There were three main buildings that could not be accessed: the stepped temple, the church and bell tower and the palisade.
First up - the bell tower. At the foot of the tower was a metal barred gate. After about half an hour of trying to pry the lock with whatever could be found, the group had almost given up hope of getting in, when Tracebe remarked that it might be possible to blow the lock using the powder in the flash bombs he had purchased back in Longroost. Carefully, he unpacked a couple of charges and set them in the lock. Setting a small fuse they retreated to a safe distance and waited. *BANG* The lock blew and the group tentatively entered the lower antechamber.
To the left was a narrow exit which lead up a flight of stairs which disappeared off into the darkness above. Torches were lit revealing a spiralling staircase that followed the outer wall of the tower and that had no hand rail or security from falling inwards. Cautiously the group ascended through an opening in the stone roof above, expecting to find themselves in the open area atop the tower. However, they found themselves in a small crawl space under a wooden floor.
J'ahnna crouched and shuffled over to a small ladder which lead up to a trapdoor which turned out to be locked. Forcing the bolt, the group climbed out into the light at the top of the tower. The view was magnificent. They puzzled over the bell that lie on the wooden floor, especially as after further investigation it appeared to have been lowered and not fallen as originally assumed. Curious, they tried to find a way to reach the upper bell chamber. there were no ladders, so the group decided to bravely stand on each others' shoulders leaning against the corner wall, risking falling out of the tower. A torch was hoisted on a short pole into the dark pool of blackness that hung in the bell tower. As it entered the darkness, the pool rippled but did not let any light escape. Wary of this liquid blackness the group decided to err on the side of caution and walk back down the tower.
So on to the stepped temple. After a thorough investigation of most of the tiers of the pyramid a call went up from the top. A way in had been uncovered. It appeared to be a simple lever mechanism in a side wall of one of the alcoves. After a quick push, a large, vertical stone doorway slid down revealing a small inner room. Further investigation revealed that each "wall" of the room was in fact a door leading out to the top of the pyramid temple with a lever mechanism on both sides for opening/closing. Most of the group went inside and closed the door.
After much clunking and grinding, the floor of the inner room descended into the darkness. Torches in hand, the group waited ... and waited ... After a couple of minutes, the platform cleared the end of a long pipe down which it had travelled and settled about 20 feet below on the floor of a large room that appeared to fill the interior of the pyramid. The stench of rotting flesh was almost unbearable, and bodies in various states of decay were piled up all around. The group quickly surveyed the interior, the altar and the alcoves. Little was of interest except for two things:
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* The first was a small jade (?) statue standing in one of the alcoves that could not be touched due to some warding.
The palisade was still locked and barred as was the church behind the bell tower.
The next night, Tyr went investigating and while the group was trying to persuade him/it to not do anything that a faerie may have wont to do, they noticed that the church door lock had been broken and the door slightly ajar. Alerting the others (though Valdomean was still not fully recovered and rested in the house), they entered the church the next day.
The church was in two halves, both a mirror copy of each other connected by a passageway between the two altars. On one side the well preserved murals were of peaceful scenes, showing gods in the form of man bestowing gifts and life to those around. These scenes mirrored the Wiccan ways, but the imagery was noticeable different (Christian for out-of-character reference). In the other side were scenes of war, pestilence and wrath. These were scenes that were largely unknown to the Wiccan tenets that the Hemnat abide by, and while shocking formed an interesting duality to the murals in the other chamber. Each chamber was lit from the magnificent stained glass domed ceiling above.
Investigating further, the group discovered a small number of barred gates that blocked a stair descending under the church. Fortunately they were open and the group descended. Under the church they found themselves in a large crypt with many columns supporting the floor above. Searching around they discovered that Shy-Lone had ancestors buried here. He went to fetch a small food offering to leave by the grave as was customary in Hemnat lore. The group also found two large central sarcophagi with a side of uncooked venison, picked almost bare and five cups of "wine" standing next to it. As they puzzled over this, a noise was heard nearby and the dispersed group tried to intercept the agile intruder. A brief chase ensued in the dark of the crypt, and another of the agile creatures was heard and spied in the shadows. A brief affray took place, but both escaped up the stairs. J'ahnna, the quickest of the group pursued the latter into the light above and saw that it was one of the creatures that they had seen observing them. It was like a Hemnat in many ways, though not as saurian and having a flatter, smoother face and standing a little shorter and of slighter build. The other main difference was that it had but two arms. It faced J'ahnna down for a moment and then turned as it spoke some phrase in that unknown tongue the group had heard before and ran through the corridor connecting the two church chambers. As it ran, it became blurred and appeared to dissolve into thin air. The creatures were gone.
Further investigation revealed that all the group had ancestors here, and they all left offerings out of respect.
Later, and Valdomean had almost recovered, the group had decided to make another attempt to gain entry into the main building. Sending a couple of scouts, the group spied eight of these strange, Hemnat-like beings walk across the outer courtyard and approach the main building at dusk. Another figure stood outside and greeted them. A few words were exchanged and the attendant figure turned, opened the door and lead the group inside. Observing further, the same group was seen to return from the inner chambers at dawn and return to the church.
That night, a note was slipped under the group's door and after a bit of translating they found they had been invited to visit the other beings that night at the main house. This saved them making plans to confront the opponents ...
Getting themselves ready, and Valdomean too as she could now walk although still groggy a little, they set off for the main building at the prescribed midnight hour. The same attendant stood outside waiting for them. The party handed over the note and were lead inside and across the inner courtyard to a separate building. Going inside the group were introduced and allowed to site opposite the Worshipful Master (as they later found him to be known). The remained of the other creatures sat in various places around and near this key figure. In the centre of the room was a small altar with three candles lit, and in front of the head poo-bah was a lectern with a book open upon it. After a few fraught minutes of babbling as neither group could understand the other, one of the others cast a tongues spell on a central item and all could understand each other.
After some difficult pleasantries and a mutual understanding that while not necessarily being trust was not mistrust, the others offered to shed some light onto the mysteries since they both apparently sough the same thing - The Stone of Arialla. However, the party would need to be sworn into the order the others represented and pledge an oath to secrecy. After a little discussion the group agreed and with a stern, solemn ceremony the group were sworn in to the order, known simply as "The Brethren".
The Brethren explained that they were also Hemnat, but of different lineage and were once held in equal regard to their colleagues (i.e. you the party). However, due to various political wranglings and power play within the orders of the Keepers and Speakers of the Word, they were disgraced and exiled. Those in the higher echelons had taken it upon themselves to safeguard the information that was known to them and banish The Brethren as they had become known. Living in exile, they had sought more and more information about the history of the Hemnat and believed that those in power now were acting out of selfish beliefs and not those tenets of Wicca that the Speakers of the Word claimed to be spreading. Since it had been many hundreds of years since this rift, and The Brethren had been in flight ever since, they had passed their charge down successive generations. This group believed there were only a handful of the Hemnat like them left in the world and, although they would not normally associate with the "other Hemnat", given that they had common roots in the old Citadel, they had agreed (after much discussion and observation) to take a chance to invite the group into their chambers. They apologised for setting the water spirit on them (which is why Tracebe could not control it) as they liked to ensure their privacy, and apologised for the wardings - again just some insurance :)
The Brethren took the group outside, across the bridge to the small island building that can only be accessed from the main complex. Inside, a lever was thrown and the floor unwound forming a spiral staircase down. They headed into the depths and eventually reached a large, natural chamber in the centre of which sat a magnificent, gold sphere about 20 meters in diameter. Around the sphere were six plinths with a crystal tray on the top of each. The Brethren had investigated this place for about 80 years now and found no way in, though had some suspicions that needed to be tested.
As the group walked around the magnificent structure, the crystal trays were noted (and only just) to glow slightly as they passed. After some brief discussion it seemed that each was attuned to one of the group. The sixth being attuned to one of The Brethren. This upheld the suspicion of The Brethren and supported their agreement to confide in the party. They spoke that the Stone of Arialla was inside the sphere, but they could not access it. Trying different items on the platforms, it became clear that the heirloom of each family line seemed to work like a key. However, not all the items were held by the group. 4 of 6 items were held, and there was no idea where the others could be.
Could they be in the human settlement? The trail of thefts and uncovered trade routes with the human bandits was suspected, but given the Hemnat difference in appearance with the Humans, it was thought best that another way of tracing them be sought. For now, the group were recommended to return to Longroost and investigate their masters as they may hold important information about The Truth (!) and may in fact not be acting in the best interests of the Hemnat.
The group decided to sleep on the idea and set off for somewhere when they were packed and Valdomean was fully fit. That should only be a day or two and there was probably much talking to do before then.
Don't start a revolution now ...