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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Milo Windby" data-source="post: 401684" data-attributes="member: 202">Temple of Elemental Evil – part 57 (session 26)Two nights of rest and a full day of Milo’s healing touch found the heroes once more at full health and vigor.  The companions delved into the temple again.  They soon made their way to their first entrance point on the third subterranean floor.  The room where they had fought the roper and demon was not far off.  Instead of revisiting the laboratories, they chose instead to explore the last hallway.  They walked for a few feet before noticing light ahead.  Spaced in regular intervals, torches burned in wall brackets.  The torches ended at a set of stairs leading down deeper into the temple.  ”Are we ready to go down yet?” Milo asked Mazi.”Not if we want to cover the rest of this floor before we go.” she said viewing her maps. ”There’s one more room off from the Chamber of Eyes and a passage and staircase leading out of the troll room.””An’ tha bronze pit wi’ tha arches.  We still don’ know wha’s down there.” Brigit interjected.”What’ll it be then?  Troll room, Chamber of Eyes, or Bronze Pit?” Milo asked.After a short discussion they decided on the troll room.  The stairs led up, turned east, and then ended just beyond.  A blank wall was all they found at the end.  Milo was too pragmatic to leave it alone.”No one goes to all the trouble of building a staircase and hallway underground just to finish it in a dead-end.” he said as he examined the wall closer. ”Ah hah!  Here we are.”With the push of a loose stone the blank wall slid backwards.  Milo stood to the side and leaned against the wall as Brigit and Jeremiah passed into the darkness beyond.  They emerged through a secret passage leading into the air chapel on the second floor.  Brigit shivered from the memory of the battle with the wraith days ago.  ”There’s nuthin’ fer us here.  Let’s go back down.” Brigit said quickly.Milo simply shrugged and turned to leave.  The others followed shortly.  Since the door leading out of the troll room seemed to slope down, they decided that it was likely that it led to the next floor.  The four instead decided to finish up the Chamber of Eyes.  The last door to be opened was unlocked and well used.  What appeared to be living chambers sat in darkness until the light of Milo’s lamp illuminated the chamber.  The floor and the walls were covered in a detailed mosaic.  The subject of the mosaic was familiar to all of them by now.  Evil beings consorted with priests and unidentifiable beings.  What they were consorting in Milo cared little to figure out.  The murals and mosaics always left him with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.  He turned instead to the mundane items in the room.Heaps of rugs and animal skins were scattered around the room.  A large barrel sat between two.  Some small pots sat next to a dead fire.  Hanging above the cold ashes was a kettle full of a thick liquid.  ”Looks like we came down during dinner.” Milo said as he stirred the kettle.  The congealed fat on the top covered a stew consisting of unmentionable bits of meat.Brigit perked up when she found what was in the barrel.  ”Ale!” she smacked her lips at the thought of a good draught.  She was soon spitting in disgust as she wet her finger and took a taste. ”Ugh!  Watered down!  Even dwarves have taste.  If it’s not dwarven ale, it’s crap!”Milo laughed at the dwarf and her ceaseless search for high-quality liquor in the most unlikely places.  There didn’t appear to be anything of value in the ogre’s living quarters.  The heaps of rags and pelts didn’t hide any tucked away trinkets.  ”Ain’t no exits here.  Since we’re nearby, why don’ we check out tha pit?” Brigit asked.”If we’re going down there then we’re going to take some time to prepare.  I don’t trust anything that looks like a fighting pit.  You never know what they might keep down there for entertainment.” Milo said.”Ach, tha’s fine Milo, ya wanna be ready, we’ll get ready, but me an’ Jer are itchin’ fer a good fight.”They soon found themselves standing near the edge of the pit.  Milo’s lantern reflected light all over the beaten bronze sheets that covered the walls of the octagonal room.  Mazi bid them to wait on the preparations while she cast another arcane eye to scan the archways.  Her small sensor appeared in her outstretched hand before gently floating to the bottom of the pit and heading out of sight beyond the left arch.”It’s just a small cubicle.” she said to the others, reporting the eye’s findings, ”There’s some broken weapons and some torn leather.”Milo could see the arcane eye drift across the ground to the other arch.  As soon as it was out of sight Mazi swooned.  She nearly toppled into the pit before catching herself on the wall.”Mazi?” Milo said with concern.She shook off whatever had disturbed her before speaking, ”I – I don’t know.  I was looking through the eye and was suddenly lost.  I saw thousands of sparkling facets, like an enormous jewel.  It felt as if I was being drawn, into – into the jewel.  That’s when I snapped out of it.””Is your eye still active?  Can you see what did that to you?” Milo asked.Mazithra concentrated and could once more see through the magical sensor.  ”I see a basin of water, a gargoyle head is spitting the water into the basin, that’s it.” she paused for a moment. ”Wait, something just moved.”It was another few seconds before Mazi recoiled in disgust.  ”It looks like a giant bug!  It’s about the size of a bear, but it’s got the body of a beetle.  It’s eyes – it’s eyes must be what got me.  They’re like a fly’s, so many facets.”  It appeared Mazi would fall prey to the creature’s spell again until she spoke. ”I know what it is.  That thing’s an umber hulk.””Don’t those burrow?  How could they hold one here?” Milo asked.”I don’t know, but if we’re going to take it on then I’m going to stay on the ledge.  I don’t want to get close to those mandibles.” Mazi said.”Do what ya will, elfie.  Jeremiah an’ I gots plenty ta keep tha bug busy.” Brigit said as she hefted her two axes.The logistics of the pit took a few seconds of planning.  They finally decided that their two ropes of climbing would allow Brigit and Jeremiah to slide down in while Milo would have to trust to his acrobatics and jump.  Meanwhile Mazi would sidle around the pit on the narrow ledge above and cast down into the pit from across the way.Milo cast shields of faith on Brigit, Jeremiah, and himself before Mazi used her single improved invisibility on him.  They were ready.  The three going into the pit waited a few seconds for Mazi to get into position.  Once she signaled, Brigit and Jeremiah slid noisily to the bottom from their ropes suspended on the ladder above.  Milo dropped silently to the bottom and positioned himself near the arch.  He said a quick prayer to even the field a little.  Suddenly a giant clawed arm swiped at him.  He was taken totally by surprise, trusting in the improved invisibility to keep him safe.  His illusions of safety were dashed completely when the second claw struck home.  He reeled from the blow of the umber hulk’s intense strength.The air sizzled as Mazi’s lightning bolt arced into the insect-like monster.  Electricity played over its chitinous plating and it convulsed in pain.  Milo could smell ozone in the smoking air.  That’s when Brigit and Jeremiah swooped in.  Brigit screamed an ancient war cry in dwarven.  She hammered into the hulk with both axes.  Three penetrating slashes broke through the hard carapace of the creature.  Jeremiah followed after with two great strokes of the Windsword.  His enchanted blade lopped off one arm before slicing it open wide at the abdomen.  The umber hulk reeled backwards and crashed to the ground.  It’s mandibles clicked loudly and a rattling sound emerged from what Milo guessed was its mouth.  The umber hulk then lay still.  Milo approached the corpse while nursing his sore arm.  The umber hulk’s claws were plenty sharp.  Milo knew why Mazi didn’t want to get close.  Brigit called out in his general direction.”Ya alright, Milo?  Ah saw it hit sumthin’ before we could charge.””I’m okay, thanks Brigit.” Milo said.He skirted the body of the hulk, just in case.  Milo had seen something shine on the ground in the hulk’s alcove.  There were coins scattered all over the ground, under scraps of torn leather and cloth.  Some were half buried in the packed dirt of the pit floor.  Milo found something much more interesting in the corner of the alcove.  He shouted an exclamation when he figured out what they were.”Boots!  Just like yours, Mazi!” Milo said while he held up a small pair of leather boots.  They were extremely soft to the touch and padded in a most ingenious manner.  What made Milo the most excited was their size.  They fit him perfectly.  He was already sitting on the ground struggling out of his boots as fast as he could to try on the new pair. Mazi had made her way down by the ladder.  She had caught the dangling chain and pulled down the bronze latticework.  She stood across from Milo with her arms folded and just laughed as he tried to yank off his old boots without unlacing them first.  Meanwhile Brigit was gathering the coins in the alcove.  She ran across a small alabaster bottle.  It was of fine craftsmanship but bore no mark.  She pulled off the stopper and took a whiff of the contents.”Phew!  Tha’s some pansy stuff!” she said as she recoiled.”Let’s see if it’s poison before you do anything with it, Brigit.” Mazi warned.The vial passed her detect poison test with no indication of pollution.  Brigit shrugged and rubbed a bit of the contents on her skin.  She wrinkled her nose at the smell that suddenly seemed to fill the room.  Brigit suddenly smelled much nicer than any of them remembered.  The perfume even covered the sour ale odor from her last drinking binge.”Ach!  Give tha stinky stuff ta tha elf!  She’s got tha pansy jewels an’ tha like, she can have tha pansy perfume!” Brigit tossed the vial to Mazi, who caught it carefully.  ”Ah smelled somethin’ tha’ stinky before.  They wanted a lot O’ money for it tho, so Ah didna buy any.”Mazi’s eyes lit up and she stowed the vial, for later use or sale, Milo didn’t know.  Milo had finally succeeded in getting his boots on.  He oohed and aahed at the fine workmanship that had to have been put into the boots to render them so quiet.  He padded around a little to get a feel for them.  He was perfectly silent until he shouted, ”Woo hoo!”By then Brigit had stumbled upon another find.  She drew up a pouch from under some cloth.  As she emptied the pouch into her palm Mazi’s eyes once again lit up.  Five finely wrought pieces of jewelry tumbled into Brigit’s hand.  A hair clip, broach, comb, arm clasp, and nose-to-ear clasp lay glittering in the lantern light.  Each was crafted from silver or gold and set with semi-precious stones.”Easily five hundred gold pieces each.  Ah suppose ya’d like ta hang onta these too?” Brigit raised her eyebrow at Mazi.The elf nodded and Brigit tossed her the jewelry after placing them back into the pouch.  Still getting a new feel for his boots, Milo was quietly sneaking around the alcove.  He spied a small leather case in the other corner.  The case was too small for a scroll.  Inside he found a short stick.  Brigit had taken interest in his finding until she saw what the case held.  She snatched the wand from Milo’s hand and hefted it.”Jus’ a stick.  This would make great kindlin’.  A little skinny, might need a couple dozen more, but it’d work in a pinch.”She cringed at the shouts of protest from Milo and Mazi.  Milo quickly grabbed the stick from Brigit’s slack grip and slid it back into its case.”I think this particular stick has a much greater purpose than to start your cooking fire.” Milo said as he tied the case off.  He handed it to Mazi for identification later.”Suit yerself.  Far’s Ah kin tell, this place was pretty much a wash.”Milo amusedly shook his head at Brigit.  They left the pit after untying their ropes of climbing and decided to leave to identify their finds and recuperate spells.  They still had the statue haul as well as some other miscellaneous items to figure out.</blockquote>

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