A Bit of The Old In-Out

Game notes for 4/22/14

• Party (AJ, George, Todd) find a bill looking for mercenaries in Bryce's Field
• Party decides to investigate and leaves Arunum for Bryce's Field
• Party arrives in Bryce's Field and secures lodging at Stan's inn
• Rogue does a little creeping around on the inn roof after dark
• Party goes to meeting place early, is told to come back later
• Party goes back to inn and gathers some intel on the town and compound, finds out about the background of the buried temple and goblin attacks
• Party goes to meeting, meet Rorst, business manager for The Group™
• Rorst fills party in on goblin attacks starting up again after The Group™ having routed them earlier in the year
• Rogue tries to bluff more gold out of Rorst, fails; Rorst has the quartermaster equip them with whatever they need, plus potion of healing for each
• Party heads to tree line to investigate the location of goblin lair, no encounters on the way
• Party encounters goblin lookouts; rogue sneaks past lookouts, but doesn't notice them; lookouts attack cleric and fighter; both lookouts killed by rogue; bodies looted, warning whistle found
• Party decides to use whistle and ambush responders
• Ambush goes poorly; cleric is taken down, fighter nearly incapacitated; stealthy rogue saves cleric after goblins leave him unconscious to help others with fighter; fighter uses potion; fighter and rogue kill the rest of the goblins; bodies looted
• Party considers heading back to Bryce's Field due to injuries and lack of manpower

southern ruins of aktjabaris.jpg

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You Did Good! Now get to work

Journal excerpt from The Legend of Saramago and the Sixth Mage Guild:  

The rangers recon flight and intelligence gathering came up with some interesting things of note. Our friend, the warlord (he needs a name) seems to have been a pirate then all of a sudden was super powerful and taking over islands. The pirate lands are to the south and the only ancient site is where we are currently heading. We have stocked up the ship with 2 full alchemical kits so the priest and I can have one dedicated to potions while the other one is for poisons. We sold our other older ships helm, made some money at the expense of the mages guilds again and set sail straight through the core of the planet in the most direct path to arrive at the 'warlords' ancient base. I think we will find a pirate infested site myself.

There and back again... or how I learned to go backwards.

 Journal excerpt from The Legend of Saramago and the Sixth Mage Guild:  

 The last few weeks have been, eventful to say the least. Without much time for this journal hopefully I can remember some of the 'other' details.

We anchored the jammer by the bottom entrance fired some shot down the hall, and exited. I exploded fire near four guards and we found another 'ancient' door. The code from the previous door did not work.

It should be noted that a decision was made to return to 3.5x for good at this point.

No codes worked, time was short, knock didn't work. We beat the two doors down in about 10 minutes with no guards showing up from above yet. Gaining entrance to the room the details are a bit fuzzy but suffice to say that a large pedestal held a 'egg'. Dessicated and shapeless humanoids lie about the chamber one with a sword in perfect condition piercing its last victim still, a spear, ancient holy symbol, and a ring. We returned to our ship and returned to Demiset and reluctantly returned it to her. She gave us a smaller Dragonfly ship as a reward. This artifact of the ancients is very interesting. I discerned from its magic that its based in destruction, a identify does not provide enough information perhaps later...
Back in Aryunm, we sell our old helm, set up a stall in the 'black market' for poisons, potions, scrolls, rare item acquisition. The ranger heads out to recon for a week while the priest and I head to Riverwatch to research more on the ancients or the religion based on the symbol. Seems they may have revered one God over others.
Making some money and hearing that the 'Warlord of Matara' is a possible pirate who may have stumbled onto a ancient site from the south. We have a location on the map and we are currently en route through the 'planets core' to reach the destination on the far side of the habitable world.

Recon Ranger-man gets the goods

 Journal excerpt from The Legend of Saramago and the Sixth Mage Guild: 

While exploring the third island and their large C cut out of the jungle, we are boarded by eladrian who's leader, a woman, wants to aid us in our quest to discover about the Auraels, the ancient race that apparently departed our 'sphere' thousands of years before The Cataclysm. She wants us to go back to Matara and explore the ruins under the city and 'protect' any ancient technology. I assure you I shall! She allowed us to borrow a Hammerhead spelljammer  to get us in and out faster than just about any ship there. Because if the 'warlord' is there it will get ugly fast.

Setting a course that would take us below the plane of commerce we set out on our three day journey below the islands of the world. Red dragons come close but stay away even when trying to stir up conversation. Arriving about two miles below the ancient complex and below a encampment of the 'warlords' troops we send the ranger out on the skid to check it out. About 30 total, some fortifications visible. We go and collect rocks for the siege guns and load them all. The scaffolding that they have mounted to the cliffs seems a likely target to reduce reinforcements and allow us to enter the complex. Shot destroys some sections of scaffolding and two enemy skids come, I take out one with a lightning bolt and the other never comes within range while throwing alchemist fires. Note to self, make ice fire for negating fire on ships from combat. Bringing the ship in to dock near the bottom two tunnels that are exposed.

Where ye be, dragon?

Journal excerpt from The Legend of Saramago and the Sixth Mage Guild: 

With the logistics at Bryce's Field continuing a pace with masons, artists, carpenters, and other laborers we set off to investigate the small chain of 4 islands with rumors of a red dragon. We of course think this is our old 'friend' and would really like to either continue our earlier conversation or entertain new ideas for fresh 'conversation'.

First island has a strange quality. We landed and camped overnight only to awake to find our boat covered in plant growth. Marked for later food production business.
Second island is small, has habitation with gliders that are defensive. Huge C cut into the jungle. Moved on.

The 8 Fold Path to ...

Journal excerpt from The Legend of Saramago and the Sixth Mage Guild:

Using the scroll of Rope Trick we had hidden in the bathroom. All the guards went on alert looking for us. I made the ranger Invisible and he ran around to find the lay of the ancient place. Took out a few guards and moved to the 'launch bay', bribed a few guards to join us, found our stuff and stole off with a airship/launch/living room  back to Bryce's Field and our ancient temple.
The journey home I was forced to pilot the ship.
The site is now fully excavated and the pieces of the dome numbered for replacing. Hired masons, cranes, supplies, prostitutes, and a fresco artist to recreate the Cataclysm on the inside of the dome. I went to to find the black market for rituals and made a few thousand gold in two weeks, and I am now known officially as the guy in the 'black rags, he gets things done' guy. Most magic is handled exclusively by the Mage guilds for their profits alone. So naturally I need to foster the black market because I cannot officially ever be a member of a guild. hehe
Had my ear to the Rumor seeking and found out that our mutual 'friend' the warlord guy on Matara with the big airships and a ancient secret base that he knows nothing about its true history, has taken over the whole of Matara but is still accepting trade and hasn't replaced anything just ownership and moved on. Must learn more about this person...a red dragon has supposedly been seen on a small three chain of islands nearby...and rumors of any ancient sites were forthcoming from the void.
Found a supplier of airsled engines and had a special sled designed and have made two magic items to assist in their use for the 'ranger', a device for Featherfall and Darkvision once a day.
Think I will goad the priest into perfoming services at the temple and bill it off as a ancient temple to help offset the 'renovations' and and create a pillgrimage spot! (note in the margins) YES!!!

On a side note there are many 'sites' that are on the 'deadside' of the world. Nothing grows there, nothing is said to live. You have to bring it all with you. Now that we have a ship maybe we could make a test flight.

Administrative Session

Moving back to 4e. Spent the night repatching and leveling up.

Adventurers say the darndest things

Journal excerpt from The Legend of Saramago and the Sixth Mage Guild:

Finally, deciding that we could move inland and interact with the natives we head for the large city in the southern region. We enter the city and the ranger was still on recon. Sent him a message that we were in town. Shortly before  nightfall the entire town goes on alert and we see our friend.  I try to explain to the authorities but they will have none of it. By the next day we have agreed to protect a caravan traveling to the northern city. One small encounter with two airsleds, but the big problem occurred when we approached the city with its smoky stacks and machine noises. A large airship came out to greet us and a commander, whom I immediately disliked with fervor, explained that no caravans were needed but they would take the goods for us. Simple thieves, no respect for them.  I explain that I hired these adventurers to assist me on a cartographic mission to discover pre-cataclysmic sites by the Sixth Mage Guild. He seemed way to interested and we were 'asked' to accompany them. It felt very much like being held against our will and when we were finally let out to go to the bathroom I casted a Rope Trick from memory and we climbed in.

Stand up or just sit down

  Journal excerpt from The Legend of Saramago and the Sixth Mage Guild:

Deciding to take passage on ships to follow the trail of ancient sites we decide on a island in the Confedaracy of Matar

Our first attempt to land was fraught with disaster as the natives are militant in nature and use magically powered carts to fly and drop alchemist fires. They could be pirates, but who knows. Being attacked we managed to kill a driver of one and destroying another. The ships captain brings us along side the other cart and the ranger flys it back  to the island(with the inn). Days are spent in preparation for a recon mission learning to fly the machine. I myself, use the time to write scrolls of much needed utility spells I find myself constantly needing and not wanting to memorize each day. We head back out to the island (which was patched and is 80miles wide), and try and get the captain to drop us off but have to bribe him 120gold(I would have gladly paid 300 to gain access to another ancient site/temple/castle) The ranger heads off on his recon mission coming back after a grid pattern to let us know where to camp. 
Two days pass...
At least I can catch up on reading and a few more scrolls. Quite a few variant spells I will have to work on that will help with things such as they are here like vast gorges that drop miles into the core of the planet. Variant of the Floating Disc that isn't tied to the ground but instead anchored by means of some sort of rope or chain which can be pulled. Some research in the flying machines engineering skills and I think we could advance the science with a few of the conversations the priest and I had over the campfires. I find it interesting that for a dwarf and priest he seems quite able as a healer. I hope there is a land feature here on this island that is out of place, untouched, and still buried underground.
Finally, the ranger returns... then flies by followed by two more 'sleds'. Later he does walk into camp and tells us that he didn't find anything of note yet.

Cause and Eventuality

Journal excerpt from The Legend of Saramago and the Sixth Mage Guild:

Reassessing, we decide to solve the 'goblin' problem before we move on and discover more of these ancient sites. Since when we leave the goblins will come anyway. More walking. We find the goblins and I try and talk to them to see if they will buy the dream but no one listens. A big ugly hobgoblin comes out  I try to talk to him, he sniffs and leaves...have both of my Scorching Rays in your back! All the way to the encampment and its a large red dragon running them. I try to talk to him and would have given him the site for his lair and given him a share of the treasure we find in our careers, but he also didn't want to talk or want any 'help', and after some Ray's of Enfeeblement, and arrows and failed blindness spells, he slowly flew away before we could kill him or subdue him. He burned the ornithopters and any other written evidence.  I guess at least we can head to the next site, but of one thing I am sure. We haven't seen the last of Red.

Its Full of Stars!!!!

Mi-Go training complete, our party departs for Earth and their first mission. Retrieve the missing Mi-Go agent at the Windthrope Institute for Dream Research in Colorado.
Having two options to gain entrance:

1. Pose as a Nora Popes cousin, who recently suffered a major psychotic break and is currently at a Denver Hospital from something that happened
2. Pose a volunteer for dream research.
3. Or the popular 3rd option of sneaking in and pointing guns.

Retrieving Nora's personal effects and then promptly told to leave, they return to Denver to see Nora 'tim' uses his mind probe ability and sees a lake  where the stars move and form a colossal being made of stars that looks like Cthulhu! Then Nora Pope must have gone insane
So going with option 3, the party gained entry to the Dreamweb building and noticed that 5 patients were sleeping in pods with a multitude of wires tracing all around the room and out to banks and banks of mainframes, video rendering farms, and storage. Pulling a gun and walking  in to point it at the doctor and the staff present. We find a Dr. Carl Weemes doing his job of watching the subjects and the equipment. When asked about Nora and her fate, he exclaimed that he remembered being near to her when whatever happened but he awoke in the woods with an hour of his life missing. 'tim' correctly wonders if his mind had been clouded and attempts to un-cloud it and does. Finding out that Dr. Dandridge lead him to the woods and clouded his mind also  he remembers seeing Nora while out on his nightly walk around the lake and remembers also Nora coming to him about the chef who attempted to rape her.
The party goes immediately to Dandridge and accuses him and instantly he begins casting spells but 'levi' saves against them. Shooting, spells fail, shooting, 'tim' shoots black ray out that instantly turns him to a dessicated husk. The other guests and employees come out and the party questions the chef who seems aloof but respectful and has no information.

--till next time

Into the Great Wild Yuggoth (Pluto)

The last few months feel like a blur to all of you. Things have been very busy and your brain, your sanity, and soul have been rewritten. The prisoner's brains at Guantanamo were extracted and put into jars and 'levi' and 'aj' were then transported to Yuggoth as well.
Many truths of horrific nature are revealed to you including that the infamous 'grays' work for the Mi-Go

Listen up you stinking maggots, it seems you just don't get it.
Well I've been appointed to inform you, your days are numbered.
You would cry, you would scream
If you knew half the things I see.
Please, please just do as I say,
Repent and leave your evil ways.
Meanwhile....planes drop from the sky,
People disappear and bullets fly.
Little grey men are coming our way,
(Tastes just like chicken, they say.)
Actually they're all around.
Secret bunkers underground.
Round 'em up, skin 'em alive,
Rolling, rolling, rolling, rawhide.

'tim' being actually there is away most of the time doing tasks and all of you are learning about the horrors that await just outside of reality. Life in a brainjar isn't very fun, phantom leg syndrome sucks, hook you up to electrodes and break your sanity, then rebuild it.

Finally, all of you are ready for your first mission as Mi-Go Rescue Agents. You can go where the Mi-Go have a difficult time with their disguises and find lost Mi-Go trapped in Earth's timeline.
The soulless bodies in Guantanamo are released to a mental facility and after a month or so they are shunted to the catatonic ward, where you easily escape and all of you can return home.
Where 'levi' has a letter waiting for him (tonight) and orders are telepathed into your brain that 'levi' is Nora Pope's cousin and they are to investigate the Dreamweb Institute for Dream Research in Clauson, CO and in the process find the missing agent.

Dungeons and Dragons: A History Lesson

...and now ... the rest of the story.

A crack forms in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula 

By Dan La Ponsie, 8 October, 2010, 7 Comments

200 yards long, 5 feet deep in parts.

UPDATES at bottom of the post. (Last updated: Oct 12.)
A large crack can evoke something ominous and unsettling. They are like the door at the end of the hallway that is only partially open — nagging at you to find out where it came from and what lies just beyond the opening. There is something alien about the sudden arrival of a crack.
These are the very sorts of feelings gripping residents of a small town in Michigan’s upper peninsula. A crack has arrived, accompanied by tremors, in Menominee Township — right at the southern part of the base of Michigan’s upper peninsula. View Map
The crack isn’t noticeably growing bigger — and it has a long way to go if it’s going to turn the peninsula into an island. So rather than being afraid, local residents are simply scratching their heads and wondering where it came from. A team of researchers are expected to investigate soon.
Fortunately, the crack didn’t swallow up anyone’s home. It runs through a woodland. No one was reported injured.
An article at Upper Michigan Source has comments from residents who reported the tremor that announced the arrival of the mysterious crack:

It all started early Monday morning between 8 & 9 a.m. Central time, when Eileen and her neighbors heard a loud boom, and that’s when Eileen felt her house start to shake.
“I heard something, but I was concentrating more on the chair moving than I was listening,” Eileen explained. “It was just moving back and forth, like I had a vibrating chair, which I don’t have.”
Later on, Eileen told her friend, Doug Salewsky, what happened. On Tuesday, he stumbled upon the crevice a short distance away in the woods and later called the state police.
But what caused this unusual event? An earthquake? A sink hole? Authorities say, at the moment, no one seems to know.
“It’s a pretty remarkable sight really,” said MSP Trooper, Paul Anderson. “Everyone will speculate I’m sure. There are probably a hundred different opinions out there as to what caused this, but at this time, we don’t know what caused this.”
The U.S. Geological Survey along with Michigan Tech professors have been called to help “crack” the case. Until then, it remains a mystery.

A local FOX News, from WLUK, article reports that the crack has become something of a local tourist attraction. It also mentions that, while local residents felt tremors, there were no reported earthquakes.

Nestled just beyond the tree line of Eileen Heider’s 53 acres, is Menominee County’s newest tourist attraction. “It’s amazing, I want to get back there and check the rest of it out,” said Kevin Clermont of Wallace, Michigan, who stopped on his way home from work to sightsee.
Heider and neighbors heard an explosion-like sound Monday morning. Heider found the nearly 200-yard-long crevice, which measures five-feet deep in parts, Tuesday. “I was sitting in my recliner and the recliner started to vibrate,” said Heider. “And it’s not electric.”
Trooper Paul Anderson with Michigan State Police was the first to check it out. He said he ruled out a gas line leak, but could not determine much more. “This would be a first,” he said. “You don’t learn that at the academy.”
Anderson said he called some geological experts. So far none have come to look at the crevice.
There have not been any reported earthquakes in the area.

According to an article at WWLP, the crack is ”up two feet wide and five feet deep” in some parts.

A large unexplained crack now runs 200 yards through the Salewsky family’s property, eight miles north of Menominee in Birch Creek.
The family thinks it happened Monday around 9:00 in the morning. The ground raised five feet up, taking trees along for the ride. Some cracks were
“The house shook, the chairs shook,” Doug Salewsky said. “The logs weren’t there when I piled them.”

UPDATE — Oct 12:
There’s an article at mtu.edu titled “Menominee County Shakeup was an Earthquake, says Tech Researcher.” This is only a portion of the article, the entirety of which is available online.

That shaking and loud noise experienced recently in Menominee County of Upper Michigan was indeed an earthquake, albeit a small one, according to a Michigan Tech researcher.
“The large crack and ridge were created most probably by a magnitude 1 or 2 earthquake,” said Wayne Pennington, chair of geological and mining engineering and sciences, of the events that took place Monday, October 4.
The ridge and crack are 361 feet long, and the ridge is 4 to 5 feet high and 20 to 30 feet wide at its largest point, Pennington said after visiting the site. The crack is 2 feet wide and 4 to 5 feet deep at its largest point. Trees are tipped away from the crack at about 14 degrees on either side, showing that the surface is now tipping, having formed the ridge.
That ridge, according to Pennington, is the most informative feature, not the crack. Residents report that this ridge was not there earlier, and it appeared at the same time as the crack.
“The most-likely explanation is that the underlying limestone has faulted in a manner that has pushed rock on one side of the fault up and over the rock on the other side—a ‘reverse’ or ‘thrust’ fault,” said Pennington. “The limestone is hard and brittle, and this movement can be described as the small earthquake that was felt.
Overlying the limestone is about 20 feet of soft clay, he said. This clay will deform in a “mushy” manner, rather than breaking along a fault. It ends up being pushed together, and this is what formed the ridge.

Stranger In A Strange Land Part 2

Waking up amongst either the dead, dying, or the dessicated, two men come together in a room full of bodies suspended from the ceiling. Realizing that they can communicated via Telepathy is an interesting few minutes.Moving very slowly, due to the muscles atrophied from months of non-use, they explore and find 3 more rooms full of bodies and a locker room. Entering the locker room, they find a changes of clothes and a gun and a nightstick. Hearing someone approaching they notice a female completely bedraggled, filthy and brandishing a club of her own. With a wild  and hungry look in her eye, she charges at half speed. Attacking and hitting she wounds "Tim" and "Levi" shoots in the air with his gun. A male appears and the female both stop and proclaim that they can 'help' Some talking about what they have been eating since it appears that 6-9 months have elapsed since they were captured. More exploring, split up with the new people who also say a bomb was exploded high up on the elevator shaft and it is blocked. Levi spots a medium sized winged, tentacled dark skin creature bent over a suspended human in one of the coma rooms. He shoots and hits it, and it retreats. Tim is off with the guy and girl who go off on their own a few minutes later there are screams and can't find them. They find the elevator shaft that extends up and down into darkness.
They find two large surgery sections with airlocks passing to two completely separate surgery sections that are in accessible due to the two large security doors. "Levi" being ex-military demolitions  finds materials to make a shaped charge and plants the hinge on one of the doors while 'Tim' explores about getting the power on in the Maintainence section downstairs. He finds the server level full of mainframes and data storage, and next level down he finds a dead and bloated guard and a locked steel door leading to Maintenance.  He searches for the keys and doesn't find them. In his head he hears that 'he swallowed them'. Put off by the thought, 'Tim' turns to leave, when suddenly he finds himself on his knees elbow deep in the guards stinking chest cavity with keys in hand. Promptly making a check of his own sanity, he heads back to 'levi'.
The detonate the charge and gain entry into a security checkpoint with thick glass another locked door, and on the floor behind the glass, is a pentagram. Not finding entry to the other side they instead head to Maintenance and find generators, not running, water and sewage reclamation, a large humanoid with half a alien species from the top of his head down his back complete with vestigial wings and small tail. Barely able to communicate he explains that  he shut off the generators prematurely so they still have some fuel and they find that the creatures are the Mi-Go, a extra-dimensional group of aliens with unknown everything. Finding a exhaust vent and fire oxygen gear there is a dumb waiter cleaning pulley system in the vent that leads to the surface. Riding up to the top they find themselves in the woods. Coming to Menominee Township and a gas station the attendant immediately calls the police. Taken in and questioned, sampled told not to leave the state they are released. As they are leaving there are miltary vehicles showing up on the roads.
'tim' calls a few of his cultist friends for some money so he can go back and get video and information on the project. 'levi' just wants to go back to normal but is called to action again.

Grabbing some weapons,  gear and GPS, they head back down from Iron Mountain to a old logging road 'tim' remembers that is on the NW side of where they came out. Crossing the terrain, they come to the hatch realize the generators are off but there is also air passing through as well.
Riding back down they find the lights on, computers, etc. Talking with 'Quatto', who is somehow still alive tells them nothing really new but the lights and the occasional drilling sound from somewhere.
They go off and explore again to get video footage of the entire thing. Coming into a coma room, they find  another male waking up. They tell him whats happened and get him a change of clothes and shower. He'aj' explains hes a movie star ie Viggo on the run from some kind of debt. They find pentagrams at both security doors with strange white powder over the lines. Smudging it with his foot 'levi' activates the gate and a puddle of dark liquid  appears and 3 very small flying 'bugs' charge out. Shooting 'levi' manages to kill one, much whacking and damage that stuns. The remaining insect flies off. Using the Maintenance key they gain entry to the other side and find grisly work on Mi-Go, large cylinders of fluid with Mi-Go floating dead, lots of Mi-Go in a room similar to the coma room,  research room/testing room full of beakers and computers and sequencing equipment. Two surgery rooms with a few dead humans. They find that the computers are in the process of a full core dump to the surface, presumably by the military and they set out to cut off the information so that no one can have access to it. Heading down to the computer level, they find a Mi-Go busy on a terminal. 'levi' approaches speaking telepathically he finds out the Mi-Go is stopping the transfer and setting the self destruction 10 megaton device.
The Mi-Go asks if they want to come with him, and only 'tim' agrees. Heading to a larger pentagram, activating it, 'tim' gives 'levi' all his data and video camera etc and tells him to 'catch this' as he and the Mi-Go vanish across the horizon.

'aj' and 'levi' make their way back to the exhaust vent and help 'quatto' up and they ascend tot he top of the vent only to find a detachment of military who immediately confiscate everything and kill 'quatto'  take 'levi'  and 'aj' into custody and send them to Guantanamo for treatment.
The soldier that took the video had a greedy streak and they got posted on youtube within a month. Currently, one of the highest rated conspiracy videos.

Meanwhile, on Yuggoth 'tim' finds out what it means to learn new things.

Stranger In A Strange Land

You awaken to find yourself suspended by wires, lines of IVs trace their way to your arms, hands, legs, and neck. A tube is sticking down your throat and a small collection of wires are stuck to your body which is clothed in a simple smock and a white sheet. The light is very low, reddish in most places and appears to be illuminating the exits. Looking for the exits you turn your head to see rows and rows of more wires and suspended bodies. Most appear to be dead but a few more are missing or there are other people moving.

Trying to raise yourself to sitting is a struggle worthy of grunts and groans as your muscles deny your will to move. Images flood back from a time before  and you see the cliche hallway scrolling by and fluorescent lights a medical professional pushing you while something beeps. Pokes, prods, pricks, waking up during an operation that involved your head and not being able to scream or move!

Now, in an unknown location you come together in the room to discuss what lies ahead ...

The Glory Journal

Journal excerpt from The Legend of Saramago and the Sixth Mage Guild:

More of these confounded doors. We must discern the purpose of this place before any other ill befalls us from above!  It appears as there is no written language but just symbols  to guide our decisions about this strange site. This place must be from before the skys fell but no knowledge survives about any such places or peoples. For now, it will be a fitting base of operations  for us at any rate. I wonder what will be in the altar room?

The next day we searched the altar room throuroghly and found a curious map with locations and what appears to be our point on the map. The implications of this map are great considering the cataclysm that befell all of us a few hundred years ago. Another demon that proved nearly impossible to kill, resisted many spells. Reset the protections and shut doors to return to the surface.  Smoke and fire greeted us. Damn goblin pirates bombed us from their air ships. At least the workers are safe and we have shifted production to fixing the town and the keep and moved the living quarters down the elevator to the first levels. Goblins with a covered battering ram attacked with air support. We opened the gate to get at them and the ship flew off toward the goblin camp the ranger found earlier.
We need to discover the other sites on the map and I made a copy of the map doing a average job then I cast a new secret page spell so it looks like the menu from a nice restaurant (need non-detection on it too) also the goblins need to be dealt with and we need to get a airship for ourselves.

If At First You Don't Succeed, Escape In A Cloud Of Smoke

Having solved the previous puzzles of the temple's lower level, The Group™ now stood before the door onward. The ten by twelve foot slab of stone offered no clues as to its opening other than a narrow slot carved into the center, approximately four feet from the floor. They pondered the meaning of this slot for several minutes. What could fit in the slot? Was it a trap? Would it accrue lint over time?

Feeling stumped, The Group™ fidgeted impatiently. The cleric, being a dwarf of no small courage, decided that dangers be damned, he'd figure out the mechanisms of the door. And so, with finger tips inside the slot, he lifted on the slab ever so slightly and it immediately rose with eerie quietness into the ceiling. Mouths agape, the wizard and ranger joined him to peer into the next room of the complex.

Unlike the first room, this chamber was well-lit, but there were no apparent light sources. It was as if daylight shone down through the ceiling like it were clear glass. The contents of the room puzzled them. In the center stood another statue akin to the four previous, but much larger. It's marbled skin denied dust a purchase and its more heavily armored figure looked that much more imposing.

The room also bore three more stone doors in addition to the one under which they stood. They looked like mirror copies, displaying no decorations and only a simple carved slot. Moving into the room the investigate, they were nearly taken unaware as the humanish statue suddenly animated and moved for the closest living member.

The animate stone humanoid's surprise was no match for the battle-hardened reflexes of The Group™ however. Like cobras they sprang into action, the ranger volleying a deluge of pointy death while the wizard and cleric cast beneficial spells. Though the party triumphed, it was not without incident. The ranger's skull was nearly caved in by a great smash from the statue's thick stone spear. The cleric, weaving mighty -- at least to him -- spells of healing was able to save the ranger and restore him to health.

The defeated statue then did something quite surprising. Instead of falling inert or crumbling to fragments from the damage, it nearly liquified. The wizard, after taking a sample of this goo, deduced that the statue had actually been a mimic, possibly compelled to service by the ancient denizens of the temple. One item didn't turn to goo however -- the spear the statue had used to deal its devastating blows was still quite solid. Further investigation found it to be magical. The cleric claimed it after the other showed no interest.

Opening the west door revealed a simple chamber, reminiscent of a monk or acolyte's quarters in the temples that still stood to the ancient gods. Two bed slabs carved of the same stone as the temple claimed much of the room's area, while a stone shelf jutted from the far wall. A short search revealed nothing else in the room.

The east door headed a small chamber much the same as the opposite door's. The far stone wall had collapsed in this room though, spreading debris over much of the floor. The dwarf quickly ascertained that the collapse hadn't been natural as signs of purposed destruction scarred the rubble. Again, a short search revealed nothing else of interest.

The southern slab opened into another large chamber. This too was lighted as though the ceiling were transparent. Four braziers, still burning and smokeless also cast orange flickers about the walls. A raised dais rose from the center of the room, coming to a flat some several feet from the floor. Atop the dais was another statue of the strange humanoids, but fully plated in or wholly gold. Two stone altar tables stood on either side of the room, their fine cloth covers still preserved by some kind of magic. The far side of the room was adorned by a painting of some sort, but The Group™ didn't have time to investigate further.

A screech came from direction of the room with the crumbled wall. As the ranger turned towards the sound he was assaulted by a small creature reminiscent of an imp, but slightly larger and smelling of smoke and char. It quickly bit him and he could feel a burning pain spread throughout his limbs, making his movements clumsier.

The Group™ once again sprang into action. After dealing with one of the two flying monsters, three more creatures appeared in the rubble of the small living chamber. These were not flying pests however, but small twisted humanoid figures with bloated stomachs, dripping fangs and greyish green skin covered in warts and pustules. They attacked the party with menacing glee, but were easily cut down by fearless adventurers.

Thinking this new ordeal finally over, The Group™ started to relax, but yet another being shimmered into view. The voluptuous humanoid female with silken silver hair, burning violet eyes and musical voice was betrayed by her large, leathery wings and scaly tail. "It seems I'll have to deal with you myself," she intoned.

The party immediately went into action, but she was faster yet. Striding confidently towards the ranger, her gaze lured him into her embrace. And yet the ranger had other plans. Slipping out of her welcoming grasp, he bounded backwards and the adventurers attacked as one. The battle lasted several tense seconds while the demoness attempted only to provoke first the ranger and then the cleric into her inviting arms.

Finally, as the battle had taken its toll, the demoness hissed frustratedly and reaching into a small pouch produced a clay vial which she threw to the ground. Upon shattering, the vial created a smoke so thick so as to nearly obscure the party even from each other when no more than five feet apart. When the smoke finally cleared, the demoness was nowhere to be seen.

What mysteries await The Group™ in the final room of the temple's hidden underground level? What purpose could demons have with the ruins. And what was going on above ground after a day and more of exploration below?