The Biscuits	Gimar - Fighter 8th Level (PC) Jaron - Paladin 3rd Level (PC) Rheaphlyndar - Thief 7th Level (PC) Nicola - Cleric 1st Level (PC) Wed - Mage 3rd Level (NPC) Little John - Fighter 4th Level (NPC)
Locale	Temple of Elemental Evil, Ground Floor
Date	7th of Fireseek, 585 CY (Common Year)
Time	Late Afternoon

The last thing the party decided to do before discussing their many options was to explore the grand staircase. Gimar pulled out the rock with continual light cast on it, and the group descended.

The steps were quite steep, with one foot risers. The stone was highly polished and created weird reflections from the continual light. After a moderate descent, the party came to a ten foot landing. In front of them was a massive set of double doors, exactly matching the entrance. The Biscuits then returned to the main temple floor and rested. While bodies were silent, the tongues were not so.

Nicola	Naturally all these altars need to be purified.
Gimar	Well the best thing I've heard of is Holy Water.
Nicola	Darn, and I used that in the fight with those undead.
Little John	I bet we can get more in town.
Nicola	Why do you think the horses shied away from that hallway over by the entrance?
Gimar	I would bet it is because of the powerful magics encompassed in those entrance doors.
Wed	I would like to take another look at those runes -- may I borrow your continual light, Gimar?
Gimar	Sure.
Nicola	I would bet the Mace of Knocking would get through those big doors. On the other hand, I am a little leary of those warning glyphs.
Rheaphlyndar	I don't mind telling you, I've removed many traps, but not the magical kind. That just isn't in my job description.
Nicola	I think one of the smaller staircases in the wings might be the more discrete entrance. On the other hand, there is much to be said for brazenly tackling the grand staircase instead of skulking about. I would like to vote for the latter.
Gimar	I also vote for the grand staircase. We are here to smite evil, not sneak up on it and scare it away.
Wed	(returning) Okay, besides the heavy iron chains, all the cracks in those doors are sealed with soft iron. The runes glow, and seem to glow a little more when approached. I am no expert in rune magic, so I won't even try to translate those, but I did copy them down in my notebook in case we find somebody who can. Also I noticed some sort of magical antipathy when I approached the doors, which I resisted. However, if Rheaphlyndar here can't approach the doors, he can't check for traps. If you need me, I'll be over here by this throne.
Gimar	One last thing Prudence mentioned -- don't sit on the throne!
Jaron	(looking up from his meditations) Personally I don't think we should start descending yet. I think we should get some serious provisions and set up a base camp here in the temple. In addition, we should have a highly defensible area to retreat to, in case we are pursued by demons or the undead. Maybe we should return to town and get some more provisions.
Little John	Didn't your group come into this with two weeks of provisions? Since Nulb is no more, the closest town is probably Hommlett, but even that is some distance away.
Nicola	I may not know much about tactics, but it seems like there really isn't a good defensible place here in the temple. It is all pretty wide open. If anything mean and nasty forces us to retreat, I doubt I'll be stopping my retreat until I reach town. Remember, the first few levels of this dungeon were supposed to have been sacked.
Jaron	Also, concerning the exploration, I suggest that we resist the urge to keep going in any one direction, but instead return to our base camp each night and set out in a different direction the next night. Once we've gotten an idea what lies in each direction, then we can make an educated decision on where to proceed.
Rheaphlyndar	(Peering about) A base camp is a good idea, as well as not sticking to any single direction.
Gimar	That certainly sounds like a tactically good idea. Of course, if we only take out part of a group of monsters we should make sure to pursue the rest, so they don't have time to set up ambushes. For that matter it would be tactically prudent to explore the ruins of those nearby outbuildings first, so we aren't attacked from behind.
Jaron	I agree completely. Besides, I don't think my horse especially appreciated those main steps or those large doors. Let's make clearing the temple grounds our first priority.

With that, the party led their horses back outside, where they could run if danger presented itself. It was quite overcast, and the light of Pelor was visible only as a dim flicker through the descending clouds. The party went first to the south, to check out the main gates and/or guardhouse ruins.

The main gates were topped by the aforementioned ruined gargoyles, leering under their light coating of snow. Proceeding around to the West, the wall was collapsed at most points, barely a mound of snow-dusted rubble at others. If there had been a tower at the southwest corner, it wasn't distinguishable from the surrounding landscape.

Heading north there was a break in the wall where a cartpath led through, probably towards a refuse pile or possibly a collapsed stable. North of that was a grove of Usk trees, the rotten fruit was small to begin with, and occasionally covered with red splotches. Not even the worms were touching this food.

North of the Usk trees was the outline of a building which had obviously seen a fire. Whether that had occured before or after it collapsed was somewhat debatable. Parts of a narrow, outside stairway on the west side could be seen through the rubble, leading down into the darkness.

Rheaphlyndar was designated "tunnel rat" and borrowed Gimar's light rock. It was quite a crawl, but eventually the half-elf returned and reported that it was a mostly collapsed cellar filled with litter and filth. Also he found several rat carcasses along with cores of Usk fruit.

Rheaphlyndar

Don't eat the fruit.

The northwest corner of the compound contained yet another collapsed tower, and nothing of interest was found until the party reached the northeast corner. There the jagged stub of a large tower stood up from the rubble that marked the location of the walls.

The group approached cautiously, waiting for fire from the arrow slits, but none came. Within the tower were one main room, two doors in the northeast corner, and ruined stairs leading up.

It was obvious that the main room had been occupied more recently than the rest of the ruined Temple but probably not in the last few months. What food was found on tables and dirty plates was quite mold covered. Through one of the doors was found a barracks of sorts, obviously cleaned out. The other door led to a more comfortable room, probably belonging to the leader. It too was cleaned out.

One of the flagstones was ajar, and Rheaphlyndar checked this possible door for traps. Finding none, he pulled on the brass ring concealed below and pivoted a large trap door upwards. He took the light rock again and moved into the darkness of the tunnel below.

Gimar

Now we're getting somewhere.

Below this trap door was a tunnel. Mostly it followed natural fissures in the limestone, but had been widened at points. It bore generally west, though it had many curves. The rest of the party joined the rogue and they proceeded using their normal marching order.

Gimar kept a count of his paces and estimated the party had gone about 550 feet when they came to a small natural cave. Leading from the cave were two passageways, one to the north and one to the south.

The tunnel to the south was partially concealed by a pivoting stone slab, and had been artificially collapsed just beyond that.

Gimar	Prudence told me of a tunnel that led to a lower level of the dungeon. At the end of that tunnel her party found a basilisk, which their elven mage was particularly afraid of. So they probably brought this tunnel down to cover their butts. If we need to, we can probably get through it in a few hours.
Rheaphlyndar	Good to know. Let's head North.

The passageway to the North slanted ever so gradually upwards, and the last fifty feet had the tunnel shored up by timbers. The tunnel ended in an opening in the side of a dry well. Rheaphlyndar scurried up, and whistling the all clear dropped a rope to the rest of the group.

Near the tunnel exit were found a deserted cottage and a ramshackle barn. The whole area was screened quite effectively by the surrounding trees. Also in the barn were a few bales of relatively fresh hay.

After a few missed turns, the party made it back to the Temple just as the sun was setting. After a quick discussion the cottage was agreed upon as a good spot to stay the night, and the Biscuits returned. In the morning they would either head for Hommlett, return to the Temple and desecrate some altars, or perhaps something else.

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