Chapter 2.12 - "Beneath the Toad-Temple"

Part I Here, Part II Here.

The party stands panting outside the black basalt toad-sphinx, facing the double doors with blades and lasers raised, slowly backing away to a point several hundred yards distant from the toad-fane.

They wait with weapons clutched in sweaty, quivering fists. And wait. After several turns the adventurers have calmed down and reassessed their situation. They cautiously reenter the dank toad-temple.

They are pleasantly surprised to find no shambling horrors lurking in ambush and resume their exploration, descending a staircase behind a door of moldy, rotting wood.

They find a complex or corridors and doorways, and slowly explore this second level. Behind one door they find a small chamber holding several rotting wardrobes; a shelf bearing books, boxes and sundry objects; and another door with an unfamiliar glyph of glowing energy inscribed upon it's surface.

The door is avoided as the party searches for loot. Kalervo the Cactoid picks up one of the mouldering pamplets, and begins reading a tale of a "Hierophant Toad" and the toad cult. Rodan rudely shuts him up and harangues the party about how "Nobody is to ever read out loud anything they find in a dungeon!"

The boxes contain cones of black incense, which smell of exotic swamp blossoms. Baron Rodan grabs these, imagining they would provide an erotic atmosphere for sport with his Hyperborean Slave-Woman.

There are several whistles and flutes, of some organic brown matter; a covered bowl holding repellent moldy wafers; and a small green vial. All of these are ignored, as well as the mottled, blotchy gray robes in the three wardrobes.

The companions continue their explorations. One door seems to emit a disgusting, vaguely sexual miasma, and is ignored. From behind a pair of large, verdigris encrusted, locked valves a faint multitudinous croaking is heard. The party turns away and continues.

A barred door is found, in a room decorated with a motif of toad-beings mummifying and entombing their own kind. Steestakarus boldy removes the bar and opens the door. Kalervos beam lamp shows flashes of a small, bare room of clay bricks and panels, decorated, of course, in a gruesome toad motif.

Kalervo, Sleestakarus, and Baron Rodan cautiously enter the chamber, while the holder of the chemical torch, Frelix, freezes and pauses on the threshold of the intermittently illuminated empty chamber.

With a loud crashing and banging two of the clay wall-panels erupt into fragments and out of the dust shambles two withered, brown toad-things. Rodan snatches out the small silver disc, looted from beneath the ruined serpent man complex, and begins incanting the charm inscribed upon it.

A melee erupts between the toad-mummies and the three experienced adventurers while the Piebald Man Ferlix stays back, holding forth the chemical torch.

Rodan and Kalervo spar with one of the things, who seems unable to strike either of them, while Sleestakarus swings his flame-shaped magic longsword, "Hateful Vengeance," at the other. Ferlix overcomes his misgivings and rushes to the Lizardoids aid with his battleaxe, swinging wildly and wide. Sleestakrus is injured by one of the iron-hard blows of the toad-thing.

The first mummy grows frustrated with the supernaturally protected Rodan and Kalervo and attacks Ferlix before Baron Rodan cuts its in half with the glowing red energy blade of his Phasic Sword. Ferlix is bludgeoned unconscious by toad-mummy fists and is dragged away by Sleestakarus while Kalervo and Rodan finish off the remaining undead horror.

The room contains no treasure, and after Ferlix is brought back to his feet, the party begins the long, hot, exhausting journey back to the blue tower, running out of water half-ways through. Baron Rodan remembers that he didn't need to be drinking any of the water stores, as his advanced ancient suit armor recycles his body moisture for personal consumption.