Session 38 - Battle at the Pantheon
General Summary
From Laura's Journal
VII Maius, AUC MMCIII
So Tertia left to rejoin the legion. That was abrupt, but hopefully by her doing so we can get more information to where it will do the most good. Kleeck had located the statue in the Pantheon, so we thought we should see about getting into it to see if we could read the inscription. I think we were all a tad rattled by Tertia’s abrupt departure, as we had to think hard on how we did this in Turris. Of course, Tertia was there to help scout with her familiar giving us two sets of extendable vision. Anyhow, after supper we went up to walk around the Pantheon and see what we could see. There were 2 guards on the doors, they looked rather bored, but I still would not want to mess with the Praetorian guards, even if I had Mkali with me! Feels odd to go round the city with my bow unstrung and just my dagger, but better that than deal with the complications of breaking the law. Bandua had picked up some daggers as well to deal with the armament rules. Kleeck sent Noctua to see if he could really see in the hole at the top and discovered that there is some magic making the hole act like a solid wall. No entry that way for sure… it is way high up there too and it is not like this city has a grove of tall trees by the buildings that we could use for climbing anyhow Having scouted things and planned a bit we wandered off to spend some time in the common room of a close by inn, so as not to be attempting discreet entry when folks are still alert. We planned to go back around midnight in hopes of catching a break with a changing of the guard, or at least find out if there is a shift change around then. The quiet after midnight seems like a better strategy. Hassan of course tried to chat up an elven maiden, but he got overly ambitions. I think sometimes he is more interested in trying to attract them than in weather he succeeds or not! Not sure I understand the human males. Of course, I don’t know that I understand gnome males either, not like I have met that many once they actually grew up! Kleeck was trying to pray in the corner and obviously did not want to be disturbed, but Hassan still tried to find a lady friend for Kleeck. Being Rome, there was a female Aarakocra who seemed a bit interested except that the boys got their signals crossed… Apparently, we all look like under-feathered nestlings or fledglings to Kleeck, Ah well. Guess I am too much of a wood gnome... I would rather talk to squirrels, birds and mice than try to figure out the courting games of humans. Tertia was trying to explain a bit of it too me, but I guess the lessons just have not stuck! So, a bit before midnight we headed back to The Pantheon. There were no guards on the door! Kleeck immediately stared clicking his beak and saying "wrong" … "that is wrong." We were all thinking the same thing. So, we approached the door with much stealth. I thought hard about quiet and made us harder to trace. Hassan made himself look like a Praetorian guard and made Kleeck and me invisible. Bandua can still be amazingly stealthy! We entered the temple; to find there was a Praetorian guard with his back to us on the other side of the temple looking into the hole that had been beneath the statue of the blindfolded woman with a finger over her mouth. He was looking down in the hole. As we entered another climbed up out of the hole and spotted Hassan. Who at that point started shouting at them about why they were not at their posts and the like. They just smiled menacingly, and one instantly threw fire at Hassan and transformed into a green Slaad. Bandua, Kleeck, and I had slid into one of the prayer alcoves and hidden, but at that point Kleeck dropped my hand and marched forward. The Slaad attacked and things were fast and furious for a bit there. Hassan managed to slow the Slaad and remaining "guard," who was definitely not really a guard. Will have to ask Kleeck and Hassan weather it was illusion, a spell, or some other trickery. I almost called for Mkali, but thought by the time he made it safely through the city either we would not need him, or I would not be able to open the door for him. Felt odd to fight without him by my side, and odd to fight without a sword… How quickly I have come to be reliant on my weaponry and fighting companions in this journey. This is a strange road we travel. Anyhow the second "guard summoned one of those foul, patristic red Slaadi, so I stared hurling arrows at it as fast as possible. Bandua was dismembering the green one with his daggers almost as effectively as he would have done with his axes. Hassan was spraying fire everywhere as usual and Kleeck rained down Apollo’s wrath. It took a bit but, eventually all 3 were seared to piles of ash… wonder how that will be explained???? Hopefully we will get out of here without having to do any of the explaining! Once they were dead, we approached the hole. I looked over and in to be sure there were no Yuan-Ti, Slaadi, or other unsavory characters or surprises before going down into the chamber where we expected to find another plaque with a piece of the story. All I saw was the usual lettered cover that would move to show the inscription. So, we climbed down in to find the next part of the story. This one had a L on it and is segment XI talking about a secret name for Rome. We have 4 pieces now… I hope we can solve this thing without having to find all the others. The Slaadi seem to know about them, so that makes me feel like the race against time just got shorter. If they are seeking this story as well not only do we have to convince the Roman hierarchy, we have to do it before the side of Maagog and the Titans find and destroy everything. We may go back to the Rover's Roost tonight, but I doubt we will rest there for long. I hope Kleeck can share this with Tertia and his uncle Heeck and get the information out in a timely fashion!
So Tertia left to rejoin the legion. That was abrupt, but hopefully by her doing so we can get more information to where it will do the most good. Kleeck had located the statue in the Pantheon, so we thought we should see about getting into it to see if we could read the inscription. I think we were all a tad rattled by Tertia’s abrupt departure, as we had to think hard on how we did this in Turris. Of course, Tertia was there to help scout with her familiar giving us two sets of extendable vision. Anyhow, after supper we went up to walk around the Pantheon and see what we could see. There were 2 guards on the doors, they looked rather bored, but I still would not want to mess with the Praetorian guards, even if I had Mkali with me! Feels odd to go round the city with my bow unstrung and just my dagger, but better that than deal with the complications of breaking the law. Bandua had picked up some daggers as well to deal with the armament rules. Kleeck sent Noctua to see if he could really see in the hole at the top and discovered that there is some magic making the hole act like a solid wall. No entry that way for sure… it is way high up there too and it is not like this city has a grove of tall trees by the buildings that we could use for climbing anyhow Having scouted things and planned a bit we wandered off to spend some time in the common room of a close by inn, so as not to be attempting discreet entry when folks are still alert. We planned to go back around midnight in hopes of catching a break with a changing of the guard, or at least find out if there is a shift change around then. The quiet after midnight seems like a better strategy. Hassan of course tried to chat up an elven maiden, but he got overly ambitions. I think sometimes he is more interested in trying to attract them than in weather he succeeds or not! Not sure I understand the human males. Of course, I don’t know that I understand gnome males either, not like I have met that many once they actually grew up! Kleeck was trying to pray in the corner and obviously did not want to be disturbed, but Hassan still tried to find a lady friend for Kleeck. Being Rome, there was a female Aarakocra who seemed a bit interested except that the boys got their signals crossed… Apparently, we all look like under-feathered nestlings or fledglings to Kleeck, Ah well. Guess I am too much of a wood gnome... I would rather talk to squirrels, birds and mice than try to figure out the courting games of humans. Tertia was trying to explain a bit of it too me, but I guess the lessons just have not stuck! So, a bit before midnight we headed back to The Pantheon. There were no guards on the door! Kleeck immediately stared clicking his beak and saying "wrong" … "that is wrong." We were all thinking the same thing. So, we approached the door with much stealth. I thought hard about quiet and made us harder to trace. Hassan made himself look like a Praetorian guard and made Kleeck and me invisible. Bandua can still be amazingly stealthy! We entered the temple; to find there was a Praetorian guard with his back to us on the other side of the temple looking into the hole that had been beneath the statue of the blindfolded woman with a finger over her mouth. He was looking down in the hole. As we entered another climbed up out of the hole and spotted Hassan. Who at that point started shouting at them about why they were not at their posts and the like. They just smiled menacingly, and one instantly threw fire at Hassan and transformed into a green Slaad. Bandua, Kleeck, and I had slid into one of the prayer alcoves and hidden, but at that point Kleeck dropped my hand and marched forward. The Slaad attacked and things were fast and furious for a bit there. Hassan managed to slow the Slaad and remaining "guard," who was definitely not really a guard. Will have to ask Kleeck and Hassan weather it was illusion, a spell, or some other trickery. I almost called for Mkali, but thought by the time he made it safely through the city either we would not need him, or I would not be able to open the door for him. Felt odd to fight without him by my side, and odd to fight without a sword… How quickly I have come to be reliant on my weaponry and fighting companions in this journey. This is a strange road we travel. Anyhow the second "guard summoned one of those foul, patristic red Slaadi, so I stared hurling arrows at it as fast as possible. Bandua was dismembering the green one with his daggers almost as effectively as he would have done with his axes. Hassan was spraying fire everywhere as usual and Kleeck rained down Apollo’s wrath. It took a bit but, eventually all 3 were seared to piles of ash… wonder how that will be explained???? Hopefully we will get out of here without having to do any of the explaining! Once they were dead, we approached the hole. I looked over and in to be sure there were no Yuan-Ti, Slaadi, or other unsavory characters or surprises before going down into the chamber where we expected to find another plaque with a piece of the story. All I saw was the usual lettered cover that would move to show the inscription. So, we climbed down in to find the next part of the story. This one had a L on it and is segment XI talking about a secret name for Rome. We have 4 pieces now… I hope we can solve this thing without having to find all the others. The Slaadi seem to know about them, so that makes me feel like the race against time just got shorter. If they are seeking this story as well not only do we have to convince the Roman hierarchy, we have to do it before the side of Maagog and the Titans find and destroy everything. We may go back to the Rover's Roost tonight, but I doubt we will rest there for long. I hope Kleeck can share this with Tertia and his uncle Heeck and get the information out in a timely fashion!
Rewards Granted
2,100 Experience Points
Missions/Quests Completed
Campaign Milestone - Find the 4th Inscription.
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