An Ancient Place

Miscellaneous

The party comes across a new ally, and discovers a secret beneath a crumbling temple to The Mother.

As the party awakens from their rest, they are greeted by a half elf wearing the robes of the Angels of Iron. She introduces herself as Sage, a holy champion devoted to The Scholar. She is scouring the land for important texts, historical or religious, and had also decided to investigate the rumors of undead which have been spreading over the land. The party agrees to her joining them and together they continue on their journey.

As they travel they are accosted by some unseen beings who become a general nuisance for Darren, but otherwise do no harm.

The temple of The Mother proves to be an interesting find. The twenty feet that remain of the tower is discovered to be hundreds of years old. It is unusual for such a temple to be built and dedicated directly to The Mother instead of to The Prophet or The Seraph. Atop the tower they discover the griffon which attacked them a few days ago but is currently sitting calmly, the presence of The Mother keeping it docile. The party's exploration uncovers a secret stairwell leading to a crypt below the tower. Within the crypt is contained the bodies of four ancient heroes, but also a sinister threat. Skull spiders and Ferine Vampires (as described in Vampires of the Material Plane) lie in wait for them. The battle is short however and the monsters are quickly dispatched.

Twilla discovers the corpse of a woman clutching a cloth stitched with the insignia of House Daemon, an old noble house with only one surviving member. Additionally the party discovers many magical items which have been laid to rest with the ancient heroes. As per tradition, the items are considered available to heroes of the faith who need them. Darren and Sage explain that it is not considered grave robbing and the party takes what they can.

They settle in for the night, going over the discoveries of the day, and looking forward to what the next few days will bring.