The Shackled City

6 Flocktime, 592 CY (Continued)

Karamus and Kort walked past the treeline to the left in time to witness the ectoplasmic form of Greyjek revert to normal. They were a little unsettled by the sight. Sage chastised Greyjek for so rashly destroying a creature that might well have been having its actions influenced by magical power, as had the cleric in Pearlglen. Karamus was unmoved by possibilities, and under direction from Kort’s detect magic looted the gnome of his many enchanted possessions. The others meanwhile moved forward to inspect what the dire bears had eating, which proved to be piles of berry bushes. Tedryk’s Grace chided Ashton for being trigger happy, and the magus accepted the rebuke in his usual good-natured manner. Everyone reconvened, wounds were tended, and the group proceeded to the ancient temple, following the bits of remaining stone from the old road since Bransen’s divination had been dispelled.

An hour or so later, they arrived at the structure, which had a pair of village wardens standing guard at the entrance. The right door appeared to have been removed from its hinges and was resting up against the wall outside. They called out to the adventurers, demanding their names and purpose. Once given, one of the guards entered the building to announce them to Tlanextic. Moments later, he returned to inform the group that the couatl would see them. Moderately surprised by the ease with which they had gained entrance, they moved inside.

The scent of flowers perfumed the air in the lofty but somewhat dank main chamber. The scent seemed to come from dozens — or perhaps hundreds — of flowery bouquets heaped upon a massive central altar, which resembled a low ziggurat with three tiers, each perhaps ten feet high. The altar and the double rows of moss-covered wooden pews flanking it fill the chamber’s center. A steep flight of stairs ran up one side of the ziggurat. The many gaps in the high, vaulted ceiling left the chamber open to the elements. Random shafts of sunlight created a dappled effect on the walls and floor. A magnificent, feathered serpent lay coiled among the flowers atop the altar, gazing out over the chamber with an air of utter self-assurance. Its feathers looked particularly dazzling where the light struck them.

Jarvyk had begun concentrating to detect evil before the group had entered, and the creature above them radiated a malignant aura under his divinely gifted scrutiny. He quietly mentioned this to Kort, while the wingless couatl addressed them and asked them their business. Jarvyk announced Kan’ti and then stepped aside to let the elf speak. He seemed at a loss for words in front of the outsider, and fumbled his way through the explanation regarding his search for Fera’im’esti. The feathered serpent apologetically denied any knowledge of the half-elf, but asserted that the disappearances he’d been investigating were likely linked to the failing ward stone, which Tlanextic was working to resolve. Kort stepped forward and stated plainly that he did not believe the couatl was what it claimed to be. It reared back, eyes narrowed and lip curled. Ashton, with his reflexes heightened by his travels with the Silver Phoenix Adventuring Company instigated the fight proper with a fireball imbued with negative energy.

Gargoyles flew from each of the eight side chambers and began strafing the party members with their claws. From the rear of the temple, Ashton was the first to see the blue-scaled behir moving forward quickly to join the melee. Chaos ensued. The “couatl” blasted the wizard-sorcerer with a beam of searing light that emanated from a circlet upon its head. Kort rushed the stairs, Karamus used a scroll and vanished from sight, Kan’ti began firing arrows, Greyjek manifested an assortment of defensive powers, Bransen launched his returning spear at a nearby gargoyle, and Jarvyk charged the behir and was promptly swallowed for his trouble.

When he reached the top of the steep stairs, “Tlanextic” dominated him, and ordered him to go back downstairs and stand against the wall. The dwarf rested his axe on one shoulder, turned around and began to descend. Karamus began to attack the behir that had swallowed Jarvyk whole, and Ashton joined him in invisibility before launching another fireball at the serpent. Kan’ti retreated farther and began methodically placing arrows into various foes, imbuing some of them with spell energy. Bransen saw that Kort was behaving strangely, and due to their very recent experience with mind-controlled individuals, correctly judged the dwarf to be under outside influence. One break enchantment later and that problem was solved. Of course, then he and Greyjek found themselves surrounded on all sides by the gargoyles who felt safe to remain on the floor, with the two heavily armored dwarves apparently handled.

The false couatl cast an area dispel that obliterated the effects of both Ashton and Karamus’ invisibility and dismissed the fire elemental that the magus had just summoned to engage the behir. Jarvyk burst from the creature’s side and Ashton recast his invisibility, moving afterward to thwart any further attempts to undo his magic. Karamus was fully exposed to the behir, but it seemed intent upon keeping Jarvyk down and bit at him again. However, the dwarf had learned from his prior experience and lodged Tedryk’s Grace in its teeth, preventing the beast from getting a firm grip upon him. Kort charged the gargoyles surrounding Bransen who cast a curative spell upon his own bleeding body. Kan’ti’s arrow, imbued with snowball swarm rained down icy pain upon three of the gargoyles surrounding Greyjek as well as the psionicist. Greyjek then slashed another hole in reality and stepped through it to appear on top of the altar.

Their serpentine foe launched a trio of fiery rays at the Woosah, whose body was horribly scorched. Uncertain of surviving another such volley, he vanished through another dimensional door to reappear out of sight in one of the side chambers. There, he turned ectoplasmic again. Ashton launched another fireball, then moved again before he cast fly upon himself. Kort proceeded to hack down gargoyles while Jarvyk and Karamus finished the behir. Kan’ti cast a few more debilitating spells that were resisted, and Greyjek began to fly up and out, ascending as he did to try to find the serpent.

Kort, Bransen, Jarvyk, Karamus, and Kan’ti finished off the gargoyles while Ashton and Greyjek continued to hammer the spellcasting serpent with some of their most devastating effects. It had cast Evard’s black tentacles upon the stairs to slow any attacks from the floor, and Kan’ti took that as a cue and cast one of his own atop the altar. He was gratified to see his foe grabbed and held by his conjuration. Unfortunately, it slipped the bonds moments later and slithered off the back side of the altar. Kort wrestled with the black tentacles, unable to free himself from their crushing grip. Jarvyk, Karamus, and Bransen all began to climb the side of the ziggurat. Ashton’s invisibility was once more dispelled, but it was already too late. Greyjek brought his mental powers to bear against the feathered serpent one last time, and it slumped lifeless on the side of the altar.

The party breathed a collective sigh of relief, except Kort, who thrashed around for awhile longer against the black tentacles. Karamus approached the serpentine corpse and poked it with Daystar. It never hurt to be sure. As he did, he saw its form shimmer, and his earlier suspicion that the creature was magically disguised was proven true. The feathers melted away to reveal a loathsome serpent with a black body banded in swaths of bright crimson. Its head was vaguely human, with stringy hair. The odor of carrion hung heavy in the air about it, overpowering even the scent of the many bouquets of flowers (the topmost of which had been burned away by numerous fireballs. As Jarvyk approached, Tedryk’s Grace chimed in. “Ach! Spirit Naga. Nasty berks. Aberrations,” he finished matter-of-factly. Karamus shrugged and divested the corpse of a circlet and a silver necklace, as well as a pair of potions. After Bransen applied his healing arts to the injured party members, they then set about searching the rest of the temple, Kan’ti reluctantly, having completely failed to find any sign of his instructor.

They gathered a number of items from the surrounding rooms from which the gargoyles had flown, including an arcane scroll, a couple more potions, and a buckler and stone that Greyjek idly noted were imbued with psionic energy. The shield also registered as magical under Ashton’s vision, and he pondered this mystery. Kort and Jarvyk explored the rear of the ruins, entering an antechamber with exits on either wall. A dry, cracked basin stood atop a low stone pedestal. The remains of a stone lid, broken into several pieces, lay nearby. They noted several scratches along the floor, indicating that the pedestal may have been dragged across the floor. Applying their keen dwarf minds (and powerful muscles) to the task, they moved the pedestal, revealing a secret cache filled with more treasures. Amongst them were the likely accoutrement of the missing cleric of Pelor, including magical armor, shield and mace, and a silver holy symbol of the sun god. Some coins and a number of freshwater pearls filled out the rest of the stash. Bransen wandered into the room to the antechamber’s right, noting that some luxury did exist among the ruins. Though the walls of this chamber were cracked and water stained, and the whole place reeked faintly of rotten meat, fresh rushes covered the floor, and a massive oak table, polished to a mirror shine, stood in the center of the room. Atop the table was an exquisite statue of a winged serpent with iridescent feathers in all the colors of the rainbow. The room’s furnishings also included a massive cushion covered with fine woolen cloth, a copper brazier, and a scuttle filled with charcoal. He discovered a chest against one of the walls, and once Karamus declared it trap free, it was opened to reveal a large number of gold coins and a beautiful silver plated steel sword with a jet jewel set in the hilt.

Meanwhile, Kan’ti and Greyjek entered the opposite chamber, which had a waist-high pile of loose rubble heaped on the floor. They saw a number of blue scales here and there and surmised that this must have been where the behir had been residing. Greyjek looked around without apparent interest, but Kan’ti, for lack of anything better to do, cast detect magic and scanned the room. He saw a two auras, and shortly recovered a parchment scroll and an item that caused him to stop short. It was a simple trinket, a medallion with the simplest of dweomers cast upon it, an arcane mark. He recognized the symbol. Fera’im’esti had worn this keepsake everywhere, claiming that his mother had given it to him. Blinking in disbelief, he looked up to see the pale-haired psionicist idly considering a number of bones littering part of the pile, some of which still had rotting meat attached. There were even a few humanoid skulls laying around, as if tossed casually aside. Greyjek observed the look of horror that washed over Kan’ti’s face with some interest. His instructor, his mentor, his friend… was gone.

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