Temple of Elemental Evil - part 56 (session 25)
After a brief moment of apprehension, the man lowered the rod.
"We thank you for saving us. We've been here for what seems like forever." the man rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"Who are ya?" Brigit said, axe still raised.
"Brother and sister. We were captured and brought here to be tortured." he answered.
"Sounds about right, where are you from?" Milo asked.
"Specularum."
Milo raised his eyebrows. Specularum was a long way to bring prisoners.
"What did you do there?"
"We worked for our father's shipping company." he began.
Milo immediately thought of the Gaffer and Jaffer Company and the prisoners they released upstairs that worked for them.
"Actually, not quite a shipping company. Just a boat, we're a small company." He finished abashedly.
"Small company? So what did you ship then?"
"You name it, we'd ship it!" the bedraggled man said proudly. "Our father would reward you for saving us."
"Aye, we've plenty O' promises of rewards. Tha's not gonna help us now." Brigit scoffed.
"Let's not be too hasty, Brigit." Milo said, "We can help you out of here, but not before we clear out a couple more rooms. We're not quite ready to leave."
"How long have ya been down here?" Brigit asked.
"We have no way of knowing," he squinted up at the light coming from the ceiling. "The light has been shining since we were put here."
"So were all these animals here when ya were captured?" Brigit continued.
"No, we were tied down in an empty room, the harpies, rats, and jackals came later."
"If you're done grilling the ex-prisoners, Brigit, we can get out of here. I'd rather not stand around jawing while something may be creeping around out there." Milo said.
"Aye, fer now." Brigit said with one last sidelong glance at the humans.
The four set about searching the room. Brigit stumbled across a niche under the stone slab as she kicked a jackal out of her way. She crouched to peer into the dark recess. After a second she drew an arrow from her quiver and prodded the niche. By then the others had come behind her and were watching with curiosity.
Brigit turned with a start. "What?" she said grumpily, "Ah gotta be sure!" Satisfied, she stowed the arrow and reached into the cavity. She felt around for a few moments before withdrawing a scroll case.
She tossed the case disinterestedly at Mazi and felt back into the niche. Mazi carefully unrolled the scroll inside; wary of the last time she randomly read a parchment such as that. She was relieved to see that inscribed on the scroll were a few arcane spells.
"Spider climb," Mazi said as she scanned the scroll, "Levitate, and darkvision."
Brigit grunted as she freed a small bag from the niche. She poured out nine gems and two necklaces encrusted with jewels. Mazi tore her eyes away from the scroll to stare lovingly at the jewelry.
"Oughta be worth a copper or two." Brigit said, dropping the necklaces back in. "There's a bunch O' coins down there too. They're jus' lyin' in there though."
Brigit began scooping out coins by the fistful. All told they had found a respectable stash of platinum, gold, silver, and copper pieces. Brigit stowed the bag and coins in her expanding backpack.
"I don't want to leave without exploring the bugbears' and ogres' rooms off the Chamber of Eyes." Milo said.
"Aye, then we'll getcha outta here. Yer on yer own after tha' though." Brigit said to the humans.
"We'll give you enough provisions to make your way to Specularum." Milo continued, "There's a town nearby, Luln, but we don't recommend you visit. They're not to friendly to strangers lately."
The brother nodded his understanding. They were soon out of the room and cautiously traveling through the dark, quiet halls of the temple. The ex-captives gasped as they entered the statue room. Mazi assured them that there was no danger from the statues, but they all kept a wary eye out for the last will-o-wisp.
The myriad of eyes in the next chamber greeted them silently. Remains of the giants, bugbears, and ogres still littered the floor. They entered the door to the southeast from which one of the groups of bugbears had attacked. The room mirrored the opposite chamber they had explored days ago. The walls were set in a giant hexagon with a large iron brazier set in the center. The brazier was cold, its ashes mute testament to the disuse the room had fallen into since their initial assault. A stout oak table sat near the south wall. Other than the table and the brazier, the room was bare.
Milo strolled beside the wall, examining the cracks and seams as he walked. Something on the northeast wall caused him to stop. He looked closer and found a deep seam that ran higher than he could see. A few seconds of searching revealed the concealed door's catch. Milo triggered the door as the others gathered around. A short hallway lay beyond, leading to another concealed door. As they neared the second door Brigit's axe hummed to life.
"Trolls," she whispered.
"Stay back," Mazi warned the humans.
Mazi drew her flametongue at Brigit's whisper. Milo cast his last shield of faith on himself before pointing out the release lever to Brigit. The dwarf brandished Trollgrater and triggered the wall. The room was filthy; smudges of unidentifiable origin were streaked along the walls. A stout chain hung from an even stouter eyebolt in the wall. The other end of the chain lay at the feet of Brigit's target. The slavering troll hissed at the sight of the dwarf. Just then Trollgrater snapped into flame with a whoosh of heated air.
The heroes rushed the troll. Brigit easily dodged the first swing and slammed her flaming axe into the troll's gut. Jeremiah and Milo followed suit, wounding the leathery creature. Mazi joined the battle just in time to dodge out of the way from the troll's grasping claws and gnashing teeth. She let out an uncharacteristic growl and slashed twice in a graceful, spinning arc. The troll fell to the ground, burned and dead.
Mazi let out a shout of triumph, "Just call me Troll Slayer!"
Brigit chuckled at the elf before making sure the troll was truly dead with Trollgrater.
Milo had noticed a glint of metal as he charged into the room. Returning to the entrance he found some scattered coins, nothing too valuable. On the wall next to the eyelet he also found a large key.
"Putting the key next to the prisoner seems a little counterproductive to me." Milo said.
"Who says that's the key to the chains?" Mazi said in response.
"Good point." Milo said.
There was another door to the southeast. They entered a larger hexagonal room with polished walls and floors. Four more doors led from the room, one from each wall but the one to the west. A staircase led up from there. Empty torch brackets lined the walls. Their footsteps echoed in the large chamber. Milo padded to the door to the southwest and opened it quietly.
Another snarling troll welcomed him. The room was identical to the last. Milo immediately tumbled to the troll and slashed ineffectively at its thick hide. A loud roar distracted him for a moment. Two more trolls emerged from the other doors to pounce on the unsuspecting humans. Milo could hear the woman's shriek from within the room. The distraction cost him a healthy swipe of skin as the troll retaliated.
In the main room Jeremiah leapt to the human man's aid. He was already nursing a vicious claw wound as he backed behind the burly barbarian. Brigit assessed the situation and decided to help Milo, trusting Mazi and Jer to handle the other trolls. Her trust was well placed, Mazi sliced into the third troll, somehow finding a critical weakness in its defense. The troll howled and slashed at the lithe elf. Though its claws never found purchase, the troll bit into her savagely as she dodged.
Brigit could hardly be seen from her whirling axes. Firelight glinted off the head of her offhand dwarven waraxe. Three direct hits brought the troll down and a fourth made sure it was down for good. As soon as the her axe fell the last time the human woman ran into the room with a squeal, obviously not too familiar with battle despite her weaponry.
Milo and Brigit ignored the woman and charged out to help their friends. Just as she neared the door Brigit heard a growl from behind. Her last axe chop hadn't been enough to take the troll out completely. She whirled around and cleaved down with Trollgrater one more time. The troll's doom was sealed.
Milo found that Mazi and Jeremiah had the battle well in hand. Both of them were holding their own against the trolls. Milo dove headfirst into a handspring and flipped cleanly over a grasping claw. He deftly sliced into Mazi's opponent. Mazi had already done significant damage to the beast with her flametongue and the troll fell. Mazi finished it off with another slash of her flaming sword before they focused on the last troll.
Jeremiah cut into the thick, green hide of the large creature, but couldn't manage to wound it terribly. Milo and Mazi closed in and bracketed the troll. The creature roared defiantly and slashed at everyone in its reach. Milo ducked a claw and struck with his axes. His attacks were followed up by flaming death from Mazi's enchanted longsword. The troll swayed for a moment before crashing down in a smoldering heap. Brigit had just run into the room from dispatching the first troll. She used Trollgrater to make sure the creature wouldn't assault them again.
"Whew." Milo blew out a bit of air. "From what I saw in the other room I'd guess that the rest of these are the same as the first."
"Aye, 'cept no troll came from tha' door." Brigit pointed to the eastern portal.
They investigated the rooms the trolls were either guarding or held captive. They still couldn't tell which was the case. Each room had a similar key next to the chain's eyebolt as well as a few scattered coins. The eastern door opened into a downward sloping passage. Milo eyed it with apprehension.
"I don't think we want to take bro and sis down with us." he said, "Shall we escort them out and make camp for the night?"
There was a general assent. They emerged from the temple after cautiously treading the upper halls to the surface. Each of them donated a few of their rations to the brother and sister. After making sure they knew the way back to Specularum and that they would avoid main roads for a few miles, they bid the duo farewell. The humans thanked them profusely before heading in the direction of the capital.
As far as the 9 statues, we're done with that room. Now the items...we'll see about those. I cast detect evil on the lot and didn't find anything, but that doesn't necessarily mean the other shoe won't drop.One of these days Milo you must really let me try it.
