Session 15: Angeni and the Goriya Temple

The session started with The Water Merchants in Darbus. They discussed what they had learned about the Knights of the Darunic Order as well as the untranslated leters they found on the Zola Shaman they killed at Small Creek. They then went to the Church of the Fire Gods and told the priest, Ralo, to send word if any of Covak's prophecies appeared to start coming true. They then decided to traveled back to Hyrule Castletown. As they were leaving, they encountered a large entrourage of goron soldiers and carriages preparing to transport goron patriarch Daruladan and other goron reprentatives to Hyrule Castletown for the upcoming meeting of the Council of Unity.
The group left Darbus and arrived back at Casltetown by nightfall. They spend a few days in Castletown waiting for Maurice, the library translator, to return. Upon his return, the group showed him the Zola note. He was unable to translate it, but recommended his former associate, Jingshen. Maruice told the group that Jingshen had left the library and moved ot Kakariko City years ago, but more recently was rumored to live in a town neary Kakariko City called Angeni.
The group set out to Angeni to find Jingshen, trekking several hours on the well-traveled road north towards Kakariko City, and then a lesser traveled road that branched-off west. They arrived in the small hamlet. The town was build around a central common area. In the center of the common ares was a tall, stone alter-like object. It was cylindrical in shape, but segemented and had intricate carvings. On the top segment was a hollow with a crystal inside the hollow. Also around the town were several inert constructs, such as a bulky humanoid with harvesting shears as hands and a mechanical horse. There was also an irrigation systme in place for the growing fields behind the houses.
The Water Merchants talked to a villiager who informed the group that a group of goriyas came in last night and stole an important artifact - a small statuette of the goddess Hylia with a very old feather attached to it. The group then asked if the villager knew Jingshen, which he said he thinks is the hermit that lives in the nearby hills, which was in the direction the Goriyas came from.
Thistle turned into bear-form and trailed the scent. The scent trail led them through the hills and onto a small, ransaked camp. Bear-Thistle was able to follow both the goriya scent and the camp inhabitant scent both headed in the same direction. The group followed the trail for some time. As the sun began setting, they came to a large clearing that had a torch perimeter. Inside the the clearing, there was a large stone temple, and four watch towers, manned by goriyas. The was also a large number of robe-wearing goriyas milling about the temple.
The group came up with a plan. Waiting until nightfall, Thistle bear-formed again and wandered out into the opening, acting as a bear to cause a distraction. While the nearest goriyas were looking at bear-Thistle, the group shot arrows at the goriyas. Tanager killed the first one, but Ora and Sunny missed the other one. Feng hit it, but wasn't enough to kill the goriya. The goriya blew his warning horn, which got the attenion of the other two watch tower goriyas, and also the two guard goriyas by the temple doors. The group killed three more goriyas, and the other two ran off into the woods.
The group then approached the front door, where they heard chanting from inside the temple.  They formulated a strategy to the goriyas using the door, but upon opening the door, they found a set of stairs leading downward.  At the bottom, the passageway branched into 3 separate corridors.  They took the corridor to the right, passing over a small natural waterfall and crevasse.  As they crossed over, a panel in ceiling broke out, and several deku babas descended from the ceiling.
The party make short work of the deku babas and continued on through the corridor, entering the next room that was lightly furnished.  Sunny and Feng took two goriya robes they found hanging in the room.  The group then continued on through the next room that lead into a hallway.  About halfway down the hallway, there was a branching passageway that lead out into a main chamber, where all the goriyas had gathered.  The group peeked around the corner to see what was transposing.  They saw a small main platform with a small alter that had the stolen statuette on it.  Feng and Sunny stayed at that hallway branch, and the rest continued along the hallway to follow the scent.  The door was locked, so Sunny was summoned to pick the lock.  The door opened into a room with several holding cells, and a few captives.  One they identified as Jengshin.
As the party was talking with the prisoners, an adjacent door began to open.  Bear-Thistle pushed his weight against the door.  After hearing the voices on the other side start to get angry, Bear-Thistle moved but hid behind the door as it opened.  Tanager and Ora hid in the hallway they just came from.  Sunny stood in the room with his goriya robe with the hood over his head.  Two goriyas walked in.  Sunny was able to convince them he was a goriya through a series of unintelliglble grunts.  The goriyas then grabbed on of the prisoners and dragged him out into the chancel-like area where the alter was situated. 
Sunny released Jingshen and the other captive and they all went back down the hallway and met up with Feng at the branching passage out to the alter area, from which they were ablt to see an armored goriya (who looked to be in charge), a moblin, and preist-like goriya all standing out in the alter area.. The group watched as a robed priest goriya attempted a ritual at the alter using the statue, which created a portal and caused a massive, blue-gray-skinned, clawed arm and fist emerge from the portal, grab a nearby guard goriya, and drag it back into the portal before the priest could close it.  The leader goriya seemed bothered by the failure.
The priest goriya summoned the captive to be brought near, and attempted another ritual.  Another portal opened, and a tall, ghostly robed, skeletal woman floated out of the created portal, along with a few, smalller, impish ghosts.  The skeletal ghost woman then screeched at the captive, which caused him to collapse.  A red, small, ball-like sphere of energy floated out of hte captive's body.  The ghost woman grabbed it, and flew up through the ceiling, disappearing.  The leader goriya, visibly angry, yelled at the priest goriya and stormed off with the moblin, while the priest goriya ran after trying to explain.  All the rest of the goriyas on the other side of the water then left as well, heading up nearby stairs to an upper floor of the temple.