Marpenoth 15, 1489DR – Leafall (October), Saturday
After a short rest the group continues to investigate the 2nd floor and enter a room containing torches in sconces illuminate a dining table at the center. Covering the table is a magnificent feast that fills the hall with the rich smells of cooked meat, sweet vegetables, piping hot gravy, and wine.
They consider what they see and decide it best to leave the table alone. The exit the room and pass through a half-fallen platform into the northwest section of the temple.
They find themselves in a bare stone room with a foyer to the east and a shrine to the west. Candlesticks draped in cobwebs stand in the four corners of the foyer. In the shrine, a faceless obsidian statue stands in a raised alcove at the western end of the chamber. Slumped before the statue are two desiccated corpses in tattered garments. The statue draws the heroes, but they manage to mentally resist it's pull.
They open a secret alcove and hundreds of skulls fall out from behind the door. Attached to the ceiling of this room is an upside-down iron chest with a barrel-shaped lid. While the party investigates the new revealed door in this small room, Master door attempts to open the ceiling chest. Thankfully, when he succeeds, the rest of the group is in a different room, ad the floor to the alcove disappears upon the chest's opening. Master Do manages to land on his feet where the other party members waited for him.
The room they have now entered is fifteen-foot-high and contains the trappings of royalty: ornate furniture, exquisite rugs and tapestries, and decorative statuary. Everywhere you look are lit candelabras atop small tables. The beauty of the decor is undone by thick dust and cobwebs. Standing in the center of the room is a decrepit skeleton clad in tattered robes. Red pinpoints of light burn in the skeleton's eye sockets. "Do I know you?" it asks.
The party speaks with what they presume is a lich, and discover that within the temple there are sarcophagi that hold great power. How to obtain or release this power, remains a mystery. The lich appears to be suffering from some type of amnesia, as it cannot recall much from himself other than he is there to protect the knowledge in the temple. With the little information they get they leave the room without disturbing its contents.
They walk towards the statue in the main hall of the temple where Dale sensed a presence before. Within it they find an old wizard named Heinrich Stolt. He apologizes for not having declared himself earlier, but his duty is to protect the temple first and he felt unsure of the new visitors he spied. He confirms the information given by the lich, there are in fact sarcophagi within the temple, but they should be careful to disturb them, for strong forces lie within them.
The party thanks Heinrich for his assistance and they move to investigate a nearby door made of solid amber. Our heroes manage to push the doors open and take in their breath when they discover 6 piles of treasure heaped against the west and east walls of the stone room. A ten-foot-tall statue carved from amber in the likeness of a hawk-headed humanoid stands ina wide alcove to the north. Behind it, a crack has formed in the wall.
Makaelis approaches one of the treasure piles and picks up a handful of gold to inspect it. As he marvels at the golden coins the group hear a groan and a loud THUD. The statue has come to life and is ready to attack all in sight. The party manages to defeat this golem-like being, but not without a few scrapes.
They look around them and realize that taking the room’s content out with them may prove to be a challenge they’ll have to deal with later. For now, much of the temple remains unexplored their task is not yet done.
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