Hoping to regain some stamina and health, the party decide to rest following their eventful encounter with Salask, the shirren sniper. They return to the Hall of Instructions, and prepare some defensive measures. Bratrizik completes the construction of the puppets with the dead cultists and position them by the door. Yiris adds several spent casings to each puppet, so if they are disturbed in the night the casings will drop to the ground and make a noise, alerting them.
Nict drops down to the ground in his sleeping gear and is immediately out. Not needing heavy sleep and having taken little damage in the previous day's encounters, Yiris plans on standing guard all night. Bratrizik eats some trail rations, then also lays down and close his eyes.
Attracted by the dead broken shirren, two ksariks enter the clearing of the Stargazer. They then notice that there are more humanoids inside the statue. One of them, attracted by the vesk's scent, enters the Stargazer from the base and stealthily climbs the staircase. It launches its tentacles at the guarding form of Yiris, knocking the puppet guard down and dropping the shells on the ground. This alerts Yiris, but she's also taken aback by the stealthy attack of the creature. Nict is immediately awoken, but Bratrizik takes more time to regain his wits.
Nict and BARGO fire at the ksarik, and Yiris hits it as well. Bratrizik finaly shakes the grogginess from his eyes in time for him to be hit by the ksarik's dart attack. They all remember what happened to a victim of such a dart attack, so they renew their assault. Just as they chase the first ksarik, the second one, which climbed to the Stargazer's head, comes down the stairs and joins the fight. The ksarik hits Bratrizik, and the vesk collapses to the ground. Both Nict, BARGO and Yiris turn their attention to this second intruder, and they unleash a volley of fire on it, forcing it to retreat.
Following the battle, they hunker down again, and this time the rest of the day and night passes uneventfully. Before going back into sleep mode, Yiris uses her ability to recharge two batteries.
After the Gap - March 11, 317 @ 07:12
On the ninth day, Bratrizik casts remove affliction on himself twice, taking care of the carrion spores germinating inside him. Nict wakes but does not feel rested. The shirren coughs up some of the spores he inhaled during the moldstorm, and he remains flat-footed for the day.
They return to the trail, and realize that their encounters of the previous day have set them back some and they are now about two days behind Paqual's group. They press on and soon the path begins to ascend into Ukulam's Singing Range, a chain of mountains that divides the continent in two. Over the next two days, the party continues to pursue Paqual but don't make much progress in catching up. The other group has also picked up its speed.
After the Gap - March 14, 317 @ 11:43
On the twelfth day since their departure from Turhalu Point, they finally reach a large plateau nested between tall peaks covered with snow. They soon discover several hundreds of low pyramids ranking between 2 and 25 feet in heights and spread over a half mile. These ruins were identified by Halkueem Zan as the Forsaken City. Paqual's group continued through here and did not stop, so they press on. The path takes them through another pass and eventually to a staircase, and, as they crest a ridge on the path, it slopes gently downward to a small plateau. They see in the distance a domed building of of elegantly sculpted stone, with marvelous stain glass reflecting the light. Bratirik records a video.
As they cautiously come around a corner of the staircase, they spot an adolescent mountain eel making a meal out of a cultist. Bratrizik launches a mind thrust against the creature, while Yiris follows with a jolting surge. The mountain eel takes a bite of Yiris and realizes the android is not really food. It spits it out and switches its attention to the vesk. Nict shoots it, and BARGO delivers the killing blow.
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| Mountain eel |
Walking up the last steps, the party find themselves on a large plateau, with the building standing a few hundred meters away. Seven pillars of stone stand on one side, with extensive images carved along the surface of each column, chronicling past eras and incorporating several astronomical maps and phemonena. Yiris examines the artwork and identify several elven figures. Clearly they have reached what Halkueem Zan referred to as a great temple. The android also realizes that the pillars themselves form the same constellation as the one they first saw in the Stargazer.
A medium-height humanoid emerges from the shadow of the closest pillar to the temple. Bratrizik notices that the humanoid is elven and wears antique gear. Closer inspection reveals that it is undead, but it appears intelligent. The vesk relates this information. Yiris wonders if it is an Eoxian agent, but based on the equipment, Bratrizik is certain this undead is from Castrovel. The undead positions himself between the party and the temple's doors, and assumes a relaxed yet is clearly ready to fight if needed.
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| Panelliar the undead warrior-monk of Ibra |
Bratrizik, Nict and Yiris discuss among themselves what course to take. Bratrizik convinces them that it is probably safe to carefully move forward. When the vesk gets within 5 meters of the undead, it raises its weappon and blocks the path. It solemnly greets them in elven, and when it realizes none of them speak this language it switches to celestial. Bratrizik speaks celestial, so he translates to the others.
The undead introduces himself as Panelliar, a warrior-monk in the service of Ibra, ancient goddess of the universe's infinite, distant cosmological mysteries. He has remained here all this time to protect this holy structure, and he informs them that they cannot enter. As Bratrizik attempts to convince him to let them through, Nict and Yiris begin walking around the structure, looking for another entrance.
Bratrizik questions the undead, and soon discovers that Paqual's group arrived almost two days ago, and that the leader of the group somehow took control of Panelliar, most likely through a command undead spell. Though he wasn't able to break the monk's will, he was able to order it to prevent anyone other than the cultists from entering. Bratrizik proudly displays the symbol he picked up at the Stargazer, claiming to be a cultist. Reluctantly, Panelliar allows him to enter, but also no longer talks him.
On one side of the building, Nict and Yiris find stain glass windows about two and a half meters off the ground. Nict climbs on top of BARGO and takes a look inside. It appears to be a study room of some kind, but no one is here.
Bratrizik enters the Temple, and immediately notices that the floor shows a map of the constellation, similar to the one on the ceiling the Stargazer. Large doors lead elsewhere into the Temple. Not wanting to tarry in case cultists notice his entrance, Bratrizik comes out and tells Panelliar that he has failed in his mission to prevent him from entering, as he is in fact not a cultist. Panelliar reacts angrily with his mission having been interfered with. The elven monk engages the vesk in combat. Bratrizik casts a mind thrust, but he soon falls prey to the monk's own mystic powers.
Alerted by the sounds of combat, Yiris and Nict find the undead Panelliar standing a few meters away from the vesk's body, keeping a wary watch. The two of them approach carefully, and retrieve the body. Dragging an unconscious Bratrizik with them, Yiris, Nict and BARGO return to the Forsaken City and pitch camp for the night.
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| Temple of the Twelve |
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