Sarnin's Temple

Background: Sarnin was at the Temple of Aphrodite in Ancona. Having reached level ten, she wanted to build a new temple. She chose the west end of Serrador, near where the dwarven roadbuilders were building a new road towards Dragonfall Crater, to be the location for her new temple. The High Priest at the Temple of Aphrodite in Ancona gave her his blessing to begin the construction. First she would need to do a land clearance.

Chapter 1: The Gryphon Rider

01.05.1258: Sarnin started by asking her high priest in Ancona about information regarding establishing a new temple, but he had nothing to add apart from what is in the PHB. He also told her she would probably need to have some friends to help her do the land clearance.

Sarnin went home to see her bear cubs and cast a Speak with Animals. She told them to be good, and they were overjoyed at the prospect of having a new home near a forest, with honey. She cast a Choose Future and then a Dimensional Folding spell and stepped through the portal to near Ferrius's castle in the centre of Three Bridges.

She walked to Bo Vezzo's gnomish house, knocked at the door, and called to Bo Vezzo, "Are you in?"

Bo Vezzo answered, "Is that a girl at my door? I think a have a girl at my door! Hurrah! I've got a girl at my door!" as he made his way to his door. Bo Vezzo opened the door and said with a smile, "Ah, Sarnin! What brings you here, may I ask?"

So they went in, Sarnin being careful not to bang her head on the low doorframes and chandeliers.

Sarnin told him the story about wanting to build a temple. Bo Vezzo agreed to help with her land clearance. He prepared his adventuring gear and they went outside. Sarnin cast another Choose Future and another Dimensional Folding and they stepped through once more, appearing by the docks in Tibesti.

Now they made their way up the hill to the Temple of Athena. Sir Slattery was there, cleaning his warhorse Egbert. Sarnin told the paladin the story about wanting to build a temple. Slattery agreed to help - after all, they both worshipped Greek gods that believed in the power of good, even though Slattery found the doctrines of Aphrodite a little too chaotic for his beliefs.

There was a bit of friendly religious banter between the paladin, the cleric and the rogue. Slattery prepared to mount up, but the others said he would not need his warhorse as they would be clearing the land on foot.

Slattery put his riding tack away again and then they hired a horse and cart taxi, which took them to Gertrude's house at a cost of 3gp/person. There they also told Gertrude the story of what Sarnin planned to do, so she too fetched her adventuring gear, much like the others.

Everyone saw a shadow of something flying torwards eastwards, perhaps towards Serrador. They looked up and saw a black winged creature gliding quickly past, a little bigger than a giant eagle. What could it be?

Sarnin cast another Dimensional Folding and another Choose Future and everyone stepped through the portal once more.

They arrived in Deraheib and first found a horse taxi to take them to Slurb's house. There they and also told Slurb the plan regarding Sarnin's temple. Their taxi was waiting for them and once Slurb was ready they rode to Karus's house. He too joined up.

Sarnin cast her last Dimensional Folding and Choose Future spells to travel to Huru's treehouse in Taur Geldor. Huru was there and invited them in.

Huru poured some tea for the party and then they saw that same dark shadow again. Sarnin and Huru flew up out of the window and followed, but it was too far away for them to see properly. Sarnin used her Eyes of the Eagle and now it was clear. It was indeed the same creature again. It was a black gryphon with a hooded rider. A Gryphon Rider!

It was already the afternoon and so they began the land clearance right there, in that part of Taur Geldor. A raven fluttered up. Then another, and another! And another 19 after them! Karus cast a Speak with Animals, but they attacked all the same, no matter what was said, after first asking if anyone was delicous. Most of the birds were slain, some were Slept by Huru and some flew away.

Now they heard a thump and footsteps, and they saw none other than the black gryphon followed by the rider! They both stopped in their tracks and stared! After Karus carefully cast a Know Alignment spell, without being noticed, he found out they were true neutral.

In case the stranger was unhappy about them killing the ravens, Bo Vezzo said, "Oh look, a butterfly!" He pointed at some bushes just behind the mysterious gryphon rider, who turned to look. While he was distracted, Bo Vezzo used his feet to push some dead ravens out of sight.

"Huh? I don't see any butterfly," said the newcomer, puzzled.

"Yes, it was just over there," said Bo Vezzo. "A white one."

Slurb could see what Bo Vezzo was trying to do. "Yes, I saw it too. A cabbage white I think they're called," he said, trying to help the rogue.

"I don't like white very much," said the stranger. "I prefer black."

"I don't think there's such a thing as a cabbage black," said Slurb thoughtfully as Bo Bezzo hid the rest of the dead birds.

It turned out that the gryphon's name was Amsuno and the hooded rider was Fevnim.

Fevnim told the party he was from far away and he could not trust them yet. He also said that Amsuno was the only black gryphon in Darfuria. Fevnim then revealed he was an enchanter who had adopted Amsuno after a terrible fight, finding him on just one hit point. Apparently, Fevnim had wanted to go north on holiday, but was here hunting rakshasa instead.

They were close by. Sir Slattery was able to detect them with his paladin ability to Detect Evil. Fevnim cast an Invisibility spell on Sarnin. She flew towards the rakshasa and when she was above them, looked down upon where they were lurking. She carefully cast a Silence 15' Radius spell on the trousers of one of the creatures. As the party approached, cautiously, so the rakshasa jumped up and ran towards them, in the form of great black panthers.

The battle was furious. Huru cast Fireball, but the rakshasa all resisted. Gertrude did a Ice Storm using her wand and hit three of them. This was also to put out any fires caused by Huru's spell. Slurb knew he didn't have a weapon capable of hitting the rakshasa, but he also knew that his Cloak of Displacement should protect him from their attacks, so he taunted them, cavorting and capering in plain view and calling the rakshasa names.

Karus cast a Protection from Evil to add to the paladin's natural protection, and Slattery himself used his Orb of Might, which can function as a Gem of Brightness, and blinded the one that was not affected by Gertrude's Ice Storm using the Orb's bright flash. Sarnin finished one off with a bash from her +3 Mace and Bo Vezzo hid in the shadows.

Fevnim hit a rakshasa with some colourful Magic Missiles, and the grey elf Huru slashed one with her swords. The only rakshasa left managed a hit on Slurb, which did two points of damage. Fevnim cast another colourful Magic Missile and the last rakshasa fell!

At Fevnim's invitation, Slurb climbed onto the Gryphon's back and so did Fevnim. They flew up for a better sight of the raven nests, and saw a lonely raven egg in one of the nests.

"This will be hatching tomorrow," said Fevnim. He gave the egg to Slurb. "This is yours now. Only feed the bird meat and a few scraps of bread."

Slurb kept the egg warm under his armor.

Sarnin and Huru, both of whom could fly, found two gems worth 10 gp each in the raven nests, and a single raven chick. Fevnim took this chick and put it into Huru's hand. Its mother was probably one of the dead ravens that had attacked the party. Again Fevnim said, "This is yours now. Only feed it meat and a few scraps of bread."

Next they saw some webs high in the trees a little way off. Amsuno gave a squawk and Fevnim said, "I know you don't like spiders. But I think the little ones are okay."

They flew down to warn the others and once everyone was back down on the ground and warned, Amsuno gave a cry and jumped to the side, for there was a spider on a thread coming down!

Huru quickly cast Flame Arrow and the spider fell off the thread, onto the grownd, and Amsuno gave it a nice big PECK! The webs caught fire because of the thread leading to them and out sprang six more spiders.

Fevnim had two perfectly accurate shots with throwing daggers, and one fell. The next Gertrude shot.

Sir Slattery shot with his +1 Crossbow of Speed and hit the spider with three shots, ending it. Bo Vezzo shot with his crossbow and one-shoted another one. Slurb one-shotted both of the remaining two.

They found the rakshasas' lair, wich was dusty and dirty and cobwebbed, much like the trolls' lair in The Hobbit. There they found a cursed scroll, which Slattery said was radiating evil. There was also a black longbow with red bindings and a golden string, a shortsword with a white blade, a light green handle and dark green engravings, and a silver dagger with a light blue blade and engravings in the handle.

They found out that the longbow is +3 or better, the dagger was +1 and the engravings in the handle might indicate extra damage verses cold using creatures, although nobody was able to tell exactly what it was. Nothing useful was found out about the shortsword.

The curse on the scroll was removed by Karus. It turned out to be a Scroll of Protection from Possession.

Everyone went outside. The chick seemed hungry, so Fevnim gave Huru a small piece of meat from a box of supplies deep in his pack. The chick ate the meat hungrily, peeped once, then closed its eyes, snuggling into Huru's warm hand.

Suddenly Amsuno jumped behind a tree and ate a giant toad. Karus wondered if there were more and suggested Amsuno should go to flush them out of their hiding places. The black gryphon then nudged Karus's leg, and he scrambled onto the black gryphon's back.

Amsuno got a surprise attack on a toad lurking behind a tree and grabbed it in his front claws, much like a cat playing with a mouse. When it escaped, Karus positioned himself in front of the gryphon to protect it. Karus missed with his flail, not wanting to scare the gryphon with his magical Flamebrand Whip, and Amsuno bit the toad hard. The toad missed Kares with a lick attack. Karus missed again with another flail attack, but Amsuno finished the toad off.

Amsuno brought the toad's corpse back to the rest of the group, and went again with Karus mounted on his back. This time a toad was grabbed and bitten. Then Karus got a hit on it with his flail, ending it.

Amsuno brought the corpse back to the others again, and this time went with both clerics, Karus and Sarnin, to another tree where another toad was hiding. Amsuno first grabbed the toad, then killed it with a critical hit. The corpse was brought back to the party again.

Fevnim cast a unique spell he had researched on both Sarnin and Karus, so they could speak directly with Amsuno.

Chapter 2: The Forest

Now, however, everyone went in diferent directions. Slurb found a giant toad first and attacked it with his whip, ending it at once. Gertrude found the next and ended this one using her +3 Githyanki double-handed sword.

Sir Slattery also met one and ended that one too with his +3 Githyanki double-handed sword. Bo Vezzo hit his toad with his longsword, but missed with the longtooth. The toad tride to lick him, but missed. Bo Vezzo then finished it off with the longtooth.

The next toad, Amsuno met. He gave a cry at being surprised and was hit by a tongue attack! Karus walloped the toad with a critical hit from his mace, which finished it. He gave Amsuno a Healing Proficiency, but Amsuno still seemed a little wounded.

Bo Vezzo sighted some flashes of light and came to Fevnim's aid. Fevnim had been licked, and had almost killed the toad with a spell. Bo Vezzo then finished it off with his longtooth and his longsword.

Everyone gathered back in the centre, and Sarnin gave Amsuno and Fevnim a CLW each. They checked out the webs for the spiders' treasure.

Everyone traveled peacefully through the woods, until they heard shuffling and an ogre saying, "Keep your mouth shut!"

They followed the sound and saw ten ogres and four slaves! One of the slaves wore golden platemail, was a high elf and had a beautiful cloak. Slattery charged. Fevnim mounted the black griffon Amsuno, and they flew to the lady's rescue, grabbing her. But the ogre holding the chain around her neck pulled!

Slattery went for that one and hit, causing it to die. Bo Vezzo hid in shadows and positioned himself to backstab. Huru Polymorphed the biggest ogre into a beetle, freeing both of its slaves. Karus cast Prayer and Gertrude hit one with her +3 Githyanki double-handed sword.

Slurb killed another and Sarnin hit one with her +3 mace.

Slattery had four ogres on him and Gertrude two. On Slurb there was just the one. The ogres attacked, and at the end of the round, Huru Magic Missiled all of the ones that remained, and they fell.

The rescued lady's name was Ismesta and she was a high elven fighter/magic user. She persuaded Fevnim to take his hood off.

Fevnim was a handsome wild elf Enchanter, with hazel eyes, pale skin, and hair so blond it was nearly white. The crimson glow remained mysterious.

Healing was given out. Ismesta put a crystal into her staff and the crystal started glowing.

They traveled on and found a baby gold dragen laying against a tree with it's eyes half shut. The gold dragon opened its eyes and croaked, "Are you good, or are you bad?"

"We are not mean, we are friendly!" replied Sarnin.

"Good," said the dragon. "A werewolf attacked my parents. I escaped the trouble. I hope they are not dead. I'll lead you to the werewolf."

Indeed, the golden dragon led the party to the most terrible sight. Two gold dragons, probably slain by the werewolf, who was howling to the full moon. Arrooooooooooooooo!

The lycanthrope ran at the party and Huru Lightning Bolted the werewolf, which fell.

One dragon awakened, but the other was bitten and wounded. This one was healed and awakened, a little hairier than before. Sarnin and Huru flew with the two dragons invisibly, all the way to the temple of Aphrodite, were the mother was cured. The family owed them a favour!

During the night, the griffon gave a screech, for a wolf pack was upon the rest of the party. They had a worg as an alpha, with a scar across one eye, and his name was Deathbite.

Chapter 3: Some Vampires and a Peculiar Family

The party killed Deathbite and the other wolves left them in peace. Now they started through the Plains of Jaluta, north of Taur Geldor.

After a while, some giant poisonus snakes jumped out from the undergrowth! Sarnin, Karus and Sir Slattery each had one on them, and on Bo Vezzo there were two. Huru Lightning Bolted them all, killing them. In the snakes' lair the party found some gems, jewelry and a baby snake.

They traveled on a bit, then a pair of children came running from the forest shouting: "Vampires! Vampires! Four of them! Help! Please!" And indeed, four vampires came running after them, over the fields, chased by a guardian naga. Sarnin turned three, Karus turned the other one.

The guardian naga turned and chased the vampires back home to their coffins. Slurb made some wooden stakes to drive through their hearts. Bo Vezzo with his Cooking non-weapon proficiency knew how to make holy wafers, luckily. He used some of the clerics' holy water and some ingredients from the family home.

Whilst the vampires lay in repose, he made the wafers. There were enough for everyone to have one or two. The others did the beheading whilst Slurb did the staking and Bo Vezzo put a wafer into the mouth of each vampire.

The party were thanked by the druidic mother and her children. Then they were on their way.

Next they watched a family of oliphants traveling through the plains, their baby playing and running about as it went along. Really a charming sight. After that they met one of the many messaging falcons, bringing a letter to the High Priest of the Temple of Aphrodite in Ancona.

They met a nasty shade also, and Sir Slattery took a hit from it. It meant he would become one in three weeks. He was healed by a Light spell and started glowing. Then they all searched through the end of the Tanil Hills, finding a cave of ogres.

See The Ogre Eye Clan.