would it attack? Would it just fly around? Would it do...nothing? She really wanted to know and while the wise course would have been to study it carefully before winding it up Ema was most definitely not wise. Her curiosity overcoming her good sense she pulled out the bee and the key and began to wind it to see what would happen.
The bee clatters to life once Ema turns the key. Its wings flutter behind it as it rises up off the workbench, then it begins to fly past the arcanist, trying to escape the wrecked ship!
Victrix starts pursuing Simon as he chases after the bee.
"Wait up! Don't go running off by yourself again!"
You follow the buzzing clockwork bee as it flies southeast from Hullhold. Fortunately, it is slow enough that you are able to keep pace behind it, as long as you don't slow down. Its path takes you across the island from shore to shore, and luckily, no monsters emerge to challenge you along the way. After the better part of the day, the bee brings you to what appears to be a massive temple at the edge of the water. Part of it rests on the shore, but it seems like a large section of it has sunken beneath the waves. It seems that a number of outbuildings once stood within the temple grounds, built into the slope above the temple proper; all but a few are now half-buried rubble.
As you gaze upon the scene, you reflect on your recent experiences, feeling stronger and better prepared to face the challenges to come.
Simon snatches the bee and deactivates it before it can continue on. Once you are ready, you head into the temple grounds.
Several ruined buildings are scattered about the courtyard of the temple's upper level. An enormous bronze statue of a bearded man lies in pieces, both of its hands missing.
As soon as you enter the temple grounds, you hear high-pitched shrieks as four faceless stalkers rush into the courtyard to confront you. Each one wields a glaive!
Rubble: The rubble-filled squares count as difficult terrain. The 2 squares with rubble next to the pedestal cost 4 squares of movement for Small and Medium characters to move into because the characters also have to squeeze between the statue’s severed legs and the pedestal.
Statue: The body of the fallen bronze statue is 10 feet high on average. Climbing onto the once-smooth but now corroded statue requires a successful DC 20 Climb check. The uneven surface of the statue counts as difficult terrain.
Walls: The walls of the ruined buildings are 15 feet high. Climbing the jagged remains of the walls requires a successful DC 15 Climb check.