Temple Arc

Arc Summary
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Session 83

 * Google Document (3-3-23)

We spend a few more days in Falas resting and preparing for our journey. Reides spends a lot of time working on his spellbook. Kilwin spends his days poring over the etiquette book. The book is a bit old, so he's not sure how much of its information is accurate anymore. He learns that, in order to invite someone to dance, you bow to them, offering your right hand and cupping your elbow with your left. You also wait to begin eating until after the highest-ranking person starts their meal. There's also a lot of information about the optimal spoon to use for different courses. Ashara spends most of her time with Kain. Jorah mostly relaxes, but makes multiple visits to the Temple of the Nameless God. He learns some funerary rites and some prayers to the Nameless God, although since specific veneration of them is rare, they're almost like requests or contracts made with them. Jorah is also able to pick up a bottle of magma wine from Urli.

On the morning of Winter's Dawn 14, we wake up bright and early to head to the airship landing, where a tealish green airship is docked. Kain brings Ashara to see her and the rest of us off. The two groups spot each other at the same time. The glint of Ashara's silvery dress and Kilwin's armor are both very conspicuous. Judging by our tickets, we have about 15 minutes before we need to board. Kilwin asks if we have everything. Ashara confirms she has the teleportation circle chalk with her. Kilwin hopes he brought everything and that if he didn't, Urli will hold onto it for him. Reides mentions that he'll need to look into those corsages Ashara mentioned when we're back in Falas. Ashara is excited about this and also suggests that we might find some flowers for it where we're going. She asks Kain if he'd consider changing his mind and coming with us, maybe sending a clone along. Kain says that's a bit beyond his capabilities! Ashara advises Reides that he can get one-up on Kain there. Reides mentions his Mirror Image spell, but doesn't think that's that advanced. Kain says he's referring to a physical clone though, which could also hypothetically be used for life extension. Reides thinks that's a little sketchy-sounding and Jorah straight up does not like it. Ashara smacks Jorah with her metal arm, but he's too hungover to really care. Concern is expressed. Jorah is pretty sure he was drinking but doesn't remember how much or why or if he was with anyone, although he thinks he had company. More concern is expressed. Kilwin casts Lesser Restoration on him. Ashara comments that her mother told her that drinking with company is fine but drinking alone is a problem. Jorah asks if any of us have flown before. None of us have, at least not for long, although Reides can technically fly on his own if needed. He hasn't yet though. Reides says that if any of us fall, Pepega will save us. To demonstrate, Pepega latches on to Jorah's shoulder and attempts to fly upward. Neither of them budge, although Jorah gets hit in the face with Pepega's wings. Eventually, he takes her by the scruff of her neck and lifts her off his shoulder. She calmly hangs in his grasp. Kain advises all of us to stay away from the ledge, but Reides thinks that sounds like the most fun place to hang out. Kain checks his pocket watch and announces that it's probably time for us to head up. He wishes us well, and Ashara promises we won't end up in prison this time. Kilwin's pretty sure there's no prison to put us in there! Kain says we should be fine if we're just going to Bastion, although he has heard the mayor is a bit skeevy. We won't be there long though! Kain tells us to have safe travels and tells Ashara he loves her. As we head to the airship tower, Ashara shouts out that she loves Kain too! Jorah mutters under his breath that he loves Kain too.

As we head up the stairs, we catch up on the past few days, since Ashara has spent it apart from the rest of the party. Ashara prods Kilwin for details on his arrangements with Grinlief, although Kilwin doesn't have much to report and admits he's very nervous about the whole thing. There's a lot of etiquette things to remember. He asks if the bowing thing is real. Ashara admits she's not a good person to ask. Reides comments that it's different underwater. Down there, you bow and do an elaborate spin in the water. Kilwin observes that bowing seems to be a constant here. Kilwin is also nervous about the abundance of spoons, although he figures he'll just copy whoever is sitting next to him. If Grinlief is doing it wrong, he will have company! Ashara asks if Jorah is taking anyone to the ball, and Jorah says he invited the Kraken. Ashara says she supports him, but the Kraken scares her a lot. Jorah says she's not that bad! Reides rats him out, saying that he was the one who invited the Kraken on Jorah's behalf. Kilwin confirms that it was originally Reides's idea to boot. Reides admits that he feels a little bad because he felt like he was forcing Jorah into it! Ashara thinks Jorah could use some peer pressure. He's stunned by her confidence in him. Ashara and Kilwin bond over being told by Jorah to think before they say things. Jorah says it's fine because he also doesn't think ever. Reides says he's good at thinking, which Kilwin agrees with.

As Jorah remarks that this is a tall tower, we reach the top. There's a number of gates, one of which is open and leads to a gangplank connecting the landing to a green airship: the Viridian Comet. Next to it, Karrl stands with a clipboard and a small metal contraption. Everyone has their tickets ready to go, while Jorah needs some time to rummage in his things. The rest of the party boards, and Karrl uses his contraption to punch a hole in each of our tickets. Jorah finally finds his ticket and joins us. Karrl advises us to keep our whole body on the ship at all times- while the alternative might be tempting, it's very dangerous. The crew will show us to our quarters on board. The trip will take a week and two days, and we'll be dropped at the base of the mountain, since there's not many good places to land up top. The rest of the journey will be up to us. Reides compliments Karrl's clipboard and hole maker. Karrl explains it's called a hole punch, since it punches holes through paper or parchment. Reides wants one! Karrl tells him he knows what line of work he needs to enter then! Reides wonders if Karrl means holing, but Karrl explains you get to use one if you work in the airship offices. Ashara asks if seasickness will be an issue. Karrl says airsickness is a whole different beast, but she'll be fine. She should try not to puke on the deck though, or the cabin boys will be deeply unhappy. We cross the gangplank, which has guardrails. Jorah is gripping those, white-knuckled. He is clearly not happy about this! Kilwin tells him it will be fine, very conspicuously staring straight ahead. Reides is the only one who looks down. He sees that we're at least a hundred feet up. He loves it! After we make it across, Karrl stows his clipboard and begins gesturing to people on the tower, who unsecure the gangplank. On board, a crewmate winches the gangplank up into the rest of the airship. One crewmate more finely dressed than the others approaches us. He's a human man with a clipboard. He has short hair, buzzed on the sides but longer on top. He takes attendance, making sure the whole party is accounted for. He messes up Reides's name though, pronouncing it "Rei-des." As he guides us to our quarters, Reides asks his name, which is Vel. He takes us to the back of the ship and down some stairs. We go through some more doors toward the back of the ship, where there's a hallway leading to four rooms. Vel takes out a ring of four keys, unlatches them, and hands one to each of us. Each one has a room number etched on it and is to be returned before we disembark. There are three meals a day, served at 8 AM, noon, and 6 PM in the mess hall, which is on the other side of the ship on the same level as our rooms. Jorah asks if we're allowed to go above deck at night. Vel says it'll be lit, so that shouldn't be an issue. He does advise Jorah to be careful, since we'll be hundreds of feet in the air. Jorah understands! Reides asks if it's okay to go up and watch us take off. Vel says we'll take off soon, but that should be fine. Reides decides to head up. Jorah and Ashara decide to spend the time get settled in their quarters, but Kilwin figures this is the only chance he'll have to see this, so he goes up with Reides. Jorah and Ashara find that each room has a single bed, a desk, and a trunk for our belongings. Each room also has a little window, currently showing a view of Falas's walls.

Above deck, the crew unfurls the Viridian Comet's massive sails. It makes Reides miss Aske a bit! Kilwin reminds him that he'll see him soon! There's a loud sound as the order is given to turn the aeroturbines. Two cylinders on the side of the ship start curving, turning from their upright position to being slanted upward. Green crystals stick out of them and begin to pulsate with energy. Below deck, Jorah and Ashara hear the creaking and humming of the aeroturbines. The airship lurches upward and forward before stabilizing and beginning its journey southward. Reides is delighted, while Kilwin just keeps repeating "oh my goodness." In his quarters, Jorah is muttering "Up is not a place for rangers" over and over again. As we travel south, Reides spots a giant lake of pitch black water, which Reides recognizes as the Blackpool. He asks a random deckhand if he knows why the water is black. The deckhand says he doesn't and that kind of schooling is too rich for his blood. He says Reides might be able to find out if he asks around though. Reides says that if he does, he can pass it along! He tells the man he has a spell that would let him contact him whenever, now that they've met. The deckhand says he'd prefer he didn't. Reides is sad, although the view helps. Kilwin is still having a moment, although he admits it's very pretty. It reminds Reides of when he would swim to the water's surface and look down to Aquos from above. We can see Falas and its thousands of buildings below, with the terraces beneath them and the buildings outside the walls dotting the landscape. There's small forests, large sweeping plains, and dirt roads that connect everything.

As the journey continues, we adjust to airship travel. Kilwin contacts Grinlief to learn if he has any allergies. While he claims not to, he also clearly describes having a mild shellfish allergy. Jorah does get used to being so far up to an extent and starts staying up late to stargaze above deck. He only recognizes two constellations from his youth, though: Jorah the Hunter and the Dragon. Reides manages to finish his spellbook work over the course of the journey, although he also spends a lot of time above deck. One night, as Jorah comes up to stargaze, Reides approaches. He says he likes how cool the night air feels. Jorah doesn't think it's that warm below deck, although it gets chilly above later on. Reides is looking forward to it! Jorah remarks that winter is definitely on its way. Reides admits that he wanted to make sure the two of them were cool, since he meant what he said about feeling he forced Jorah into being set up with the Kraken. He just got caught up in the moment! Jorah says it's fine. He figured Reides had some kind of plan in mind, it's just that he doesn't really know the Kraken at this point. Reides says that's why he wanted to check, even if it's a bit late for it. He hopes that Jorah gets to know more about the Kraken, though. He admits that Ashara is right about her being scary, but he also thinks she's really cool! Jorah agrees that, while too many people he's worked with have been bastards, the Kraken seems to have good intentions. Reides agrees. He respects her a lot and feels safe around her, which might be why he's connected her and Jorah in his mind. Jorah makes him feel safe too! Jorah thanks him for that, and Reides says he's welcome because it's true. With that settled, he asks if Jorah knows any good stars. Jorah doesn't know a lot about individual stars, but says there's probably some. He asks if Reides watched stars as a kid. Reides tried when he worked up the courage to peek above the waves but admits that he's not well-acquainted with them. He thinks he should read about them, though. Jorah immediately backtracks on something he was about to say, but Reides is having none of that. Jorah tells him how, when he was really young, Cassyra used to take him and his sisters out to see the night sky. She would teach them the constellations and their associated stories. Reides thinks that sounds like a lot of fun! Jorah reminds Reides that he got his name from one of those stories, and points out the Jorah constellation. The stars are arranged like a person holding a bow and running forward, with the handhold of the bow represented by the brightest star. Reides is amazed by surfacers and their ability to see pictures in the sky! Jorah explains that when he lived with Julia, he would sneak out to stargaze. He lived on the top floor, so it was easy to climb up to the roof. Reides wants Jorah to teach him the constellations, although Jorah's not sure he's cut out for that. Reides suggests researching and learning about them together in that case! Jorah admits that stargazing is a good way to get some quiet time, and Reides agrees it's very peaceful. Jorah asks what Reides thinks we'll find at the temple. Reides admits he has no idea and is still recovering from everything that happened in Aquos. Jorah agrees that was absolutely insane, even without a personal connection. He also admits that he was weirded out by being underwater. Reides has the converse opinion about the surface, so he gets it. Jorah points out that the surface didn't immediately suck Reides into dealing with an invasion, which Reides concedes. He says Jorah should come back when everything is rebuilt, especially since he still owes Dhudus a sparring match. It's an open invitation for everyone, since no one should have any qualms about the party coming back, not even dear old dad. Jorah observes that Khavas had some very strong opinions about us, although Reides says he has strong opinions about a lot of things and we shouldn't take it too personally. At any rate, Jorah doesn't think we can spend our whole lives running with the Crests. Reides agrees but thinks we just need to take it one step at a time. If these ruins don't give us the answers we need, we'll just have to keep looking. Reides's not sure what he'd do if you'd told him a year ago all of this would be happening. To say he wouldn't have believed it would be an understatement. He'd probably just laugh! Jorah thinks he'd be in Seaton if not completely off the continent by now. Reides thinks that sounds interesting and mysterious at least, although Jorah promises he's not that mysterious. Reides wonders if he would have died in the devastation if he hadn't gone on this journey, since he was living in Port Valor. Jorah thinks that if we hadn't gotten caught up in all this, there would probably be another group in our place doing a better job of it. Reides looks at him disbelievingly. Jorah offers him some firewhiskey from his flask, which Reides gratefully accepts. Jorah wonders, out of all the gods, why he wasn't chosen by Bacchanal or someone instead. Reides says fate works in mysterious ways! Jorah says he'll drink to that and takes his flask back. They spend some more time hanging out and vibing.

On the fourth day of the journey, Kilwin goes above deck to see if he can spot Cowersby or Laketon from the air. To port, he sees a great expanse of trees along with one enormous tree rising out of the middle of the forest. He figures that's Malino're. He moves to starboard where he sees a great expanse of farmland amids plains with a large lake to the southwest. Near the lake, there's a collection of buildings with a larger road running through. Past that, it's difficult to make out, but there's a collection of smaller buildings and pastures. Kilwin gives his home a wave. As he does, a sailor passes him and reminds that they can't see him up here. Kilwin sputters a bit and manages to say, long after the sailor is gone, that it's a symbolic gesture. When the distant sight of Cowersby fades, Kilwin goes back below deck.

On the eighth day, there's another lurch as the aeroturbines are turned again, with the aerocrystals facing upward for the descent. There's a large mountain nearby, with a verdant base that gives way to a dark slate peak. To the west, we get an aerial view of the Spine of the World, giving us an idea of just how large the mountain range is. On the ninth day, we crest farther down in the valley below the mountain. We can make out where the plains give way to marshes and just barely make out some buildings that are probably Bastion. The aeroturbines shift again to hold the Viridian Comet aloft. Vel finds us again and comments that there was only one near-falling incident this flight. Kilwin is distressed until Vel says he was just kidding. He explains that there's no good place to truly land here, so they'll have to lower a ladder for us to climb down the last twenty feet. They winch down a ladder made of rope and planks to the ground. They don't have space on the ship for a more solid one! We decide that Reides should go down last just in case one of us falls. Jorah goes first, at a speed because he very much wants solid ground again. It feels a bit precarious, but he manages to steady himself on the planks and the descent isn't too bad. When he reaches the ground, he's very relieved but he does get a bit landsick. He doesn't want to go back up there. Kilwin advises Ashara to go next, since he thinks he'll take a while. She's nervous, so she goes noticeably slower than Jorah did. She stops at several points, since she's worried the wind will blow her off. At one point, the airship lurches, although Ashara manages to catch herself on the rope before making her way to the ground. She's also a bit landsick and just sits on the solid ground. As someone on board yells at someone to keep her steady, Kilwin makes his way down painfully slowly, frequently pausing after a rung. He makes it down without incident. Reides begins his descent as Pepega flies down to pick at the dirt. As he goes down, a strong gust begins to snap the ladder back and forth. Reides is very excited and whoops, even as the wind flings him off the ladder. Reides casts Featherfall on himself and prepares to land on his feet, although he moves his legs to the side when Kilwin moves to catch him. When Reides's weight sets in, Kilwin has to quickly put him down though. Jorah comments that it's small blessings that the only one of us who fell was the only one who can fly. We wave up to Vel, who gives a thumbs up before the ladder is pulled back up into the airship and the Viridian Comet flies away once more.

Reides offers everyone some saltwater taffy to help with the landsickness, but everyone declines. Ashara says it's a texture thing. We look at the mountain that we have to climb now. The greenery ascends a sizable portion of it, but eventually gives way to the dark, almost black stone. Jorah suggests we get a bird's-eye view, looking pointedly at Pepega. Reides wargs into her, and she flies up as far as their bond will extend. She can't see much, since it's a really tall mountain, but she does manage to spot a faint path, including where it begins. Reides guides the rest of the party there and we begin our ascent. The path twists around the mountain like a corkscrew. After a few hours, we make our way past the treeline. As we step onto the stone, we notice the bottoms of our boots are being coated in black powder. Our steps seem to be grinding the stone into dust. Reides touches the ground with his hand and gets some on it too. Reides and Ashara recognize this type of rock from the Exeter and Raven Rock. It seems to be common in high-heat areas like volcanoes. Reides is able to Presto Chango it away though.

Eventually, we reach an alcove blocked by rocks. The only way to really examine it is to approach. We think this might be our spot! Jorah gets closer and peeks over the wall. He sees, carved out of the stone of the mountain itself, a large stone wall with two stone doors braced with metal. There's also stairs and a platform leading up to said doors. Nearby, there's an empty wagon. That might be a really bad sign! The wagon has been completely cleared out, and any animals that might have towed it are gone too. Reides and Jorah look for tracks or blood that might indicate what happened. There's still a thin layer of ashy rock, so they can make out some faint footprints leading toward the stairs. Jorah attempts to discern how old the tracks are, but these are a bit outside his range of experience. We figure we just need to go inside. Reides, on edge now, casts Mage Armor. Jorah casts Pass Without Trace on the party, which also prevents the ash from sticking to our shoes. Reides also puts Pepega in her pocket dimension. Jorah tests the door, pushing on it before realizing he needs to pull. Ashara examines it and determines it's a regular door with no traps. Now that he's pulling, Jorah successfully opens the door to the Temple of the Abyssal Guardians.

In the entrance hall, we immediately see statues of heroes that have been covered with blood, as if to deface them. The two statues by the door are stabbing into statues of demons, which have been spared the defacement. Jorah recognizes the statues of a stout dwarven woman and an elven man on the other side of the room as Audha Wyrmaxe and Jorah. We spend some time discussing how this is weird, since as far as we know, the heroes of the Age of Dragons didn't deal with demons and Alethustria's last encounter with Alzrius predates them. Kilwin points out that 600 years isn't that long ago in the grand scheme of things, and that Father Glasny's parents could reasonably have been alive at the time. While the temple could have been partially repurposed at some point to honor them at some point, it's still weird and suggests something's up. As we investigate the entrance hall, we also notice some pools of lava that seem to flow beneath the floor. There's also two doors leading further into the temple. With no real indication of where we're going, we decide to search the left path first. The left door is opened to reveal a short hallway, with one door at the end and another to the right. Jorah leads the way, but as he approaches the other end of the hall, he hears a quiet snap. He looks down and sees a broken wire before him. As he does, two ceiling tiles swing open, dropping thousands of little orbs in front of him, eventually covering the ground around him. An alarm sounds throughout the temple. Jorah simply looks defeated. Reides grabs an orb that rolled far and determines they're just regular ball bearings. The door at the end of the hall swings open, revealing a humanoid figure in a cloak and mask. He turns back and announces that we're here. His attempt to throw a dagger at Jorah, however, is unsuccessful.

Jorah sees that the room at the end of the hallway is filled with people in similar clothing. The door to his right also opens, revealing a babau, bearing its teeth and already covered in blood. It welcomes Jorah in Abyssal before unsuccessfully attempting to claw him. Another babau rounds the corner though, and Jorah also spots a person in different attire toward the back of the room. Reides casts Chill Touch and manages to instantly kill the guy who first opened the door. Jorah realizes that moving out of the ball bearings might be an issue. Jorah slashes at another cultist by the door and shoots a crossbow bolt through the eyehole of his mask. Jorah manages to make his way out of the ball bearings, announcing that there's a lot of them. Kilwin goes farther into the hallway and casts Spiritual Weapon, hitting the babau as he also casts Toll the Dead on it. From inside the northern room, someone casts a spell, summoning another Spiritual Weapon in front of Kilwin. A light also curves around the corner at him, an unholy, desecrated version of Sacred Flame. It does a negligible amount of necrotic damage to him before he manages to shield off the weapon's attack. More footsteps clatter in the other rooms. The babau enters the hallway, carefully making its way through the ball bearings and looking us over. It swipes at Kilwin with (limited) success. The second babau also makes its way to the hallway and also treads very carefully through the ball bearings. It finds even less success in attacking Kilwin, though. The cultists begin to group up by the western door. One throws two daggers at Jorah, which he manages to dodge, although another manages to score a hit on Kilwin. Reides, seeing the gathering, figures it's time to showcase a new spell. Smoke climbs up his arms and a strange cloud envelops the hallway. The thick plumes of a steam geyser erupt, scalding and partially melting most of the cultists and burning the babaus. It's Scalding Splash, a Reides original! With most of the cultists dead or badly wounded, the babaus look to Reides angrily. Reides backs up!

Jorah plunges Quickbrand into one of the babaus, the blade alight with the Nameless God's power. The sight is downright inspiring, bestowing temporary hit points on Kilwin and Jorah. The babau barely survives, but falls when Jorah's second strike scratches it. He moves forward toward the other one, stepping over its body. A cult fanatic emerges from the northern room and reaches out toward Jorah with a spell, which Reides counterspells. The fanatic moves his Spiritual Weapon back toward Reides and strikes him in response. Another cult fanatic comes out of a door in the western room and Commands Jorah to drop his weapons. The enchantment starts to take hold, but Jorah's wrist burns and snaps him out of it. A surviving cultist calls out "For the glory of Alzrius" before tossing a dagger at Jorah, missing, and roaring in frustration. Reides moves back into the hallway to cast Bigby's Hand. He slaps the cult fanatic in the hallway, adding five extra bolts of energy from the Wreath of Persana. The fanatic falls to the ground, dead. Jorah tries to kill the other babau. He has nothing to say to these things. Ashara hits the other fanatic's shoulder with Fire Bolt, ruining his robes. He points at Jorah and Commands him to approach, but Jorah stays put. The last cultist very carefully makes his way into the ball bearings and draws his scimitar on Jorah. He's not even close. Reides just punches him into the ground. Jorah casts Command on the last cultist standing, commanding him to kneel. As the fanatic drops to his knees, Jorah calls out in Dwarvish to not let him get away. Kilwin figures Jorah wants to interrogate him. Ashara lightly chills him. The babau points at Jorah, whose breastplate starts to glow with heat, burning him. However, Reides quickly slaps it with Bigby's Hand. The babau barely survives, but Jorah's armor goes back to normal. Ashara throws another Fire Bolt at the fanatic, burning off a third of his hair and an ear. Kilwin tries to kill the babau and almost succeeds, but not quite. The fanatic is furious that Jorah used his own spell against him and casts Hold Person on him as he gets back up. This one takes hold. Reides finishes the job on the babau, the fingers of Chill Touch grasping its neck tightly. Bigby's Hand grabs onto the fanatic, crushing him to death despite Reides's best efforts. As he dies, the alarm finally ends.

Kilwin tries to heal Jorah up, and Jorah adds some of his own healing to that. Reides apologizes for killing the guy, since he figures Something was up with what Jorah said in Dwarvish, but no one is all that upset. Reides examines the body, but only finds normal things: robes, a dagger, some ordinary reagents. There's no sort of documents or orders on him. Upon further investigation, the western room is a makeshift mess hall, while the northern room has been converted into temporary barracks. Reides spots a raw onion among the cultists' food and takes a big old bite. Jorah is absolutely horrified. Investigating the barracks, there's a number of bedrolls and two piles of hay where the babaus presumably slept. We also find a journal kept by one of the cultists. The most recent entry details how the group was commanded to come here and camp out a week ago, standing guard for any visitors, especially "those ones." We assume that's us! He wrote that it's hard to sleep here with the thing in the room next to the dining hall rattling at all hours. He slept as far away from it as possible so he wouldn't have to look at the door. Flipping back a page, we learn that the group summoned "the wrong demon" the other day and locked it up in the room across from the barracks. It's also the room where they're keeping their money. We figure it's better locked in there than hanging out around here. Kilwin flips through the journal for the author's name, but it's not in there. As the group passes into the hallway, now that the alarm sound is gone, Kilwin makes out the very faint sound of metal rattling, like a chain. After some walking around, he manages to find a hidden door on the south wall of the hallway. There's some faint scratch marks, signs of a threshold, on the floor there. It seems that the door pushes in and isn't completely closed. We wonder if we should investigate the eastern halls of the temple and circle back or take care of this now before it has a chance to escape. In either case, Jorah would appreciate a short rest.