Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Milo Windby" data-source="post: 80680" data-attributes="member: 202">Temple of Elemental Evil - part 22 (session 10)Looking around the room Milo could see a startlingly lifelike relief carved into the south wall.  A large face protruded from the rock, staring into the room.  The face was human shaped, but flattened, crowned with a mushroom-shaped cranium.  "A little grotesque, don't you think?" Milo asked out loud as he examined the carving."It ain't purty, that's for sure." Brigit agreed.A demolished sandstone altar sat at the rear of the room.  Smaller carvings covered the walls depicting obscene and unholy acts performed by various demons and grotesque creations.  Milo's gaze passed over them fleetingly, looking for any important clues or hidden switches.  Finding none, he instead centered his attention on a large wooden box in the corner.  The box was unadorned, nothing indicating the contents within.  Milo examined it quickly, checking for traps.  The wooden box was quite unremarkable.  He lifted the lid and found nothing but rotten clothes inside.  It appeared to be full of old robes and other accouterments fit for unholy rituals.  Under the robes and rags he found a carved ivory statuette, certainly worth some gold pieces.  A pile of copper pieces lay under another robe further down.  Milo began loading the rags back in the box.Mazi and Brigit had checked the bodies of the undead while Milo was occupied.  He didn't mind, the farther away from those smelly ghasts he was, the better."Nothing over here, you find anything on the Great Stinky Undead?" Milo asked his companions."Aye, more jewelry fer our fancy elf." Brigit said as she held up a gold chain set with three sizable rubies.  "Looks like a matching set." Mazi said, lifting a gold ring set with a ruby."Probably, let's stash them for later, I'd like to see what was in the big ghast's room." Milo said as he stowed the statuette and copper coins that he found.Milo gagged as they entered the next room.  If anything the smell inside was worse than the ghasts themselves.  He couldn't figure out how anything could smell as bad as the undead creatures, the smell of the grave was preferable to their stench.The room was littered with broken furniture and the usual pile of cushions acting as a bed.  The walls were covered with torn and ratty tapestries.  A barrel full of stagnant, tainted water sat in the corner along with a lumpy sack.  Another door led to the north.Remembering the barrel of spears in the ogre's den and the trove underneath, Milo scurried to the water barrel and examined the floor underneath.  His curiosity paid off, there was definitely something under the heavy barrel.  "Brigit, Jeremiah, will you two see if you can budge this barrel?  I think there's something underneath it." Milo asked his friends.Brigit had been examining the sack near the barrel and was disappointed to find nothing but clothes.  "Fine wi' me.  There be nuthin but old clothes around here.  Ya could cloth a village wi' all tha stuff we found here.  Wha's with that?" Brigit complained as she set her shoulder to the barrel.Jeremiah took his place wordlessly, helping Brigit shove the barrel off the floor tile.  The stone was certainly loose, Brigit heaved the tile up without too much effort.  A small sack lay in the space underneath.  Milo grabbed the sack before Brigit dropped the slab back into place.  It held a hefty amount of silver pieces, nearly two hundred by Milo's estimate.The door to the north was slightly ajar, apparently not trapped.  Milo checked it anyway, ever paranoid."Nothing on this door.  Never know though." Milo responded to the quizzical looks he was given by his companions.They entered the room cautiously, set for another undead assault on their olfactory senses.  Surprisingly this room was a little easier to breathe in.  The room was devoid of undead occupants, or any live occupants that they could see.  There was an alcove in the north wall with a door at the end of the shallow hall.  The walls were at one time plastered with the grimy brown and tans that ran throughout that section of the temple.  The plaster had long since molded in some places and peeled in others.  A large ironbound chest squatted in the northeast corner, near the alcove.  Rotten cushions were piled in the opposite corner.  Heaps of bones were piled in the alcove itself, almost blocking the door."Do yer thing Milo, that looks ta be a nice treasure chest there." Brigit said."Way ahead of you." Milo said, already crouching at the chest and examining the sturdy padlock that secured it.He checked the lock for a trap, knowing that if there was one it would have to be relatively small to be encased in the padlock itself.  Milo wasn't able to find anything suspicious.  He withdrew his picks and went to work on the mechanism.  After four attempts and subsequent slips, he was able to manipulate the final tumbler into position.  The "click" he lived for signaled the opening of the lock.  He threw back the lid and the rest of the group peered into the chest.They found a sack of silver pieces, quite a bit more than the last, a shiny golden broach, and a silver scroll tube.  Milo opened the tube and pulled out the parchment inside.  Inscribed on the scroll was a divine spell for warding a person against evil."Now who leaves a protection from evil spell in an evil temple?" Milo asked rhetorically."I don't know, but I wouldn't complain, they've served you well so far." Mazi said."You mean they've served Brigit and Jeremiah well so far." Milo fired back, teasing their two front line fighters."Do ya want ta get in tha front next time, Milo?  Ya kin cast them spells on yerself if ya do!" Brigit retorted."You know I'm only teasing Brigit.  You look so much better when you're knee-deep in the mayhem.  I couldn't take that from you." Milo said.While they were talking Jeremiah was already checking the alcove.  None of the bones swirled up to fight him so he ventured further.  The door opened easily and Jer was halfway into the room before the others noticed."Jer!" Milo managed to squeak out before realizing that Jeremiah set off no traps and was perfectly safe.  He followed the others through the door.The next room was a hallway that ran east to west, ten paces each way.  Broken cases and empty hooks along the walls indicated the nature of the room."Looks to be some sort of trophy room." Mazi said.Jeremiah was inspecting one of the broken displays, grisly trophies rested on the broken shelf, scalps, skulls, and other more disgusting spoils of war.  A few old weapons and armor still hung from the walls here and there.  On a hunch, Milo cast his magic detection cantrip and concentrated on the contents of the room.  As he thought, one item glowed out of the wreckage."Jeremiah, will you go take down that shield over there?  I can't reach it." Milo asked.Jeremiah walked to the large shield and pulled it down from its mounting.  He handed the heavy shield to Milo who examined it closer.  The glow from the shield was very similar to Brigit's.  "Looks like an enchanted shield," he told the others. "I think this is our fourth.""Aye, yer tha only one that don't have one, Milo." Brigit said."I don't think I want this one, it's a bit heavy." Milo answered the dwarf."Ah well, let's save it fer later then." she said.Behind the clutter at the east end of the hallway they found a door.  Mazi predicted that it would lead right back into the north-south corridor they came from.  After the all clear from Milo they tested the prediction.  Mazi was right, the hallway yawned to the north and south."Let's check the door that was padlocked." Mazi suggested. "I'm willing to wager whatever behind there is something the ghasts were keeping captive, judging from the condition of the lock.""How very astute, Mazi." Milo said to the elf, "I'm impressed."They traveled south then west to the door in question.  Milo checked the door first, making sure there were no traps in the door's lock, he checked the padlock next. "With how well oiled and used these are you'd think we'd have found a key around here." Milo muttered as he withdrew his picks.  He was only half-serious though, he loved the challenge of the lock, especially padlocks.  They always seemed to have a little extra complexity.One try each and two satisfying "clicks" later, Milo had the door open.  "Some days I got it." He said as he pocketed his tools and backed away.They entered the room in their usual formation, Brigit and Jeremiah first with the other two following.  The room beyond the door was dank and reeked of human refuse.  About a dozen humans huddled in the corner, clothed in rags and emaciated.  Milo counted nine men chained to each other and the wall as well as two women that were unfettered.  All cowered at the light, clearly expecting a more horrific sight at the door."Uhh, hullo." Brigit ventured.The humans squinted at the light streaming in from the hall.  It took a few moments to sink in, but eventually they all realized that the four were much different than the captors they were used to.  "H-h-hel-lo?" said one of the men.  He had loose skin, as if he was accustomed to eating well but had lost a lot of weight. "Ar-re you g-g-o-ing to t-t-ake us to be sac-sa-sa." the man couldn't seem to get the words out."Sacrifice?" Milo finished for him, "No no no, nothing like that.  We just found the ghasts in the other room."The prisoners winced collectively at the word "ghasts", Milo figured they had been treated harshly by their captors."You're all free to go," Mazi told them, "Who are you?"The speaker introduced himself as a traveling merchant with his wife, men-at-arms, and servants.  They had been captured on the open road and taken to the temple.  "These must be yers then," Brigit said, tossing the sack of clothes she found to the merchant."Hang on, let me take care of your manacles," Milo said as he moved towards the men with his lockpicks.  The manacles were opened easily and Milo had the eleven prisoners free in moments.  Their only request was to be pointed the way out.  Rather than tell them the direct route Milo and Mazi explained how to reach the hall with the weapons and bones.  The merchant expressed his gratitude and told them that if he ever saw them again he would reward them for their liberation.  The heroes saw the prisoners down the hall and let them go from there.  "I'd be surprised if they found anything here.  I think we've just about decimated this place so far." Milo stated.</blockquote>

Verification