Alexander, Juniper, and Milo sat
down to plan the assault on the Trest Temple.
They knew that before they could attack they had to know something about
the temple. Arwata volunteered to scout
the temple. Alexander insisted that
another pilgrim go with her to better insure success.
The two scouts decided to enter the
temple separately. What they saw was
closer to a small fortress than a temple.
There was a wall surrounding the temple with six armed people patrolling
the compound. The temples head priest
had approximately six acolytes working in the temple. Arwata saw only one perform any type of
magic. The rest of the acolytes were
heavily supervised, as if their skills and knowledge were lacking
proficiency.
Milo was pleased that only one of
the acolytes performed magic. Alexander
on the other hand was skeptical that only one of them would be able to perform
magic. He also figured that the armed
people patrolling the courtyard might be a fraction the number of people they
had. The number could actually be higher
if they rotated their people out. Even
with the experience the pilgrims have gotten recently they haven’t been taught
to fight as a single unit. That would be
the next step in their training. For now
they needed to focus the mission, raising that temple to the ground.
The insignia the temple guards wore
was the local warrior union. They were
good for a local militia but not much better than caravan guards. Alexander hoped with the number of pilgrims
he had could overcome the lack of proper training for the pilgrims. Alexander greatest fear was the cost of the
battle would be to great and thus paint a target on his little group. He just hoped there was a good in the heavens
that would hear and listen to his prayers.
Alexander’s plan relied heavily on
getting into the courtyard without notice and making it into the temple
itself. A female half-elf offered to
unlock a gate to grant them access. She
was young and didn’t look very experienced so he asked her to prove her
abilities. To answer his question she tossed
him his sword in answer. The look of
embarrassment was short lived as he relieved that she may have been the answer
he sought.
The group approached the temple
under cover of night. When the half-elf
saw the gate they were going to enter she had Alexander hold there so she could
open the lock. As she advanced towards
the gate she melded into the shadows cast from the building by the few star
that appeared through the cloud filled sky.
Alexander only saw a blur of movement over the wall then the heavy metal
door opened without a noise.
The overcast sky provided little
light so the light from the torches created the illusion of islands of light in
a sea of darkness that was the courtyard.
The group moved along the wall in the shadows staying as quite as
possible. Alexander’s raiders were most
of the way across the yard when a pair of guards appeared in an island of
light. The stealth expert was attempting
to subdue the pair when the yard was bathed in light and the gate they came
through slammed shut and locked.
After the alarm sounded, all dreams
of a quick victory were dashed as guards pooled from temple and acolytes could
be seen in the windows. Juniper was
casting a spell in in preparation for the coming fight when she stopped
speaking. The look on her face was not a
good one. I could see her moving her
mouth but no sound was emitted. Only
half the pilgrims made it into the courtyard before the gates were slammed
shut.
As soldiers spilled into the
courtyard he could see their numbers were easily twice his. The acolytes were the biggest shock when they
appeared to be more trained than it originally appeared. If not for their previous combat experience
this would have been a blood bath. In
the face of everything Alexander’s pilgrims were holding their own refusing to
let an inch by taken without a great cost.
It wasn’t until the acolytes started aiding the soldier that his forces
were forced to give ground. Without
Juniper’s magic there was nothing that could be done to equalize the priest’s
magic.
Arrwata’s small stature and
training allowed her to swiftly move through the ranks of soldiers. Once the soldiers were behind her she started
engaging the Priest in charge of the temple.
The priest realized to late that Arrwata was a threat. Even with her small frame her blows hit like
hammers knocking him senseless. By the time
he was able to get his mind clear, he was impaled by the stealth master’s
dagger. The pilgrims were fighting
valiantly, but were unable to keep pace with the soldiers.
As hard as they fought the soldier
were better trained and equipped.
Alexander had underestimated the soldier numbers and his people were
paying the price. Even with the loss of
the head priest the acolytes were still the tripping point in the power
struggle raging in the courtyard. As he
was trying to find a way to neutralize the acolytes a third faction joined the
fight.
They were four individuals with light
armor and heavy crossbows. Alexander
started to issue orders to engage the new threat when they raised their
crossbows and killed two of the acolytes.
The surviving acolytes quickly retreated back into the temple. Without the acolytes to support them the
soldier quickly lost their will to fight.
Alexander gathered Juniper, Milo
and Arrwata to advance on the temple.
The surviving acolytes attempted to flee the temple in the face of
Alexander. One was caught leaving the
temples main entrance. The other one
however still had a trick or two left.
He had an invisibility ring and used it to try to leave the temple
without being seen. In the commotion he
bumped into a pilgrim and while attempting to attack Arrwata. He did manage to kill the pilgrim and stable
Arrwata. However his aim was not as good
as Arrwata’s and only managed to sink his sword into her arm. Her response to this attack was a dazing
flurry of blows to his abdomen forcing the air from his lungs. If not for Alexander stating he wanted one of
them alive she would have killed him without a moment’s hesitation.
With the acolytes gone the soldiers
surrendered. The acolytes were their
employers and they would not fight if there was no longer money in it for
them. Their surrender was a welcome relief
to Alexander who had seen enough blood shed for one night.
Alexander arranged the surviving pilgrims
into groups to search the temple grounds.
He wanted answers for the turn in events in the heavens. It wasn’t until the fighting stopped that
Alexander learned the name of his stealth master, Maura. It was an easy enough decision to place her
in change of one of the search groups. She
was to explore the lower levels of the temple.
Alexander wanted to know if anyone approached but more importantly he
wanted a way out. Keeping the temple was
never the goal of this excursive it was good old fashioned revenge. When they left the temple would be purged by
fire.
Time moved quickly as dawn
neared. The list of things he wanted to accomplish
seemed impossible long to get through by dawn.
He was distracted from his worries by a runner. The runners requested his immediate presence,
something to do with the lower level require his attention. What awaited him was sight from his
nightmares. There was a small make shift
torture chamber set up there. The smell assaulted
him before he saw the horrors he would spend the rest of his life trying to
forget.
Two bodies were on a table with chains hanging from it. The bodies appeared to have been tortured as neither body had skin. Maura was giving a potion of healing to the person with most of his left leg missing as in the flesh was removed from it. His knowledge of healing potions told him it would heal the wounds not regrow the missing flesh from his body. The other body was much worse, what they had done to its face was inhumane. The fact that it was alive was both a miracle and a testament to their cruelty.
