Chapter 3.3: Orlane in the early morning

The party was moving north through Orlane toward the Temple of Merikka when they had the bad luck of being heard by Ollwin, proprietor of the Inn of the Slumbering Serpent, coming back from the outhouse. He raised a hue and cry, which roused a bunch of people from the Inn and awoke the Miller family. The Millers, upset at the disappearance of one of their family and angry at the murder of many local dogs, organize the group into search parties. They've been told that both the disappearances and the murders are caused by the adventurers. Ember, the rogue on the run from Hookhill who narrowly escaped abduction by the real culprits, snuck off and howled like a wolf to draw the angry villagers away from the party. Aanbo, Chase, Lyrel, and Myrtha used the distraction to head north, continuing with the original plan. Arya, Morton, and Theran have gone to help Ember escape from the mob.

Ember ducks down just as the torchlight of the approaching villagers reach her, and she drops down the embankment into the river while the people are talking to each other.
"Did you hear that howl?"
"What was that?"
"It sounded like a person to me."
"It sounded like it came from this direction."
"Where's Alan?"
"We didn't get him; we came running as soon as we heard..."
"Grand, I told you to get Alan or Marieke!"

Ember struggles to stay underwater at first, swimming with the current as the water rushes to fill her pack. Then it becomes hard to surface as the water filling her boots, quiver, and pack conspires to drag her down. She manages to surface to breathe more than a hundred paces downstream. There is no cry of detection; she is nearly invisible in the moonlight and the people of Orlane are not hunters from Hookhill, professionals trained to find thieves like her. Drifting with the current into the Dim Forest, the rogue begins to swim to a bank of the river. She begins to fantasize about finding a sheltered place and starting a fire to dry out her food, cards, tinder, and metal implements that will rust. But she doesn't have time for that. It's going to be another cold, wet night.

Back at the bridge, the group of 10 or 12 villagers hears a clatter to the south as Arya throws the glowing stone at the farmhouse across from the Golden Grain Inn; immediately the farmer's dog - perhaps the only dog left in Orlane - starts barking.
"They're over there!"
"You go check it out. Grand, go back and do what I told you. You two, stay here and watch the bridge. The rest of you, come with me. I'm worried this was a distraction."

With that, the big group of villagers split into four groups: three going south across the bridge, two staying by the bridge, two headed north on the road, and the rest running into the trees...right toward Arya, Morton, and Theran!

The rest of the heroes make their way north and then east along the edge of the lake in the moonlight, leaving the sound of the distraction behind them. The water of the lake is placid and the moonlight bright; they hurry east down a long open part of the road with no tree cover on either side of the road. Thankfully, no one seems to be watching. The dark shape of the low eastern hill looms ahead, with the imposing temple sitting atop it surrounded by a stone wall and a screen of trees. On the gentle slope facing them, various crops have been planted, including a modest vineyard. These belong to the small, shabby farm with a run-down house that the party is approaching.

At the bridge

The Miller's search party rushes into the trees toward Arya, Morton, and Theran.

Theran steps forward grimly, his eyes fading to the darkness of his past horrors. "If we all run, they'll catch us. You two get Ember; I'll keep them occupied long enough for you to get away." Stepping forward, he draws upon the familiar magic of earth and decay, exuding an even fouler reek of rot than usual as his staff lengthens and swells with spikes of fungal growth.The villagers run up, their lanterns casting crazy shadows, and they get a whiff of the haunted elf. They slow, hacking and wheezing as Theran's voracious spores eat at their lungs.
The mob of villagers takes 3 necrotic damage! One of the villagers collapses.
"Murderer!" one of the remaining villagers coughs as they all attack Theran with clubs.
Theran takes 3 bludgeoning damage!

Morton fades back behind the winehouse, disappearing in the confusion.

Lady Arya feels the battle's call singing in her ears, but she manages to resist the impulse to throw herself into the fray by remembering what they're here for: rescuing Ember. She calls upon Pelor and touches Theran on the shoulder, imparting the god's strength on the stinking elf before she follows Morton.
Theran gains 6 HP.

---

20 - Theran (8/18)
17 - Villagers (-3)
12 - Morton (9/9)
9 - Arya (8/10)

Morton and Arya move unnoticed through the yard of the Inn of the Slumbering Serpent as the brawl between the villagers and Theran continues. The pair sneaks around north of the Inn, watching across the road at the three other men who are banging on the door of a house there. The men do not look around, and Arya and Morton pass unnoticed. They move quickly down the north road toward the bridge, keeping close to the trees to not provide a moonlit silhouette for villagers to see. They reach the bridge and consider where to go next.

The last few days, Eugenios has been waiting in Orlane for Ansola Behir's arrival, staying in his room at the Slumbering Serpent at night and exploring the town during the day. Some people have been very friendly, but others have been very guarded and suspicious of him. At first the Special Inspector thought it was because he's an educated man from Keoland proper, and these peasants were resentful of his superior status and intelligence. But he's come to appreciate that they are scared because their neighbors and family members have been leaving town. Some are moving away, others are simply disappearing. The farmers blame a bunch of strangers who have come to town recently, but Eugenios has his doubts. For one thing, the first missing people predate the first reported sighting of the strangers by a good while. He figures that something else is behind the disappearances, or the arrival of the adventurers is related, but part of a larger story. Either way, the locals are nervous and looking for explanations. Eugenios has been at pains to be his most charming to allay any fears that he is coming to steal farm children. So when Ollwin begins to yell in the middle of the night, Eugenios rises with the shouts and prepares to head outside. By the time he has equipped himself, the others have already left, but as the gnome exits the back door, he sees movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning east, his darkvision easily sees the four heroes hustling along the lake's edge. His investigator instincts tingle, and he follows as the four sneak along the north shore of the lake toward the low hill with the temple.Ferranzo, meanwhile, has moved stealthily away from the xenophobic crowd that it trying to capture him in Lindun's abandoned house. Scared of the mob and angry at the fate of his mentor, the halfling decides to use this opportunity while they are focused on the house to get away and look around a bit. There was talk of a "Constable" - maybe that person was involved in Lindun's abduction? If there's a chance that Lindun is alive, Ferranzo has to discover it. If he was killed, then Ferranzo will find out who is responsible and bring them to justice. Moving through the farms, sneaking through crop rows, slipping through split rail fences, Ferranzo makes his way west into the village proper. He knows that the low hill with the temple will be the best vantage point to look out over Orlane; from there, he may see the lights of people moving through the dark night. But when he gets to the hill, flitting from tree to tree that line the boulevard leading up to the temple gate, Ferranzo sees a motley party of heavily-armed adventurers making their way up the west face of the hill.

At the hill

Aanbo and Lyrel are leading the way for Chase and Myrtha, though the moonlight is bright enough that they can see moderately well in the open. They head off of the road and up the side of the hill. The night is still and serene on this side of the lake, though occasionally they hear a snippet of a distant dog barking across the water. Aside from that, the only sound is the wind soughing through the trees that surround the temple.

Lyrel can see that the walls are 8 paces high - about as high above the hill as the hill itself is from the lakeside; Aanbo can assess that they are formed of enormous granite blocks. The wall is massive, which isn't as obvious from afar because the thick canopies of the trees conceal much of the bulk of the structure. The four adventurers stop for a moment in the darkness under a tree by the southwest corner of the Temple wall.

---

Aanbo (19/27)
Chase (14/14)
Eugenios (8/8)
Ferranzo (8/8)
Lyrel (3/9)
Myrtha (17/18)

At the bridge

Arya and Morton hustle across the bridge, bent double to be harder to see. But one group of villagers is distracted by Theran behind them, and the attention of the group of villagers they are approaching is taken up by the dog barking at them by the house. As the villagers are confronted by the farmer who has woken up in the middle of the night and they begin to explain the situation, Morton leads Arya to the edge of the river embankment and the two proceed west between the farmer's fence and the river. The dog is still focused on the villagers with the lanterns and doesn't come investigate the noises the two heroes are making. Soon enough, Arya and Morton have passed the edge of that farm's property and continue at a more normal pace toward the Dim Forest along the river's edge. So far, there is no sign of Ember.

Ember in the Forest

For her part, Ember is on the other side of the river from Arya and Morton, a quarter of a mile away and getting farther as she makes her way back through the Dim Forest. Figuring the most of the attention is focused on the Realstream, she figures that circling north and coming around through the farms before coming back south to the hill with the Temple of Merikka is the safest route to avoid capture. She just hopes that there's nothing else in the woods that she'll meet along the way.

Chase pokes his head around the corner and can see that the south-facing wall has a massive gate...which is currently closed for the night. A long tree-lined boulevard leads from the gate down the hill to the village streets below, but each tree casts a shadow of deep darkness, just like the one the heroes are standing in now, so patches of darkness alternate with stretches of smooth path bright in the moonlight.

Ember in the Forest

Except for small patches here and there, the moonlight fails to penetrate the thick canopy of the Dim Forest. ::Must be where the forest gets its name...:: Ember thinks to herself, and considers whether it is worth the risk of detection to kindle some light in her hooded lantern rather than stumbling blindly in the darkness. Who knows what she might blindly walk into in the dark forest? But also: who knows who might see the flicker as she lit the lantern?

Morton and Arya in the Forest

After ten minutes or so of following the Realstream River west in the forest, two things become clear to Arya and Morton: they've seen no sign of Ember emerging from the river on this side, and they are well inside the darkness of the Dim Forest. Morton has had to lead Arya by the hand more and more, as the young human relies on the half-elf's darkvision to navigate. "I think she got away," Arya ventures, whispering to Morton as she gives his hand a squeeze. "Do you think it's safe for me to make some light? I think we're pretty far from the village, and she might see the light to find us."

Eugenios had been woken with a start with the noises coming from outside, wiping the blur from his eyes he looked out the small window of his room. There he had seen crowds and torches, "I thought I’d left this kind of behaviour behind in the city." he muttered as he slips into his clothes including his beloved jacket, scarf and hat. Lastly grabbing his component pouch and jamming manacles and spell book into the other pouch.

Spying the group as he exits the Inn Eugenios decides to follow staying a discreet twenty to thirty feet behind, not trying to hide but not purposefully acting in a way to be seen. His curiosity sparking as the approach the temple and squish themselves against the wall, it is about not he regrets not bring his pack. He moves closing the distance to about twenty feet as the stay there discussing something. The Gnome hoping to catch some of the conversation as he closes the gap . . .

Having convinced themselves that Ember would be fine, Arya and Morton resolve to continue through the Dim Forest for a while to get further away from Orlane. Both of them had rested for much of the daylight the previous day, and though the adrenalin is wearing off, they still have energy to keep hiking for a couple of miles. Arya casts Light and they are able to pick up the pace.

Unfortunately, this attracts some unwanted attention: two humanoid figures appear, stepping from around trees at the edge of the light and moving closer in silence.

---

Arya (8/10)
Humanoids
Morton (9/9)

Meanwhile, Ember has been moving through the Dim Forest in the dark, slowly feeling her way along. But this, she realizes with a heavy sigh, in a ridiculous way to travel, and dangerous. There doesn't seem to be any sign of the villagers nearby - there's no lights of torches or lanterns - so she takes out her tinderbox and flint, striking the stone on the pommel of her dagger with practiced ease. The chink-chink-chink of the blows quiet the sounds of small nocturnal creatures scared by the unexpected noise, and then the sparks catch the dry fluff, which the fugitive blows into a quick flame. Transferring that flame to a twig, she lights the wick of her oil lantern and then replaces the shutter. She enjoys the glow for a moment, then adjusts the hood on the lantern to narrow the light so it won't blind her night vision but just illuminate the ground and foliage in front of her. Just as she starts to move, she notices that the ground in front of her is moving.

Some creature had died here recently, and its carcass is covered with hundreds of beetles. Ember is glad that she didn't walk right into them - two steps more and she would have - but they are disturbed by the light and swarming out of the body.

---

Beetles
Ember (9/9)

Outside the Temple of Merikka

Eugenios is approaching up the hill toward the tree by the wall where Aanbo, Chase, Lyrel, and Myrtha are standing when Ferranzo plays a very soft trill on his flute and asks "Are you the Dungeon Busters?"
"Yes," Myrtha responds with a hiss, "drop the music, friend, we need not wake the priesthood behind these walls!"

All six PCs see each other and are close enough to talk in whispers/low voices.

---

Aanbo (19/27)
Chase (14/14)
Eugenios (8/8)
Ferranzo (8/8)
Lyrel (3/9)
Myrtha (17/18)

"Hey now." Morton blusters, "You don't want to be fooling around with this priestess and mage!" Next to him, Arya brandishes her warhammer in an implicit threat. But the silent figures are unimpressed...and unseeing. For as they approach out of the foliage, Morton sees that they have no eyes, just empty sockets! These are dead things walking, coming implacably with one purpose: to destroy the living!

---

14 - Arya (8/10)
7 - Corpse 1, Corpse 2
Morton (9/9)

Round one
(this is followed by round two)

Many of the beetles scurry away from the light. But Ember's skin crawls as the rest skitter toward her in an undulating wave, crawling up her boots and legs, exploring and biting, trying to find the source of heat and hoping that it's more food. Some of the bugs find their way inside her armor...
Ember takes 4 piercing damage!



Ember Disengages from the swarm of beetles, brushing the crawling bugs from her body, and moves away in the darkness, quickly outpacing the swarm of voracious insects.

---

12 - Beetles
4 - Ember (5/9)

Round one
(this is followed by round two)

Traveling through the Dim Forest, the heroes Arya and Morton find themselves accosted by two animated corpses attracted to the Pelorite's Light. Before the undead can reach them, Morton says "Try to hold them off while I blast away on them" as he steps back, preparing to draw upon his dark pact once more.
Arya chuckles. "I'll do more than just hold them off!" She steps up and smashes the closest corpse with her warhammer. "Finally! With all those others out of the way, I can finally CRUSH the undead!"
Her chuckle turns into a full-throated laugh as the battle fury fills her, and she strikes again! "HAHAHAHA! Pelor, guide my hand!"
Zombie 1 takes 11 bludgeoning damage and then 5 more!
The zombie staggers, nearly falls, but then stands up again, reaching for the cleric.

It is at that moment that the Fiend grants Morton power, and the energy of the flames of the Abyss pours from his heart down Morton's arm, sending a shockwave at the zombie in a concussive blast.
Zombie 1 takes 1 force damage!
The blast sends little bits of decaying clothing and flesh spattering outward. The zombie nearly falls, but continues groping toward Arya.

Silent Zombie 1, being next to Arya, paws at her with decaying hands.
Zombie 2 shambles forward and strikes at the cleric without a sound.
The two corpses' putrid, grasping hands slide off of Arya's armor, leaving nothing but a stench.

---

14 - Arya (8/10)
9 - Morton (9/9)
7 - Zombie 1 (-17), Zombie 2

Round Two
(this is preceded by round one, followed by round three)

For all her attitude of a pampered princess, Arya has a deep and abiding hatred of the undead, which manifests as a very unladylike glee at their destruction. "Pelor's light, Pelor's sight," she giggles, invoking her deity once more in a sing-song rhyme, "Pelor's might will win this fight!"
A beam of scintillating light spears down from the tree canopy above them, engulfing Zombie 1.
Zombie 1 takes 8 radiant damage! Its body melts and then explodes in a gory mess. Arya throws back her head and cackles madly. "You're next!" she calls to the other undead, snickering.



Morton shakes his head at the maniacal cackling of his companion, and sends another burst of Abyssal force at his foe: the only visible zombie.
Zombie 2 takes 6 force damage!

Unthinking, unperturbed, the implacable animated corpse Zombie 2 continues trying to destroy Arya!
This time the putrescent flesh strikes the cleric in the face. Her head twists with the heavy blow, there is a loud crack! and she falls to the ground.
Arya takes 11 damage and falls, dying!
Grotesquely, the Light that she cast on her shield still glows, illuminating the zombie from underneath.

---

14 - Arya (0/10) Dying
9 - Morton (9/9)
7 - Zombie 1 Dead, Zombie 2 (-6)

Round two, completed.

Morton shakes his head at the maniacal cackling of his companion, and sends another burst of Abyssal force at his foe: the only visible zombie.
Zombie 2 takes 6 force damage!

Unthinking, unperturbed, the implacable animated corpse Zombie 2 continues trying to destroy Arya!
This time the putrescent flesh strikes the cleric in the face. Her head twists with the heavy blow, there is a loud crack! and she falls to the ground.
Arya takes 11 damage and falls, dying!
Grotesquely, the Light that she cast on her shield still glows, illuminating the zombie from underneath.

---

14 - Arya (0/10) Dying
9 - Morton (9/9)
7 - Zombie 1 Dead, Zombie 2 (-6)

Round three
(this is preceded by round two, followed by round four)

Where Arya's unhinged laughter filled the night air moments before, now only the soft sound of her attempts to breathe break the stillness.
Arya has one successful death save.

Reeking of sulfur, Morton gasps as he witnesses Arya's fall! The momentary feeling of triumph is gone, replaced with the bitter taste of a cruel life. Now he realizes that he has to risk his life and try to kill the last undead on his own. He is so shaken by the corpse's attack that he barely gets the next Eldritch Blast off, sending another hellish shockwave hammering into Zombie 2. Then Morton backs up, trying to maintain some distance and allow time to regain his composure.
Zombie 2 takes 1 fire damage!
Morton backs into an embankment and slides around it to his left, never taking his eyes off of the Zombie now silhouetted by the cleric's fallen light behind it.

Zombie 2 staggers forward silently, reaching for Morton with its mouth hanging open. Moving as slowly as it is, it has to Dash to reach Morton.

---

14 - Arya (0/10) Dying One Success
9 - Morton (9/9)
7 - Zombie 1 Dead, Zombie 2 (-7)

Round three, continued...

Reeking of sulfur, Morton gasps as he witnesses Arya's fall! The momentary feeling of triumph is gone, replaced with the bitter taste of a cruel life. Now he realizes that he has to risk his life and try to kill the last undead on his own. He is so shaken by the corpse's attack that he barely gets the next Eldritch Blast off, sending another hellish shockwave hammering into Zombie 2. Then Morton backs up, trying to maintain some distance and allow time to regain his composure.
Zombie 2 takes 1 fire damage!
Morton backs into an embankment and slides around it to his left, never taking his eyes off of the Zombie now silhouetted by the cleric's fallen light behind it.

Zombie 2 staggers forward silently, reaching for Morton with its mouth hanging open. Moving as slowly as it is, it has to Dash to reach Morton.

---

14 - Arya (0/10) Dying One Success
9 - Morton (9/9)
7 - Zombie 1 Dead, Zombie 2 (-7)

Round four
(this is preceded by round three, followed by round five)

Twitching, writhing in the dirt, dying Arya struggles to breathe as her vision fades in and out. She can see her hand clutching at the dirt, but she cannot feel it. It's as if it belongs to someone else...
Arya fails her second death save.

Morton sticks his Fiend-empowered hand in the zombie's face and releases another blast.
Zombie 2 takes 4 force damage! This explodes part of the corpse's head...but it does not stop the undead monster, as the magic that animates it is not dependent on any particular body part. Completely silent, Zombie 2 flails its arms, attempting to punish Morton for the offense of living and breathing.
Morton takes 11 bludgeoning damage and falls to the ground, dying.
The zombie sways over the half-elf for a moment, and then shambles off to kill something else.

---

14 - Arya (0/10) Dying one success, one failure
9 - Morton (0/9) Dying
7 - Zombie 1 Dead, Zombie 2 (-11)

round one, completed

Ember Disengages from the swarm of beetles, brushing the crawling bugs from her body, and moves away in the darkness, quickly outpacing the swarm of voracious insects.

---

12 - Beetles
4 - Ember (5/9)

Round two
(this is preceded by round one)

The swarm of beetles scurry and scuttle through the leaf litter of the forest floor, Dashing to catch up and begin to crawl on Ember again. Feeling the burn of the myriad bites she's already received, the rogue considers some course of action that would prevent her from being bitten again. A stone outcropping juts up out of the darkness to the north of her, and Ember considers whether this might help. ::It'd probably be easier for them to climb than it would be for me:: she thinks. ::If only I could stumble across another carcass or something else they'd like to eat...::

---

12 - Beetles
4 - Ember (5/9)

@WanderOne - Since Morton is using a ranged attack on an adjacent enemy, please reroll the attack with DISADV. I'll let you reroll the damage, too. Lots of sweet & sour sauce. WOOT.

Round two, continued...

Ember runs, and the beetles make one last attempt to feast on her flesh before she outdistances them. But she runs so fast that they drop from her pumping limbs. She quickly outdistances the swarm.

Round four, continued...

Morton sticks his Fiend-empowered hand in the zombie's face and releases another blast.
Zombie 2 takes 4 force damage! This explodes part of the corpse's head...but it does not stop the undead monster, as the magic that animates it is not dependent on any particular body part. Completely silent, Zombie 2 flails its arms, attempting to punish Morton for the offense of living and breathing.
Morton takes 11 bludgeoning damage and falls to the ground, dying.
The zombie sways over the half-elf for a moment, and then shambles off to kill something else.

Round five
(this is preceded by round four, followed by round six)

Arya chokes and wheezes, barely able to draw a breath.
Arya succeeds at her third death save; she has two successes and one failure!
Morton feels something dripping down his cheek, but he can't get his hand to move to wipe it away.
Morton fails his first death save.

---

14 - Arya (0/10) Dying two successes, one failure
9 - Morton (0/9) Dying one failure
7 - Zombie 1 Dead

Ember looks up and sees that she has run out of the woods and ended up in the fields of a farm. She doesn't immediately recognize the plants, which only come up to her waist, but they are definitely some type of crop planted in neat rows. There must have been a gap in a fence that she ran right through...

Looking up, Ember can see the top of the imposing Temple of Merikka in the near distance, visible above the occasional tree, farmhouse, and barn, due to its position atop a low rise. It is still a couple of hours before dawn.

Round six
(this is preceded by round five, followed by round seven)

Arya's will flutters between holding onto life or letting go completely.
Arya fails her fourth death save; she has two successes and two failures.
Something within Morton rejects this premise. ::It can't end here!::
Morton succeeds at his second death save; he has one success and one failure.

---

14 - Arya (0/10) Dying two successes, two failures
9 - Morton (0/9) Dying one success, one failure
7 - Zombie 1 Dead

Round seven
(this is preceded by round six, followed by round eight)

Arya gives one last gasp...and settles into a deep sleep, no longer on the brink of death.
Arya succeeds her fifth death save, and with three successes, she is stable, unconscious at 0 HP.
Morton writhes.
Morton succeeds his third death save; he has two successes and one failure.

---

14 - Arya (0/10) Stable three successes, two failures
9 - Morton (0/9) Dying two successes, one failure
7 - Zombie 1 Dead

Round eight
(this is preceded by round seven)

Arya is stable at 0 HP.
Morton chokes and edges a bit closer to death.
Morton fails his fourth saving throw; he has two successes and two failures.

---

14 - Arya (0/10) Stable three successes, two failures
9 - Morton (0/9) Dying two successes, two failures
7 - Zombie 1 Dead

Aanbo deftly ties knots in his rope, recalling for a moment the traditional Earthshaker monastic method of tying knots to maintain records of births and deaths.

Lyrel summons a glowing, spectral hand in the air in front of her. The hand grabs one end of the rope and floats upward with it. But Lyrel can see no outcropping, embrasure, or crenel around which to affix the rope. As she looks up in growing frustration, Myrtha surprises her by grabbing her legs and lifting her on one shoulder. The Valorous Maiden then holds out her free hand to Chase, who grins and takes it. Both warriors flex; Chase bounds up onto Myrtha's thigh, and leaps up onto her other shoulder. She steadies him with one hand while he balances against the wall. Myrtha shifts slightly to make a stronger base, then Chase reaches down to take Lyrel's hand. Myrtha moves her hand down and grabs Lyrel's foot. "Straighten your leg," she says gently but firmly to the wizard, who is more than smart enough to understand the physics of this maneuver but still a little anxious about it in practice. With a grunt, Myrtha thrusts Lyrel up one-handed, so fast that she's airborne. Chase doesn't let go, but guides her by the hand in an arc onto his shoulders. There is a tense moment when the whole tower of people teeter backwards, but Myrtha steps back and Chase leans forward, bringing Lyrel up against the wall instead of falling down the hill.

This whole maneuver took three seconds at most.

Lyrel takes a couple of steadying breaths, and then reaches up to grab the top of the wall. She climbs fairly easily up the remaining distance (ADV from others' help, not the rope), and in moments she is on top of the wall.

Staying low as to present a smaller silhouette for any watchers inside the wall, Lyrel then floats the hand holding the end of the rope up to her. She anchors the rope around her waist and gestures for Ferranzo or Eugenios to climb up next, if they want to use the rope. The heavier characters can climb up with Myrtha and Chase's help.

Working together, everyone makes it to the top of the wall, though it is easier for some than others. The wall is not quite one pace wide, so everyone is spread out along the wall, crouched and looking at the courtyard. The large dome of the Temple curves up above the courtyard. Lit torches set in sconces on the unbroken walls of the Temple cast a feeble, flickering light on the poorly-tended gardens and overgrown paths. Paving stones are set in the ground to make a wide walkway between the carved wooden entrance gate to the broad, curved stairs leading up to Temple's double-door entrance in the center of the south wall of the stone edifice. A 4-pace-tall building is nestled against the wall in the northwest corner of the courtyard.


(In this map, each square is 10' on a side)

The adventure continues in Chapter 3.5: The Temple of Merikka.