# Trouble in the Temple



## Mark Chance (Apr 6, 2003)

Our heroes are Lord Liam, cleric of Pelor with a shady past; Sereen, exiled monk/wizard; Tori of Heironeous, lady paladin; Than Moonbright, the Chosen One of Corellon Larethian; Vlad, mysterious cleric of Fharlanghn; and Vaslov the Odiferous, diviner extraordinaire (average party level 6). The mission is to reconsecrate the defiled Fortress-Temple of the Dragon Rampant, a site once sacred to Heironeous, and to plant one of the three Seeds of Obfuscation necessary to blind the evil Queen Umbra's monstrous diviner-spies.

The Fortress-Cathedral of the Dragon Rampant once guarded a small village of dour but good-natured miners. These miners worked hard to extract a living from the volcanic plain around their homes, pulling iron ore and zinc from beneath the surface of the inhospitable land.

A few years ago, as Queen Umbra's ambition grew beyond all boundaries, the miners were ordered to increase production in order to meet increased demand to arm the Queen's soldiers. When quotas were not met, Umbra demanded payment in the form of slave labor.

The clerics of Heironeous objected. They organized military resistance to Umbra, and actually repelled a company of the Shadow Queen's soldiers who came to enforce Her Majesty's tyrannical demands. The clerics of Heironeous could not, however, stand against a concentrated application of Umbra's might.

The village was razed, the Fortress-Cathedral sacked, and the inner santcum of the Dragon Rampant defiled. The village itself was put to the torch, and all of its inhabitants were either killed or enslaved. Unknown to the heroes, an efreeti cleric of Hextor and his two jann henchmen guard the temple.

The trip from the realm of the shadow elves in the Graywoods toward the seething volcanic plains of Umbra's realm was uneventful. The party chose to assault the temple by day. Entering the temple was easy enough, as the main gates had been sundered years ago. Tori made generous use of her detect evil ability while Than dealt with the possibility of traps. Or so he thought.

The second set of doors were indeed trapped: a sonic glyph of warding that Than handily evaded. Even still, its screech alerted the temple's defenders. As the heroes explored the rooms in the area, discovering the disturbing presence of illusory corpses in Heironeousic garb, the defenders moved into action.

This is what happened as the heroes made their way toward the main worship area. The two jann entered the ethereal plane. One moved to alert Voorix, the efreeti, while the other moved to monitor the heroes. Just as the heroes were about to enter the main worship area, Voorix moved to dining hall just south of the main worship area and cast desecrate into the room. None of the heroes heard his chanting. Voorix then retreated to the inner sanctum, leaving the jann to deal with the intruders.

The heroes entered the main worship area, once used by local commoners in their devotions to Heironeous, only to be ambushed by ten shadows which rose up from the floor to surround them. Fortunately, none of the heroes were surprised. Than unleashed a disrupt undead ray at one shadow. Lord Liam then unleashed the divine might of Pelor, blasting four of the shadows out of existence with a greater turning.

Then, the shadows attacked, flying toward the nearest targets. Tori ends up facing two, Than one, and poor Vlad is swarmed by the other three. Tori and Than ably evade their undead attackers, but not Vlad. The mysterious cleric Vlad is struck by all three shadows. The other heroes watch in horror as Vlad drops to the stone floor, drained of all life.

The rest of the battle is short and decisive. Tori, with her blessed great axe, makes short work of the shadows. Lord Liam blesses Vlad's corpse to prevent it from rising again as one of the undead. Undaunted by Vlad's death, the heroes move on. Tori is certain the inner sanctum is to the south, so the heroes move from the main worship area into the dining hall.

And are promptly ambushed by the jann. This time, all but Than are surprised. The first janni attacks, becoming visible, aiming a scimitar at Sereen, but the monk is too wily even when caught by surprise. Than charges the janni, dealing it some damage with his sword. Then, Sereen and Tori close on it as well. The battle is on, and the janni is losing. This is when his partner become visible as he fires two arrows at Than. One is a devastating hit, critically injuring Than. Lord Liam moves into healer mode as Tori breaks off to engage the new attacker.

The tide of battle turns against the jann. The first one to attack is cornered and cut down by Than and Sereen. Tori is doing an admirable job of carving up the second, who realizes discretion is the better part of valor. The remaining janni enters the ethereal plane and retreats to Voorix's chambers just to the south.

Keen-eared Than and Sereen hear chanting to the south. Unknown to them, Voorix casts cure moderate wounds on the injured janni. The heroes rush to the door, Lord Liam getting there first to throw it open. Beyond the door is the efreeti, arms folded, glaring evilly. Vaslov unleashes a magic missile only to discover the efreeti is an illusion!

The real efreeti and the janni are moving ethereally into attack position in the dining hall. They reenter the material plane. Voorix raises a wall of fire in a ring that encircles the entire dining hall, burning all of the heroes, who then rush the monsters.

The battle turns desperate. Voorix is a mighty foe indeed, and the wall of fire burns no matter where the heroes are in the room. During the pitched battle, the janni is slain by Than and Sereen. Tori engages the efreeti with Vaslov providing magical assistance. Lord Liam casts healing spell after healing spell, rapidly depleting his spiritual powers. At last, however, the efreeti falls, but not before Than succumbs to his injuries and passes out.

Unfortunately, the wall of fire still burns. Tori orders every man for himself to escape the flames. Sereen figures she can withstand the heat of the flames and rushes through the wall of fire, burning herself into unconsciousness in the process. Than continues to die. Vaslov and his raven familiar are cooking to death. Then, Lord Liam, in a manner unknown to the other heroes, grabs Than and Vaslov, and teleports to the safety of the main worship area. This leaves Tori who grabs up Vlad's body and rushes through the wall of fire, barely emerging on the other side able to stand.

The temple's evil defenders defeated, the heroes have time to heal up. Vaslov, using the staff of the messenger, sends word to the Freewalkers of Fharlanghn, who also oppose Umbra's evil rule, that the temple is secure. Before departing the Graywoods, Tori had had word sent to the hierarchy of Heironeous in a neighboring kingdom that she would free the temple of evil and that the assistance of the hierarchy would be appreciated at such a time.

The Freewalkers sent a magical message back to Vaslov that High Priest Amuru would be ready and that the seed should be planted. After the seed was planted, Tori used her bracelet of friends to bring Amuru to the temple. The aged but still powerful Amuru cast hallow to reconsecrate the temple. He then raised Vlad from the dead, using the diamond provided by the heroes to do so.

Their wounds healed, the temple healed, the seed planted, the heroes now prepare to venture to the beleagured village of Manderaun in order to seal the portal to Hell reported guarded by Umbra's chief priestess, the wicked Nerullite Andress.

And here are Voorix's statistics:

*Voorix:* Male efreeti Cleric 4 (of Hextor); CR 12; Large Outsider (Evil, Fire, Lawful); HD 14d8+28; hp 91; Init +7 (+3 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative); Spd 20 ft., fly 40 ft. (perfect); AC 20 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +2 armor, +6 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 15; Atk +18/+13 melee (1d8+9 and 1d6 fire, slam); Reach 10 ft.; SA spell-like abilities, heat; SQ _plane shift_, telepathy; SV Fort +13, Ref +11, Will +14; Str 23, Dex 17, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 15; AL LE.
    Skills: Bluff +12, Concentration +16, Diplomacy +9, Escape Artist +13, Heal +10, Intimidate +11, Knowledge (religion) +8, Listen +12, Move Silently +13, Sense Motive +11, Spellcraft +11, Spot +12. Feats: Combat Casting, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative.
    SA - Spell-Like Abilities: At will - _produce flame, pyrotechnics_; 1/day - grant up to 3 _wishes, detect magic, enlarge, gaseous form, invisibility, permanent image, polymorph self, wall of fire_. Cast as by an 18th-level sorcerer. Save DC 12 + spell level.
    SA - Heat: Deals additional 1d6 points of fire damage with unarmed attacks.
    Spells (5/4+1/3+1, save DC 13 + spell level): 0 - _cure minor wounds, guidance, mending, read magic, resistance_; 1st - _bless, cure light wounds, divine favor, entropic shield, protection from good*_; 2nd - _cure moderate wounds, desecrate, shatter*, silence_.
    * Domain spell. Domains: Destruction (1/day - smite, +4 attack bonus, +4 damage bonus); Evil (+1 caster level).

*Voorix* (fully buffed): HD 14d8+42; hp 105; Init +7 (+3 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative); Spd 20 ft., fly 40 ft. (perfect); AC 22 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +2 armor, +6 natural, +2 deflection), touch 16, flat-footed 17; Atk +23/+18* melee (1d8+12 and 1d6 fire, slam); Reach 10 ft.; SA spell-like abilities, heat; SQ _plane shift_, telepathy; SV Fort +16, Ref +13, Will +16 (+1 morale bonus to saves against fear); Str 25, Dex 17, Con 17, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 15; AL LE.
    Skills: Bluff +12, Concentration +17, Escape Artist +13, Intimidate +11, Listen +12, Move Silently +13, Sense Motive +11, Spellcraft +11, Spot +12.
    * Reduce to +22/+17 after first attack (which negates _guidance_).

    Tactics: There is a _permanent image_ of Voorix at the P marked on the map. Voorix can cause this image to move just about anywhere in the room. While _invisible_, he speaks while causing the image to move and react.

Before entering battle, Voorix drinks his _potion of endurance_ and casts the following spells in the following order to prepare for battle: _invisibility, enlarge, protection from good, bless, entropic shield, silence_ (at the X marked on the map), _guidance_, and _divine favor_. He then attacks in melee with 9 rounds remaining on the _divine favor_ (which grants a +1 luck bonus to attack and damage rolls). He moves so as to be able to make a full attack against the most heavily-armored target, using his smite ability with his first attack.


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