21 - 9/5 : The Guardian of Secrets
After the fight against the Jade Colossus, the group had cleared the upper level of the mysterious temple and prepared to descend into the depths below. Qiao questioned Judge on his change of demeanor, the stalwart warforged told the story of his past and his son, Gilean Vel.
Judge recanted how talented his son Gilean was, and how both father and son had fallen to evil temptations in order to cure the ancient curse upon his bloodline. He also told of his adventures in the Plane of Molten Skies and that of the fabled city of brass, and the many other adventures he had undergone in his past life. The vision of Gilean kneeling before the altar uneased him, though he did not understand why he was seeing it here, he felt it a trick of Morrigans or the evil beings that inhabited this temple.
With the talk over, the group descended the stairs and returned to the temples central room. The stairs emptied behind an enormous faceless statue, the far side returning to the temples entrance, and an exit to the east and west stood open.
Before the group could venture further, a voice called out from atop the statue. Hiding in its hallowed out hood, a gnome introduced himself as Heinrich Stolt. The gnome threatened that he would be forced to intervene should the group venture to the east or west chambers, but were otherwise free to explore the temple. Unless of course, they were willing to divulge some secrets of importance.
The group denied his request, and when Qiao tried to disappear from his gaze, Neferon attacked! He exclaimed that he was the Master of Portals and sent here by Hecate herself to oversee this temple. The arcanaloth began by summoning beams of light, some boosted attack power, others boosted resistances and the last was a wall of force. Then he summoned portals to the nine hells, where some merregon devils emerged to oppose the party.
Strangely, from the southern portal a mysterious man emerged. He exclaimed that he was Daneel, Smiter of Fiends, and wielded a holy avenger, and that he would aid the party in their fight against the devils. Unfortunately the portals began to close, and using his holy avenger he helped keep it open, but did not provide much aid to the party during the fight.
Neferon attempted to open more portals to summon beings to his aid, but a mysterious purple glow flowed out of the statues empty head and corrupted the nearby portals. Instead of fiendish aid, two Bargheists emerged and attacked! Shortly after, the withering blows from the party began to take their toll, and the fearsome arcanaloth was finally felled.
With the fight over, the group investigated to the south and found a door that was magically sealed. Above was an inscription that read:
I'm one out of seven. I'm fire. I'm red. And just when you lose it I'm inside your head.
Fabian deduced that this sounded like Wrath, and upon speaking the word the door slide open. Inside was one final door sealed to all entrance, while there were six statues with outstretched hands. Deciding they likely needed keys to open the door, the group continued on to find out where they may lie.
To the west, three doors were seen each with a unique symbol on them. Also on the doors were a relief that matched the size of the emblem that Qiao had picked up earlier. The emblem opened a portal, and the group ventured in.
Inside the portal a mysterious woman stood in front of a pedestal, carrying the emblem that matched the door on the entrance. But only Fabian seemed to be inside, the remainder were temporarily suspended in time.Portraits
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