Aflia looked about in confusion. "Where did the Heralds go? What just happened?"

Lady Ussi shook the ashes from her shoes before replying, "The boness of the Heraldss were allowed to crumble to dust now that their tassk is done. And I am now Ssworn to sserve the Light."

Aflia put her face in her hands, "in non-priest speak, please?"

Little Bird bobbed her head, "The Heralds are no more, and Lady Ussi is now a Paladin."

Aflia and Talae stared at Lady Ussi suspiciously. Talae spoke first, "So are you one of those smite first and ask questions later Paladins? Because If you are, then we're probably going to have problems..."

Lady Ussi shrugged, "No. Not unlesss you start unleasshing plaguess or ssummoning demonss. And before you even assk, tieflingss and drow don't count as demonss."

Little Bird scratched the side of her beak, "Anyone else know what the Heralds said there at the end? I got the sense that it was important, But I couldn't make heads nor tail feathers of it."

Lady Ussi furrowed her brow, "Wass that in Primordial? It felt like it wass in Primordial. When did I learn to sspeak that ancient language?"

Mul rubbed her chin, "Probably when the Heralds blessed you. And you didn't go mad like I did, which is always an upside."

Aflia shook her head and flicked a hand in a 'throwing away' gesture, "questions of sanity aside, what did they say? Mul, can you translate?"

Mul closed her eyes, rolling words back through her mind, "The first bit was 'Witnessed by the Blood of the Dragon, by the Voice of the Outsider, by the Flame in the Dark, by the Breeze in the Sky, and by the Keeper of Lore we make this oath to you Ussi the Unbound: so long as you stand by, for, and with the Light, We will stand with you.' Lady Ussi Spoke next, and the Heralds replied with 'Then on this day, in the sight of these witnesses, Ussi the Unbound is no more. Rise, Lady Ussi of the Light, and go forth with our Blessing.' "

Aflia staggered back as if drunk before sitting down, "Titles. They gave each of us a Title. Blood of the Dragon... Where have I heard them before? Muldruck's Oaths? No, no, not there. Casteline's Prophecies? The third volume was missing some pages, but I think only Blood of the Dragon was mentioned... Ilelahne's Days of Falling Skies! That was it! But the copy in the Althiem Library was damaged and incomplete, and I can't think of another copy anywhere."

Aris raised one eyebrow, "Ilelahne? As in Lady Ilelahne SiDabolo? Why don't we send a letter to her and ask if she has a copy?"

Lady Ussi flinched, "You know the SsiDaboloss?"

Aris rolled his eyes, "I'm getting awful tired about hearing everyone flinch at the mere mention of the SiDabolos. Can someone fill me in on what exactly they did to be regarded with such fear?"

Lady Ussi blinked slowly, then blinked again, "The taless are far too long to tell here, but it comess down to Aemon SsiDabolo. Titless asside, we ssilithidss remember him ass the Mage who Called Down the Ssky. He wass the architect of Armageddon Reef."

Aris rubbed the back of his neck, "so pissing off the SiDabolos is a great way to call down the undivided attention and vengeance of one of the most powerful mages in existence, plus whichever family members you happened to annoy. Good to know, I'll keep that in mind. Are we still going to try to clear the basement out, or are we going to head home?"

Mul ran a tusk over her lip, "let's at least clear the basement. I should be able to 'hear' a little deeper from down there. And if Lady Ussi can Detect Unholy, then she could pick up on any mindless undead that I can't 'hear.' "

Aris nodded. "That sounds like a plan then."

The Party made its way back down to the first floor of the Old Temple, but Aris could already hear the scrape-thump scrape-thump of dragging footsteps. As they descended into the basement, three ghouls shambled out from an empty door frame towards the party.

Aris cleared the stairway and drew his greatsword, but didn't charge forward unsupported.

Mul was right behind him, and she lashed out with a force blast as she moved aside. One of the ghouls staggered, but didn't show any signs of taking any damage.

Talae cleared the stairs and readied her warmaul, but eyed the floor and walls carefully. "Something feels off about this room. Be careful of traps."

The ghouls staggered forwards another few steps, their empty hands reaching out to grasp at the food just beyond their reach. One of the stones beneath their feet sinks down ever so slightly with a subtle click. Choking gas filled the area near the door frame, shielding the ghouls from sight.

Little Bird flapped her wings in an attempt to push the gas away, "that being one of them?"

Talae nodded, "and whatever that gas is, it doesn't affect undead, or those ghouls wouldn't have made any effort to lure us into it."

Lady Ussi hung back on the stairs. Paladin or no, she wasn't armored or particularly well armed, and she knew it.

Aris held his ground.

Mul fired another force blast blindly into the gas.

Talae just balanced her warmaul on her shoulder to wait.

The ghouls quickly figured out that their foes weren't dumb enough to charge forward blindly, so they lunged out of the gas to attack.

Little Bird responded by shrouding one of them in radiant flames. The ghoul, already weakened by a force blast impact, shrieked in pain as it crumbled to ash.

Lady Ussi called out a warning as three more ghouls shambled rather more quickly through the other open doorway into the central room.

Aris stepped forward and slammed his greatsword into one of the two original ghouls, leaving it torn in half.

Mul called up her battleaxe and matched Aris' strike, ending the first wave of foes.

Talae turned to meet the next wave, her warmaul sounding like an ax splitting logs as she crushed one of the oncoming foes.

The two remaining ghouls grasped at her, their hands glowing a dull blue as whatever magic animated them tried to sap Talae's life and strength away.

Little Bird leapt to her acolyte's aid, slapping her mace into the face of one of the ghouls. it recoiled, but it only turned to meet its new opponent.

Lady Ussi readied her pilfered sword, running her hand along the blade. It burst into flame, casting a little more light onto the room.

Aris turned, stepped forward, and lunged his greatsword over Talae's shoulder into the head of the ghoul still grasping at her arms. It shuddered and fell away with a sickening schulping sound.

Mul placed a force blast into the last ghoul, driving its ribs out through its back.

With time to catch its breath, the party regathered itself. The room was rank with the stink of freshly re-killed undead. Aris opened his mouth to ask a question, but Mul held up a hand for silence. "I can 'hear' at least another dozen hungry dead and six or more face-takers on the floor below us. Can you concentrate Lady Ussi? What do your senses tell you about the mindless ones below us?"

Lady Ussi closed her eyes and murmured what sounded like a hopeful prayer. When she opened them, they glowed faintly in the flickering light from her blade. She looked up, then down, then about the room, "Iss thiss what you magess ssee when you Detect Magic then? I can ssee faint glowing outliness through the wallss, but not too far away. There are the dozen ghoulss Mul mentioned, and ass many sskeletonss besides. I don't know if they are Guardianss, like out front, or just moving boness. Below them iss a blank sspace, probably a floor, and beyond more moving outliness. Dozenss of them. Two just appeared, walking up a sstair one after the other, sso there is at least a third floor below uss. And the outliness are fading and appearing along the length of the floor ass well, meaning that each sstretches farther then I can ssee."

Talae groaned, shaking the unnatural chill from her arms, "Do we really want to try this? Or can we come back later with a few squads of soldiers to back us up?"

Status Report:

Treasury: 10050

Income: +5 gold per day (semi-retired Agent of Althiem)

Equipment: In good condition.

Estates:

Ikin: Village, Fishing Docks

Trebor Convent: Under Construction

Four Empty Holdings (may be improved later)

One Old Temple (occupied by ???)

The Ring: obsidian band with one carbuncle gem and two empty settings.

Total Deaths: 1