The party spent
the night in the ruins of Ix's keep, and discussed their next move.
Martin was sullen and withdrawn, knowing not the significance of the
ring which the perfidious Edulf had absconded with. Surely it must
have been an item of great import since some foe had dispatched a
thrall to intercept it. Cruum, Baraldur and Fray made up their minds
to use the rainbow-key on the door in the northwestern tower and
explore what lay beyond in hopes of finding fame and fortune. The
next day, they made their way to the tower and prepared for a journey
into the aether. Martin begged off from joining them, saying that he
would wait for a day after their departure, then leave himself to
pursue whatever leads he could pertaining to the stolen ring. He
invited the party to seek him out at some future date, if they had
interest in continuing to work with him.
Setting the key
into the golden lock and turning it, Cruum saw and felt the word
dissolve around him. Suddenly he found himself and his companions in
a small mossy grotto which smelled of water and earth. Nearby a
stairway led up into sunlight. The party emerged from the cavern via
a secret entrance ensconced between two great mossy boulders. They
found themselves in a sun-dappled forest meadow in the midst of which
were two women, one a lovely peasant girl with golden hair and the
other a statue of a nude harpist carved of mysterious blue stone.
The young lady greeted the heroes warmly, identifying herself as
Beatrice and the environs as part of the island of Corsinia. Cruum
spoke first to the young lady, identifying himself and his companions
and saying that they sought fortune and adventure. Amused by the
dwarf's stuttering and accent, she plucked upon the beamlike
multicolored harp strings of the statue, turning his beard and
equipment various strange colors. She was quite happy to meet some
foreigners, as she had never met anyone from beyond the island, and
was particularly keen to hear of wizardry. She offered to guide the
motley crew of outlanders to her home village of Zilia, and from
there to the garden of Jacques Le Vert, a holy man she said could
better answer questions about the island.
The eccentric
young woman led her new friends to her village, where they passed a
pleasant evening and heard some rumors of the island. In the course
of this, they learned that Corsinia had not experienced visitors in
hundreds of years owing to the depredations of the Great Sea Worms,
foul serpentine creatures which destroyed any ships which came near
the island. Heading south from Zilia the party came to the verdant
garden and humble cottage of Jacques Le Vert, a holy man and member
of the island's resident order of Hospitaliers, the Order of St.
Michel of the White Cross. He was a small, shrunken man clad in
rough slops, with wild white hair, a sun-browned face and intense
green eyes. He offered that if the dwarf and his friends sought
fortune and knowledge of the island, he might guide them to the tower
of Médard the Loremaster, a fellow who lived in high in the
mountains. The three rogues took the priest at his offer and set off
toward the peaks.
En route, as they
passed through the forest, the group happened upon a glade filled
with mushrooms, including one particularly great specimen. The group
trod carelessly upon the fungi until the great mushroom suddenly
spoke, identifying itself as the Mushroom King and remonstrating the
interlopers for their harsh treatment of his subjects. Cruum
retorted that he himself was lord of many and underground cavern
filled with fungi and that he acknowledged not the authority of any
simpering toadstool. This enraged the Mushroom King, who said that
Cruum would atone for his insolence by thralldom. Cruum failed to
resist the magical compulsion laid upon him and was therefore laid
under a Quest spell which diverted the party to a sea-cave on the
northern shore of the isle where they were tasked with destroying a
creature hateful to the Mushroom King. This creature was a great
tortoise whose shell continually shed water and whose maw was filled
with great spikes. The beast was overcome and its shell was brought
back before the king, who in a gesture of absolution transformed part
of it into a magical shield which he gifted to Cruum.
The part
continued onward to Médard's home. The tower itself was a humble
pile of stones with a bright red door, situated above a mountain
valley. The hoary Loremaster proved to be tight-lipped about the
island's secrets, but said he would gladly add to his guests'
knowledge if they would do the same for him. He directed them to the
ruins of the Hypatia Temple on the southern coast of the island,
where he asked for any scrolls from the Terrene Library therein which
his guests could bring back. In exchange for that, he would answer
any of their questions. The party acquiesced to these terms and set
off at once. After a week's journey to the south of the island, they
came to the temple ruins, carved of white and purple marble. Fallen
columns covered in moss and prowled by fat chameleons lay strewn
about, and six crumbling statues of the great Goddesses of antiquity
stood watch over the entrance to the temple's undercroft. Jacques
stood watch above, Baraldur lit his lantern, and the brave
adventurers descended into the depths.
Exploring a set
of chambers, the party came upon a gorgeous mosaic of gold and gems
which was being slowly devoured by a bizarre froglike monstrosity
with three arms. Cruum was incensed at this Philistine's obvious
belief that all art must serve a purpose, and attempted to slay the
creature. It proved and overwhelming opponent, and the dwarf and his
companions were forced to flee and leave the art gourmand to his
feast. In other chambers they found a pit of flame which Fray
identified as having an aura of mystical purity, and another room in
which a hippopotamus made of rose quartz meandered aimlessly.
Exploring further, they found a great domed chamber the ceiling of
which depicted the night sky and a zodiac with 13 houses. At the far
end of this chamber stood two graceful carayatid statues which
animated and menaced the intruders with wicked curved blades when
they approached. The adventurers chose not to antagonize the statues
and chose another route. They found another domed chamber filled
with vegetation and with a hole in the ceiling which permitted
sunlight in. At the center of the chamber was a tree laden with
blossoms and bizarre fruits the likes of which none had seen before.
The tree was surrounded by three statues, one of a crystal mermaid,
one of an iron hoplite, and the third being an obsidian Southron
warrior. When Cruum attempted to gather some of the fruits, the
three statues animated and attacked. The obsidian man fired bolts of
lava from his hands, though fortunately Cruum's shield, which
constantly dripped water, negated the blasts. The other two statues
employed more conventional attacks, and the battle was joined. At
length, all three statues were destroyed and the tree was harvested,
yielding mauve banana-like spirals, yellow cubes, green pentacle
cylinders, and blood red balls with spikelike protrusions situated
around the circumference. The adventurers withdrew to rest and
sample their harvest.
On the surface,
Baraldur ate a mauve spiral and found his already considerable
olfactory sense amplified such that he could smell precious metals.
Fray tasted of the yellow cube and found his first level spells
restored. Fatefully, Cruum ate the red sun-fruit, which stained his
beard with a gorelike smear and enraged him deeply, instilling in him
a desire to reave and slay regardless of ties of companionship. He
first approached Jacques and raised his axe, but suddenly found the
shabby little man miraculously clad in shining mail, sword in hand,
and adorned with a red surcoat with a white cross. Jacques called
two great cinnamon bears from the forest to aid him. Cruum's initial
attack was forestalled by a command issued by Fray which had behind
it the authority of Heaven. Unfortunately, this magical command
functioned only momentarily, and the dwarf resumed his attack,
enlisting his hirelings to help him strike down the priest. Fray and
Baraldur attempted to subdue the bears and cast a net over Cruum, but
the latter came to no avail. By the end of the melee, Cruum had been
incapacitated by a bear's claw, one bear had been slain, and Jacques
had been laid low by Cruum's sword, though the priest yet lived.
Dermot, one of Cruum's hirelings and the wielder of the enchanted
black sword once belonging to Edulf, had been slain.
When Cruum came
to, he was most distraught to find out what he had done, and to find
Dermot so cruelly killed. He immediately built a bonfire into which
he cast an offering of silver and the pentacle fruit, chanting
ancient dwarven songs to his gods. He called upon Freya to restore
his dead hireling to life, and the heard and granted his plea,
although she would call upon him for a return service in the future.
Cruum also apologized deeply to Jacques for the slaying of his bear,
and offered a bear-guild of one hundred electrum pieces. These
Jacques refused, but pardoned the dwarf for his sins and assured him
that he bore no ill-will for that which was done under the effects of
the devil-fruit. After spending a few days resting and healing, the
party descended into the ruins once more.
In a great hall
covered in frescoes depicting the es, they encountered a crystalline
beast somewhat resembling a scorpion, which fired its tail at
Baraldur when he waved at it. The party decided to give this
creature a wide berth. Continuing on, they found a grand octagonal
chamber with many empty shelves in the wall- clearly the remains of
the Terrene Library! In the center of the chamber was a circle of
stones set into the floor, at the very center of which lay a faint
pool of emerald light. From this rift in nature arose a beautiful
female figure seemingly made of liquid emerald. She identified
herself as the Oracle of Earth, the library's guardian. When asked
about the library's collection of scrolls, she offered to give some
to the party if they would perform a service for her. She explained
that the circle of stones had once contained a stable portal to the
Elemental Plane of Earth, and had allowed her to exist in the library
in order to answer questions put to her and issue prophecies. In
recent times, a foul creature named Cretis had attempted to subvert
the power of the portal to her own ends but had only succeeded in
corrupting the portal, cracking the keystone, destabilizing the
planar connection and trapping not only the Oracle on this plane but
a number of earth-plane beings. The party correctly surmised that
this included several of the creatures they had encountered so far.
They volunteered to repair the keystone and bring it back to the
Oracle. She informed them that doing so must consist of placing the
keystone upon the altars of the six es of the temple and receiving
their blessing.
The party
returned to the star-dome chamber and holding the keystone aloft,
begged the carayatids to let them pass, citing their holy purpose.
The statues allowed them to pass unmolested, and the party continued
into the altar chamber of Pallas Athene. The Goddess asked them for a
living sacrifice for her blessing, but declined to specify what kind,
saying only that they should make the sacrifice and she would judge
it. Against Jacques' wishes, the party fetched a doe from the nearby
woods and slit its throat upon the altar. The Goddess was mollified,
and the cracks in the keystone began to close. One of Fray's
hirelings took him aside and asked whether or not it was really right
that they should be taking part in these bloody and obviously pagan
practices. Fray reassured his man that this was all part of Christ's
plan and that all would soon be made clear. The party then began to
speculate as to the location of the other altars, and how they might
entreat those deities for their blessings...