Editing Epic - Journey to Marûn (section)

==Arriving in Marûn==

There seemed to be a temple ahead of us, with three stone paths leading to its entrance, and there were three circles inset on the path we stood on (the central one). Water sat between the paths, and it was evening with the sun low in the sky. Cacti flanked the entrance ahead, and through it we could just make out a statue of some kind and a tall stone door beyond that. A rock wall was just behind us, vertical and without obvious pathways or entrances. Fulgar ran forward, urging us to seek cover, not heeding my calls to be wary and stay together.

Garuk warned that we should stay out of the circles and walked forward warily. I ran to follow Fulgar, but avoided the circles, but couldn't catch him before he disappeared into the temple. When I reached the entranceway I heard a bird cry from ahead beyond the doors, which were closing behind Fulgar. The statue was odd - rough boulders with a square plinth atop them and then a stylised eagle's head at the very top. I found, though, that the doors did not open as they had for Fulgar. There were large metal rings set into the stone, passing through the ears of skulls along the ring. They did not respond to pulling or pushing, and Garuk tried turning them instead and that seemed to move them. I lent my strength to him to push them open once the handles had turned; it was difficult but we were able to open them enough to step inside.

We found Fulgar in the centre of the room, looking healthy but also angry and facing us. Behind him were three winged females with skulls strapped around their waist flying near the back of the room. The ceiling was arched with pillars in relief down the sides. In the centre, around Fulgar, was a pagoda supported by four pillars with a large pool of water beneath it. Fulgar was stood within the water, and it was only ankle deep. There were depictions of various birds of prey (various types of bird) atop the pagoda, with three on each pillar facing diagonally out (so 12 in total).

The strange winged females flew up to the ceiling as we entered, and Garuk moved forward to one side of the pagoda... but Fulgar attacked him! Only Garuk's armour saved him from Fulgar's claws. I shouted that he had been bewitched, as one of the winged things fell limp to the floor, landing heavily in a cloud of feathers - clearly dead. It seemed that Garuk had a way of attacking things with his mind that I did not understand. I tried to restrain Fulgar, and managed to pin one arm, but he just used me as a fulcrum to attack with his legs. I tried falling backwards to take him down with me but I could not keep my grip and just fell into the water.

I turned my attention to the other winged figures, thinking that there might be a spell that I could break. I tried throwing a lighted lantern at the nearest one, but it hit the wall instead and left a trail of burning oil running down harmlessly beside it. I cursed and grabbed at Fulgar, managing to get one arm pinned again but that was no better than before! Another thing fell to the ground and died with a crunch as Garuk attacked with his mind again, but still Fulgar was entranced. I tried once more to pull him down, but he still pulled free - at least Garuk was able to dodge or block his attacks for the most part. Finally the last creature fell to the floor and died with a particularly bloody impact and Fulgar regained his senses.

We now saw the room full of bones with no decoration and no pagoda, and the flying women that had seemed attractive were actually hideous beasts. Fulgar dropped to his knees and offered his neck to Garuk saying that he had shamed himself and his life was Garuk's to take. Garuk benevolently pulled him to his feet saying that there was no shame - he had apparently seen this ability to control another mind in the way the creatures had affected Fulgar. There didn't seem to be any exits other than the doors (which had closed behind us), which was odd. We started searching the walls and floor looking for a clue as to where to go next.

As we were searching I found some coins and an ivory tube, and Garuk found a dagger. We swapped as he was very interested in the case and the arcane scrolls within it. He threw a leather case away and kept the ivory one. While we did this it was growing rapidly darker (night was falling outside). We looked up instinctively and it was now clear that there were six panels in the ceiling that we could see the night sky through. I asked Garuk if any of the stars we could see looked like the last pattern on the parchment he had been following, but he couldn't find a match.

We continued searching anyway, and I found twelve darts wrapped in leather; it wasn't a weapon I would use, but I took them as it was a portentous number. As I was stowing them in the saddle bags I carried, Fulgar suddenly let out a yelp and disappeared under the bones against the wall. I rushed over, looking to see what happened to him but also found myself sliding down with some of the bones into a narrow chute, eventually landing in chest high water next to Fulgar. Garuk landed on us both shortly afterwards, which was painful and also meant we were stuck down... wherever we were!

There was an opening in the far side of the small chamber we were in, but it was pitch black so I couldn't see it and had to rely on the sense of the others who had some ability to see in the dark it seemed. We tied a rope to Fulgar and boosted him up so he could enter, although it was so narrow he couldn't turn; it was also slippery and sloping upwards so it was difficult to navigate. He founnd something up ahead he didn't like, so he backed up... but as he did so he found a sharp catch on one side and stopped to examines it. He decided to manipulate it and a hatch of some kind opened up and away from him. He called this back to us and we climbed into the tube with him. I passed a torch forward with some difficulty due to the narrow space, and Fulgar dropped it into the opening. He quickly heard it hit the floor so judged it safe to enter and carefully moved into the space, guiding us out. It was still a tight space but at least opened out one way so I was able to shuffle down as he helped Garuk.

We tried to light the torch but it spluttered and would not catch; it was very enclosed and the air was bad here. We had to continue in the dark, so Fulgar went first and Garuk behind so I was between them - being led blind! We continued for about twenty minutes in this fashion until we reached an opening ahead. Fulgar dropped the torch again, and this time it took a little longer before striking solid ground, so Fulgar climbed down carefully. Looking back up he could see that there was a vertical shaft above us, and he caught sight of something flying... bats perhaps? They went sideways above where we had entered from, so there might have been another tube up there.

Fulgar lit a lantern briefly and saw an exit to the right, but the lantern would not stay alight. We followed this passage, though, which was larger than before. It sloped down and the air became fresher and cooler, although there was a sense that it was wet. We slowed our pace to avoid slipping and then Fulgar noticed a creature ahead. He warned us and then called forward that we sought passage but not a fight, and would take no prey (this seemed to be a traditional Hengeyokai greeting at a territorial boundary). The thing jumped, surprised by his voice, and barked something almost dog-like then ran away.

We continued in the same direction for another twenty minutes or so, but then Fulgar noticed a head appear from around a corner up ahead. It was a really bad ambush, but some kind of projectile came rattling towards us so they were armed with bows or something similar. We weren't sure of how many there were or what we faced so we backed off, deciding to head back to the shaft after some heated discussion over our options. The only way up was for someone to climb, although we had spikes and rope to minimise the risk to some extent. Fulgar shifted into a human form to allow him to climb using hands instead of paws, which would have been impressive if I had any light to see it with! Thankfully Garuk was able to help him to see in the dark as he had before, an ability he lost when in human form.

He was able to reach the side shaft above using three spikes, seeing three winged creatures asleep on roof as he lifted his head up past the edge. He woke them by banging loudly, causing two to fly away and the other one to lunge at him but then fly past him and up out of sight. Fulgar held the rope and Garuk climbed after him, then I started up but could hear things pinging off the walls next to me and shouted for someone to pull me up! Thankfully they did and I reached the shaft without getting hurt. There was a cheer and barks of excitement as I disappeared from the creatures' sight; they seemed glad to have scared us off. It might have been different if I could only see...

We continued along this new shaft, which was fairly level for some time. Eventually Fulgar noticed that the air had changed so Garuk lighted and passed a lantern forward. Fulgar could see that a large shaft rose vertically in front of us, with side passages at various levels and in different directions, but there was a roof about thirty feet above where we were. Below, about twenty feet down, the shaft was filled with water. We tied a rope around Fulgar and he managed to reach the nearest shaft, to our right. He untied the rope and coiled it at the entrance before exploring along it. There was a vertical shaft some way down, but it was filled by a heat source across the bottom so Fulgar was not keen to continue that way.

He came back, explaining what he had found and tied himself back to the rope before climbing higher. He was about to reach it when his grip slipped but he was just able to cling to the edge of the opening at the last moment. He started to make his way inside but then heard a gurgling of water and hurriedly backed out, clinging to the wall instead. A few moments later a jet of water erupted out of the tube, spitting one of the bat things out at Garuk's feet. Fulgar asked if he would keep it for a snack, although there didn't seem to be much meat on it. Garuk stuck his sword through it anyway.

Fulgar was on the wall anyway so he climbed up further and reached the highest tube (to our left), but there was nowhere to brace for us to follow him. We let him take the rope so he could explore further without hindrance. I still couldn't see or really do anything to help, so I started doing some simple exercises in the confined space - press ups, sit ups that kind of thing... but then we heard some mechanical noises from below the water. A few moments later the water level started to lower and eventually it disappeared from the shaft. Unfortunately that revealed a horrible looking creature below us that had been filling the bottom of the shaft underwater - essentially just a big maw with tentacles around it to pull food inside. In this case we might well count as food!

The beast started to climb up the walls with its larger tentacles, so we backed down the shaft some way. It reached our level and thin tentacles reached in to grab at Garuk, missing him but taking hold of his sword. The maw of the beast was right at the end of shaft now, and Garuk let go of the sword to get back and away. We moved back until we were out of reach, which was about twenty feet or so. Garuk read from a scroll he had taken from the Githyanki, creating an electrical charge around his hands which he concentrated on to build up to a charged bolt of lightning after a few minutes. The massive discharge struck the beast in its maw, and its tentacles fluttered in pain and shock. It quickly scuttled back down to the hole at the bottom of the shaft, which was a relief.

Meanwhile Fulgar had been exploring more tunnels alone, making his way through tight spaces, up small shafts and down from ledges in the dark. He got to a slightly larger area and found a trapdoor in the floor. After checking for any mechanisms he found a metal ring, pulling it open to reveal an iron ladder going down, which he descended. After following another corridor he found a similar trapdoor in the next room, opening it again. This time as he lifted it he could hear the discharge of lightning and see flashes of light from beneath, so he quickly closed it again and found another passage to follow! If only he had known how close he had come to helping us get up...

For our part we edged back to the shaft once Garuk had finished showing off with a few extra bolts of lighting (although there was nothing to aim them at). Below us it was starting to fill up with water again, and discharges of water continued to erupt out of the various openings in the wall. There seemed to be a five or six minute pause and then the water would discharge from one after the other for three tubes into shaft before the cycle began again. With no rope we couldn't see a way to progress so we had to settle for waiting in the hope that Fulgar would return. We were quite exhausted by this point so we set some primitive alarms using pots and pans tied together with string, then got as comfortable as we could (not very) and rested.

The other passage led to a set of stairs spiraling up in a set of straight sections, as if around a square pillar. This continued for quite a climb but eventually led to a door. When Fulgar tried to open it a portcullis dropped in front of him and he heard a whirring mechanism continuing. He wisely backed onto stairs behind him just before the floor in front of the door fell away to reveal a spiked pit! After searching the walls near the top of the stairs he found a movable stone that might link to the trap, braced himself against the walls and pressed it. That seemed to do the trick, as the portcullis rose and a new floor lowered into place as the door closed again.

This time Fulgar took a more direct approach, smashing himself into the door a couple of times until the hinges came loose. Then he ripped the hinges off completely and forced the side of the door back to make an opening. There were stairs going up beyond, so he squeezed through to climb them. He made his way up and found a stone door to one side at a dead end. He checked for any more traps, but not finding any swung it open. He was almost blinded by the bright light behind it! Also he could hear music... as his eyes adjusted he could see that he was in a human city that lined the sides of a deep canyon. The canyon buildings were embedded into the walls for the most part and there was a small pathway around the edge of the wall he had walked out of leading away to both sides.

Wary that humans tended not to walk around naked, he decided to back away and close the door in order to put some clothes on... we humans can be funny about that sort of thing! He had a loose robe that he could throw over his shoulders and cover... well most of himself. Unfortunately his posterior was somewhat visible because of the conveniently (but rather immodestly) situated tail slit! He turned to his right (picking a direction at random) and climbed the stairs. It was warm, especially in the sun so he just wore his robe without the cloak. He greeted the first person he met, asking perhaps after somewhere to clean himself. The gentlemen quickly agreed that his smell was quite offensive and that he was in urgent need of a bath! Also, he commented once Fulgar turned in the direction he had indicated, it would be quite good to cover his arse! He explained the way to the bathhouse and market, and at Fulgar's enquiry about the authorities also explained how to reach the guard post (the "Harung" were the guard force here).

Most extraordinarily, Fulgar discovered that we had traveled far to the south, beyond the great desert, and the people here knew of Minnerwe only vaguely as being "far to the north"! Fulgar took a bath, ate, bought some clothes, and generally had a far better time than the rest of us! He eventually climbed to the guard house, which was at the great bridge spanning the top of the canyon above the city. There were camel trains and many merchants up at that level, and a great plain of rocky desert around the canyon in every visible direction.

The Harung were easy to pick out; they wore red obis and grey sashes, and were armed with sickle swords and metal rods. They also wore metal helmets with cheek guards, spiked bucklers, and metal-reinforced boots with spikes. Coins were being passed from the merchants to the Harung seemingly as some kind of toll. Fulgar introduced himself to one of the guards and explained how he had arrived, but this just made him laugh at his story and suggest that he sought out a doctor! Fulgar thought that the Harung were a bit crazy, but was satisfied that he had announced his arrival to those in charge.

He found some simple lodgings, surprised to find that there was running water in the room. Garuk and I had running water too, of course, but it wasn't quite the same... Fulgar also spent some coin in the market replacing some of his used or lost equipment. He also found one old person who could remember legends of a place called the "Siren Hall" to the north of town, linked to some kind of religious cult, but nobody had been that way since the great wars. When Fulgar looked to the north of town he found a large wall there, which was guarded, but decided to go no farther without us.

We awoke most uncomfortably and had still not seen or heard from Fulgar so decided to try something else to get us out. Garuk had an interesting idea to use some of his arcane power to lighten us to the point where we only weighed as much as a feather. By fashioning a rope from the guys for the tent with a pot tied to one end we could throw a rope into the end of the shaft Fulgar had gone down. This wouldn't normally help; the rope would be too weak and the pot would not stop the rope from slipping out. If we only weighed as much as a feather, though, we could pull ourselves along the rope without it moving.

I tied my halberd to the other end as a weight on this side and we gave it a go. It took a lot of attempts to hit the target, and we lost a couple of pots, but it worked in the end. We had to time it to give us the full five minutes to get across safely before the water washed the pot back out again, and the shaft was surprisingly tight and slippery so we only just got through in time. Thankfully there was a side alcove that led to another narrow shaft that we could get into before the water arrived. I even managed to hold onto my halberd despite the tension smacking me in the face with the original pot.

The low crawl space we had found ended in a narrow vertical shaft, and I did a sort of balancing act standing on Garuk's hands whilst reaching up with my halberd to pull myself up to another shaft above us. Then I lowered the "rope" we had fashioned to pull Garuk up to join me, although it only just held together. As we made our way down this new shaft we heard Fulgar calling from an opening on our right, responding with a call of our own. He was in a shaft to our right but above us and dropped a proper rope down to help. At first he tried to pull us up himself, but managed to drop us! All that pampering had made him soft it seemed. The second time he used a spike to assist and we manage to pull ourselves up to join him.

It was a happy reunion of sorts, and Garuk handed Fulgar the dead bat thing to him for his snack (although he didn't seem that impressed with it). He shared water with us which was a blissful relief as we hadn't trusted the water around us to drink. He led us back through his lengthy route to the city above. Fulgar said that he would remain while we explored so that he could change back to wolf form, so we left our weapons with him and headed for the bathhouse! Needless to say we were both much refreshed after a few hours and wearing local garb to blend in. We learned that the city was called Marûn, and there was a temple to Shang-Ti here!

We were made welcome in the temple, despite Garuk's appearance, and they even welcomed Fulgar when I explained that he followed the way of Shang-Ti. It seemed that there had been contact with Minnerwe in the past, and they knew of the Hengeyokai which made it easier. We resolved to take some time building our strength back up and honing the skills we had used. Garuk also wanted to seek out a merchant of the arcane, and I would need to introduce myself to the ruler here once I was presentable again.