The Newborn Temple

The Newborn Temple – by Aedan Rhogar

Session 3 February 2022

Participants:
Ignis Spark
Crewial
Haromyr
Aedan Rhogar

…And then everything went dark…

Arggghh my head! … Arghhh my body! Why does everything hurt so much? Where am I? What was I doing? My name is Haromyr … right? No wait, I’m Aedan … Rhogar …

It feels as if my mind has been shattered into a thousand pieces and I’m reaching for memories. Memories like stars in a clear night sky. I can see them, but can’t reach ‘m. My memories are coming towards me in shockwaves. I see gigantic walls around me with a starry sky above as the only view from outside. Was I … in a maze?

Quick flashes of memories are coming back to me…

…My new home, Heroes Roost. That’s right! Roaming the lands as an outcast, ‘cause … I failed her, It’s my fault! I chose exile! The clan, my brothers and sisters, and… my love…my Cilae. How could they ever forgive me? Si jalla jaseve wer boja zara ve.

I survived until now only ‘cause of the skills I learned from my clan. They hired me because of my skills as a bounty hunter. Just enough to make ends meet, unlike where I came from, I didn’t have to worry if I could make it ‘till the end of the day. One of the bounty jobs got me into contact with some people that told me about Heroes Roost … in Wesert. They needed my skills, they said … and maybe find some new friends. Friends! I made some new friends?! A Battle Royale, My first meet with the Guild. Somehow, Someway, I won, even when some of them have seen a lot more action than I have. I still can’t believe it.

I made new friends in that battle. I had skirmishes with some strong fighters. The last one … Ta… Tamir. He thanked me … for stopping him from his rampage. I was eager for more time with this weird, but nice gang, so … I signed up for the Newborn Temple Quest! … Yes, the quest…

The quest?… The quest!

Recovering from the Battle Royale, people congratulated me on the victory. I was making a name for myself. I signed up for a quest. Maybe I could do things right this time. Protect the ones I care about. Also, the bounty seemed nice of course, but who joined me in this quest?!!

Argh! It hurts when I try too hard to remember. Ig…Ign…Ignis Spark, He’s strong … like me. Crew…Crewial, I fought him in the arena and he wanted to fight side by side. And Haromyr, the harengon. Thanks to them I bought my first magical sword. The Moon-Touched sword. It would help me fight magical creatures, they said. And Crewial knew something about the temple. It had something to do with the Lord of the Sun, Pharaoh of the Gods. And someone mentioned a Sun blade, That sounded awesome.

Sand Sand Sand

The Sun, the heat, the sand. The Sand! Sand everywhere… Where are my memories taking me? Be careful of a giant worm! Walking softly on the sand! We’re looking for the temple and in the distance, we could only see a glimpse of the Forest of Udemain. It’s good, I was not alone, otherwise, we would not find the temple. Also this one sand-guy, we came across, was not impressed by my intimidation skills. Ignored me when I asked him where the temple was or was it a mirage. Was I shouting at grains of sand?!

Windows around the temple, Haromyr, jumping to take a look inside. A shiny temple, statues of gods, a yellow floor, mosaic.

The Temple and the…..

Ignis wanted to take the lead. “But let’s do it stealthily!” he said. “We do not want to disturb the peace or set off any traps”. It was a beautiful temple, plants growing, no sand, no dust inside, lots of sunlight. As we moved forward Ignis threw some metal balls on the floor to check for traps. An androsphinx appears in the back of the temple. 

A divine voice filled the room. “You better clean that up. You do not want to test me!”. “I thought you were with a party of 4, but I only see 3 of you out there.” the voice said. As the new guy in the group, I wanted to do my best, but this was maybe a bit too stealthy. I quickly picked up most of the balls, gave them back to Ignis, and joined the group. Sorry, Mister Divine Androsphinx Sir, I said to myself.

Something about a Test

We walked towards the sphinx and asked about the missing paladins and clerics that went before us. According to the sphinx, they did not pass the test. “If you survive my test, You will gain my respect and go home as a rich man.”. The sphinx jumped back behind the altar. 4 circles. As we followed him, we saw 4 circles, with each a different color. “Each of you must choose a circle”. Crewial chose the yellow circle. Haromyr, the green one. Ignis, the Red one. And I chose the blue circle, just because it matched my eyes. Why am I so self-aware?! 

Woosh… We were transported somewhere. I could hear my friends in my head, but I couldn’t see them. Where was I transported to? Were the others in my party transported to the same place?

Monster

Slashing, Guts, and blood. Images are flashing by in my head. A creature in the dark. No eyes. The Grimlock. Yes! I was fighting a Grimlock. He noticed me as I did not manage to move quiet enough. It went so well in the temple. Then it came at me aggressively. It had fury in its ears. I should say ‘eyes’, but since he did not have any.

If I did not hit it first, I would be toast. I can hear my friends in my head, they were in danger, as they were also facing a monster each. I started raging as I wanted to help my friends, but this creature was in my way. And then my magic…it always comes out randomly in these sort of moments, Vines and plants started growing around me. No time to think, so I slashed it hard. Yes, I got him, but it was just the first hit. 

I tried to move out of the corner and into the room the Grimlock came from. He scratched my arm as I tried to get away, hoping it could buy me some time. The vines and plants did not bother it a lot. He jumped right over, but I slashed him before it could hit me…

Then he hit me pretty bad, I was hurt but the best I could do was slash it as much as possible. This time his belly was ripped open by my sword. His guts fell out and there was blood everywhere. Now that that’s out of the way, I could rush to my friends in need.

In danger

Ignis and Haromyr seemed to be handling their monsters. But Crewial…..he is hurt, a troll gnawing at his flesh. I started rushing through the maze…a dagger on the floor…Haromyr was safe, he was close…one way through the maze…Maze?! It’s not a maze! It’s a Labyrinth!! All the pathways were leading to the same spot. I feel my soul falling into my body again, I feel some liquid in my throat. As I open my eyes, I see Haromyr. He is feeding me a health potion.

“Hey, you! You’re finally awake.” He said and tells me to get back up because we still need to survive this test. “All of us need to survive this!” he says. “You took a big hit on the head”.

I hear loud grunting behind me and Haromyr. As I turned around I could see an enormous menacing creature in a giant hall, looking through the narrow space we were in. Holding a giant axe, horns on his head, and the face of a bull. A Minotaur!! I remember hitting it with my javelin, thinking I could take it but wasn’t quick enough to get myself back to safety. He rushed towards me and… that’s when my lights went out.

Crewial got back up and transformed. Glimmering eyes and two shiny wings allow him to fly away to Ignis through the labyrinth. While Haromyr and Ignis are firing all they have towards the beast. It’s moving back and forth, through the big hall whenever it gets hit, because Ignis is on the other side. I am getting impatient with this foul creature. We don’t seem to do a lot of damage and it’s making me furious. My magic is coming out again while the beast is close to me and Haromyr.

A bolt of lightning comes out of my chest towards the beast. It’s blinded by the lightning bolt. The same magic happened during the Battle Royale. It’s how I beat some of the members of the guild. I hope it helps us get out of trouble again this time. I hit the beast again with my javelin. A good hit this time and the foul beast is bleeding. I guess it’s mortal after all. 

Haromyr blasted its frost and energy magic at it. Crewial hit it with his firebolts. Ignis shot it with his crossbow…The beast struggled to stay up, blood was pouring from its body, and finally collapsed. We did it… 

As we were happy to have survived this endeavor, Ignis is searching the body for anything useful and saws off a horn from the Minotaur. It takes a moment to do it, but at least we have some proof of our trials. The circle in the middle of the big hall is glowing and we decided to step in the circle together. We are being transported back to the temple.

Back to Heroes Roost

In the temple, the Androsphinx is telling us we passed his test and greets us with respect. “My name is Atlasthus,” he says. The entire temple shines bright when I try to see if there is anything magic I could take home. It’s blinding my senses, nothing to make out of it. We decide to head back to Heroes Roost and the moment we walk out of the temple…It disappears as if it was never there in the first place. 

On the journey back we tell each other all about the monsters we faced. And all of us found an item in the labyrinth. We sure are an honest bunch. Back at Heroes Roost we tell about the temple and get our bounty. We split it amongst the group and pay back the potions we used from each other. Also, the items were exchanged with one another, I gave my Dagger of Venom in exchange for a Flame Tongue Greatsword. I suppose I got my sunny blade now and found myself a new clan. 

And with a new clan to back me up … I think I’m quite ready for another adventure!

Crewial’s: Jungle Troll

Ignis Spark’s: Troglodyte

Haromyr’s: Bone Guard Skeleton