1 Flaurmont 1000 AC - Return to the temple

After a good night's rest, Broneslav felt much better. The Elven healer's work had been good and we was ready to return to the temple and finish the job he had started. Baik Telor agreed to accompany him on condition that he was given a full share of any treasure they found. Baik Telor had seen the treasure that Broneslav had already accrued and liked the colour of it. He equipped himself with a shield and the pair set out once mor, clad in robes previously worn by the Siswa. The journey to the temple was quick. Broneslav returned to the statue with the pendant on it and managed to work out that he needed to insert the black jade ring into the pendant to release it. Armed with the tools necessary to destroy the evil, although unsure how they worked, he and Baik headed through the portal to the middle temple level. He had not fully explored it before and explained this to Baik, as well as his reasons for not doing so. Together they decided that it would be best to clear it of enemies before moving deeper into the mountain.

Scouting the corridors soon showed that the ends of each of them was a portal just like on the temple's outer level. South of the Great Temple, where he had first seen the Rahib, Broneslav found double doors in the wall. This led to a corridor with open alcoves off it. The alcoves contained primitive cots for sleeping on and little else. As the pair approached one cell, they heard chanting coming from it. Approaching completely unnoticed, the pair found three Siswa chanting around a candle. Their chant meant little to the two heroes who used their stealthy approach to soundlessly overpower the Siswa. They tied and gagged them before moving on.

As they rounded the corner of the corridor, they could see stairs rising into a room to the south-west and two guards ahead by a double door. The two Siswa guards stood patiently watching as the heroes approached. Suddenly one of them yelled something and both leapt to the attack. As they did so, Broneslav wondered why he bothered with the disguise when everyone seemed to see right through it. The guard parried his blow and countered with a thrust that cut Broneslav's arm badly (2 DAM). Beside him, Baik also missed but fended off the guard's blow. As Broneslav and the guard countered each others' blows, Baik cursed when his opponent slipped a blow through his guard (1 DAM). Suddenly the corridor was alive with Siswa as ten more came storming out of the dark alcoves along the corridor. Broneslav and Baik swung wild blows at the nearest enemies, felling two of the new arrivals as they retreated to get their backs to a wall. Side by side and backed into a corner, no more than four of the Siswa could attack them at once. The plan seemed to work. The guards followed up, aided by the new arrivals but could not get their weapons past the heroes' shields. Broneslav knocked one guard unconscious with the flat of his blade, as Baik slew the other, and a wild swipe of Broneslav's shield left two more Siswa on the floor. The six remaining Siswa pressed the attack but the heroes were able to hold them off as Broneslav knocked out four more of them. Of the remaining two, one turned to run while the other attacked Baik. Baik blocked his blow and counter-attacked but failed to hit the Elf. Broneslav launched himself at the fleeing Siswa and brought him to the ground. A swift punch to the side of the head left the Elf snoring as Baik cursed once more at being hit. Fortunately his armour held and the blow did not cut him. With two heroes versus one Siswa, the end was not in doubt and soon eleven Siswa had been captured and tied up, while only one lay dead on the floor. Broneslav was not happy about this, but it was too late now. He had briefed Baik, but Baik was more concerned with surviving himself than with looking out for the Siswa. With Baik's wounds bandaged, they carried on.

The remaining alcoves were empty, and the two corner rooms had stairs leading up to the surface. Light could be seen at the top of the stairs. Broneslav chose not to sortie up the stairs but to continue on. In one alcove they found a chest next to one of the crude cots. The two warriors clustered round the chest and opened the lid, only to have several darts fly out at them. As the dart struck him, Broneslav collapsed to the floor. Baik remained standing. When Broneslav came to twenty minutes later, Baik informed him that he appeared to have been hit by a sleep dart, and that the chest had contained 50 silver coins and a bottle of wine. He shared these coins with Broneslav and they packed the wine in their packs.

N.B. Baik is Lawful and will usually act that way. I consulted the oracle to see if greed got the better of him, and it did! The chest actually contained 100 silver coins and 75 electrum coins. Baik chose to keep most of the treasure and share a bit because a trapped chest with no treasure would have been odd.

The two warriors then entered the central room in this part of the temple. It appeared to be a dining room with a long table down the middle and benches on either side. It had alcoves at each end, one with the work KESINI carved in the wall above it and the other with KESANA. The alcoves were empty and encouraged no further investigation there.With this part of the temple cleared and the enemy captured, Broneslav led the way down to the temple's lower level.

Character
Broneslav Torenescu (S16, D14, C15, I12, W10, Ch14, F1, HP 9, AC4, Sword 1d8+3, Bow 1d8)
Human (Traladaran)
XPs: 968

Traits:
Torenescu Family Member 1
Hunter 1
Keen Vision 1
Good Education 1
Empathy with Animals 1

Goal: Prove that he is an adult following the Shearing Ceremony
Goal: Slay a red dragon
Quest: Deliver a parcel to Merisa in Gray Mountain Village
Quest: Rescue Sylva and Merisa
Quest: Undo the greater evil under Kota-Hutan Temple

Allies
Baik Telor (HD 4, AC 4, ATK +4, DAM 1d8)

Roll of Honour
Alki (Level 2 Elven warrior brutally slain while helpless by the Rahib)