Chapter 2 / Episode 55: The Eldritch Horror

Coldeven 15, 576 CY – Afternoon

Weather Conditions (above ground):
Description: Freezing
Temperature: 13.3°F to 38.4°F
Wind: Moderate breeze (S) 13–18 MPH
Precipitation: None
Clouds: Gray, slightly overcast

Present Party:
Dog, the Ranger of the Gnarley (Forest)
Irving the Reluctant, Paladin of St. Cuthbert
TerryOr, Cleric of St. Cuthbert
Dixon, the Dwarven Fighter
Oleg, Half-Elf Magic-User/Cleric of St. Cuthbert
Slash, the Bard
Crush, the Half-Orc Fighter

NPCs:
Zert, the Hero
Spugnior, the Theurgist
Lita of the Fjord, Slash’s companion

Listen to "Chains of the Temple" by Slash the Bard

The Temple stirred beneath their boots. Cold, damp, and pulsing with malevolence, it whispered reminders of ancient blasphemies—of sacrifices long forgotten and horrors sealed below. The adventurers—wounded, weary, and driven—moved forward from Room 225 into shadow, chasing the scent of a fleeing priest and unknowingly stepping into the gullet of something far older than fear.

Dog the Ranger scouted ahead with an instinct honed on the edges of the Gnarley. He knelt in the dusty corridor of 209a, studying scattered footprints where the air stank of rot and the walls pulsed with clammy humidity. A grotesque gargoyle fountain jutted from the masonry, flanked by a solitary chest that drew suspicious eyes. “Tracks head north,” Dog whispered—but it was Slash who knelt at the chest. The click of the lock was followed by something far worse.

The walls groaned. The fountain’s stone cracked. And from below, four glistening, unnatural tendrils erupted in silence.

The battle came fast.

Dog was the first struck—paralyzed, eyes wide as terror overtook him. Dixon the Dwarf charged to drag him free, his warhammer splintering stone—but a lash from the abomination crushed his side and sent him sprawling, lifeless. TerryOr, desperate, dashed forward with a vial of poison to hurl into the maw… but the creature struck first, and the cleric fell, unconscious and bleeding.

As the abomination's tentacles lashed out, Oleg stepped forward, clutching his holy symbol of St. Cuthbert and calling upon divine power to turn the beast — but the ancient thing from below proved unmoved by faith. In that moment, Lita began to play, her haunting melody rising above the chaos, lifting the spirits of the wounded and steadying Slash's grip on his sword as he dove back into the fray.

Only Slash and Irving remained in the chamber.

The bard moved instinctively, singing no tune, but murmuring a druidic spell taught to him by Jaroo. Vines burst from the cracks and wrapped the tentacles in a tangle of unyielding roots. Slash climbed onto the fountain, blade in hand, and carved at the still-writhing limbs. The thing let loose a shriek that echoed down the ancient halls—and retreated.

Irving stood his ground, shielding the fallen. Face battered, blood dripping from his helm, he stared down the void and whispered a prayer to St. Cuthbert.

When the horror fled, time resumed. Potions were uncorked, breath caught, wounds bound. Dixon's life teetered until TerryOr, restored with a sip of healing, lifted his holy symbol and drove the poison from the dwarf’s veins. Dog, too, stirred with a rasping breath.

No words were spoken—none were needed. Their victory had been narrow, and all knew that had the thing lingered, the Temple might have claimed them all.

They limped their way out of the cursed dungeon, up into the biting wind of Coldeven. The rescued captives, once too frightened to speak, now clung close behind, eyes wide at the fading silhouette of the Temple of Elemental Evil.

As Nulb’s crooked rooftops appeared in the distance, the group—wounded and worn—knew they had survived only by will, steel, and a flicker of divine light in a place abandoned by gods. But the Temple still stirred. And deeper evils yet waited.

The horror had retreated… not died.

The war was far from over.

XP: 1000 each