Frontier Pathfinding - Sunday, May 16th, 2021

After defeating the trolls, they made it back upstairs to their camp with only a couple wrong turns.

Izelda flew back to town and into her jail cell. During the day she was awakened twice, but couldn't identify by what. At noon, as always, she communed to regain her spells for the day. After that she saw that the window of her cell had been boarded over. That night she cast warp wood to allow her to get out.

Meanwhile, back at the temple, Verika and Locke escorted the elves past the carnivorous vines along with Tsadok and Makoa, the two paladins, who were going to take the elves home - or at least far enough that they should be out of the area the temple threatens.

When Izelda got back that night, they headed back down to the other doors near where they had freed the elves from their cell. Verika rechecked the doors and determined them to be safe. One opened onto a ten foot by twenty foot room with nothing in it. The other opened to a flight of stairs down. The same extremely steep stairs as were found throughout the temple complex.

Izelda dropped a light down the stairs, but it stopped on a stair before illuminating the bottom. She cast light on another rock, causing the first to go dark, and handed it to Verika. Verika threw it out, bouncing it off the far wall and down. It went down far enough that it was hard to tell what was down there.

"Come on," Locke declared, "lets just go." He started down the stairs.

"We're not going down yet, we haven't finished clearing out what's on this level," Schmidt shouted.

Locke carefully turned and clambered back up.

As the rest of the group started down the corridor into a very large hall, Verika snuck down the stairs. At the bottom was a ten foot square landing with one door on the north wall. She checked the door and didn't find any traps. She stood in the dark, alone, for a few minutes before climbing back up the stairs to rejoin the group.

Elizabeth and Izelda started looking through the great hall they were in. There was a lot of debris including a number of skeletons littering the floor.

Schmidt, Locke, Verika, and Biff headed down a narrow corridor heading back the direction they had come from. This quickly turned back on itself and led to a door. Verika checked and declared the door to be safe.

They stepped through into a clean white room. The floor was polished white marble and the walls polished alabaster. There was a second door opposite the one they entered through, and a facet of crystal to the right. The room was suffused with a glow, and they all felt sense of calm. A pane of crystal set into one wall began to glow brightly, and then the appearance of two angelic figures in a verdant field under a blue sky could be seen through the crystal. "What are good and true creatures such as yourselves doing in such a vile place as this?" one of the fair creatures asked.

"We're here to wipe out this evil," Schmidt answered without hesitation.

Locke detected no evil in the room.

"This sanctuary was placed here by fair Iomedae when this temple was last conquered. Evil cannot enter this chamber. It was created as a respite for fair heroes such as yourselves," the smaller of the angels said calmly.

"We have little time," the other angel picked up, "but we can offer you a great boon. Place your magic items, magical herbs, silvered items, holy symbols, and weapons in the room and exit through the opposite door. We can improve the qualities and enchantments on your items, but the process will sear the flesh from any mortal beings in the room. It is imperative that you act quickly, as we have little time connected to your plane."

Verika, Locke, and Schmidt quickly dropped several items, and then Verika helped Locke doff his armor. They left through the indicated door, entering a processional hall. As soon as they closed the door, they could see light shining around the edges, and Verika could hear something through the door.

They could see that this processional hall connected to the great hall to the north, and had heavy bronze double doors on either side to the south.

After waiting the designated time, Verika opened the door again. The room was empty. "Uh, guys..."

Schmidt and Locke looked in the room too. Schmidt burst through the opposite door, but didn't see anything there either. Schmidt pulled out his mace, which he had not left on the floor, and struck the crystal, but it didn't even leave a mark. They returned to the great hall and met up with Elizabeth and Izelda and explained what happened.

"We have to head back up and restock," Schmidt declared angrily.

"Well, you head up, and Elizabeth and I can stay down here and find your stuff," Izelda offered. "Or at least try to get the thieves to exchange with us."

Schmidt, Locke, Verika, and Biff started back the way they came in, and Elizabeth and Izelda headed down the processional corridor to the pleasant room. When they entered, Elizabeth thought she saw movement at the corner of the crystal, but couldn't be sure.

Izelda sat on the floor and watched the crystal for some time. Then she offered to trade for the items they just took, offering equivalent or better items in exchange. There was no response. "Well," she said, "then I'm going to have to come in there and kill you."

She walked over, while Elizabeth watched, to the crystal and pushed into it, but it was solid. She tried to peer through, but it was just dark gray. She transformed into an earth elemental and tried to pass through the crystal but couldn't. So she passed into the alabaster wall beside the crystal, and into a room where she was immediately attacked by two werewolves bearing swords, but both missed.

The werewolves attacked again, only one hitting her. "Surrender," Izelda said, "or I'm going to have to kill you," and stepped back into the wall while casting. hearing the clash of steel on stone, Elizabeth cast bless.

Izelda stepped out of the wall, and one of the werewolves hit her again. She grabbed him and crushed him. Elizabeth could hear the combat somewhat, but couldn't really tell what was going on, or how to get there.

Izelda crushed the werewolf further, and he went limp. The other werewolf hit her. Elizabeth checked the walls of the room for any secret doors or weak spots.

Izelda came through the wall with the body of the werewolf. Keep stabbing him until we can get silvered weapons, they regenerate like trolls. Elizibeth started sawing the thing's head off.

Izelda went through the wall and was hit by the werewolf.

"Are you ready to talk," Izelda asked, "or do you want to end up like your friend?" The werewolf hit her again.

Izelda grabbed the werewolf and crushed him. He hit her.

She crushed him again, killing him. She bashed the body into the floor a couple of times to make sure he was dead before dragging him into the room with Elizabeth.

Elizabeth had the head off the one, and started on the second. Izelda went back through the wall and spotted the secret door from the werewolves' chamber to the hallway and came back through to get Elizabeth.

"They don't seem to be regenerating like the trolls," Elizabeth commented.

Izelda and Elizabeth looked at the crystal. From inside the werewolves' room it looked like it was just covered by a curtain that could be pulled aside. Elizabeth walked back into the peaceful room, and Izelda could see her clearly, as well as the two werewolf corpses. But Elizabeth saw Izelda as a fat demon with six arms.

The girls inventoried the room, and Izelda grabbed the magic items she could carry (the crystal, though magical, was too large and was set into the wall...) and Locke, Verika, and Schmidt's stolen gear. They headed back up to camp.

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