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".

Aura around flying things is different - elements in conflict, dust, lightning, as well as air.

Garuk sees him and his chariot passes through us, commanding us to destroy them.

As passes through feel energised and Fulgar suddenly emboldened to fight. The Gods are with us! Into melee. Fulgar punches one with a powerful blow.

Garuk struck twice but Fulgar dodges and I block. They bring nets out as well as their spears. I land a hit and Garuk draws sword and strikes in one action.

Garuk attacks with mind. Fulgar strikes another blow, killing one. I cut down my attacker, and Garuk finishes one of his as well.

Fulgar struck and falls asleep, then wrapped in net! Garuk phasing in and out, so blow passes through him. Fulgar dragged away so we both follow, and I cut at attacker twice, felling it.

I try to free Fulgar but magic affects me and I fall asleep.

Garuk uses knife to unravel net so Fulgar is free, but both still asleep. He fucks around with out bodies, getting bow back and then moves us away from last, confused foe. Heals himself with wand.

Garuk tried to use water to revive us, creates some kind of electrical monster that harms him and me, growing constantly, so flees with us as fast as he can. Massive electrical storm forming.

Eventually we wake up, grateful to Garuk for protecting. Ravenous with hunger so start eating - Fulgar goes for kill, but it sends it asleep again.

Get message from warrior that we serve Shang-Ti and that a messenger will come. Bee thing (6') comes as Fulgar wakes up, and bids us to come with it. Shame of Fulgar - worthy to follow the path? Shame is theirs for bringing magic, not ours.

Takes us towards floating earth with water flowing and trees growing atop. Carry on without him to approach trees and alight on the ground there.

Iron figures standing between us and trees, react and move towards us but slowly. Stream to our left.

Start moving forward and they move to intercept. Others move around edges as I draw them in to centre. Then run for trees. Fulgar gets hit, but then all move into trees and they stay behind.

Fulgar shouts that he has found something, so need to move to him.

Reach ten foot across star in circle. Gold inlaid, but grass growing between lines. Centre circle is a raised bowl about a foot and a half across with burning embers and grate. Wood floating above it but really dark branch (tapered at one end). Fulgar inside circle but not at centre, but seemed to be in pain.

Life on left, death on right, waxing north, waning south.

Step in NW - golden glow and suddenly feel revived and refreshed, water refills, food, everything we have used on the path.

Blessed by the Gods as we step inside. Although I am blessed by Huang-Ti rather than Shang-Ti, and Fulgar seems to notice. Speak of our different ways.

Garuk has papers - very interested in them. Fulgar has a golden torc that is new. All stronger for our experience.

Garuk uses dweomer to understand the "stick" floating above the embers - apparently enables him to summon a pocket of a different plane.

Add a torch to the grate and catches fire easily... then grows into a massive fire that surrounds us - we are in a place of fire now. Garuk uses the wand to create a place that we could survive on within this place.

Difficult to see anything outside the sphere we are in, but there are other pockets out there. Garuk extends the sphere incrementally until it intersects with a rock wall - even when he extended it there was still rock there.

Hot, molten rock. Apply a lighted torch to the molten rock and flames run along the surface. Garuk steps into it! So we follow and I emerge on fire. Fuck. Hurts but friends manage to extinguish me before too much damage (using waterskins).

Once out dark, so Garuk lights lantern.

Garuk has created another pocket. Pattern on the floor - another runestone symbol. Start to approach a pedestal (there are five) and a triangle falls and I almost fell, but Fulgar pulled me back.

Does confirm we can reach the one we wanted. I dump last of crystal dust on to pedestal and suddenly surrounded by water. Garuk summons another pocket, but his wand is gone.

Fulgar investigates water (he can swim) - there is one bubbling like air, but cannot use mental skills and some currents that affected swimming.

Fulgar swims over to air bubble - as he crosses boundary he passes through bubbles but back into air, but only 60 yds across. Fiery creature in the centre, about 8' tall. Flasks, cases, equipment, and charred body floating around in air around it, although not really focused on it.

Creature closes quickly to engage Fulgar, so has to defend himself. Lots of fire coming at him, fights back but not as effective as he would hope.

Fulgar bested it in the end, but suffered some damage. Mini fireball implodes leaving nothing but smoke that dissipates. "That was unnecessary!" Fulgar shouts in frustration, although nobody there to hear it.

Fulgar returns, gasping for breath and barely making it. Looks scorched but wet? Explained about fire creature. Brought vials x 3.

Drink the potions in faith... Garuk and I can breathe and Fulgar can swim really fast! He drags us across one by one to the air pocket.

There is an iron bowl here that seems out of place. We hold on to Garuk as he pushes it out into the water.

We are hit by heat as we appear in front of a great temple facade carved into rock face at least fifty feet across. Sun high but out of sight and desert.

Pillars pink marble, six steps bright white leading to entrance. Hexagon with black jet and gold symbols like runestones above entrance, but cannot make out detail from ground.

Golden braziers - one each side of the top step, embossed with gems.

On the front of the 3rd step is a symbol like the amulet Fulgar found in the desert, orienting the elements for us. Fire above, water below.

Want to see the tops of the steps but too tall to see - Garuk levitates and in response ant-like creatures appear either side of us.

Garuk dropped to floor and drew weapon. Fulgar tried to placate them but they chittered and attacked anyway, striking me but Fulgar parried each blow (they had multiple weapons each).

Garuk comes to my aid but cannot land a blow. Fulgar struck at a weak point in their shell and killed one.

I landed a strong blow that damaged the other creature, but it didn't go down. Garuk struck again just before Fulgar came to our aid and killed it.

Retreat to tent at far end of bowl to rest for a moment. Hot so drink water and debate whether to heal Fulgar's wounds - one looking puss filled and weepy.

Silver depression in 2nd step centre, hole in 1st step on left and iron cap on right.

Fulgar feeling ill so need to hurry.

Pass water to Garuk who fills bowl. Air swirls out of hole, so move around it to climb steps but fades away. Do it again but stay inside the elements - reach the top to find a doorway that is black with stars glowing.

Matches pattern that Garuk took from foe in desert - but extra star at the bottom.

When Garuk places torch in brazier it lights but with a blue light. Much cooler here. Adds earth to other one and that lights too.

Stars wink out leaving just the archway.

I step in to archway and disappear with Fulgar just behind and then Garuk.

Enter temple in darkness. Twelve doors with written references to the yearly cycle in front of them on floor. Six runic inscriptions in circles. Vaulted ceiling eighty feet above, and room about eighty feet long (only forty wide).

Black stone at base but where arches join to extend up to vault golden metal instead.

Hear a weird owl noise from above. Swoops down and lands heavily, but cannot see anything.

My tinder is wet! Garuk helps, and as spark catches see a tawny owl in front of us. Seems to speak to Fulgar in a strange animal tongue, and Fulgar bows slightly.

Changes before our eyes into half-owl, half-human... I relax slightly - Ah, he is Hengeyokai.

Says he is here to help and serves Quang-Yin. Cannot cure the poisoning of Fulgar.

Do introductions - all very pleasant... until we get attacked by invisible foes! Bounces off my armour but others hurt. Animated skeletons appear in a shimmering from runes to our left.

Fulgar howled and rushed the newly appeared skeletons, punching one. Garuk multiplies into over half a dozen copies of himself.

I move to engage as more skeletons appear and they meet me halfway. Fulgar struck again. Garuk's extra images disappeared again.

I stab skeleton with halberd as it engages me. Fulgar smashes one of the skeletons with a second punch. I finish the other one off. Still three here.

More appear though. Fire arcs from a space in the corner and over Garuk, setting his clothes on fire.

Fulgar punched another skeleton to pieces and started on another. I smashed a second skeleton, but don't feel like we're winning yet.

New owl friend chants a protective charm for Garuk. My halberd suddenly gets very slippery and falls from my hand.

Owl heals Garuk. Several of us struck by blows, but not seriously wounded yet. Draw Khopesh instead. Fulgar smashes another skeleton. Only two now - seem to have stopped coming...

Garuk and Fulgar were under constant mental assault and Garuk overwhelmed, becoming dazed and unable to act.

Fulgar smashed another skeleton to bits. Fulgar struck by magic missiles from somewhere between him and Garuk.

Owl still healing Garuk. Fulgar finds an invisible opponent but can't land a blow.

Fulgar's mind also assaulted. Fulgar connects with one opponent. Owl creates darkness that hides Garuk from view (and part of the room at that end). Lightning sparks around Fulgar, smoking slightly.

Owl hit with sword from invisible blow. Fulgar finally kills an invisible one. Horrible unliving thing appears and crumples to floor.

Clouds of nauseous gases envelop me - Fulgar just manages to get out but I feel horribly sick and start heaving guts out, even though I manage to stagger out of cloud.

Swirling pattern of lights fills area around the others, and Owlboy (Hanuku) is hypnotised.

Shout to Fulgar that they had left me alone but then get attacked twice - found them! Fulgar sounds really angry, swearing about the dishonourable fucking temple things.

I'm getting fucked up by invisible foes. Fulgar finds and connects with one, pummeling it until it appears and collapses.

I connect with something behind me with a wild swing. Fulgar moves up to that point and attacks, also landing a hit.

Magical missiles hit me in the back and Fulgar hit with another invisible blow, sags with pain.

I connect well and another one appears and collapses at our feet. At least one left.

Han and Garuk come round and we start searching the room. A globe of fire appears and rolls past Hanuku, burning him slightly.

Fulgar crashes into something and shouts that he is here. Globe keeps rolling past Garuk who feels the heat but is not burned like Hanuku.

Garuk moves to Fulgar's side and swings, connecting with something and cutting it in half with one blow! Same evil looking thing.

Hanuku heals Fulgar a little and then flies up and disappears!

Left nursing our wounds - mentally and physically. Garuk heals wounds with his wand. What the fuck happened? Fulgar is no longer in control of his mind.

Retrieve torch, try to get halberd but still greasy. Do manage to pick it up though.

Garuk finds two pouches and two bundles of parchment. Interested in belt. Swings sword into floor on body. Nearly gets tied up with knotted belt contracting, but managed to escape.

Fulgar prays to Shang-Ti and I pray to Huang-Ti - I pray to thank him for victory and to help us rid this place of corruption.

I find two pouches and a nasty blade, jar and small glass vial with creamy oil, a small ring. Garuk checks them and separates those he feels have power.

Two pouches (one a white drawstring with silver powder, other bulbous pewter pot with metal screw top) and two leather scroll cases on next body so take them back to Garuk.

Final body two pouches (earthenware pot with large cork, two more 3" diameter jars), one wooden "stick", and metal scroll case with screw top.

Walk through the door after discussing the plan... which is fucked when we find ourselves where we were that day. But we were armed with knowledge and experience.