The party had entered the Hall of Seven Pillars. We paid our “tax” to security. We were free to move about the cabin/cavern. We were also filthy, stinking, exhausted, bloody, and wounded.

We made our way to the Halfmoon Inn. The proprietress, Ara, greeted us, warmly. She was pleased to see Pippen and Gastric. She apologized that her larger rooms were booked, but offered us 4 smaller, 2-person rooms, for 2 gp/week each room, a reduced rate due to our previous rescue of Rendil.

“Father Amon is still in the Hall. I see him occasionally, usually muttering to himself, limping about, although it is rare. He sometimes visits Gendar’s Curios and Relics. A strange thing to have the old Priest and that smug trader-Drow Gendar always whispering to one another. But Gendar always sells strange things, and the old cleric is a strange one, all right.” - Ara.

We split up into 4 rooms:

Lycoyne & Kyril
Cathal & Tim
Gonchar & Flint
Menka & Ulland

Menka immediately rested for 2 hours and then cast cleanse upon himself. He then went straight to bed. His sleep was troubled, however, by a dream. In the dream a large Ibis lead him into the southern deserts, again via Guldar Heel’s mirror. In the desert the ibis lead Menka to a place where a colossal temple arose from the sand ^{[see *The Ibis At Guldar Heel's Tower* in the *Sign of the Southern Cross* appendix to this text for details.]} .

This great temple was a platform, and on that platform stood two pillars, monuments 40’ in diameter, fully 200’ tall, covered in old hieroglyphs, flanking a statue, which Menka knew to be Thoth. Menka then witnessed a violent scene which, literally, exposed him to the awareness of an utterly terrifying creature.

In the dream he ran from this creature, terrified, while the ibis watched. He panicked and tore at his own chest with his nails, trying to wake himself up. He then found himself sitting up in the bed of the small room of the Halfmoon, soaked with sweat, his skin raked and bleeding where he scratched himself awake, the smell of hot sand and dry air still in his nostrils. Ulland (and Kyril, who heard the screaming and let himself in) checked on Menka but he was alright, just shaken.

The next morning Menka and Kyril went to the main room for breakfast only to find Gonchar already at the bar. Menka hoped for a visit from Father Amon’s blinded duergar associate. The blind duergar did in fact show up and order a meal, only to send it back as it wasn’t quite done enough.

That excellent and admirable servant told Menka and Kyril that the mages of Saruun were not allowing visitors into the Tower at this time but that Father Amon would be happy to meet with Menka in Gendar’s Curio Shop whenever they were ready.

Meanwhile, Gonchar and Flint, working in their rooms, ran through the party’s loot and valued everything, coming up with a total of 14,787 gp (see table, left). This, plus the contents of each character’s purse, is all the money we have for leveling up.

Unspeakable Cults#

Handing said unspeakably evil tome over to Father Amon in Gendar’s shop presented some thorny issues. Menka had promised Cathal he would try to have the tome destroyed. Kyril was not interested in letting a drow, any drow, including Gendar get their hands on the tome. Full stop. With these two things in mind, the druid and the human priest sauntered over to Gendar’s shop.

They entered the shop and were greeted by Gendar himself behind the counter. The old drow had a patch over one eye. Menka offered the drow dagger for trade-in value. Gendar scoffed, offered one piece of electrum for it, saying it was used and of poor quality. The priest of Thoth accepted the 1 ep.

Menka then offered the spider signet ring we found (in the kraken cave, yes?) and Gendar sneered and spat on the floor, utterly offended by any mention of Lolth. Menka put the ring back in his pocketses, and Gendar went up quite a bit in Kyril’s estimation.

Gendar recognized the remarkably clean Menka as a priest of Thoth, said “yes, you are expected” and pointed the duo to a door in the back of the shop. He also stated clearly that he sought several artifacts in the Underdark. If we were to journey that way again, stop and see him first if possible. Otherwise just keep our eyes open.

Menka and Kyril opened the door in the back of the shop and entered the next room. Father Amon was seated at a desk, clearly antsy with anticipation. Nervous, obsessed. Menka asked if it would be possible to destroy the book outright. He noted that a member of his party would very much like to see it done. Father Amon said no, that he (we) could learn a great deal from it. Menka then asked the good Father to simply state that he would take ownership of the tome and that it would stay in his possession, within the church. Amon willing assented, needlessly reminding Menka that as a priest of Thoth, gathering all knowledge possible into the church was his duty.

Menka handed Unspeakable Cults to Father Amon and the elderly priest immediately started thumbing his way through it. “Yes! Yes!” Menka cleared his throat, audibly, and said “Church business, Father.” Amon grudgingly put the tome on his desk and gave Menka and Kyril his attention. He reminded Menka that he was always interested in books on and of the Elder Gods.

A Temple In The Vinewood#

Menka discussed his desire to build a church with Father Amon, somewhere to the west, near the Monastery. Amon stated clearly that there was already a temple of Thoth in Porttown. Leilon was a simple mining town, not many souls to acquire out there on the shore. Menka suggested building a temple near the town of Byrny and Father Amon agreed. The Vinewood is an excellent place for a temple to Thoth.

Amon said that as an itinerant priest, here deep underground in the Hall, there was not much he could do to help. He suggested Menka seek out Anu Sekar at The Friendly Arm for church aid in getting a new temple off the ground, literally. A temple to Thoth could thrive in the vicinity of the Monastery and Cathal’s folk. If Kyril were to create a grove in the same area the concentration of power could be useful. Menka thinks returning to The Friendly Arm at some point is an excellent idea.

One Of The Hounds#

Menka then told Father Amon the vision granted to him by Thoth (details here). Amon questioned him about the temple. A temple which rose from the desert sands, looking much younger that its surroundings? 200’ columns flanking a statue of Thoth? Amon described a fallen city named Anduril. Within the ruins of that city there is reputed to be a temple that rises from the sands on occasion. Its rising and falling seem random, or at least the timing is outside our ken. This could possibly be the temple the Ibis lead Menka to in dreams, but why?

Menka then described the terrifying, unearthly beast that emerged from the temple as if from the stone itself. Amon referred to the unholy beast as “One of the Hounds.” It is a creature not of our plane, nor of our time or space. It can indeed appear from any corner, but not from any flat space. Amon would provide no more information on this creature. He did ask Menka, repeatedly, if the Hound had actually taken notice of him. Menka replied that the creature “knew he was there.” Definitely very bad.

However, somewhere far to the south, unholy beasts were infesting a temple to Thoth, possibly using it as a portal into our world. Had Thoth given Menka this vision to send him there to clear out this infestation? It would seem so!

Father Amon also mentioned, incidentally, that there is a representative of Set in the Hall, though he is not sure who it is. Set has a long memory and someone, if not something, is on our trail.

Father Amon collected 2,000 pieces of gold from Menka as a donation to the church and to cover training expenses. Menka will stay with Amon for a week, and they would setup an altar in a room nearby at which to pray and meditate.

Menka spent most of his time in the Hall praying in Father Amon’s makeshift temple and writing out a scroll. Upon that scroll, he inscribed 6 spells, shown left. He used 1 sheet of vellum and has 4 left.

The Old Dwarf Home#

Kyril needed to head to the surface, to the town of Westkeep. He would head up by himself as he did not want to put it off. He made it clear that since Ulland was trying for two levels we would be " down" for 3 weeks, and Kyril preferred to spend all that time on the surface. He would return in 3 weeks. It was a long, dangerous walk, so Kyril changed into a bat. He knew the way having followed the route last time we were in the Hall. Once he got above ground it was 8-10 miles to the town of Westkeep.

The bat-druid flew right through Brugg’s checkpoint, unnoticed. As he entered the long hallway beyond, he found the torches annoying. By one of the statues in an alcove along the way Kyril saw one of Brugg’s guards speaking with two soldiers. All 3 were of Menka’s descent. The soldiers took definite note of Kyril as he flew by, far more note than they would have taken of a mere bat. Set is definitely on our trail. However, Kyril reached the surface without further incident. He emerged into the glorious sunlight at mid-morning and rolled around in the dirt a wee bit in an effort to cleanse the dust of the undead underworld from his body.

Kyril began the journey on foot (west?) toward Westkeep. He heard barking and baying in the distance while walking along a river. Moments later he was approached by a mixed pack of wolves and dogs. The alpha was a female with one eye missing. Several members at the back of the pack looked injured. Kyril spoke to the alpha, specifically. He apologized that he would not be their meal that day, but he would be happy to heal some of their injuries. The alpha said they were hungry, always hungry. Kyril cured some of their lighter wounds and the pack relaxed, including the alpha.

Kyril asked why the pack was so hungry and she replied simply, that “we are always hungry”. Wolves and all that. She did say that a local band of ogres had “got a few of them” recently. The ogres were setting traps for the wolves. She said they were everywhere (the ogres), she had even seen ogres and ettins over by the “old-dwarf-home”.

The alpha said the road was usually busy and most of the man-horse-trains went underground, somewhere. The pack of wild dogs then went their way, abruptly. Shortly thereafter, Kyril was attacked by a 10’ ogre. Of course.

• initiative win
• finally in battle in the outside world, Kyril cast summon insects upon the ogre
• Kyril’s Cloak of Displacement saved his bacon, again
• then the insects arrived and formed a pain-dealing cloud around the ogre
• the ogre shrieked and howled and ran off into the woods, flailing at the bugs
• 1 ogre, ?? hp

The Keep On The Buggerlands#

In time, Kyril did make it to Westkeep. He entered the village on The Tinker’s Trail, traveling west. He had been there before. The townsfolk are generally of the northern/Nordic tradition, but the Druidic faith is strong there too. There is a temple to Tyr in Westkeep.

The Tinker’s Trail is the dirt road that leads from the more civilized east to Westkeep. It passes the (concealed) entry to the Hall, which is hidden by both vegetation and illusion. Those “in the know” are aware of its location.

The “more civilized East” is the Barony of Calandia. The Baron is named Lucius Olafsson, the local Nordic Chieftain, although the City he rules, Briarwood (essentially a City-State which presides over a Barony of more rural communities and wildlands), is more cosmopolitan than the rest of his realm.

Westkeep is an isolated western outpost. The edge of the barony, a valley surrounded by mountains. The Tinker’s Trail is the road from the barony into the valley. The Tinker’s Trail, past the entry to the Hall, is notable by it’s somewhat-overgrown disrepair.

The “Tinkers” refers to a trader’s guild of the region, the Tinkers. There’s a Guild Hall in the Westkeep, which doubles as a local watering hole, because caravans are few and far between. Most caravans that use the trail just head down to the Hall. The Druidic ways have taken hold because of the isolation, and the worship of Tyr is strong because this is a dangerous place.

Kyril had spent enough time there to hear talk - Westkeep was once a more thriving community, based on trade with the Dwarves of Silverstone Hall. Some decades back, the Dwarves stopped contact with Westkeep. Some thought this may have been due to Westkeep’s growing status, which attracted brigands, more humans and attention, and pesky adventurers. So the dwarves ended contact. Others says the Dwarves fell victim to something else, and abandoned Silverstone - perhaps the silver ran out, and they left. Perhaps something came up from the underdark.

Is this the “old dwarf home” of the alpha wild dog? There are rumors of a large cold-drake which has occupied part of Silverstone Hall. No one knows. But the dwarves are either gone or have simply discontinued contact with Westkeep.

Kyril made his way to the grove of Auntie T, an old lady and an Initiative of the 7th Circle. Several younger women tended and maintained her grove - acolytes, all. Kyril spoke to her and lamented his long, underground isolation from the Sun.

Bran Mac Thorn#

Auntie T. could was unable to initiate Kyril to the 7th Circle, so she suggested he go see Bran mac Thorn. Bran is an Initiate of the 9th circle who is getting ready for his ascension. Bran mac Thorn had heard of Kyril’s naughty exploits at the Monastery from below, and above, and would like to meet with the elf.

Kyril would need to travel north and re-visit the dryads’ woods to meet with Bran mac Thorn. The way was dangerous; a cold dragon had been seen among the mountains. Perhaps the same cold drake rumored to be nesting at Silverstone Hall? However, dryads, brownies and centaurs also roamed the forest along the way. Kyril thought it to be rather worth the danger.

He reached the grove of Bran mac Thorn without incident or delay. That vaunted personage (?) seemed to be equal parts tree and human. He was covered in bark and fresh growth and not particularly mobile. Bran mac Thorn spoke volubly about druid concerns and responsibilities in the area .

He also spoke of news delivered to him by the bees at the Monastery, at the surface near the library. They told him that the massive, pervading evil had left. The bees and the local insects were able to drive giants and ettins away from the entrance. They did not fail to mention that they found one Randolph Carter disturbing, and that they found two Carters twice as disturbing.

Through other channels he had also heard that a place sacred to the dwarves had fallen to evil. Something was bubbling up from the depths below the mines, and there was a chance they (the mines) could be overrun. Again, Kyril heard about the ice dragon, this time having taken up residence deep below the mines. The ice dragon was not involved with the evil bubbling up from the depths.

Kyril thanked Bran mac Thorn for the info and they spoke of Kyril’s initiation. Kyril would stay in Bran’s grove for one week, and would add 9,000 of his own gold pieces to the grove coffers.

The Temple Of Hidden Light#

Cathal quickly made his way to the temple to meet with Phaledra and get himself some sanctification. He quickly divested himself of any and all gems and coin he held in service to the temple.

Phaledra introduced Cathal to Brendan O’Bain. Brendan could supply 6 men-at-arms to support re- investing the Monastery in the Vinewood. He said he and his troops would hold and secure the Monastery while we (the party of heroes) adventured onward. Cathal would also need to visit some of the port towns to enlist some Hibernian support. He planned to stay with Brendan and Phaledra for the rest of the week.

I’ll Be Seeing You#

Tim Mac Arran was provided with coin and gems scavenged from Arkadios’ burned, beheaded corpse. Enough to train and level up. He put on his best minks and furs and sang Misty and I’ll Be Seeing You to general applause in the tavern’s public room nightly for a week. Liberace was pleased and, from his ermine parlor, conferred a new level upon Tim. Praise be! Tim then rested with a spritzer and inscribed a scroll with 4 powerful spells on it.