The party emerges intact and runs through the room with the cage traps.  A concussion-like quake rocks the room, sending the cages flying through the air, off their tracks, and crashing to the floor.  A deep crack in the wall behind you opens up, and fresh lava begins pouring through.

The party runs down the hall to the fork and continues to the Temple Hall.  The mountain is shaking more and more, light tremors and heavy ones.

[Here is a reminder of the Temple Hall:]
TEMPLE HALL
Carvings and writings on walls behind statues.  Same statue as in treasury room on rotating dais.  Same riddle above the statue.  Dead carrion crawler and mutant orc in center of floor.  Loose tiles in middle of north wall lead down to where the Oracle was located.

Footprints in dust leading east to the fork, then the orcs went to the right and Gillimar to the left.

Floradine says, "I don't think we ever solved this riddle!  Did anyone ever solve it?"  He looks expectantly at Joseph, who was separated from the group with Illborn at the time.

REMINDER ABOUT THE RIDDLE:

The Allevian Tongue†
Three Words Of Power‡
Two Of Them Arigalm And Bartigalm ¤

All Who Pass Must Name The Third Word In
€The Allevian Tongue€


The old tongue†

Allevian†

Has but three initial†

Eight composite‡

Twenty-four¤

ALLEGARTALLEGALA
AREGALLAARIGALMA
ZURALMAAZUGALMAA
ZURALLABALLEGART
BALLEGALABAREGAL
LABARTIGALMBARTI
ZURBARALMABARZUG
ALMABAZURALLAMAL
LEGARTMALLEGALAM
AREGALLAMARIGALM
MARTIZURMARALM
AMARZUGALMAMAZU
RALLA


AND KALLAD'S COMMENT:
"I remember a little about the language," Kallad says. He writes out the symbols for Shae. "† is a semicolon; ‡ is a colon; ¤ is a period, and € is a quotation mark."

The three words of power are Arigalm, Bartigalm and Marigalm. Are they not?" Shae says looking expectantly at her companions, "The same words used by Shanjalae to release the sceptre from its holdings."

Rathyl glances back at the lava, his eyes wide and his nostrils flaring.  Looking to Shae, Rathyl grunts.

"That didn't work for us last time," Floradine says.  "Remember falling into the pit with the spider for answering incorrectly?  I think there's some other trick to this."

The druidess involutarily shivers at the mention of the spider.  "Please don't remind me Sir Knight." she says with a half smile before becoming more serious, "We don't have time to sit and work this out, lava pours into this room as we speak." she casts a quick glance at the concern Rathyl, "If no-one knows the answer I say we resought to using the last of the staff's power."

Joseph remembers Illborn solving the puzzle.  "The third word in "the Allevian tongue," substituting quotation marks in, was the word 'tongue' itself."  That said, he places his hands in the statue's and says the word "tongue."

As Joseph steps forward, a gush of lava spouts from the hole in the ground with the ladder leading down to the room where the Oracle was.

Joseph says the word, and the dais begins to spin.  The party jumps on behind him, turning with the statue and rotating into the treasury room.

More tremors shake the chamber, almost making you lose your balance.

Treasury Room:




You remember the ruined treasury room, the product of the rust monsters.  The creatures all seem to have fled, and to leave you will need to scale the rubble to the cave system above that collapsed into the temple.  Still untouched except by time are a chest and crate on the south wall.

OLD DESCRIPTION OF ROOM:

This room once held treasure beyond comparison, enough for a king's ransom. You know this because the treasure is still here all around, stacked in piles between pillars. Swords and armor litter the floor, and coins of ancient make cover the floor almost as copiously as the rubble. Two huge statues stare down at you from the northern wall, also clad in fancy armor. The only problem with the treasure is that it now has no luster, no shine whatsoever. You can tell by looking at it that it is worthless, turned to rust and eaten away...by something.

To the north and south stand two large ornamental doors with archways. Directly in front of you against the far wall is a huge dais. A huge, ten foot tall statue in bas relief sits at a throne carved out of the far wall. Its two hands are thrust outward and lie palm open and turned up in supplication. The figure is that of some sort of deity looking kindly down at those who enter the room. Something is written on the wall above the bas relief.

On the north wall next to the door, a torch is set in a slot. To the south, two more torches lie in slots on each side of the door. The torches are lit by some magical light that does not burn or flicker like regular fire.

You notice many smashed wooded boxes and--yes, you recognize it--a sarcophagus or two. At first glance, it looks like the boxes/coffins have been plundered, but at a second look, you see that the corpses themselves have been, not plundered, but eaten, by the looks of it.  You see a wooden chest to your right and a larger wooden crate, each aged beyond time with wood rotting and cracked.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:10, Wed 24 Sept 2003.

Shae looks likes she is about to hug Joseph when he comes up with the answer, but as there is little time she jumps on the dias with the rest.

Surveying the treasury room, Shae suddenly says, "The rest of you keep going. Floradine and I will put the chest in our portable hole."

She looks to Floradine, a blush rising to her cheeks at her presumptuousness, "That is, if you are willing to help me Sir Knight.  If not, give me the portable hole and I will catch up."

"Yes, yes, the chest," Floradine says.  "How could we have forgotten to check it before?"  Then he adds, "And the crate too."  He helps Shae put the chest and crate into the portable hole and then follows the others up the rubble.

Rathyl grunts upon entering the room and stops as Shae begins to speak.  His fur starts to turn red as his hair and himself start shrinking.  Leathery wings sprout from his back and his stubbed tail elongates to nearly twice his length.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:03, Tue 23 Sept 2003.

A perfect smile breaks across Shae's face when Floradine accedes to her request. "Thank you," she says quietly as they go aboutloading the crate and chest into the hole.  She does pause long enough to watch Rathyl transform, her golden eyes undreadable but intent.

"Whilst you are in no way able to answer my question now Rathyl, I would be most interested in knowing from which Clan you have come. When we are safely out of here perhaps."

Rathyl changes into more of a winged, lizard-like creature while the party scales the rubble.  Lava blasts up through the trapdoor underneath the statue behind you, and you make double time scrambling up the rubble before the flowing lava can reach you.

At the top, the party runs down the corridor and into the grotto room with the watery pool on the left and the path on the right.  The electric lizard creatures in the water eye you curiously, but they are distracted by the rubble falling down around their heads.  The party safely moves around the path past the gelatinous cube corpses and into the hall beyond.

You move quickly down the corridor to the cavern with the giant chasm.  A skinny path still leads up around the chasm to your left, while other paths snake in and out of stalagmites.  The stalactites above you vibrate in an unstable manner at each shake of the awakening volcano.  You must pick a path across to the other side out of the four paths making their way across.  There is still a clear patch on your right from which sprout the two northernmost paths.  The body of the native still lies in the center of the room.


This message was last edited by the GM at 22:17, Wed 24 Sept 2003.

Rathyl leaps over the rubble, using his wings to assist each jump, and then glides along after the party.  At the grotto room, Rathyl peers back in the direction of the lava and trilling sharply.  Staring about the room for a moment, Rathyl chirps and bounds into the air, flapping a few times to gain speed and altitude.  He flies a few feet from the wall along the left path.

Floradine says, "We took the center path before, but I'm not so certain that is the best route with the instability of the mountain.  We could go to the right."  He watches Rathyl move to the left.  "I wish we all had wings at this point," he mutters.  "We could go left and at least avoid the stalactites.  What do you guys think?"

"Let's do left!" Shae answers Ellid watching the cavern ceiling with apprehension, "And let's make it a quick dash."

Scooping Shanjalae up into her arms, the druid starts down the left path, running as quickly as her legs can carry her.