Arkomir writes...
The Temple of Oxenhalt & Cistern
After breakfast we head to the Temple where we are greeted by
Essa. She shows us to the library area and we start some rersearch. We find that
Oxenhalt was founded in 2692 and the temple was commenced in 2695.
Glade helped with the architecture and
Brak did some or most of the building. The temple was concecrated in 2701 and
Bella and
Glade were here for the ceremony. Glade married Evariel (of Mol Fathis) here in 2712. There are some mentions of Glade visiting with Travien in 2720 and again in 2722 for Bella's funeral (with
Lok & Brak as well). After some lunch, Essa shows us the pool again and the spring that feeds it and we see
The Cleansing Wave symbols again. There is also a door which I open and we head into the Cistern.
Through this door we hear an echo in the vast dark space. We walk down the corridor that bears round to the right and we are standing in a large Cistern. This is the fresh water supply for the town. Dharra casts a raft into being and we climb aboard to traverse the cistern. We drift along marvelling at the artistry and workmanship of the space. At the end there is another place we can stand so we move toward that. Dharra finds a couple of craftsmen marks on the stone at the end of this chamber. There is a Steelfist mark and next to it a curved G and the year 2703. There is also a Chainbreaker mark and Dharra takes a rubbing of this. Magic may have been used to help build this area. Brak & Glade may have done this together (as the books intimated). We take a moment here in quiet refelection.
Outside Oxenhalt
We grab our horses and head out the west gate (Glade Gate) to find Jana’s cottage. We greet her and talk to her about the skin we have and purchase some cloaks and add some adornments. She will also tan our bear skin into a rug that we can use at the
Chandlerveil. She tells us of a local boy who has been missing for a bit so we leave Jana’s and decide to head to the forest to start looking for Tommy.
We make our way into the forest and pretty soon we are attacked by some Gnolls. We kill them off and loot the bodies and then continue our search for Tommy. We also look about the ruins that are here. They appear to be quite old and elven in design. We find a cave entrance and head down. The cave has been used by the gnolls to bed down in. The cave itself seems teardrop in shape. We find Tommy tied up and quite beaten, so we cut him down and get him stabilised. We then investigate the room.
This looks like an elven meeting room. In the designs of the room we make out the names of some gods:
Avandra,
Bahamut,
Bane, Sehenin,
Pelor,
Melora,
Ioun,
Erathis and
Corellon. In the centre of the room, we find a jagged counterclockwise spiral. This is the old sylvan symbol for
Tharizdun. I have come across references to Tharizdun in recent readings. They are aspirational and a warning and state that Tharasdum is god of duty or sacrifice or madness - it is unclear. Investigating some other bodies we find an amulet on each of the bodies, on one side is a horse in front of a tree and the other side are the names Miller and Klodberest. We gather up the bodies as well as the gnoll debris and burn it. We gather up Tommy who appears to have stabilised and make our way back to Oxenhalt and the Serpent & Unicorn.
Speaking to Jana we arrange for another room for Tommy for the night. We get him settled then head downstairs for some dinner and some drinks before Dharra plays. Jana and I have a chat about the Elven ruins and the Cavaliers. Jana lost her husband to something in forest which could have been Gnolls (5 winters ago) Toward the end of the night Essa turns up and I tell her about the days events. She thinks that the reference to Tharasdum in the room was an indication that the room was used for meetings of a wider range of elven peoples. Essa will stop past and make sure that Tommy is healed up.
As I turn in for the night I have another dream. I still however, get a long rest.
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