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 could spike this end and Garuk could jump across with the rope to tie it off so I that I could follow.
Fulgar notices next room is much warmer. Stone cauldron in centre, under which is an unlit hearth. Channel of stone leading away from cauldron to right, ends in raised stone area a couple of feet from the wall.
Far side of room has three doors, one directly opposite, one right, one left. A wisp of something from just beyond the cauldron.
Shout across - Fulgar is ok. As he moves into the room the rising gas starts to take a humanoid form. Fulgar tried greeting it and asking for passage on Shang-Ti's way, but fiery and not looking particularly friendly.
Fulgar drops to knees and prays to Shang-Ti, pledging loyalty and seeking to follow the way, to find the Heart of the Prime.
Thing finishes coalescing and burst into flame! Fulgar leapt forward, closing with the fiery creature, and dumped the rest of the mineral from my helmet at it. It seemed to shrink slightly and doesn't feel quite as hot.
Also swiped it, setting his fur alight but landing a powerful blow. Garuk uttered an incantation, breaking a cricket's leg as he did so, before taking my halberd in exchange for the spike and hammer.
Fire thing swung two swords at Fulgar, hitting with one. He swings back and the chest plate rips open, extinguishing the fire and the metal of its armour and swords collapse to the floor. Hurt again in the process, though.
Sinks into prayer again, disturbed as Garuk jogged up to join him. The iron was what we needed, but hot so be cautious.
Fulgar uses his powers to heal some of Garuk's wounds. We have much to discuss but first we must secure the pack.
Rest and discuss how the Way is different for all of us. I am shamed to have failed to follow closely. Agree to be cautious and understand before attacking.
Each of the doors has a symbol - reminds me of runestones - large and engraved into iron doors.
Suspect that we have to melt the iron and form the star shape that fits the door. I use weapons to flick hot metal to hearth and it eventually has enough heat to warm up the cauldron.
Melt the iron after using sacks, sand and water to move it in. It dribbles out just enough to form the metal star.
Rest for Fulgar. Then place star in door's symbol, which rotates with some hidden mechanism regularly but then doesn't after the star is inside, and instead the door opens.
Small room beyond. Circular table with pouch, cylindrical pouch, ivory scroll case, metal rod, flask with dark blue liquid, glass phial with flat bottom - colourless liquid.. Small metal coffer in the centre. Archways left and right.
Left waterfalls (two) crafted in stone, Right vines climbing up pillars (two).
Door shuts after we all enter. Pouch has dark sand, cylinder is sandy stone inside, and coffer has gold coins inside.
Remove colourless liquid, then other things except coffer. Tip coins and gems out and find another scroll in bottom of coffer.
Pour holy water into vines hole. Vine creature approaches, almost hits us reaching into room, but then retreats.
As we watch, Garuk attacked from behind by water creature in glass armour. He phased just at the right time for the attack to pass where he was and went undamaged.
Fulgar leapt over the table, calling for vengence on the creature that attacked without honour in Shang-Ti's holy place. He slashed at the creaure.
Garuk threw dust of dryness at the bit of the creature that wasn't encased in armour, and he threw a handful at it - utterly destroying it in a flash.