The Jilted Lover

"There doesn't appear to be any way forward from here," Jorgen said after looking around at the walls.

"Where should we go next?" Santrel queried.

"The Temple room had three exits we haven't explored yet.  Maybe one of those?" Fanara responded.

"Let's head back to the Temple and we can decide there." Casia suggested.

The party made its way back up the stairs and into the Temple, where no changes had taken place yet. Deciding on the easiest path they headed to the open passageway rather than the two doors.

This passage was relatively flat as it continued to the east. The walls still held scenes of summer with incorporating elements of abundance, fertility, and motherhood. After several feet the passage began to open into a larger chamber. A strange forest of dark and leafless trees filled the expansive natural cavern, twisting upward toward the ceiling high overhead. Upon closer inspection, the trees seemed to be sculpted out of some kind of dark, layered stone rather than formed of wood. The trees ranged from 20 to 40 feet tall; the ceiling overhead was 50 feet high.

It was difficult to see through or around the trunks of the trees as Jorgen made his way into the chamber moving around the trees.  About 70 feet into the chamber to the south Jorgen saw a  six-armed woman with three fanged faces on her head. She wore colorful robes, and her hands wielded several exotic weapons. At the sight of Jorgen she threw a spear at him.  A kukri and longsword were in two other hands.  The battle was underway but the fighters had been trailing and it took time for them to wade into the fight.  Santrel found casting spells difficult as the creature seemed to resist several of his attempts.  The Upasunda, as identified, attacked with both weapons and her other 4 arms.  This was pretty devastating and just as the party seemed to be in position, the monster teleported away and appeared next to Fanara.

Fanara had been busy asserting the Evil Eye hex on the Upasunda multiple times and then cackling away as usual and now she was under attack.  The party also noted that the creature was healing up damage.  This led to a rather lengthy fight as the Upasunda even resisted as successfully cast fireball.  Finally Fanara's hexes seemed to catch up as the monster hit less often but still even Milos fell to her attacks which led to a panic as Santrel and Amadeo quickly moved to heal him up.  At last the creature fell to the attacks of the party but Fanara was slightly shaken by the intensity.

"Perhaps we should return to the Maiden, if we are actually in the Mother.  It seems like the monsters are more difficult in here."

"Sure you want to go back to that swampy room," Jorgen complained.

"There is another passage out of this room, we should at least explore it," Casia countered.

On went the party and the next room they encountered had a ceiling in a broad natural cavern that arced upward, forming a narrow crown high above the cavern floor. In the center of the cave stood a ring of worn, moss-covered menhirs, their inward faces carved with mystic symbols. The stone menhirs stood 10 to 15 feet tall in a wide circle nearly 50 feet in diameter.

The stones had a strong transmutation aura and inside the ring a pattern was projected across the floor. The party approached cautiously but did not enter the stone circle. Santrel could not determine the meaning of the mystic symbols and Fanara warned against getting too close to the stones themselves.  Jorgen skirted the circle to find a passage leading north. The passage led up a gentle slope to a closed door engraved with the image of a hunched and withered crone.

"I think we should turn back here," Fanara suggested. "This may lead to the crone mesa.  I am not sure we are ready to go there yet."

Jorgen wanted to open the door but Casia agreed with Fanara and the party headed back to the temple.  Casia suggested the northern most of the two doors left.  Jorgen found this door locked and after a few attempts he was able to open it.  Again the party was faced with a passageway headed up this time, which curved north and then back west ending in a door carved with a hunched and withered crone.

This time Jorgen unlocked and opened the door and was faced with the familiar black doorway.  He moved in and saw a round chamber with a spiral staircase carved into the sides headed upwards.  A small landing was just inside the door and a pit seemed to fill the center of the room. The pit continued downward, but it is covered by a massive, blood and gore-soaked wooden grate at this level. Behind him was a door carved with the image of a naked pregnant woman.  He unlocked this door also just as Fanara and the rest of the party popped into the small area.

Up the stairs was the next move this led into a rectangular room carved from the stone.  Two small fey creatures with regular size scythes stood in the chamber.  Like some miniscule, wicked old man or woman, these snarling little humanoids wore metal boots and blood-red pointed caps. 

The two moved to the south of the room to hide from the party as long as possible.  The party moved into the room after Jorgen fired a crossbow at one of them. Santrel cast a magic missile at another and Casia, Amadeo and Jorgen moved into the small room.

The two Red Caps used their Spring Attack to swiftly move to and passed Casia and Amadeo, hacking away with their scythes and kicking with spiked boots. The party battled back quickly reducing the health of the Red Caps.  Flaming Arc did a good job even as the Red Caps healed some damage.  The battle was short as the Red Caps fell.

The party looked around the room now. Rows of rusted iron manacles hung along the room's walls, their chains hammered deep into the stone. A rack along the east wall held numerous cruel-looking torture implements. In the north wall a set of rungs were hammered into the wall and they led all the way into a hole in the ceiling and out of sight above that. Jorgen led the party up the chimney which rose 300 feet into the rock above.  At the top Jorgen found a stone hatch with a naked pregnant woman carved on its face.  Again he unlocked it and found a black void behind.  Another teleportation device. Stepping through he ended up in a hallway with a flagstone beneath that was carved with a one eyed crone.  One end of the passage went off into the darkness, while another ended at a door about 40 feet away.  The door was carved with a symmetrical maze-like pattern surrounding an inlaid iron wheel.

Again the door was locked but that did not deter Jorgen who picked the lock and peeked into a lavish room.  Warm yellow light fille this huge and lavishly decorated bedroom from three golden chandeliers suspended from the ceiling. The walls were painted white and draped with plush velvet curtains. Finely woven rugs covered the floor, while the furniture is upholstered in fine brocade and chintz.  A lacy curtain ran along the southern edge of the room.  Fanara and Casia managed to disbelieve the illusion of elegance, seeing only moldering sheets, and furniture of crude wooden construction. As the party moved further into the chamber they saw a elven or half-elven woman sitting on a fine divan (or just a ratty couch).

Apparently after she had seen Fanara, the woman rose from the sofa and quickly headed toward Fanara.

"Jadrenka you bitch!!" she screamed. "What trick are you trying to play on me now? You have to release me from this prison RIGHT NOW."

"Whoa, Whoa. I am not Jadrenka. Who is Jadrenka?" Fanara responded in shock moving back a bit.

"I know it is you in disguise, with I don't know who accompanying you.  I curse you for your deception and unfaithfulness!!!  You have to let me out of this prison!!  You are here just to tease me longer.  How could you overthrow me so easily?"

At this point the entire party was in slight shock, Casia and Santrel further tried to calm the woman but at this point she was still railing in anger.  Fanara pointed out that she was also an elf.

"Look at my ears." she said.

"Now you are just trying to mock me! You know Kyrisjana is just tying to divide us.  You know deep in your heart that I am not involved with her." the woman said holding back tears and then she broke down into wretched sobbing.

 "You know that there are illusions in this room, check my brothers ears, they are real," Fanara suggested.

The woman moved up to Santrel and felt his ears, then retreated and relaxed slightly. Her sobbing chest slowed and she tried to stop the crying altogether.

"Who are you then?" she asked, "And please help me leave this prison."

The party explained a little about who they were.  As usual they did could not explain why they were in the Mother or Maiden or wherever they were.  

"We do not know exactly what we are looking for." Casia explained.  "Who is Jadrenka?"

"Jadrenka is the Warden of Artrosa, And she is my lover." the woman said, "My name is Marislova."

"What is the Warden?  Is this a prison?" Santrel asked.

"The Warden is the overseer of Artrosa, she was assigned that role by Baba Yaga."

"What does Artrosa have to do with Baba Yaga?" Casia continued.

"I don't know, Jadrenka did not share all of her interactions with Baba Yaga with me."

The discussion continued determining how to get out of the mesas.  Marislova needed to know the phase of the moon. Since the party entered the Maiden under a waxing moon.  Marislova suggested they head back out to the Maiden entrance.  They could go west from here and get to the Maiden and then out to the entrance.  She also wanted to take her personal items with her.  She entered the bed chamber through the silk curtains, (or moldering sheets).  The bed was opulent (or a plain straw pallet) and took a chest out from under the bed.  Fanara noted several magical items in the chest along with some jewelry and coins.  

"Here you can have this," Marislova said tossing a sliver dagger to Fanara.

At this point everyone was ready to go as Marislova led them west past another tapestry to a door which was locked.  Jorgen opened the door and behind was a short passage to another arch filled with black sheen. The group moved through the arch and ended up in another room.

While the walls of the small cavern were rough and jagged; the stone floor was smooth and had been swept clean. A small pool of water surrounded by pale white stones lay to the west. Along the opposite wall to the east, an oaken table holding a wooden bowl and a silver chalice sat in a small alcove.

To the northeast, a short passage led to the where the party entered past a stone door engraved with the image of a naked, pregnant woman sitting in a meditative pose. The woman's hands lay folded in her lap, and a full moon was painted upon her belly. A trio of waist-high pillars of stout gray stone stood in the corridor just before the door.

Jorgen noted that there was a trap on the door. Fanara stated that it was magic of some sort. Santrel began studying the pillars. The tops of the three stone pillars had been hollowed out to create shallow fonts or bowls, each with an engraved symbol chiseled into the bottom of the font. From west to east, the symbols were a stylized ear of corn, a six-spoked wheel, and a downward pointing triangle inside a circle. Using his languages skills Santrel interpreted the symbols as representing corn, the sun, and water.  It appeared that some ritual was needed, possibly related to the trap. Examining the table Fanara noted that the wooden bowl held corn seed but the chalice was empty.

"Lets keep moving, I want to get out of here as quickly as possible," Marislova said.

While on the way Fanara asked Marislova more about her relationship with Jadrenka. Born a man and originally named Maroslan, he fell in love with Jadrenka during one of the warden's rare forays from Artrosa. Maroslan began openly courting Jadrenka, leaving her nonplussed-she had spent her whole life in Artrosa, and raised by her hag mother, and knew nothing of love. But Maroslan was persistent, and Jadrenka soon returned his affections, inviting him to stay with her. Maroslan agreed, and became one of Artrosa's residents. Here in this bastion of womanhood and femininity, Maroslan discovered he was more comfortable as a woman, and using the magic of Artrosa, he transformed into the fully female Marislova.

The next passage led up to a Y where one leg continued up and the other down. Marislova pointed to continue upwards.  This led to another chamber where a series of head-high partitions fashioned from intricately brocaded cloth panels stretched over wooden frames took up the center of this cavern, forming a large enclosed area in the center of the chamber.

Marislova said to head north to a passage leading upwards.  A freshly killed bull carcass lay in the passage before it opened into the swamp the heroes had avoided earlier.  The winged man with pipes took flight and invited them in.

DM's Notes: The party earned 1867 XP for their work.