Of Temples, Tombs, and Secrets

After leaving the temple built by, or for, Trella we returned to Elturel briefly. Virgil commissioned an amateur adventuring group to go back to the temple to retrieve the Beholder in hopes of getting it stuffed. Why he wants such a grotesque looking thing as an adornment is quite beyond me.
 
Whilst there we received word from Leosin that the Harpers had spotted Varam the White near a particular stopping point in the Serpent Hills called Boersker’s Bridge along with the admonishment that time was of the essence.
 
So off we set. Finding out that Varam had indeed been in the area was not too difficult. It seems he had somehow managed to make himself somewhat of a hero to the locals. Conrad was able to pick up their tracks easily enough, and we began pursuit. Conrad also noted that another was following the cultists, which we surmised to be the Harper Agent we’d be told to look for.
 
When we found Crella’s camp, for that was her name, she was not in it. It looked as though she should be though. Conrad was able to pick up what was her most recent trail and it was not long before we found her. She had been snatched up by a small group of hill giants! This is the day I learned that hill giants hit HARD. It made me grateful we had managed to talk our way out of fighting whilst in the Floating Castle. Cloud Giants are reputed to be a great deal more powerful than Hill Giants, so I cannot imagine that would have gone well for us. In any event, we were able to vanquish these lesser giants and free Crella. We spent the night back at the camp she had previously set up.
 
In the morning Crella showed us where the cultists had gone – some sort of cave or temple or some such. Creepy would be the best way to describe it I think. Sprawled in front of the entrance was a dilapidated group of buildings, looking very old and in a terrible state of disrepair. We found an abandoned campsite belonging to the cultists with blood splattered everywhere, and several freshly dug graves. Unable to discern what had caused the mayhem we moved on toward the entrance. Some ancient magic at work within two large statues inquired as to what we sought. Nuri and I both replied in unison ‘wisdom’ and the statues seem satisfied with that. In we went.
 
The first bit of this incursion remains a bit fuzzy in my mind. Perhaps it was the constant buzzing in my head, no doubt the result of a failed magical spell, or perhaps it was the sheer amount of discordant information my eyes were seeing, or perhaps it was unbelievable nature of everything that happened, I really just cannot be sure. In short though, we were all assaulted by some sort of spell. All but Virgil managed to stave off the intrusion, but it turned him mad. He dashed further into what we now believed to be a temple or tomb dedicated to someone named Diderus, and in doing so managed to spring a magical trap that set loose a chimera made of floor tiles. With Virgil running about like a madman it took a bit to knock the chimera out, and its breath attack left several of the party in poor shape. Conrad was able to get Virgil to quit running amok and things settled for a few moments. Little did I know things would only get stranger as our quest to track down Varam the White and the white dragon mask continued.