== Starday, Lamashan 25, 4708; Xin Shalast; evening ==
With still too few sihedron rings or too few sihedron amulets (or two few team members willing or able to wear the latter) we decided to search for additional rings in the more prominent ruins of the city. The now even more ruinous (thanks to yours truly) remains of the Temple of Lamashtu seemed as likely a place to try as any.
Sabin and I used invisibility plus Detect Magic and then Wind Walked into the building and scouted about.
Time had been a harsh mistress to the building, and rubble choked much of the entry chamber. We saw a pair of large stone idols fallen over on their sides: a dragon and a lion, both twisted and perverted. A mosaic tile in the floor boasted a great symbol of Lamashtu, but it was broken and bereft of any power or influence here.
Three exits led out from the chamber and deeper into the temple.
We went straight ahead to an antechamber, where the tattered gear and clothing lay strewn about. Upon closer examination we found the three corpses of our would be explorers, long ago ripped to pieces.
A stairway led down to a torture chamber with the usual arrangement of miserable cells, cruel devices, and a table designed to catch the blood of the room’s victims.
We returned to the entry chamber and went through the right exit, which was choked with collapsed stone. Wafting through the crevices like a breeze we came followed the ruined corridor thirty feet before it ended in a square room some twenty feet on a side.
To the right was a rectangular room with a stagnant pool in the center.
To the left was what looked like a locker room, with benches and cabinets lining the walls.
Directly ahead was a cathedral dedicated to Lamashtu. It looked as if it had been well maintained, while the rest of the temple had fallen down around it. We got an uneasy feeling that something was watching us… something only glimpsed, like a fleeting movement out of the corner of our eyes.
Back in the entry room we tried the left passageway, but it was completely blocked.
We returned to the others at our hideout, and it was decided that whatever was lurking in the temple needed to be removed.
We prepared for combat, and then Wind Walked back to the locker room, where we solidified quietly in the dark. Sabin moved quickly into the cathedral, and said that he saw shadowy incorporeal creatures moving about.
Avia and I moved into the cathedral, and Kane used a wand of Detect Evil, which promptly did so.
Nolin also moved in, while Sedjewick created Dancing Lights and began to sing.
Trask Hasted us as Sabin cast Sign of Wrath. All of a sudden the room was filled with a lot of shadows, which all closed in on Sabin (those that survived his spell).
I, Avia and Kane all chanelled energy against the Shadows, and all but two fell, which Trask promptly destroyed via a fireball.
There were various items of interest upon the altar:
[1643] chalice: a decanter of endless water
[1644] +3 black adamantine dagger decorated with disfigured animals
[1645] wand of soul bind (4 charges)
The entire room emanated evil, and Kane was not content to just leave it as it was, and so the fighters destroyed the altar, which made Kane feel somewhat better.
We then returned to our base, where I cast the powerful Commune spell and asked for Pharasma’s guidance.
Are any sihedron rings in Xin Shalast that are not in our possessions?
Yes
Is the occlusion field around the spires powered by a rune well?
No
Do any dragons in the region of Xin Shalast posses a sihedron ring?
No
Has Karzoug fully revived?
No
Is Karzoug able to leave the spires now?
No
Will Karzoug be able to leave the spires within the next week?
Yes
Should we move to directly confront Karzoug as soon as possible?
Yes
Does Karzoug have more than a dozen allies with him in the spires?
Yes
Are we missing an object or task from the city we need in order to defeat Karzoug?
Uncertain
Does Karzoug get stronger the longer we wait?
Yes
Will it benefit us to sow discord and chaos in the city itself?
Yes
Will we need to wear the sihedron rings and medallions to freely move about everywhere within the occlusion field?
Yes
Does the occlusion field extend to within the buildings?
Yes
Do any giants in the city have sihedron rings?
No
This gave us much food for thought, and we decided to check with Margive to see if he could explain why the giant rebellions always fizzle so quickly, and why the most recent one lasted longer.
He seemed surprised by our questions. “The Lamia have all of the power. They are the law,” he explained. “However a great deal of yelling was heard from their temple complex just a short while ago, and rumor says that her Most High Ceoptra has come down from the mountain to set her house in order.”
Score! Margive seemed terrified by her presence in the city, but this was what we had been waiting (and working) for!
We asked about the most recent giant rebellion, and he replied, “They meet at night in the slave area. They are easy to find.”
The first order of business was to take out Her Most Highestness and her entourage, if she was not alone.
Sabin and I did the usual prep with invisibility and using Wind Walk scouted out the temple. We heard an angry voice shouting from Karzoug’s chapel. There we found three harridans, dressed as warriors, gathered around a fourth, who was much better dressed and equipped than the others, and was wearing a robe of runes and a crown.
They were speaking in giant, and the fancy dressed one was shocked that the giants would kill her second in command.
Across from this side of the temple was another space where we could all gather and prepare for the attack, if we were lucky.
We returned to the others and prepared for what looked to be a fierce battle. Using a combination of invisibility spells and Wind Walk we managed to arrive at our designated gathering spot undetected, but our luck soon gave way to reality.
“My lady, I hear something in the other chamber!”
Oh drat, there went the element of surprise.
Trask sent a wicked arc of chain lightening down to zap several of the lamia, and Sedjewick created a mirror image and began to sing. Kane cast Prayer, and I used Greater Dispel Magic on the one we thought must be the Ceoptra.
Two harridans advanced upon us, while another cast Flame Strike on me — one of them was a cleric! The Ceoptra was muttering words of power.
Sabin used our Dimension Door strategy to put himself, Nolin, Avia and I next to the Ceoptra, where upon Avia and Nolin promptly killed her.
What the hell? It was only then that a trickle of doubt began to pool in my mind.
Rigel shot a warrior harridan, and Sedjewick Shouted ferociously at two.
The cleric harridan cast Blade Barrier, isolating the advance party from the rest of our team, and the other two then charged us.
The entire area filled with a Fire Storm, and I was targeted by Searing Light.
I tried Destruction on the cleric, but to no avail, and Sabin tried Disintegrate, but that too was disappointing.
Nolin and Avia realized they needed to take down the cleric, and charged her.
I managed to use a Mass cure spell to restore some health to my friends and myself.
Meanwhile the cleric cast Unholy Blight, and attacked Sabin with a dagger, which was odd, because she was wielding a greats word.
Sabin was seriously injured, but I was closer to death than I have ever been, and for the first time in years wondered if I would survive to see another day.
But then things began to turn our way. Sabin was able to get three solid hits on the cleric, while Avia killed a warrior and Nolin kept the other occupied.
At that point in time I discovered that Trask had used Teleport to bring the rest of our party to the party, and Kane revived me with a mighty Heal.
Trask used Mage Sword on the cleric, who began to hack at us, but Sabin put a stop to that by removing her head.
Avia very quickly killed the remaining and seriously out classed harridan.
We were bloodied, near exhaustion, and not quite sure what had just happened.
No small amount of channeling and cure spells brought us back to health, and we quickly searched the bodies for useful things.
[1646] +1 unholy dagger
[1647] +6 headband of inspired wisdom (Kane)
[1648] ring of force shield
[1649] 4 pearl anklets
[1650] gold crown
[1651] sihedron ring (from the cleric!)
[1652] +1 unholy dagger
[1653, 1655, 1657] masterwork breastplate
[1654, 1656, 1658] masterwork great sword
Then using the blood of the dead lamia, I scrawled as high upon the wall as I could reach, in a crude giantish hand, “Death to the tyrantz!”
We then shoved the body of the harridan we had thought was the Ceoptra into a bag of holding and returned to our hideout — but on the way Sabin and I dropped the body off into an alley.
I then used Greater Scrying on “our giant,” and using Sending sent him to the corpse.
He was at a loss. “A harridan!? But who would kill a harridan?” He then sent one of his minions over to the temple, “Unless I am mistaken, someone has killed the chief assistant of the Most High Ceoptra!”
Blast! We had been duped by one of the oldest tricks in the book, and very nearly paid dearly for it.