As Nau's hands push against the stone door he can feel it resist his attempts to open it for but a moment before it gives way. The door opens with a loud , and Nau can see the inside of the building. A stone bench line the southern wall of this chamber. At the far side of the room, a basin of water sits atop a stone pedestal. A stone door engraved with an image of a hammer stands to the north.
After opening the stone door, Nau moves into the strange stone building.
"This appears to be a derelict shrine."
Val casts Detect Magic and inspects the auras closer..
Halara thinks for a second, trying to remember where did she saw this symbol before.
This is a temple to Torag. A patron deity of the dwarves, and a protector of the outer realms.
Nau can see that there is another door partially hidden by the rubble that leads into the temple.
Temples of the gods depend upon worship, and care to remain places of power against evil.
"Oh, now I do get the picture. This is a Temple of Torag. He is a patron deity of the dwarves, and protector of the outer realms. We could be in allied territory, since it was made by them, but this could be abandoned for a long time now." She approaches the stone door and takes a careful look at it before any movement to open it.
Thorst continues looking around the outside of the building looking for anything out of the ordinary...
...Before returning to Anevia and the blind elf.
"Abandoned temples lose their power with time, and that's probably why I detect a faint aura lingering the place."
What a strange and unknown god . . .
Nau opens the inner door as well.
Nau can see that broken stone benches line this narrow room. The air is cold and stale, and thick layers of dust cover the floor, benches, and a large altar at the far end of the room. A stocky figure in a hood sits upon the bench nearest the altar facing toward the great hammer symbol at the head of the church.
Halara comes in right after Nau, seeming scared by the presence in there. She tries the first thing that comes into her mind:
"Hello?"
Val moves in and readies her weapon should the newcomer become violent..
As Halara's voice echos around the room no response can be seen from the stocky figure currently sitting down.
"We are lost. May we take refuge in your temple?"
Nau moves closer to get a better look at the seated figure.
Halara summons light on the tip of her spear-like staff, then approaches the figure and uses the spear to gently remove its hood.
The dwarf smells of grave dust, and decay.
As Halara tries to use her spear-like staff to remove the hood the figure's hand comes up, and knocks it away.
"Leave me alone ye blasted human."
The figure turns around revealing the face of a dwarf. He seems to be very old, and he looks at everybody else in the temple with a glare.
"Can't you lot see a dwarf who's trying to sleep?"
"You do not seem well. Will you accept Irori's healing?"
"Should a temple really be a place for sleep?"
Thorst returns to the three outside and reports, "Seems like this place has been abandoned long ago. I can see no tracks or anything else here."
The dwarf recoils away from Nau.
As the dwarf goes into a corner he seems to be hyperventilating for a bit before speaking again. His next words are directed at Golradir.
"Where else would I sleep? In the bloody cave?"
Halara's face change from scared to worried. She hears her friends speak, but knows all too well people should not be disturbed, and Golradir's comment sounded harsh. I bet the dwarf is here for a reason, and maybe some stronger approach might bring us faster results.
"We're sorry to interrupt your sleep, but we're a lost flock and we need some guidance. As much as we know we're below Kenabres, and the city is under attack right now as we speak. Could you please speak with us?"
As you hear shouting from an unfamiliar voice from inside the temple Aravashinal seems surprised.
"Well it seems like this place isn't abandoned after all."
Confused by the dwarf's outburst, Nau struggles to understand, Are you the priest of this temple? Of Toor-ag?"
The dwarf struggles to speak now currently trying to hold back its anger.
"I'm no priest. Priests are only there for when times are good, they abandon you when anything goes wrong. Even the gods are nothing, but big fat priests."
The woman gets very uncomfortable at the dwarf's words, but she manage to keep her anger from her speech.
"You should not mock the gods. They work through mysterious ways, and sometimes their actions are misunderstood by us, but still, they are there in the good and in the dark times. Do you mind to explain to us where we are?"
She tries to understand what is wrong with the dwarf.
"It seems perhaps he's been alone down here for too long.. His social skills have left him.. Could you perhaps tell us how to go about reaching the surface? We could easily be out of your hair and let you go back to your sitting alone.."
"It seems strange then that you would take refuge in one other their temples. Even if you have no love of the gods, why would you choose to live amongst such decay? What do you eat and drink?"
The dwarf doesn't seem to recognize that it would need food, and water to survive in these conditions.
The dwarf seems extremely angry at Halara's words.
"The gods abandoned me to die....
They abandon everybody to die....
I will show you that they have abandoned you as well!"
As the dwarf speaks his face suddenly turns into a mask of rotten flesh. Her raises up his claws, and screams at the party.
This is a Huecuva. These creatures are either created when a cleric loses faith in his god, or a blasphemer is punished by a god. They either go out, and hunt priest, or seek hopeless absolution in the temples they once treasured.
They can appear as they did in life only during the day, and revert to their undead forms at night.
They also resist any weapon not made of Silver, or one that has no magical properties.
Finally their claws carry vile diseases, and they have a strange resilience to a clerics divine channeling that they spread to other nearby undead as well.
AC 15, Touch 12, Flat-Footed 13
"Hmm. Perhaps they have found something. I hope they don't take too long. It is clear we went down the wrong tunnel."
He waits outside and keeps watch on the way the came.
"Blasphemer! Forsaken One! Huecuva! We will cleanse this house of the gods of your rot. Beware its claws, they carry disease. It will resist your weapons unless they are silver or magic."
Nau casts Protection from Evil on Valkyrie.
Thorst hears the shouting and turns to the blind elf. "Make me strike true Wizard."
Thorst waits till the elf has cast his spell and then runs inside and seeing the monster of a dwarf stops in from of Halara, Falchion in hand. "What is this thing?"
The creature roars at Nau, and rushes forward to claw him.
With a sicking slice the creature opens up a wound in Nau's body
Golradir recites a small incantation and spreads his hands towards the cloaked figure, releasing a prismatic spray of a plethora of prismatic colors.