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Meeting     Into the Crypt     Umber Hulks    Stone Heart    Vampire    Beryn     Keep     Sand Giant
City-Between-Places     Beryn's Farm     Bog Serpent     Stronghold     2 Parties     Dog & Horn     The Cells
Escape!     Calrhuvianne     Souls     Hawker Bag     Kin's Tale     Mayor & Shopping     Dhunok Grael
Karubiat Elesis     Underground Sun     Lizardmen     The Boat     Akkenophon     Shurudien!     Ghurzak!
To Karnak     Dice     Oracle     Mogradjinn     Battle     The Hilt     Exit     Strange Allies     Ghorak Lan
Farigon     Calrhuvianne2     Wraithking     Columns     Last Column     Galent     Zeres-kai     Eyrie
Elementals!     Golem

After 7 days at the farm, Beryn is keen to allow the party to move on as Jiriki and Balin, especially, are becoming antagonistic after staying in one quiet place for such a relatively long time after recent adventures. Kin and Dalryslhana take time to recover their energies and then Kin busies himself about some magcal task.

Suva is quiet for most of the rest period, praying and pondering. He is not the only one with concerns on his mind - Morin, particularly is unusually quiet for the most part. At least he and Suva seem to have healed their rift and as the time to leave approaches, you are more assuredly a party again.

True to the promise, there are two hammers for the destruction of the columns of souls. They are a little odd looking, the handle being more like a bat than the usual weapon of war, and probably best used two-handed. The construction is a mixture of bronze and steel, wrapped with leather and white cloth for gripping the handle. The impact point of the head has a recess and the tip of the Ceredophilus' tooth can just be seen protruding from the centre of the head, but below the outer edge (so that the full initial impact is not on the tooth but on the rather sharp risen ring surrounding it - it's quite a mean weapon, other than its specific purpose).

"Remember," Beryn cautions, "these must strike the colums whilst they are exposed to daylight or they will not work. And beware the stronghold; it is likely not as you had last seen it from reports of grim creatures spotted in its vicinity. And the lack of sighting of ogres and orcs. I fear the dark hand of Hawksmoor is at work here."

Moebius is not accompany the party. He is best used in retrieving information in places where Beryn would be less than welcome. And this is not something that he has any stake in. He will still concentrate on the sword.

Jiriki and Balin test the weight of the fanghammers and grin at each other, finding them to be very well balanced and of excellent craftsmanship. Strapping them across their backs (which is a little cumbersome for the dwarf - but manageable), they join the rest of the party who have come to their strong resolve and all head towards Ghorak Lan, the ogre stronghold to see if this revisit may result in the freedom of the souls trapped there.

Beryn has no more healing salved to give out but hopefully will have something more soon - perhaps upon your return. From within the farmhouse as dawn approaches, a dark figure watches with interest as the party moves out.

The day is harshly cold but at least it's dry for now, the ground beginning to freeze underfoot. As night brings a descent in the temperature and frosty breath leads every spoken wood, the party arrive safely at the solidifying marshes visited over two weeks before.

There have been no encounters so far and there is no sign of life hereabouts. Remembering the patrol that almost spotted the party, it is decided to head towards the 'secret entrance' immediately and perhaps rest there rather than risk discovery. The stars and thin sliver of moon and though you are careful, it would seem unlikely that any bog serpent could move easily beneath the feet in this frozen earth.

Through an eerie quiet the party heads to the entrance they used, the temperature dropping again - but something feels unnatural about it now and the starlight seems to penetrate the darkness less well as the stronghold is approached.

The place seems uninhabited and a quick check by Morin and Jarek reveals that the route underground seems to be intact and as it was, even down to the trapdoor, dug out of the ground, frame and all, and left behind, still closed.

It looks as though the wall that Morin rigged should be useable - but rest is needed first and this will best wait for a few hours in the icy silence.

Ranedil 4

As the whispering party discuss what to do next, Morin and Jarek use their skills to quietly work on the wall, inching the rigged region slowly out, aided by Balin, temporarily donning his oversized gloves to give him the
extra strength to make sure everything remains steady.

As the wall section is finally pulled away from the rest of the wall, wispy tendrils of mist curl around the masonry in the light of the Illuminatus.

The room beyond is deathly silent and utterly dark - none of the barrels that were previously here are present and the walls look as though they have been blasted by some magical destructive force. The whole place is purged.

The dark, colour-tinted mist rises almost two feet high. It is not so dense as to make the floor invisible but adds an eerie quality to the icy cold room. The door into the corridor is closed and Morin makes his way very carefully across the room.

Finding no traps, the door is soon opened and it is quickly established that the state of the room is mirrored in the corridor, down to the mist.

Still no sounds or movements are noted but one other major change is apparent: to the right, the corridor ends abruptly in rubble. Huge quantities of masonry and stone have, accidentally or purposefully, collapsed to fill the corridor and it now looks impassable.....

It is deemed that more reconnaisance is needed and Morin and Jarek take the Illuminatus and set off.

By approximately 8am, they return having found little other than some wights that were once dwarves and a body nailed to the top of the stairs with a metallic object visible inside its ribcage. The stairs are chosen but Jiriki and Balin cannot allow the blasphemous dwarven creatures to exist and bring pause to advance whilst they swiftly destroy them.

Morin, checks ahead again and finds that there are two ogreish zombies further along and round the corridor, although they do not react to his lantern's light. Furthermore, he is convinced that there is a concealed door on the east wall and is quickly proved right as the party advance forwards - it is only barely concealed upon inspection.

Balin keeps his darkvision keenly trained on the quiet, lolling shapes of the zombie ogres further up the west turning. And Darius keeps a cool eye trained on Balin, Jax tucked in quietly and obediently at his heel.

Suva, unusually focussed and quiet since arriving here, whispers a prayer from the rear of the party and waits to move on.

A door swings away from the corridor to reveal an unlit passage. It runs east and turns almost immediately north, narrowing to five feet and no longer having a supporting wall to its left, dropping instead into the large, pitch black room below. A walkway, rather than a passage.

Morin investigates alone for 15 minutes, shutting himself in so that he can better listen for anything unusual. When he rejoins the party, he reports a faint whispering like the sea and also a grille in the roof above the huge statue which dominates the temple room.

Setting out carefully, Morin moves ahead, Jiriki lighting the way with the directed beam of the hooded lantern as the rest of the party edge into position, staying back for now so that Morin's eyes and ears can go more efficiently about their work.

Glimpses of daylight from above and flashes from the lantern indicate, as night vision settles, a reasonable idea of the size of the room - as well as allowing the party to take note of the large, 80ft high statue, the focal point of the chamber, without doubt. It has a humanoid shape, although there seem to be tentacles at the lower abdomen and the head, directly across from the ledge, has something of a canine appearance.