Chapter 11 – Temple of Confusion
The room Nearum had led them to contained a few bedrolls, apparently from pirates now departed. Another room nearby was empty and just across from the room was a broken wall, behind which stairs led down. There seemed to be nothing threatening them in the immediate vicinity, and so, deciding on an order for a watch, they settled in to sleep.
Alairic had the first watch. He stepped out of the room and into the corridor so that he could watch in all directions. Soon the torch in the room behind him burned out and he stood alone in the darkness, listening to the snores of his sleeping companions. As he stood there and time passed, he gradually began to notice a glow coming from the corridor with the steps leading down. It was a red glow and it seemed to be getting brighter. Bright enough at least that he could begin to make out the walls and corridors around him.
After a bit of thinking Alairic went back into the room and going to where he remembered Kinshag to be laying, he proceeded to wake the Sil-karg up.
“Leave me alone,” complained Kinshag wearily, “Can’t you see that I am sleeping?”
“Something’s going on,” said Alairic, “I need you to keep on eye on things while I go check it out.”
“Is there no peace and quiet in this place?”
Nevertheless, Kinshag arose and agreed to watch and listen while Alairic investigated the glow.
The tunnel across from the room had apparently been recently excavated. There had been picks and shovels in the room in which they had killed the one they took to be the pirate captain. Perhaps this was what had been dug open. Past the excavated area stairs led down. Alairic descended these and arriving at the bottom he saw a long corridor with several wide side passages. The glow was coming from the other end of the passage.
Alairic moved cautiously forward and as he did so, he noticed an outlined square in the floor ahead of him. Perhaps a door of some sort. He tested it cautiously and found it only opened down and that it swung right back up when pushed. It appeared to Alairic to be a trap. He went around it. A little further ahead there was an intersection and a body lay on the floor. Moving slowly, Alairic made his way to the body. Looking left and right, he realized he could not see down the corridors to his sides. He turned his attention to the body. It seemed to be human, and was burnt badly. The light however was not good enough to make out much more detail than that.
Looking ahead, Alairic could now see clearly that there was a door about sixty feet in front of him and that the glow was pouring out from around the seams in the door. Alairic looked at the body again and decided he did not need to get any closer to the door. Turning around he went back to the room. Kinshag went back to sleep and Alairic finished his watch. Sometime before Alairic woke Niccolo to relieve him, the glow stopped.
It returned though as the half-elf stood there watching, a red glow that filled the dark passage across from the room they were staying in. Niccolo decided to follow Alairic’s example and investigate too. Waking Tilliana and explaining to her that she needed to keep an eye on things, Niccolo then proceeded to enter through the excavated tunnel and down the stairs. As Niccolo walked forward, he stepped on the trap Alairic had seen and avoided. The door began to open under the half-elf’s feet and Niccolo threw himself backwards. He landed with a thud on the floor, but had narrowly avoided falling through the trap.
Moving more cautiously now, the half-elf went forward towards the door at the end of the hall. As he reached the burnt corpse, his keen eyes made out a little bit more of the detail than Alairic’s had and he saw that the floor around the corpse appeared to be charred as well. Looking up, Niccolo saw that there was a hole in the ceiling directly above the center of the intersection. With this in mind, Niccolo moved further down the hallway, looking up for more holes in the ceiling. At the next intersection he saw another and so gingerly Niccolo crept around the side of the intersection, avoiding the middle.
At the door there was another intersection and Niccolo again avoided the middle of the intersection, reaching the door from which the red glow streamed around. Niccolo listened at the door and heard nothing. Cautiously he tested the door. It was unlocked. Niccolo opened it. Inside he saw a simple, unadorned room of stone. There was a stone table in the middle of the room atop which sat a glowing ruby. On the far wall, Niccolo also saw a large sarcophagus leaning against the wall. The sarcophagus was shut.
Deciding against entering the room, Niccolo turned to head back. As he did so he heard a voice. It was soft and cultured. It was a voice, not in his ears, but in his head.
“Do you want a wish?”
Niccolo turned around. He saw no one.
“Who are you?”
“I am a ruby of wishing and I offer you a wish.”
Niccolo thought hard, his mind flying. Doubt was foremost in his mind as well as a suspicion that something was afoot.
“You are a ruby of wishing?”
“Yes.”
“Can I wish for anything?”
“Yes, for anything,” came the soft answer. Niccolo suspected evil.
“Can I go consult with my companions.”
“I can grant only one wish to one person.”
“Only one wish?”
“Yes.”
Niccolo decided to test the ruby. “Then I wish that the dragons on this Island were our allies."
“Its not that simple. It does not work like that. First you must come and take ahold of me. Then there are a few other simple steps, but I can easily walk you through them.”
Niccolo now was firmly convinced the ruby was up to no good. He said, “I am going to consult my allies and then I will be back.”
“Do not take too long,” said the ruby.
Niccolo carefully returned down the hallway, keeping away from the middle of the intersections again and when he had returned to the room, he woke up the rest of the sleepers, excepting Reshk. Explaining what he had found, Niccolo urged them to come back to the ruby with him. Kinshag opted to stay behind.
“In case anyone comes up from behind,” he explained.
Niccolo led Alairic and Tilliana back tot he ruby, cautioning them to avoid the intersections. The ruby was still there, glowing brightly.
“It talks,” said Niccolo, “It’s a talking ruby.”
“It is also very evil,” said Alairic, “The ruby is evil, but nothing else in the room seems to be evil.”
“It’s evil?” said Niccolo, “Then lets smash it.”
The half-elf drew out his great ax and prepared himself to smash the gemstone into pieces with it.
“Wait,” said Alairic, “The ruby detects as evil, but perhaps its not the ruby, perhaps there is something evil in the ruby.”
“Something in the ruby?”
“Yes, like the…”
“Like the demon,” said Tilliana and Niccolo, seeing where Alairic was going.
“Let’s not smash it,” said Tilliana.
“No,” said Niccolo, “Lets not.”
Tilliana turned to investigate the rest of the room, the sarcophagus in particular. The room however was featureless and the sarcophagus too was featureless, all except for an obvious padlock.
“Lets not open that,” said Tilliana.
“I say we just leave everything in here alone,” said Alairic.
“I say we take the ruby with us,” said Niccolo.
“Let’s leave it,” said Alairic.
“I say we sleep on it,” said Tilliana, “Things might make more sense to us in the morning after we have rested.”
“You know,” said Alairic thinking hard, “When I was watching, the glow started and stopped. Now in the room we are in, there are the steps going down and then a straight passage and so we can’t see this door from there. How do we know someone has not been coming in and out of here causing the ruby to glow or stop glowing?”
“So we should leave it?” asked Niccolo.
“I think we should wrap it up in a bed roll,” said Alairic.
“Yeah, then we can see if someone uncovers it,” said Niccolo.
Alairic went cautiously but swiftly back to the room and grabbed his own bedroll. Returning to the ruby, he covered it with the blankets. Then they went back and tried to rest. Kinshag’s watch went quietly as did Tilliana’s.
Tilliana could feel the coming of Dawn and she began to prepare herself to prepare her divine spells. But as she was about to do this, she heard footsteps in the corridor outside the room. She reached over and shook Kinshag awake and then the others as well.
The red headed Nearum entered the room.
“Good Morning,” he said to Tilliana, “I trust you all are rested and ready for business now?”
Alairic from where he lay scanned the red head. As suspected he was an evil man.
“What is this business you want us to do?” asked Niccolo
“First things first,” said the man kindly, “I believe you all said you needed to heal first and so you should do that before doing anything else.” So saying he bent and woke the still sleeping Reshk.
Tilliana prepared her spells, as did Niccolo and Alairic. Then after Alairic had healed most of his own wounds, Tilliana took care of the rest of them. When they were all healed, the kobold included, they once more turned to Nearum to see what it was that he wanted from them.
“I need you to destroy a ruby,” said Nearum, “It is down the corridor across the hall and down the steps.”
“If we are to destroy the ruby,” asked Tilliana, “first tell us who is in the crypt?”
“You have been down to the room already?” asked Nearum with some surprise, “I believe there is a demon entombed in the crypt in the ruby room, one that must not be freed. But there is also an evil ruby and it must be destroyed.”
“What is this ruby?” asked Niccolo
“It is said to be a ruby that grants wishes, but it is a force for evil.”
“So you want us to destroy the ruby?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because it is evil!”
“Why should we not just take it with us?”
“Can you imagine what would happen to the world if an evil man got his hands on that ruby? Can you imagine what horrors he might unleash?”
“Why do you need us to do it?” asked Tilliana.
“Only one pure of heart will have the power to destroy such an evil gem.”
“Where did you learn all this,” asked Tilliana.
“I have traveled far. In Kalamar I read a legend in a book of a demon buried by elvish adventurers, but when they sealed the demon, they also buried an evil gem with the demon. I foolishly let a pirate know of this and they brought me here searching for the gem.”
“If you were there prisoner, what are you doing running around?” asked Niccolo suspiciously.
“Well, I was captive, but I got loose just in time to help you, and good for you that I did.”
“So, “said Alairic pointedly, “You confess that you are not a good man, insince you need someone pure of heart. Indeed you yourself are an evil man. Why should we trust you.”
Nearum sighed. “I confess,” he said, “that I have made mistakes in my life, but I try to do what I can to do the right thing, perhaps I am trying to atone for past misdeeds. Now however,t here is a chance to do real good, to get rid of an ancient evil. All you have to do is smash that accursed ruby.”
“I still don’t think we should trust you,” said Niccolo.
“Why would I help you defeat those pirates if I was their ally?” asked Nearum pointedly.
“Personally,” said Niccolo, “I think you look like a pirate and a vulture.”
Nearum reacted strongly, his eyes flashed.
“Why do you say that?” he snapped
“Because you do,” said Niccolo, trying to get another reaction.
But Nearum calmed and said, “Look, all I know is what the legends say.”
“That elvish adventurers trapped both a demon and an evil ruby down here.”
“Yes.”
“And you want us to smash it?”
“Yes.”
“We’ll think about it,” said Tilliana taking charge, “but we want to talk about it privately.”
“Just whatever you do, do not take it out of that room,” said the red headed man, “You will unleash great evil if you do.”
“Leave us and let us talk,” said Tilliana.
Nearum complied and exited the room. Tilliana looked out into the corridor where he stood leaning against the wall.
“Shoo please,” she said, “Where you can’t listen.”
He frowned but complied, walking away down the corridor and around the turn.
“I think we should take it out,” said Niccolo as soon as they were alone.
“What did the ruby say?” asked Alairic.
“It said that I needed to take it, I tried to test it by making a wish but it would not let me have the wish, it wanted me to take ahold of it first and then said it would walk me through the rest.”
“I think this man and the ruby are both trying to use us,” said Alairic, “That’s why he keeps telling us to not take it out, he wants us to. I say we should just leave.”
“If you would stop running your mouth a moment you goofy paladin,” said Niccolo, “You could then listen to...”
“I thought he was a stupid paladin,” said Kinshag.
“He has graduated to goofy,” said Niccolo, “Anyway, I was about to say that you and you,” indicating Alairic and Tilliana, “are not the only ones to have had a vision, I had one last night as well and the archon of light, Tarfagel, told me to both beware the vulture of lies and to be aware that the strength of the dragon outside was acidic. But the vulture of lies…”
“There are two types of lies though,” interrupted Alairic, “There are outright deceptions and then there are those where you say one thing hoping to accomplish another. He keeps telling us to takenot take it out and what he wants is for us to take it out.”
“Ahh,” said Niccolo, “You think he is trying to use reverse psychology.”
“Trying to trick us,” said Kinshag.
“There is a demon buried down here,’ said Alairic, “How do we know its not buried in the ruby
“Perhaps,” said Niccolo, “The demon’s body is in that sarcophagus and its soul is in the ruby.”
“I say we take the ruby out of the room,” said Tilliana.
Reshk was looking confused. The poor kobold was having trouble following the conversation of the Reanaarians.
“Are you saying there is a ruby that grants wishes?” he asked.
“Yes,” said Niccolo.
“I am totally against taking it out,” said Alairic, “But majority rules, if that’s what you all vote to do?”
Further discussion ensued as they argued back and forth whether to retrieve the ruby or leave it where it was.
Finally Tilliana asked, “What were we told to do, not unleash a demon?”
“We were told to leave the demon buried,” said Alairic.
“I say we take it,” said Kinshag, ‘and throw it in a hole where no one else can find it.”
“I say we take it out,” said Tilliana, “separate the spirit and the body of the demon.”
“We could throw it in the ocean,” said Niccolo, “Nobody would ever find it there.”
“What do you think Reshk?” asked Alairic.
“I would go for the wish,” said the kobold. There was a selfish gleam in his eyes.
“Let’s go back to the room with the ruby,” said Alairic.
They went back down the stairs and skirting all that they believed to be a trap, they once more entered the room with the ruby. It still lay on the table, covered with Alairic’s blankets.
“Niccolo can pick it up,” volunteered Alairic, “He’s the strongest.”
As Niccolo obliged and wrapped the ruby in the bed-cloths, tying it shut with a string. Meanwhile Alairic scanned the sarcophagus.
“This is not evil at all,” said the Paladin, “Just the ruby.”
As Niccolo finished tying the ruby into the blankets, the voice came once more into his head, “Do you want a wish?”
“No,” said Niccolo aloud.
The five companions then exited the room. Alairic was holding the torch. As they stepped into the corridors outside there was a soft giggle from the other end of the corridor and the patter of little feet running. Niccolo heard it and drew out his rapier. Alairic, seeing the half-elf draw his weapon did likewise as did the other three.
They made their way along the corridor and back up the steps.
“What now?’ asked Alairic.
“Well, I think there is an evil being separated here,” said the ranger, “And the greater the separation between body and soul the better.”
“I think we should go and study about this,” said Tilliana, “If that man could find out information, then we should be able to as well.”
“How long was this thing buried here?” asked Alairic, “With nobody disturbing it.”
“Maybe they built the temple around the ruby, who knows?” said Niccolo, “I say we look for the book he mentioned.”
“Where?” quipped Alairic, “where did he say he found the book? In Kalamar? As far as I know Kalamar’s a big place. I am not sure I want to search every village and every alley in Kalamar looking for one book.”
Alairic was clearly unhappy that they were taking the ruby out of the temple.
“Look,” he said, “Buried has a lot of meanings. It can mean underground. The rubies underground. It should stay here. We are to leave it buried. Buried has so many meanings and it does not just mean in a grave. We should explore the places underground here.”
“Let’s see whats underground then,” said Tilliana. They headed back down the steps. Reshk looked confused.
“I still say we drop it in that hole,” said Kinshag.
“What you mean the pit trap?” asked Alairic.
“Yeah, in that hole.”
They went to examine the pit trap. They pushed it open and by the torch light they looked down. It was about twenty feet deep and spiked at the bottom. There appeared to be a pirate corpse on the spikes.
“hmm…” said Alairic, “that’s what I thought would be down there.”
“Do you think we have already unleashed the demon?’ asked Tilliana, made nervous by the paladin’s theories.
“I don’t know,” said Alairic.
“You look nervous,” said Tilliana, “I think we are doing too much thinking. The answers probably obvious. I want to recheck the sarcophagus and see if it is still locked.”
The sarcophagus was still locked. It provided no further clues.
“I’m going to pray,” announced Tilliana falling to her knees, “we need guidance.”
“Naemae,” she begun, “We need to know the answer, what should we do with this ruby.”
The others fell to their knees and joined her in prayer, hoping for a solution to their dilemma. Earnestly Tilliana prayed. There was no voice from heaven but she felt as she finished that she had already been given the answer if she but thought on it.
They began to discuss what they had been told in visions and dreams.
“Leave it buried,” concluded Alairic, “We were told to leave it buried.”
“Well we haven’t taken the ruby above ground yet,” said Niccolo, “so its still buried.”
“We were also told that there were other ways than the sword to defeat evil, so weapons are not necessary here were we to destroy it we would be using weapons?”
“Are you saying smash it?” asked Alairic.
“I am saying not to smash it,” said Tilliana
“I understood her,” said Niccolo.
“You would,” said Kinshag.
Reshk was starting to look bored.
Niccolo decided to talk to the ruby again. Untying the make-shift bag a little he spoke into the depths of the blankets, “Can you grant any wish?”
“Almost any wish,” came the soft voice into his head.
“Almost any?”
“I cannot make you a god or immortal, there are limits, but almost any…”
“Can I wish for you to die?”
“I am a ruby, how can I die?”
“Well you talk don’t you?”
“Magic is a strange and wondrous thing,” said the ruby cryptically.
Alairic decided to explore the sidehalls. They had not really paid much attention to these yet. They each were about thrity feet long and ended in blank walls. Along the sides were areas in which bodies had been stuffed for burial. The bodies were mostly skeletons now, with a few rags here and there.
“This whole area is a tomb!” said Alairic.
“The demon’s body could be anywhere then,” said Niccolo.
“I think we might want to go find that guy, Nearum and threaten him to tell us more,” said Alairic. They milled about undecidedly for a while longer, arguing back and forth, Reshk looking like he would rather be elsewhere but not wanting to be insulting by leaving.
Alairic decided to look closer at the skeletons. He walked down the first side corridor looking closely at the remains. They were stacked into the walls in piles, but they seemed to have been buried with no possessions to speak of. Alairic got close to the end of the hall. The wall was blank, except for five curious holes in an x pattern.
CLICK!
Alairic looked down. He had stepped on some sort of trigger. He tensed. Nothing happened. Looking a little further into the holes, Alairic saw what he thought to be spear heads. It was a trap then. The others behind him had heard the click too. They realized that Alairic might be in trouble. He described what he saw to them. Finally he crouched down, under the sight of the holes and cautiously moved his foot. Nothing happened. The trap it appeared was a dud.
“But there might be other traps,” cautioned Niccolo as Alairic told them not to worry.
“Did you find anything in the skeletons?” asked Tilliana.
“Just skeletons.”
“We could leave the bedroll with the ruby stuffed up into one of the corpses,” suggested Tilliana, “It would be harder to find then.”
As the others continued the discussion, Alairic explored the rest of the area. He carefully avoided the ends of the corridors, but there was nothing in any of them to note. Excepting the last corridor. It contained not a trap at the end, but the mummified corpse of an elf, standing at attention. Examining it, Alairic saw that its head had been cut off and then sewn back on by someone. As Alairic turned and walked back, he saw that the others had walked back to the door of the room from which they had taken the ruby. He told them about the elf.
“Well lets go,” said Alairic. But as he turned to leave, he saw something over the door he had not seen before. It was a rune of some sort, written just above the lintel. He called their attention to it.
Tilliana recognized it as a glyph of warding, a magical symbol that would go off under preset conditions. This one appeared to be harmonized to good against evil, but she could not determine what it would do.
Niccolo changed his mind upon learning of the Glyph. “I say we take it into the room and bury it in a corner of the room,” said the ranger. But even as he said this, he heard the sound of footsteps down the corridor. The party turned but they saw no one.
“Let’s get the ruby back into the room,” said Tilliana suddenly growing nervous.
“Right,” said Niccolo who was still holding the bag as it were.
At that moment, a little creature, with bat wings, two small horns, cloven feet and wicked fangs and claws appeared at Niccolo’s side and slashed into the half-elf with one claw. Alairic reacted first. Charging past Kinshag, the paladin brought his sword down towards the little creature. It moved aside quickly and he missed.
“Oof,” said Reshk as a mace smacked into him. The kobold had been in the rear of the group. Nearum appeared , mace in hand, and clubbed the kobold again. Niccolo, realizing the importance of getting the ruby back into the room, tossed it over his head at Tilliana who was nearest the door, meanwhile trying to stab the little horned creature with his rapier. He missed with his rapier and the bound ruby fell short, landing in front of Tilliana who ran forward to retrieve it. Kinshag swung his greatsword at the little thing and he too missed the quick creature. Alairic swung again and missed.
Reshk meanwhile was having no luck. He had grown furious upon being attack and reptilian veins popping, he had uttered a savage bark and swung his heavy warhammer. He connected but Nearum shrugged it off as if the attack meant nothing. Alairic saw this and realized that they were facing a foe who was more than he appeared. Nearum hit Reshk again with his mace. Niccolo stabbed at the little creature that continued to claw at him but he could not find his mark. Kinshag stopped, took aim and swung. His swing was powerful and true, but it did not damage the creature as much as Kinshag thought it ought to. Again, their foe seemed formidable indeed, despite its small size. Reshk, calculating that he could not hurt Nearum turned and swung at the little demon creature instead. The horned creature did not expect and attack from that direction and Reshk connected solidly. But the creature appeared unfazed.
“No.” said Reshk with the feeling of impending doom.
Nearum’s mace connected with the kobolds head and Reshk fell to the floor. Alairic swung at the mace weilding foe but Nearum moved with surprising speed and the stroke missed.
Kinshag and Niccolo were having no luck in their battle. They could not hit the thing as it darted around them. Niccolo was receiving scratch after scratch and with each attack the half-elf noticed his limbs getting more and more sluggish. Some sort of poison was creeping into his system from the creature’s claws.
Tilliana meanwhile had run the ruby into the room it had been in originally. She looked around frantically for a place in which to hide it. There were no seams in the wall, no cracks in the floor. The room had been carved out of solid rock. There was just the table and the sarcophagus. Finally she dumped the make-shift bag on the table and ran out to help her allies.
Alairic’s blessed sword finally connected with Nearum. There was a blinding flash of light and the other stumbled back momentarily from the contact, but he was far from out. With a snarl, Nearum swung his mace, connecting solidly with the side of the paladin. There was a cracking sound.
Tilliana took this in and then watched as Niccolo and Kinshag tried vainly to hit the little creature they were fighting. Niccolo was looking pretty bad. Tilliana decided her friends needed divine help and so she prayed for a blessing on their battle. She followed this up with a prayer for ill fortune for her enemies. Alairic, feeling the energy of Naemae flowing into him once more, again swung his sword into the other. Another flash of light and Nearum appeared severely injured. With a snarl, the features of the other began to change. The face became a beak and gray feathers sprouted from the head and neck of Nearum. As Alairic watched horrified, the mace crashed into him again with savage strength.
“What is your problem!” shouted Niccolo wearily at the little horned creature as he stabbed it finally. But though his aim was true, the damage from the blade seemed minimal. The creature responded by clawing into the half elf and biting him once more. It was more than Niccolo could stand. As the poison seeped into his blood, his limbs froze and ashen face the half-elf collapsed unmoving to the ground, barely breathing. Alairic swung one last time and his holy sword cleaved through the monstrosity that he now faced. Its life seemed to swiftly leave it as it collapsed to the ground, a vile feathered abomination.
“Take strength,” said Tilliana touching Kinshag on the shoulder.
Kinshag’s muscles rippled and he went to swing once more at the tiny creature he had been trying to hit, but it was gone. Alairic heard footsteps run by him, the clatter of tiny cloven hooves, but though he swung, his sword connected with only air.
The fight it appeared was over.
Niccolo looked horrible and try as they might they could not get him to move.
Tilliana tended to healing while Kinshag and Alairic examined the body. The gray feathers appeared identical to those they had taken from various places on the mainland. There was a sack at the creatures belt and a horn hanging around its neck. Kinshag took the mace Nearum had used whilst Alairic dumped out the sack. An impossible number of golden coins flowed out, along with a bedroll, several changes of clothing, a backpack, and a heavy book. Alairic noting there were several hundred gold coins, scooped it all back up into the sack and took the horn and the sack both.
“I can heal Niccolo I think,” said Tilliana, “but I will not be able to do so for a full day.”
They decided they could really not go much further if they were forced to carry the half-elf, especially as they remembered the green dragon waiting for them at the entrance of the lair. They made the decision to camp in the room with the ruby. Alairic brought the kobold’s body into the room and performed the proper rights over it. Then they settled down to wait for another dawn.
