Temple of Elemental Evil - Meet 31, 5/10/23

We discussed our options and figured to head north, as we had heard some fluttering noises in that direction at some point. However as we went to 30 odd paces down, our voices were raised and echoed down the corridor, eventually attracting the attention of…something. It was heavy and was moving from the North passage towards us. We backed up. The group made their way with slow care back to the original intersection, discussed some options – and was almost smashed by a 20 lb hurled nickel iron ball hurled in our direction.

Most of us ran up the stairs except for Furd who grabbed the ball, arced back, and hurled it down the hall. And hit something – that complained loudly. Already, time to go up the stairs as another ball smashed the corner he was standing in. We drew up in battle lines and sure enough, a 10’ tall, 800 lb ogre trudged up the stairs with a club so huge, it had a copper sink tied to the end of it. We fought the crazed Ogre but it was Torrand who struck the killing blow. We grabbed some light treasure, Furd also taking the bag of 5 (6) nickel iron balls. So at 2:45ish, we went back downstairs.

We went north again, back to the 4 way intersection, and travelled east this time. Decent sized chamber here, lots of filth on the floor. Seemed to be 2 other doors in here. 4 columns to the ceiling 40’ up – each one 4 to 5’ wide. Sounds like some noises and voices up behind the columns. So the wizards summoned some bees and sent them up to instigate/investigate up there. We saw some swatting, a woman's arm, a flash of brown feathers. Cursing.

Harpies? Shit.

They heard us and thought we were in the room, instead of just shy of it. They dropped a 10’x10’ cage down from above, crashing to where we would have been. Then they came out and went to attack us. One of them started singing – and Furd and Torrand were charmed – who then attacked the party – killing Ophelia! In an effort to shut the harpy up, Albert fired a choke spell at it, and it fell from the sky slowly, unable to sing and gasping as it slowly lost altitude.

And then 6 ghouls charged out of the south door and raced to us – stopped only by the gate. Magic missiles flew, spears stabbed, and we spent a few minutes taking the foes against out one at a time. Finally, and only when it was at long last done, did we go through the trouble of lifting the heavy cage and entering the room. We found the rope to hoist the cage, and once done, held the winch in place with a well placed pin. A few of the harpy feathers were taken for magical quills while we looked over the room the ghouls came from.

A few items of interest amidst the garbage – but we did find a set of elven chainmail! A quick armor swap for Ophelia and it was almost 3:30. We approached the north door and on listening – damn it – more ghouls! We set up the cage to fall and tied a rope to the door, eventually getting it open – and more ghouls charged us. We dropped the cage with a mage hand on the pin – and then spent some time killing all but 2 of them. The last 2 ghouls we convinced to leave us alone, and sent them to the south room where we barricaded them in.

Alright – cage up again and we went to the north door. Some trash in here, more ghoul den. But we did find…a head in a chest. It had “222” carved into his head. Lovely. Door in here on the west wall leading to a living area. Couch, chairs. Set of slippers. And under the couch? A severed leg. Seriously? A leg?!? What the hell?

A door was here on the south wall and we listened – hearing 2 somethings on the other side – listening to us! Damn it. And it smelled too. Ghouls? Worse? Wights or Ghasts? We were listening with care and heard faintly a door opening and then it got quieter. One of us went back to the other ghoul room and looked into the harpy hall – seeing 2 ghasts who had opened a secret door and were getting closer. Earlier Aredhel had leant her Bracer of Free action to Furd, and knowing we were going to get in a fight with Ghasts, Furd leant the Bracer to Torrand – who misunderstood the gesture and assumed he was now given the bracer of free action.

No. Lend. Not give. Lend. Oh, fuck. Fight time! We snuck into the now ghast room and shut the door, just as they arrived to come in and get us. We readied spells and actions and they came in hard. The smell was horrendous and we fought quickly and without any fancy displays. It was still a rough fight but the undead were destroyed.  We looked over the room, some treasures, but there was a golden cup that was magical. And some back and forth sampling and attempts showed it to be a Potable Cup (thanks Aredhel!). Anything put into the cup, would be safe to drink afterwards. Nice!

It was Birthmonth the 11th, about 4:30 – and we were discussing what our next actions were going to be.