S04E04

## Rescue from the Red Temple

### Summary:

Zholos Rha asks House Gaz to rescue his wife Katryna Glenbain from the Red Temple of Volantis.

### Characters:

Arrokko, Fiyona, Hamza, Rook

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## On the Brink of War

Another week in Volantis, watching turmoil mount in the city. The merchant caravan the Tiger Party sent to the Disputed Lands was murdered by Tyroshi mercenaries, just as the Tigers predicted. The mood in the city was angry and the Triarchs were deliberating on whether to declare war. In Deepfinder's Square (the lands of House Gaz) priests of the Hooded Wayfarer were spotted in the Spice Market. Tension was building.

## Approached by Zholos Rha

Lord Hamza was holding court, when he was approached by Zholos Rha, son of Zholos na Zholos Rha. The young man asked to speak to Hamza privately, so they moved to a back room, accompanied by Hamza's courtiers.

"I have a plan," Zholos said, "to rescue Katryna Glenbain from the Red Temple. Tonight is the Night of Consummation, when followers of the Lord of Light volunteer to be burned alive. The Triarchs have banned the practice within the city walls, so most of the Cult of R'hllor will leave the Red Temple to join in the festivities. I have bribed a Red Priest to let us in to the temple and lead us to her."

The group wasn't particularly impressed with the plan and the Cult of R'hllor were not to be treated lightly. The suggestion was from a teenage boy trying to rescue his wife, a recipe for bad decision making. But having served and befriended the Glenbains, the group felt an obligation to at least attempt a rescue.

## The Red Temple

That night, the courtiers of House Gaz put on disguises and headed for the Red Temple. They took a roundabout path and did their best to go unnoticed. When they reached the enormous structure, Zholos Rha met them and pointed out his contact - a Red Priestess sitting outside of the temple smoking a pipe. They approached.

"I am Daena," She said. "I know I promised to lead you in, but it is still too busy today. Come back some other time."

The group would have none of it. They intimidated Daena into fulfilling her end of the bargain. This made Zholos Rha nervous and he asked to leave. Hamza and his courtiers were unimpressed with the boy's cowardice, but let him go all the same.

Daena offered them a crude map and promised to meet up with them in the temple's underground tunnels.

## The Temple Guards

Following Daena's map, they stumbled upon a group of guards eating dinner. A fight broke out immediately. It was a prolonged battle. At first Arrokko had trouble swinging his long, curved arakh in the confined space. On one particularly bad swing, He brought the weapon down on his own thigh and was saved by his hide armour. Hamza swung his ball and chain, crushing a guard's face and another's chest. Rook threw a knife into another guard's throat. Fiyona taunted and confused the enemy as they fought - she was wounded in the fighting. Arrokko finally adapted to the narrow room and sliced two guards in half, chopping a third's head clean off.

## Sand Trap

The group passed on into another hallway. They sensed that something was off, but pressed on anyway. A pressure plate clicked under the floor as they walked. Metal doors slid shut in front and behind them. Coarse sand began to pour down from the ceiling. The group scrambled around the hallway, looking for a way out. Hamza discovered a loose brick, but couldn't move it. Arrokko steps in and pulled the brick out. In the space behind the brick, there was a brass handle but Arrokko's hand was too big to grasp it. Rook dashed in, and placing his hands on the sandy floor, reached handle with his feet and slowly turned it.

A drain opened in the floor. The sand, now up to their waists began to pour away. But the rocky sand clogged the drain! The whole group had to dive into the sand and remove the debris from the drain. They came close to death, but eventually unclogged the sand and rescued themselves.

## Chamber of the Hosts

They followed the tunnels further, coming to a room with four big, brass doors. Daena was there waiting.

She warned, "The hosts are held in the chamber just beyond that door. They keep them in sarcophogi which are cared for by a Red Priest and guarded by five fanatical Burned Men." And with that, she left.

Rook formulated a plan. He would race into the chamber and taunt the Burned Men to chase him. The rest of the group would wait in the sandy hall, ready to surprise their enemies when they came running by.

Rook snuck into the chamber and saw a large, circular room with twenty sarcophagi. Just as Daena had said, they were watched by a Red Priest and five Burned Men. He threw a stone to distract them, a diversion they fell for. This gave him a chance to spot Katryna Glenbain, lying peacefully. He then taunted the Burned Men into chasing him.

The plan went fairly smoothly, all of the Burned Men were quickly dispatched. When they checked the corpses, they discovered that the Burned Men had all had their faces burned off, leaving a mess of twisted scar tissue.

## Katryna Returned

The group entered the chamber of the hosts to find the Red Priest huddled behind a sarcophagus, a crossbow at the ready. It was difficult for them to approach - Hamza and Rook were both wounded by the Red Priest's attacks. But eventually, they encricled their enemy and killed him with a series of vicious blows.

Coming to Katryna's side, they realized something was very wrong with the hosts. She sat there blankly, staring at the ceiling and responded to conversation with nothing but unintelligible moans. They noticed two prominent scars on her brow just above her eyes.

The group somberly put the rest of the hosts out of their misery. They took up what was left of Katryna an fled the temple.

Zholos Rha was glad to have Katryna returned to him despite her catatonic state. He promised that he owed a grand favour to House Gaz, should they ever need it.

## Experience

Each character gained 3XP
The group gained 4 Glory which was spent on 1 Influence, 1 Land, 1 Law and 1 Power.

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