Aris exhaled slowly, "I think we can clear this level if we take it carefully. We stick together, we go no deeper, and we fall back if we get into another fight. We still don't know in whose name this temple was Unhallowed. So we are looking for information first and foremost, loot a distant second. I want everyone to be careful about traps. Take one of the spears here and use it to poke at anything suspicious."

The Party all nodded in agreement. They all had questions, and this would be a good time to find answers to at least some of them.

Mul asked the first one as they spread out to examine the Feast Hall and Statue Garden. "So what happened Aris? How did you die and yet not die?"

Aris shook his head as he examined the glowstone torches, "Ironbark got wiped out in an ambush. One minute we were marching down the road, bored out of our skulls by the endless trees and monotony, the next thing I knew we had arrows pouring in. I saw Tam take one in the throat, and Sgt. Gork get hit in the back. I took one right in my eye and hit the dirt. Next thing I know, I'm sitting at a table with a black-cloaked figure talking plots, plans, and divine politics. I wound up making a deal, and then waking up having to crawl out from under a pile of bodies. I'm still putting the details together myself." There is more, But I don't know how to put it. If you can hear this Mul, we should talk more later.

Mul poked at the floor lights before one of the statues, "I'll want to go over what you can remember later Aris. It doesn't sound like my Patron, nor like any other God or Goddess I've ever heard of."

Lady Ussi reared up to stare into the eyes of another statue, looking for tiny details in the stone, "Did Black Cloak ever claim to be a God or Goddess?"

Aris peered into one of the empty hallways leading off from the Statue Garden, "no, but Black Cloak didn't deny it either. If I have some time to think it over, I call recall the full details, word for word."

Aflia probing spear point found a trapped flagstone, causing darts to volley out of one side of the hallway she was examining. "Well, that looked a bit uncomfortable. Little Bird, Lady Ussi, have you found any inscriptions that might hint at anything?"

Lady Ussi shook her head, "not unless one of us can read Dwarven. There are inscriptions at the base of the statues, but..."

Mul flared her nostrils, "Let me take a look then. Rune-keeper, grant me your Sight. Ok, it looks like a poetic riddle. Fun. Here we go: 'Greed: The warrior's curse / the thief of his future / I deface his past / The more he has / the less it seems / he becomes a slave / of things that glitter / Yet ever I hunger / Feed me that which Glitters above all else.' His mouth is open, and there is an odd socket in it. Is this riddle a key to unlocking the way down to the next floor?"

Talae stared at the floor between the four statues, "looks like it to me. there is a pattern to these stones that might be a spelled staircase. I've seen similar in the past, where triggering a hidden switch would cause a floor or wall to change shape."

Little Bird flexed her wings, "four statues, four inscriptions. Four riddles to unlock four locks? And what of the depression set into the center of Where Talae is looking? Is that the socket for a wardstone or similar?"

Talae nodded, "good eyes Little Bird. If I had to guess, solving the riddles would reveal the wardstone or key to unseal the next level down."

Aflia flicked her tail, "Mul, can you read off the other inscriptions? That should tell us more."

Mul nodded and circled around to the next statue, " 'Terror: The warrior's bane / I lurk in the darkness of his soul / I bring him to his knees / Weeping and shaking / unable to save himself / yet I sleep / Awaken me.' There is a gong, but no mallet, in this statues hands."

She moved to the third statue, " 'Lust: The warrior's madness / I curse with trust and respect / I slow the hidden blade / by taking his passion for blood / and offering softer feelings in return / Give me the sweet crimson drink of laughter and passion.' This one holds an empty goblet, so perhaps we need to fill it with something?"

Mul knelt before the last statue, " 'Pride: I am the warrior's fate / I raise him up above all / I shout his deeds / He trades respect for scorn / He sees himself a God among men / yet I lack the proper honor / Raise me up in glory / Read aloud my deeds and honor me / The passing on of my legend will reveal my sword's glory / Raise my blade High / Then you shall know that I am pleased.' I've got nothing. Do we need to read a particular script aloud to this statue? But he has no sword, nor a place to put one."

Aris shrugged, "the answers may lay somewhere on this floor, but let's hold off on answering them and unsealing the next floor for now. We have five passage ways here, let's take them one at a time and see if we find anything unusual."

The door on the right of the Feast Hall led to a storage room, with a small forge and an equally small bedroom attached to that. Rummaging about revealed no clues that might help solve the riddles, but the storage room did yield a small pile of loot. Two Tiger Eye gems, a Lapis Lazuli, two Moss Agates, a piece of polished Obsidian, a Turquoise, and two hundred and ten gold worth of assorted coinage.

The door on the left of the Feast Hall led to a small library full of worm-eaten books, a meeting hall with a moldy rug and broken table, and an empty storage room.

The other three passageways leading off of the Statue garden led to an interconnected set of rooms and hallways. A large Wine Press dominated one room, with a Clockwork Engine backed up against a wall in the next room over. One room was a Junk Room filled with a large pile of discarded objects, while another was outfitted as a Sparring Chamber. The next room was a Harem Chamber, clearly intended for play as much as sleep, with a large decrepit bed, several moth-eaten pillows, and a locked and trapped chest. Talae sprung the trap without much trouble, leaving the toxic dart harmlessly stuck in one of the pillows. The last Four rooms proved to be a Parlor, a Reading Room with four tomes strewn about, a Sword Monument with a typical sword-in-stone display, and another closet of cleaning supplies.

Along the way, the party marked and avoided or safely triggered a total of twelve more traps. They ranged from darts or spears launched from the walls and ceilings to another gas trap, to a falling piece of stonework.

The Party regrouped in the Statue Garden. Aris looked around, "does anyone have any ideas about the riddles, or should we give up and start heading back?"

Status Report:

Treasury: 10085 (including Aris' share of the found treasure)

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

Gems to be sold (profit to be split among the finders): 2x Tiger Eye, 1x Lapis Lazuli, 2x Moss Agates, 1x Obsidian, 1x Turquoise.

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