The adventurers
and their strongarms stood by the black pool overwatched by a pensive
mermaid statue. Perceiving two underwater passages leading from the
bottom of the pool to caverns unknown, Fray set about convincing one
of his lads to swim down and have a look. Though lesser hearts
refused, Thad the Stout-hearted offered that he would go. Baraldur,
too, offered to explore the depths. The two doffed their armor and
dove into the cold water, Thad with a knife in his teeth and Baraldur
with his trident in hand. After forty or so feet of groping in utter
darkness, the two found another cavern which contained a pocket of
air near the ceiling where they could catch their breath. Baraldur
had hardly a chance to call out to Thad when the young man suddenly
screamed and disappeared beneath the water. Clearly he had been the
victim of some dread silent beast. Baraldur hastily retreated to his
comrades and told them the grim news. The party withdrew from the
dungeon to heal and recover Fray's spells.
Returning to the
cavern, the braves encountered four white ape-like monstrosities, the
degenerate descendents of the once-mighty Altanteans. With help from
Fray's magic, the beasts were finished off with a modicum of
difficulty. Once they had returned to the cavern, Cruum and Baraldur
undertook exploring the other passageway, which led them to another
cavern containing a sunken stone coffer full of silver. By repeated
trips, the two were able to extricate the treasure. Resolving to
discover what lay beyond the cavern containing Thad's bane, all three
warriors shed their mail and, after enchanting Cruum's broadsword to
shed light, entered the beast cavern.
Within they found
a great crayfish, which having digested Thad hungered for flesh once
more. Facing skilled men of arms aware of its presence, the homarid
was overmatched and slain. The warriors continued on and found a way
out of the water in another cavern containing an altar to the Goddess
Hecate. Within dwelt a foul creature, a lamia who had sought to
pervert the earth weird's portal for her own ends. The creature
attempted to charm Cruum, but the dwarf's mind was as hard as rock,
unyielding to the brazen vixen's whispers. The lamia succeeded in
fooling the men into believing that she had summoned a balrog from
hell to her aid, but undeterred by the illusion, the lads fought on
and slew here before the phantom could inflict any damage. The
demon's image winked out like a candle flame. After offering the
lamia's body up on the altar, the party found the keystone repaired.
Returning the
stone to the earth weird, the rogues watched as a procession of
strange earth creatures made their way into the chamber and egressed
to their home plane. The earth oracle then offered them a clay urn
containing the scrolls they had sought.
Though what they
had come to do was accomplished, Fray felt that there was more work
to be done in the temple. Gathering all the holy water he could, he
set about converting each of the Goddesses' altars to honor Christ.
After he explained his purpose to Jacques, the kindly hermit lent him
a nail from the cross of St. Andrew the Lesser, which he said his
order had brought back from the holy land long ago. Despite the
influence of the relic, Fray's first attempt to bless and
reconsecrate Hecate's altar ended in failure, and the goddess
summoned a pair of hell hounds to deal with the meddling priest.
Invoking divine protection from fire, Fray fought back and slew the
hounds. He then successfully turned the altar, banishing the
Goddesses influence.
He had similar
success with the altars of Demeter and Artemis, vanquishing the pagan
glory of their Mistresses. Aprhodite proved resistant to Fray's
attempts to diminish her influence, and a woman crowned with coils
appeared to mete out the Goddess' vengeance. The appearance of the
medusa took all present by surprise, and Baraldur and a number of the
hirelings were immediately turned to stone by the creature's gaze.
Fray fought bravely, but despite his magical protections, he and all
but one of his men were petrified. The infernal medusa, her mission
discharged, disappeared. Cruum, having sensed an affinity between
his patron Goddess Freya and Aphrodite, had chosen not to involve
himself in the fight, closing his eyes and leaning upon a wall. He
now left the dungeon and his petrified comrades and sought Jacques
for advice. The old cleric thought for a bit and then related that a
member of his order dwelt in the forests not far east of this place,
who knew much of herb lore and might be able to help. Dwarf, cleric,
and the two remaining retainers went forth to seek the help of
Nicolas the Eremite, a divinely gifted herbologist. En route, they
encountered the humble but brightly colored cottage of the Chromatic
Master of Hues, an eccentric and sorcerous fellow who enjoyed
complete control over the colors of material objects. Cruum asked
the magician if he could be of assistance, citing his allies' dire
condition. The magician declined to help, but altered the dwarf's
splint mail to reflect a riot of clashing pastel colors.
When at last
Cruum reached the hut of Nicolas, the cleric listened to his pleas
and gathered together a number of herbs, unguents, poultices,
tipples, draughts, and tinctures. With these he returned with the
dwarf to the temple and cured all the petrified individuals of their
malady. He also gifted to Fray a pouch of exotic herbs, which if
burned lent a holy musk which would aid in the reconsecration effort.
With this sacred incense, Fray was able to turn the altar of Hera
without incident.
The altar of
Athena, however, proved not so yielding. The carayatid columns,
sensing the malicious purpose of the interlopers, animated and
attacked, though they were unable to protect their Mistress's
sanctum. Fray lit the incense, sprinkled holy water about and
intoned the proper prayers, but failed to turn the altar, prompting
the materialization of a bloodthirsty chimera. Fray was able to
protect himself via spells from the beast's dire breath, but his
shield men were not so fortunate. To a man, they were cremated by
the beast, dispatched to their final rest by the Goddess' wrath.
Fray escaped, and keeping the summoned beast at bay by spellcraft,
spiked the door with a shard of a carayatid's sword. At this point
Fray abandoned his holy effort, head bowed in shame. He shrived
himself to Jacques, but the old man would hear none of it. He
reminded Fray that man holy purposes came to ignominious ends after
great initial gains, citing the Crusades as precedent. Fray's
spirits were lifted, and the warriors resolved to visit the
Loremaster and learn some of the Island's secrets.