How to Make Friends and Influence Deities - 10/22 session recap

The party lashed the barrels of liquor together and used Tenser's Floating Disc to haul them back to town. They collected their reward and heard a tale about the priest of the temple and how he had gone mad many years ago and buried himself alive in a show of faith. This was also to protest his lack of congregation, who had abandoned him over the years due to the arduous trip into the mountains.

Business arrangements were made with the caravan leader, who agreed to sell the spare weapons and armor that they had looted from the dead kobolds. He was unwilling to take the portrait, however, and he had no idea who it depicted.

The party also spoke to the local sheriff and asked if there was a bounty on kobolds. The answer was no. They inquired about becoming paid deputies (or mercenaries) and the sheriff told them that there was no money for any more guardsmen.

After a night in town, the party returned and ventured deeper into the cave temple of Ul-Barat. Squeezing through tight spaces they emerged in a wide chamber. In the center was a ring of eleven rectangular pillars that was about forty feet in diameter. At the center of the ring was a low cairn of stones large enough to be the resting place of a human-sized creature. At the back of the chamber was an alcove with an altar.

After a search for traps, Ander and Boreas moved up to the altar to inspect it. Thoric walked up to the cairn and surmised that this was the priest who had gone mad and buried himself. He spoke to the priest, telling him that he was a failure, that Kobolds had desecrated his temple. This did not elicit any response from the stones.

Around the altar, Boreas found the remains of a magical lab. The pieces were not destroyed, merely the remnants of what must have been a more complete magical setup. There was also a portal circle on the ground behind the altar. With a quick incantation, Boreas discovered that there was a magical scroll hidden under the heavy capstone of the altar. Only a small corner of parchment stuck out. With Ander's help lifting the capstone, he was able to retrieve it. At that moment, the cairn of stones began to move.

Thoric immediately attacked it, and Xakoraki commanded Ander forward to assist in the fight. The creature rose up to a standing position, and it was clear that this was the mad priest. He had become one with the cairn that had buried him. No longer human, he was mostly elemental at this point. He raised his rocky fists and slammed them into the ground, sending out a shockwave that knocked all three of his attackers down. After a short fight, the priest was about to fall apart. Thoric had a perfect shot with his hammer, and he opted for a killing blow. It fell into chunks of inert stone, and a rumble resonated throughout the entire cave.

The rumbling did not subside, but became pronounced, a full earthquake. Rocks began to fall from the ceiling, and the party made a run for it. Thoric put on a burst of speed at the end and was the first to emerge from the temple before it collapsed. Fortunately, his companions also made it out, though there were several injuries from falling rocks.

Boreas examined the parchment with Thoric, and they determined that it was a ritual of Linked Portal, with a destination already inscribed. A clue to be sure, but what to do with it?