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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Olgar Shiverstone" data-source="post: 4043321" data-attributes="member: 5868">Thalas, Athal, and Arjan hustled back to form a line in front of the door in the original chamber, where Quinn was busy pouring oil from a flask to form a small pool in front of the door.  Kithkanan and Rhiannon remained in the other room, fighting two more frog-people over Morderas' unconscious body.  They were hard pressed, and Rhiannon was at best keeping Kithkanan propped up against the inevitable.Four more opponents -- two humans, two frog-menk -- barrelled through the doorway encountering Quinn's pool of oil, which he lit with a torch.  Howling, they moved away from the flames.  Thals landed a telling blow on oe frog-man as it moved, then dropped a human monk with a strike and cleaved into the second frog man.  With the battle beginning to turn their way, he cast a spell, transporting Athal to stand beside Kithkanan while bringing Morderas into their room.  With Arjan and Quinn's blows beginning to strike true on their remaining opponents, Thalas headed for the other room, casting a spell of growth as he moved to increase his reach and striking power.  His head soon scraped against the ceiling, and he arrived just as Kithkanan and Athal succeeded in putting down their two opponents."Darn ... waste of a spell," he mused, just as a voice came from beyond the door that Morderas had not quite fully opened before the blast of fire knocked him out."Intruders, heretics, you despoil the temple!"Moderas came streaking past, back on his feet and eager for revenge, and he charged into the next room, followed by Athal and Thalas.  Morderas managed to corner the speaker -- another frog-man, but wearing an odd skin as a cloak -- and Athal soon sent the creature to meet its god.If anything, this room was carved with runes and reliefs even more obscene than any they had yet seen.  Thalas looked around, checking for magic auras, as Morderas stripped the cloak and a set of magic bracers from their last opponent.  The rest of the party soon joined them, and Arjan summoned his favorite companion, wolf-bear, from whatever nether regions the creature dwelt in when it wasn't accompanying them.  They sent wolf-bear through a door to the right, following after.The room they entered was like nothing Thalas had ever seen before.  The back of the room was dominated by an altar and a statue of a giant, two-headed, bipedal frog.  Hundreds of tiny green frogs carpeted the floor, croaking in unison.  A living duplicate of the frog-god statue stood standing in front of it, complete with red skin and two deformed heads.  To the side a woman in red metal armor scowled at them, then screeched:"You may have killed my brother, but wizards of the hopping prophet are not so foolish!  The last think you will feel will be the might of Zebolage!"Thalas cautiously followed Morderas and Kithkanan into the room, both of whom, with wolf-bear, were trying to corner the woman in red.  Thalas blasted her with a ball of fire, just as she vomited a noxious green gas all over Kithkanan that had him reeling out of the way.  Athal and the others surrounded the living version of the statue.Thalas shifted to his glaive, striking at the statue just as Athal landed a blow that killed the creature.  Morderas had finally put the woman down, and they turned to searching the chamber while Arjan consoled the many small frogs that were still hopping around underfoot.Morderas managed to find a secret cache under the statue that contained a wealth of weapons and gold ... so much gold, Thalas wasn't sure they could carry it all as they began to empty sacks and backpacks and load themselves down.Quinn, meanwhile, reported that the room next door was an abatoir -- tables covered with bloody, dead human bodies whose abdomenal cavities had been exploded from the inside out.  All wore the robes of priests and paladins of Heironeous, and Father Conrad was among them."See," Thalas said, "all human churches become the home of evil cults eventually.""Do you smell smoke?" Arjan asked.  "I smell smoke."There was a thin layer of smoke beginning to enter the room, and the crackling of fire could be heard in the distance.  Thalas, Morderas, and Kithkanan quickly loaded themselves down with bags of gold as the others led the way back the way they had come.The temple was indeed burning, the wooden wall and stair construction having been fed by some sort of accelerant.  They gained the main floor of the temple just as the burning stairs gave way behind them.  The pews, altars, and decoration were all burning ... and five men in red robes were darting out the open door of the temple, shouting "They've burned the temple!  They've burned the temple!  Guards, guards!  Call the watch!"Morderas glanced around for other exits, but with the rapidly rising flame and smoke they had no choice but to exit out the main doors ... into a crowd of armed people and Fort Blackwell's watch.  One of the men in red was having a hurried conversation with the sergeant of the watch.  Athal strode forward, as Thalas, Morderas, and Kithkanan tried to look nonchalant and inconspicuous, loaded down as they wree with bulging sacks of gold."They defiled and burned the temple!" the man claimed, gesticulating wildly."No.  These men are members of some vile frog cult.  There was a hideous temple in the basemwent, where all of the priests of Heironeous had been sacrificed." Athal pulled out the frog-skin cloak the red priest had been wearing.  "The fire will burn the temple and the bodies, but we brought this out as proof."The militia sergeant looked around at the seven heavily armed and slightly bloody adventurers, considered, weighed his sword ... and then stepped from their path."I'd recommend you not remain long in Fort Blackwell," he growled as the others hustled past.  His men were rounding up the five red-robed men for questioning.Thalas was quite happy when they returned to the ship, waking Amella.  "We'd better get going early, if everyoe is aboard.""What happened?" she asked."We did Fort Blackwell a favor, but they might not see it that way when the sun comes up."  The entire town was now lit by the burning temple of Heironeous, and the shouts of "Fire, fire" and "Water, water" could clearly be heard."Do you adventurers ever find anyone or anything you don't kill, burn, destroy, or loot?" Amella asked."What would be the fun in that?" Morderas replied.</blockquote>

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