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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Endur" data-source="post: 2798735" data-attributes="member: 3346">As Craven steps into the boats, he ponders the wisdom of their current course.He did not sense evil from the woman, if woman she truly was.  And yet, she did not feel good either.  Her thoughts were strange.  Could anything in this foul place be other than evil?Craven's thoughts drift back to the ceremonies and rites he went through before he was admited to see the Holy Chalice of the Order.After drinking from the chalice and meditating, he had a dream.The sun was rising and a far away voice spoke."Those with blackened hearts Can find the light once moreselfless acts are the keyBefore the battle draws nighAnd death will be the costgive what has been forgotten And believed to be lost"Could this attack on the Fire Temple be what the voice spoke of?  Or are those events yet to come?  Craven continued to ponder while rowing the boat.  Above the lake, a storm raged and flung lighning bolts.  The Storm does not block the night sky and you can see the stars above.  Occassional rain drops fell onto the boat, but not as many as you would expect considering the violence of the storm.  Belaver feels that the storm is unnaturally small and centered above the middle of the lake, where the Island of Evil sits.As they row across the lake, their way lit by the flashes of ligtning and stars above, the party can from time to time see the Strange Woman appear, guiding your course for a moment, then disappearing.After several minutes of rowing, the party arrives at a bridge.  The party ties the boat to the bridge with rope and climbs off the boat onto the Earth Bridge.The unseen Woman's thoughts echo in your mind."Travel RightBribe Human GuardsGo to T intersection and turn rightBribe Trolls and pass through door on rightBribe Ogres and turn leftTwo Hundred StepsSlay Fire GuardsOpen Doors to Fire TempleDestroy Altar, Slay Priestess, All Done"After taking precautions, the disguised party walks along the bridge until they reach a pair of heavy wooden gates, bound in iron.  After knocking on the gates, they hear the sounds of bars being removed and the gates swing inward. On the other side of the double doors is a large 40' by 40' chamber with two exits, one opposite the double doors that leads to a T intersection and one exit to the right.  The large chamber has light grey plaster covering the walls, peeling and chipped in places.  A fresco on the southwest wall shows hooded figures with torches riding galloping horses.  Another on the northeast wall depicts a grisly scene of human sacrifice and creatures -- possibly bugbears -- dancing around a fire.  In the western portion of the wall, eight human warriors armed with crossbows and wearing heavy armor have gathered to accept your bribe.The warriors ask no questions after they are paid and even avoid looking at your faces, as if they do not want to know who is passing them by.The chamber is dank and fetid and occupied by several Trolls that remind Lenya of Slaazh..  Three straw mats are near the west wall, and the rest of the floor is covered by broken, gnawed bones.  The plaster on teh walls has been clawed off.  One of the trolls sniffs the air and drool drips out of his mouth, but the party moves on quickly past the trolls.After passing through the next door, they enter a 20' by 60' room occupied by a pair of Ogres and four gnolls.  The Ogres happily accept their bribe money and otherwise ignore the party.  The party turns to the left and walks through several unoccupied caverns. In a 40' by 20' cave, a strange stone statue mounted on stone wheels stands near the middle of this room.  The statue once portrayed a large horsehead mounted on a solid square block, the whole thing being ten feet high and six feet wide.  Now it is smashed and marred, its features only barely discernable.  Its pieces lie in rubble all around it, as if it were long ago smashed by weapons.  Mixed with the stones are numerous bones, broken weapons, and rusted armor pieces.  Lylamwyn thinks that this might once have been a magically animated Juggernaut before it was destroyed in some past battle, months or years ago.  The next 40' by 20' cave is unremarkable except that the dark stone of the floor is worked smooth and a large diamond shape is worked into its surface, the carved outline filled with reddish iron.  A bit of broken chain lies in the western side of the room.  There are two exits from the room, one in the direction that the Fire Temple must lie and the other exit leads to a cave from which you hear a dripping sound.(Search DC 28 Glyph of Warding magical trap: Kerwyn's search check 4+12=16, Toriah's search check 3+4=7, neither saw it; DC 18 reflex save; Kerwyn reflex save 20+, Toriah reflex save 6+9=15 fails; Kerwyn dmg 18; Toriah dmg 37)Flames burst out of the ground onto the front row of the party, burning Kerwyn and Toriah severely.  The flames nearly consume poor Toriah.  One hundred twenty feet away are the great brass doors that lead to the Fire Temple, but even closer, from inbetween you and the doors and around a corner, you hear the sounds of a dog beginning to bark.</blockquote>

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