The Temple of Kha'shazul Part Four - Guardians of the Temple Portico
The band used some minor spells and potions of healing before splitting up to investigate the huts of the Blackscale and Poison Dusk Lizardfolk. While Hamba kept watch, Vedim and Sokol searched the huts of the Poison Dusk Lizardfolk they had just killed and found valuable bags of dragonshards. Meanwhile, Ayrmidon snuck over to the huts where they had previously seen the Blackscales, only to find them now abandoned. He did find some kind of white-furred creature howling inside a wooden cage, but was unable to identify it as it roared and shook the cage whenever he got close enough to try and look through the slats.
Ayrmidon reported back to the others, and they all went back to investigate the cage. Hamba suggested that they should let it out, but as he approached the cage, it began to rock back and forth violently, the howling and roaring growing ever louder, and they all determined that this might be a bad idea.
With no further response to the alarm, it was decided to sneak through the underbrush to get to the temple. As they got closer, the adventurers could see a stepped stone platform underneath a stone roof held up by columns. Patrolling on this portal into the temple they saw two Blackscale Lizardfolk. As they snuck closer, Sokol got his foot caught in a vine and tripped, grabbing hold of a large branch for stability. Unfortunately, the branch bent forward and he lost his balance, causing the branch to swing back and thwack him solidly in the face. The resulting din alerted the Blackscales to the approaching adventurers, and the fight was on!
Hamba pulled down his deathmask and rode forward on Ooni's back as Sokol recovered his balance and launched magic missiles at one of the Blackscales. Meanwhile, Vedim moved forward and cast Bless, although Ayrmidon was out of the effect, just a few meters out of reach and readying his bow for a sneak attack.
Unfortunately, his shot went wide, and announced his presence to the Blackscales. While Hamba engaged one of the Blackscales, the other charged into the jungle at Sokol, who continued to pepper him with magic missiles. Then Hamba became aware of another threat, as a creature that looked like half-dragon, half-centaur (later identified as a dracotaur) emerged from the shadows at the entrance to the temple and spit a fiery glob at him. The glob missed Hamba, but it exploded in a shower of flame and sparks that still singed a few of the dwarf's whiskers.
Ayrmidon fired again at the Blackscale attacking Hamba, but was unable to get a clear shot without endangering Hamba or Ooni. Ooni clawed the Blackscale, but she paid for the attack when the Blackscale delivered a crushing blow to her skull, nearly killing her and forcing Hamba to leap off, putting him in the path of the dracotaur's spear, which slid deep into his side.
The other Blackscale reached Sokol and bit him, causing Sokol to draw his sword while Vedim moved in to flank and hit the large creature in the back with his warhammer, causing it to roar in pain and stumble slightly. Sensing its weakness, Sokol fired a burst of magic missiles point blank and killed it, just as two more Blackscale Lizardfolk came around the other side of the temple to join the fray.
Hamba moved to Ooni's side and bandaged her wounds enough to stop the bleeding, and then he stood astride his mount and roared a challenge, flying into a berserker rage. His roar unsettled the Blackscale attacking him enough to cause it to miss, and Hamba slashed into him with his tangat and killed it.
Vedim left the dead Blackscale at Sokol's feet to rush forward and cast a healing spell that awakened the weakened Ooni. Ayrmidon, having cast an infusion to make his bow the bane of Lizardfolk, fired a sniper shot at the Blackscale reinforcements. It was a solid shot right to the Blackscale's chest, but despite its wounds, the creature kept charging, joining up with the dracotaur to close in on the adventurers.
However, Sokol fired a snowball swarm at the dracotaur and the wounded Blackscale, and while the dracotaur dodged most of the damage, the arcane cold spell was enough to finish off the wounded Blackscale. Sokol paid for his bravery, however, as the dracotaur rushed up and stabbed the spear right through his throat, nearly killing the Karrnathi sorcerer. Vedim responded by firing a burst of searing light at the dracotaur, causing it to growl ferociously and turn in the dwarven cleric's direction.
The last remaining Blackscale launched an unsuccessful attack on Hamba, and took an arrow from Ayrmidon in return, but it did get to slash away at Hamba as he rushed to Sokol's aid, slashing into the dracotaur with his tangat. With the Blackscale so close and her defenders gone, Ooni took this chance to swipe her back claws into the nearby Blackscale, hurting it but not killing it.
The dracotaur stabbed Vedim with its spear while swinging its tail fiercely into Hamba, but Vedim managed to recover enough to bestow a curse of slowing on the dracotaur, which slowed him enough for Hamba to finish off the beast.
Meanwhile, the other Blackscale knocked out Ooni for the second time, but before it could deliver a killing blow, Ayrmidon shot it through the chest and the Blackscale fell to the ground.
Vedim moved to heal Sokol as Hamba drank a potion to heal his wounds, and then the group began checking the bodies of the creatures for weapons and treasure. However, while they were searching the bodies, now located in the jungle, they saw a young black dragon fly up and out of the well at the temple entrance. It flew over the jungle, but didn't see them, and then it flew back down into the well.
Not really prepared to attack a dragon after such a close encounter with the temple defenders, the group returned to their campsite a few hours back into the jungle and rested, with Vedim ministering to the wounded Hamba. When they felt rested enough, they left in the middle of the night to return to the temple.
The Temple of Kha'shazul Part Five - The Cult of Rhashaak
The adventurers were pleased to discover that the guard at the temple entrance hadn't been replaced, and so Ayrmidon scouted the well by tying a rope off and climbing down. He discovered that there was a solid floor about 20 feet down, and determined that it could rotate to open, but that the mechanism was clearly located on the other side.
The others joined Ayrmidon and ventured into the darkened temple. Moving down the central corridor, they spotted a bas-relief of a skeletal dragon in victorious battle against a horde of demons, rising like a swarm of locusts from the caldera of a raging volcano. They also heard some kind of beast growling and snarling in an adjacent chamber, and Ayrmidon snuck in, spotting a Blackscale Lizardfolk in a suite of rooms that clearly served as some kind of dormitories. Just beyond, he could hear another of the creatures yelling at whatever the beast was in Draconic.
Ayrmidon pulled back and the group voted on whether to go down the well or to try to find another way in. While Ayrmidon and Vedim suggested attacking the dragon, Sokol counseled taking care of the Blackscales to avoid any reinforcements showing up during the dragon battle, and his course was determined to be the wisest.
Once again, Ayrmidon was given the role of scout and sneak, and he used a Lizardfolk bane on his rapier before Sokol cast a scroll of invisibility on him and Vedim blessed him with Protection from Evil. Ayrmidon snuck into the chamber near one of the Blackscales as Sokol threw a lighted pebble to get their attention.
Much to the surprise of the adventurers, as Vedim cast spells from his god and moved into the circle of light to draw the Lizardfolk out, they heard the Blackscales calling upon their god, the half-fiendish dragon Rhashaak, and protecting themselves from good before moving in to investigate.
As the other Blackscale emerged from the room, Ayrmidon moved in and stabbed the Blackscale in the dormitory with his rapier, piercing the creature's lung. The Blackscale spun in place and slammed its greatclub into Ayrmidon's chest as the other one charged forward into the circle of light and found itself the focus of a burst of attacks from the rest of the adventurers. Sokol unleashed a magic missile as Hamba charged forward on Ooni. The Blackscale adept ignored these attacks, instead swinging his club into the dwarven cleric of a different god.
Ayrmidon stabbed his opponent again, following through on his momentum from his previous attack, and the Blackscale fell unconscious, breathing shallowly from its perforated lung. Meanwhile, the others fell into combat with the Blackscale adept, which managed to avoid taking any hits other than Sokol's magic missile, but was unable to land any attacks either as a result. Vedim and Sokol finished the Blackscale off with searing light and magic missiles. For his part, Ayrmidon finished off the unconscious Blackscale adept with a stab of his rapier.
As the others took treasure and equipment from the Blackscales, Hamba moved into the next room to discover that it was some kind of sacrifice chamber, with empty cages, another well leading down below and a dire wolverine chained to the wall. Hamba calmed the wolverine enough to search its area, but didn't find anything of note there.
Following the faint sound of chanting, Ayrmidon moved through the central corridor and into another room, where he saw a massive altar, a mural behind it depicting a black dragon perched on an active volcano, the bodies of demons littering the base. The room also featured another circular well, and there were three Blackscale Lizardfolk performing a ritual with incense and chanting. One of them was decked out with a gold-inlaid chausible over his robes, clearly the temple's high priest.
Ayrmidon took this chance to fire his longbow at one of the adepts, but it bounced off the heavy armor underneath his robes, and the battle was joined, as Hamba and Ooni rushed in and Vedim cast Magic Circle Against Evil to protect his allies.
Before the Blackscales could do much to react, Ayrmidon shifted his aim up and fired another arrow, this time hitting the adept in the shoulder and causing a spurt of black blood. Hamba charged into the room as the High Priest cast a spell and vanished.
After failing to command Ooni and Ayrmidon with their spells, the adepts joined in combat with Hamba and Ooni. Hamba and Ooni nearly killed one of the adepts, causing it to back off and drink a potion while the other struck Hamba hard with its greatclub.
Sokol unleashed a web spell on half of the room, trapping both of the adepts in the web, and Ayrmidon dropped his bow and moved in with his rapier to attack the wounded Blackscale and finish him off. Hamba began attacking the other one, and Vedim followed up on Sokol's spell by casting burning hands at the Blackscale, lighting the web on fire.
The adept was able to escape the burning web and rush away, but not before Hamba swung his tangat into his fleeing backside. This adept drank his potion of healing, but he was struck almost immediately by magic missiles from Sokol.
Ayrmidon, Hamba and Ooni moved in to attack the adept while Vedim cast an inhibit spell to prevent him from acting, giving Hamba enough time to move into position and kill the adept with his tangat.
Hamba then ordered Ooni to seek the high priest, and was startled to discover that the high priest was only a few feet away, stuck in the vestry next to the altar and unable to escape invisibly thanks to Vedim and Sokol's flaming webs.
Unfortunately, the high priest had taken advantage of the combat to cast a few spells on himself, and empowered by his god's magic, he moved in and swung his greatclub at both Ooni and Hamba, dealing massive, powerful blows to each of them. Sokol opened up with magic missiles, but discovered that the priest was wearing a brooch of protection, and so he instead began preparing to cast a spell into the well if the black dragon were to emerge during the fight.
As Hamba tumbled back to drink a potion, the high priest swung his greatclub into Vedim's midsection, who stepped back a bit to cast a cure spell on Hamba and a quick wound closure spell on the badly wounded Ooni.
Ayrmidon tumbled in to join the fight as Hamba summoned his rage, and Vedim summoned flame into his hands and launched a spiritual hammer to attack the high priest. Sokol, convinced that the dragon wasn't coming, pulled out his bow and began firing at the high priest.
The group concentrated its attacks on the high priest, suffering severe damage from its greatclub and bites in return. Wounds from Ayrmidon and Hamba began to wear down the priest, but a burst of fire and electricity from Vedim that struck just at the right time staggered him, giving Ayrmidon an opening to finish the Blackscale holy warrior off with his rapier.
Badly battered after this battle, the group took treasure and magic items from the priest and his adepts and again retreated back into the jungle. They spent time healing and resting, and as the morning sun rose over the jungle, they resolved to go back into the Temple of Kha'shazul and seek out the black dragon that had made it his home.
XP: 2688
(Randy: feel free to reformat this post into your usual "character"-style.)
Name:Ayrmidon Dannelorn