4.0.5 I AM YOUR WHISPERED ONE, WHELP!

Today I decided to see what sort of help was needed at the job board. I saw a posting about some odd goings-on at place close to Thistlebriar, a nearby town about a day's travel northwest of Urithiru. I found myself once again alongside Zugg Zugg, Lim Dul and Zorak. We made our preparations and then hit the road soon after.
 
On arriving at Thistlebriar, we met with the village elder who gave us what details he knew. I tuned out most of the conversation. All I know is there are farmers going missing and then reappearing some days later with no knowledge of what transpired during that time. There is word of some strange creatures roaming an area to the east near a supposedly abandoned temple of the God of Guardians. We are to visit the area and do what we can to figure out what's going on and put an end to it if necessary.
 
Lim Dul takes the lead, taking us toward a temple. It's a massive stone structure imposing on the surrounding lands. A pathway leads up to it, revealing a large stone door with a square shape cut into it. I can't quite make out what it looks like exactly before Lim Dul haphazardly opens the door. We could hear voices just beyond, but on opening the door, the voices suddenly stop. Two robed gentlemen look toward us quizzically, and ask us who we are and why we're here. With no answer, Lim Dul asks the same of them. They introduce themselves as Jeff and Geoff. Likely story.
 
They elaborate a bit when pressed. They say they have taken up residence at this abandoned temple and that they serve someone called Malloch Fargazer. None of us are familiar with the name. They tell us that Malloch Fargazer is the leader of their group and a direct channel to The Whispered One. Likewise, we are unfamiliar with that name as well. They are unwilling to elaborate further unless we join their ranks and swear our fealty to The Whispered One. That doesn't sound like something I would be interested in doing. At least without knowing more.
 
Surprisingly, when Zugg Zugg questioned them about if they knew about the recent rumors of farmers going missing, they confessed that they indeed do. Turns out these two are from Thistlebriar, and this group of followers have been taking them in for use in a "ritual" of some sort. If things already sounded bleak, they just got bleaker.
 
Lim Dul strongly suggests to them that they follow Dispater instead, to which Jeff and Geoff proudly exclaim that there is no room for other higher powers in their mind. Lim Dul commands that they make room, but the guys just look at him like they don't any conflict. They claim their mother is worried about them and that they should head home.
 
Before allowing them to leave, I ask them if they know what we are likely to encounter as we press forward with our investigation. They don't seem to keen on opening either door in the room, and suggest we don't head up the stairs either. I know I'm not getting more information from them, so that little bit of info will have to suffice. Lim Dul tells the boys to leave their robes and symbology behind before he lets them go. They do so, and they leave.
 
Their symbol looks like a staff or totem made of a femur bone with a skull at the top. Each of the skull's eye sockets is filled with a gem. Lim Dul dons the robe and the symbol. The moment he touches the symbol, he feels an instant exhaustion. He discovers that the exhaustion wanes immediately upon dropping the symbol. This has bad omen written all over it. I refuse to touch it.
 
We come up with a quick plan to barricade one of the side doors before investigating the other. Behind the eastern door were two skeletons, which were easy enough to dispatch. Removing the barricade allowed us to then look into the western room. Inside it were two zombies. They didn't immediately seem hostile. Lim Dul suggests we leave them be, but I think we should remove any and all threats now lest they become one later.
 
As a quick side note, for someone who is supposedly a follower of Dispater, Lim Dul has a hard time remembering that Dispater's name literally describes who he is: The Father of Dis. Yet Lim Dum still refers to Dispater as "she". Perhaps this is why Lim Dum's luck typically seems terrible. Maybe it's Dispater's way of showing his Dis-pleasure with his little lackey. Those who know me know that I'm not proud of my unwanted associated with Dispater, but even I dare not tempt fate and the higher powers that be. I already have enough to deal with with HER in my head.
 
Tangent aside, Lim Dul believes we should leave the zombies be as they are tools of Dispater, which sounds to me like all the more reason to destroy them. I ready my greatsword and swing. After a few seconds, the zombies have been dealt with. I thank Zugg Zugg and Zorak for their assistance, and sarcastically thank Lim Dum for his "help". At least he stayed out of the way.
 
He heads up the stairs without much thought, which, in all honesty, I probably would have done the same. We're here on a task, after all. We find ourselves within a circular corridor with several passages leading outward from it and surrounding a central room secured with doors. At the northern side of this corridor, there are three more doors. These doors have a similar square-shaped grid of round holes presented. It seems significant to our task in order to go further. It turns out that each of the six hallways leading from the central circular corridor probably has a key we need to open the doors. Perhaps they need to be placed in specific patterns? Not sure yet.
 
The first of the extending corridors we enter is the one in the southeast. At the end is an unlocked door behind which are four figures playing a game of Dragon Chess. Lim Dul attempts to persuade them that Jeff and Geoff sent us here, but they're not buying it. Lim Dul tells them we're here to deliver a "message", that being his greatsword to their heads, but he misses horribly, instead making contact with the table on which the priest had just laid his coffee. I guess they didn't like the message. A fight ensued, which we were pretty easily able to handle. We find another one of their symbols/keys and bring it to the northern doors and lay it down tucked in a sack to avoid their aura of exhaustion.
 
We continue counter-clockwise to the eastern corridor. At the end of this one is another unlocked door which Lim Dul can't wait to open. As soon as he does, a thick fog escapes the room, revealing what appears to be a deceased body lying on the floor in the center of the room. Lim Dul assumes she is dead, but I want to check before leaving. Trust, but verify. I bend down to check, and it turns out he was correct. She has been deceased for at least a day as far as I can discern. On closer inspection, I find a thin necklace with a golden leaf pendant. At the center of the leaf is a name: Neia. I place it into my pocket, and stand back up to rejoin the others.
 
Returning to the main circular corridor, I spot a statue. Not sure how I missed it before. Lim Dul pointed it out to me as though I couldn't miss it. If I'm honest, he's right. I must've been too busy studying the way the stone floors were laid in this gods forsaken place to notice it. I quickly look over it for any plaques, but find none. Instead, I find that the statue's fingers near the top of the sword which it grasps are movable, and the pinkie finger is adorned by a gem-encrusted ring. The ring nor the gems are removable. So I do what any self-respecting Illrigger would do and maneuver the fingers in such a way as to make it appear as though it is gesturing rudely at a fellow Illrigger. Lim Dul was none too impressed, but at least it made me feel better.
 
Continuing counter-clockwise, we find ourselves now within the northeastern hallway. At the end was yet another unlocked door. This time Lim Dul waits a bit before opening it, giving us time to listen closely first. Within, we can hear someone - or something - speaking in the third person and moaning and grunting. We're usually not ones to judge, and this was no exception. However, given the circumstances, we have to see what's going on. Luckily we seemed to arrive just in time to find an ogre torturing a seemingly-innocent orc. As soon as I realize what's going on, I tell the ogre, whose name is Wiggles, to cease his torturous activity. He does not, instead wondering why the orc was still alive. Having had enough, I raise my greatsword and swing. Once again, Lim Dum seems to be in another universe where this kind of thing is okay as he disapproves of my escalation. I tell him that we're here to stop a ritual, not participate in one. He seems a bit more keen to assist now. After taking some heavy hits from Wiggles the ogre, we dispatch him. However, as it turns out, Zorak had mistaken our enemy somehow and ended up also killing the orc on the torture device. Not sure how that happened, but I'm not going to question it.
 
On leaving the room a familiar thick fog swirls up and envelops me entirely. It turns out this fog is hungry for blood. The vampiric mist hurts my very life essence, causing me great injury and draining my vitality. I reach into my new Bag of Tricks and pull out a fuzzy object. On released, it manifested into a giant hyena, which I named Ed. The name seems fitting somehow. Afterward, I attempt to escape from the mist. I do so successfully, and head back towards the Dragon Chess room where it should be safe. At the same time, the vampiric mist seems to disappear, leaving us alone, at least for now. In pain and desperate need of rest, I strongly suggest that we hole up in the Dragon Chess room to sleep this off. They all agree. I leave Ed out in the hall to keep watch, and we are able to rest up.
 
After that harrowing encounter, I wish for more protection, so I pull out another fuzzy creature from the Bag of Tricks. This one turned into an ape, which I named King Louie. Once again, the name just seemed appropriate.
 
Feeling sufficiently protected on both sides, I continue following the rest of my party. Once again continuing counter-clockwise, we now find ourselves in the northwest hallway. At the end is another door. As we guessed, this one was also unlocked. Security here seems rather lax, not counting the three locked northern square grid doors. Inside are four bodies which have seemingly just been freshly reanimated. It's go time. The difference with this group of foes is that they seem rather intelligent and skilled in their tactics and abilities. They prove to be a bit of a nuisance, but nothing we ultimately couldn't handle. Even King Louie got in on the action by getting a killing blow by throwing a rock at the last acolyte. It looks like this was a previous adventuring party who weren't so lucky to leave this place alive.
 
We find ourselves a bit strained here, so we begrudgingly decide to call it for now. Perhaps we can make our way back to finish our investigation. Or maybe another group can do better. We finished with at least some insight into what might be going on. And we didn't leave empty handed.
 
We make our way back to Urithiru where we divvy up our findings and part ways for now.