XVIII - Lord of the Undead
The inter planar shift is felt throughout the Duchy of Aerik, but most acutely within the village of Helix, where the residents perceived what they believed to be one of the most powerful claps of thunder they had ever heard, an event made more disconcerting by the perfectly clear sky overhead.
Along with the adventurers, the shattered remnants of the former temple of Impurax returned to the forest north of Helix. The combined energies of the planar travel and untold arcane power unleashed by the mirror and amethyst served to blast the structure apart, sending pieces of it flying in every direction as it phased back into the world it originated from.
Most of the massive fragments of the temple tore through the forest, crushing and uprooting all manner of trees and foliage as they traveled, finally bleeding off sufficient momentum to come to rest at points far distant from the building’s original location. From the site of the structure’s foundation, in every direction could be seen large, treeless trenches within the woodland, ranging from ten to forty feet in width.
The first person to be aware of the temple’s destruction was Brarth Jastil, a wagon driver for the Silver Standard Merchant Caravan Company. Brarth had begun the day in a poor mood because both of his mules were adamantly opposed to traveling anywhere, a conundrum which threatened to make the delivery of the bolts of dyed cloth he was bringing to Ironguard Motte late. By the time he finally convinced the animals to move, the sun was up, so he elected to take a shortcut by way of the old road to the Motte, haunted temple be damned.
Although the report that sounded when the structure returned to its home plane startled Brarth, he only briefly registered that he was in danger when a chunk of the temple, roughly twice the size of his wagon, struck him at what scholars from a distant age would term supersonic speed. Physically, Brarth essentially ceased to exist upon impact. The bolts of cloth filling his wagon were flung westward, leaving cheerful trails of bright color strewn throughout the western side of the forest. The mules, uninjured by the flying masonry, were suddenly motivated to move with all haste and arrived at Ironguard Motte in short order, dragging a few fragments of the wagon behind them, and leaving several of the city guard baffled as to their origin.
A few pieces of the temple were thrown with sufficient force to reach Helix itself. One of the fragments ripped the roof completely off of The Rosy Quartz Jeweler and Money Lender, prompting the ordinarily cheerful Harnald Huffnpuff to unleash a twenty minute tirade of profanity which left several of his neighbors speechless. Around the same time Valeron, the town bowyer was stringing bows in the small archery range beside his abode when a loud crash briefly deafened him. He turned about to see that his home and workshop were no longer present, save for the cellar.
One smaller chunk of the temple hammered into the ground just beside The Axe and Anvil, demolishing one of Karg Barrelgut’s two forges and engulfing one of the blacksmith’s apprentices and an out of town customer in flame. Fully ablaze, the apprentice managed to run across the street and collide with the Mercenary Guild building, the wooden structure lighting up like a pile of dry hay. Due to the early hour, only Guildmaster Osen was inside the building and he managed to escape without injury, just in time to watch the Guild Hall’s roof collapse from the conflagration.
The Brazen Strumpet was not left untouched, a fragment of the temple’s porch shearing the front wall of the inn’s taproom completely off of the structure. Mitaz Reg, one of the mill workers, had paused at the door, thanking the staff for the hearty breakfast he’d been served when the piece of stone landed, squashing him like a bug, which left Bollo, Taycee, Urgritte, and Merida all staring with their mouths agape in horror. All that remained of Mitaz was his left arm which extended out from beneath the stone, a roll which he’d kept for a midmorning snack squeezed tightly in his fist.
The temple’s upstairs altar, mostly intact, slammed into the center of the village square, remarkably not damaging a single merchant’s booth. The landing startled Norbert Stidz, however, causing the potion merchant to upend part of his display and dousing Reto Sussu, the foul tempered seller of kitchen implements who was Norbert’s neighbor, with a freshly brewed potion of polymorph. Reto was instantly transformed into a hill giant. The merchant promptly went on a rampage which was quickly halted by Derica Ironguard’s soldiers, who mercilessly cut Reto down, believing him to be an invading monster from the neighboring moor.
A final piece of masonry sped directly toward the tower of Mazzahs the Magnificent, who was napping at the time. The unseen barriers erected around the wizard’s spire deflected the incoming chunk of stone, sending it barreling into the nearly completed Foul Pheasant, the temple fragment flattening the newly erected gambling hall like a well placed shot from a catapult.
After this, an uneasy quiet settled over Helix.
Awareness returns to the adventurers slowly. The unnerving feeling of electric current which had seized them moments before they were drawn out of Hades is gone, though their limbs still tremble with the memory of the sensation.
As their senses return to them, they recognize that they are lying in the courtyard adjacent to the temple. Only one line of the columns which bordered the area are still present, the other four having somehow been displaced, only upturned earth remaining where they once stood.
One of the columns is marked with the burnt silhouette of a male cultist, his arms outstretched, his fingers splayed. It takes a few moments for the adventurers to recognize that this charred likeness is all that remains of the young acolyte of Nergal who had followed them into the circle.
The temple itself is no more, all traces of the structure gone save for a few jagged pieces of the exterior walls. A gaping hole in the earth opens into presumably whatever remains of the basement, a wavering glow of violet light reaching up from somewhere in the gloom below.
A few feet from where the temple’s porch stood, an iron chest has been slammed into the earth, like a sword thrust into the soil. The chest is closed, only half of it above ground.
Sections of the surrounding woodland have been flattened and a storm of chirps and buzzing from displaced birds and insects can be heard in all directions.
