Temple of the Serpent
The altar to the Dark God Seth lay in ruins, but the
object of the heroes' quest was nowhere in
sight. Instead of finding the lost cohort of Altian Knight Duran Fortnite, the
heroes had only found more clues. A passing reference among a journal found in
the temple suggested that the yuan-ti, whose stronghold lay nearby in the same
City in Shadow, might be holding an ally of the heroes captive. After a brief
rest in Blackmere, four heroes--Duran, Adarrial, Thomas, and the sorcerer
Falaster--returned to Iego to scout out their newfound enemies. Their research
indicated that the serpentfolk would be deadly opponents, possessed both of
great power and great intelligence. They knew that they couldn't allow the
yuan-ti any time to react to their attack--this would have to be a quick strike. Locating the
yuan-ti's stronghold proved simple, as the vine-and snake-covered ziggurat was
the most prominent remaining structure in the ruined city. Reasoning that they'd
need all the help they could get, Duran called upon Altius to send a mighty ally
from the deity's heavenly realm. The cleric's prayers were answered by the
prompt arrival of Tyrrus, a powerful leonal guardinal who proved most eager to
destroy the vile serpentfolk. With the
leonal taking point, the heroes smashed through the yuan-ti's outer defenses,
quickly penetrating into a central altar-chamber guarded by an enormous
human-headed snake and a giant-sized snakeman. After defeating this guardians,
the heroes discovered that the altar hid a secret tunnel that spiraled down into
the earth below. Wasting no
time, the heroes descended even deeper into the snake-pit. Below, they defeated
a pair of elite yuan-ti--one a sorcerer, the other a monk-- guarding a grand
passageway. The heroes reasoned that the goal of their mission lay at hand, and
proceeded down the corridor despite running low on resources. The hallway
opened into an enormous cavern, heated to tropical temperatures by steam vents.
Stone bridges arched between the cavern's entrance and an "island" of rock in
the center of the chamber, upon which was a great temple dedicated to the
yuan-ti's serpent-god. Beneath these bridges, hundreds of snakes, some measuring
nearly 20 feet long, covered the floor. Coiled above the temple was a
60-foot-long serpent, its body as wide as an elephant. As if on cue,
several powerful yuan-ti sprung from their places of hiding, hurling a barrage
of arrows and spells at the heroes. These creatures were led by a female
serpent-tailed yuan-ti who displayed strong fiendish ancestry (reminding the
heroes of the half-fiend medusas they had encountered in
Blackmere and
Beloyannis), as well as impressive
magical talents.
Tyrrus the leonal sprang into action, charging at the demon-blooded priestess with reckless abandon, while the rest of the group took on the yuan-ti elsewhere in the chamber. The heroes watched in horror as the great serpent atop the temple snatched up the leonal, then crushed the life from the helpless guardinal in mere seconds.
Mere moments into the fight, the heroes realized that they had lost any edge that their haste might have provided. They could not stand against the withering assault of the yuan-ti; retreat was the only viable option. So fall back they did, teleporting to the safety of Great Rock, where they hoped to find allies for a return trip to Iego.
Meanwhile, Back in Great Rock...
As spring gave way to the early days of summer, the heroes responsible for the defeat of Gungir, Jarl of the Frost Giants, and his half-dragon offspring enjoyed some well-deserved rest.
This rest was interrupted by dire news from Great Rock: Dietric, the grizzled blacksmith who had mentored Jarvis Osburn in the fighter's youth, had been brutally slain by a strange metallic catlike creature, right in his own smithy! Only the timely arrival of the elderly wizard Steidel managed to drive the creature off, though Steidel allowed that his spells hadn't seemed to injure the creature significantly.
Arriving in Great Rock a couple days after the assault, the heroes determined that they would track this beast to wherever it had fled. Relying on the peerless talents of the ranger Beran Findalson, the heroes followed the trail for a full week. Along the way, they learned that the creature--which Stannis's research had determined was called a "steel predator"--had made a similar assault at Fort Kavanaugh.
The trail led into the woods of Brithonen, finally ending in a small cave that smelled faintly of brimstone. Consulting with their ally Iovan, the heroes learned that the cave, called the Hellgate by the elves, was actually a portal to another plane. Iovan offered to assist the heroes in their search for Dietric's killer in exchange for their help in a matter of grave importance to him.
Scant days earlier, Iovan related, his lifemate Iolanthe--herself a powerful druid of Anaerynsia, the elven goddess--had been kidnapped by a group of spider elves. Iovan's divinations revealed that Iolanthe was no longer on this world, but had instead been taken to the abyssal realm known as the Demonweb, almost certainly for some foul sacrificial rite. He begged the heroes to find his beloved Iolanthe, offering them any help he could provide in their own quest.
Grimly, the heroes nodded. Thanks to their previous encounters with the horrid spider elves of Chael Rekshaar, they knew of the creatures' vile nature. They also suspected that they knew a way to get to the Demonweb--the dark portal found in the spider elves' cavern lair overlooking Chael Rekshaar. All they needed to pass through the gateway was a being with fiendish blood. But where to find someone of such ancestry?
But their ruminations were interrupted by a telepathic summons from Duran Fortnite, who had just arrived in Great Rock with his exhausted comrades. Victory against the yuan-ti lay at hand, but they needed help. Could their old friends lend assistance in this quest?
Back to Iego
The question was no sooner asked than answered, as Alarion, Beran, Jarvis, and Stannis joined Duran, Adarrial and the sturdy dwarf Thorgrimm in a return trip to the City in Shadow.
This time, the battle proved just as fierce. Axes, swords, arrows, and spells flew back and forth. As the tide seemed to flow in the heroes' favor, the demonblooded yuan-ti priestess called for divine assistance. Suddenly, a six-armed snake-bodied demon appeared, stating in no uncertain terms that she was here "to destroy those who had slain two of my daughters and now threatened a third."
The heroes redoubled their efforts, pouring on all the powers at their disposal. The yuan-ti defenders of the temple fell, followed closely by the gigantic serpent that had slain the leonal. Then the marilith demon itself was destroyed, leaving only the priestess herself. Perhaps sensing that defeat was inevitable, the fiendish creature called once again upon her magical powers, departing the scene in a puff of smoke.
Searching this final chamber, the heroes discovered a hidden chamber beneath the temple floor. They pried up the stone platform, hoping against hope that it concealed their lost companion.
As it turns out, they were only partially correct. The chamber did indeed conceal an ally of the heroes, one whom they had not seen in many months. But it was not Rexander the hound archon who was in the grasp of the yuan-ti, but the temple raider Caedrus!
The half-elf, clearly overjoyed at his friends' arrival, told them how he had traveled to Iego in search of forgotten temples loaded with gold. Instead, he had been captured by the yuan-ti and subjected to a torturous procedure. Though he didn't understand exactly what was going on, Caedrus seemed certain that the yuan-ti were puzzled by some aspect of his physical reactions to the process, and had followed it up with a wide range of tests. To his relief, he felt none the worse for wear, though admitted to being horribly drained and exhausted. The more perceptive characters weren't so sure about the truth of this story, however, as something seemed subtly different, somehow...wrong...about their occasional adventuring companion.
To the heroes' dismay, no clues to Rexander's whereabouts could be found. The trail that had led them to Iego was once again as cold as death. Duran was despondent--to seem so close, only to have the quest slip through his fingers.
Then Alarion spoke up. "Hey, as long as you guys aren't busy, I don't suppose you'd mind helping us out with a problem of our own?"
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