Session 124 (Mission 2Q): A Primordial Mess Expedition Members: Darvius Alandre, Sidhelien Monk 7 Shango Bayu, Khinasi Monk 5 Jannis the Red, Brecht Fighter 5 Dragomir the Black, Vos Warlock 7 Glenn Sturgis, Rjurik Cleric 3 Korak Flomhelm, Dwerren Cleric 6 Elusive, Brecht Rogue 2 Jannis entered the common room at the Cohort. It didn't feel the same with Selma gone. He stood there for a moment, almost wanting to look for her, but knowing she was no longer here. He eyed his usual table by the window for a moment before taking a seat in a darkly lit corner of the room. As he sat down, one of the other servers looked over at him, but he waved her off. Instead, he pulled out his writing kit and went straight to work, not wanting to linger here any longer than he needed to. "Korak had put out a call seeking members to assist him on a mission to aid the Drachenward. No pay was offered, and he clearly made it known that none was to be asked for, but it was a noble quest to track down strange happenings that foreshadowed dark days ahead in a country already cash-strapped by ongoing war. The source of the mysterious events seemed to center on a temple, and we were charged with investigating. For whatever unknown reason, Korak decided to let the boy, Dragomir, take the lead. There was no denying he was a highly talented arcanist, but his levity and penchant for his own self-interests always rubbed me the wrong way. After an extremely short briefing, we headed for Urkenhame. Upon our arrival, we headed directly to the Iron Oak where a large silver dragon lay, as well as Queen Freya Drachen. Drago engaged in conversation with the dragon, and while I didn't pay attention to much of it, I did hear him say that the dragon was larger than the last time they had met. Eventually getting to the business at hand, we asked if there had been any updates on the situation. Queen Freya stated that she sensed great power coming from the temple... that someone highly skilled in magic was there, interfering with her control of the ley lines. She had not lost all control, but the power was divided between the two of them. She indicated the temple was not far, within a day or two, but the exact location was unknown. However, Drago appeared to possess a medallion that would guide us to it. It was then, of course, that Drago told the queen that we had to make a detour first, a vital piece of information he failed to convey during our mission brief. This was exactly the kind of immature self-interest that I had mentioned earlier. When pressed, he failed to give anything more than a vague reference to needing to travel to Loch Shel to the Northwest. As we journeyed to the lake, Drago let slip that he was meeting someone there, but again, refused to give any more details... Not the way respected members of the cohort should treat themselves. The boy had a lot to learn about camaraderie and trust. The trust we were putting in him was, at this time, wholly undeserved. We eventually arrived at the shoreline at night, taking position in a small plateau over the water. As we set up camp, Drago continued his vigil at the shoreline, just himself and a basket of blueberry muffins of all things. Eventually, I saw the rest of the group gather near the ledge overlooking where Drago was seated. As they mulled about I walked over and peered down, seeing Drago and a small blue-colored dragon, barely the size of Drago himself. He coaxed the creature from the water with the muffins, the dragon cautiously sniffing it before taking one to consume. I can't believe we veered off from the mission so the kid could feed muffins to a baby lake dragon... I returned to the camp to keep watch, since every other person in the group seemed to lose their senses as they cooed and fawned over the small dragon. Eventually Drago brings the creature around and starts to introduce it to everyone as 'Nalu the Voiceless'. As if this foolishness wasn't enough, apparently Drago was determined to bring it with us, calling himself the "Guardian" of the dragonling... because that is EXACTLY what we needed tagging along as we head to hidden temple, occupied by a powerful sorcerer, who is potentially wreaking havoc across an entire country." Finding himself still irritated by the boy's behavior, Jannis motions for the serving girl to bring him some ale. After taking several pulls from the mug he continued his log. "We resumed our primary mission the next day, Dragomir using a medallion to guide us towards the temple. It led us north, almost to the edge of the forest. We arrived at dusk to find blue flames and a large set of stairs. Ascending the steps, we found a plateau with four pillars. centered in the pillars were stones set into the ground, including one representing a crescent moon. Beyond lay the entrance to the temple. A naked Siedhelien woman was there, feeling the stone on the outside of the temple entrance, her back turned to us. Some of the group knew her, and called out to her as "Kaevara". After a tedious discussion, trying to get straight answers from her was difficult, she informed us that she was the one interfering with the Queen's control of the ley lines. She was apparently investigating "the awakening" of a void dragon within the temple, but there was a guardian below that would not let anyone pass. As we talked, eagles with human heads flew in and started perching on the pillars and temple entrance. Korak and Drago recognized some of the faces as people who had gone missing in the Drachenward. Kaevara stated the temple had been built by her people, in cooperation with the primordials. She asked how long she had slept and bemoaned having awakened to be present during the 'end times'. Before we could ask anything else, Kaevara warned "Do not ring the Bell of Death, or Tiamat will rise again." She then disappeared down the stairs into the temple. The party went to follow when the human-headed eagles cried out 'Stop, stop!''. I continued and then the flock swooped in to attack. The birds immediately let out a disheartening wailing, which ended with crackling lighting falling down upon us. Once they flew in to melee range, we made short work of them, each one crying out pitifully as we struck them down. Though we had taken much damage, and Elusive had gone down, Glenn proved himself a boon with the judicious use of his healing kit. The deaths of the birds awakened my ancient blood, as well as those of the rest of the group. I felt my connection to Reynir grow stronger... Finally entering the temple, we found ourselves in a foyer at the bottom of the stairs. To either side were small statues of dragons. Glenn remarked that they seemed "decoration type religious". To the north was a long corridor, and at the edge of our light was a beast that appeared to be part hippo, part lion with the mouth and jaws of an alligator. We approached the creature, and Darvius & Drago spoke to it in Draconic. It informed us that a part of the Void Dragon sleeps in the temple, and that it was its guardian. It refused to let us pass, and the rest of the party started quibbling over the options of attacking or retreating. Finally, Drago steps forward and shows his medallion. This prompted the guardian to reply with "Have you come for the prisoner?". Drago responds with he'd like to see the prisoner. The beast began to heave violently, and then suddenly it coughed up Kaevara. I pulled her away from the beast and we retreated from the temple to the surface. At this point Korak sent a message via the power of his good to Leanna Stillborn. "Located aspect of Iraxanum and believe it is not safe. Something working toward release. Urgent!." We received no immediate reply, so we turned our attention back to Kaevara. For whatever addle-brained reason, Kaevara offers to take her eye out to scout the temple. We aren't sure if she truly understands what she is saying, she sometimes seems coherent, other times not so much. We decide to ask her to "see" past the walls, hoping this would prompt her to use some form of magic rather than her digging her own eyeball from her skull. Instead, she rushed back into the temple, and I immediately gave chase with the rest of the party in tow. Downstairs we see no sign of Kaevara. We asked the guardian if it had "the prisoner" again, and it said it did not. Instead it stated we needed to go west to unlock the temple and make the moon whole again, pointing to a door on its right. We follow the beast and arrive in a room showing all the phases of the moon on the floor. In the next room over to the west, we finally found Kaervara. She stood on a series of stacked daises. At the top was a contraption that held a keyhole as well as three rotating sigils. They initially read [FE] [SH] [ES]. Kaervara attempted to push one of the buttons, but I managed to stop her before she could. The party had a spirited discussion over what course of action we should take, and while we were distracted, Kaevara presses the first button and it changes to [BI]. She clicks the second one and it changes to [AM]. She then pressed the left on again [FL]. Finally we let her cycle through all the buttons to determine the possible combinations. First Button: FE BI FL BL Second Button: SH AM AD LI Third Button: ES NE OP ED W went through all the possible combinations of words that we could think of. For whatever cockamamie reason, Drago was insistent on trying to enter the word "Flames". Thinking that was obviously a trap, I pushed for the group to enter "Bishop" instead, since we were inside a temple after all. We finally settled on feline (I primarily agreed to this simply because I didn't want Drago entering Flames or Blades). As soon as he entered the word and inserted his medallion into the keyhole, four lions appeared in the room. We entered the fray, and defeated the lions without any serious injuries. Afterwards, I finally convinced the group to try 'Bishop' next. Unfortunately, all this did was summon four clockwork soldiers. Drago turned Korak in to a Mammoth, but the uneven terrain and enclosed space made his usefulness limited. Still, we managed to over come the soldiers without any deaths or serious injuries. Finally running out of ideas, we told Kaevara she was free to try any word she liked. She entered the nonsensical phrase "FLLIED", and with the turn of the key, the temple was unlocked. We immediately secured the temple again, and departed the grounds to return and report our findings to the queen." Jannis finished his lot and set down his pen. Finishing his fourth ale, he pondered for a moment on whether to leave the common room or not. Looking up from the bottom of his mug, he signaled the serving girl for more.
