Teraldan's group was exploring a sanctuary, and the Griffons found themselves at a distant elven temple. Exploring the statue of an dwarven deity had triggered a magical effect of the shrine. The nexus of many a magical portal, the elven shrine teleported the Griffons to the top of another sanctuary, where they ran into Teraldan's group minus Teraldan and some of his crew.
Looking desperately for an entrance to the basement, those left on the ground floor ran into the recently magically transported Griffons.
The gnome's simple mind acknowledged the depth and complicated nature of magic, if not the details therein, but this sudden transport was inexplicable.
"Whoah... hey! I remember yall from the Lakeview Inn! Looks like we met sooner 'stead of later." Gellumniq looks around to see if anything looks familiar. "Where are we?"
A minute later, Teraldan and the missing others come out of a secret door in the side if the fortification.
Teraldan and his group find a secret door and exit by the northern part of the sanctuary. They finish fighting a set of programmed illusions the entire group is together again.
"I was not expecting to find you here" - the halfling comments when he sees the others - "What has happened?"
"Eh?" Broldun looks around himself, weapon and shield still in hand, tense for a fight and utterly confused.
Aviari emerges from the door, wide-eyed, seemingly flustered and very thankful to be alive. She relaxes a bit and brightens when she sees the group- the whole original Lakeside group, back in the room where she fell earlier!
"Mungo! Good to see you again, my friend. And Griffon Gellumniq, everyone. ..How did you suddenly appear here?"
Arya is curious and intrigued about th current turn of events
Hmm it seems this fortress has many tricks hidden within. Anyways I am glad everyone is here. It seems like this mission might require all of us.
"Your guess is as good as mine!" Says the diminutive cleric with a shrug. "One moment we're in a temple, under attack by an elf who sprung from a closet...the next moment we're all suddenly here. By the way...where is here?"
"We are in the Fortress of Elwynn, an iron structure in the wilderness. We are seeking a sacred bell, a relic of the Church, and supposedly this cleric, gone bad, has hired a group of orcs to fight for him."
She pauses for a moment and looks confused again. "Though much in this place is smoke and mirrors. We fought some wicked acolytes, but the orcs in the basement just now... seemed like illusions.. I think?"
She looks over her shoulder, golden hair cascading to one side, and smiles at the trogdolyte following behind. She looks back to the others. "And don't worry about Bogo here," she says gesturing to the trog, "he's on our side."
Good to see all of you again. We found another treasure map.
Bogo asks:
"Have we found my treasure yet."
The troglodyte wants to go to the X on the map.
When Aviari lays her eyes upon the halfling ranger, she can see that he nurses a rather nasty wound. "Aviari! It's so good to see you as well! Gellumniq's recounting is good enough for now, but let me just add - elves are keen swordsmen, and surprisingly savage when they attack. So, who's the smelly one? Bogo?" Mungo looks towards the troglodyte following the newly reformed group.
Gellumniq raises an eyebrow and casts a sidelong glance at the troglodyte. "Um, er...ok. If you say so Aviari."
A smelly troglodyte with a smile speaks in common.
"Hi--I'm Bogo. We were sent into a basement to fight orcs that turned out to be illusions. I want to find my treasure."
Bogo rushes off to the room where his treasure was hidden. Moving around the area of the trap, he finds no treasure there. He looks around the area for footprints with obvious suspicion.
Not really trusting this monstrous ally, Gellumniq follows.
Not really knowing what to look for, the sharp-eyed gnome keeps an eye out for anything of interest or suspicious.
When Aviari lays her eyes upon the halfling ranger, she can see that he nurses a rather nasty wound. "Aviari! It's so good to see you as well! Gellumniq's recounting is good enough for now, but let me just add - elves are keen swordsmen, and surprisingly savage when they attack. So, who's the smelly one? Bogo?" Mungo looks towards the troglodyte following the newly reformed group.
Aviari looks with concern at her friend's wounds. "So it would appear they are... It appears you are hurt!" With a glance back at the trogodolyte, she says to the new comers in general, "Aye. This is Bogo. He's quite friendly-.. Aand, you get used to his musk eventually..." Then moving closer to Mungo, she whispers to him, "Just be glad you have not visited his cave!"
Then, speaking louder again, her hands ready for casting. "Let's see if I can do anything about your wounds, my friend. This is a place to walk about whilst injured."
Nee is first somewhat surprised, then intrigued, and finally just plain happy to see the Griffons.
"Well, here we all are. Who is in charge?" she asks, looking from Gellumniq to Teraldan.
Gellumniq returns Ni's smile. Then looks around to everyone else.
"My pappy always said, the smaller the stature, the taller the heart. I vote for Teraldan!"
The gnome turns a bit red, meekly suggesting, "I am cautious, but not the sharpest spear on the rack..."
Bogo explains:
"I was the sole survivor of a group that made the mistake of ambushing this group. I joined the group, but I don't get a share of your treasure just like you are not going to get a share of my treasure."
Bogo Survival
He continues: "After fighting some evil priests, we went to the spot on my treasure map when we were dumped into the basement. This floor is hinged, and you must walk along this narrow ledge to be safe."
After Bogo moves to the spot, uncovers the flagstone exposing the empty treasure cache, and returns back, he puts his hands on his hips:
"Who jacked my treasure?"
A deep laugh comes from somewhere deep in the fortress.
"Elwyn!" Aviari growls with a bitter tone.
Nee says nothing as the curious troglodyte misses its goods...
Gellumniq thinks to himself, HIS treasure eh? I wonder what it is? I wonder why he trusts that we would allow him to depart safely with it?
Gell is startled by the deep laugh in the distance. "What....what was that?!"
"Elwyn took my treasure?"
The smelly reptile is clearly sincere with his question. Aviari nods slowly, and says, "that evil laughter we heard I would imagine is the master of this Nature-forsaken fortress!"
Nee can tell the troglodyte is playing along. She remains quiet, watching nothing in particular.
Canny Bogo knows. Still, not much he can do about it now...
Hmm, someone here must have seen what happened to this treasure, while we fell for that trap.
We need to find this Elwynn, the sooner the better. This castle is creeping me out.
"Agreed. A dwelling of forged steel isn't- natural. Let's determine the way ahead, and move. Though we should still be cautious- there may be other hinged floors in this place, and tricks and illusions abound."
Aviari looks for the way forward, is there a passage beyond the room with the hinged floor?
"Whoever shall be our fearless leader, I say let's try to find the way forward, whether it is around the edge of the hinged room or down some passage back the way we came."
"I will follow whomever should be willing to lead, though I agree that Terladan has the advantage."
"Can someone please tell us what your mission was? How can we help?" Gellumniq says this with a cheerful smile.
Teraldan listens to the exchange for some time, then steps in adding - "Well, I can only say it is by the strangest twist of fate that we find ourselves together here, but in truth it can only makes us stronger" - he offers a nod and a smile to his companions.
"The account relayed to us was that a renegade cleric by the name of Elwyn has been organizing orcs based off from this temple. We are here to both stop him and his plans, for the safety of Karameikos, and to strengthen the bond between the clergy and the Duke himself" - the halfling's voice sounds grave.
"I am in agreement with Aviari - let us proceed forward. As for the leader, you can count on me for making decisions when decisive action is called for, and I thank you for your trust. Otherwise we are a group, and all voices are to be heard"
You turn the corner to the right--moving from a ten foot wide corridor heading east to a ten foot wide corridor heading south with three large rooms off of it.
You look in the first room and......
This room is empty.
You continue to the second room and....
To your left you see an open area about 30 feet north-south by about 20 feet east- west. The area seems to be empty except for an altar similar to the one you saw earlier. There is a pedestal in the middle of the raised area. On top of the pedestal is a bell that appears to be made of a shiny metal.
The altar is made of marble, too heavy to he moved.
"'Right... I'm hearin' we'll be thumpin' a cleric gone bad and taking his treasure, soundin' like a right good time t' me!"
The dwarf has shield and axe to hand as the group begins exploring.
Gellumniq, ever-cautious, is leery of the this nearly empty room with a bell on an altar. What could it mean? What is its purpose?
He waves his little gnome fingers in the direction of the altar and bell.
Aviari says quietly to her comrades as they enter this room, "It should also be mentioned- we are looking for a bell. The true one has some significance for the church. However, we have come across a false one before... I am not sure which this one is- another forgery, or the true bell."
Nee looks around, unconcerned by anything that isn't a living foe.
"Another...ruse I'd wager." she offers, somewhat disinterestedly. "This place is definitely... wyrd..." The young warrioress' words trail off as she peers around.
Aviari, nodding to Ni Cu's reasonable assessment, also carefully searches the room.
The bell again proves to be false. Advancing down the hall...
You see an area to your left about 30 feet north-south by about 20 feet east-west. The room contains a mangey humanoid creature about three feet tall and apparently made of wood. It is moving stifflv toward you.
Gellumniq
Broldun
Mungo
Aviara
Malthor
Ni-Cu
Teraldan
The Quill
Enemy 1
Many of the party get the jump on the wooden creature.
Order
Ni cu
Teraldan
Aviara
Mungo
Wooden creature
party
Wooden creature
Nee stifles a screech as the abomination lurches toward the party. Unthinking, she leaps to the offense kicking out at the splintery foe
Round 1.
Move Action: Close to melee range from Z-27 to Z-30
Standard Action: Open Hand strike (kick actually…)
[BAB, +2 Str, +1 Weapon Focus]
[+2 Str]
Ni Cu attacks the wooden creature, and the blows seem to have little effect on the abomination.
Order
Ni cu
Teraldan
Aviara
Mungo
Arya
Wooden Creature
Party
Wooden Creature
"Clear the door!", Mungo barked as he shouldered his crossbow. "I don't have a clear shot on any of them!"
Teraldan lets fly an arrow at the creature, firing from point blank range.
Arya will move from Z 28 to AB 31 and fires an arrow