The Provokers: Session 02 - The Temple of Gefion

Episode Link

**The Temple of Gefion** is the second session in the Provokers campaign that originally aired on October 5th, 2014.

## Synopsis

### Recap

The Provokers finish their battle in the temple and tie up their two remaining enemies. They gain information about the Corrupter through their prisoners and gain access to the crypt below the temple. Inside, the group faces some scarecrows and an owlbear, but eventually recover the relic they were tasked to procure. However, when the party resurfaces, they find their prisoners decapitated by a mysterious man who appears to be The Corrupter.

### In-Depth

##### Inside the Temple

At the end of the last session, The Provokers had just brought down the giant mohawked man as he suicided by spraying alchemist fire.

Dice continues the battle as he charges with icy cold hands towards the bald-headed woman exclaiming, “Freeze the meat!” Followed up with a well-placed blow, Deurgen shatters the knee cap of the woman, resulting in a cry of pain. The last remaining raider drops his axe and surrenders, seeing himself outnumbered. The woman, knowing she is not long for the world, begins to relate information to the Provokers.

She reveals that the Corrupter came to her people many years ago with the promise of a glorious crusade in capturing the north. She tells them of the other raiders, now the Corrupter’s army, that pressed northward, but gives no information on where the Corrupter is specifically headed. Brasswick comes to close to sinking his axe in the woman’s head after she insulted the group’s deities, but he resists. Deurgen insists on healing her, but she refuses, noting a death here or a delayed one later at the hands of the Corrupter. Through strong-arming her, the group finds out that the Corrupter’s army is headed to Falhast in less than a month’s time. This prompts Deurgen to heal her anyway, as a red and golden light emanates from his hands, resetting the knee and piecing together the broken bones. She reluctantly admires the righteousness of the ‘men of the north’ before her and comments on the relic kept in the crypt below the temple. While discussing what to do with her and the other man, Dice identifies the woman’s staff, the branch of a yew tree, well-worn with etched runes, given to her by her mother. Dice hands it to her and Deurgen helps her up. Agreeing to tie up the two remaining raiders, the Provokers bind them with rope and keep the two together.

The group then decides to examine the desecrated statue of Gefion. After looking upon what’s left of a woman clutching a sickle and shovel, Brasswick uncovers an inscription on the pedestal: “Soil on my hands, grass beneath my feet, whispered wind in my ear.” The group quickly springs to action with Deurgen fetching some soil and grass and assigning these elements as the statues suggested. Deurgen then turns to Brasswick saying, “Get to blowing, lad.” After whispering sweet nothings, a spiral staircase opens up in front of the statue, leading down into the darkness. Brasswick tells the group, “I still got it. Let’s go, gentlemen,” and the Provokers head below, leaving the bald women and the other raider tied up.

##### In the Crypt Below

The Provokers travel into the crypt, and come to a rectangular room with thick moss on the floor and large vines intertwined with the ceiling and the walls. Four alcoves, two on either side, containing scarecrows stare at the group. Deurgen whips out a torch, temporarily blinding the adventurers using night vision, but in doing so, catches a glimpse of the scarecrows beginning to move. As Aerdon moves to decapitate one, a sickly blue light emanates from three of the alcoves and the three scarecrows lurch forward and ponce on the party. The group begins to hack, slash, and bash at the scarecrows. Soon the party begins to take out torches to start setting the scarecrows ablaze, while Dice recognizes that the scarecrows are only active when their arcane circles in their alcoves are intact. Dice relates the
information to the party as they begin to dispatch of the rest of them. By either destroying them or their alcoves, the scarecrows return to heaps of hay and wood.

After the chaos of the battle, the dwarves use their stone-cunning to discover that the temple was made by humans and hill dwarves. They infer that the temple was once a place where people were allowed to come down, see the relic, pay their respects, and pray for a good harvest. However, it seems to have been sealed up for a great deal of time.

After learning of this new information, the group continues onward after picking up their dropped weapons. They then encounter a stout looking skeleton of a dwarf clutching a shovel and buried by rubble. Also in the room before the party, floating a few inches off the floor, is the spectral form a dwarf, pacing back and forth muttering, “No, that is not it. No, that is not it.” The party learns that this ghost of a dwarf is pondering a riddle. “Walk on the living, they do not mumble. Walk on the dead, they mutter and grumble.” Deurgen asks if it’s wheat, but the ghost responds with, “No, no, I thought of that, it’s not that.” Aerdon though, answers with leaves, solving the riddle. “Bested by an elf – at riddles…What kind of dwarf am I that I can’t beat an elf at riddles?”

It is then revealed that the apparition is the uncle of Turl Loam,
and is therefore Brill Loam. Brill asks the group to deliver a wooden dwarvish-solider to Turl, as he still thinks Turl is a young dwarf. The group happily obliges and Brill’s presence fades away. Brasswick sees the toy and exclaims, “Look guys! It’s me!”

The party moves ahead and sends their companion with the lightest feet, Aerdon, to scope out ahead. He comes to a split in the crypt with the southwest passage leading towards what was once the crypt, with the southeast passage heading towards a caved in wall with a cavern on the otherside, with feathers, rotting bones, and a foul stench. Aerdon confers with the party about what the creature might be. After some quick jabs about freezing or cooking the meat it might have, Dice responds, “Let’s provoke it.” Despite the urge to provoke, the group decides to follow the southwest tunnel which leads them to a square room with much higher ceilings and a short set of crumbling
stairs, leading to an altar. The walls are decked with engravings of Gefion illustrating the seasons. Based on the emptiness of the room, the group decides to go back and search the cavern of the southeast.

The group enters a room with a sleeping owlbear with the treasured relic in its clutches. Brasswick casts Cat’s Grace on Aerdon and the party beckons him to snatch the relic. Aerdon swiftly moves to procure the relic, but after acquiring it, the wrath of the owlbear is awakened. The party is launched into combat as the group stabs and smashes away at the beast. Ultimately, Brasswick fells the creature (by splitting its head in half).

Inside the nest, the group finds 50 gold, 15 silver, and a magical dagger, potentially made by elves. Upon learning this, Brasswick remarks “I don’t want it.” Aerdon gladly takes it instead. The group opens the relic and discovers that it simply contains fine soil, rich with minerals, but potentially representing the chance to start over again with a divine blessing. After speaking on its significance, the group heads back the way they came to check on their prisoners.

##### Back Upstairs

Upon reaching the surface, the group immediately realizes their tied up adversaries are gone. In their place, a large man with tarnished steel-plate armor and a horned helm stands before the group. The man tosses both of the prisoners’ heads and speaks, “Hand over the box.”

## Quotes

* > "Somebody really loved this place." - Dice
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> "Obviously! The hill dwarves did it." - Brasswick
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> "Show me a dwarf who can hold a paint brush, that steady for that long, and I'll give ya' ten gold." - Deurgen
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* > "Beautiful stonework, Deurgen, don't you agree?" - Brasswick
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> "Agreed. It's no mountain dwarf hovel, for sure, but it'll do." - Deurgen
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> "That's what makes it so great! Us hill dwarves know how to build things like this." - Brasswick
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> "Well, let's not get carried away." - Deurgen, chuckling
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* > “I was told that the men of the north were savage people, that you worshiped false gods and practiced dark magics but I see now that maybe that is not true of all of you.” – G’valt Raider woman
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* > “There are hundreds of us. Hundreds of us took this pathetic little village and killed its people and burned it to the ground. We were only an auxiliary force to cover their retreat, should they need to come back to the south, but…that will *not* be happening.” – G’valt Raider woman
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## Trivia

* Although Dice did say freeze the meat in the last session, it was simply in his head and this session is the first time Dice says it out loud.
* Juce (Brasswick) rolls incredibly well during this session. Rolling three 20s, one 19, and one maximum heal. However, the first crit is wasted, as it was supposed to be a healing roll, and the second one provided little extra damage. The third was to avoid throwing up. After getting a 17 on a Wis check, Barker jabs at Juce saying, “I didn’t hear any dice roll!”

* Conversely, Matt rolls generally like crap during most of the combat encounters.
* The dungeon in the session follows the simple format of Entrance/Guardian, Puzzle/RP Challenge, Red Herring, Boss, Twist, as outlined here.