Lilly cautiously approached the malevolently glowing altar and deftly flicks the delicate Padma Blossom onto the altar. Suddenly the ethereal music vanishes, the room goes dark and you hear a great thud.
It takes a while for your eyes to adjust but you see the comatose form of Lilly lying a few feet from the altar. The altar itself has fallen to the floor and looks like some unremarkable carved stone.
Pratavh looked at everyone and said, "Quickly, we need to get Lilly out of this place. The altar tried to take her but did not finish before the blossom shut it down. We have to get her out of here quickly. I would also suggest that we destroy the altar now while it is vulnerable." Once she was on her way Pratavh said, "Now, let us see if we can destroy this thing." He chanted and pointed, a ball of force flying from his outstretched hand into the alter with battering force.
A tiny chip of stone pings off from the corner of the altar. It lands with a thud as if it was much heavier than it ought to be.
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Alwyn coming back down the steps as the din grows to a crescendo sees Lilly fall. Without much thought to his own well being he rushes forward to retrieve her.
However his hands slip on the gore still covering her from the Dragon's death and he fails miserably with his first grab.
But his second grab he finds purchase
Alwyn manages to pull Lilly away on the second attempt.
With no luck destroying the alter Pratavh gave up and moved to help Alwyn. He took his staff and s;id it into the main pouch of his haversack, the item sliding into the extra dimensional space. He moved over and said, "Grab her shoulders Alwyn, I will get her feet. Hirati, in case more lights are out keep creating those little light balls you enjoy so much so we can find our way back out. Those of you who want to leave come on, if anyone wishes to help bring down the mountain then do so. Our priority is to remove Lilly from this place now."
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Frustrated at a lack of ideas on how to combat the alter and with the injury his friend appears to have sustained however visible. Looking upwards at something only he can see, the man from his previous vision, he begins speaking.
"We need help here, the alter is beyond our ken to decipher how to destroy it. We understand it is evil and due to the rules you set, whether well-intentioned or not, you are unable to interfere with it's purpose. That is fine, we'll do out best to bury it here in the mountain until such time as some well-intentioned but naive explorer makes it up her and digs it back up falling under it's sway once more to wreak havoc in these lands you watch over. But for a time, the lands will be safe from it when we leave.
But, my friend Lilly has been stricken down by the alter's magic. She was hurt, applying the lotus blossom to this bastion of evil. Do not let it hurt her. thinking back to the conversations Pratavh and Lilly had had and the times they'd spent together; when Alwyn had noticed their hands touching in something more than just friendship. Their planned trip to the wedding with Bhani invited as well I was willing to sacrifice of myself for your intervention with Bhani, even moreso am I willing to make that sacrifice to help restore my friend, who was willing to go toe to toe with a dragon no less in this quest you set before us. Take of me what you will to restore her, the sacrifice will be worth it; but should you hands be tied in this matter, so be, we would all do so again to cleanse the land of the taint this alter spreads."
Alwyn stands there a moment waiting for a response.
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Looking at the items in his hand Alwyn, smiles himself as the echo of a chuckle fades from his mind. Brushing the dust from the booklet gingerly he begins scanning the pages written by a famous bard that lived some 500 years ago. Many of his songs were still sung today and very traditional for weddings in which feuds were ended.
Turning to the villagers present, he speak earnestly to them. "The alter here has been the source of many of the troubles that have plagued your village, probably since well before your grandparents and their grandparents were born. It is the antithesis of love and unity, for it is selfish and thinks only of itself, taking from others for it's own desires. My plea to the gods that sent us on this mission I thought had fallen on deaf ears but no, this pamphlet is a sign from them of how to end the alter menace upon your village and even the entirety of Jalmeray. Would there be any here or within the village that by the oppression of the alter's monks has prevented from being together. I know of one such couple but alas the were driven from your village, for we found them murdered in the forest outside of the village. Now is the time to put aside the prejudices of station and allow true love to reign within the hearts of the people. What say you?"
@GM used once a day Lore Master use to take a 29 on the kn check.
There's murmuring from the freed prisoners and for a time it seemed nobody would speak up, but eventually Jalissa pushed one of the village warriors forwards saying, "Come on Haljit, you often spoke of your love for Ghita while in the darkness. Just because the headwoman said no, doesn't mean you can't marry her daughter if she loves you too."
There's a ragged cheer of approval and suddenly tears are in Haljit's eyes. That afternoon, runners are sent down to the village to find it in uproar. The hated headwoman Shreya had committed suicide, and her clique of cultists had run screaming off into the jungle. It was as if a heavy load had been lifted from the backs of the villagers an they where in the mood for a party. Curiously the timing of Shreya's suicide matched the very hour when Lilly collapsed.
Speaking of Lilly, she seemed deathly pale and nobody had any idea what to do for her. In the end it was decided that she should rest outside the complex, the hope was clean air would help to revive her. She slept through the night in a state of profound catatonia, but something very curious happened with the dawn. Overnight a scattering of light cloud had gathered and when the sun's rays crested the horizon, there was the most amazing sunrise. With colors ranging from fiery red to the most delicate salmon pink, and all around the world was alive with the sound of birdsong. Lilly lay catatonic until the sun's rays touched her, and then she awoke ravenously hungry with no knowledge of how she got there.
Haljit proposed to Ghita, and she said yes. Plans where made for a wedding, to be held the very next day in the most curious of places, the former mountain stronghold of the cult of Dhalevi. The very idea was blasphemous, and more than a little exciting for all involved.
Shikyo begins scouring the village for signs of the Cultists. Root and stem.. is all he will say if anyone asks him about his near frantic activity.
Lilly comes to, woozy and blinking at the bright light of day.
Holding a hand in front of her eyes, the sight of the others with a worried look on the face catches her eyes.
Before she could speak though, the first sound to come from her was her stomach rumbling.
"Oops, sorry, but i seem to be very hungry....and hang on, were am i?"
She looks around, the scene is brighter and more colorful than the last thing she remembered. The altar, the flower...then screams and pain flooding her mind."[/b]
Pratavh had sat through the day with Lilly, then the night, and into the next morning. He didn't leave her as he waited to see when, or even if, she'd awaken. He had drifted off sometime before dawn but was quickly woken by Hirati who'd been laying on Alayna's chest all night and sensed the woman's first thoughts stirring. Prat! PRAT! She's waking up!
Pratavh stirred and sat up and leaned forward to see Lilly begin to stir. He smiled and said, "I am glad to see you have returned to us Lilly, we have all been worried about you. As for where we are we have returned to the village. You were unconcious after placing the lower on the alter, it worked by the way, at least partialy. Alwyn and I carried you to the elephant and rode back know with the refugees."
Hirati, having been quiet all night night couldn't stand it anymore, her form quivering with excitement she said, "LillylillylillylillyLILLY!" The little dragon wriggling for her "sister's" attention.
[Receives a wriggling hug from Hirati]
"Nice to see you too Hirati."
Lilly strokes the little one like one does a kitten.
"All the way from the temple to the village?
I was out cold pretty good then. I'd like to say i had victorious dreams, likely i would have dreamed something, but it won't come to me if i have."
Sitting right up now, she looks around more.
"How are the others?"
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Alwyn waits patiently for the villagers to come forward, without the prayer book it may led to doubts but those were gone now and a focus in place. When Haljit comes forward, Alwyn greets him warmly and nods his thanks to Jalissa for urging the warrior forward. "Now I believe we've all spent enough time in this temple, and some of you have families that they would like to get back to. Shall we?" Indicating the hallway leading towards the exit. Moving over, he helps Pratavh to move Lilly out and down to the elephants for the trek back to the village.
In the village, he helps to make Lilly 'comfortable' then leaves Pratavh and Hirati to watch over her as he attempts to help the village return to a sense of normalcy and prepare for the upcoming wedding.
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The next day passes without incident, and beyond the disappearance of Shikyo nothing can dampen the mood. The villagers gear up for a wedding, with colorful dress coming out of storage. Apparently not everything from their former lives was destroyed by the cultists, as hard as they might have tried.
A joyous procession lead by the bride and groom heads up the mountain, accompanied by enthusiastic singing and chanting. Alwyn of course had something special in mind for the actual ceremony, wedding march #2 from Matat Mahkar's book (wedding march #1 was a full orchestral piece for a crown princess, and didn't really seem appropriate).
By mid afternoon everyone is assembled in the former hallways of Dhalevi, but where there was once human skin wall hangings, there was now flowers and bunting. Of course the altar was still there, but it still seemed dormant although understandably nobody seemed keen to touch it.
The music started (Alwyn had excelled himself, using the acoustics of venue to harmonize his own voice, with a faithful rendition of music not heard in generations). The bride arrived flanked by her father Ajit to general applause. As the nearest representative of the gods Lilly officiated, and recited the vows that Haljit and Ghita affirmed. At this stage, Pratavh had to send Hirati out, because the little dragon was threatening to make a real nuisance, wanting to fly around the bride as they where married.
The couple took their first kiss and it was time to throw the bouquet. Up till now, everything had been sweet but perfectly normal, well as normal as a wedding in a creepy fighting arena could ever be. Something odd happened, the moment the bouquet left Ghita's hands, a gust of wind caused it to change direction and land on the altar. There was a flash of bluish light and the sound of cracking. The altar stone was riven through with a gigantic crack, followed by another and another. In front of dozens of witnesses it crumbled into dust.
Nobody looked back as Master Bvar set fire to large piled of oiled firewood he'd built up around the damaged support columns and as the party descended to the valley there was a distant sound like thunder as the roof collapsed. At the village Bala uncorked a hidden barrel of aged brandy he'd been saving for 'an auspicious occasion' and everyone got exceedingly merry. A few days later the party said their goodbyes and left Lechmugee for the capital.
Of course what happened there was a different story, one that perhaps the bards will sing of anon.