Epic - The Hidden Temple

Desert Trek

After a couple of weeks of hard training and dedication to Shang-Ti at the temple I finally visited the rulers of Marûn while my new companions searched nearby for the temple we had fallen from. When they returned it was with warnings of the harsh heat of the desert and the deadly creatures that lived there (Fulgar had almost died from the poison of one), but with no luck finding the temple itself. We resolved to search together, looking closer to the town as it could not have been that far for us to have traveled through the pipes and sewers from one to the other.

As we walked along the top of the ravine we noticed a pair of Harung following, although it was not our presence that brought them here. They were heading for an old, ruined guard post on the edge of the desert. We hailed them as they had been friendly with us so far, and they told us of a hermit living in the desert beyond the guard post and that if anyone would know of the temple we sought it would be him. They also warned us that there were lots of bad things between us and him! Usefully, though, they said that if we were to reach a certain large rocky outcrop, which they pointed out to us, then we had gone too far.

We discussed whether to seek him out despite the danger, and resolved that we might need a guide as the temple could be hidden from sight by magical means as well as its location. We also quickly realised that we should start the journey at night after resting properly, as the heat of the desert made travel through the day almost impossible. We returned in the cold of the night, setting out such that we reached the desert past the guard post in the early morning light.

Travel through the desert was difficult, the sand sapping speed and strength as we walked, but at least the worst of the heat hadn't arrived yet and we had brought plenty of water. Eventually as we crested another dune we saw a couple of creatures ahead - a large scorpion thing holding a huge sword similar to the one Garuk had brought back from his expedition with Fulgar, and a multi-armed insect thing that was also armed. Their attention was to the sides and they hadn't seen us so we paused for a moment. I brought by halberd into a position to attack and braced to run forward, but as I was doing so Fulgar dived back out of sight and whispered that the large creature was dangerous and poisonous.

Despite itching to challenge it, I was wary because we had no means of dealing with poison so I followed Fulgar and rolled back below the crest of the dune. Garuk started to fade in and out of sight in a manner similar to when we had first met him, which seemed to be some kind of defence mechanism for him, and joined us although peeking forward to track the creatures. I questioned Fulgar about his wariness, as I understood that they were a foe from his previous encounter, but he explained that (from his perspective) we were in their pack land and therefore they had the right to hunt. I had not looked on such monstrous creatures in such a light before, with their own code of honour as it were, but I had learned much from the Hengeyokai already so I respected his judgement and waited with him.

As we did, though, Garuk gasped and indicated that we should look. We also heard noises from ahead so risked raising our heads. A massive ant-like creature had pushed its way up from the sand and was in the process of snapping the (now comparatively small) scorpion creature in two, having sprung a trap from below. The pieces of what was left were dragged back under the sand, leaving just the sword sat on top. The many-armed thing ran for its life, coming up near us but continuing straight past without pausing, so we let it go. Now we understood the threat we could see that the dune was actually part of a circle with the sand below deeper than the desert around, and it was clearly created by the huge creature beneath to ensnare its prey.

In order to stay on our line of travel, Garuk and I moved around this circle of threat, staying on the outside, until we were opposite where Fulgar watched for us. He signaled when were in the right place and started his own trek around to join us. But just as he was setting off we saw a single camel rider about four hundred yards away up ahead. He did not seem like he was trying to hide, so we waved to him hoping that he would not be hostile. He approached and became a bit clearer in the heat haze, a bright blue and purple clad rider wearing a black turban sat on a rather plump camel. As he drew closer still it was clear that he was a pale-skinned djinn with burning red eyes. Two sickle swords crossed his back beneath a backpack, and the camel was laden with bags of equipment. He, at least, was well prepared for travel in the desert.

He was gesturing quite urgently for us to move towards him, but we were reluctant as Fulgar was now out of sight. A moment later we spotted him, and started to move... but just then a large snake thing with many legs pulled itself out of the sand near Fulgar as he was running to join us. I turned and ran up to defend Fulgar, even as he was trying to put himself between us to offer his own protection. I was glad that he did, as the snake's head darted forward to bite me and Fulgar was just able to punch it aside as he leapt forward to join me. I had very close sight of its fangs, and hoped not to see them so clearly again!

Garuk flanked around and attacked it from behind with his massive sword, cleaving a large gaping slash in its body. It appeared to have some kind of egg sac attached to its tail. I thrust my halberd at its head just at it reared up in pain from Garuk's blow, and my weapon bit deep - it writhed for a short moment and then fell lifeless. I turned to address the Djinn not wishing to appear rude, but it didn't seem to speak my tongue. Garuk, on the other hand, was able to converse with him in the Djinn's native language.

He later relayed some of what was said. The Djinn was saddened that we had killed "her" (the snake) when she was bearing children, and was familiar with the Githzerai's beliefs that innocent animals should not be harmed unnecessarily. Fulgar and I were not so convinced that the death was not necessary having been at the teeth end of the creature, though! The rider was more upset about the snake than curious about us, and started to ride off despite Garuk's attempts to elicit his aid in finding the temple. It was only when Garuk suggested that helping us might save more desert creatures from being harmed in our unfamiliarity with the desert that he paused.

When he heard that Fulgar was Hengeyokai that caught his interest, and he wanted to see Fulgar's form. As it happened Fulgar wanted to change now that we were away from human settlements anyway, and had been removing his clothing to do so. He changed into his half-wolf half-human form and with his changed perception noticed that the rider had owl eyes. The rider said that he was indeed a desert owl. Fulgar dropped to his knees, speaking in the way of the Hengeyokai and apologising for entering the desert owl's land; he had not meant to take prey from him.

The rider was now appraising us more closely, taking a real interest in us for the first time since we met. He spoke of a prophecy that a Hengeyokai, Gith and Human would enter the temple we sought. It was a prophecy from the last war, so old, but here we were. He also laughed about some joke I couldn't follow and told Fulgar that the desert foxes knew he was there; they were scared but honoured by his presence. Fulgar for his part was shamed by his presence and actions, and looked suitably miserable. Fulgar sought, rightly, to follow Shang-Ti's path, and if it was within his gift to put the pack (us) back on that path he would wish to do so. He also said that if we needed to pay tribute then we would as we did not wish to offend anyone. The Djinn/owl said that we should be pack according to the prophecy, and invited us to eat with him. (I should explain that all this was conveyed through hooting and howling as far as I was concerned!)

Fulgar had cheered up a bit by this point, excitedly telling us that we were pack! He conveyed that we were to follow and then eat together (although the thought of eating with Hengeyokai was slightly troubling). Anyway we were set on the path, although I certainly wished that there was a path as we struggled to follow the rider through the desert sands. I say we... after a few yards Fulgar seemed to be able to lightly jog across the sand as if it were solid ground. Yet another marvel on this strange adventure! Speaking of marvels... after a (thankfully) short wile an enormous worm-like tube rose out of the sands before the Djinn, larger than the towers of Batuhan even and towering above us all. It seemed placid, though, and laid down before our guide... who then rode inside it!

Fulgar followed him into the darkness, so with some trepidation but courageous hearts Garuk and I followed behind. After walking some distance in the dark, able to find my way more by the curving of the worm's body than any other means, I came upon a relatively well appointed meeting place where a human (presumably another form of the Djinn) met me to eat and talk about the way ahead. There was no sign of the others, but I later learned that they each saw a place and person they were comfortable with. I was told that the three of us were aspects of the Way of Shang-Ti... the Hunter and Follower of the Way was Fulgar, I was the Protector of the Way, although I was confused a little by Garuk's role - he was the spirit or essence of the Way? Together we might overcome the challenges we would face, and we would face them if we sought to truly enter the temple we had found and not just the physical place.

There would be three challenges: one that related to the "elements as we know them", one related to the paths between worlds, and one that was related to the "heart of the Prime". I hoped that my companions would know more of these things, as that didn't mean much to me. After giving this rather vague warning, the human changed into an owl and flew past me, back the way I had come. I could only continue and hope that our party was reunited again. We were to be, but not as simply as I had hoped. When I emerged once again onto the paths outside the temple that we had seen before I was alone. I retraced our steps, but found only the bones we had seen before and I knew that traps lay within so I went back, looking for another way.

The Temple

We had avoided the circles before, but I studied them now. The three were identical in design but differed in colour, with the first having blue sections, the next black, and the last silver. I needed the path of Shang-Ti, which would normally be golden light... that ruled out the black at least. I reasoned that silver was closer to night with the light of the stars and moon, so I stepped into the blue circle (more like day than the others). The change was dramatic! What had been an empty, ruined temple became a fully restored temple full of supplicants bringing offerings to the Gods! It was as if I had been transported to another time, and I was surprised to see that I was holding a golden platter with offerings as if I was one of the supplicants. The other circles had changed as well - the next had a black, semi-translucent tube rising from it, and the last circle had a silver sparkling well in its place. The supplicants avoided both, I noticed.

I could see Garuk a little way ahead of me, clearly standing out as he was not human and nor was he carrying an offering. The supplicants seemed to be avoiding him but not reacting in alarm or surprise that I could see. Fulgar was ahead of him, nearly at the entrance to the temple, and I nearly missed him at first because he was in his human form again - it was only his size that made him stand out. He was carrying a platter and was in step with a female supplicant beside him, but I couldn't see much more detail from where I was.

I glanced down at my platter, which in addition to a gold symbol of Shang-Ti at the front also held a jade eagle, obsidian rat, and precious metal chicken in that order from left to right. I realised that all the Gods were being honoured here, and we would have to be careful to honour only Shang-Ti if we were to follow the Way correctly. I called out to the others to gather so that we might work out how to honour Shang-Ti correctly. Fulgar's platter seemed to have the key - it contained a platinum snake, an ivory tiger, and an obsidian monkey as well as the Shang-Ti symbol at the fore. These animals had all been used to honour Shang-Ti in different years, although I was drawn to the tiger as that was the animal I had set off from Batuhan to deliver to the New Year celebrations.

This prompted a discussion about time - this was clearly not our time as the temple was being used and possibly even pre-dated the great war. We returned to the blue circle I had entered through, and I took the tiger figurine through as an offering first. The others followed once I had disappeared: Fulgar next with the snake and Garuk last with the monkey. The platters and offerings disappeared as we were transported inside the temple in an instant. Once more we saw the pagoda with the birds at its top and the water pool below. This time the room was in far better condition, and on the far wall a statue of Shang-Ti (as an old man with staff) was depicted as stepping forward towards us, lifting his wooden staff and moving his hand forward leaving a gap below his staff.

It was in that gap beneath where the wooden staff appeared about to land that Fulgar saw the fist and lightning bolts symbol of Shang-Ti in gold, although the rest of us could not see it. This must be the elemental test, or part of it, as we could clearly see many of the elements before us. The elements present were: Earth (the stone temple), Air (effigies of birds), Water (in the pool), Iron (the bowl of the pool), Wood (Shang-Ti's staff)... but there was no fire. Garuk cut up a couple of arrows and made a small platform by securing them together with thread, then he whittled another arrow down to make a small bonfire atop the platform ready to set fire and float it on the water.

He seemed surprisingly skilled at making this small structure, and pleased to have done so (he did not smile very often). Once it was alight he nudged it forwards towards the centre of the pool, and when it passed under the centre of the pagoda the flames built in intensity rapidly, consuming the whole thing quickly. This triggered a change, though: as the smoke rose the top of the pagoda turned, and as it did that a stairwell gently opened at our feet, leading down where Fulgar saw the symbol on Shang-Ti. He told us that the symbol was moving down the stairs step by step, and hurried to follow by stepping where it rested.

He told us what was happening, and I said: "you lead on the path and we will follow", to which he responded simply with: "step where I step". We did so, making one full rotation down in a spiral before coming to a door that was underneath where the statue of Shang-Ti had been above us. It was normal sized, and made of stone. The symbol, Fulgar told us, came to rest on the bottom of the door but off the ground. Fulgar twisted the metal ring anticlockwise and the door swung open surprisingly easily given that it must be heavy. More steps led straight down into the darkness, and this time Shang-Ti's symbol was not showing the way.

Garuk lit a lantern to illuminate us from behind, for which I was especially grateful, and we continued cautiously. It wasn't long before we reached a chasm breaking the path, like a split had occurred underground but remained closed above our heads. The path continued on the other side, but narrowed as if compressed with the walls leaning in at the top. We weren't sure what would happen if we put weight on the floor over that side. We didn't have long to think about it, as a flaming bat-like thing swept in from our right and grabbed Fulgar's fur, breathing fire at him in a short flash. It started to pull him forwards towards the drop, so I grabbed him to hold him in place.

Fulgar swept his claws at it, raking it deeply despite the heat coming off its flaming form. Garuk moved forward to pull Fulgar back as well, and he told us that he was braced and to concentrate on fighting the thing. He said "things" because two more flew in from the right, one attacking each of us with their flame breath. Garuk was caught in the flames, but my armour seemed to shield me from quite effectively from my attacker. Garuk conjured a magic missile that struck the foe that had burned him, not having enough room to swing his oversized sword safely. Fulgar struck the one still clutching his fur, and its fire was extinguished, it's body turning to ash and crumbling away.

I thought to counter the fire with water, believing this to be a part of the elemental test, so I stuck a waterskin on the end of my halberd and smashed it against the fire bat in front of me. The skin exploded with an angry hiss as the two elements met, and the bat quickly backed away into the chasm looking somewhat aggrieved somehow. Fulgar slashed at the one still attacking Garuk, and Garuk saw my success with the water and grabbed one of his waterskins, putting it under his arm and squirting the water at his own opponent. That forced it back and Fulgar took the opportunity to swipe it out of the air, turning that to ash too.

The last one came back, despite clearly being outclassed, and Fulgar killed it with quick strikes before it could do any harm. Fulgar was worried that we were fighting without honour, especially using water against a fiery beast, but seemed somewhat mollified when we explained that we considered it to be part of the elemental test. We had overcome fire, the chasm would test our mastery of the air, and by the look of the passage beyond the next test would be of earth. First things first - we needed to cross the gap safely. Garuk was able to use his dweomer to make both him and I weightless, and Fulgar was able to control his weight as he moved in such a way that he was practically weightless as well.

We tied a rope between Garuk and Fulgar and I held on to Garuk on his back, then Fulgar jumped across to the other side and started to sprint lightly down the corridor. We were dragged along behind him, able to cross the gap without falling due to Garuk's dweomer. There was a very slight grinding noise as Fulgar landed, but once he moved it stopped and it seemed we had avoided collapsing the path by planning ahead. It was too early to celebrate, though, as Fulgar spotted a small hairy humanoid creature with a relatively big head and bulbous eyes hunched down up ahead and backing away from the light as we approached. A moment later an upright version of the same thing materialised next to Fulgar, and attacked with knives. One of the weapons looked like a lightning bolt, but thankfully only the normal dagger drew blood.

The others' minds were assaulted at the same time, and Garuk started to pull us closer using the rope even as Fulgar moved forward. Both creatures were now attacking Fulgar, both with similar weapons, but Fulgar pushed through between them and kept sprinting forward - wary of the unstable corridor and shrugging off the slashes from the knives as he did so. He swerved around corner to the left, bashing the rest of us against a wall, and came to a door which he quickly opened. He entered a twenty-foot across, forty-foot deep room that thankfully looked a lot more stable than the corridor. Not so welcoming was the massive scorpion made up of various coloured crystals; it would be pretty it it hadn't been moving menacingly towards us! Rich mineral ores lined all the edges of room, their colours similar to the scorpion, but such a concentration did not look natural. There were stalagtites on the roof and a galleried walkway could just be seen behind the scorpion, about five-foot wide marked by a nine-foot tall arch that stood alone with no wall on that side of the room.

Fulgar stopped quickly, placing the lantern on the floor. He tried speaking to the scorpion in the Hengeyokai and scorpion tongues (who knew that there were so many languages in the world?) but had no response other than to attack. Garuk was beside him by now, with me just behind. The small creatures caught up and stabbed me in the back, as well as attacking the others' minds again. Garuk landed a powerful blow on the scorpion with his huge sword (he finally had room to swing it). I thrust my halberd into it just afterwards and it shattered into shards, which themselves shattered into shards, and so on until there was just a glittering dust falling to the floor.

We turned to face our pursuers and Fulgar called on Shang-Ti to give him strength to face the dishonourable opponents. He was almost immediately stabbed, so I'm not sure it worked. I was stabbed too, but thankfully not with the lightning daggers that seemed to send pulses of shocking energy into anyone they connected with. Garuk crushed the mind of one opponent (there had been a mental battle going on throughout that I was unaware of), and it fell dead to the floor instantly. Fulgar slashed the last one with his claws and Garuk finished it off with a mighty swing of his blade.

We took a moment to catch our breath, and Fulgar expressed some concern about the path we were taking - it felt like we were fighting too much for no clear reason. I sympathised, but said that it felt like more than just a fight to me, with the elemental obstacles to overcome. While we talked Garuk tried to examine one of the lightning daggers but quickly dropped it again when he received a shock and left it well alone! Instead he knocked out some of the red crystal from the wall to carry a few shards with him. I picked up some of the crystal dust from the floor, wondering whether this was a different element to Earth that I wasn't aware of.

We then turned our attention to the causeway before us, which was about four-foot wide with a colonnade of archways about eight-feet tall spaced out with about two feet between them. It was like a rib cage of arches going away from us, and each arch was formed as if two snakes rose up and interlocked their necks at the apex. There was liquid about a foot and a half below the causeway to either side and beneath it and we could see an open arch with a room beyond at far side, about twenty-five feet away. Snakes were part of Shang-Ti's holy calendar, and linked to Earth, so we gathered dust from the floor where we stood to "offer" to the snakes on the causeway.

Fulgar walked forward, scattering the dust at the base of the arches and on the walkway as he progressed. I watched closely from the room, with Garuk behind in safety as he was injured. The signs were promising, with the snakes turning into real snakes and slithering back to us in the room as Fulgar passed, but as the last pair did so the walkway fell down into the liquid! Fulgar struggled to get out and up at the far side, but finally managed to leap into the archway, praying to Shang-Ti for mercy. I consulted with Garuk and between us we had spikes and a rope, so we were able to spike the near end and Garuk could jump across with the rope to tie it off so I that I could follow.

Fulgar noticed that the next room was much warmer, and it contained a stone cauldron in the centre, under which was an unlit hearth. He noticed a channel of stone leading away from the cauldron to his right, ending in a raised stone area a couple of feet from the wall. The far side of the room had three doors, one directly opposite, one to the right, and one to the left. A wisp of something from just beyond the cauldron rose as if there was a small fire just out of sight. We could see nothing of this and shouted across to see if he was safe, which he responded to quickly. As Fulgar moved into the room the rising gas increased in volume and started to take a humanoid form. Fulgar tried greeting it, asking for safe passage on Shang-Ti's way, but the figure that began to reveal itself was fiery in nature and temperament, and did not look very friendly!

Fulgar dropped to his knees and prayed to Shang-Ti, pledging loyalty and seeking to follow The Way in order to find the Heart of the Prime. Despite his prayers the thing finished coalescing and burst into intense flame! Fulgar leapt forward, closing with the creature, and dumped the rest of the mineral from my helmet at it. It did seem to shrink slightly, its heat reducing slightly in intensity, so it was an inspired move. He followed up by swiping with his claws, setting his fur alight due to the heat but landing a powerful blow. We heard that a fight had started, but needed to cross the gap still. Garuk uttered an incantation, breaking a cricket's leg as he did so, before taking my halberd in exchange for the spike and hammer; then he jumped straight across to the other side, the rope snapping tight just after he landed.

The fire creature swung two swords at Fulgar, hitting with one, but Fulgar struck back despite the pain in his paws and his blows ripped open the thing's chest plate, extinguishing the fire within. The metal of its armour and swords collapsed to the floor with a clatter, leaving Fulgar to nurse his wounds. He sank into prayer once more, but was disturbed as Garuk jogged up to join him, the rope having enabled me to follow. I was concerned to see Fulgar's wounds, but his victory had been glorious. It seemed clear that the iron of its armour and swords was what we needed, but it was still glowing red hot so we had to be cautious.

Fulgar used his powers to heal some of Garuk's wounds, as he had suffered particularly from the lightning. Fulgar then said that we had much to discuss, but that first we must secure the pack. We rested for a moment and Fulgar discussed what The Way meant to him, but also sought to understand what it meant to each of us, recognising that we were all different in our path. I admitted that I felt shamed to have failed to follow closely in Fulgar's footsteps as I had been warned, feeling responsible for him being left to fight alone. I also agreed to be cautious and understand what it was we faced before attacking, in respect of Fulgar's Way.

Once we had taken time to do this we took some time to examine each of the doors, finding that they each had a symbol. They reminded me of the runestones we had seen, and each was large and engraved directly into the iron doors. Now it seemed that the cauldron to melt the iron had a purpose - it would run down the channel to form a star shape that fitted one of the doors. I used my weapons to flick some of the metal, which was still incredibly hot, into the hearth; eventually there was enough heat to make whatever crystals were within the hearth to heat up the cauldron with a red glow. We used sacks of sand and splashes of water to quickly shift the rest of the iron into the cauldron and watched as it slowly liquified. Once it had finished melting enough dribbled out to run down the channel and form a metal star, as we had surmised.

Having completed this task, we rested properly to help Fulgar recover a little. When we decided we were ready to continue we placed the star inside the door's symbol, which we had noted was regularly rotating due to some hidden mechanism. Once the star was in place, though, the door opened instead. There was a small room beyond that contained a circular table with a pouch, a solid cylindrical shape within another pouch, an ivory scroll case, a metal rod, a flask with a dark blue liquid, a glass phial with a flat bottom that contained a colourless liquid, and a small metal coffer in the centre. There were archways to the left and right as well; on the left inside the arch was crafted two waterfalls in stone, whereas on the right were carved two pillars with vines climbing up and around them.

The door shut after we all entered, and I started to examine the contents of the table carefully. The pouch had some dark sand within it, the cylinder had sandy stone inside, and the coffer just had gold coins and gems. One by one I removed the items from the table, leaving the coffer until last. I tipped the coins and gems out and found that there was another scroll at the bottom of the coffer. Garuk was able to use one of the scrolls to identify the objects, all of which it seemed would be of some use to us. Seeking to solve the next test, we poured the contents of the phial of holy water onto the carved vines, and it drained into a hole at the base. The archway opened to reveal a short passage and a large vine-like creature approached at speed. Taking Fulgar's advice, though, we waited and did not attempt to strike at it. Although it almost hit us as it reached into the room, it then retreated almost as quickly as it had arrived.

As we watched it retrace it's path, though, Garuk was attacked from behind by a water creature in glass armour. He used his race's powers to phase in and out before our eyes, which saved him as he just became immaterial as the attack landed, leaving him undamaged. Fulgar leapt over the table, calling us to seek vengence on the cowardly creature that had attacked without honour in Shang-Ti's holy place. He slashed at the creature, although he needed have worried too much as Garuk threw the dust of dryness at the bit of the creature that wasn't encased in armour, and as the handful struck it the thing was utterly destroyed in a flash!

Fulgar took the torch and we moved into the passage to the south, with me just ahead of him to offer protection. The giant plant-creature was still there and seemed unhappy being stuck, so we backed off and moved either side of the entrance. It was possibly the fire that was stopping it from leaving, so I took and extinguished the torch. I waited in the pitch black, although my friends could see in some limited way so I just had to trust in them. It seemed we were right as the creature passed by us and around the table to head north, and Garuk came to my side to relight the torch so that we could move into the passage it had vacated. As we advanced we could see that there was a door at the end, although Fulgar noticed first that there was a symbol of Shang-Ti carved into the floor in front of the door.

The floor was covered in a layer of dust and Fulgar blew it away to reveal that the symbol was formed from gold. He stepped into the centre of the fist and promptly disappeared! We were plunged into darkness, as Fulgar had taken the torch, so Garuk sparked up another one. There was still no sign of Fulgar, though, so I tried blowing on the symbol and stepping on it as he had... but to no avail as nothing happened. Garuk also tried a few things, but we just could not seem to replicate what had happened to him, although we did not know whether that was a good thing or not. Instead we turned our attention to the door, and now that we were closer I could see that there was script formed into the metal surface. It was old, and most of it didn't make much sense, but I did pick out sections where it referred to life or truth, and (separately) chaos or evil, so it was seemingly balanced in some way.

We had just started experimenting with applying the fire of the torch to the script when Fulgar finally reappeared behind us. He said that he had been with our Lord Shang-Ti himself! Garuk eagerly asked what wisdom he had gained from his encounter, but Fulgar modestly said that he feared Shang-Ti's great knowledge was beyond his simple understanding. He did advise, more practically, that I should apply the torch to the script related to life or truth in order to gain access. I did so at once, and the flames intensified before making their way around the door with a bright, white light even when I stepped back. Once the flames had traced a pattern fully around the edge of the door it fell in with a loud clang, revealing a room with a pagoda at its centre that reminded us of our first encounter with the temple.

The Path of the Second Pagoda

This time the symbology was for Earth over Iron on Water; the four pillars rose to support a dome with carved structures atop it, which were all man-made stone structures of some kind, and a humanoid stone creature at its highest point. There was an armourer's beating iron surrounded by a pool of water beneath the structure. These were auspicious in their order, suggesting that we were indeed on Shang-Ti's path. We did not have time to reflect for long, though, as the stone creature on the dome animated and jumped down. At the same time a creature rose from the water, and fire, air, and iron creatures emerged into the room from the walls. Each seemed to leave a trail of some kind that linked it back to its origin, and they all quickly moved to attack us! It was clear that Wood was missing, so the plant creature from the last room was significant.

Fulgar was attacked first and bitten by the fire-lizard whilst being surrounded by the air creature (that was like a dust devil from the desert but being directed by some will). Garuk suffered too, being punched by the iron and earth creatures (they had a humanoid form). I threw some crystal dust at the trail of water, breaking it and somewhat diminishing the creature facing me, and Garuk conjured magic missiles to strike the iron form and started to phase in and out of sight. Fulgar shouted that we must restore the creature of wood to bring balance, and tried to run back to do so, but the whirlwind around him prevented any escape. I was enveloped by the water thing, and it covered my head so I had to hold my breath, and Garuk was struck again... the situation was quite desperate!

Garuk used his mind against his attackers and forced the iron creature to move away. Fulgar managed to break through the air barrier through sheer determination and force, getting clear and running back to the archway to sprinkle water and bring the plant creature we had seen previously back to life once more. Garuk conjured some kind of magical barrier around himself to protect against further physical attacks. I was also able to break free of the enveloping water, moving into the room to make space for the plant creature to enter... although it seemed slow!

When it eventually lumbered in, the plant creature confronted the stone/earth foe first and ripped it apart with grasping tendrils. It then turned and did the same to the water creature, dissipating it into nothing as it lost its form. I tried to weaken the fire creature with an attack, expecting it to be the strongest against our new ally, but I destroyed it in one strike! Another fire creature appeared in its place, looking more powerful than the first one, but then I lost sight as I was surrounded by the whirling air creature as Fulgar had been before.

Garuk healed some of his wounds with the wand we had found on the table. The air and fire creatures were focused on me, which was painful but in lots of small wounds - at least I was keeping them busy and away from the others. The plant creature struggled to find purchase on the iron construct but eventually managed to rip that apart as well, and moved to engage the air thing next... which was unfortunate as I was still inside it! I was battered by both the whipping whirlwind and the plant's tendrils trying to attack that which constrained me, but thankfully Fulgar came to my aid and pulled me out roughly.

With me removed, for the moment, the elemental creatures tried to attack the others instead, and Fulgar was engulfed by the whirlwind againd! Thankfully the plant creature somehow dissipated the air creature before Fulgar could take too much damage, which just left fire. The plant creature was started to wilt a little, with a couple of its tendrils no longer moving, so Fulgar ran back to pour more water into the holes that brought it to life in the first place and that seemed to rejuvenated it. Even with this aid the plant was set alight as it fought with the fire creature, so Fulgar ran behind it and used his ability to heal others to sustain it. Garuk, in turn, used his wand to heal some of Fulgar's wounds. With this support the plant creature was able to overcome the fire and extinguish it after a fierce battle.

Seemingly satisfied now that the other creatures were beaten, the plant creature returned to the previous room and slowly returned to its original stone form. We assembled in front of the pagoda again, and Fulgar prayed to Shang-Ti, saying that we had faced his challenge and asked that the Way could be revealed to us. It seemed that his prayer was answered as we heard stone grinding on stone somewhere on the far side of the pagoda, followed by the sound of rushing air. Garuk asked Fulgar whether it was acceptable to take water from the pagoda, and as they debated what might be a violation of Shang-Ti's holy place I moved around to see what had made the noise.

It was clear that there was a strong current of air moving upwards at some speed behind the pagoda, but there were no visible holes either above or below that could explain how it was moving. It was strong, that was for sure, pushing my hand up hard when I reached out to it. It would probably carry our weight, although it seemed that it would just smash us into the ceiling. I described this to the others, and we were of the consensus that we needed to travel up with the air to continue on the Way. Before we did anything, though, Garuk used his wand to treat our injuries - it was truly a gift from Shang-Ti.

We looked again at the column of air and the stone above, and I commented that it seemed to be a test of faith... at which Fulgar immediately stepped into it, not wanting to show any doubt of Shang-Ti's path! He disappeared quickly, and it was clear that he had been taken somewhere else, so I followed as quickly as I can with Garuk just behind me. We all appeared quite close together bathed in a pale blue light, but were all strangely aligned at angles... I couldn't tell which way was up! I started to fall almost as soon as I thought about "down" and "up", but Fulgar grabbed me and stopped me in mid-air... how was he flying? I asked him as much but all he could answer was "I don't know"!

Garuk appeared to be able to move around, even though he made no effort with his arms and legs. He tried to explain that we had to use our minds to control our movements. I was very confused, but as I tried what he suggested it was almost as if my mind knew what to do and it only took a few moments before I found it quite easy to move around without effort. Fulgar asked if there were any land, wanting to be stood on firm ground, and Garuk pointed out a blob of something solid he could see at some distance (it was hard to tell how far in this place). As we looked around we noticed that there were a lot of blobs of all kinds of shape and colour around. Fulgar, thinking that whatever it was would be land and that he wanted to be there suddenly shot towards it at incredible speed! I shouted that he needed to wait, and that we needed to make a choice rather than just go to the nearest thing we liked. We had to give chase just to stay within sight of him, again using our minds.

As we approached the "blob" we saw that it was actually a massive cube of metal that began to loom in front of us as we grew closer. Fulgar stopped sharply when he realised this, and we had to quickly stop nearby in fear of overshooting. We took a moment then to discuss where the fuck we were. Garuk was the only one that seemed comfortable, and just described it as a place of Air. I did feel strangely at ease here, perhaps because Air was aligned to Shang Ti in some way? As I was thinking this I suddenly saw a great warrior riding on a chariot pulled by winged horses, and saw that he was being chased by a handful of winged people. As I looked he started to bank towards us, and it felt to me like this was meant to happen, was part of our test of worthiness. The others wanted to escape and avoid a fight, but I said that we must stay to meet him... but only I could see him - they only saw his pursuers!

As they approached I saw and heard, more softly than I expected, the warrior calling to me to protect him, addressing me as "Protector of the Path". We could also see the flying creatures more clearly and there was a strange aura around them, almost as if there were elements in conflict: dust and sparks of lightning mixed with the air. Garuk, for a moment, also saw the great warrior... surely a God come to judge us? The next moment his chariot passed straight through us, and we heard a command for us to destroy them. We felt energised by his touch, even though he disappeared, and Fulgar suddenly felt emboldened to fight. The Gods were with us! The creatures were onto us quickly, but Fulgar made the first blow, punching powerfully into its abdomen. They appeared like flying females but with the weird aura making their existence feel wrong here.

Garuk was struck by spears twice but Fulgar dodged a blow and I blocked one with my shield. They produced nets, and it was clear they wanted to capture us in some way. I struck one with my Khopesh, and Garuk drew his sword and connected with an overhead swing in one smooth action. Garuk attacked with his mind, but it wasn't clear if it had changed anything. Fulgar lashed out again and killed one, and my second blow finished another. Garuk didn't disappoint, managing to the kill the one he wounded. That left two of them.

Fulgar was struck by one of the spears, and immediately fell into a deep sleep. His foe threw their net, which wrapped tightly around him, and then turned as if to make off with him. Garuk started to phase in and out as we had seen before, and a spear that would surely have hit him found nothing to connect with as he did so. Fulgar was dragged away, but we were able to keep up and I cut at the thing dragging him twice, killing it. When I tried to free Fulgar, though, the magic affected me and I fell asleep as well!

Luckily the last foe had been confused by Garuk's mental assault and was still "fighting" with the air where we had left it behind so we had time to try and sort out the mess we were in... well Garuk did anyway. He used his knife to unravel the net without touching it, so that Fulgar was at least free, but we were both still asleep. He messed around a bit getting his bow back and healing some of his wounds before moving us away from the last foe in case they regained their senses. Then he tried to use water to revive us, but instead created some kind of electrical monster that quickly built in strength and injured him and me. He fled again, taking us away from the new threat as fast as he could but leaving a massive electrical storm behind.

Eventually we woke up, and were grateful to Garuk for protecting us. We were ravenous with hunger so I started eating some rations. Fulgar went back for his kill, but trying to eat it sent him asleep again and we had to wait even longer! As we waited I heard a message in my head from the warrior we had fought for; he said that we had served Shang-Ti well and that a messenger would come. As foretold, just as Fulgar was awakening again, a huge bee-like thing the size of a man flew up to us. It spoke, bidding us to come with it and flew away. Fulgar was feeling shame again and doubting whether he was worthy to follow the path. I tried to reassure him, after all the shame was theirs for bringing magic to a fight, not ours.

The bee creature took us towards a section of floating earth with water flowing across and down the side, and and trees growing atop it. He would go no farther so we continued and alighted on the ground before the trees. There were iron figures standing between us and the trees, and as we landed they reacted - moving slowly towards us. There was a stream to our left flowing quickly and we split up as we moved forward, noticing that they moved to intercept one of us each. The others moved around the edges as I drew one into the centre. Once they were apart we ran towards the trees, hoping that they could not catch us. Fulgar was hit by a blow but then we were into the treeline and they stopped, seeming unwilling to enter.

The trees were thicker that we thought and I lost track of where the others were until Fulgar shouted that he had found something. I moved towards him, arriving almost at the same time as Garuk. There was a star inside a circle on the floor, about ten feet across. The lines were inlaid with gold but grass was growing between lines. At the centre of the star was a raised circular bowl about a foot and a half across with burning embers inside and an iron grate covering them. A stick of wood was floating above the grate, although it was really dark and tapered at one end unlike any natural stick I had seen. Fulgar stepped inside the outer circle and doubled over in pain, coming out quickly and making us study the patterns more closely.

There was more detail there, with a crescent moon in light and darkness, and other moon symbology around the edge. It seemed like life was on the left and death on the right - Fulgar had entered on the wrong side. There might be a time element, with the moon waxing towards the top and waning towards the bottom although we couldn't be sure. We stepped in from the top left, and were enveloped by a golden glow that made us feel revived and refreshed. Our waterskins refilled, food reappeared, everything we had used on the path so far was restored. Another great blessing from Shang-Ti, although I couldn't help but think that the warrior that had spoken to me was Huang-Ti; was it him I should be serving given my role of protector?

Garuk discovered that he had some new bits of paper that he seemed very interested in, and Fulgar now had a golden torc around his neck that had not been there before. We were all stronger from our experience on the path. Now that we were closer, Garuk used his dweomer to understand the "stick" floating above the embers - apparently it would enable him to summon a pocket of a different plane, whatever that meant. We applied a lighted torch to the grate and it caught fire easily, quickly growing into a massive fire that surrounded us all - we had been transported to a place of fire and the heat was unbearable! Thankfully Garuk was able to use the "wand" he had studied to create a place that we could survive on, the heat instantly subsiding.

It was difficult to see much of anything outside the sphere we were in, but it was clear that there were other pockets of different material out there. Garuk was able to extend the sphere incrementally until it intersected with what looked like the nearest, and turned out to be a rock wall. Given the heat it had been subjected to, though, it was hot, molten rock rather than the solid stone we were used to. Following the sequence of Shang-Ti and the elements, we applied the lighted torch to the surface of the molten rock and instantly flames ran along the surface. Garuk stepped right into it, disappearing! We followed, despite it seeming really unnatural, and although we did not get covered by molten rock I still emerged from the other side on fire! Fuck that hurt! My friends managed to extinguish the flames before too much damage was done, although it used precious waterskins.

Once they had done so it turned out to be very dark, though, so Garuk put flame to a lantern revealing another pocket he had created. There was a pattern on the floor - another runestone-like symbol with five pedestals. I started to approach the one we thought should be activated only for a triangle to fall from beneath one of my feet! Fulgar grabbed me and pulled me back before I lost my balance, but it did at least reveal the correct way to approach the pedestal given the pattern. I did so and dumped the last of the crystal dust onto the pedestal, and at once we were surrounded by water.

This journey was more trying that I had expected! Garuk summoned another pocket so we did not have to hold our breath for long, but as he did so the wand crumbled to dust and was gone. Fulgar investigated the water, as it turned out he was a good swimmer, and found that there was a bubbling air pocket tantalisingly close to where we were. He warned that it was not an easy swim, with currents swirling around, and said that he would investigate further and come back. He made the journey safely, and as he crossed the boundary he passed through the bubbles back into breathable air. The pocket he was now in contained a fiery creature in the centre, about eight feet tall, and there were loose flasks, cases and bits of equipment floating around in its vicinity... along with the charred remains of a body.

The creature closed quickly to engage Fulgar, so he was forced to defend himself. Will all the fire it hurt Fulgar badly, but he was thankfully able to best it and a mini-fireball imploded leaving nothing but a little smoke that dissipated in the air. Fulgar screamed "that was unnecessary!" in pain and frustration, although there was nobody there to hear him. We were oblivious to this at the time, but eventually Fulgar returned although he was gasping for breath and barely made the crossing. He looked oddly scorched but wet, and he explained about his encounter with the fire creature. He had brought three vials back with him in case they were another offering from Shang-Ti to aid us, and given the distance we had to travel and our inability to swim we each took one and drank them in good faith, stepping into the water to see what effect they might have had. It turned out that Garuk and I were able to breathe the water, and Fulgar could swim really fast. A solution presented itself - Fulgar was able to drag us across one by one to the air pocket using his new speed, so Shang-Ti had indeed provided for us.

The Heart of the Prime

When we were all together we took stock of our new surrounds and noticed that there was an iron bowl there that seemed out of place. We held on to Garuk as he pushed it out into the water and were suddenly struck by heat again. This time it was not elemental fire, thank Shang-Ti, but just a glaring sun high above us and desert-air around us. We had appeared in front of a great temple facade carved into a rock face at least fifty feet across. It had pink marble pillars, six steps of a bright white material leading to an entrance. A hexagon with black jet and gold symbols like the runestones was high above the entrance, but we could not make out the detail from the ground. Golden braziers sat each side of the top step, embossed with gems. On the front of the third step was a symbol like the amulet Fulgar found in the desert, orienting the elements for us. Fire should be above and water below.

We wanted to check the tops of the steps all the way up but without stepping onto them, so Garuk levitated himself higher. In immediate response two huge ant-like creatures appeared, one either side of us. Garuk dropped straight to the floor and drew his weapon. Fulgar tried to placate them but they chittered in a language none of us understood and attacked anyway. They had multiple weapons each, and I was struck, but Fulgar was able to parry each blow the other one made with his bare hands. Garuk came to my aid but was unable to land a blow. Fulgar struck at a weak point between joints in the thing's shell and killed his attacker.

We surrounded the last creature and all managed to strike it so it fell beneath our combined onslaught, Fulgar landing the final blow. We retreated to the far side of the natural bowl we were within, putting a tent up to provide some shelter from the sun, and rested. We drank water and debated how we could heal Fulgar's wounds, as one in particular was looking puss-filled and weepy. We had no means at our disposal so decided the press onwards without wasting more time hoping that we could aid him soon.

Using the simpler method of lifting someone physically we could see that there was a silver depression in the centre of the second step, a hole in the first step on the left and an iron cap on the right. I passed water to Garuk so he could fill the bowl and once he had done so we noticed air swirling out of the hole. We moved around and outside it to climb the steps but that caused it to fade away. We had to pass through the elements and not around them, then. We refilled it and this time climbed the centre of the stiars. We reached the top to find a doorway that was black with stars seeming to glow within the darkness... and it matched the pattern that Garuk had taken from our foes in the desert, except for one extra star at the bottom.

Garuk placed a wooden torch in one of the braziers and it burst into a strange blue flame. This seemed to fit with the sheltered location here despite otherwise seeming unnatural; it was much cooler here than just outside. We added some earth to the other brazier, and the same blue flames came to life at once. As this happened the stars winked out leaving just a dark space inside the archway, so it was time to step inside. I went first, with Fulgar just behind and then Garuk, each of us disappearing as we stepped into the darkness. We appeared inside a temple in darkness, but it was clear once we could see the contents that this was the Heart of the Prime we had been seeking.

There were twelve doors with written references to the yearly cycle in front of them on floor, and six runic inscriptions in circles on the floor. A vaulted ceiling was at least eighty feet above us, and the room was about the same in length, although only about forty feet wide. The arches forming the vaulting were black stone at the base but where they joined to extend up the ceiling it looked like gold. We heard a weird owl noise from above and something swept down, landing heavily, but I could not see what it was at this point.

I started to light a torch but then discovered that my tinder was wet from being dragged through the water earlier. Garuk helped, and as a spark caught we saw a tawny owl on the ground in front of us. It seemed to speak to Fulgar in a strange animal tongue, and Fulgar bowed slightly. It must be hengeyokai then, and this was confirmed when it changed before our eyes into a half-owl, half-human form. I relaxed slightly knowing this, and he said that he was here to help us and served Quang-Yin; his name was Hanuku. Sadly he said that he was unable to cure the poison within Fulgar. Fulgar made some introductions, which was all very pleasant right up to the point where we were attacked by invisible foes!

A blow bounced off my armour, but the others were hurt! The hengeyokai seemed genuinely surprised, so I didn't think he was expecting the attack either. A ghastly thing happened next - some animated human skeletons appeared in a shimmering from one of the rune markings to our left! I had never seen the dead come to life like this, and it was chilling. Fulgar howled and rushed the newly appeared skeletons, punching one. Garuk multiplied into over half a dozen copies of himself, all blurring so that we could not tell which was real and which an illusion. I moved up to support Fulgar as more skeletons appeared, and they met me halfway. Fulgar was struck again, and Garuk's extra forms disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. There was some wielder of dweomer amongst the foe.

I stabbed a skeleton with my halberd as it engaged me, scattering its bones with two blows, and Fulgar smashed one into a much neater pile of bones with his fists. There were still three foes that we could see... and then more appeared! Fire burst out from a space in the corner and over Garuk, setting his clothes on fire. Fulgar punched a second skeleton to pieces and started on another, and I did the same with my halberd, but I didn't feel like we were winning. Hanuku chanted a protective charm for Garuk, then set about soothing some of his burns.

My halberd suddenly became very slippery and fell from my hand! Several of us were struck by invisible blows, but we were not seriously wounded just yet. I drew my Khopesh and shield, trying to find my attacker. Fulgar smashed another skeleton into splinters, and the last two were not reinforced this time thankfully. Garuk and Fulgar were also under constant mental assault, although I didn't realise it at the time, but it explained why Garuk became dazed and unable to act; his mind had been overwhelmed by the assault.

Fulgar smashed another skeleton to bits, leaving just the one, but was struck by streak of lights in his back that came from somewhere between him and Garuk. I was able to deal with the last skeleton as Hanuku healed more of Garuk's wounds. Then we had to start hunting for the foe we couldn't see. Fulgar found one by bumping into it, but wasn't able to land a blow. Fulgar's mind was also being assaulted, so it was relief when he managed to land a flurry of blows and kill the foe he had found. A horrible, unliving thing appeared and crumpled to the floor with more on its body than just bones but still evil and unnatural. We knew there were more than one of them, though. Hanuku created an area of darkness that hid Garuk from view, mindful that he was vulnerable, but it was Fulgar that was targeted next; lightning suddenly sparked around him, leaving burning white marks on our vision in the dimly lit room, and his fur was left smoking slightly.

Then the owl was hit by a sword from invisible blow and clouds of nauseous gases enveloped me. Fulgar was close by and just managed to get out before he inhaled any, but I was not so lucky. The fumes left me feeling horribly sick and I started to retch uncontrollably, even though I managed to stagger out of the edge of the cloud. A swirling pattern of lights filled the area around the others and Hanuku was left standing hypnotised. I started to shout to Fulgar so we could co-ordinate, and as I was saying that they had left me I was attacked twice, so I quickly changed that to: "found them"!

Fulgar called back, and sounded really angry, far different from his usual calm demeanor, and started swearing about the "dishonourable fucking temple things". I was really suffering from multiple wounds - how can one fight what cannot be seen? Fulgar came streaking over and when he connected with a foe set about pummeling it with a fury I'd not seen until it appeared and collapsed like the last one. I managed to connect a blow, hitting something behind me with a wild swing. Fulgar noticed at once and attacked in the same area, connecting with at least one blow. More of the streaks of light thudded into my back, causing intense bursts of pain, and Fulgar was hit physically, causing him to double over with pain. At least I saw where he was struck and could roughly guess where the attacker stood. I swung my Khopesh in an arc in that area and connected solidly; another lifeless hulk appeared and collapsed at our feet.

There was at least one left, though, and the three of us started to search the room. At one point a globe of fire appeared and rolled past Hanuku, burning his feathers slightly, but after the initial surprise we were able to avoid it easily. Fulgar eventually crashed into something and shouted that he'd found them. Garuk had recovered slightly by this point, and ran to join him. He swung his huge sword through the space Fulgar had indicated, and cut the last foe in half with a clean blow! Hanuku healed some of Fulgar's wounds and then flew up and disappeared. A strange intervention by the Gods, but he had certainly aided us in this fight.

We were still left nursing our wounds, though, both mental and physical. Garuk was able to heal the physical ones with his wand. What the fuck happened? What were these things? Where did they come from? What did we do now? Fulgar warned that he was no longer in control of his mind in the way he was used to.

I retrieved the torch and my halberd. The latter was still greasy so I scooped it up and rolled it in some clothing, placing it (in its small size) in my backpack so it would not be lost. Garuk found two pouches and two bundles of parchment. There were also some knotted belts on the remains of the creatures that he tried to get off. He had to resort to using his sword, but it was almost trapped as the belt contracted rapidly. He decided to leave them be after that. Fulgar prayed to Shang-Ti and I said a prayer to Huang-Ti to thank him for victory and to ask that he help us rid this place of corruption.

I found two pouches, a nasty blade, a jar, a small glass vial with creamy oil, and a small ring on various bodies. Garuk checked all of the items we found and separated those that he believed had some power within them. He kept doing this as we finished our search, and we retrieved more: two pouches (one a white drawstring bag with a silver powder inside, the other a bulbous pewter pot with a metal screw top), two leather scroll cases, two more pouches on another body (an earthenware pot with large cork, and two more three-inch diameter jars), a wooden "stick", and a metal scroll case with a screw top.

We then spent some time interpreting and decoding the symbols in the room. It was clear that they had been mislabeled, possibly to deceive someone, and that things were out of place. We could not move them - perhaps that could only be done by intervention in our world, but we could choose the right door to return and perhaps intervene before all was lost on the fateful day of the ambush that set all this in motion. We discussed how we might disrupt the ambush if we were to appear in the sacred valley and then stepped through the doorway. Our plans were for naught though, as we found that we had been restored to the place we were on that day, and I was once again riding towards the valley with the white tiger and my friend with me before the ambush. Now, though, I was armed with knowledge and experience and things would be different!