Temple Darkmoon's titan-sized stone doors were wide open to the public - even though, by Sindel's knowledge of Waterdeep clerical affairs, hardly anyone visited this particular temple. The building itself stood imposingly atop a ground elevation that composed of a huge clearing at the far end of the west woods; a long winding dirt path led the way to the temple's entrance. Sounds were scarce, and so was life...
The mismatched group arrived within the temple a little hesitantly; all except for Meeks and Elyxya, that is - but aren't they always the exception? The two leaders burst into the building's richly decorated lobby and looked around at what surrounded them. There was no carpeting on the floor and that was a good thing; Meeks and Elyxya's boots were dirty and they had left a muddy mess behind them when they barged into the small haven. Directly ahead of them, there stood a closed door with the temple's insignia carved on it; on either side of the door were walls, and to their left there was a small alcove. Thick crimson banners adorned the walls and tainted windows sported the temple's insignia as the door did.
"Can we be of service?" Asked an unfamiliar voice from behind Elyxya and Meeks; both turned to face two smiling clerics - that were not Sindel (obviously, they were smiling...) and Will. "Uh..." Blurted Meeks as the rest of her crew entered the building; she smiled at them and she and Elyxya hurried over to join them. The two smiling clerics watched the spectacle without saying a word, and then, "Greetings! Welcome to Darkmoon!" The female cleric said; a blonde woman that was a tad yonger than Sindel but that Will eyed thoughfully. The woman spoke cheerily and the eight warriors listened, not sure what to do, "I am Nadia and this is my -uh-" She paused for a noticeable split-second, "-brother Joril!" She exclaimed, puting emphasis on the word `brother'. She made the mistake of making eye-contact with Sindel and the older priestess gave her one of her patented `you suck' looks.
The male cleric, Joril, took over for his `sister', "You must be weary from your journey, stay and rest. We will watch over you." He said smoothly and flashed the party a wholesome smile, that was not - Pryzma remarked - reflected in his opaque brown eyes. "Thank you, we will take our time." Will answered quickly, elbowing Sindel roughly as she opened her mouth to say something useless. The group walked over to the little alcove to their left and the two helpful clerics retreated outside the temple doorway to talk.
Nightshade plopped down beside Pryzma, "Weary? We're not weary! What are we doing here? Why don't we just kill 'em both and get on with it?!" She whispered quickly to whoever wanted to hear. Pryzma cocked her head to the side, "Yeah, the man's eyes were not sincere. If his `sister' hasn't raised enough suspicion yet." She added to her friend's protest; she brought her knees up against her chest and leaned her chin on her knees. Will and Sindel, who had joined the two women in the alcove, paced back and forth, "We want to get beyond that door," Will remarked, pointing to the door bearing the temple's insignia; Meeks and Elyxya had wandered to the opposite end of the lobby and were giggling about an odd carving on the wall of four clouds blowing in the wind. "We're going to have to get around the two clerics, but I don't know if killing them is the right thing to do." Will finished and leaned against the wall.
"What do you mean?" Nightshade asked from the floor. Will frowned, "Well, perhaps we could get around them...they're outside, are they not?" He commented, trying his best to hatch a plan. The high-priest's answer did not traverse Nightshade's head, "So...why can't we just kill 'em?" She asked again, holding up her short sword before her eyes and watching the gleam of the blade as the sun's rays penetrating the stained glass caressed its sleek surface. Will sighed hopelessly, "Sindel, why don't you explain? I don't want to end up doing all the talking." He said sharply and caught the other cleric's shoulders. She roughly pulled herself from his grasp and blinked, "Then perhaps you should start doing the thinking." She snapped at Will viciously, and turned her back to him to avoid his response, "You see, Nightshade, Will's a pussy and we will kill the two clerics...don't you worry." She said sweetly and both Nightshade and Pryzma smiled widely.
"This carving blows." Meeks said as she touched the stone cloud carving; the thing was bigger than she and covered a good part of the wall before her. "Everything blows for you doesn't it?" Elyxya remarked, nudging Meeks and running the blade of her sword along the grooves in the stone. Meeks nodded and flung back her black ponytail, "Yep. No doubt about it. But I mean this carving blows literally; look at the clouds, they're blowing..." She said in response. The two could hear a heated conversation going on on the other side of the room and didn't care to join in; no one shared their views anyway. Elyxya flung herself suddenly away from the wall and pointed her sword at Meeks, "No...no...not everything blows for you, that's not true!" She said loudly and then bent close and spoke in a raspy whisper, "There are some good things." She said and then waved her sword emphatically.
Meeks leaned on her polearm and put her hand to her hip, "Like?" She asked skeptically. Elyxya squealed excitedly and giggled. She spun around and pointed at Masoj with her sword; the dark wizard was staring at one of the thick tapestries on the left side of the closed door. Izzy was there too and was talking excitedly, and Masoj seemed to be trying to get away from her. Meeks grimaced, "What???" She cried out loud and then sank back against the wall before the two temple clerics came inside and told her she was being loud and obnoxious (like so many people had over the years...).
Elyxya smiled smugly at her pal, "I saw the way he laughed at your Izzy joke back in the woods." She purred and watched Meeks' jaw drop. "Elyxya!" Meeks whispered harshly and shoved her hard enough to throw her a little off balance, "You laugh at my jokes, and so does Pryzma and Nightshade, and Will and Sin-" She stopped short, "-well not so much Sindel...but you know what I'm trying to say!" She peered over Elyxya's shoulder at Masoj and averted her gaze when he turned to see what all the commotion was about. "It was the first time he'd ever heard one of my jokes, so he thinks I'm funny...so what? So does everyone else!" She protested and wedged her polearm between her and Elyxya. The red-headed warrior threw up her hands in defeat, "Alright, okay, settle down there Meeks...jeez," She attempted to put on a straight face and Meeks bought it, "but I still think he likes you!" She cried overly loud and propelled herself away from the now enraged Meeks who came running at her. Meeks threw herself at Elyxya and both of them fell to the ground, their weapons flying over the stone floor in a loud screech; they tumbled and tore at each other and the two temple clerics peered inside to see what was happening. Elyxya waved at them and they waved back with confused expressions on their faces and looked away.
Masoj and Izzy overheard Elyxya's last few words (as the rest of the temple had) and had turned just in time to see the two hit the floor and begin to fight. Masoj though, watched in curiosity as he noticed that both women were smiling; could they just be fooling around like young animals? He leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest; so maybe he'd be getting the laugh he'd bargained for after all!
Pryzma watched Meeks and Elyxya in amazement and pointed, "Look, they're...fighting." She uttered and Nightshade, Will and Sindel paused their argument to look at the two leaders. They were still tumbling and tearing but they were laughing too; Masoj and Izzy watched the spectacle from the closed door. "Lookit 'em go!" Nightshade cheered and grinned. Sindel shook her head, "And they are our leaders?" She asked pointlessly and looked over at Will for a rational thought pattern. Will looked at Sindel then at the two on the floor, "Give 'em a chance, let them be." He said and patted Sindel's shoulder. She grumbled as the two fighters rolled away from each other and held their stomachs as they burst into hysterical fits of laughter.
"Oh help me." Sindel said and looked up at the ceiling.
Beside Sindel, Will began to worry that the two fighters were causing too much commotion and that the temple clerics might throw them out. He stalked out into the centre of the lobby and litterally pulled Meeks and Elyxya back to the alcove where Nightshade and Pryzma snickered. Masoj followed, and Izzy bolted to catch up with him, he jumped back in surprise and grimaced when she caught up with him.
"You suck, Izzy!" Cried Pryzma from the floor, just loud enough for the dainty thief to hear; unfortunately, Izzy pretended to not hear.
When everyone was gathered, Sindel spoke up, "We've decided that we're not going to kill the two temple clerics-" She shot a devious stare in Will's general direction, "-and that we're just going to go around them." She looked into the seven pairs of eyes watching her and registered in awe the different expressions. Outside, Nadia and Joril's voice could be heard, they spoke in hushed tones and once in a while you could hear one of them chuckle.
"How? How do we `go around' them, they're right there!" Elyxya asked, motioning to the temple's exit. She had miraculously gotten over her mood to laugh but continued to smile michievously at Meeks whenever she could. Will coughed and crouched down near Izzy, who was (unbelievably) sitting driectly beside Nighshade and Pryzma, "We're going to lock 'em outside, of course! Killing them would probably set off some sort of `alarm' and we'd definately be caught right here. I don't know if there are any entrances anywhere else around the temple, but it doesn't really matter. They'll eventually get back inside, but we'll be long gone by then; they'll suspect something went wrong...but they also might think it was a mistake on our part." He explained slowly to everyone as much as to Elyxya.
Most everyone nodded their approval and soon all were on their feet and ready to begin putting the plan into action. Everyone tried to be as quiet as possible and it almost worked except for two giggles a loud bang; Izzy had tried to get up Nightshade and Pryzma had pushed her back down as soon as she had gotten to her feet. Simple Izzy smiled and got up gingerly once the two bullies had moved ahead.
The group of eight stood in the center of the lobby and stared outside the open door where the two temple clerics' robes were the only thing visible. All of them waited...and waited...
"Well someone has to go shut the door." Masoj whispered and held back a chuckle. There was a stirr in the assembly and then Meeks stepped into the open, "I'll do it." She declared and walked off, slowly towards the exit. She smiled as the thought crossed her mind that this might just be the hardest thing she was going to have to do in her whole life; it was hell to be quiet! She reached her destination and felt her friends' eyes on her back, she swallowed and looked about the doorway for a handle or switch that would close the heavy stone door.
She frowned; there was no such handle or switch.
Turning around slowly, Meeks shrugged and mouthed the words `no way to shut the door' and made the hand movements to go with it. Looks of desparation painted the expecting faces of her eight comrades; and then suddenly all of their eyes went round and Nightshade pointed at the door. Meeks spun around and the two clerics appeared in the doorway with confused expressions, "What-" they began and Meeks jumped from the shock and stress of the moment. She cried out and heard the sound of weapons being pulled from their sheaths behind her; she panicked and swung her polearm in a wide arc, slicing the female cleric's thick robes. The clerics seemed as panic-stricken as Meeks and they looked to be trying to do something that wasn't very evident.
There was a shout from behind Meeks and just as a lightning bolt thundered by her side, the great door before her slammed shut with amazing speed; she threw herself to the ground as the spell errupted on the stone door and felt the sting of its remnants on her bare shoulders.
Shadows gathered around her as she felt a hand on her shoulder, "Are you alright?" Elyxya'a voice asked brightly as Meeks was pulled to her feet. Meeks opened her eyes and brushed herself off, "Yeah, I'm okay. What the hell was that?" She asked and the party turned to look at Masoj who bared an apologetic expression, "I'm sorry Meeks, I wasn't aiming for you or anything...really." He stuttered and smiled weakly. Meeks shook her head and coughed, "Whatever, just not so close next time...you could have seared my side." She said and clutched herself simultaneously. The dark wizard nodded, blushed and slipped behind Pryzma who was holding back a fit of giggles.
"What of the door?!?" Sindel cried all of a sudden, turning everyone's attention back to the matter at hand. Elyxya strode past Meeks and patted the door, then pushed it with her shoulder, "It's lodged. I don't know how, but it's shut and it ain't coming open any time soon." She deduced and walked back to the rest of the group.
There was a short silence and Will said, "That was what those two clerics were looking all panicky about, they shut the door on us! From the outside!" His brow furrowed and he looked over at Izzy, Nightshade and Pryzma. Nightshade and Pryzma answered in unison, "So it was magic." They said. "And that means we can't open it up again." Izzy completed the telling of the predicament with a resigned shrug that won her an angry glare from everyone in the party.
"So we're stuck." Masoj repeated and the small group sighed as one.
***
Beyond the closed door that bore the insignia of Temple Darkmoon was a set of two staircases; one going up to the right, and one going down to the left. There were no telltale sounds from either direction and the only hint of what might lie beyond each staircase was darkness to the left, and light to the right.
"I say left." Pryzma declared, staring down in that direction. Masoj came up beside her and nodded, "Me too." He said and turned back to hear everyone else's decisions. Izzy closed the door that led to the lobby out of precaution and looked about quickly. Will and Sindel were already atop the first stair that lead up to the right, "Sindel and I say we go up here first, it looks more inviting." Will opted, and watched Sindel look around paranoidly.
Nightshade wasn't listening and was busy touching the walls with her fingers; she could feel tiny disturbances in the finely-shaped stone that could lead to secret passageways or hideaways. Izzy had joined her and now both were busy in their work. "I think I've found something people." Nightshade said in a quiet voice; everyone gathered around her and she stood up straight.
She caressed a certain portion of the wall with her fingers and licked her lips nervously, "The wall is offset -as odd as that may seem- and it feels rougher; it's been touched alot...and I'm pretty sure there's a doorway here." She said and pressed on the wall with her fingers to try to find a pressure point that might trigger a change in the wall. "Elyxya, Meeks, try shoving this part of the wall for me." Nightshade asked and the two warriors eagerly threw themselves against the wall. It didn't budge.
"Is it magical in any way, Nightshade?" Pryzma inquired, coming up beside her friend and touching the wall as well; she felt nothing of what Nighshade did and stepped away confusedly.
Nightshade threw back her long black hair and pressed her entire palm to the wall, "I don't know but maybe..." She closed her eyes and then shifted, "...maybe...wait a minute...wait a minute..." She brought her palm to the exact center of the area and pressed sharply. The wall before her disappeared and was replaced by a teleportation gate. She looked back at the team and then stepped away from the twinkling, floating crystals; she could find the secret passageways but wasn't the first to try them out.
Masoj clapped slowly and walked up to Nightshade to pat her on the shoulder, "Good job...now can you tell us where it goes?" He asked tentatively. Nightshade shook her head and backed away further more. "We need someone to go in there." Masoj said and pushed a strand of his stark white hair from his face and tucked it behind his sharply pointed ear.
"Izzy'll do it." Pryzma said and shoved the girl forward, "Isn't that right?" She taunted and Izzy frowned. "I don't know, what if it's dangerous?" Izzy whined and Pryzma leaned forward to put her dark hands on Izzy's creamy shoulders, "Then we'll know not to go in, now won't we?" She answered pointedly; Nightshade chuckled and immediately ceased when she caught Will and Sindel's disapproving glare.
"Just go, for god's sake." Elyxya rushed and Meeks shoved Izzy inside the teleporter's shimmering light fragments. There was silence in the air and nothing could be heard from beyond the portal; not a soul knew what to think or how to feel.
Pryzma exhaled impatiently, "What if she's dead?" She asked, for the sake of conversation. Nightshade burst out laughing and then stopped in fear of being heard by temple clerics, "Good. She's a ditz." She commented but no one wanted to trash talk Izzy at the moment; first of all, she had been brave enough to go into the portal (even though she was shoved), and second of all, no one had really had the chance to talk to her except maybe Masoj who didn't really enjoy her company either.
There was a hollow sound and then Izzy emerged from the teleporter sporting a dizzy expression, "It's safe. It's a clerical utility room of some sort. There's another teleporter in there that leads to another room that looks exactly like the one you first go into when you step inside." She pointed to the portal and everyone hung on her every word; especially the clerics who had heard the words `utility room'.
"So let's go." Sindel said and shoved past the unstable Izzy, and disappeared into the crystals. Will was next, mumbling "Wait, Sindel, settle down", and then Pryzma and Nightshade went in next, dragging Izzy in with them; and finally Elyxya, Meeks and Masoj.
The room was as large as the lobby and the teleporter brought you to the left side of the room; ahead was a large golden cross centered on the far wall. Sindel and Will were both huddling about the large holy symbol when the rest of the group entered.
"So what does it do?" Asked Masoj in his calm voice, he swept past Meeks and Elyxya and joined the two clerics. Nightshade and Pryzma had wandered to the right side of the room and were examining the second portal that Izzy had said led to another chamber of the same style.
Sindel couldn't keep her hands off the sleek, shiny surface of the golden cross, "I'm not sure, I think it might be an idol...or something." She said and pushed Masoj away when he attempted to lean closer to take a look for himself. Izzy sat in the center of the room and clutched her head, "I'm dizzy." She moaned and no one payed her heed.
"Maybe it would help if I casted a true seeing spell?" Masoj offered, leaning over a plaque on the side wall along with Elyxya and Meeks. Sindel's reply was a short and sweet, "No, your petty magic is of no use to me." She said simply and closed her eyes for concentration. Masoj grimaced and pretended to kick Sindel's behind; Meeks and Elyxya began to laugh and Sindel's eyes snapped open, "Shut up. I'm trying to read into this thing." She ordered and returned to her `reading'.
Meeks leaned against the wall and noticed that Masoj leaned against something shiny, "Move, Masoj. You're leaning on something." She said and the wizard did as she bid. On the wall was a plaque; Meeks frowned at herself for not having noticed it earlier. "It says `Death be undone by me, but I shall only grant three'. What's that mean?" She asked whoever wanted to answer.
Both Will and Sindel's heads turned and they jumped up, shoved past Elyxya, Meeks and Masoj and read the plaque for themselves, "Oh! It's a resurrection tool! But we only get to resurrect three people." Will exclaimed and everyone smiled. "Izzy said that there was another room like this," Elyxya commented and turned towards the little thief who still remained sitting down and clutching her head in the middle of the room, "Isn't that right Izzy?" She asked her. Izzy closed her eyes and opened them up again, "Yes it is. It's right over there." She said, pointing to the teleporter on the right side of the room.
All at once, the small group charged foreward into the designed teleporter; Izzy groaned, got up and lumbered in after them. As Izzy had said, the second room looked exactly like the first; wall arrangements, plaque, cross and all. Nightshade and Pryzma were both in the room already, sitting on the floor and talking; they had went in during the other group's little debate.
"Hello people." Nightshade said, got up and helped Pryzma to her feet. The party split up and Will and Sindel both lunged for the gleaming cross; they were saying things to each other but no one could make out the words. Elyxya and Meeks hung back and left the two clerics do their thing; Izzy entered and immeadiately crumbled to the ground, teleporters were not her favorite mode of transportation.
"This one's powers are expired," Sindel exclaimed after a short while, "it's useless to us." She turned and walked over to the rest of her group along with Will.
Soon after, the gang was outside of the resurrection chambers and back into the halls of Darkmoon. The clerics took note to remember the little room and the others began to be anxious to get on with their quest; particularly Meeks and Elyxya. Izzy was naucious and puked before leaving the second chamber; Nightshade and Pryzma did a good job in bringing up her courage to cross the two teleporters again, nothing like a little excessive force to get one back on his or her feet...