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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Milo Windby" data-source="post: 92536" data-attributes="member: 202">Temple of Elemental Evil - part 25 (session 11)Morning found them in the temple clearing, refreshed and ready for another foray into the depths of the evil house of worship.  They entered from the west vestry, ears tuned and eyes sharp.  The temple was as they left it, perhaps even quieter than before.”Shall we go for the spiral staircase?  That one intrigues me the most.” asked Milo.”One’s as good as tha other, suits me fine.” Brigit answered.Jeremiah and Mazi agreed and they made the trek from south to the north end of the temple.  They were accompanied by the sound of water dripping in distant rooms and the tread of their own boots.  The quiet on the earth element floor was almost oppressive.  The stairs led down one level but didn’t continue further.  They exited into the corner of a southwest, southeast branching passage.  The walls were much as they looked on the floor above, grey and cracked plaster.  ”Eenie meenie minie moe, which way?” asked Milo.”Let’s go right, it worked for us before.” responded Mazi.They could see the southwest passage straighten to the south and continue into a large room.  All four readied their weapons and steeled themselves for whatever lay in wait.  As they entered the room Milo scouted for traps and ambushes.  Bones and skeletons were scattered all over the room, some intact.  Gruesome depictions of new arrivals to the temple were scrawled on the walls.  A life-size statue of a minotaur stood in the very center of the room and a single door led from the southwest corner.  Milo glanced back at Jeremiah, remembering his dream and the particular zeal he exhibited when dealing with the last minotaur they found.  Jeremiah seemed at ease though.”Let’s check the parameter of the room before we fiddle with the statue.  You can almost assume a statue is a trap right off.”  Milo said.They followed the north wall to the east wall, searching as they walked.  Midway along the east wall Mazi noticed a discoloration of the stone wall.  Looking closer she found a secret catch in the wall.”Milo, what do you make of this?” Mazi asked the halfling.”It’s complicated,” Milo said after a close examination of the trigger Mazi found. ”I think I can get it to work, hang on a second.”After three attempts working the complex mechanism Milo finally managed to trigger it.  A large section of the wall pivoted around a central axis.  Milo and Mazi led the way into the hall leaving Brigit and Jer to defend the rear in case the statue was a threat.That’s when everything came crashing down around their ears.  An empty hallway continued east while another less empty passage led south.  Four guards occupied the bunk-lined hallway along with one in the livery of a sergeant. Just as the enemies registered in Milo’s vision he was thrown to the ground, hard.  A spiked log had been dropped from the ceiling.  Mazi and Milo were both struck with glancing blows.  Brigit took advantage of the opening and fired an arrow into the group of humans.  Mazi struggled back to her feet and finished off the guard Brigit had wounded.  Milo immediately tumbled backwards to leave room for Brigit to advance.Before any of the guards could attack one of the sergeants in the rear pulled on a torch.  A rumbling could be heard above a barely audible cry for help.  The heroes didn’t have time to worry about the cry, especially Milo.The statue indeed was a trap, but nothing like Milo expected.  The minotaur came to life and charged at the surprised halfling.  It had merely been painted grey and flecked to appear like a statue.  It was a very real and very angry minotaur pointing the nasty end of its horns at Milo.The first attack crushed Milo to the floor, sending him sprawling.  His vision swam with a field of stars.  He was nimble enough to dodge the next blow on reflex alone but he knew he couldn’t stand against the minotaur without help.Brigit reversed her direction, drew her axe, and managed to get behind the minotaur.  The beast swung its head around, knocking its horns into Brigit’s axe and wrenching it from her hands.  Brigit stooped to pick up the weapon before the minotaur could follow through.Back at the front of the fray Mazi and Jeremiah were keeping the guards at bay.  Mazi fired off an impressive spell she hadn’t used before.  Flame spurted from her fingertips and burned three of the guards beyond recognition.  Jeremiah had worse luck, his sword clanged into the ceiling as he brought it down in a vertical swing.  He recovered the greatsword quickly but lost his opportunity to attack.A clamor rose from the room behind the guards and Mazi could see eight more well armed men trooping into the hallway.  She reacted quickly, summoning another spell from her memory.  The now familiar gooey strands of her web spell filled the space around the new enemies, trapping all but the rear three.  Mazi brushed her hands off in satisfaction.With the threat of the guards contained for a moment Jeremiah turned to help his friends against the minotaur.  Brigit and the beast had been trading blows while Milo backed away to heal himself.  Brigit took a nasty blow but returned it two-fold.  Jeremiah’s greatsword added to the battle was too much for the camouflaged beast.  Milo looked up to see the large monster fall dead to the ground.  Mazi, unaware of most of the struggle behind her muttered under her breath as the sergeant approached. ”First the burning hands, then the web, now the sergeant, do I have to do everything?”  Brigit answered the question with her axe, ending the threat of the sergeant before he could really begin.  Mazi moved back while Jeremiah joined the dwarf near the web.  Before they could decide what to do with the captive guards they heard more feet running their way.  Down the empty hallway three more guards charged.  The guards couldn’t have predicted the reception they received.  A quick volley of arrows brought down the leading human while Jeremiah’s impressive sword cleaved through the other two.  The group turned their attention back to the webbed humans.They could here shouting from behind the captives, probably the leader urging his troops forward.  Brigit and Mazi fired into the web, wounding one guard and killing another.  Jeremiah drew a vial of oil and rigged it to explode.  He tossed the firebomb into the web and watched as it exploded.  The other seven guards were caught in the blast.  The wounded guard fell but the others advanced angrily on their attackers.  Only one of the first three guards made it to Brigit and Jeremiah’s front line.  He attacked Jeremiah, wounding him slightly and angering him more.  He was soon dispatched as well as two of the other guards by Brigit and Mazi’s arrows.  Milo could see that there were two leaders behind the guards, urging them on.  One drew a shortbow and fired two arrows in quick succession at Jeremiah.  They missed, but barely.  Milo didn’t like the look of them.  He called upon his newfound faith in Usamigaras and cast a shield of protection on Brigit, then prepared to do the same with Jeremiah.Brigit, Jeremiah, and Mazi finished off the remaining guards and readied themselves for the leaders.  Both were armored in leather and carried short swords.  The first one performed a surprising move, rolling forward, he tumbled past Jeremiah and Brigit.  Both struck at the opportunity to attack and wounded the rogue badly.  The other rogue cautiously approached Jeremiah, trapping him between the two.Brigit attacked the second rogue while Jeremiah and Mazi concentrated on the tumbler.  Milo finished his second spell and touched Jer, covering him in a divine shield.  The standing rogue was able to hit Jeremiah despite the protection, wounding him badly with an expertly placed strike.The tumbler didn’t last much longer.  Brigit switched her focus and slashed down on the crouching rogue, ending his life.  Jeremiah spun around and delivered two serious blows to the other rogue.The crafty-eyed villain could see the tide turning against him.  He turned to run.  Only Jeremiah was close enough to get in a parting blow.  The rogue stumbled once, recovered, and continued to run.  Milo gave chase.</blockquote>

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