We are currently waiting in Hovelton for reinforcements before we quest towards Dakar. Josephus says that he has a small task for us before our reinforcements arrive. We will go to a nearby temple for a mission.

The temple is a temple of Shalmar, the Goddess of Life. Shalmar was the only god that did not twist humanity to her own ends after the beginning of time, and has mostly left the life on the planet alone. She had approached Necros about his doings, and he murdered her. This angered Berethenu and began the war of the gods, which ended in Enigwa casting Necros into the darkness.

Shalmar’s followers are still active, however one of Galignan’s disciples named Krokus entered the nearby temple and killed all who served there, defiling and turning it into a temple of Galignan.

There in the temple the clerics of Shalmar had a device, a gate of some sort, that could transport people to and from faraway places. They had used it to bring their healing to those all over Juravia but the gate may now be in the hands of Krokus and his minions. We must gain control of this gate and use it to help bring our reinforcements more quickly.

Josephus says that he will accompany us on this mission. Eilenos asks if the group is no longer trustworthy, but Josephus responds by saying that that is not the case, we just may need his help taking down Krokus and his men.

Josephus asks if we have any better ideas since he is not really of a tactical mind. We respond that we will have to see what the situation is with the temple and figure out a plan at that point.

We decide that we must gather as many supplies as possible from the town, though we don’t want to be disrespectful to the dead. We take food, healing roots, armor repair pieces and Eilenos takes a large shield.

We pack up our gathered belongings and head off to the southwest towards the temple. As we get deeper and deeper in the forest, the stranger the vegitation looks. After several hours of riding we see a stone structure; the unnatural vegitation looks like it is creeping up the sides. We see at the front of the temple four huge dogs, roughly the size of donkeys, guarding the area. They are dark and furless, with dense scales. Josephus awakens and says that they are Mul Hounds, which are very dangerous. They apparently have not seen us yet.

We discuss several strategies but then simply decide to charge in and attack. The dogs soon see us and let loose a shrieking bellow as they see the intruders. The party attempts to surround them. After a few minutes of heated battle the dogs are killed. During the battle Eilenos drops his sword (which unknown to him, is cursed) and decides not to pick it up. Krodmich hands him the sword and Eilenos says “I don’t think I need this anymore, it is just extra weight now that I have a warhammer.” Krodmich does not understand why one would not want as many weapons as possible. Eilenos stabs the sword into one of the nearby dog corpses and leaves it there for the time being.

Sarthisis leads the group into the temple. There seem to be no other guards in the area. We soon see two statues, apparently of Shalmar, however the offerings in front of the statues are covered with a thick layer of moss. We see large doors on the left and right and decide that we should tack them closed with metal spikes so we can explore them one by one and not be ambushed. Once this is completed we hear from behind one of the doors loud voices and one man yelling “Get an axe!” Sarthisis squirts oil underneath the door and the the man hacking at the door slips and falls on it.

The men continue to try and break through the door but the spike holds for quite a while, however they eventually bust through. Sarthisis squirts fiery oil in another one’s face as they break through and we begin to attack. They are well-armored humans with blades, axes and chain mail. Sarthisis continues to attack with fire and Eilenos rushes into the room to strike with his sword.

Krodmich uses the Horn of Summoning on one of the men in the room and he charges out through the fire to attack the dwarf. Unfortunately he is burned horribly as he tries to advance and expires in the hallway before he can reach his target.

The rest of the warriors are either slashed or burned to death; Josephus helps out with his staff. As the last one is being taken care of Sarthisis yells for everyone to get out of the way and charges across the hall to the other door. He continues to attack them with fire until they are all killed.

Sarthisis goes towards the large doors at the end of the hall and tries to push through, but they seem to be barred. As he is doing that, a tendril wriggles from a hole in the ceiling and stabs through his armor, wrapping itself around his bones and internal organs. Eilenos begins to load his crossbow to take a shot at the tendril. Just then another one protrudes from the ceiling and stabs Sarthisis in the midsection.

Josephus yells “Get back!” and his hands glow with magical energy. He shoots a ball of flame at them. Eilenos fires a crossbow bolt and misses, and Krodmich slashes it with his throwing axe. The tendrils wither and withdraw from Sarthisis’ body.

We explore one of the hallways to the left and see a statue of Shalmar that seems untouched. We search it and find a secret compartment. Checking it for traps, Aliga accidentally trips the trap and a sleeping gas seeps out into his face. He falls into a deep sleep. Sarthisis finds a necklace with a rose petal carved charm. As he puts it on he feels healthier. Josephus says that Aliga will not be out long and was in no danger of dying, since the clerics of this temple would not have built deadly traps.

Sarthisis throws the Merikii over his shoulder and we continue on.