Demons Of The Burning Night II: Part Seven

General Summary

The Temple Grounds

With a score of injuries and in need of rest, the companions return to the abandoned palace that they investigated earlier. With no clear way of tracking time, some of the party are beginning to suffer a little disorientation and though most of the party rest and eat, Cran is a little distracted and is simply not hungry. After a peaceful period of rest, the adventurers decide to tackle the large walled off area south of the gazebo. A variety of visions and foretelling spells cast by Cherry have indicated that the Aisling tone and Portal Rods are "underground" – some form of cellar, basement or dungeon. The Aisling Stone is in what may be a dungeon which features a huge statue on an upper floor. The Portal Rods are near water and surrounded by crystals. As the discussion as to where these places might be bounces around the party, Cran and Ugnan also remember that the "soul" of General Mortilas has asked that they find and and defeat his corporeal body so that his soul can finally be put at rest; it is currently bound into an amber coloured gem.
After making their way cautiously through the murky ruined streets, the group come to a high and stout white stone wall, 8 feet high where it is undamaged. Deciding to climb over the wall rather than head around and attempt entry through the gate to the south, the party find themselves standing in what could have been some form of "allotment" or herb garden. Small ruined cottages appear to line the wall, larger ruins are visible to the south and west through the inky roiling "murk" that fills the air. Strange child-like voices drift across what were once carefully hoed and tilled fields and as the party begin to move towards a larger and impressive set of white stone columns to the south, some oddly child-like figures emerge.
They seem to be muttering the same mundane phrases over and over again: "Well, I'd like a cup of tea." "Who broke that, it wasn't me!" "Shall we play hide-and-seek?" and so on and so on. As Cran moves closer to look at the odd creatures, they display feral grins that reveal pointed teeth and without any hesitation, they swarm towards the party. Though not particularly powerful, these "child demons" are venomous and Cherry discovers to her horror that their bite is a powerful sedative. One of the creatures take a bite out of her leg and though the wound seems minor, the toxin numbs her right leg to the point of uselessness and she collapses. Voracious and relentless, more of the things converge on the helpless rogue.
Cran and Victor are able to beat the foul things back quickly and Ugnan heals the damage and removes the toxin. For some reason however, they could not help but notice that during the entire fight, Sylke restrained herself from unleashing what the party know is a powerful array of arcane energy. Instead, she went into hand-to-hand combat and though Sylke is clearly no stranger to martial arts, Ugnan and Numal are perplexed as to why she hesitated to cast any spells.
The ruined complex to the south features a large 12 foot fertility statue, another Nureti god perhaps. Keen to find any underground cellar or dungeon, the party explore the ruins but there seems no obvious underground level and they decide to head towards what could be one of the larger buildings in the city just to the east. The statue has been carved artfully and the human male depicted is anatomically very detailed and seeking some form of lever or hidden mechanism, Victor hesitates and investigates the statue more closely. Unfortunately, the heavy-handed warrior breaks of an important part of the statue, defacing it in the process and a terrible curse is released! The air around Victor shimmers slightly and the fighter collapses to his knees clutching his head. Victor's friends can see little until their companion stands again and turns to face them. Ashen-faced and trembling, Victor has changed … though the resplendent armor still fits, Victor has clearly changed sex!

Report Date

12 Jan 2020

Primary Location

Tarek-Nev