The interrogation of Sud, of the Eternal Flame, and Orgaal, of the Crushing Wave, winds down. A short rest follows the expiration of the zone of truth. Sud and Orgaal behave but don’t reconcile on any personal or professional level. They are allowed to depart through the eastern hall which connects to the earth cult area, or so Sud claims. The group follows to ensure Sud’s orderly egress but immediately attracts the attention of a nesting chimera when Haerelben clamorously trips down the stairs. The party backs slowly away with the implicit cooperation of the chimera.
The party backtracks in the presumed direction of the fire temple proper. Theren peeks into a room along the hallway which has been secured from the outside by a hasp and pin. Four hellhounds rest peacefully unaware of Theren’s intrusion. Theren resecures the door.
Bromsby produces a flask and takes a swig. Meega realizes they have similar flawed predilections and takes a pull off the flask. Lefty scowls righteously. Theren charges at the flask, predictably agitated by the sudden presence of his second greatest nemesis: alcohol. After an unsuccessful attempt to snatch away the flask from strongly determined Bromsby, Theren resorts to a scientifical explanation that the brain is the body’s main filter for alcohol, and that filter needs to be in prime condition for LOGIC. Bromsby and Meega drink to that. Prosit!
Theridan explores ahead to discover a room of meticulously maintained machinery. Haerelben, enrolled at Ardak’s college of technomancy at Quastarte, studies the works through the proficiency of divine knowledge of the ages. Nudging the single obvious lever ever-so-slightly causes the mechanism to satisfyingly drive and then settle again.
A temple rando runs by the foot of the stairs at the end of the hallway. The party sneakily deploys at the corners of the intersection to reconnoiter the hallway. Nothing else is coming, and the runner is out of sight. Haerelben stomps into the hallway. Theren takes the lead and finds himself the punctured subject of an ambush by a room full of waiting cultists and hobgoblins. Theren trades back some crossbow bolts. Meega bashes in a cultist. Theridan speeds things along with a maelstrom summoned into half the room slamming half a dozen cultists to death.
A high level caster enters the far side of the room and immolates Theridan. Theridan maintains concentration on the maelstrom. A hobgoblin captain, singing encouragingly for his troops, comes at Bromsby who has flamboyantly presented himself in the geometric center of the room according to Lefty’s calculations.
Haerelben conveys Sehanine’s blessings and ducks around a corner. Theren marks the caster and sends crossbow bolts across the room. Surrounded Bromsby goes to snake form and Theridan trades his maelstrom for boar form. Meega charges the hobgoblin captain and knocks him down. Lefty claws up a cultist. A clog of magmen join the fight.
Theren’s wounds are lightly cured just in time for the caster to drop a wall of fire through the party. Walled-in Lefty ignites. She and Meega take out a couple of the magmen. Boar Theridan charges around the tussle toward the caster. A guarding magman smacks Boar Theridan afire which makes everyone else hungry. Snake Bromsby puts the choke on the hobgoblin captain.
Refreshed Theren charges through the crowd of druid animalia, fighty fighters, cultists, goblinoids, and prodigious piles of perished people to get to the caster who inconveniently ducks around a corner between casting her hurtful spells. Here’s Theren!, he yells at her. She regrettably does not yell her own name in return but instead suggests that Theren will find the power he seeks behind that curtain over there. Theren demurs the invitation and instead shoots her lethally in the face with his heavy crossbow.
Encouraged by the demise of the troublesome caster, the party focuses its efforts on a heroically dressed tough. Flaming Lefty puts the final hurt on him and he explodes violently. Lefty evades with cat-like agility and finishes off the troublesome hobgoblin captain as well. He does not explode. Meega chops down a pair of cultists and they don’t explode. Flaming Boar Theridan gores a magman and he explodes.
Theren is just finishing off the very last hobgoblin when in runs the chimera, evidently summoned by the caster as a desperate final act. Bromsby summons a fire wall around the chimera. Lefty and Meega strike blindly through the fire wall at the chimera. It bursts out, fire breaths Meega, and flies over for a bite of Theridan. Theren marks the chimera and slays it with a bolt.
The party observes the room for the first time. There is a red door to the east which someone wanted to paint with a black cauldron. There are forges with anvils and bedding around the sides. Twenty-one recently created corpses are strewn around, but a search of their pockets yields no intelligence or treasure. It’s all very compelling and difficult to leave, but the party is too weary to risk any more encounters today.