Wuliem's attempt at pulling another item from his pocket does not go unnoticed, and draws attacks from Devyna, who swipes twice at Wuliem with the flat of the spear head and the shaft, aiming to subdue him without killing him.
As this proves ineffective and Wuliem dissolves his bonds, Salathir and, moving into position, Phaneon jab at Wuliem with their spears, but are unable to strike effectively because of the cover the walls.
Devyna then strikes hard herself and pierces Wuliem's chest in an unarmored area, staggering him! She then steps back.
Storn rushes to the scene of the conflict, hoping he didn't miss it, only to see the blow against Wuliem.
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Wuliem reaches into another coat pocket.
He tosses a flask at Devyna.
Price 16.6 gp; Weight 1 lb.
DESCRIPTION
Harvested and concentrated from the remains of slain ghasts, this foul-smelling powder is kept in tightly sealed flasks. It is thrown as a splash weapon and the flask breaks on impact, releasing noxious dust. The target is nauseated for 1 round and sickened for 3 rounds after that. A successful DC 12 Fortitude save prevents the nauseated condition, but not the sickened condition. Creatures within 5 feet of where the flask hits are sickened for 1 round. This is a poison effect.
Wuliem takes a 5' step to his right.
"Demon worshippers?!" Devyna says, appalled, and glares back, "We will defend Korada's holy servant, Dakang, to the death!"
Many of the devotees are starting to react to the outbreak of violence, uttering baffled and pain cries asking, "Why are you doing this?! Why have you brought violence to Korada's temple?! Please, stop what you are doing now!" They are getting up from the table but don't appear to know why to do.
The hypnotized devotees appear to be the human Di Duang, and the halflings Liso, Pualo, and Tamtei.
Devyna holds her spear firmly and seems to wait to see what Turan will do.
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Although bloodthirsty and ready to knock off some heads, Storn pauses as he looks at the standoff between Turan and the aasimars. He looks evenly at them.
"All right, look, as much as I want to beat sense into you, maybe you'll listen first and I can heal Wuliem's stupid sucking chest wound. I know Korada, and apparently better than you do. Everything here is wrong. Your rituals are evil. Your library is missing key books. The remaining books have been altered - and the alterations reference abyssal locations! Also - something is really wrong with your food."
Storn wraps his fingers around his sword, and grins.
"So, we've got an option here. You can start listening to us, you can get all huffy and I hit you with my sword. What'll it be?"
Although the aasimar are clearly not in the most receptive mood now, they are given pause by Storn's assertions, demanding proof. Unfortunately, at this point in an incomplete investigation, it is merely the party's recollections of Korada's doctrines and the nature of the places mentioned versus Dakang's assertions and what written documents remain in the library, although the catalog indicating the missing materials helps some. They also seem unconvinced about the food: "The food is healthy and good tasting: perhaps things truly good are like ashes in your mouths, but not ours."
Storn also remembers that the Spiral of Korada is not supposed to be obscured, and it was completely obscured in the weed-filled garden.
"Though we were attacked without cause or explanation, only the perpetrator has been injured - so far - and Korada does teach us peace and forgiveness," Devyna intones, seemingly justifying not continuing the battle, both to herself and her companions.
"You shall be watched, and asked to leave if you can not behave."
Gastidem walks back through the crowded hallway, and he gives you a rather smug look.
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Looking at his hypnotized audience, Herman asks them to tell him what they know of Korada, and the rituals performed here. He sits and listens pleasantly, releasing them from hypnosis one at a time as they answer.
"You will have no memory of telling me anything, and you must only answer in the truth as you know it." he tells each of them before asking the question.
Herman receives information from the devotees that simply confirms what they have publicly told the group already: there is the meditation in the meditation room with two components, using the three mediation spheres and a chant; there are usually three services a day given by Dakang, including a ritual using the "symbols of celestial silence and contemplation"; and there is, of course, the "Kiss of Korada". All see Korada, despite the especially grim nature of the last ritual, as a god of forgiveness, peace, and enlightenment.
It also comes out that Liso is nervous since her husband, Wei, has not come back from his walk around the temple earlier (no one ever goes far from the temple). He has been particularly moody and morose for the past several weeks, ever since he lost the final finger on his left hand to the "Kiss of Korada" ritual in the garden.
At the end of the meal, which people get back to, if anything, with unusual ease and calm (perhaps resulting from a life of meditation?), you note that everyone takes additional piles of food and drink from the table back to their own rooms. The table, Di Duang explains, only generates the bounty once per day.
After the meal and a little time for the devotees to return to their rooms with the spare food and to clean and prepare themselves, everyone filters into the chapel grounds, taking up places on the prayer mats and motioning for you to do the same.
Once everyone is in place, an obese human man steps confidently to the podium on the high balcony in the chapel. He is draped in layers of cloth trimmed with small bells that jingle lightly as he moves. The man’s bald head is surrounded by a thin fringe of gray hair, but the lower half of his face is wrapped in a white silk scarf stitched with a line of unusual double-arrow symbols.
Dakang opens the service by welcoming the visitors and leading his congregation in a few meditative stretches. Soon, Dakang launches into a lengthy sermon about Korada’s holy city of Vantian, City of Open Windows, whose sacred residents are eternally engaged in prayer and maintenance of the city. It is an impassioned delivered but still rather bland and inoffensive sermon, though it restates many of the facts that you believe to be untrue.
After his sermon, Dakang instructs his worshipers to "assume the symbols of celestial silence and contemplation." The worshipers produce vials of ink and begin marking each other’s faces wit h double-arrow symbols above and below the eyes and above and below the mouth. The worshipers attempt to do this in reverent silence. They gesture to you, offering to decorate the your mouths and eyes as well, although they do not press any that refuse to participate. Neither the aasimars (who are on guard) nor Dakang participate in this ritual (although Dakang need not do so, as the symbols mark the scarf Dakang wears over his mouth).
The effect looks something like this.
Once the face-inking is complete, Dakang breaks the silence with the command, "Wash the symbols from your face and enjoy the beautiful day Korada has provided." The worshipers cheerfully wash the symbols from each other’s faces and exit the chapel to return to their normal business.
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While normally tolerant, Hagan decides to refuse the paint. The party's suspicions about the true nature of this cult having hardened his resolve to help these people.
During the Sermon he silently chants a litany to Old Dead Eye.
The first gift we receive is family...
He also surreptitiously glances from one member of the congregation to the next, trying to sense their hearts.
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Once the eerie service ends, Herman feels more and more compelled to get this mission behind them and leave this strange place behind. He reviews the missino goals once again:
" First, locate the temple’s meditation room, find evidence of any meditative techniques described there, and record any effects of performing those techniques. Second, prepare a comprehensive catalog of all works in the temple library. Third, find the temple gardens and draft a detailed plan of the garden’s layout. Finally, enter the temple’s crypt and take rubbings of the carvings on each sarcophagus.
Feeling like they have the library and the garden checked off, Herman asks the others about the meditation room: "Have any of you been in there and seen the goings-on? I haven't, but the hypnotized subjects told about the spheres and chant?"
Remembering further, he also asks his group of pathfinders, "Have any of you seen anythnig about a crypt? I don't think that was on the tour? Should we ask Liso about that? And what about her missing husband? Odd, right?"
Storn declines the strange ritual, not recognizing it except as mentioned in the apparently-altered books in the library, but the devotee who offers it is gracious, if perhaps a bit disappointed.
Hagan does not detect any evil auras in the room - much like his life so far, fighting only evil individuals of relatively petty power - until now, when his gaze pauses on Dakang and he senses a strong evil!
Fortunately, it seems that the adult guards and worshipers are accustomed to taking little notice about what goes on in the garden, as a rule, and were focused on the sermon and the ceremony. Wuliem has, however, attracted the mirthful attention of all three halfling boys. (Has a boy of any species ever made it through a church sermon without looking out the window?)
After the ceremony as most of the devotees have gone their separate ways, Di Duang comes over, but stands respectfully at a distance while the group talks privately.
She then comes forward, asking, "Would you care to go to meditation, or perhaps to rest in your rooms? I would now go to meditation now, but I've been asked to see that ... well, ... your visit helps guide you to the proper path..." She seems to be searching for a way not to offend their rare but ... um, interesting guests.
"Well, I suppose that is a path, but I am not sure if it is to enlightenment or not. You may have to tell me more. 'Lord in iron', you say? I am familiar with 'iron', I think... Hmm. There may be some old 'cutlery' and 'pots and pans' in the old kitchen that might interest you; no one uses that anymore as Korada always provides for us with the table."
"That is all I know about the hallway and the crypt."
"Um, should we all stay together as a group? Mr. Wuliem? .. Mr. Wuliem?" Di Duang calls out nervously after Wuliem. The halfling boys also now seem determined to follow Wuliem wherever he goes; though they keep a little distance, they giggling and poking each other and are not very stealthy, bells ringing on their garments.
"Yes, it is strange for Wei to miss a sermon... I don't know where he could be."
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Herman sees nothing untoward in the man's comments. If Wei is missing, it doesn't seem particularly important to the man, but otherwise no clues.
"I think we should follow Storn to the crypt and make the rubbings we were asked to find for the Society. After that we can meditate or whatever. If we hurry, we can get out of this creepshow faster."