Episode 18: The Temple of Bahamut

The party arrives at the Temple of Bahamut and is greeted by Calumorn Drelrik, Fan's mentor and father figure. Drelrik is introduced to Fan's companions, and invites them to his room in the temple.

Inside, Fan tells Drelrik of her adventure so far. Kika joins the conversation when it turns to the Barrier and the ghosts at the Crimson Drum. This is all news to Ridley.

Drelrik reveals that there is a door deep in the temple's network of caverns and tunnels with a red moon on it and a slot that would match Kika's crystal stars. He leads the group to the door, briefly interrupted by a silver dragonborn who Fan knows as **Riikka**, who seems concerned about a human entering the door. Drelrik manages to convince her, though, and the party arrives at the door.

The door has on its surface a mural showing a red moon above a white dome-like semicircle, with a slot for a crystal star between. At the top of the door is inscribed in Draconic "when the time comes,” and at the bottom, “enter, friend of Bahamut, and prove your worth.” Kika inserts the red star that she suspected belonged to Zeporah, the founder of the temple, to whom this room belonged, and she and Fan are teleported to another room. In this room is a thin walkway across a seemingly bottomless pit. Kika and Fan attempt their rope technique from Episode 1, but then realize they could go back and retrieve Ridley, who can *Fly* across the gap. They do so, and Fan and Ridley manage to cross the gap. Kika falls while trying to navigate the walkway, and finds herself landing safely on the bottom of the pit, only 8' from the platforms. Fan pulls her up and they insert the star into a similar slot on the far side of the gap, teleporting them to a second room.

In the second room is a statue that Fan guesses is Bahamut in his human form, complete with seven canaries. He holds a scale that is currently unbalanced. Kika and Fan place their rations on the higher side of the scale, causing it to lower slightly, and Kika tops it off with some of her gold, attempting to do so without attracting attention. She mostly succeeds, and the door to the third room is revealed.

The third room, a large cavern, contains another pit and walkway - this time wide enough to walk across with ease - and a large platform on the other side with what looks like a brass dragon statue atop a slightly raised pedestal, the doorway to the next area behind the dragon. When the party approaches the door and inserts the star, the dragon statue comes to life and attacks. The party battles the dragon, but all are knocked unconscious.

Fan has a vision of a human woman she suspects could be her mother. The woman is abused by a man, who is later attacked by thugs and robbed. He asks Fan for help; Fan denies him help based on his treatment of the woman.

The party wakes, fully healed, in a new room, empty but for another wall mural of the red moon and white semicircle. Between the moon and semicircle is a silhouette of a bird, and in a recess in the wall inside the bird is a large, bowling ball-sized blue orb like the one inside Destiny. Fan acquires the orb, and on the wall behind where it was sitting reads the word "liberation."

The party leaves the hidden chambers. They encounter Milla in the rebirth chamber, where they show her the large orb. She, in turn, reveals she has been working with a bespectacled young dragonborn in the rebirth chamber, and has uncovered technology like that inside the metal spheres in the room, linked to the egg-like devices. The party discusses this briefly, and encounters Drelrik in the hallways. Fan discusses her vision with her master, but refuses to disclose its contents with the party.

Kika, frustrated by Fan's lack of disclosure regarding her vision, spends some time alone. She meets **Torkel**, a dragonborn who was born a tiefling before being reborn. Kika states that her path is not the same as Torkel's, and that she does not wish to become something other than tiefling.

The party tests the new large blue orb with the red orb from Destiny, but it does not have any effect different than that of the smaller blue orb.

Kika broods again, and Ridley finds her on a lookout platform as night falls. He calls her out on her behavior and suggests that she give Fan time and avoid pressuring the paladin into disclosing something as personal as the vision may have been.