Elements of Evil

Once the equipment of the fallen leaders of the Fire Temple had been plundered, the matter of Tessimon’s corpse had to be decided. Prior to their abandonment of the party, the Water Temple had agreed to safely transport the adventurers across lake Stalagos to the Outer Fane and open the Water Door for them - provided they produced the head of Tessimon. Of course now things were different, and the party didn’t feel much like cooperating with the Kuo-Toa. The subject of what to do next was heartily debated. The only thing that everyone could agree on was that the Water Temple’s desire for Tessimon’s head probably went beyond merely wanting her dead. There was magic that could make a corpse speak its secrets, and the fish-men no doubt wanted to know something that Tessimon had taken to the grave. No matter what the party did next, they certainly weren’t going to help the people who had abandoned them. The fiery pit that served as a centerpiece for the Fire Temple provided the perfect crematorium for Tessimon’s body.
During their assault of the area, the party had passed many interesting rooms in favor of expediency. Before moving on, the adventurers put aside their argument in favor of searching the rooms of the Fire Temple for treasure. In Firre’s bedroom, the disturbing area with bloody organs hanging from chains, the party found a strange amber figurine hidden in the false bottom of a chest. Its vague, subtle carving suggested a curled, sleeping demon. Whoever held it heard light whispers from the corners of the room, too faint to make out. Incredibly, Circe recalled of hearing of such a thing in arcane legend. It was a minor artifact known as a ‘Demon Stone’. Legend held that its owner need not even carry it with them to benefit from its powers, but the stories were vague as to what those powers were. Circe had also heard that ill fortune followed the stone wherever it went. Rather than subject themselves to whatever influence this item had, Terese conjured a floating magical disk to carry the figurine - as well as any other treasure they could find.
In Tessimon’s room the mistress of Fire’s vanity was apparent in the small fortune in gems and jewelry that she kept. The party also found another letter from the man named Hedrack, from the Outer Fane. It mentioned a ‘prophecy’ and a ‘champion’ among other things. There was no doubt that the Doomdreamers were somehow connected to the signs of the end times that had been appearing all over the Flaeness. Whatever they were doing, it had to be stopped.
Near Tessimon’s was a trapped cave with a large stone statue of a dragon holding a box. After the traps were disarmed the party recovered ‘The Book of the Dark Eye’ from the box, an evil cannon describing the rituals of the Elder Elemental Eye. It detailed how the drums, candelabra, and altar on the floating platform could be used in combination with Tessimon’s tentacle rod to sacrifice a sentient being to the Dark God. Leaving behind the means to commit such atrocities was too much for the adventurers to stomach. Returning to the temple proper, the party hurled the black drum and candelabra into the fire pit where Tessimon’s bones smoldered. For a moment the flames howled and jumped to twice their height, turning a vivid lavender color. Clearly the Elder Elemental Eye was displeased.
Further exploration of the Fire Temple’s caves uncovered what could only be described as a torture chamber. A rack, iron maiden, an oven with hot coals and and irons, and a table full of rusty knives, thumbscrews and other terrible implements were arranged about the room. The party felt some satisfaction knowing that the perpetrators of the crimes committed here had been given their just desserts. On a whim, Stelios opened the iron maiden only to discover that it still held its victim. The man was alive, but only just barely. His abused body told the story of a long and excruciating imprisonment. Cassius immediately channeled the power of Pelor to heal him of his wounds, but the damage the stranger had suffered was more than physical. He stared back at the party with the blank look of one whose mind has experienced so much horror that it has closed in on itself. Although the stranger could be led wherever the party wanted to go, it was clear he was completely helpless, and would be in grave danger should the party find itself in a combat situation. The party decided it would be best to return to Rastor, by way of the Southern Gate in the Air Temple. This would at least give them the chance to check out the hidden cache of the Cloakers they had left untouched on their trek to the Fire Temple. First, Cassius wanted to try one more thing to heal the stranger’s mind.
The Aasimar had just enough divine energy left to cast his most powerful restorative magic on the poor soul. The light of Pelor flowed through Cassius into the man, cleansing his soul and erasing the damage that had been inflicted on his psyche. Slowly the spark of comprehension returned to the man’s eyes:

“Am I finally dead?.. No, I can’t be, I’m still in these hells damned mines. You don’t look like the Cultists, more like adventurers… please tell me you gave that bloody Gnome what was coming to him!”

He introduced himself as Jurrikath Musseloto, one of the members of Tymerian’s party who were attacked by the lightning towers that stud the Outer Fane. After the adventurers explained who they were and what they were doing Jurrikath told them his story. After losing sight of Tymerian his companions set down on the volcanic island in the center of the Stalagos. There they were attacked by powerful undead and he was knocked unconscious and taken prisoner. He was kept in the Outer Fane for a time and tortured before being traded to Firre of the Fire Temple. Jurrikath’s memories were clouded by the torture he had endured, but he did remember a huge Red Dragon guarding the Fire Door. The party took note of Jurrikath’s information, particularly the Dragon, and equipped the fallen adventurer as best they could for the journey out of the mines to Rastor. With that they left the Fire Temple and headed back from where they had come less than an hour earlier.
When the party neared the Docks, Stelios crept ahead to the lair of the Cloakers. There he quietly lifted the loose flagstone and retrieved the creatures’ hidden treasure. Then he gave the rest of the party the signal to run. Before the Kuo-Toa on the nearby dock could organize themselves to investigate, the adventurers were long gone, on their way out of the mines.
Outside Jurrikath breathed fresh air for the first time in many months. Coming down the mountain to Rastor was a trip he had long ago given up on. Later, Tymerian’s shop was the scene of a tearful reunion. Both she and Jurrikath pledged whatever assistance they could give the party in their quest against the Cult of Elemental Evil - save for ever returning to Mount Stalagos again. The time Jurrikath had spent there had left scars deeper than even Pelor’s healing was capable of touching it seemed.
Terese took advantage of the day by teleporting to Verbobonc in order to sell some of the plunder they had taken from the mines. His purse still hurt from the robbery a week ago, and he was eager to fill it with some coin. They would attack the Outer Fane soon, and that might require new spells - which would mean he would need some gold to pay for the research.
The other adventurers visited the temple of Moradin to see Rerrid. They showed him the Demon Stone they had found and asked for his advice. Touching it, Rerrid seemed as disturbed by the item as the party was. Together it was decided that the best course of action would be to have Tunraug construct a sealed, lead container for the Demon Stone, and then the adventurers could take it to one of their contacts in Verbobonc where it could be guarded - or destroyed - properly.
That evening over drinks at the Gray Lodge, the adventurers debated their next move. The Pelorites felt that there was no need to deal with the Water Temple any longer. They had what they needed to get into the Outer Fane and they could use either the Fire Door or the Air door. The rest of the party felt that it was too dangerous to leave one of the evil temples standing. The threat, should they need to retreat from the Outer Fane, was too great. After more than a few flagons worth of discussion Circe and Cassius lost the argument. The next day they would attack the Water Temple. While the rhetorical reason for doing so was the threat they posed, it was clear that the real motivation for the assault was revenge for Nilbool’s betrayal. Grayzon and Terese were particularly angered by the Water Temple’s failure to honour their bargain.
Another sunrise brought the party up the mountain path towards the mines. Along the way they were set upon by a pair of lurking Hill Giants. At one time these creatures would have sent the party fleeing in fear, but the adventurers were much more powerful now. Between Circe’s spells and Saksia’s arrows, the creatures were felled before Grayzon could close the gap between them. Things did not bode well for the denizens of the Water Temple.
Nothing had changed at the abandoned Western entrance, and the party encountered no resistance travelling through the empty Troglodyte caves of the Earth Temple. It wasn’t long before they came upon the domain of the Water Temple, which, appropriately enough was blocked by a cavern filled with a large pool. There was a small skiff moored on each side of the pool, but the adventurers knew it couldn’t be that easy. Volo transformed himself into a dolphin and leaped into the pool. His new form’s echolocation not only revealed the dimensions of the pool but also a humanoid shape swimming under the surface of the water. He swam closer to investigate, close enough so he could see to make out what he was. As the blurred shape came into view, Volo found himself face to face with a hideous misshapen monster, like a twisted old crone with green putrid skin and long, stringy seaweed hair - a Sea Hag. She was so terrible to behold that Volo felt he might lose his resolve. The Hag cast her evil gaze upon the Druid and he felt his muscles stiffen with fear, but he shrugged the attack off and with a flick of his powerful tail was free of the creature and back at shore.
In an attempt to bypass the pool’s guardian, Circe used her magical slippers to scale the wall of the cave and climb around. A few moments later a crossbow bolt flew out of the water towards the Sorcerer. A dark shape in the water coming closer confirmed the missile’s source. Before the Hag could get close enough to use her evil eye Circe let loose with stream of concussive bolts of force, perforating the monster’s body. The Hag’s body floated to the surface in a pool of its own oily, green blood. The first servant of Water had fallen.
Circe proceeded to climb to the other side of the pool, only to be surprised by a retinue of Cultists with bows. A few arrows from the first volley grazed the Sorcerer but it was not the first time she had dealt with such a threat. A few words of arcane power left the charging Cultists incinerated in a ball of flame. It was almost too easy. All threats gone, the adventurers used the pair of boats to cross the pool and move deeper into the caves of the Water Temple.
After moving through what appeared to be a throne room, the party was attacked by a second group of Cultists sniping from a wooden balcony. These fell nearly as easily as the first. The Water Temple’s human troops were green and inexperienced. The fight was so one-sided that one of the fanatics even surrendered. He was full of bile and hatred for the intruders but had enough of a sense of self preservation that he told the party where they could find the Temple’s leaders. Unburdened of Weapons the Cultist fled the way the party had come, towards the Western Gate.
Following his instructions, the party found themselves in a room the Cultist had called ‘the Deeps’. The name was appropriate - a mixture of lighting and architecture made it seem like the cave was deep underwater. It was also inhabited. As Saskia and Stelios began to explore the area a curtain of dried seaweed was thrown aside by a fiendish Kuo-Toa with wings - a creature their informant had named Oomkaan. Surrounded by a thick cloud of narcotic smoke, Oomkaan snarled at the interlopers and hurled blasphemous spells at them. A moment later the rest of the party was in the room, blades drawn. Although clearly outnumbered Oomkaan attacked without fear, barking out nonsense in the alien Kuo-Toan tongue. This was a group of adventurers that had slain Dragons, and a single Kuo-Toa, even one with demonic blood, was no match for them. In short order the creature was slain and the room was secured. According the Cultist’s directions they were steps away from the altar room, where they would find Nilbool and the other leaders of the Water Temple. Revenge was at hand.

It is clear this large Kuo-Toa’s blood is tainted by the demonic. His eyes glow red, his fingers end in sharp talons, a horned ridge runs from the bridge of his nose down his spine and his back sports a pair of functioning wings. Oomkaan is second in the Water Temple to Kelashein, though only in power. In truth the half-fiend has little influence beyond immediate intimidation on the other cult members. This suits the violent misanthropic creature fine. It spends its days in solitude, abusing powerful narcotics.

Oomkaan was destroyed on the 10th of Reaping, CY 594.

In spite of the horrors he has endured these past months being tortured by Firre Oranac, Jurrikath is still attractive if a little haunted. He has short, curly, light brown hair and distinctive green eyes. Even more noticeable is his smooth and musical voice, even in regular conversation - an asset that made him highly prized by his torturers for his melodious screams.

Jurrikath was a member of Tymerian’s party, who were lost on a failed expedition to Mount Stalagos.

We’re playing on July 5th, July 28th, and August 16th. Hope everyone had a good Canada Day… and Independence Day for Geoff (guess what? The first beats the fourth - we win!).

The part had finally reached the Fire Temple. The adventurers checked their armor and tightened their scabbards in preparation for the coming trial. Cassius said a quick prayer to Pelor and abjured his companions against fire - an enchantment his comrades would quickly come to appreciate.
Nilbool gestured for the party to proceed, waving his scaly hand as if the adventurers were ill-trained guard dogs. Before proceeding Stelios, Saskia and Moolowik met in conference. Stelios convinced the Kuo-Toa spy to join him and Saskia in scouting ahead of the war party. It was much better to have the slippery creature ahead of his friends than lurking behind the vulnerable spellcasters. The two Elves and the fish-man crept down the passage.
The cavern opened into a large chamber with a diamond shape made of red stone embedded in the floor at its center. At the diamond’s points stood four pillars above which floated a roiling ball of flame, held aloft by some invisible force. A cultist, dressed in black armor and a red cloak stood beside each of the pillars, waiting. In spite of the scout’s stealthy approach they had been detected… or were expected.
Before the scouts could get any closer each of the cultists pressed a hand-shaped depression on the pillar in front of them. The effects were immediate. The floating ball of fire shuddered and spat of a stream of incendiary globs. As they hit the ground they began to grow and take shape, until only seconds later, four vaguely humanoid creatures composed of fire picked themselves up of the ground and charged. Stelios and Moolowik moved to block them while Saskia shot a volley of arrows at the cultists. Two of the cultists fell while the other two fled. Being all but immune to the attacks of the elementals it was an easy task for Stelios to hold them off. Moolowik, having no such protection backed off after ineffectually stabbing at the creatures with his spear. By the time Grayzon and the rest of the party had caught up, the Elves had destroyed all but one of the elementals, which was quickly cut down by the Dwarf’s axe. The battle done the party and their Kuo-Toa allies moved into the room.
There were three exits out of the room, and rather than chase after the escaped cultists blindly, Saskia searched the mouth of each tunnel for signs of activity. Her efforts revealed only what her eyes had already told her, that the only area to see heavy activity was the tunnel the cultists fled down. Meanwhile, Stelios made use of the time disabling the mechanisms of two of the summoning pillars in case the cultists returned with reinforcements. But the reinforcements never came, which left three unknown passages ahead. Stelios and Saskia saw an opportunity to weaken the Fire Temple as well as their Kuo-Toan ‘allies’.
Circe and Stelios convinced the Kuo-Toa that it would be best to split up, attacking the Fire Temple on two fronts. The charming pair used their silver tongues to push the Kuo-Toa into exploring the passage that showed heavy use, while the party volunteered to investigate the other two. The negotiation was made all the more difficult by the fact that they had to hide their true intentions from Grayzon and Terese, who felt that above all else the party should honor its bargains. The deception was successful. Moolowik, Nilbool, Urlurg and the other Kuo-Toa split off from the party while Grayzon and Terese’s convictions remained intact.
The party found that the other two tunnels connected in another large cavern, this one with a gaping hole in the floor that belched out clouds of black smoke. Here they were attacked by a swarm of Fire Mephits, dangerous to the inexperienced but little more than stinging flies to the experienced adventurers. The tunnels continued to a cave system so hot the ground was soft, but there was little sign that it would reconnect with the path the Kuo-Toa took. It was decided that the party should double back and follow the forces from the Water Temple, if only so that their advantage against the Fire Temple was not lost.
Back in the cave of the pillars the adventurers could hear the faint sounds of battle coming from the last tunnel - the Kuo-Toa had found the cultists. The party carefully pressed forward, the tunnel curving downwards, deeper into the earth. The cave widened into a room where the Kuo-Toa were picking over the bodies of a group of slain cultists. An overturned table and chairs were also witness to the conflict. Moolowik explained that the leader of the guards, an Elven female had escaped down a set of natural stairs at the opposite side of the room. The two groups united once again, and like before Moolowik joined Stelios and Saskia in scouting ahead. A few of the Kuo-Toan soldiers had been injured during the battle and on seeing the party’s lack of injuries Nilbool’s anger was rising. The Cleric gnashed his teeth and absentmindedly stroked his collection of scrolls and wands. Moolowik was more than happy gain some distance from his master.
At the bottom of the steps the scouts were confronted with a veritable wall of smoke. The chamber they were about to enter must have been the source for the smoke in the lair of the Mephits. A few feet into the room and navigation became impossible. The trio were reduced to inching forward one step at a time, one hand on the wall to keep them from becoming lost in the choking clouds of ash. It was the perfect ambush point and every moment in the cloud the scouts winced at every sound, expecting to be met with tooth or blade. Then the floor fell away. Stelios reacted without thinking, leaping to the side as the hinged lid of the pit trap was sprung. Moolowik was not so quick, his merciless descent ending with a bone shattering crunch. Lying at the bottom of the darkened pit the Kuo-Toan spy cried out feebly for help. For a moment Stelios considered leaving the vile creature there, or dispatching him quickly with an arrow. The other Kuo-Toa would never know… but the Elf’s conscience won out and he lowered a rope. Stelios knew Moolowik would probably stab him in the back as soon as look at him, but at that moment all he felt was pity for the creature.
With the trap discovered the scouts reported back to the main group and slowly led the combined force through the smoke filled room without further incident. Beyond was a maze of interconnecting tunnels and small chambers sectioned off with red curtains, including a barracks, but they were empty save for a lone hell-hound that Grayzon knocked the teeth out of before it could bite anyone. The cultists had obviously fought a fighting withdrawal and were now holed up in some well defensible strong point. The adventurers best guess was that their enemies were hidden behind a mighty set of bronze doors they had found, sculpted to look like snarling dragons. Try as they might none were strong enough to force the portals open, and Stelios could find no lock to pick. There had to be another way in.
Eventually the party found the room they were looking for, but the idea of crossing it made their stomachs churn. Hooked chains hung from the ceiling on which hung the skulls and drippings organs of the cult’s sacrificial victims. What was worse was that there was a bed underneath that rain of gore - someone actually slept here. The floor was slick and greasy with spattered blood, but at the other end of the room the passage continued in the direction of the double doors, only a flimsy ragged curtain separating them from their destination. The party steeled themselves and assembled in the room. Stelios took a chance and peered around the edge of the curtain. Beyond was a huge cavern, far wider than he could see from his vantage point with a wide, fire-filled pit dominating the center. This was the focal point of the cult of fire. As if in response to Stelios’ intrusion a female voice rang out unseen from inside the cavern, it could be none other than Tessimon:

“So the servants of Water have finally arrived! Come then, enter the sanctum of flame and feel the true power of the Dark Eye!”

Nilbool blustered at being called out and began shouting for blood, threatening the party if they did not attack immediately. Terese had a different idea though, the Necromancer had recently mastered a new spell and it was the perfect opportunity to try it. The wizard sat cross-legged and produced a large red gem from his robes. He began chanting, narrowed his eyes and focused on the crimson facets looking back at him from his lap. The magic took effect and Terese willed his soul to leave his body and temporarily inhabit the gem. Then his consciousness reached out and blindly snatched at a nearby life-force weaker than his own. Invisibly the two souls traded places, Terese gaining a new body while his victim was imprisoned within the gem. Terese opened his eyes and realized he was in the body of Moolowik. While he would have preferred possessing one of the cultists in the adjacent temple, this would have to do. Before anyone could react Moolowik got up and bolted past the curtain. Now he had a clear view of the chamber. The walls were painted with huge murals depicting fiery demons roasting thousands of victims in black furnaces. Above the flaming pit levitated a wide metal platform with a black altar and Tessimon standing before it. She was far from alone. Spread out along the edges of the room were the marshaled forces of the Fire Temple. There were half a dozen cultists, a like number of animate skeletons who burned with an inner fire but were not consumed, a pair of Salamanders and their pet Hell Hound, Virith - the Elf commander who had fled the Kuo-Toa, the aging mercenary Zert, a Sorcerer named Arlainth and the evil Gnome Cleric Firre. Terese, in the body of Moolowik, made it all of three steps into the room before Arlainth blasted him into oblivion with a bolt of force.
Fortunately for Terese it was only a minor inconvenience. The magic of his spell brought the Necromancers soul right back where it belonged, forcing Moolowik out of the gem and sending his soul to whatever punishment a life of evil had earned him. By now Nilbool was frothing at the mouth in rage. If the party didn’t attack the Fire Temple now they would have a different fight on their hands. Saskia ran in first, deftly dodging incoming missile fire from the cultists. Arlainth had readied a spell but hesitated to wait for more targets. It was a fatal mistake. The Ranger let loose her deadly arrows into the Half-Elf Sorcerer’s unarmored body. He fell to the floor dead before he could even regret his folly. Grayzon and Stelios headed towards the thickest knot of enemies, ready to hold them back. Circe cloaked herself in invisibility and used her magical slippers to climb up the wall of the cave for a better vantage point. Cassius took a defensive position just outside of the bloody room, ready with spell or mace as the situation dictated. Volo transformed himself into a wild bear and let out a growling challenge to any foolish enough to meet him head on. Finally Terese, recovered from his experience, summoned a terrifying wall of moaning spirits to guard against the party’s exposed flank. The battle was joined.
Saskia concentrated her fire on Tessimon, as the Cleric gleefully cast spells down at the party from her floating platform, but in spite of her incredible aim, just couldn’t seem to hit. Grayzon and Stelios tackled the burning skeletons while Cassius protected Terese from the Hell-Hound. The Necromancer’s spectral barrier not only held the forces of the Fire Temple at bay, but sent many of them fleeing in fear. Volo moved between Cassius and Grayzon, picking off enemies with powerful swipes of his claws. Circe, fearing no reprisal thanks to her invisibility, began a long and powerful chant whose cadence was punctuated every few seconds by an explosion of ice somewhere on the battlefield. By the time she was finished Virith, Firre, and the salamanders would all be dead.
Zert closed with Stelios and Grayzon. Against only one of the adventurers, his twin short swords would have been a threat, but the fighting styles of Elf and Dwarf - polar opposites, combined so effectively that the mercenary was cut down before he knew the extent of the danger he faced.
Meanwhile Nilbool was screaming with hysterical rage. He wanted to charge the Kuo-Toa out en masse but the adventurers were blocking the small entrance. It seemed the fight would be over before it began, and then Tessimon shouted the order to open the doors.
In streamed a swarm of alien creatures with bulbous floating bodies, glowing hypnotic eyes and dozens of spindly legs. The ravenous beasts were being driven foreword by a grim looking Salamander, twice the size of his brethren, clad in midnight plate - the formidable Skassik. While the party focused on destroying his beastly minions Skassik calmly surveyed the battlefield for a worthy opponent. He singled out Grayzon and slithered over. Cultist and skeleton alike parted to make room for the mighty creature, falling in to surround the Dwarf only once Skassik had given the signal.
By now Nilbool and the other Kuo-Toa had finally made their way in. The fishman’s mouth was flecked with froth as he screamed in rage at Tessimon on her perch:

“Prepare to be extinguished whore of ashes! Too long have you mocked the supremacy of Water and now you will reap the whirlpool! The Elder Elemental Eye looks down upon thee and casts that which you hold dear into oblivion!”

With that Nilbool produced a tattered scroll from his belt and recited the words of power it contained. A sickly green ray leapt from his outstretched hand to the floating altar, cascading it in entropic energy. For a moment it seemed as if the altar would disintegrate, collapsing in on itself, but somehow it resisted the potent magic. Perhaps it was a fluke of fate, or even the intervention of dread Tharizdun himself? His coup de gras against the hated Fire Temple thwarted Nilbool fell to his knees whimpering, wondering aloud if his god had abandoned him. Tessimon laughed and continued to hurl spells about the battlefield, luxuriating in her apparent invincibility. Utterly defeated, Nilbool read from another scroll transporting him and Urlurg away in a puff of smoke. The party’s one time allies had fled. Seeing their masters routed and knowing that they had been abandoned, the remaining Kuo-Toa snapped. Overcome with frenzy the fish men attacked anything near them, including the adventurers.
Volo swatted the turncoats with his mighty paws giving Terese enough time to take to the air with a spell of flight. It was time for the Necromancer to deal with Tessimon.
Terese blanketed with priestess with a dispelling field in an attempt to remove her magical protections. A few of her enchantments were peeled away, but it was not nearly enough. Circe had to attack Tessimon’s dweomers two more times before enough were dispelled that she became vulnerable. With her spells gone, Saksia’s arrows began to find their mark. Terese took advantage of the opening as well, attacking Tessimon’s life force with a black ray of enervation. Badly wounded, the mistress of the Fire Temple commanded the floating platform to retreat into a hidden chamber in the domed roof of the cave.
Down below, a mighty battle raged between Grayzon and Skassik. The Dwarf fought carefully, taking the time to attack only when an opening presented itself. The Salamander Noble rained thundering blows with his greatsword down on Grayzon’s raised shield with enough force the Dwarf thought his legs would buckle. Both combatants had already shrugged off enough damage to kill a dozen lesser men. Stelios manoeuvred between skeletons and around Skassik for a well placed blow to the Salamander’s vitals, but he was too well armoured and the Elf’s blade couldn’t connect. It was all he could do to avoid Skassik’s thrashing tail. Volo and Cassius went to work eliminating the remaining Skeletons and rogue Kuo-Toa, trying to get closer to Grayzon so that either of the divine servants could heal him.
Finally Grayzon saw the opening he had been waiting for. Skassik had overextended himself, leaving his vulnerable underbelly exposed. With a mighty upward swing, the Dwarf sliced his waraxe into scaly hide. Skassik reared up for an overhead strike, the motion ripping the tear until his belly split open, spilling his entrails in an explosion of ichor. Without so much as a gasp, the terrible Salamander expired. It was a small matter for the rest of the party to destroy the Fire Temple’s remaining minions.
By the time Tessimon had healed herself and lowered the platform, all of her followers were dead and dieing. The dark mistress of Fire barely batted an eyelash at the destruction and began her assault anew. Circe recited her conjuration and suddenly the surface of the platform was alive with writhing black tentacles. Within seconds Tessimon was held fast in their crushing grip. Once again Tessimon ordered the floating platform up into the secret chamber in the roof, in the hopes that she could escape the tentacles and heal the damage they had inflicted. This time her stratagem failed. A minute later the platform lowered with Tessimon’s broken and lifeless body draped across it. The Fire Temple had been defeated.
As the adventurers searched the bodies of the fallen for treasure, they couldn’t help but feel they had reached a milestone. Everything they knew about the mines told them that they had just vanquished its most powerful residents. There was little left for them to fear in the Crater Ridge Mines.

The leader of the Fire Temple, Tessimon is undoubtedly the most dangerous person in all of the Crater Ridge Mines. She is obsessed with the destructive energy of fire and truly believes that she is the incarnation of that power. Her mood swings wildly from ecstatic joy when her demands are met to teeth-gnashing anger at the slightest displeasure. She has dyed the tips of her dark hair red and tattooed her neck with crimson flames. Even more grotesque than her evil mind is her right arm - a scaly, taloned, demonic thing crudely stitched to the stump of her own.

Tessimon was crushed to death on the 8th of Reaping, CY 594, ending her reign of terror.

Zert stands out from the other cultists of the Fire Temple, not just for his Flan heritage, but also for his choice of dark green platemail. It is obvious from the easy way he wears his armor, and his graying curly hair, that Zert is a veteran of many battles. In combat he wields a pair of enchanted shortswords. Zert is Tessimon’s second in command.

Neither his experience nor his magical weapons saved Zert from death at the hands of adventurers on the 8th of Reaping, CY 594.

This Elven woman keeps her shoulder length, wavy, brown hair out of her face in combat with a red bandanna. Her skills with a bow and sword have allowed her to rise above the rank and file of the Fire Temple to become their commander.

Virith was killed during the fall of the Fire Temple on the 8th of Reaping, CY 594.

A mighty Salamander noble, dedicated to the worship of the Elder Elemental Eye, Skassik was called to this plane many years ago and continues to serve the Fire Temple faithfully. Clad in black half-plate and wielding a mighty iron greatsword that conducts the heat from his body there are few creatures in the mines that can withstand his onslaught. Skassik has been given the blessing of his dark god and even Tessimon treads lightly in his presence.

Despite his strength, adventurers defeated Skassik on the 8th of Reaping, CY 594.

Firre has a calm, peaceful demeanor and smiling face. If it weren’t for the oversized symbol of fire on his shield, the Gnome would seem out of place amongst the cultists of the Elder Elemental Eye. Disturbingly, this is only a thin veneer covering a sick and loathsome individual obsessed with sadism and pain.

Firre Oranac was put down on the 8th of Reaping, CY 594.