Goodmonth 24

Dawn finds the party entering Homlett. As they near the keep of Rufus and Burne, they spot a lone figure by the side of the road. They slow the wagon. The figure does not retreat, but steps from the shadows: it is Elmo. If it were not enough that he would be out waiting for them at roughly six in the morning, the look on his face does not give the group the impression that he bears good news. He looks at the pile of bodies on the wagon, and shakes his head, as if saddened that his once-peaceful town has grown so violent. "What has happened here?"

The party brings him up to speed on their battle with the cultists, and shows him the bodies. Elmo starts when he spots Maridosen's corpse. "This would explain the money found in your room at the Inn. Vesta mentioned that the Inn had been robbed on the day you were arrested. Maridosen never showed up for work that day; Vesta assumed she had quit and stolen the money, but was worried that you might have been involved. That doesn't seem likely, now."

When the party finishes recounting its tale, Elmo asks, "So one of the cultists escaped? The leader, this Dunrat?" Then the party remembers that they have a prisoner: the half-orc fighter was knocked unconscious and bound, still in the wagon! They inform Elmo of this, and he waves it aside. "I'm thinking of which cultists may still be at large. When did this battle take place?" The party cannot recall exactly, but it would have been less than an hour's ride out of town. Elmo muses, "It couldn't have been Dunrat, then..." He then addresses the party. "It appears there are still some of these cultists at large, besides the one who escaped the battle. While you were gone, I quickly left town to finish up the business I had been on... there have been a series of attacks by ruffians on the roads near to Homlett, and one of the attacks was by a group of the hobgoblins. I believe they were from the group holed up at the Temple of Elemental Evil... they have grown bolder, or less wise.

"In any case, I returned to town at about midnight to find that Jaroo had escaped the jail cell. It appears that not long after I left, someone impersonating me entered the jail and informed the guard on duty that there had been a misunderstanding, and that Jaroo was to be released immediately. By the time I returned, Jaroo was long gone. The guard, though very confused by what happened, is beyond suspicion... he's been a stalwart member of the Badgers for five years. All the same, I asked Yether to help ensure he was telling the truth; one thing I've learned in the last week is not to trust your seemingly closest allies." Elmo looks grim. "If I hadn't already been convinced of Jaroo's involvement in these affairs, I would be now."

In addition to the jailbreak, Elmo has other news. "I sought out the bard, Redithidoor, as you mentioned he had seemingly first-hand knowledge of the cultists' presence in town. Hoping to get more information from him, I went to his house. Unfortunately, the cultists had been there first. I found Redithidoor's body in his bedroom. He had been killed by a poisoned blade, and had been dead at least two days. Half of his recorder was grasped in his hand; the other half lay under the bed. Pinned to his tunic was a note: 'My friends: thank you for the potions of healing and excellent rapier. It is only slightly inferior to my own... perhaps we can barter for a trade when we next meet? I look forward to seeing you again soon. Yours in stealth, Chatrilon.'" The party members look at one another, tight-lipped. They have been duped by the crafty assassin once again. Visions of revenge, mainly involving blunt instruments, run through their heads.

They ask Elmo if he would mind keeping the prisoner in the jail until the next day, so they can question him after they have rested. Elmo agrees, saying he has a few questions of his own. As Elmo pulls the still-unconscious half-orc from the back of the wagon and begins dragging him towards the jail, the party asks, "What of the artifacts and the wagon?" Elmo looks briefly at the wagon, then at the party. "Do what you like... I wash my hands of them." He then heads back into town.

The party realizes that they have been on their feet for over a day, and are exhausted. Rather than imposing on Yether once again, the party gambles that the cultists now are too disorganized to attempt an assassination, and decide to return to the Inn of the Welcome Wench. They park the wagon behind the Inn and haul what artifacts they can up to their room (they leave the rest in the locked cage in the back of the wagon, along with the bodies, covering the wagon with blankets). Not taking any chances, they booby-trap the windows to the room, and keep a vigilant watch rotation. To their relief, they are not disturbed, and rest well into the next day.

Goodmonth 25

When they awaken, they visit Vesta and renew their lodging at the Inn for an additional week beyond the 27th (through Harvester 6th). Vesta says she is glad that they have decided to stay, despite the dangers to them in town. Elmo has informed her of the death-mark on their heads, and she considers them to be very brave. As the party heads out, she wishes them well.

The first of the day's business is to tend to the body of Xaod, and to the other cultists' bodies. The wagon hasn't been disturbed while they rested, though the smell is quite noisome, and a swarm of flies have gathered. They haul the bodies off to the Temple of Pelor, and speak again with Yether about how to dispose of the bodies. Yether isn't too keen on burying the evil cultists in Pelor's cemetery, but for a modest fee he will see them interred in a mass grave outside the Temple grounds, but still on the property. Xaod's body is put to rest in a much more dignified manner. The warrior fought bravely at their side, and though he did not defeat the evil he came to find, he fought to the last to help the party take the first steps to do so. No temple to Heironeous exists in Homlett, so Yether arranges for a private plot just for Xaod. There, in a solemn ceremony, the party buries him with his sword and armor.

The next stop is the jailhouse, where they hope to resolve many of the questions surrounding this conspiracy in their questioning of the prisoner. Minaret, in particular, looks forward to the interrogation, enjoying such activities. However, their hearts sink as they approach the jailhouse and see three fully-armed Badgers in front, looking nervous and alert. They ask the party's business, and when the group identifies themselves, they motion them inside, where they see a distraught Elmo speaking with several more Badgers inside. The group's suspicions are correct: while the party rested, someone broke into the jail and assassinated the prisoner, killing the Badger who was on guard. Elmo is grim, saying that Rufus and Burne will need to be brought into the matter. "I had hoped to avoid their involvement and take care of this myself. It is apparent that I have failed. I will be gathering up the Badgers for a full manhunt for the other cultists. Until this matter has been resolved, the town will be on full alert." He looks at the party "I think it best if you vacate Homlett for a few days. For your own safety." He says this with no threat in his voice, but the party can tell he is exhausted, and is hoping that the cultists will leave Homlett if the party does. They can't very well blame him.

After debating their next course of action, the group decides that they should return once more to the moathouse. Richter, in particular, has a feeling that there is something more there, and remembers the mysterious archway he spotted but did not explore in the obelisk chamber. They decide that they will go there, and then possibly on to the Temple. Elmo thinks this is a good idea, but warns them again that the village of Nulb en route to the Temple is haunted, and that the party should be cautious. Not having any other business in town, the group gathers all the artifacts they have gathered onto the wagon and departs immediately.

* * * *

Their fourth trip to the moathouse is uneventful. They stop briefly at the site of the wagon battle, and, after doing some scouting, Fletcher discovers a set of tracks fleeing the battle scene. Deducing that these must belong to Master Dunrat, they follow them briefly, until the tracks double-back and rejoin the road, apparently heading back towards Homlett. Not wanting to return to the village, the party stops following the tracks and resumes its journey to the moathouse. There is no sign of the horse they had left tied to the tree on their last trip.

Upon arriving at the moathouse, Minaret sends Soot out once again for the standard scouting flight. No creatures move, but Fletcher again does some tracking, which reveals a trail of wagon wheels that lead from the road to an area of tall weeds some distance away from the moathouse, and then back again to the road. Many footprints surround the wagon tracks, and it seems that the wagon must have been present when the party was last here. Whether the cultists didn't notice them or were simply hiding is unclear, but the wagon is almost definitely the one they captured (there is a spot where it appears the cage containing the grick was briefly set down on the ground).

Finding nothing else of interest outside, the group descends into the moathouse. Not wishing to deal with the portcullis, they make their way towards the room with the secret ladder in the pillar. Just outside the room, they stop, as a noisome smell assaults them: ghasts! Three of them attack the party, and by the wounds on their body, they appear to be the same undead the party had attacked and defeated earlier. However, they appear to be much deadlier than before... and quicker. Before Richter can step forward to present the holy power of Boccob, one of the undead rakes a claw across his body... and paralyzes him! The others suffer a similar fate: within seconds, every one of the party is paralyzed except for Vangkor! One of the ghasts drags off Minaret's body and begins eating it, while Vangkor frantically peppers the others with spells. Through skillful dodging and good luck, the wizard manages to avoid being paralyzed himself, and single-handedly brings down the three undead creatures. Within minutes, the others' paralysis wears off. Minaret is unconscious but still alive, although barely. Shuddering, the party heals up and tries not to think of how close to death they just came.

Unfortunately, Minaret cannot seem to push the horrible experience out of her mind. She keeps seeing the filthy claws of the creatures, the dead eyes boring into her own as filthy teeth rip into the skin of her cheek and sewer-draught breath washes over her. So horrible was the experience, that she retreats into a catatonic state. Nothing the party does seems to snap her out of it: she moves with the others, but slowly, and only responds in dead monosyllables to questions. Not knowing what else to do for the moment, and not daring to leave her alone, the party decides not to press their luck. They retreat to the room that they discovered Spugnoir in, and rest for the night. Although they are not disturbed, several times they hear the slow shuffling of feet outside the room...

Goodmonth 26

The group awakens the next morning and prepares to continue their exploration. Nothing awaits them outside the room, and they cautiously descend the ladder in the pillar to the crypt below. Once again the smell assaults them, and this time they are assaulted by not three ghasts, but FIVE. However, this time Richter manages to act quickly, and turns the undead before they have a chance to attack. The ghasts haven't a chance against the holy might of Boccob, and they are soon brought down. The party marvels at how much reaction time can factor into the outcome of a battle.

Before moving on, the party once again does a thorough search of the crypts. They have searched this room before and found nothing, but they are remembering the old journal they found, and how it mentioned finding a passage hidden beyond a crypt. They spend several hours in fruitless searching, but discover nothing. Frustrated, they continue on to the room leading to the obelisk chamber.

As they descend the stairs leading to the room with the well, the temperature once again drops. The party dutifully dons the winter gear they purchased in Homlett, and that seems to keep out the worst of the chill. Interestingly, the cold does not seem quite as bad as the last time they were here. When they enter the room with the well, they discover the reason: the round, stone slab leaning against the wall is gone, and the well in the floor has filled with water. It appears the well has been sealed.

Getting down on his hands and knees, Vangkor inspects the floor carefully. He can see that the floor surrounding the well has slight discolorations. These discolorations appear to be the same color as the round slab was, and the stone looks almost smeared. He deduces that the cultists must have sealed the well using a stone shape spell. Peering down into the water with his excellent vision, he can see the bottom less than ten feet down. The party isn't beaten yet, and they soon form a plan.

Richter strips off his half-plate armor (taken from the cultists' gear), and ties a short length of rope around himself. He then casts stone shape himself, while Vangkor casts another spell on him to give some protection from the cold. As the others hold tightly onto the rope, Richter then bravely dives into the water, and uses the stone shape spell to try and dig through the plug at the bottom. His hands part the stone like butter, and luckily the stone bottom only appears to be a foot thick. His hand breaks through the other side, and water begins pouring out. He runs his hands along the very edge of the circular bottom of the well, cutting along its circumference. With only a foot or two left to navigate, the entire bottom gives way, falling into the darkness below, where it smashes into the top of the obelisk. Luckily, the others keep their hold on the rope, and Richter does not fall. The waterlogged priest is hauled up. Now the well has been reopened, but the platform is still missing (though the pulley system that supported it is still in place on the ceiling). Undeterred, the group executes the next stage of their plan.

Knowing that they can do nothing under threat of attack, Vangkor casts fly and swoops down into the darkness, looking for the ghastly grell the party encountered on their last journey. Sure enough, the creature still lurks near the ceiling, waiting! It floats menacingly towards the wizard, who hurriedly flies back up into the well-room. The creature hovers around below for a bit, then floats out of sight. The party isn't sure why, but the grell seems unwilling or unable to leave the obelisk chamber. Deciding not to engage the creature in melee, Vangkor and Richter manage to bring it down with some well-placed spells.

With the immediate threat eliminated, Vangkor flies down with a length of rope, and finds the original support and pulley system for the second platform still intact (although the platform itself is also absent). He ties the rope off, and then flies down to investigate the bottom of the obelisk chamber, which he has not yet seen for himself.

--

As Vangkor flies down into the darkness, the others make plans to descend by more conventional means. On their last shopping expedition, the group picked up many lengths of rope, and they now haul this out. They need first to get down to the support for the second pulley system, and then tie off several hundred more feet of rope to get to the bottom. Because they'll be doing this in stages, they'll each need a light source. Both Ian and Fletcher light up a torch, while Richter casts a light spell on his morningstar and secures it to his back. Ian decides to go down first. He swings the rope over his shoulder, takes a deep breath, and begins climbing down. He keeps his eyes tightly shut as he goes down, muttering to himself, "Almost there... almost there... don't look down..."

--

Before exploring the archway, Vangkor wishes to make sure the group hasn't missed anything else important down here. He remembers the riddle they found on the body of the mad cleric Festrath, and recalls it mentioning the Torch that Reveals. He pulls the Torch of Revealing out, along with one of the cones of incense, and lights it. It produces a violet, fitful illumination, almost an anti-light, about ten feet in diameter. In its light, Vangkor explores the area.

Still flying, he flies over to the marking of the obex on the ground. However, as soon as his body crosses the plane of the symbol, his mind's eye abruptly fills with horrible images of corruption, destruction, and death. His sanity totters for a moment, and he nearly drops the torch. Hastily he flies out of the symbol's area, and the images recede... although he can still feel the images in the back of his mind, clamoring for attention. Shuddering, he moves on.

He flies to the top of the pillar supporting the obelisk, careful not to touch anything. He suffers no adverse effects, but the purple light of the Torch reveals something interesting: a large gem lies atop the pillar in the exact center; the obelisk seems balanced on top of this gem. Intrigued, Vangkor flies back with the Torch; the gem disappears from sight. It seems the gem, whatever its purpose, is only visible in the light of the Torch of Revealing. He wonders what else might be revealed in this item's illumination...

--

After Ian gets most of the way down the rope, Richter decides to follow. He doesn't suffer from acrophobia, so moves a bit faster than Ian did. He is about a third of the way down, and thinking this isn't so bad, when Ian reaches the second pulley support, a narrow beam jutting out from the cavern wall. Ian steps off the rope, and inadvertently looks down for a place to set his torch. Vertigo kicks in, and he shrieks and grabs onto the support for dear life. Richter is startled by this, and his grip momentarily slips. Frantically he grabs again for the rope, but misses his grip... and then he falls over fifty feet to land painfully on the obelisk below. Luckily, he lands on the smashed remains of the plug to the well above, avoiding the deadly touch of the massive obelisk. Badly wounded, he scrambles to his feet. He can see Ian clinging to the pulley support like grim death. However, the beam is fully fifteen feet away from the edge of the obelisk, and to get to the edge he would need to stand upon the obelisk surface. Not enamored with this idea, he looks up, and sees Fletcher's head peering down the well above. "I'm all right," he shouts, hoping that he isn't lying.

Fletcher, exasperated that the cleric didn't take the precaution of tying himself off before descending, pulls his own rope from his pack. He ties one end of it around his midsection and tosses the other end down to the cleric. He plans to pull Richter up to the well room, where he can then attempt again to descend the rope, this time safely tied to Fletcher. He hopes this will be enough to prevent a further mishap.

--

Vangkor next decides to examine the archway. It is bordered by a mass of tentacles, seemingly carved from the rock itself. The surface of the archway is pitch black. Not wanting to touch it himself, he pulls flask out of his pack, hesitates, then tosses it lightly at the archway. It hits the surface, but instead of shattering the flask, the surface seems to give slightly and ripple, almost as if it were some thin membrane encasing a liquid-like substance. The flask rebounds from the surface... then, startlingly, a tentacle shoots out of the inky blackness of the archway and coils quickly around the flask. It shatters, and many more tentacles writhe out, followed by a grey, bulbous body with a serrated beak: another grell! Before Vangkor can react or even shout out a warning, the creature's tentacles strike, paralyzing the hapless mage. He is caught, and the grell begins to float upwards towards the ceiling with its prey.

Remembering the group's description of what the last grell did to Minaret, Vangkor knows that he must escape quickly or be eaten alive. Although he is paralyzed, his fly spell is still active, and he concentrates with all of his might to try and escape the clutches of the creature. However, he is hampered in that he cannot struggle or move his limbs, and the grell holds on tightly. Things look grim for the wizard. Then, as the grell draws level with the top of the obelisk, Vangkor manages to slip free! He sees Richter standing alone atop the obelisk, holding one end of a dangling rope and looking upward, and flies silently towards him.

Richter, for his part, is looking up at the dangling rope and wondering how the hell they are going to get Minaret down, when something swoops at him out of the darkness. Startled, he draws his mace, and sees that it is Vangkor. He relaxes, then sees that the mage is completely stiff, flying rigidly with one arm outstretched and an expression of dismay on his face. "Are you alright?" Richter asks the paralyzed wizard, who can only reply by rotating his whole body clockwise and counter-clockwise rapidly. Richter soon spots the reason why, and his heart leaps into his throat. Floating silently into the torchlight behind Vangkor is another of the dread grells. Seeing Richter's eyes widen in surprise, Vangkor shoots up and out of sight, leaving Richter to face the creature alone... with no armor! The grell is ten feet away, but its tentacles easily reach across the distance before Richter can defend himself. Within seconds, the cleric is hit by several of the tentacles, and he too is paralyzed!

Ian sees this going on from his perch atop the second platform support; however, he can do nothing but cling desperately to the beam, fearful to move an inch. Fletcher, looking down from the well, sees that Richter has been paralyzed and grabbed by the grell, and that he is still holding one end of the rope... the other end of which is securely tied about Fletcher's own waist! The grell begins to drift off, and a fierce tug of war ensues, with Richter as the prize. Digging in with all of his might, Fletcher pulls backward, muscles bulging. The grell refuses to loosen its grip on Richter, but is slowly pulled upward away from the obelisk. Richter, paralyzed and stuck in the middle of this contest of strength is terrified, but thankful that the grell is too busy maintaining its grip to start battening on him.

Then Vangkor, who had been flying near Ian on the edge of the chamber, feels his muscles loosen. The grell's poison has worn off. Thankful that the paralysis didn't last as long as that inflicted by the ghasts, he begins peppering the monster with spells, damaging it. Badly wounded, the grell apparently decides that Richter is not worth the fight, and releases the cleric, causing him to pendulum back and forth on the rope still tightly gripped in one hand. The creature flies towards the opposite end of the cavern. This is just what Vangkor was waiting for. He looses one of his fireball spells. The grell, already near death itself, explodes into a mess of flapping tentacles and scorched pieces of flesh, which flutter serenely down into the darkness.

The party, weakened by their battle, decide to defer further exploration of the obelisk chamber until they have a chance to renew their strength. They retreat back to "Spugnoir's room" in the upper level to rest.

Goodmonth 27

The next morning Minaret is still deeply withdrawn into herself, and Vangkor still feels the visions of madness and destruction squirming in his mind. Luckily, Richter has prepared a restoration spell, which he casts on the grateful half-orc, along with curative spells all around. Back up to full strength and sanity (except for Minaret), the party returns below.

They are passing through the crypt again when Richter hears the voice of Amgerit Maeloctar again in his head. It is Friday once more, and time to report their findings. The group goes over all that has happened in the last week. Amgerit himself reports that the Temple of Maeth is experiencing some political problems: apparently there is some discord in the Senate of Maeth over how to handle the tidings that the group has been reporting. He expresses surprise that Vangkor's superiors at the College of Wizardry have not been kept appraised of the situation; Amgerit had been passing the information along to the appropriate members of the Temple. He promises to look into it further, but warns that contact from him might be more sporadic, due to the political troubles. He thanks Richter for the update, and says that while the cleric's most important objective is still to recover the Stone of Years at all costs, Richter should endeavor to discover where the cultists came from, and why. He then departs from Richter's mind.

The party once more goes over their assembled notes and journals, convinced that there is something yet remaining here at the moathouse... something the cultists possibly missed. They keep returning back to the old journal, and its mention of discovering the secret passage beyond the crypt. While it is possible that the journal does not even refer to the crypt they are presently in, and they have thoroughly searched the place twice now, the party feels that there must be some something here. Then Vangkor is inspired: remembering how the gem at the top of the pillar in the obelisk chamber could only be seen with the Torch of Revealing, he pulls it from his pack and lights it. In its eerie glow, the group re-explores the crypt once more. This time their persistence is rewarded: a secret door, visible only in the Torch's light is found at the back of one of the crypts. Excited by this new discovery, the group opens the door and moves beyond.

They find themselves in a narrow passage that looks to have been formed naturally rather than worked. The air is musty and the floor is covered with years of undisturbed dust, seeming to imply that the cultists never found this area. However, the group's excitement quickly turns to confusion and frustration, as instead of a room the passage leads to a warren-like maze of tunnels, with many twists and double-backs. The journal makes no mention of this maze, and they begin to doubt that it refers to their present surroundings. Nonetheless, they press onward, and after an hour or to spent wandering the maze, they come upon a wider, open area in the tunnels. One of the walls of this area has the outline of an archway in it. However, the archway is not passable; it is filled with the same unworked stone as the walls, with only a groove in the wall itself depicting the archway's outline. No show of strength or spell manages to open this archway, although the entire archway does glow with moderate conjuration magic when detect magic is cast upon it. Eventually frustrated in their attempts to bypass the arch, the group decides to leave their exploration and return to the obelisk chamber below. They wind their way back out of the maze, and head to the well room.

Using their ropes, the group descends one at a time, this time being much more careful. By making sure each party member is safely tied off, the group (including Minaret) safely descends to the bottom of the chamber without mishap. They stand grouped around the pillar at the bottom, wondering at how such a massive structure as the obelisk can possibly be supported by the (relatively) small pillar.

It is Fletcher who decides to tempt fate. Taking the Torch of Revealing, he climbs the rungs of the pillar to the top, and examines the gem closely. It is about the size of his head, purplish in color (or seems so in the light of the Torch), and many-faceted. Drawing a deep breath, he sets the Torch carefully upon the pillar's surface, and brings both hands together to grasp the sides of the gem. Without a sound, he vanishes from sight.

The others wait for a moment or two; he does not immediately appear again. After a brief discussion, they decide they will follow suit. If Fletcher has been destroyed, it will mean the end of the group, but if he has been transported somewhere, he may need their help. One by one, they climb the pillar and touch the gem, disappearing from sight. Minaret is led docilely to the top, and is instructed to touch the gem; she too vanishes. The last party member to reach the top of the pillar picks up the Torch of Revealing, then touches the gem.

* * *

The party appears to be in a perfectly spherical room of black walls, with purple veins. The Torch of Revealing has vanished. No light is present, yet everyone can still ÒseeÓ within the darkness here. A circular opening behind them exits the chamber; they cannot see what lies beyond this exit. A low, slippery, and sinuous voice seems to come from all around and inside of them: ÒSeek the heart of each of the four moons. Together, they can sunder the walls of my prison. For now, choose the true obex and be blessed.Ó

Before them the group sees Fletcher, standing in front of an elaborate contraption. A raised dais supports a balancing scale, made of dark, pitted copper. Dark, gray tentacles, looking frighteningly realistic, wind themselves about the base and arms of the scale. Upon each of the two plates are four small objects made of black metal, each the shape of an obex; Fletcher grasps four more in his hand. The scale is currently tipped to the right. In front of the scale is a metal bowl, currently empty. Below this is a panel with three buttons; above the buttons is a small, etched rendering of a tipped scale. A switch is positioned directly beneath the image of the scale; currently it is centered between the arms of the image of the scale. Directly beneath the switch is a single, hollow slot. It appears a perfect size to accommodate one of the small obexes.

Fletcher's thumb is pressed against the middle of the three buttons.

The others rush forward, and grab Fletcher, pulling him away from the contraption. "What the hell are you doing??"

He turns, unfazed, and looks at them. "It's a puzzle."

Exasperated, Vangkor replies, "That much is obvious. Was this device in this exact state when you arrived?"

Fletcher looks down at the objects in his hand. "Well, no. These pieces were in the metal bowl. There were twelve in all. I put four in each of the two scales, and then pushed the center button. The tentacles released the arms of the scale. It balanced to the right, and then the tentacles grabbed it again, locking it in place. Then you all showed up."

The group thinks it over, and remembers the riddle. It is obvious that the riddle refers to this device, and is a clue to solving it. They guess that one of the obexes must be of a different weight than the others. The scale can be used three times (once for each push of the button) to determine which of the obexes is different. One weighing has already been done by Fletcher. After doing some quick mathematics in his head, Vangkor removes two more obexes from each pile, and presses the second button. The tentacles write and release the scale, which still tips right. Vangkor deduces that the odd obex must be one of the two remaining on the right. He removes the ones on the left platter, replacing them with one of the two from the right platter, and then presses button three. The scale still tips to the right, indicating that the obex there is heaver than the other. At the same time, the lever below the image of the scale unlocks. Fletcher moves it to the left. Vangkor takes the obex from the right platter. He looks at the others, and they nod. Bracing himself, he then inserts the obex into the slot.

Immediately, he is engulfed in glowing, sizzling arcs of purplish energy, and he is galvanized in place. After a moment, the bolts of energy disappear, and the group sees that the device has reset itself: all the obexes have reappeared in the bowl, the lever and buttons have reset, and the scale is balanced. Vangkor, however, has a glaring headache, and for a moment can barely remember his own name. The sensation recedes, but he feels like he has lost a number of trace memories.

Nothing else in the chamber has changed, so the group decides to try again. They use the same method of deduction to choose an obex, and this time Ian volunteers to insert it. However, he forgets to move the lever before doing so, and receives the same jolt of deadly energy for his troubles. Finally, on the third try, the group moves the lever so that it matches the final weighing of the different obex. This time, when the obex is inserted, everyone in the room feels a most odd and discomfiting sensation: it is as if their brains are briefly bulging against their skulls, while each experiences a rush of memories from their childhood. The minds of Ian and Vangkor feel restored to what they were before entering the chamber. As all this occurs, the room fades, and is replaced by another.

This room has a disjointed, odd shape to it, the cloudy purplish walls cut at seemingly impossible angles. Rising from the floor to the ceiling is a column, which is a larger replica of the four-sided statue that the group discovered in the well room and later found on the wagon. In front of the statue or column is a black altar. It is made of a dull, corroded black rock, and is speckled and streaked with violet. The room, like the obelisk chamber, is filled with a soul-chilling cold, and not a party member doubts that if any place could be considered evil, this one is...