The party continued to battle the crazed wizard. At this point in the fight, the party members were beginning to wear down. To add to this, the wizard cast Feeblemind on Keldon, making him as intelligent as a common lizard. After the wizard cast another Wall of Fire, the party decided to retreat to the room containing the dungeon exit. They split into two groups with Shun, Keldon, and Smoth going one way and Finn going the other on the walkway around the center pool. While waiting to see if the wizard would follow them, some of the party members used the paintbrush to heal wounds. Of course Shun had to use the brush on Keldon because he was too busy drooling and staring at the wall to do it himself.
After no advance from the wizard, Smoth became fed up with the situation and decided to cast Silence centered on himself and run towards the wizard. Since the wizard had no weapon and could not cast spells while in range of Smoth’s Silence spell, he ran away into one of the cells while he continued his insanely screaming and ranting. Even though the party could not understand most of what the wizard was screaming, they did make out the name “Malgoth”, the same name spelled out in blood on one of the cell walls.
With the wizard cornered and unable to cast spells, the party made easy work of him. The party suspected that he might have information about Duke Killingsworth or might even be the Duke himself, so Finn used his healing skill to keep the wizard alive.
The party then left the dungeon and headed straight to the Temple of Pelor to see Father Cathaway. The priest was not being very helpful and the party sensed that something was wrong. He did give the wizard a sedative, but was reluctant to give the party any healing assistance. This was not like Father Cathaway, who is usually very generous when good-aligned parties require assistance. Keldon seemed especially disappointed in this turn of events and showed it by drooling a little extra and moaning slightly.
The priest did offer the party food, but at this time some of the party members began noticing Father Cathaway’s automated behavior. Finn and Smoth soon realized the priest was under someone else’s control and pretended to play along. They tried to give secret hand signals and gestures to each other indicating that someone needed to go get help, but it was lost in translation. Finn took initiative and excused himself from the temple. Knowing that Captain Belaine would surely provide assistance, he ran to the main city guard station.
After Finn left, Father Cathaway went to the back to get the food he promised earlier. Smoth and Shun were a little suspicious of this “meal”, so Shun and Keldon left while Smoth decided to stay and find out some more information. As his ferret familiar Qianto made a mess in the kitchen just for good measure, Smoth stood right outside the door to a back chamber and tried to make out the conversation taking place. He heard an unfamiliar voice giving Father Cathaway orders. By the sound of the voice, the creature it belonged to was otherworldly and not very friendly. Not wanting to find out for sure, Smoth retrieved Qianto and left the temple heading straight to the guard house.
Finn easily convinced Captain Belaine to assist the party and they decided to seek refuge at the Temple of Heironeous. The temple was small, but built more like a fortress than a temple. The lone cleric there welcomed the party and even used a scroll of Heal on Keldon to remove the effects of the Feeblemind spell. Weakened by their encounters in the dungeon, the party decided to rest for the night.
Experience
Escaped from the dominated Father Cathaway – Story award – 300xp each
Convinced Capt. Belaine to escape w/ you and left town – story award – 300xp each
Defeated an ogre ambush on the road – CR 8| 8 | 2400xp |
| 9 | 1800xp |
| 10 | 1500xp |
| 8 | 1200xp |
| 9 | 1050xp |
| 10 | 975xp |
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