Shell Games

Journal entry burned -

Entry previously read as follows:
 
Softbound Journal #1, page 4 of 2...5? 25 still?
 
Much needed sleep in a cozy bed at a familiar inn. Above ground. Fresh air. Easily identifiable escape routes. Yes.
 
But first, this recording of events. I never want to make these same mistakes again.
 
Time seemed so strange down there. How long was it? Nothing looks any different up here so we didn't suffer the same fate as Sef. That's comforting. First we checked out the balcony and met the angel guy and the keeper. Second we hit up the quorum. Third we went through the chamber. The temple.... was it the fourth little trial in our subterranean adventure?
 
T A L E S....O F....T H E....N E C R O P O L I S
 

- - - - E P I S O D E....#4- - - - -

- - - - S C E N E S - - - - -

::Strips of land with rocks/skulls/tree limbs, high in the air yet underground
::A Temple behind a thick door
//Large carved bust of Sol-Run (Soul-Rune?)
//Two large stone hands with flat palms
//Two ledges/table spaces up high filled with trinkets and gems
//Two large braziers with ghostly flames
//Many ghostly candles
::The bottom of the Crevasse below Tresendar
::Stonehill Inn
 

- - - - R E C A P - - - - -

LAST TIME ON "Tales of the Necropolis," our travelers managed to run over the rocky land bridge into a new spooky room; a temple in fact! The fiery angel followed but fumbled an attack, allowing the party to shut and lock the door behind them. While others caught their breath, the group leader placed the candles collected from previous puzzles on the palms of a half hidden statue of a Titan. A riddle was rumbled out for the team to try to grasp while another new voice trickled in. Through the shut and locked door came a wraith who went after a select few in the group.
 
Sef, Keth, and Raiya all kept the ghostly figure occupied. Sef was throwing out spells left and right, Keth was tanking and attacking, and Raiya issued the final blow. The trio was in sync, working well together despite less than ideal conditions. Sef, having just witnessed a dear friend and close companion burned up and buried, kept her composure and tenacity. Keth not only stood strong against the enemy, but also gave input and ideas on how to proceed with the puzzle. Raiya not only hit hard at the end of the battle but also voiced a crucial detail about language early on.
 
Meanwhile, Wolf, Flicker, and Eethyl put their squishy ape brains together to work on the riddle. Wolf managed to stay his roguish hand, honestly delivering gems down to the floor without pocketing one! Then his energy was spent quietly processing possible solves. Flicker took stabs at everything, getting close but remaining unsure. Once, she suggested giving numbers to existing letters, which is frustratingly near the actual solution of giving letters to existing numbers. That had to sting! Ever Empirical Eethyl continuously compiled the data for the group and laid it out for all. He zeroed in on select sections in the riddle and like a true scientist questioned everything.
 
Finally the hapless heroes put 6 onyx in each stoney hand and made their exit.
 
Then -
Then
 
then
 
Figs, I'm dumb. Didn't even see it. Didn't see any of it coming. Never once suspecting - I'm the worst judge of character that has ever existed. I made him tea! If we had minded our own business . . . there are so many quests that need help, but I had to open my mouth and mention the manor. No one was even here, there was no perceived threat, I shouldn't have said anything. We shouldn't have come here.
 
These aren't my people. This isn't my town. This isn't my home. I'm not here to protect them I'm here to do what I can to get strong enough to do what I need.
 
But the cost of that strength has been lives.
 
Not just monsters. Not just undead. Not just evil entities.
 
Everyone is in more danger now.
 
Eethyl kept talking about Raiya being in a better place. Was he talking to me? As if it were Raiya's demise that was breaking me? That's a message for Wolf, maybe Keth too. She was here, now she's not, and I'm grateful for the time we had. It's not a single capture or possession or death that's the problem. It's how we keep causing problems... More threats. More terror. MORE problems.
 
Red cloaks are gone but now Gray jerks are in. We brought Adabra to town only for her to be kidnapped. We stayed at the Alderleaf's and then it was arsoned. We came to rid the manor or mist and released a DRACOLICH!
 
....are we the bad guys...?