NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Haraash Saan" data-source="post: 4023929" data-attributes="member: 46615">A door and an archway allowed exit from the room. The door was stuck, so Argonne felt it necessary to apply a little force to open it; he kicked it in. Timber and splinters exploded inwards revealing an empty display room. Cabinets, cases and the pedestals on which they had sat had been violently scattered about the place. The archway led to another passageway. I followed my companions, all bar Moxadder who was in the ‘reading room’ lighting some rolled devil weed. The bald one obviously felt he needed to settle his nerves. There were several brass fountains that ran down the middle of the corridor. The sight of them repulsed me. Thick, yellow viscous fluid sat in the first one I came across. A faint odour of mould and decay emanated from it. I blanched, and reached for my kerchief to cover my nose and mouth. Thankfully not one jet of that foul liquid was being shot into the air. Or so I had thought.Just as my hand entered the pocket of my trousers to retrieve my kerchief the vile stuff launched at me. I lurched back attempting to avoid it but my reflexes were not quite quick enough. It splattered all over my chest and its spray sent droplets on my face!“GET IT OFF!” I screamed wildly clawing at it with my gloved hands. I managed to scrape it off my clothing and face before I retreated to the ‘reading room’ to better inspect myself.Someone chortled from the corridor. The ingrates have no appreciation for ones appearance or for fine clothing! I had purchased my shirt from Lasoon himself, the finest tailor in Mendus, and now it was ruined. To add further to my woe my spare clothing was on my horse. I sighed, for now a thorough inspection would have to do.“Watch out!” I heard Argonne cry, closely followed by the clang of forcibly steel on stone.“Behind you!” yelled Morgan in warning. What was it that they were fighting? With a final brush I grabbed the hilt of my rapier and began to move to the slimed passage. Moxadder joined me, dagger in one hand and in the other was his precious weed, smoke curling from its lit end. Something brushed my calf. I stepped away and looked down. A strange rodent with two feathered antennae was flitting about my feet. Glancing about I saw that Moxadder also had two of the vermin pestering him. Mine lunged at me suddenly. I dodged its desperate attack, whipped out Eldritch Light and ran it through but the resilient little bugger did not die. No, instead I swear it tried to bite the blade that had impaled it. With a flick of my wrist I sent it sailing across the room. It slammed solidly into a wall and lay still.Moxadder had also dispatched one of the rodents challenging him and the other decided that fleeing was its best option. It managed to escape under a hail of Moxadder’s curses and daggers. A long a final draw on his weed and he was calm again. Turning our attention once more to the corridor with our friends, we saw a flare of bright light come from within.“Well that’s that.” I heard Argonne say, “We’ll have no more trouble from that stuff.”As we entered the corridor we saw a strange sight. Both Morgan and Argonne had splotches of the yellow fluid on them, but they also sported burn wounds of some sort. Mortec was trying to tend them as best he could. An area further down the passageway had been charred. The stone walls that edged a pair of strong iron bound double doors had been blackened by some sort of blaze.  Mortec quickly filled Moxadder and I in on what had happened in the passage. Whilst Moxadder and I had dispatched the annoying rodents the others had been attacked by slime. Apparently the fluid had been some sort of creature intent on taking us as its prey. Keen to be away from the fountains Strav pushed open the heavy doors. They creaked loudly as they resisted him, but Strav won the battle and the doors finally gave. Stairs spiralling down into darkness were the reward for Strav’s effort. We decided to leave them unexplored and seek our exit on this level of the temple.We passed the last of the muck filled fountains warily, although none lashed out at us, and stepped through an opening at the end of the corridor. I was trailing the group, stepping cautiously and attempting to avoid any further filth on my clothes and boots. When I arrived at the chamber I was greeted with a thousand images of the others. A hundred Mortec’s gazed about in curiosity, and an infinite number of Argonne’s displayed their horrendous visage. The room was filled with wall to wall mirrors. Only two doors, one closed and one shattered broke the reflective magnificence. An opportunity like this did not come along often; I found a free mirror and thoroughly examined my clothing, boots and face for any mark of that repulsive muck that had assailed me. “Take a look at this!” yelled Moxadder. There was no need to yell as we were all well within earshot, but that is Moxadder for you; never really aware of his surroundings. His request penetrated my intense inspection. Satisfied that I had cleansed myself of that horrid slime I joined the others who now milled around Moxadder. He stood just inside the bashed in doorway. What was left of the door hung on the one hinge still attached to the wall. Before him was a massive pile of furniture; benches, tables, ornaments, weapons, general furniture, all thrown together to make a mountain of debris. Mortec threw himself at the pile with gusto. His little hands and feet began scrambling up the stack. He offered a shrill commentary of the various things that he found, but none were of any real interest. Moxadder too decide to better inspect the pile. The gangly Fastendian looked like some sort of spider as he climbed quickly to the top to join the Gnome.“Hey! What’s this ‘ere?” Moxadder said to no-one in particular.I could see Moxadder standing on the peak of the mountain stabbing into the ceiling with a dagger. Then suddenly it collapsed, showering him with dust and stone that continued to tumble down the pile and threatened to dislodge furniture. The place where Moxadder had been vigorously prodding was now a small opening.     He hoisted himself into the dark space. I heard him make some gurgling noises of satisfaction followed by, “Mortec grab this.”Moxadder passed down several objects to Mortec, who in turn pocketed those he could and set the others down carefully on the pile. Shortly afterwards the pair had scampered down with their booty.Moxadder’s cache contained several strange objects, each marked with the sign of one of the Gods. There were three glass cubes that had the tome of Todesmagie etched into them. Mortec snatched them hurriedly and sat himself in a corner to ponder them and perhaps to commune with his God. There was a small shrine to Gerech that Morgan looked over with curiosity. His actions provided further evidence that he was somehow being converted by his mask. His desire for the breastplate we found earlier did not help my perception. A sudden burst of light from behind him! I saw him for what he was becoming, a crusader of Gerech. Then the light went out. Mortec had discovered that the cubes, when aligned, gave off light. It was that light that provided the holy-like aura that had basked Morgan. Just as well. The third religious artefact was a beautifully polished dark wooden box that held a pair of platinum eye lenses with the towers and stars of Thuus etched into them. A net, similar to the fishing nets we had seen in Ravenswood although this one had small serrated blades lining its edge, bore the mark of Srcan. Finally there was a small copper censer that was filled with an earthy coloured powder. It was adorned with blue crystals which marked it as an artefact of Uramei, God of healing and health.None of these divine objects interested me so I let the others squabble over them. In the meantime I explored the corridor through the intact door in the chamber of mirrors.My initial reservations at looting an occupied temple had disappeared. We had encountered nothing but strange catatonic people, feral slime, and the sign of Geduld was everywhere. There was no doubt that some Gerechians remained, but they seemed unable to fend for themselves. This temple was somehow cursed, and not just by Gerech.The door led back to the original corridor with the spiked pit and, unfortunately two more Gerechians.“Do you know the way to the chapel?” they asked.I ignored them. The first door on this side of the pit led to a room full of destroyed tapestries. On occasional piece I could make out fragments of great Gerechian moments and battles, but the prize was an entire tapestry that I found secreted under some of the ruined ones. It was worn and well faded, but I could just make out a scene of a robed man, one Cardinal Holton, or so the tapestry claimed, leading a band of people from a temple. Holton’s most remarkable feature was his breastplate. If it was not the very one Morgan now wore it was its perfect partner. And written faintly across it was the word ‘mine’. The second room had been cleared to make space for a circle of ash that had had blood spilt all over it. Four stakes with decayed leather straps were pegged in the cracks of the cobbles. Some poor wretched had been held here, and no doubt tortured. An involuntary shiver ran down my spine. The whole room felt unnatural. I muttered a quick prayer to Laster, and hurriedly closed the door. Once I closed it I felt as if a weight had lifted from me.. Maybe Laster had made good on my hasty prayer.Having discovered that we had explored the temples’ top floor and had still found no alternate exit we decided that we would gather our rations from the horses and rest. We had had a long and arduous day. No doubt we would feel refreshed on the morrow. After we retrieved our rations, and a clean set of clothes for me, Argonne led the Gerechians from the ‘reading room’ to the entrance hall with promises of taking them to their chapel. At least it cleared the room. This place seemed to have a strange effect on all of us. There was little discussion of the day’s discoveries, each of us choosing to spend time in solitude with only our thoughts for company.</blockquote>

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