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"No. We do NOT need to discuss what it was used for. Let us leave that can of worms lie, or I'll start to tell you why I was on placed on kitchen duty for two weeks and they had to requisition a new lock for Master Martel's off-limits library," Kyrie states with an air of finality.
"What we can do is start to do what we are here for. We can begin with the door to the East Mr. Silvermoon, if you could give the door some attention to make sure it is safe, then perhaps one of our big, strapping warriors could open it and we can begin to make this place safe.
Although, safe for what, and safe for how long, I can not begin to guess. Perhaps our benefactors back in town would like to set up a secondary castle?"
As she waits for others with more brawn than her to siege into the door, Kyrie will give in to her curiosity and peer down the well.
Avendryl's eyes widen at Kyrie's rather insistent desire to not discuss the what the alter had been used for. "Alright, we can drop it...just speculation anyway."
Hearing the wizardess's plan, Avendryl nods, "Door to the East. Got it." he says wandering over to take a closer look.
"Looks alright to me."
The east wing includes a secondary altar on a raised dias. The dais is two-tiered; each rises about 18 inches, the inner being 14 feet in diameter, thus forming a three feet wide step along the rim of the lower tier. The lower disc is greenish black stone; the upper, blackish green. The center of this altar is a depression about eight feet across, filled with scummed-over black liquid. Several pieces of smashed shells are scattered around the area, along with a broken bronze knife.
Avendryl checks the door to the east wing and even with his best scrutiny he finds no traps. Domeric opens the door without fanfare.
This area was apparently a vestry. Bits of broken altar service are present here also, with a broken trident and pieces of torn, scorched robes of a moss-green hue. Other rubble includes several smashed benches, a small broken table, and a thrown-down wardrobe with one side kicked in and the doors torn off. A flight of stairs descends to the southwest.
"Stairs, eh?" Avendryl says, "Perhaps we should finish exploring this level before going anywhere else."
Having expressed his opinion, he goes over to examine the other door.
Avendryl moves over to the west wing, increasingly convinced that this upper floor is abandoned - nobody looking in the narrow stained glass windows would see people coming or going. Of course, that suggests that there must be other entrances and exits... or perhaps people only move through here under cover of darkness.
After checking he opens the western door and discovers that this seems to be a vestry. A broken rhondite bowl and ewer lie in a corner, apparently flung in anger and now shattered and useless. The interior of each is caked with a dry brown substance. Pieces of furniture are also scattered about, as are the torn remains of some brown garments and three stubs of brown candles. A flight of stairs descends to the southeast.
"More stairs." Avendryl comments.
"Again, let's finish out this floor before doing anything else." he says as he moves to examine the well.
A careful examination of the well reveals a one-foot wide ledge beginning 15 feet from the mouth of the shaft - you could climb down there with a rope, perhaps, though the ledge is pretty narrow. It circles the northern face of the well and goes down into darkness (further than darkvision can see).
"Alright...might be something of note down there, but as far as I'm concerned same rules apply, this level first." Avendryl says, continuing to proceed carefully through the chamber, beyond the alter.
Once inside, Fezzik draws his great sword and follows the others, opening doors as needed and keeping an eye out for any attackers.
"No like how quiet. All must be down stairs. Guess to not draw attention."
After Domeric scans the door for evil, Avendryl searches the door for traps before opening.
You carefully advance and open the third small door, on the west side. This door opens into a small vestry. Pieces of broken glass and splinters of crystal lie scattered within. Someone evidently made a fire in the far corner, as bits of charred wood and cloth lie on the floor, and the rafters overhead are blackened with soot. A pile of robes, once ivory-colored, lie in the center of the room. They are soiled and stained with excrement.
Further down the columned main hall, you see a grand staircase (7), followed by the high altar (8), beyond which is a dais and throne (10).
The grand staircase:
A flight of steps, 20 feet wide and each step broad and tall, delves down to the north. The stone is a dull gray, but flecks of color—white, blue, red, green, and black—dot its surface.
To the north of the staircase is a stone railing, with supports of white, brown, and green stone alternating; its upper portion is cinnebar. The floor beyond is paved with three-foot squares of highly polished red granite. The square columns of some type of yellowish stone are carved in bas relief, and painted to show scenes of fire and suffering with demonaic creatures leering on.
The high altar:
A huge bronze vessel chased with copper stands here. Its six legs hold it slightly more than a foot above the floorstones. The basin-like pot is eight feet in diameter. Its bottom is filled with old charcoal, bits of blackened bone, and undefinable lumps. A piece of chain still hangs over this altar, and evidently others similar once also hung there, but their bronze links were broken, and short pieces lie on the floor around the area. The altar's rim is dented and cut, as if struck by many hard blows.
The dais and throne:
The dais extends south into the Temple, forming a circular area. The floor, steps, and walls are black basalt, highly polished and gleaming. Four steps lead to the upper platform, and upon it is a great throne of purplish basalt, with leering demon faces and carved grinning skulls.
Above the throne, the following words in the common tongue are chiseled into the curving wall:
THE POWER OF ELEMENTAL DEATH
BRINGS MORTALS LOW
BUT RAISES THE NAMELESS ONE
HIGH
The flags upon which the throne sets are ten-foot squares of granite, set in a mosaic pattern.
"Elemental Death? Nameless One?" Avendryl rhetorically asks.
Looking around at carved demonic faces and grinning skulls, he comments, "Lovely décor in here." Taking note of the grand staircase, he adds, "Looks like down is the way to go, be it one of the previous stairwells or the main one here."
”I say do the big one! Small ones are for the servants. Let’s check this throne out first though.”
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"I concur to take the larger stair. Not only is it easier for Fezzik the Mighty to fit down, but if they flee from us, the narrower stair will hinder their ability to take ill-gotten booty with them.
Still, the workmanship of this place is...striking. One wonders why some noble or well-off merchant has not claimed this place for their own and made a nice bailey here. Most of the work is already done."
As the paladin scans the stair, Kyrie takes time to observe and note the throne, wondering at the craftsmanship that went into such a vile thing.
"The décor would ill suit a dragon, so I will forego calling 'dibs' on this particular redoubt as my personal domain."
Bataleigha is speechless at the scope and majesty of the evil reflected in the temple's interior. She feels very insignificant and ill-suited to oppose such malignancy at this early point in her career. She hopes Kyrie's right about there being nothing worse than bandits lairing in the place but Domeric's pronouncement of lingering evil on the altar warns her that there's a deeper more powerful evil at work in this place.
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Fezzik looks around the place in awe. "Imagine what place was like when active. Can see why fought to shut it down. Guess our turn now."
He considers their options for continuing lower. "Guess it depends on if want them to know we're here. Main stairway probably guarded better. But remember, evil cleric at moat house tough. His boss probably below. Stay focused and don't be stupid." he says, stopping suddenly to glance around as if someone else spoke those words. He reaches up to touch his magical headband, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
Bat gives some more thought to this Nameless One while Domeric examines the evil altar.
Domeric scans for evil auras and finds that the large dais and throne has a slightly stronger sense of evil to it, thought it is still largely residual.
The huge throne is carved of solid stone. You can likewise sense some kind of magic in the throne, but it is indeterminate and complicated.
The main staircase goes down 10' to a landing, which ends in a pair of massive bronze doors just like the ones at the entrance to the temple - and, like those, they have strange runes upon them that repel anyone who tries to enter.
"Well so much for that idea." Avendryl says, noting the impassable doors at the landing.
"Which way we want to go?" he asks pulling a silver piece from his pocket and flipping it in the air. "Heads- right, tails - left?"
"That is unless you actually want to go down the well." he adds, obviously not interested in that path.
"Hmm...tails it is. Left then?"
Fezzik glances down the well at the ledge and shakes his head. "Um, no," he says as he moves towards the left stairs.
You head down the western stairs, which enter a hallway with an intersection a short distance ahead.
Group: ”Allow me to look.”
Zinnath will stealth forward, staying high, and see around those corners, reporting back what he sees.
+1 vs traps
As Zinnath flits ahead, Fezzik notices that he seems to get closer to the ceiling. It takes a few moments for Fezzik to realize that the passage has a very gentle slope down.
This passage is evidently one of importance, for it is plastered and painted with the evil scenes typical of the Temple.
Zinnath notes that it's a four-way intersection, but from his current position can't see anything more aside from just more hallways.
I don't know about the rest of you," Avendryl says to the human members of the party, "but it's a bit too dark down here for my tastes." as he reaches for one of his sunrods.
Group: ”Mine too, artistically at least.”
Detects evil from where he is, not wanting to disturb the scouting dragon.
”Am I going forward, or Fez?”
Bataleigha casts light upon her new magic buckler; she grips her mace with whitened knuckles as the group moves deeper into the bastion of evil.
Fezzik moves up the hall towards Zinnath, a little confused as to why the dragon is calling him a hat. He glances down the hallway and shrugs. "You quiet, me not. You go, I follow when you say," he says.
Silver Knight