Entry 1 (Eranilor):
Arwan - Elf Necro5/Alienist1
Brandon - Human Rgr2/Clr5 (Kord)
Eranilor - Elf Rgr2/Rog3/Deepwood Sniper2
Gillian - Elf Ftr6
Joshua - Human Clr6 (St. Cuthbert)
Tink - Kender Wiz3/Rog3
...after we cleared out the bridge complex (apparently the Northern Bridge Complex, from a note we found in the duergar's room), we decided to check out the surrounding area and make sure it's safe. Had to wait for a bit because Brandon wanted to give that weird beast (the one which charmed him) a funeral! Scared the crap out of the cook who was hiding in the kitchen when he busted in and set the thing on fire.
Anyway, we found a battle going on in another tunnel, between a number of Temple guards and a pair of owlbears. Brandon seemed to want to pretend to be friends, so we helped them out. Whatever his brain may be doing, our resident Kordite is definitely getting better with that greatsword of his. Didn't do too badly with my sword either, even if it's less than half the size of his. Poor Gillian spent most of the fight tangled up in a net trap that he triggered, with Arwan and Joshua trying to help him, although Arwan took time off to fire one of his magic missiles at one of the owlbears. He seems to be getting more skilled too, since now he's firing 4 missiles at a time instead of one. Racist or not, as long as he's pulling his weight in the party, I'm happy. Anyway, rather than the opposition, what was interesting about the fight occurred in the middle of it. There were a few crates around and suddenly this little figure (halfling-size) popped out of one and fired a magic missile (just one - not in Arwan's league) at an owlbear. Had a weirdly colorful suit of armor, red hair in a topknot, and looked to be in her teens.
I spoke to her (can't recall - or pronounce - her full name, but Tink will do) after the fight, and it seems she snuck into the Temple in a crate along with some friends, hoping to loot it (obviously she's a genius!), and emerged to find her friends gone. She's been hiding here ever since, and the Temple guys had been looking for her. No surprise that they didn't find her, since she's extremely quiet and stealthy (definitely has enchanted items on her), but I doubt she'd have lasted long if she pops out of her hiding place when she hears a battle going on outside. Arwan claims she's from another plane of existence! He may be right, since I know that infinite species do exist out there (that university education wasn't totally wasted on me). Funny how elves and humans (and, come to think of it, every species I know of) know this and still regard themselves as wonderfully important in the scheme of things. The more time you spend with supposedly sentient species, the more you realize that they aren't all that bright.
Anyway, after the owlbears were dead, Brandon spent all of 2 minutes trying to persuade the 3 surviving Temple guys that we were on their side, before losing patience and attacking them. Can't complain, since that's probably a record for him. We killed 2 and took the third prisoner. After that, we checked out the rest of the area, while talking to Tink. We found a barracks we hadn't checked before, presumably occupied by all the troops we killed. Picked up some supplies and a lot more arrows. We heard some growling heading in our direction, and popped into the corridor to find a pair of ten-foot tall apes heading for us. We knew there were cave apes around (mentioned on the duergar's note), so no surprise, but I'm curious where all these creatures come from. Anyway, turned out to be 4 apes (3 females), plus a big leader-type. The fight wasn't difficult, although Brandon and Gillian took some heavy damage (no surprise there!). At one point I actually moved up to take the big ape's charge, since Brandon looked like he needed a breather (possibly because I'd just shot him in the back by mistake - that'll teach me not to shoot while people are in front of me!). Thought I might actually blow my record of not being wounded since I met these guys, but still wasn't touched. Arwan summoned a 6 ft long weasel (don't ask!) during the fight, and Joshua did a single amazing blow on the ape that actually buckled its knees. He claims it's a gift from St. Cuthbert, which allows him to smite his enemies. I'm pretty sure every kobold shaman believes that he has special dispensation from his god (Kurtulmak, I think) to smite his foes, but as long as it works, what do I care?
After the fight, four of us (not Arwan or Tink) went and checked out the apes' caves. Didn't find any more, which is strange, since one would expect either a larger number of females and young (if they've been here for a while), or an opening to the outside, if they entered here recently. We did find some manacles (ape-size), and we know hobs tend to keep captive apes as combat backup, so maybe they were brought here. Haven't seen a single hob in here, of course. This place seems to produce more questions the further we go on. As Hamlet might have said, there are more things in the Temple, Eranilor, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Reminds me, I haven't read my Shakespeare in a while. I never asked these guys, but I'm fairly sure none of them will have read much (if any) of his works. None of them is from Greyhawk, but Shakespeare was famous all over the Flanaess. Arwan's the only one who's fairly well-read, and I don't see him as a drama buff. Guess I'm the only adventurer who carries a pair of drama books in his backpack.
Anyway, we found no more apes, but we did find 4 troglodytes and killed them. I'm a little tired of all this killing, but it's them or us. Also found some treasure, including a magical longsword with a wave pattern on it. I wonder if it has any powers like the earth-marked sword that Brandon used until the destruction of the Earth temple destroyed it too. We returned to find Arwan had disemboweled one of the apes (& talked Tink into doing that to another couple), to study their anatomy. I'm as interested in anatomy as the next guy (more, in fact), but leaving trails of ape guts all over the floor is not my idea of fun. Anyhow, we decided to interrogate the prisoner after that. She wasn't particularly cooperative, despite Brandon knocking her on the head a few times, but paid a lot more attention when I explained that I wasn't interested in torturing her, so either she told us something useful or I killed her. A couple of the others (esp. Tink and Brandon) looked at me a little funny when I said that, but I wasn't kidding. It's a little stupid to have issues with killing someone, but not have problems with sticking 4 ft of steel into someone who's distracted in combat by another opponent. Anyway, the woman (called Zoe) made out I wasn't lying, and became somewhat more cooperative, but she really didn't know much. So we went ahead and made camp.
I was still wondering what to do with Zoe, since I'd much rather give her a quick death, than leave her tied up somewhere to starve, but the problem was resolved while I was in reverie. When my watch came up, Joshua told me (Arwan and he had first watch) that Arwan went to check on the prisoner and came back to say she tried to escape and he killed her. I'd bet a few platinum pieces that Arwan's lying. I wonder what he thinks he had to gain from killing her. I need to talk to him sometime. Nothing happened over the rest of my watch. When Brandon and Tink took the last watch, I curled up with my Shakespeare. Not having to rest for more than four hours a night can be really helpful sometime, although I've always been a little curious about the whole concept of dreams and sleep, and how their lack may affect the way elves differ from other species. Maybe I'll get a chance to study up on that after we get out of here. That should be an "if", but then I'm invulnerable, remember?
In the morning, we headed off towards the north. There's no way I'm crossing that bridge (a map Tink had found calls it the "Air Bridge") while there are other troops in this complex, and I'm glad everyone else seems to agree. Tink's map said that there was a hag up north, before the Water Temple, and she said she'd heard cackling coming from the north on one of her earlier "expeditions" from her crate. Cackling! How clichéd can one get? We found a large cavern filled with a lake from wall to wall, with a boat drawn up on the shore. We left Gillian and Joshua on the shore and headed across. There was a large stone pillar sticking out of the water, so Brandon suggested we investigate it. There were handholds on the side, as well as a ledge, and as soon as we pulled up next to it, Tink hopped out onto the ledge. As she did so, a rock thrown from above landed next to the boat, rocking it. I looked up to see the hag looking down on us from a higher ledge.
When I saw her, I felt a strange weakness run up my limbs for a moment (and judging from the sounds made by the others, so did they), but it passed immediately. I quickly nocked an arrow and hit her, while Arwan also scrambled out of the boat. The hag immediately leapt off the cliff, clear over the boat into the water. As all of us scanned the water, she came up right below the boat and tipped it over. Luckily, I managed to hurl myself onto the ledge, but Brandon landed in the water. Before the hag could submerge, Arwan nailed her with a volley of magical orbs (apparently a new spell he'd been working on, called sonic orb), and Tink and I followed suit with a volley of arrows. The hag sank back down into the water, presumably dead. We pulled Brandon out, and I suggested trying to retrieve the body. I got the others to hold onto one end of a rope, and dived into the water in search of the body. I was half-expecting to find the hag alive and in wait for me, but figured it might be worth the risk. Plus I haven't had a chance to bathe since entering this place and I really felt grimy. Turned out to be worth it, since I had no problem finding the body, and the others pulled it up with the rope. Turned out to be wearing really powerful bracers of strength, so it was worth it. I would have liked to retain them, but Bandon suggested giving them to Gillian, and since he's the frontline fighter along with Brandon I figured that made more sense. If I'm lucky, the next opponent will be wearing gauntlets of dexterity that are stronger than mine! Tink, meanwhile, had climbed up the rock to the cleft the hag had been sitting in, and found a potion of blur and some nice pearls. A pretty good haul overall, for just a couple moments of tension. Even Brandon wasn't injured, which must be a record of some kind for us!
Anyway, continuing on...