The Biscuits	Dollin - Druid 7th Level (PC) Gimar - Fighter 8th Level (PC) Jaron - Paladin 7th Level (PC) Little John - Fighter 7th Level (NPC) Nicola - Cleric 7th Level (PC) Rheaphlyndar - Thief 9th Level (PC) Wed - Mage 7th Level (NPC) Yodavan - Mage/Cleric 2nd/4th (PC) Lemuel - Cleric (NPC)
Locale	The Ruins of Pontylver
Date	4th day of Patchwall, 585 CY (Common Year)
Time	Late afternoon

Led by Nicola's unspoken vision, the Biscuits came upon a ruined temple. Ruined was a relative term, of course, since the rest of the city around it was merely smoking ash and charred rubble.

Rheaphlyndar took point and examined each step. The ruins around them were curiously quiet, although Jaron sensed a foreboding evil all around them.

After reaching the platform, Rheaph worked his way towards the central statue. It had the body of a man, with the head and feet of an oversized vulture. A snake was twined around the left arm, and the right was skeletal bone.

Rheaphlyndar	There's some sort of inscription here.
Wed	Not only that, but the tile you stand on contains some sort of runes.
Rheaphlyndar	Cowabunga!

Indeed, four large glyphs were crafted into the tiled floor of the structure. After a bit of examination, Wed pronounced them to be of the four elements.

The party thought about this while the sun crawled across the sky. A cockatrice attacked from a nearby hole, and after it was destroyed Gimar set to flooding the underground. Finally, the party decided that no trap would swallow them. At least not immediately.

Wed	The inscription says something along the lines of "All who ask will be welcomed to the realm of Amnissos."
Gimar	You are sure that Amnissos is not some plain of hell?
Nicola	(fidgetting) Of course I'm sure.

Even still, all cleared the platform while Nicola made query to the statue from the steps. Failing that, she moved forward and asked again.

The statue moved, gliding silently across the tile, and revealing a steep staircase down into the darkness.

The small room revealed a horrific door and the statuary head of a medusa. Wed translated the runes to be something like "Quench my thirst" and, after trying a combination of fluids, finally settled on blood.

Though not all in party were too keen on it, eventually everybody sacrificed a few drops of blood and the door opened.

Beyond was a great hall, filled with statues. Lifelike statues. Gimar estimated that they could each have been living at one time.

Rheaphlyndar	Those statues -- they are all looking up.
Gimar	And all turned to stone. Maybe we should . . .
Nicola	Oh, brother.

The biscuits concocted a plan to keep themselves from looking up, at any cost. They tied ropes around their necks and heads, then tied their own heads down.

Then they shuffled around the room, checking out the various statues.

After checking out many of the statues, Gimar and party decided to rescue one of them. Selecting an appropriately garbed dwarf, Gimar used the power of his ancient battleaxe to bring life from stone.

Shalin	Wh - wh - where am I ?
Nicola	What do you remember?
Shalin	Huh?
Gimar	It's ok. We found you here in this temple, turned into a stone statue. What is the last thing you remember?
Shalin	Well, I was just in this room with our party. Thunk was trying to open the door, then this face above the door -- but this isn't that place. One question.
Gimar	Shoot
Shalin	Why are their ropes around your heads?

The young dwarf was led back to the entranceway, which he immediately recognized. He was then led out into the fading sunlight of the day, and a look of shock was prominent on his features.

Shalin	Where did the city go?
Gimar	What do you remember?
Shalin	This is Pontylver. My adventuring friends decided to explore this old abandoned temple, which was fenced off from the rest of the neighborhood. There was a great hall over there, and a wizards tower just up on that hill, and . . .

Nicola recognized some of the buildings mentioned from her dream, but said nothing.

Gimar stayed up half the night with Shalin, filling him in on what had happened in the world in the last hundred years or so. Shalin listened as an apprentice would.

There were no encounters during the night.

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