TGAT: Session 31

The Fire Temple

## The Great Ziggurat of Boccob (Cont...)

The party spot a demonic fly-like creature scurrying around the ceiling at the far end of the huge **Hall of Triumphant Evil**. They decide to double-back and revisit the Fire Temple that they bypassed previously.

## The Temple of Fire

There can be no doubt that this huge hall of red granite, lit by scores of flambeaux and pervaded by the odor of heated metal and sulfur, is the Fire Temple.

As the group enter, an unseen servant slams the great doors of beaten brass shut behind them. Tapestries adorn the walls of the north (wider) section, depicting scenes of fire in evil form. Despite the many torches and flaming cressets, the air seems to carry motes of rust-coloured luminescence.

A brass tube, 20' long and 2' in diameter, is suspended from the ceiling by chains of brass. Just to the north of it is a shallow diamond shaped fire pit, ten feet long and eight feet broad; and to either side of the tube are low stands of brass, upon which are many small blocks of charcoal. To the east and west are great copper cauldrons, flanking the main area of the Temple. Before each cauldron is an octagonal brass table; on each table are 16 bowls and a copper dipper. A glance into the huge pots finds them filled with some sort of glowing amber liquid.

At the south end of the Temple stands a translucent block of golden apatite, three feet wide and high and nine feet long. Skulls grin from its sides, their forms inlaid with hammered gold. Atop the altar is the eight-pointed fire symbol, set in wrought gold. Einrik Stürmkarst tests a theory he has about the order in which the altar needs to be approached and douses a cauldron in the glowing amber oil.

Atop the coals a tiny Salamander can be seen dancing across the bricks, as soon as the oil touches it the creature begins to slowly grow. The party stand back and watch as it advances through small, medium and large size before slithering from the cauldron and telling them (in Ignan) that *"they are all going to feed the fires of Surtr's wrath"*. Cubone blasts the fire lizard with his decanter of endless water extinguishing its burning body and filing the area with clouds of water vapour. Some of the water also hits a nearby cauldron, the disturbance causing another Salamander to grow and join the frey.

As the party battle the first Salamander, Cubone turns to blast the second catching Richard Dickens in its geyser slamming him into a nearby wall but extinguishing the second Salamander in the process. The second Salamander constricts Cubone who drops the decanter of endless water which still producing a geyser effect is propelled backwards in to the far north-west corner of the temple, disturbing a third cauldron as it fly's past, raising a third Salamander.

Without the water hosing the Salamanders they re-ignite the following round and continue to bite, constrict, and tail whip the party. Einrik's full-plate armour starts to get particularly warm causing him to start taking damage from both the Salamanders fire and the searing hot metal, eventually succumbing to the damage and dropping to -2 hp as the party manage to drop the first two Salamanders. Richard Dickens is dropped to -2 hp as he kills the third Salamander causing Cubone to quickly heal the party with the remaining healing potions and salves they had.

After the battle, as the party search the room; Einrik Stürmkarst sits and prays to his deity Gorm Gulthyn for help deciphering the primordial runes written on the altar and the cauldrons after about half an hour of prayer the eyes within the bronze mask of Gorm Gulthyn sculpted into Einrik's chest-plate bursts into fire and as he watches some nearby runes they begin to blur and morph into common tongue. The alter inscription reads: *"Only approved supplicants are permitted to pour golden oil upon it. Defilers of the sacred elemental fire will be cast into and annihilated by the searing fires of Muspelheim"*.

The party convince Cubone to don the fire temple robes and golden chain worn by the acolytes they defeated earlier on, and instruct him to gather the golden oil with a copper dipper, then pour it upon the altar. As soon as Cubone does this a magical mouth on the central golden skull speaks in common commanding that the faithful now offer major sacrifice, the surrounding flames of the fire pit leap higher.

    Einrik Stürmkarst runs back to the main entrance of the temple to gathers all of the demonic canopic jars and pours their demon ichor contents into the fire pit. The fire turns black for several minutes casting the room temporary into a shadowy luminescence before rekindling into a deep red and even brighter than it was before, the brass tube in the ceiling begins emitting a loud, deep humming noise. Cubone retrieves his decanter of endless water and uses it to extinguish the glowing coals of the fire pit.

Beneath the coals of the fire pit they find a locked iron box; The box is trapped with a scythe blade. The party carefully lift and tilt the box so as to dump its contents on the ground. Two potions of fire resistance, a ring of fire resistance, and a cold-to-the-touch longsword tumble out of the box. They drop the box back down and the scythe blade swings out, luckily cutting nothing but air.