OLD SKOOL CAMPAIGN DIARY - THE TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL, PT 4

THE HEROES:

• Anton Loyalar: Oeridian Paladin of Heironeous
• Coppyr: Halfing Monk
• Eli Pendar: Flannish Cleric of Pholtus
• Tharn: Dwarf barbarian of the Fireforge clan

In tonight's adventure, the heroes continued their fight against the bugbear squad led by the human Commander Feldrin.  The heroes were winning the fight when Feldrin escaped to get reinforcements.  The heroes used this opportunity to leave the temple and to head to the abandoned farm they found as the end of the tunnel.

Upon exiting the tunnel through the well, they decide that the barn may not be a safe place to rest since the occupants of the temple know of the hero's presence, so they decide to head back to Nulb to regroup.  En route an unnatural storm develops, with high winds and rain.  The heroes enter Nulb under the cover of this storm and enter an abandoned building and set up watches.  That evening, they notice a group of humanoids in hooded cloaks entering town from the direction of the temple and note that some are bugbear and hobgoblins.  They see Commander Feldrin as well, and the group begins entering buildings and seem to be searching for the heroes.  But with the bad storm, they soon give up and head back to the temple. 

That night, Coppyr has a strange dream:

You awaken in a strange place filled with cultists from the temple.  None seem to be aware of your presence and all seem to have their attention on two in the center of the structure you are in.  The two are an old, hunched over man and a very tall female.  Upon closer examination, the old man bears a divine mantle and you instantly know him to be Iuz the Old!  The female is not a humanoid at all, but a 12' tall demon of fungus known as Zuggtmoy!  Both are holding on to an item of power shared by both of them; a golden skull with four elemental gems affixed to it; a fire gem, a water gem, an earth gem and an air gem.  The skull seems to have some great significance…

You see the scene move in reverse time, in rapid succession, going back hundreds, if not thousands of years.  You now see the temple as it was long ago, and it is not one dedicated to the four elements as it is today, but one dedicated to the Gods of the Greyhawk Pantheon.  You see dozens of gods represented here; Pholtus, Heironeous, Hextor, Obad Hai, Nerull, and many others.  But one place in the temple stands out, as it seems that it was once dedicated to a god, but all traces of that god have been removed, as if the other gods wished to eradicate its existence from the knowledge of mortals. 

You then are sent reeling back to your own time and you see one final image flash before you before awakening, and that is the image of an ever-swirling spiral…

Coppyr awakens and tells the others of his strange vision.  The others don't know what to make of it, other than Zuggtmoy was the demon that Anton's brother helped fight at the Battle of Emridy Meadows and it took the combined might of the Knights of the Hart and the Alliance of Good's priestly and arcane casters to push back the demon into the temple and to place her in stasis within.  The wards upon the temple are as much to keep her in as it is to keep others out.  Neither Anton nor Eli knew anything about the significance of the skull or the spiral symbol.

The heroes decide on a plan to reenter the temple and head towards the abandoned farm.  They find the farmyard around the entry well, guarded by a dozen hobgoblins and an ogre.  They take the guards by surprise, attacking them with ranged weapons initially, then with melee weapons.  The hobgoblins focus on the heroes while the ogre stands guard at the well, but as the battle starts to go badly for the hobgoblins, they motion to the others to go into the well and warn the temple.  A hobgoblin goes in, but is followed by an invisible Coppyr, who takes him out.  Another hobgoblin goes in and is also stopped by the halfling.  The ogre, tired of sitting by while the hobgoblins have all the fun, enters the fray, but is beaten down by the heroes.  With the guards to the entry well defeated, the heroes prepare to re-enter the tunnel leading to the Temple of Elemental Evil.

End of session.