In reply to The Dungeon Master (msg # 38):

Bonus Action:
Healing Word on Sideways 2 + spellcasting ability mod (10)

Brush will draw her Staff of the Woodlands

Movement:
Step north 1 step

Action:
Thwack. Roll 13 + 5 attack bonus. 1d6 (3) +2 bludgeoning

In reply to Brush (msg # 41):

Bonus Action: Shift Hunter's Mark to the stone giant.

Shot 1:
29 to hit - 6+8 Magical Piercing, 1 colossus slayer, 5 hunter's mark = 21dmg

Shot 2:
21 to hit - 3+8 Magical Piercing, 4 hunter's mark = 15dmg

Total = 36dmg

Combat 1 Rd4
INITIATIVE ORDER
19 Sideways
18 Statue
14 Brush
11 Ferren
3 Ceridwen

The gnome hacks at the statue’s legs, chips and chunks of stone flying around the room as his sword strikes it, once, twice, three times.

The statue turns, opens its mouth and roars like the sound of a rocky avalanche (Sideways WIS Save please), then steps away from the fiery ball so as not to get burned.

The druidic elf quickly refreshes the gnome, before striking the creature.  The creature tries to dodge the flaming sphere, but it too strikes it.

The flying elf rains his dreaded arrows down upon the creatures broken head, striking true, and deep, each time.

The stone figure teeters back and forth, but is still standing.

Ceridwen is up ….

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In reply to The Dungeon Master (msg # 43):

Ceridwen raises her hands to her temples and the circlet on her head glows, shooting three rays at the stone giant. The others stare, having forgotten that the headband the witch wears is a circlet of blasting, not having seen it activated for the past two years!

3 rays attack AC 23, 23 & 8: damage 14 + 11 (assuming two hit)..

In reply to Ceridwen (msg # 44):

I thought it was just a pretty hairband!

And the statue explodes following the witch’s ‘surprise’ attack.  The small pieces of broken stone rain down on the armoured gnome with the sound hail on a tin roof, until it eventually subsides.  Sideways is stilled slowed, but only for a moment, then he can move as fast as usual.

The double doors open into a courtyard that is 80 feet deep and 90 feet wide. Once well cared for, the ground is now choked with weeds. In the center of the yard sits a large pool. Just beyond the pool is a set of stairs leading to the main doors of the temple itself. In the southern corners of the courtyard are two small octagonal stone buildings, each covered by a delicate-looking dome. The buildings are about 30 feet wide.  Vines and lichen seems to cover much of the area, but you can spot old worn paved slabs below it in places.  The pool is 40 feet long and 30 feet across. Its stone rim rises three feet above the ground.  You see and hear flies, grubs and beetles moving in the rotting vegetation.

The octagonal room on your left (12) is 30 feet in diameter. The floor is dirt; the walls and domed ceiling are made of stone. A 2-foot- high platform covers the far half of the room. A set of stairs leads downward on each side of the platform. In the center of the platform rests a statue of a humanoid sitting with his legs crossed. The statue is 15 feet tall.  This area is free from weeds and insects.  The pool at the statue’s base is filled with clean icy-cold water.

In the stone building to your right (13) is almost identical in structure to the one on the left.  The ground in front of where the statue in this alcove was is no longer covered in a thick dark oily substance.

Around the crown of the courtyard you can spot some intricate carvings in places.  It is most clear above the clean area, destroyed above the broken statue area, and difficult to see beneath the lichen and weeds that cover the rest of the walls and lip.

You are all in the south of the courtyard.

In reply to The Dungeon Master (msg # 47):

As the dust settles, we stay alert for any other ‘surprises’…

Once we’re sure we’re in the clear, Ferrin will call over the wall to the old lady, giving the all clear and descend to check she’s ok, bringing her into the courtyard. In the moments of quiet, he offers thick, sweet smelling leaves to his new gnome companion to aid with the acid stings.

In reply to The Dungeon Master (msg # 47):

Ceridwen will ritually cast detect magic and will go to the now stilled and broken statue, then  the room from which it came, and then around the whole courtyard, detecting and hoping to see why it came to life. For the moment, she will avoid the room where the other statue is.

Rahasia steps carefully into the courtyard, nodding appreciatingly at Ferren’s offer of an arm. “Please don’t kill any more of your kin”’ she whispers pleadingly, “It’s the evil in this place that corrupts them.  It’s not their fault, the poor things”.  She looks down at the elf’s feet, “Nice boots, very nice.  Very useful”.

Inside Ceridwen sits cross-legged.  Muttering to herself, and drawing strange symbols in the air for ten minutes or so, the witch stands up, her eyes glowing slightly, and casts here gaze around.

OOC:
Ceridwen:  Arcana check please; Nature check please

In reply to The Dungeon Master (msg # 43):

17 on the wisdom save

After a tiring battle and many burns on his body, Sideways keeps an eye on the statue and pools should they decide to make themselves nuisances again.

In reply to The Dungeon Master (msg # 50):

Arcane 28; nature 23. Good rolls!

The witch senses necromancy and corruption in this whole area (2, 11 & 13), with an underlying background of powerful old magic steeped into the stones of this place which has no link to the corruption, and is indeed wholesome, but so weak, it almost escaped her notice (good rolls indeed!).  Ceridwen thinks that some evil has infested the very earth and its plants here; simple water has become the dark oil, given form and purpose; elves have become possessed perhaps by the corruption.  The dark water’s corruption seems to have seeped into the broken statue, perhaps empowering it to rise up and attack the party, for the statue itself is not magical in nature.  She notes that the statue was first damaged by something other than the dark water or the passage of time.   Who knows what other malice it has converted to its cause…

There seems to be some emanations of Abjuration magic coming from area 12…

In reply to The Dungeon Master (msg # 53):

Can I take a look around at the plant life here and see if it seems to be linked in any way? Are the roots connected, or stemming from the same place? Do they seem to be denser in any parts?

In reply to The Dungeon Master (msg # 53):

Ceridwen approaches Rahasia to share her discoveries and ask what insightthe old woman can add:
“You knew that the elves were not bad and had been corrupted by the evil which emanates from this place. How did you know that, and what else can you tell us?”

She will move towards area 12 y to pin down that abjuration emanation, without tripping the burglar alarm, if possible!

The elf carefully walks around the area studying the plant life and soil.  All the plants seem to be rotting, and the earth beneath is soft and putrid.  Other than that it seems a natural phenomena, with flies and maggots infesting the area.  [Ferren: Give me a Nature Check to know more]

The witch confronts the old woman, who steps back before answering, “The elves here were always good people.  But for a long time evil has controlled this area; stolen it away from this tribe.  You didn’t have to kill them, but you did.  He did”, she says pointing at Ferren, who is scouting round the floor of the open area, “The great elf hero killed his own people”.  Then she turns and walks away, her shoulders dropping, her form stooped over.

Returning to the temple, Ceridwen moves round to the other statue room (area 12).  The octagonal room  is 30 feet in diameter. The floor is dirt; the walls and domed ceiling are made of stone. A 2-foot- high platform covers the far half of the room. A set of stairs leads downward on each side of the platform. In the center of the platform rests a statue of a humanoid sitting with his legs crossed. The statue is 15 feet tall.  This area is free from weeds and insects.  The pool at the statue’s base is filled with clean icy-cold water.  The abjuration magic is strong here, and Cerdiwen can feel that it is colder in this corner than elsewhere.  Remembering the other statue, they look like they may have been identical, and the pool on the other side was cracked and leaked the black oily water.   [Ceridwen: Give me a Perception Check]

In reply to The Dungeon Master (msg # 56):

That’s a 13 on the nature roll. Ferrin will respectfully try to avoid the old woman’s accusations, muttering excuses of self-defence under his breath as he tries to understand more about the area.

Ferrin would very much like to remove this rot from the plant life here…
Ceridwen, I wonder what would happen if we mixed some of the clear water with the tainted liquid? Is one able to affect the other?

To Ferrin, the rot seems natural in form.  But he is convinced that the cause cannot be.  The decay would not survive in this large open area, with fresh air flowing through, and sunlight overhead.  Something is causing this rot, something, or connected, to the very earth itself.  The vines crawling over the stonework seem old and brittle.  The blight in the earth extends further than simply the temple grounds, but it is not as bad nor cover the area so completely as within.

In reply to The Dungeon Master (msg # 56):

Perception 19

As Ceridwen approaches the statue and pool of water, she notices that the temperature drops slightly at about the same time as she steps from the infested area, to that free of weeds and bugs.  The temperature drop is cool and pleasing in this otherwise dank and swampy place.

In reply to The Dungeon Master (msg # 60):

“At least there is one small pocket of normality here.”

Ferrin will fill a water skin with the cool liquid from the clean pool and stow it over his shoulder. It may come in useful later…? Before we move on, can we learn anything from the intricate carvings above this area? It seemed clearer in this corner where the rot has not spread.

Also forgot to mention: When Sideways unrolls the leaves that Ferrin gave to him, he’ll find an unusual glass cylinder filled with a clear liquid, and equipped with a pointy end. Insert said pointy end to a squishy area of your choosing for 4d4+4 healing. Warning: once you pop, the fun don’t stop… 
This message was last edited by the player at 20:10, Thu 09 Sept 2021.

The water with which Ferren fills his waterskin is icy cold, unnaturally so.

[Perception check please]

In reply to The Dungeon Master (msg # 62):

That’s a 16 on perception :)

Ferren notices nothing further unusual about the water … … … ;-)

In reply to The Dungeon Master (msg # 60):

Ceridwen will climb the stairs in 12 to the statue and to a closer look. After that she would like to look along the outer walls of the courtyard (3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 etc) She’ll look to see if this statue appears to move ever, and if there’s anything tucked away here.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:54, Tue 14 Sept 2021.