LIGHT, VISION, AND DECEPTION
Grant, Shifter, Ranger, Neutral Good, Harper Faction Rank 2
Mamol, Hill Dwarf, Cleric, Neutral Good, Harper Faction Rank 2
Elyrion, High Elf, Rogue, Neutral Good, Harper Faction Rank 2
Sleeps, Tabaxi, Monk/Cleric, Neutral Good, Harper Faction Rank 2
NOT PRESENT
Donkar, Half-Orc, Barbarian/Fighter, Neutral Good, Harper Faction Rank
[Alex's New Character], Human, Paladin, Neutral Good, Harper Faction Rank 3
[Paragraphs that are
bolded are direct quotes from the book.]
The Gang was once again making their way across the frozen plateau towards the Amber Temple with the wind howling at their backs. The composition of the party was slightly different this time around though, instead of Moss and Smugly they had Donkar and [Alex’s New Character] plus there was Kasimir the Dusk Elf. The wizard had joined these Harpers for his own reasons, but they seemed to align with the Gang’s goals.
He told them of his sister who was seduced by Strahd, her execution by the Elves, Strahd’s genocidal execution of all female Elves, and his personal torture by Strahd. He also shared all that he knew of the Amber Temple. You can find Kasimir’s full story in another post.
The Gang believed that Kasimir was sincere, but they were suspicious of his sister Patrina’s intentions. Some trust was gained when Elyrion removed his cowl and displayed his clipped ears. The High Elf was tortured by Dragonborn back in Faerun. At any rate, they were happy to have a Wizard with some good knowledge of the Amber Temple in their party.
X2 Entrance
They shouldered through the old doors of the monastery and made their way down the icy stone steps that cut down into the mountain peak by several hundred feet. Ahead of them was a forty-foot-long hall that ended in a pair of large amber doors that were slightly ajar. Empty arrow slits lined the hall on the left and right.
The Gang knew from their previous experience that plenty of fireballs waited on the other side of those amber doors. They took a few minutes to decide how to tackle this. The Gang decided to cast Greater Invisibility on Sleeps the Monk, have him explore a bit, and see what he finds.
X4 Overlook
A twenty-foot-wide balcony of black marble with a shattered railing overlooks a vast temple. Black marble staircases at each end of the balcony descend thirty feet to the temple floor. The vaulted ceiling is thirty feet above the balcony. The walls and ceiling are covered in an amber glaze, lending the gloom a golden sheen. A set of amber doors stands closed at the west end of the balcony. A similar pair stands open to the east.
Slippery Sleeps tried to keep his body below the broken railing. Based on the last time they were here, he suspected that fireballs would come from straight ahead and from the left. He managed to get onto the other side of the open doors to the east without triggering a fireball.
X6 Southeast Annex
Sleeps pressed his back against the amber door facing east. The fading edge of Elyrion’s Sun Sword’s light ended in the middle of this room. He could make out a hole in the floor about thirty feet away. The Tabaxi blindly lit a torch and threw it across the room. Its trajectory crossed over the hole. A greenish-orange light started to emanate from the hole. Sleeps got a good view of the room.
This room is featureless except for a rough-edged, 10-foot-diameter circular hole in the floor to the east and empty torch sconces along the walls. Double doors of amber stand open to the north and west. A single closed door lies just south of the western set of double doors.
The glow was getting brighter. Sleeps decided to move north.
X8 Upper East Hall
The Monk snuck to the other side of the double doors to the north and hid on the other side of them. There was enough dim light to see down the hall.
Glazed amber covers the walls of this twenty-foot-wide, seventy-foot-long arched corridor. The amber doors at both ends of the hall stand open. A closed door is in the middle of the east wall, and three arrow slits are cut into the wall across from it. Cracks in the black marble floor run the length of the hall.
He turned back to see what came out of the hole and it was a Flameskull, just as Kasimir guessed. Judging from the light still coming from below, there was more on the way. Sleeps crept further down the hall and to the other side of the open doors to the north. He was now in pitch black darkness.
Three human skulls floated north down the hall towards Sleeps. Fiery orange glowed from their eyes and a halo of green flame swirled around them. They were taking their time though and inspecting everything.
X10 Northeast Annex
Sleeps found a rock on the ground, blindly faced north into the darkness, and threw the stone to the northwest. The stone ricocheted off a nearby wall, then hit a wall to the north. The Flameskulls rushed into the room and burped fireballs out of their mouths on anything moving in the room. The light of the fireballs gave the evasive Tabaxi a glimpse of the room.
The walls and ceiling in the eastern portion of this bare stone room had collapsed. To the west and south there were open amber doors. In the center of the room stood a ten-foot-tall statue of a jackal-headed warrior made of cracked amber. It turned to face the oncoming fireballs
and clenched its fists.
The Golem took three fireballs to the face but did not attack.
The confused quartet stared at each other, so failed to notice the Monk slip out of the room. He went south back to room X6 Southeast Annex. Sleeps was trying to rejoin the party before the Greater Invisibility spell ran out, but he had to get passed the potential fireball(s) waiting for him at X4 The Overlook.
Sleeps took a moment to slow his heart rate and began creeping from the eastern doors back to X2 Entrance. His foot scraped along some pebbles. A moment later a fireball emerged from the inky darkness to the north. The monk dived down and crawled on fingers and toes across the overlook. He managed to return without getting touched, but it was a close one.
X2 Entrance
Everyone was back in the hall that had arrow slits in the east and west walls. Stairs exited back up to the south and the temple proper was to the north on the other side of amber doors that were slightly ajar. Someone spotted an orangish green glow emerging from the east beyond the amber doors. Flameskulls. The Gang prepared themselves for a fight.
It was short. The Gang laid the smack down, only getting slightly singed from some Magic Missiles in the process.
Sleeps shared what he discovered, and the Gang considered what to do next. They decided to rush to the east as a group, believing that they could survive whatever was hiding to the north and flinging fireballs at them.
X4 The Overlook
The Gang rushed to the east. A fireball came hurtling from the north. The Gang got a glimpse of X5 Temple:
Four black marble columns support the vaulted ceiling of the temple, at the north end of which stands a forty-foot-tall statue of a cowled figure in flowing robes. The statue's stony hands are outstretched as if in the midst of casting a spell. Its face is a void of utter blackness. The ominous statue stands between two black marble balconies, one of which has partially collapsed and fallen on the temple's black marble floor, in front of an open doorway. The walls of the temple are sheathed in amber.
Some of the Gang got hit by the fireball but they survived. They reached X6 Southeast Annex.
X6 Southeast Annex
This room is featureless except for a rough-edged, 10-foot-diameter circular hole in the floor to the east and empty torch sconces along the walls. Double doors of amber stand open to the north and west. A single closed door lies just south of the western set of double doors.
Sleeps decided to use his
Icon of Ravenloft to cast Augury. He asked, “What would happen if I climbed down that hole” and he got an emphatic “WOE!” in response.
They decided to open the door to the south.
X3 Empty Barracks.
Shattered bits of wood cover the floor of this frigid, twenty-foot-square room.
Grant used his investigation skills to determine that this was some kind of old sleeping quarters for the people manning those arrow slits looking into X2 Entrance. He also deduced that there should probably be a secret door leading west. They found the secret door and went through.
X2a
Two arrow slits are carved into the west wall of this 10-foot-high, twenty-foot-square room. Slumped in the northeast corner is a skeleton wearing a blue wizard's robe and clutching a wand to its chest.
They discovered that the wand detects secret doors.
END SESSION
