Journal Entry 15.00 The Temple of Wood.

The Party enters the Temple of Wood. Aja discovers the real life version to her spectral book from her artifact.

General Summary

Finding the door that aligns with the wood symbol engraved on Hursing’s rune which Aja had helped recreate, she takes the piece of bark up to the door. As she nears, the rune on the piece of bark and the rune on the door begin to glow. She touches the bark to the door and the door begins to sink with a loud rumble into the ground, revealing a looming dark passage of similar size to the door.
Before them is a hallway of stone, about 10 foot wide and 20 feet tall.
The party progresses down the hallway several yards until they see a greenish glow further down the hallway. Continuing on down, the hallway opens into a large chamber nearly 40 feet wide and several times that long. The ceiling is a good 50 feet high and throughout the room are evenly spaced pillars. While the party can make out the ceiling, they can’t make out the actual light source to the room, for the room is lit as if it was under a thick jungle canopy in the middle of a sunny day. Even the shadows on the floor sway as if there are branches above.
Vines cover the floor and are crawling up both pillars and walls. Along the floor are several small bushes and plants and large patches of moss. From the ceiling fall occasional drips of water just as if it was in a jungle. Even the room smells of the thick earthen smell of fresh humus. Merely closing their eyes allows the characters to feel as if they are in their jungles which they call home.
Spaced throughout the hallway are several intricately carved statues made of wood and covered in vines. The statues appear to be made of living wood. They all have tiny sprigs with bright green leaves growing out of them.
Aja tries to communicate with the statues and realizes from their cries of help and terror that these statues were once beings transformed into the wood statues. Looking around, they see that the statues do indeed appear to be in various aspects of adventurers, some are trying to flee, some are crouched trying to hide, and some are in the pose of diligently pressing ahead into the threat ahead.
Looking closely at the walls, several of the party members note there are several images and strange symbols on the walls. It is in a language and pattern they currently don’t understand; however the pictures do seem to tell a story. While not wishing to take time to make a lengthy study, a use of a few quick cantrips transfer the images to some copies of parchment for later study.
Moving on to the next chamber, they see a large octagonal room with a glowing green sigil covering the entire floor. The ceiling is nearly sixty feet high with the entire top of the room covered with the growth of a large bramble of vines and vegetation. Trailing down from the ceiling, or possibly growing up to the ceiling, are several thick vines.
Aja attempts to contact the large mass and determines it is actually a self-aware plant. While not overly helpful as she questions it, from her communication it doesn’t seem threatening. She remains wary.
Examining the sigil, the party determines it is obviously magical with strong properties of conjuration surrounding it. Probably a teleportation circle.
As Tars stands on the circle, it glows slightly brighter. As more party members get on it, the brighter it gets. Once the entire party is on the sigil, it grows even brighter, however at that time, a large cloud of intensely pungent odor of death and decay descends on the group. It is almost overpowering, yet Morvion is able to cast a spell, gust of wind, to blow away the cloud.
Right as the cloud appears, the formerly docile plant at the top of the room attacks with its hanging vines. Some of the vines have sharp yellow talons at their end and it is with these talons that the vines lance out to stab at the party members. With the battle taking just moments, the party easily defeats the mass of vegetation.
Stepping on the sigil again as an entire group, the party finds themselves teleported to an identical room, except this room is the mirror image of the first room. The entrance/exit to this room is on the opposite side.
Stepping on the sigil again as an entire group, the party finds themselves teleported to an identical room, except this room is the mirror image of the first room. The entrance/exit to this room is on the opposite side.
Proceeding forward, they enter another chamber with several more of the living wood statues. Proceeding cautiously through this room, it exits to another hallway. As they enter, they notice several arrow slits lining the walls of this new hallway. Graykar dodges and arrow shot from one of the arrow slits. Aja puddle-jumps herself, Morvion, and Urik into the other chamber through one of the arrow slits. They reform in the room and immediately engage with several medusa-like creatures. Believing these creatures to be the cause of the wooden statue people outside, the party strives to avoid making direct contact with the creature’s gaze.
The rest of the party runs across the hallway, avoiding being a target to most of the creatures on the other side of the slits. Only a few arrows fire out, and they all miss.
Once Aja, Morvion, and Urik have dealt with the few medusas to challenge them, she puddle-jumps them back out, this time to the opposite side of the hallway.
Entering the next chamber they see what appears to be a multichambered room. In the middle of the room is a giant treant with electricity now coursing through its branches. With no dialogue it attacks. Urik is able to tell that this creature radiates a strong aura of evil, almost an insanity in its desire to slay the party.
Meanwhile, behind it is another medusa, this one with a full snake body. She has summoned several two-headed cobras to also aid in the attack. During the battle, Aja is unable to avoid the gaze attack of the queen medusa an is turned into one of the wooden statues.
The party slays the evil treant and manages to take the queen medusa prisoner. During the questioning, Urik determines that she is not evil.
The medusa claims she is a spirit of growth charged with protecting the wood temple until those who are worthy arrive. She states that she will likely only know that they are worthy of her defeat and death and that she long ago accepted that fate. However, she concedes that she has been defeated and she and the rest of her remaining daughters will depart in peace as their charge has been met.
In return for allowing her freedom, an accord is struck where she will return Aja to her natural form.
Meanwhile, Aja slowly comes to the realization that she is no longer Aja the bipedal sylph, but a tree. Having been somewhat a tree before, she begins communicating with the plants around her slowly. At first panicked, she soon finds comfort in speaking with the plants nearby as her roots intermingle with them. Thoughts come slowly, an awareness and perspective is gained which she has never experienced before in all the times she has spoken with plants. Truly a rich and novel experience. As she slowly processes her situation, it is starting to dawn upon her she still has some of her former gifts, she believes she could probably animate herself as she would any other tree . . . then the queen medusa reverses the curse and Aja is once again Aja.
Following through with their agreement, the party allows the queen medusa to depart with the other medusas she claimed to be her daughters.
Exploring the room further, they find a secret door in one of the grottos at the back of the room. This room seems to have more of the same story on the walls, something for study at a later time.
Squeezing through the secret door one by one, they enter a small hallway with an intersection ahead. The hallway continues on and ends at a door. Opening that door, they find another large chamber, this one filled with 24 sarcophagi. Along the floor, walls, and ceilings are several large vines. Each of the vines is glowing with lights slowing pulsing down their lengths. The vines appear to be connecting the sarcophagi also.
Aja attempts to connect with these new vines and is able to determine that they are waiting for the chosen ones to return. They are full of power and speak of holding the power for those who are worthy.
Entering the next chamber they see a stairwell descending to a lower level. In the middle of this level is a single raised stone platform with a desiccated body lying in repose on top.
Looking closely at the body, it appears to have been an older man with a long beard dressed in regal clothes. Around his neck is a collar which has considerable resemblance to the spectral manacles which occasionally appear on Aja’s wrists.
On the far side of the stone stand is a small book stand. On it is a real yet exact copy of Aja’s spectral book from her Sparrow’s Sprig. If Aja’s book is a phantom copy, this is the real thing.
The book is open, on the page it is open to, it starts a story.

We were nine. We were students. And despite centuries of study, we were still children.
Our leader, our master, our mentor was Peralochio. He was ancient when we knew him. He had mastered many skills – he was the most accomplished of mage-craft, a truly excelled alchemist, the best spear wielder we would ever know, the great artificer of incredible wonders, a master swordsman. When it came to unarmed combat, he was peerless. Even of the arts, he knew no peer, he could sculpt stone where it came to life, paint pictures indistinguishable from the real thing – pictures so real they would change reality as it was less real. When asked of his age, he would never respond except to say cryptic sayings like, “My age is measured in the lives of the stars.”
He was old when we first knew him, and yet, from a young age we all knew he would live long beyond any of us. We were nine, he trained us in different arts for he said our feeble lifetimes would allow meager accomplishment of only a single skill. For all he taught us in our designated skill, much was left untaught.
As we progressed, he sent us out to explore the worlds around us. He gave us each a gift, a small token he said he crafted with each of our proclivities in mind. For me, he made this book. A great item, it also was a curse – for of the nine, I was the only one to lose my gift. Peralochio was furious.

Aja reaches out to turn the page, then freezes. The rest of the party see her touching the book, now looking up, her eyes having gone white.
As far as Aja perceives, she looks up and is alone in the chamber with no one else around. She says, “Hello?”. The rest of the party responds. She can hear them and knows they are there, she is just seeing into a different version of the room than they are seeing. While she can talk, the party sees no other movement from Aja.
All of them, Aja included, hear shrieks from without the room, back from the room filled with the sarcophagi. Morvion and Graykar close the doors to be safe.
Aja lifts her hand from the book and she is suddenly back in the room with all the party, the book still on its initial page. She touches the book again and she is once again transported to the new room. Only by touching the book is she able to turn the page, which she does.
On the next set of pages, it reads;

When I tried to return that I found that Peralochio had moved on. I found Drakit, master of the ax, who told me that the master had sent us all away over the next several decades. Though I was the first, it wasn’t as a punishment, all were eventually sent out. Drakit and I spent the next century finding the others.
Once we were all again numbering eight we set out to find our master – for Ottaviano, the traveler, we could never locate. It was Lavinia, mistress of the great torc, who had been last to be sent out. We always considered her the most favored of the master. She said he had been working on what he called his Great Machine, he had been working on the plans for several millennia. He said it would fix the breach.
When Lavinia had last seen our master, he had finished his plans and now needed to create his machine.
Knowing this, and using what little our sister knew of the plans, we set out. We came upon this city – a city out of time and phase with all the universe. It was here we found the great machine at the heart of the city. And it was then that we knew that our master was planning for our return, for the outer 5 temples were but cogs of the machine, necessary pieces.
When we were worthy, we could pass the temples and move on to the central temple.
Alas, We were never worthy. None of us were able to pass the guardian’s of the final temple – our connection to the master was too great. He needed something we couldn’t provide.

Aja also notices that the carved statues heads behind her start glowing green. Feeling the need to continue, she reads the passage then turns the page.
For the rest of the party, they see that she is once again immobile, looking up with the milky white eyes – the eyes obviously indicating she is having a vision. Tars even says, “Mother always said to never bother someone with the white eyes, for they need to see what they will to see. We don’t touch her.” The rest of the party agrees with Tars, partially to placate his demand, as they had already come to the same conclusion.
The shrieks then manifest in the form of dark shades flowing through the walls and doors, seemingly intent on going to Aja. The party intercedes and begins attacking and the shades, killing them. To better protect Aja, they set up a line around her so she can finish whatever it is she is doing.
In her own room, Aja sees the shades coming in also, however they suddenly wisp out of existence. When this happens, she usually hears a grunt or swish of a weapon and she recognizes that while she can see the shades, when they disappear it is one of her friends who has killed the shade. She also sees that some of the shades seem more real than the others, indeed, they seem to progress as if they are not being slowed by the party.
That is when the glowing heads behind her flash, and from their gemmed eyes (funny, they weren’t gemmed before Aja thinks – for she notices such things), bolts of green energy fly and destroy the remaining shades.
She quickly looks back down to the book and turns the page to read the next page.

We searched the cosmos for those who would be worthy, and finally found the answer in a remote world which we now believe caused the breach in the first place. Fixing the breach would require children of that world willing to sacrifice everything.
We were nearing the end of our lives. The first five to pass would be laid to rest in one of the five temples and act as a conduit to the next temple, and finally allow entrance to the final temple once the five guardians had been chosen. Hopefully, they can work out the great machine.
We have contacted many of the powers of this world, explained the need, and they responded that when they felt the chosen few were born, the would be sent here. Our artifacts, we believe, were also designed to be keys to the final temple. Some were left with one of the trapped dragon matrons for safekeeping, the rest were left within the memory of realms lost, accessible only by the last remnants of Qualos wine, another unique invention of this world.

Not as much writing, this page has a few other doodles on it which she can’t decipher. She quickly turns to the next page. It has just a few sentences on it.

To Prove Worthy – you must defeat the guardian of this temple – doing so will allow give you the key to the next temple.
You must absorb the power of this temple completely into yourself, and when you do, you will be able to defeat the guardian.

Aja senses that it is on her to absorb the power of the temple. She feels the temple urging her to open herself up to it. Agreeing to do so, she can suddenly see in her inner eye most of the temple, including the room of the sarcophagi. She is seeing through the senses of the vines all throughout the temple.
She also sees the shades are increasing in number – more than what would just exist in just the 24 sarcophagi. She feels the power starting to flow into her and as it does, the glowing in the vines in the other chamber begin to grow brighter and brighter
As the power grows in her, she feels, or rather senses, something big coming toward her. She tries to focus, and as she does, the world shifts slightly, as if she is focusing her presence more than focusing her eyes.
As she does so, she realizes that she is out of phase with the room. Slightly trying to adjust her phase, she makes out a large behemoth of a shadow approaching. Feeling a dread, she attempts to focus on this shade. As she does so, she can feel the power of the temple coursing through her seeking release. She lifts a hand and allows the energy to fly forth, it flings into the approaching creature and barely scratches it. She is still out of alignment with it. Focusing harder, she shifts the image again, this time going to far, the monster springs into perfect clarity before fading out almost completely again.
She flings the charge within her forth again, this time completely missing the creature. The temple also shakes violently, she needs to be careful. As she further attempts to adjust her phase with that of the creature, she feels like a pendulum, back and forth over where the creature exists. One of her outswings, she briefly sees the image of a large mechanical spider standing above her, with small servo’s moving and gears working. Several lights are blinking along its body. Then it phases out as soon as it appeared. Then she phases to far the other direction, she sees her party come in clear view for just a moment, then gone again.
The shadow creature approaches to where the party members are, however they can’t see it. And as they stand there, they suddenly see black tentacles out of nowhere reaching forth to attack them. That is when Aja finally fine tunes her phase with that of the creature. Seeing it clearly, she looks into what she thinks is its eyes and release every ounce of energy she can from the temple into it. While she doesn’t see any actual manifestation of power, she can sense that it is flowing through her outstretched hand. The creature simply vanishes.
Once she expends on the power, Aja feels exhausted. She feels the power still within her, but it is tiny, like a seed. Fitting for a temple dedicated possibly to growth and wood would leave a seed. The small seed seems to reside back of her head. While she believes she should be worried, she is not. She is oddly comforted by its presence.
Looking around, the party discovers all the vines are now dead, their life force gone. Then the party resorts to their basic urge to loot and begins opening all the sarcophagi. They find little in the way of powerful magics, but find several tiny items of magic, probably personal items belonging to the individual bodies in each sarcophagus. Among the items found they find a magic breath freshener, a hair reattacher, a whetstone able to work out bad chips in a blade, earplugs of silence, an eye patch which causes the other eye to see as if different colors of tinted glass were placed over it, a nightcap of speed reading, a quill of infinite ink, a piece of parchment which erases itself hourly, a jar of holding, boots of mud resistance, a belt of bladder control, and a set of game pieces which will play against the user when set up.
Exiting the temple, they rest up for the night.
That night, Urik has an image come to his mind, a symbol he can draw, and he knows that doing so will open the Temple of Metal and Stone. He relays this to the rest of the party. They are happy to know they have a clear course of action for the next day. He then spends part of the night by himself studying some of his primers to better learn to read and write. The rest of the party leaves him to his own devices.
Aja attempts to use the kernel of power within her to shift the phase of her vision. It tires her out quickly, but she finds that she can for brief moments succeed. She even starts to tune in on the particular focus needed to see the looming spider above her. How interesting. It doesn’t follow her as she walks about, but seems to stay more with the majority of the party. When the party splits up for various reasons over the course of the night, it does seem to focus on Urik and tends to stay close to hovering over him. The body of this phantom spider appears to be nearly 15 feet off the ground, twenty feet long with large mechanical legs spreading out supporting it. As she ponders it, it really seems related to the wandering house they had previously encountered. Could this be the gift promised?
Aja also spends part of the night looking at the book from the final room of the temple. It seems to be a nearly identical copy of the spectral book she has. As she makes a mark in her book, it appears in the real book. However, the real book also seems to contain a lot of pages and information not in her spectral book. Looking at it, and the manacle which she also removed from the body on the raised platform, she decides it is at best something to investigate later. She asks Graykar to stow both items in his backpack. Anyway, Morvion has a different project he wishes to work on.
Morvion is looking at the parchments of the images they had taken from the wood temple walls. Carefully looking at them, they start to piece out the story over the rest of the evening and into the night. Even with read magic and tongue spells, the translation is proving difficult, but by morning light, they have worked out a passable translation. It is a story. (Found under Amber and Fossil)

Bite my tongue, bide my time

Wearing a warning sign

Wait 'til the world is mine

Visions I vandalize

Cold in my kingdom size

Fell for these ocean eyes

You should see me in a crown

- Billie Eilish "You Should See Me In A Crown"

Report Date

21 Oct 2018