Mystery of the Winter Temple

4th Respitesday of Spring's Birth, Second Age 1852: Today was incredibly eventful. I am writing this as we sit under a mostly collapsed roof of an old temple dedicated to Winter, that our divinely inclined members of the expedition were just able to restore, but lets start from the beginning.

We landed on the river docks of Lunathariel, because this city didn't use to be on the coast, and as soon as we began searching the ruins, we were ambushed by a number of zombies, they appeared to have been goblins once. Zombies tend to be easy to dispatch though, and even if I wasn't able to deploy my poisons, they were easy to find weak points and plan avenues of attack. Few members of the party got a few scratches, but it was nothing that Talindra couldn't patch up.

We consulted a map we brought with us and Lady Aria decided that we will climb the nearby hill where a temple dedicated to the Winter Realm used to stand. Curious for one to be in a city that was mostly occupied by autumn elves, but perhaps we used to live alongside each other in greater harmony.

On the way to the temple, we have drawn attention of a few more shambling groups of zombies, but they were too slow to pose a threat, and our fighters dispatched them with little difficulty. Daereth got a few scratches again, and again it was nothing that Talindra couldn't handle. Note to self: Figure out tactics to fight large groups, I was unable to find a weakness in the mass of the corpses.

As we took a breather, Lady Aria had her raven fly overhead keeping an eye on the surrounding area, Talindra tended to Daereth's wounds and others rested and recovered. Nymeria seemed to be preoccupied with the architectural designs of the ruins, while I sought more ideas into what was causing the disruption of the Winter temple's consecration that we sensed before the zombies descended on us. Nymeria pointed out that it will be unlikely we will be able to restore any of the buildings here, seeing the shape they were in after centuries of neglect. It was a miracle some of them were still standing as they were.

As we ascended the temple mount, we could all feel the magic of the consecration getting stronger. We were getting closer to its source, but it was clear there was something wrong with it. Mystery to be solved! We approached the ruined building with care, and tried to spot any danger that may have been lurking for us. There was some movement in the ruined rafters that we couldn't quite make out in the sudden downpour, so Lady Aria sent Torrent up to investigate. The poor bird was almost immediately assaulted by what turned out to be undead pixies, seemingly protecting this temple since the collapse.

Their leader, or at least one with more than one pair of wings, seemed to be yelling something about a friend and how we aren't allowed to find something, while the other pixies went to work and proving that this expedition may be more of a challenge that we prepared for. Lady Aria and Daereth were both briefly knocked out, Talindra nearly died assaulted by one of the pixies that seemed to hold a grudge. Likely something to do with the vital energies emanating from the oracle. Thankfully all the creatures were dispatched, and we were able to investigate the rest of the ruin.

I was able to figure out the issue with the consecration magic. It looked like a temple originally dedicated to uncorrupted Leowyn, turned corrupt just like its patron, but when Winter was restored and Leowyn remained in the Shadows, the magic of the consecration wanted to revert back to the winter realm, yet was prevented from doing so fully, fluctuating between Winter and Shadow. Aelorna, Zaelith, and Bahzel put their prayers together, pleading to the winter realm to restore the magic, and something miraculous happened. The statue that showed Leowyn in her form uncorrupted by Shadow transformed into representation of Shaylache, the queen of winter that replaced her. It was certainly divine intervention, perhaps a fortuitous sign for our settlement here.
 
Nymeria examined the stonework and identified a loose brick beneath the statue, pulling out a stone chest with a rather complex lock on it. Despite breaking several lockpicks, neither Nymeria nor Aelorna were able to open it, eventually getting a pick stuck in there and making the lock unusable. The decision was made to take the chest back to the ship, get the lock fixed, and work on it in better conditions. Lady Aria called for camp and we spent the rest of the night in the cool embrace of Shaylache, while Talindra tended to the wounded despite showing signs of injury herself.

5th Judicday of Spring's Birth, Second Age 1852: With the morning, we decided to sack the tombs in the adjacent chamber, prepared to fend off more undead. This time no undead came, and the tombs were filled with magical trinkets we immediately split among ourselves. Unfortunately a key to the chest was not one of them. I made it out with a set of goggles that enhance the wearer's ability to mix alchemical concoctions, and a cauldron that can transform anything back into its raw materials. Too big and clunky to carry around all the time, it will be a great addition to the alchemist lab Zhyrissa and I plan to establish once there is a town here.

After we sorted everything out, we took the road back to the shore, this time able to avoid getting attacked by more undead, but I had a sense that it wasn't by accident. We've seen a few, but they seemed to shamble away from us rather than towards us as if some force was commanding them to stay clear. Another mystery to solve!
 
We made it to an area that looked a little bit more fortified and messaged the ship to start sending landing parties. We will secure this landing site before heading further into the city. We saw a structure that may have been some sort of lord's manor back in the day that was relatively intact compared to the rest of the city. Perhaps that's where the mysterious necromancer is holed up. We shall replenish supplies, help set things up and likely head out again in the morning. Another exciting day awaits.