Chapter 3 / Episode 72 - The Evil Cleric of Gruumsh

Chapter 3 / Episode 72 – The Evil Cleric of Gruumsh

Date: Planting 4, 576 CY
Weather: Steady winds from the west; salt spray on the air. Night falls clear beneath a full, watchful moon.

Players

• Dog, Ranger of the Gnarley Forest

• Irving, the Reluctant, Paladin of St. Cuthbert

• Slash the Bard

• Oleg, Half-Elven Cleric/Magic-User/Thief of St. Cuthbert

• TerryOr, Cleric of St. Cuthbert

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Narrative Recap

The companions pressed deeper into the temple’s darkened halls, their boots echoing across stone corridors thick with incense and the stench of blood. They debated their path carefully, wary of patrols. Two slain bodies were locked away in an office, and Dog finally forced open the great double doors, the party slipping through just as a band of sentries marched past in the gloom.

Glyphs and whispers of chaos marked their passage. At one threshold, an inscription—evil servant—flared with malignant power. TerryOr attempted a dispelling prayer, but the ward resisted. Slash, bold and restless, confirmed the door bore no traps, and Oleg muttered grimly about the storm of chaos waiting beyond.

Inside, braziers glowed sullenly around a dais. A towering statue of Gruumsh, the one-eyed god of orcs, cast its shadow across the chamber. Three half-orcs in plate stood guard, and a woman in black vestments presided at the idol’s base—her presence commanding, her eyes alight with fanatical devotion.

The battle was sudden and brutal. Irving’s mace rang against steel while TerryOr shouldered through the mailed guards to reach the dais. Dog cut down those who threatened the spellcasters, his blade flashing in the firelight. Slash’s conjured lights filled the chamber—and nearly cost him his life as an assassin’s poisoned blade struck from the shadows. Oleg hurled his dagger across the room, burying it in the flesh of a foe before pressing forward with his prayers and arcane gestures.

The evil cleric raised her voice in curses, calling down silence and dark blessings upon her followers. But faith held stronger. TerryOr’s mace cracked her defenses, and with the companions pressing in from all sides, she fell—her lifeblood staining the stone at Gruumsh’s feet.

When the fighting ended, silence fell heavy in the chamber. Ten captives were discovered chained in the shadows, their hollow eyes widening with disbelief at freedom. At the idol’s base, Oleg retrieved his dagger from where it had fallen. The statue itself loomed untouched—but a hidden trap door beneath it revealed three bags of treasure: coins, a gem of remarkable value, and further spoils of the slain. Among the spoils was a strange vial, which TerryOr tested himself—discovering it to be a potion of speed, potent and dangerous if used unwisely.

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Closing Scene

The torchlight flickered across Gruumsh’s one-eyed visage, casting a baleful gaze upon the weary adventurers. Irving wiped blood from his mace and looked up at the idol, his voice low, heavy with unease.

“Gruumsh… here?” he muttered, shaking his head. “This is no shrine of orcs. This is the Temple of Elemental Evil. What dark hand twists these cults together? Chaos upon chaos, and still it spreads.”

No one answered. The full moon outside lent no comfort, its pale glow slanting through a crack in the stonework. The sense of victory was hollow, and the deeper dread remained: if Gruumsh was worshipped here, what other gods of ruin might already have found foothold in these walls?

The prisoners trembled, the treasure bags sat heavy at their feet, and the shadows of the north wing waited in silence.

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Outcomes

• XP Earned: 800 each for the session.

• Treasure Found:

  • Magical mace +1 (reserved for Oleg)

  • Oleg’s dagger recovered after being thrown in combat

  • 3 bags of treasure from the trap door beneath Gruumsh’s statue (300 gp each, plus a gem worth 2000 gp)

  • 550 gp from slain foes, plus assorted jewelry and coins

  • Potion of Speed (tested by TerryOr)

  • Bundle of unreadable papers for later study

• Rescued: 10 enslaved prisoners, freed from the cleric’s hold.

• Condition of Party:

  • Irving gravely wounded, restored through Dog’s ministrations and TerryOr’s spells.

  • Slash survived the assassin’s strike but carries the scar of poison.

• Narrative Arc: A powerful female cleric of Gruumsh has fallen, her prisoners freed and her hidden hoard uncovered. Yet the idol of the orc-god still looms, and the temple’s northern passages remain heavy with threat.

• Monsters: 

• 6th level evil cleric (AC 1 due to dexterity, MV 6 \ Level 6, hp 30, *AT 1 D by weapon type)
• 3rd level fighters (AC 3, MV6". Level 3. hp 20, # AT 1. D by weapon type)
• 4th level assassin (AC 7, MV 12", hp 12, # AT 1. Dby weapon type, backstab for double damage)