08.5 That is not Dead which can Eternal Lie

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Kalans Revenge Mercenary Company
Company members:-
Taran – Half Elf Fighter/Priest of Mannanan Mac Lir, cousin to Carinne and Galvish
Carinne Rhianne Talynnart – Half Elf Ranger/Mage, Cousin to Taran and Galvish
Galvish – Half Elf Fighter/Thief, Cousin to Taran and Carinne
Krachtig – A Wary Gnome
Barrigan Stonebeak – Dwarf Fighter/Priest, Company Engineer.
Lanneus Tuard – Paladin of Manannan Mac Lir
Saeryn Ghent – Fighter – (Kalans Sister)

More Undead Temples

We are kicking back at the fishing village with enough barbecue, smoked and salted dragon turtle and sea serpent to last us a long time, when one of the miners comes running up to us.
He is breathless but manages to gasp out that his crew was up exploring another canyon when they came across another temple.  Creatures with fangs and black claws attacked them; he managed to flee but his comrades where not so lucky.  He asks that we help out.  Having grown a little tired of all this fish we decide to head inland and check out his claims.
We reach the camp fairly easily and find it deserted; we scout around and are set upon by a huge number of ghasts.  They spring up from rocks and bedding and their pervasive stench fills the air.  Krachtig is overcome by this smell but valiantly fights on.  Carinne launches fireballs into the ones milling about.  We whittle their numbers down but on several occasions Barrigan hast to casts spells to free up his comrades from the paralyzing touch of the ghasts, Taran succumbing more than once.  We kill off the last of these creatures before heading out of the camp; it appeared that all the miners were turned into undead by the ones that attacked them.
Later on the trail we spy some huge beetles burst out of the undergrowth a distance from us, they are heading our way and we fire some arrows and cast some spells at them before they reach us.  In close combat we find that they have a fearsome weapon which stuns a couple of the party.  Some giants decide that this would be a fun time to start hurling rocks at the party; Krachtig unleashes a mighty Ice Storm against them only to notice on closer inspection that these blue tinged creatures appear to be Frost Giants and did not affect them. With only a couple of the huge Beetles left, Saeryn swings her sword with abandon and doesn’t notice the resistance on her backswings as she first severs the dwarfs left leg at the knee, then mangles his left ear and as he falls over, slices clean through his right arm at the shoulder, all in three swift blows.  This is the worst case of friendly fire anyone can recall (although Barrigan is still alive, unlike when Carinne shot him through the throat).  Barrigan gathers his limbs together and waits for Taran to snap out of his stupor.  When the giants started launching boulders into the combat Carinne flew over there to confront her mortal enemy, now Saeryn decides to help out Carinne with her battle and to get away from an angry dwarf.  Taran rejoins Barrigans limbs and the battle is soon over.  The party rest up and the next day come across the canyon the miner referred to.
We cautiously approach the steps leading up to the temple after having cast many a defensive spell.  As soon as we are up near the broken doorway a bunch more Ghasts rush us and we have to fight them off.
Moving cautiously through the door we quickly detect a pit trap and some type of magical trap which Galvish expertly disarms. Another magical trap on a doorway leads us into an octagonal room with steps leading down to a pool of water in the middle.  Three other doorways and a series of bas reliefs are the other notable features in this room.  Taran steps down to the water to see if it is pure or not and it rears up looking like a very large Water Elemental, which is not fazed by Tarans Dispel Water spell.  As they start their melee the others, who have by now entered the room, are attacked by Stone Golem type creatures which have emerged from the bas reliefs.  After getting some big licks in, Taran falls down unconscious.  Carinne comes into her own with her rod of smiting, taking out two of the Golems in quick succession.  Suddenly a fireball goes off in the room completely filling the volume, followed by a lightning bolt and a Cloudkill spell.  It would appear that there is a hidden mage somewhere unleashing these spells.  Taran manages to regain his feet after his regenerative healing brings him back to consciousness.  Lanneus suddenly starts attacking Galvish, no doubt the victim of a Chaos spell.  We dispel the cloud and get the dweomer on our paladin removed, Saeryn has been searching one of the walls trying to identify where these spells are coming from, Barrigan soon spots a small opening, which Saeryn covers with her shield until Barrigan can erect a Wall of Stone.  One Passwall spell later and we discover a secret room which is empty; there is a secret door at the end which takes a while to find.  Upon opening it we are confronted by more undead, these Wight’s are set upon by the party and we soon gain the advantage, having turned several of the creatures.  Galvish is struck by the foul beasts and feels colder and a little weaker.  Suddenly we are overrun by more Ghasts and their foul stench, spells then erupt in our midst causing Galvish to attack the Paladin, or this is what we assume, of course he may just be getting some revenge for the situation earlier.  When he lops off the head of Lanneus we really have our backs to the wall, Saeryn also loses her head to the claws of the undead.   It takes a Powerful spell from Carinne to stun Galvish.  Finally we beat off the last of the creatures and the mage is nowhere to be seen.  Comrades are raised and healed and we vow to track down this evil spell caster before he can summon more help.