Story 3/4/18

The session started off with the group heading into an extended rest for the evening in Erevan's force hut. After about an hour of sleeping, a small bomb went off at the entrance to the hut. It turns out that Beorn had set up a trip wire attached to a bomb, and Lanaya had set it off trying to sneak out in the middle of the night.

She was badly injured, and moments away from falling unconscious. Lunashe cast a charm spell on her, which made her more receptive to conversation. She claimed that she was trying to sneak out and claim the tome, and that she intended to just grab it really quick and come back to the hut. The group continued to interrogate her to learn more about her and her mission.

They learned that she had actually met The Sacred One earlier in the tournament, and had learned about the tome

through him. She was fairly convinced that some sort of god or demigod was impersonating Pelor and controlling The Sacred One that way. She did believe that The Sacred One genuinely thought he was an archangel. She also said that she wasn't working for anyone specifically, but he main prerogative in life was to seek out and steal powerful religious artifacts.

She also conceded that she had hired several other groups to help her break into the temple and steal the artifact. One group was 3 Drow that specialized in sneaking around and poisons, hired for 400g. Another group was 5 Humans, specialized in brawling, hired for 500g. The final group was a brother and sister Tiefling duo that had extensive contacts with Death Pact, for 2000g.

The group decided that they did not fully trust her, so they tied her up and restrained her in the hut, and went back to sleep. The next morning, Erevan re-conjured the hut, and she was going to remain inside it until they got back, which she reluctantly agreed to.

The group pressed on into the temple, and found an auditorium like room with large purple curtains. They investigated the room a bit, and were eventually ambushed by 3 Drow. One of the Drow knocked Khaelis unconscious, but the group was able to handle them fairly easily, especially after Lunashe turned into a giant elk.

They had two options at the end of the auditorium, an office like area and a private study. They went into the private study, which they seemed to belong to the high priest of the temple. It was a fairly standard office, with bookshelves, an ornate table and a desk.

While searching the room, Beorn pulled on a book, which caused a large golem to appear from the table and attack the group. The golem was a bruiser, with resistances to magical attacks. It shot sun imbued light from it's torso, and spewed fiery radiant projectiles from it's head, but it was eventually defeated when Khaelis gave a double crushing blow with his greataxe.

The group examined the book more, which had the symbols of the artifacts in it's pages. Eventually, the bookcase swung open, revealing a hidden antechamber. The antechamber was shaped in a familiar Pelorean symbol, and had 5 statues depicting prophets of Pelor.

The following of Pelor didn't mention any specific prophets, but it did occasionally talk about prophet like deeds of it's followers. The group was left to ponder whether there was some truth to The Sacred One's ramblings about being an archangel.

In the center of the room, there was a simple wooden podium, holding a tome that was inside an iron cage. An inscription on the podium read:

Release me from my cage

A missile to prevent my rage

A brisk whisk through the air

With slight might you must tear

Speak the secret of the sea

A prayer for Pelor and I am free

The group worked through the puzzle for a bit, trying various things, and eventually did the following to free the tome:

Khaelis used a strength check to pry open the cage

Aeowyn used a magic check to hit it with a particularly precise magic missile

Erevan used a gust spell to send it flying in the air, and at top speed it fluttered back down

Beorn used a strength check to tear the front page.

Beorn used a history check (knowledge) to remember an old saying from the Mirador docks: Who controls the boat does not control the ocean.

Beorn searched through a Pelorean book, and read a standard prayer.

The Tome opened up to the group. Before continuing on, Beorn used all of the mental power he could to recall what he had said to open up the note from themselves way back in the Medda trophy room. In doing so, he realized that the checks they just made to open up the Tome, matched what they had said. The words used to open the Tome were Strength, Magic, Speed, Strength, Knowledge, Faith.

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