We'd made it to the Temple, beaten and battered, and were about to enter it at the end of the last game. Pushing the doors open, we waded into the vile place, and could just feel the evil dripping onto our shoulders as the doors closed behind us. Our Warlock stayed a bit more active in his search for traps, as we passed another set of doors, into a room filled with gruesome looking devils. (First set of doors were into a corridor heading to our right. At the end of the corridor, on our left, the 2nd set of doors led to a corridor that was parallel to the current corridor. Almost maze-like)
Encounter 1: 16 Legion Devil Grunts
That was a bit unexpected, we thought the temple to be vacated, and weren't really sure why the devil all these devils were there. Another set of doors before us led into an open area. Apparently, we weren't even in the temple yet, just in a set of walls surrounding it. We didn't get alot of time to think about it before being attacked by winged demon-like creatures...
Encounter 2: 4 Harpies
This time though, we knew we were entering the Temple itself, as the pyramid went straight to our feet, and you could look up its wall to the very apex. There were no doors here, just an opening that led inward. The first room we entered was massive, Pews and benches were turned over in a disarray of chaos, and the gargoyles against the walls came to life to greet us.
Encounter 3: 2 Harpies + 2 Spined Devils
Encounter 3b: On turn 5 we were attacked by 4 more Spined Devils
Battle over, we had more time to look around, and found that anything of value had long ago been pillaged. After thoroughly searching this room, we came across a hidden door set in the stone walls, pushing it open, we headed inwards to another auditorium like room, only much smaller in size, though still large as any city temple. More of the same occupancy engaged us in battle.
Encounter 4: 2 Evistros + 2 Spined Devils
A less hidden door in the rear of the room led to stairs upwards. The stone stairs were built into the walls, and by the time we'd reached the hundred or so feet they elevated to, we had travelled back to the front of the Temple, so that the hallway we emerged into was heading in the same direction that we were heading in when we first entered the Temple. It was a long corridor that had doors on all sides, and more of the ugly beasts from our previous encounter.
Encounter 5: 4 Evistros
After our encounter, we searched through the many doors in the corridor, all leading to sleeping chambers that had long been deserted. At the end of the hallway, there were stairs going down back to the ground level, past the auditorium rooms below. Carefully we headed downward, tired and weary, to emerge into a huge banquet hall that was as deserted and chaotically wrecked as the previous rooms, and like the previous rooms, was occupied.
Encounter 6: 7 Imps
A much easier battle than the previous, despite the numbers. To one side of the Banquet hall, there was another well hidden door that our Cleric noticed. It headed deeper below the ground, so we followed it downward. It opened to a large room which contained old bookshelves, the books long since withered into little more than dust and ashes. And, of course, more occupants of an otherworldly sort.
Encounter 7: 2 Evistros + 2 Spined Devils
At the end of the room, there was a small doorway that we all had to crouch to get through. Low enough that even a Dwarf would have had to duck to pass through. Our Paladin was in the lead, as usual, and thus began the following encounter alone, our sword-ranger joining him in the same turn but wasn't allowed to attack until the end of the turn. We came in 2 at a turn from then on (Myself and the other Ranger coming through next, the Warlock and the Priest coming in last).
Encounter 8: 2 Barlgura Demons + 2 Imps
It was a helluva battle, we were as beaten and battered as we'd ever been. It looked like the end of the temple, and gathered under an alter was a pile of gems (worth 6000 Gold). If not for our Cleric with his 26 Passive Perception, that would have been the end of things, but he noticed that one of the stones behind a tapestry in the room was odd looking. After all of us analyzing it, we finally figured out how to open the Secret Door that the stone was. It led to the real Altar Room, a room covered with the stains of blood sacrifices, and protected by a flaming demon beast.
Encounter 9: 1 Immolith + 5 Legion Devil Grunts
Poking my head in first (not my smartest move), I was able to kill off all 5 Devil Grunts with my first ever casting of BallLightning before the Immolith charged at us. We were all beaten bad here, my character had no healing surges at all left (I really loved using my Lightning Longsword and stayed in melee as often as possible), and neither did most of the other characters. Our Cleric had a Consecrated Circle up, so we healed quickly enough to a point, but we needed rest. So, we barricaded the door into the previous room where the bookshelves were, and made camp there. While making camp, our Paladin and Cleric made short work of the Altar, and in doing so, discovered a passageway heading down beneath the Altar. We sealed that as best as we could, and rested for awhile until we felt recovered. (End of this game)
No magic items were found, but we did find the gems which filled the one Bag of Holding we had. Per player request, I spent a couple of hours creating 2 Bags of Holding to help carry the rest of the gems, and to hold our other stuffs as we rested (My character only needs half the sleep everyone else needs)
Tags: 4th 4e Dnd Dungeons Dragons Module
