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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rybaer" data-source="post: 171003" data-attributes="member: 118">Session #12.2 – Temple of NurThe crystal doors swung wide and revealed a broad staircase leading down into darkness.  For lack of a better direction to head, Rurik started down and the other fell in behind him.  The stairs emptied out in a massive chamber with columns lining either side of its length.  When Rurik reached the last step, strips of blue crystal embedded in each column spontaneously illuminated, giving the room a soft glow.  The crystal doors closed of their own accord behind them.Aside from the illumination, everything else about the place gave them a sense of desolation.  There was no sound other than their footfalls.  Rurik walked slowly in, absorbing every detail and openly admiring the craftsmanship.  Further in, they realized that there were two doors leading off to the left and right and another hallway leading out the far end.  There also appeared to be a couple bodies lying on the floor at the far end of the room.  These they inspected first and found them to be so far gone that little was left but scoured bones and wisps of clothing.  The two could have been dwarves, but even that was difficult to discern.The doors on either side of the room each bore a different symbol that was meaningless to them.  They carefully inspected and opened one and found that it led to a crypt of sorts.  Several massive stone sarcophagi, each ten feet long by five wide and tall, filled alcoves.  There were no names or identifying marks aside from intricate geometrical designs engraved in their stone caps.  Someone half jokingly suggested opening one but Rurik’s scowl quickly put an end to that.  The hall on the far end led to a T intersection.  On the wall before them were a variety of symbols arranged in a family-tree fashion.  Several they recognized from the crypt doors in the previous chamber.  Another, about halfway down the lineage, they recognized as being on the cover of the book that the Shadow had stolen from Mt. Goldforge.  The clan crest for Khazad Steelmaker, perhaps?Both side passages immediately doubled back, so they picked the left one and proceeded around a corner and down yet another flight of stairs.  The next level emptied onto a landing with wide hallways leading to left and right and another pair of staircases leading further down.  They peeked down the next staircase and found that it led to a temple of sorts.  Rows of stone benches were lined up before a massive stone altar.  Upon the wall behind the altar was the symbol of a bone in a black rectangular field, like the one seen on the crystal doors – only this one had been seemingly desecrated.Two doors led out the back of the temple.  Through one, they found the old remnants of what they believed to be a preparation chamber for the dead.  Assorted vials, jars, and containers lined shelves and tools of unusual design were strewn about.  Everything was covered in the dust of millennia.  Through the second door, they found a room that had been utterly devastated.  Whatever had once been in here was charred as if some mighty explosion had occurred.  The group retreated back to the landing outside the temple and followed the hallway around the right side of the temple.  Lining one side of the hall were more stone doors, each adorned with symbols that matched up with one or more of those seen on the previous level.  They poked their heads in a couple doors and found rows of stone sarcophagi stacked two high in tighter alcoves in the walls.  These seemed to have been slightly less important people than those in the crypts upstairs.  Again, they left the crypts undisturbed but did check each room on the off chance that there would be a hint as to the whereabouts of those in need of rescue.The hall wrapped around the back of the temple and a quick check of the hallway around the left side of the temple revealed just another passage with more crypts.  Behind the temple, however, was another hallway leading to and down another staircase.  Just as they were about to continue onward, Nigel, with his acute elven senses, noted that there was a secret door near the intersection.  Bommer inspected it and found the opening mechanism and no sign of traps.  The group debated the merits of checking beyond the secret door or continuing down the stairs, eventually settling on the latter.  As they descended the next staircase, they could tell that the air was becoming a bit more damp and smelled slightly of seawater.  At the bottom of the long staircase they found that the last three steps were underwater.  They judged it to be waist deep for most except for Bommer who would have to be carried to continue.  At the edge of the water, Rurik again triggered the activation of strips of glowing blue crystal embedded in columns lining the long chamber.  The room appeared to be little more than an ornate and very large hall.  At the far end was a pair of massive stone doors.While the crypts and temples had thus far been quiet, everyone was a little bit on edge.  They felt like they were being watched.  No one was very keen on walking through the calm water for fear of something underneath the surface striking at him before he could see it.  Rurik was set on following the course to the end, though, so everyone followed.  Rurik led the way, literally walking on water thanks to his magic ring.  (If ever Rurik truly had a “divine” moment, this was it…walking on water in an ancient dwarven temple.)As they crossed the room, they did note that there were some very tiny fish swimming in the water.  To their relief, nothing attacked them from under the water as they crossed to the double doors.  Bommer inspected the doors and proclaimed them untrapped and unlocked.  They pushed them open and found a relatively small twenty-foot square chamber leading to another set of violet crystal doors with the same circle of six holy symbols upon them.  The only oddity about the room was the forty-foot high ceiling.(DM note:  A couple of them did notice that there were pieces of crystal affixed to the ceiling, and Bommer even spent the time to climb up and check them out.  They were evenly spaced shards, the length of shortswords and razor sharp.  He knew it was a trap, though he couldn’t figure out the trigger mechanism.  Luckily for the group, they avoided it.  Anyone not a cleric of this pantheon trying to open the crystal doors would have triggered a reverse gravity field in the 20’ room between the doors, thereby falling forty feet upward onto the spikes.  Now, with the water having seeped into the chamber, it would have immediately flooded the “pit.”  For some, they would have been able to take advantage of the water to swim back out.  For others, they may very well have drowned.)Suspecting a trap, everyone vacated the room aside from Bommer and Rurik.  Rurik touched the crystal doors and again felt a small discharge of divine energy from his body and the doors swung open.  The room beyond was wider and taller than most of the previous ones.  Blue crystal strips along the walls lit up to give it a dim glow.  On the far side of the room, rising just above the water line, was a large dais upon which sat mounds of gold, gems, weapons, collectibles, and other artifacts beyond counting.  To either side of the dais, a hallway led out of the room.Still walking on water, Rurik led everyone into the room.  The doors silently shut behind them.  Though it didn’t really need to be said, Rurik reminded everyone to touch nothing in here.  The dwarf stepped up on the dais while the others followed at a distance.  Rurik looked down both the side halls and could see several large and ornate sarcophagi in each.  “Burial chamber for the kings?” he wondered silently to himself.While surveying the contents of the treasure hoard, Rurik caught a glimpse of movement though one of the side passages.  As he looked up, three ghosts floated silently across the water and onto the dais next to him.  Three more from the other chamber joined them.  To everyone’s surprise, though, they were not dwarves but minotaurs.  The transparent visages were each dressed in fine but alien attire.  Everyone tensed as they approached their friend, but no one dared attack.One of the ghosts initiated a form of telepathic contact with Rurik.“It has been time beyond time since one of your kind has set foot in this chamber,” the minotaur said.  “Who are you and why are you here?”“I am Rurik,” he mentally replied.  “I seek some of my people who are trapped here.  May I ask who you are?”“I am King Truvar,” the minotaur replied.  “These are other Kings from before and after my time.”Rurik bowed humbly before them.  “Do you know anything of the dwarves trapped here?  Where we might find them?”“No,” the King replied.  “We guard only this chamber itself and our perceptions extend little further.”Rurik risked probing further into the history of Kladish and the minotaur was willing to answer some of his questions.  Kladish, it explained, was the outpost of the Tauren Empire on this world.  For several hundred years it flourished until their mortal enemies, the Salien Empire, attacked and destroyed the city.  When Rurik asked what the other gods represented on the door were, the King acted somewhat surprised and disturbed.  He did, however, give Rurik a brief run-down:  Tol, the all-power; Uminor, of water and trade; Moraein, of earth and craft; Nur, of the dead; Hebli, of sun and magic; and Zuchur, of war and valor.“Aside from Moraein,” Rurik said, “these gods have become lost to my people.  Perhaps you could tell me more of them.”“Perhaps,” the King said.  “It seems odd to us that such knowledge could become lost, but time is a powerful force for change.  First, we would ask a favor of you and possibly your companions.”“What?” Rurik asked.“While we protect this inner chamber, we have been aware of a disturbance in the temple since the fall of the city.  We believe that a Salien Hunter, likely a dead one, haunts the rest of the others entombed here.  If you could remove this nuisance, it would allow us the peaceful rest we so crave after these eons.”“I can but try,” Rurik said, not really sure what a Salien Hunter was or whether they were up to the challenge.“Should you complete this task, we will recount more of our lost lore for you,” the King said.  “Furthermore, we could offer a reward, possibly even Dulurdains.  While they are sacred objects, our city and people are forever lost and they serve us little buried here.”Rurik was staggered.  Dulurdains were legend among the dwarven people.  Reportedly, they were magic artifacts of remarkable powers.  Few were ever believed to have existed, and those were lost in ancient times.“May we rest here before taking on this challenge,” Rurik asked.“Yes,” the King replied, “but do not touch anything.”  And with that, the six ghosts evaporated.Rurik recounted to the others most of his conversation with the ghosts, but refrained from telling them about the Dulurdains for the time being.“So, just what is this Salien Hunter thing they want us to destroy?” Nigel asked.“No idea,” Rurik said.  “Some leftover from the invaders that destroyed the city, apparently.”“And this thing is supposedly in this temple somewhere?”“Yup.”“Then why didn’t we see it on the way down?” Amblin asked.  “We pretty much checked out everything on the way down.”“Could be behind that secret door we skipped past,” Bommer suggested.“Frankly, I don’t like the sound of it,” Amblin said.  “Undead nasties.”Nigel, who had a particularly dislike for undead, had to agree.  “We’re here to rescue dwarves.  I’m not so sure about fighting this thing for the benefit of a few long-deceased minotaurs.”“Maybe this thing is involved the keeping the dwarves trapped here,” Bommer suggested.“Well, the kings said it’d be okay if we rested here until we were ready,” Rurik said.  “We just aren’t allowed to touch anything.”“Yeah,” Nigel said.  “We could use some rest.  We’ll discuss it again when we’re ready to leave.”No one had noticed that Zalman remained remarkably quiet during the conversation.  When Rurik had mentioned the Salien Hunter and the Salien Empire, he alone recognized the names for what they truly were.  Having studied the Planes and ancient history a bit, he knew perfectly well that the Saliens had once been the most feared and destructive force ever known.  They were also known as Mind Flayers.  And this one, supposedly, had been dead and residing in this tomb for over five thousand years.  He wasn’t sure that the others were ready to deal with that kind of information just yet.  He knew damn well that he wasn’t.Next session:  The undead mind flayer.</blockquote>

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