It was in mid-afternoon when we reached a large clearing. To call it simply ‘large’ would be doing it a disservice, though. The clearing was a mile across, and perfectly circular, running all the way around the temple that lay in its center.

The scars of war still lay fresh upon the field, as though not a day had passed between that day and this. Bodies of the fallen lay strewn all across the battlefield, on both sides. Humans, dwarves, and elves lay still amongst the broken bodies of their orcish foes, as though the battle had only just ended, and the death god’s messenger were still collecting the souls of the dead.

It was not just warriors that littered the field. Horses, war beasts, and broken siege weapons were there as well, arrayed in front of the temple’s steps to provide a last defense. But they had obviously been overrun, and the trail of destruction led into the temple itself.

And the temple! I didn’t know what I was expecting, but this view shattered what expectations I had. Even battered from the fighting that had taken place, it was a thing of beauty to match that of the temple in Northport, if not exceed it.

Looking at the temple allowed me to see that the entire clearing was slightly bowl-shaped, with the ground gently sloping towards the temple, so that, at the clearing’s edge, where we were standing, we were effectively at the same height as the temple’s rooftop. However, the temple’s doors were not left upon the ground. Marble rose up, forming a stage that looked to be twenty feet tall, with stairs running up the middle of it towards the doors.

Even from this distance, the massive double doors looked to be twenty feet tall, and the sun gleamed of their silver (or was it mithral?) length. The doors were flanked by columns, three on a side, each ten feet across and forty feet high. Despite the distance, I could see that there were carvings and engravings everywhere, with images of Selune in her three forms, the Child, Maiden, and Crone, and depicting stories of her battles that gave Moonwater and the Moonwood their names.

In the center of the rooftop, there was a massive crystal orb, which glittered in the sunlight. There was an opening in the ceiling beneath the crystal, ringed by mirrors, which appeared to be meant to focus the light down into the temple. The glare of sunlight on glass was easy to make out, and its shining allowed me to see smaller mirrors in the opening, directing the light downward.

It was truly incredible, the amount of detail I could see from so far out. No, wait. I could see the magic in the air. There was a very subtle enchantment on the clearing, enhancing the view, lensing the sight of the temple so that the faithful could witness the temple in all its glory from the moment they first stepped foot into the clearing!

Such enchantments were not unheard of, but they were rare, for they often required a great deal of coin, if not time and expertise on the part of the builders, to set up the enchantments, and lock them into place. For one to be done on such a scale? Truly, this was a case where the tale diminished in the telling, rather than the usual course. I could easily believe that there were multiple artifacts stored away within this temple, now that I had seen it with my own eyes.

“AWOOOOO!”

A howl distracted me from my examination of the temple. Looking across the field, I saw that a welcoming party was there, waiting for us. Six fiendish dire wolves, four of the fiendish werewolf warriors, larger than the ones we’d faced before, and, in the middle of them, the priestess that had managed to escape us in the mines!

Unfortunately, the howl did more than just announce that we were about to be attacked by wolves yet again. The bodies on the field began to stir, and then their flesh began melting off the corpses, as their bones pulled themselves up, armor hanging loosely off their skeletal forms, and weapons clutched in bony hands. I did not have time to count how many skeletons there were, as there were too many, and they rose up all around us.

Silver flames filled the empty eye sockets of the undead, and throatless roars sounded from their open mouths. The skeletons quickly put to rest any concerns that they were on the side of the werewolves when they turned on them, raising their weapons to fight. Unfortunately, they were also not on our side, as they turned to attack us as well.

I eyed Siora with a mock glare. “You just had to say something, didn’t you?” She at least had the grace to look abashed at the way her words had proved prophetic.

Turning back to the horde, I said, “Right, keep together, and we’ll fight our way to the wolves, and then into the temple. Vestele, save your powers in case we have more dangerous undead inside!”

Initiative

Melinda

Skeletons

Siora

Fiendwolf Warriors x4

Fiendish Dire Wolves x6

Rena Darkmoon

Frostmane

Vestele

Melinda’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+21 = 32 (Touch) (Hit)

Eldritch Chain Damage: 7d6 = 26 (Magic) (Dead)

Melinda’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+21 = 24 (Touch) (Hit)

Eldritch Chain Damage: 13 (Magic) (Dead)

Melinda’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+21 = 27 (Touch) (Hit)

Eldritch Chain Damage: 13 (Magic) (Dead)

Melinda’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+21 = 34 (Touch) (Hit)

Eldritch Chain Damage: 13 (Magic) (Dead)

I took a breath, and unleashed a blast of eldritch energy, blasting the skeleton that rose up next to me. The blast shattered the skeleton, before chaining to other skeletons nearby, each one shattering in turn. My eyes widened at the sight. “Right, they’re just normal skeletons! Take them down quickly!”

Skeletons’ attacks x4 (Melinda): 1d20+1 = 11 (Miss)

Skeletons’ attacks x4 (Frostmane): 1d20+1 = 2 (Miss)

Skeletons’ attacks x4 (Vestele): 1d20+1 = 8 (Miss)

Skeletons’ attacks x5 (FW1): 1d20+1 = 7 (Miss)

Skeletons’ attacks x5 (FW2): 1d20+1 = 3 (Miss)

Skeletons’ attacks x 5 (FW3): 1d20+1 = 16 (Miss)

Skeletons’ attacks x6 (FW4): 1d20+1 = 20 (Hit)

Damage: 6d6+12 = 30 (Slashing) (DR 10/Magic)

Skeletons’ attacks x1 (FDW1): 1d20+1 = 3 (Miss)

Skeletons’ attack x1 (FDW2): 1d20+1 = 20 (Crit Threat)

Confirm Crit x1: 1d20+1 = 3 (Regular Hit)

Damage: 1d6+1 = 2 (Slashing) (DR 5/Magic)

Skeletons’ attack x2 (FDW3): 1d20+1 = 13 (Hit)

Damage: 2d6+2 = 13 (Slashing) (DR 5/Magic)

Skeletons’ attack x1 (FDW4): 1d20+1 = 18 (Hit)

Damage: 1d6+1 = 6 (Slashing) (DR 5/Magic)

Skeletons’ attack x2 (FDW5): 1d20+1 = 6 (Miss)

Skeletons’ attack x2 (FDW6): 1d20+1 = 14 (Hit)

Damage: 2d6+2 = 8 (Slashing) (DR 5/Magic)

Skeletons’ attack x2 (Rena): 1d20+1 = 7 (Miss)

The skeletons swarmed us, whether drawn to the presence of the living, now that they’d been disturbed, or for some other reason. Regardless, they came, splitting their numbers between our two groups. Deflecting and avoiding their blows was easy enough for me, but I wasn’t about to let my guard down, and make their job easy on them. Yips from a couple of the wolves proved that the skeletons weapons had indeed found flesh, so I couldn’t discount them entirely.

Siora’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+9 = 15 (Hit)

Damage: 1d6+3 = 8 (Dead)

Siora’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+4 = 13 (Miss)

Siora stepped up next to me, pulling her quarterstaff from her pack as she did so. With a swift blow, she crushed the skull of one of the skeletons that had swarmed me sending it back to the grave. Her second blow was aimed at another skeleton, but the undead creature deflected it off its shield. “It isn’t my fault, honest!”

FW1’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+20 = 28 (Hit)

Damage: 2d6+10 = 15 (Slashing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning)

Flaming weapon: 1d6 = 1 (Fire) (Dead)

FW1’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+15 = 17 (Hit)

Damage: 2d6+10 = 15 (Slashing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning)

Flaming weapon: 1d6 = 1 (Fire) (Dead)

FW1’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+10 = 26 (Hit)

Damage: 2d6+10 = 15 (Slashing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning)

Flaming weapon: 1d6 = 6 (Fire) (Dead)

FW1’s Bite (Skeleton): 1d20+13 = 23 (Hit)

Bite damage: 1d8+8 = 14 (Piercing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning) (Dead)

FW2’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+20 = 36 (Hit)

Damage: 2d6+10 = 13 (Slashing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning)

Flaming weapon: 1d6 = 2 (Fire) (Dead)

FW2’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+15 = 24 (Hit)

Damage: 2d6+10 = 13 (Slashing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning)

Flaming weapon: 1d6 = 1 (Fire) (Dead)

FW2’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+10 = 29 (Hit)

Damage: 2d6+10 = 20 (Slashing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning)

Flaming weapon: 1d6 = 4 (Fire) (Dead)

FW2’s Bite (Skeleton): 1d20+13 = 18 (Hit)

Bite damage: 1d8+8 = 11 (Piercing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning) (Dead)

FW3’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+20 = 31 (Hit)

Damage: 2d6+10 = 13 (Slashing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning)

Flaming weapon: 1d6 = 3 (Fire) (Dead)

FW3’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+15 = 23 (Hit)

Damage: 2d6+10 = 20 (Slashing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning)

Flaming weapon: 1d6 = 2 (Fire) (Dead)

FW3’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+10 = 25 (Hit)

Damage: 2d6+10 = 14 (Slashing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning)

Flaming weapon: 1d6 = 1 (Fire) (Dead)

FW3’s Bite (Skeleton): 1d20+13 = 33 (Hit)

Bite damage: 1d8+8 = 14 (Piercing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning) (Dead)

FW4’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+20 = 29 (Hit)

Damage: 2d6+10 = 18 (Slashing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning)

Flaming weapon: 1d6 = 2 (Fire) (Dead)

FW4’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+15 = 23 (Hit)

Damage: 2d6+10 = 17 (Slashing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning)

Flaming weapon: 1d6 = 2 (Fire) (Dead)

FW4’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+10 = 20 (Hit)

Damage: 2d6+10 = 15 (Slashing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning)

Flaming weapon: 1d6 = 5 (Fire) (Dead)

FW4’s Bite (Skeleton): 1d20+13 = 18 (Hit)

Bite damage: 1d8+8 = 12 (Piercing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning) (Dead)

The demontouched werewolves lashed out with their flaming swords and their enlarged teeth, and the effect was pronounced. If the horde of skeletons were like a field of grain with uncounted stalks, then these werewolves were like the scythe that harvests them, cutting them down in swathes. Already, the number of skeletons was greatly reduced from what it had been.

FDW1’s attack (Skeleton): 1d20+11 = 30 (Hit)

Damage: 1d8+10 = 11 (Piercing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning) (Dead)

FDW2’s attack (Skeleton): 1d20+11 = 26 (Hit)

Damage: 1d8+10 = 16 (Piercing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning) (Dead)

FDW3’s attack (Skeleton): 1d20+11 = 17 (Hit)

Damage: 1d8+10 = 17 (Piercing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning) (Dead)

FDW4’s attack (Skeleton): 1d20+11 = 29 (Hit)

Damage: 1d8+10 = 12 (Piercing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning) (Dead)

FDW5’s attack (Skeleton): 1d20+11 = 25 (Hit)

Damage: 1d8+10 = 13 (Piercing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning) (Dead)

FDW6’s attack (Skeleton): 1d20+11 = 29 (Hit)

Damage: 1d8+10 = 11 (Piercing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning) (Dead)

The dire wolves did not sit idly by, either. Though they weren’t able to make nearly as many strikes as the warriors, they were no less effective. Every fanged bite hit home, and each one brought down a skeleton, which did not rise again.

Rena’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+20 = 23 (Hit)

Damage: 2d6+16 = 22 (Piercing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning) (Dead)

Rena’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+15 = 25 (Hit)

Damage: 2d6+16 = 23 (Piercing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning) (Dead)

Rena whirled about as two skeletons approached her from the rear. Her spear stabbed forward, once, twice. Though the spear was not the best weapon for fighting against skeletons, when backed by her monstrous strength it easily took her two foes down. With a feral grin on her wolfy face, she snarled, “Clear out this trash so we can get to these interlopers! The Huntlord wants to feast on their flesh!”

Frostmane’s attack (Skeleton): 1d20+22 = 37 (Hit)

Damage: 1d8+17 = 20 (Piercing) (DR 5/Bludgeoning)

Freezing Bite: 1d6 = 3 (Cold Immunity) (Dead)

Frostmane growled as his jaws snapped shut on one of the skeletons surrounding him, crushing its ribcage. “Bah! There’s too many of these things. Too weak to be a threat, and not even any meat on them! Can’t we just tell them to go bother someone else?”

Vestele’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+10 = 25 (Hit)

Damage: 1d8+2 = 4 (Bludgeoning)

Skeleton’s Will Save (Disruption): 1d20+2 = 16 (Success)

Vestele’s Attack (Skeleton): 1d20+5 = 23 (Hit)

Damage: 1d8+2 = 5 (Bludgeoning) (Dead)

Vestele grunted with the effort as she swung the disrupting morningstar she had drawn from her pack, smashing the closest skeleton twice. It survived the first blow, despite the weapon’s enchantment, but it did not survive the second. “Sure, but that would only last for so long, and Melinda’s right, we may need it more urgently indoors.”