Fireseek 14 (continued):   9:30am  Darred is taking the wand, Glendon the scroll, and Taizu the keys.

Rowan makes 10th level!

Arvee cuts the discussion short starting down the third ( at 110') corridor, finds the barracks room, and starts tossing the beds and trunks.  Meanwhile, Darred has moved back to the first (at 50') corridor to watch for anything coming at us from it.  Tarva goes back to the second (at 90') corridor to watch the hellhound.  This time it gets up to its feet.  Ahb sends Glendon and Darred (even though he's at a different corridor) after Arvee.  Taizu and Rowan join Tarva at the mouth of the Hellhound corridor.  Tarva asks Ahb does she really want to leave this Hellhound alive behind us?  Ahb says no.

1:  Tarva charges the Hellhound, hits for 14; Glendon catches up to Arvee; Hellhound bites Tarva for 9; Taizu shoots at Hellhound, hits for 5, 6; Rowan moves up to near Hellhound; Ahb joins Taizu a the second corridor mouth; Darred moves from the first corridor mouth to the third corridor mouth (the one Arvee took).  Arvee charges Hellhound from along a connecting passageway, hits for 14, kills; Guard₁₃ takes this opportunity to run away, dashes down the hallway towards the smoke room.

2:  Taizu yells, "Stop!" at Guard₁₃, shoots, misses, misses; Guard₁₃ escapes into smoke room.

Experience points:  31.

Tarva asks Arvee, "Want to kill a salamander?"  Arvee nods yes, so Tarva waves the people in from the hallway and from the barracks room.  When we're all together, she porposes that we go finish off the rest of the temple inhabitants.  Ahb says "ok" an off we go.  Into and through a kitchen, down a corridor to a Y, left, to a T into a wider corridor, one with scarred walls that have been perhaps clawed? perhaps chewed?

0: Three Rasts drop down from the ceiling of the wide corridor, gaze at the front ranks, but Arvee, Tarva, and Glendon all save; Darred uses his wand to cast Slow on Rast₁

1: Taizu shoots Rast₁ for 7, bloopers and shoots his second arrow into Arvee's back for 4; Rast₁, Rast₂ and Rast₃ all float up 15', gaze again: Tarva is paralized, Glendon is paralized, Arvee saves; Rast₄ attacks Darred from behind, bites for 11, successfully grapples; Rowan turns and shoots Rast₄ - Rast₄ AoO miss - for 6, 11; Darred tries to escape from grapple but doesn't; Arvee throws hammers at Rast₁ for 6, 6, kills; Ahb casts Dismissal on Rast₄ but it saves, moves to behind Rast₄.

2: Taizu starts singing Inspire Greatness on Rowan, shoots at Rast₂ and criticals for 17, hits for 11, kills; Darred takes -1 CON, Rast₄ bites Darred for 9; Rast₃ moves to in front of Arvee, gazes, Arvee saves; Rowan backs up 5', shoots Rast₄ for 9, 10; Darred fails to escape from the grapple; Arvee throws his third hammer at Rast₃ for 7; Ahb on Rast₄ hits for 7, kills, then watches our back (and up).

3:  Taizu shoots at Rast₃ and hits for 10, 5, kills.

Taizu begins to cast Dispel Magic (which takes one minute), but before he has it completely cast Glendon and Tarva come out of their paralysis.  Ahb Heals Darred for 22.

Experience Points: 127.

9:45am  This wide corridor has a smoothly worked floor to the right, with flame motifs worked into it.  To the left, it goes past a curtained (red) something to a hallway.  We go down that way, and Glendon rips the curtain aside to reveal a bedchamber.  Zert's at a guess.  "Don't let's stop for searching," says Tarva, "until we finish off the inhabintants."  We step towards the hallway and

0:  Dropping down from the ceiling (yet again) is a humanoid with flaming armor and a flaming sword.  There is also a chain hanging down from the ceiling next to him.  The salamander strikes at Glendon and criticals for 22 + 2 fire.

1:  Taizu on Salamander misses, misses; Rowan on Salamander misses, bloopers but doesn't fall down; Salamander on Glendon hits for 10 + 3 fire, miss, miss; Tarva on Salamander misses, misses; Ahb moves to Glendon, casts Cure Serious with a successful touch for 32; Darred casts Choke for 4 hp; Glendon casts Magic Missile - Salamander AoO on Glendon for 14 - spell fails, tumbles away to left successfully; Arvee charges Salamander and hits for 18.

2:  Taizu sings Inspire Greatness on Glendon, steps to the side; Rowan shoots, hits for 7, 11; Salamander on Arvee criticals for 29 + 5 fire, hits for 9 + 1 fire, 13 + 1 fire, and Arvee suffers -3 DEX; Tarva misses, criticals for 23; Ahb circles around the melee to the right and behind the Salamander; Darred casts Slow on the Salamander, moves to the right; Glendon shoots his crossbow but misses; Arvee goes berserk, hits for 21, kills.

Ahb Heals Arvee.

Experience points: 253.

Taizu keeps singing Inspire Greatness on Glendon (once started, he figures, why waste the song by letting it expire) and motions for Glendon to go with him back to Zert's room.  As they start searching it, Ahb decides that the clerics are more likely back the other way, rather than down either branch of this hallway, and we start back.  Just s we pass Zert's room, Taizu uses the non-magical key we took off Zert to open the chest.  Tarva,. a little sharply, tells Taizu, "Come on, you can search for baubles later."  (Which was unfair, since his singing precluded his replying; and he was probably looking for magic that could help us, anyway.).

We go back past the Rast bodies and onto the smooth, flame motif floor, to where the corridor deadends at double doors, 30' across (15' each), made of red bronze, with a red dragon bas relief on each door.  With much handwaving, Taizu finally gets the idea across to Ahb that he wants Trava to sing Inspire Courage, so she does.  Glendon opens the doors - or rather tries to, but when he grabs the handles and pulls and pushes, nothing happens (well, the doors rattle a little).  Taizu hands Tarva the magical key we took off Zert, it doesn't work in the lock.  Taizu swaps her for the non-magical key: it doesn't even fit in the lock.  Taizu takes that key back, too, and searches for any secret switches, special areas along the jambs.  Doesn't find any.  Ahb thinks bursting the doors down would be a bad idea, wants us to go back and search other, unexamined areas first.  Like, that other curtained-off area we saw near the Hellhound.  So we go there.  As we arrive, Tarva feels a sense of anticipation and nervousness, and looks around to see if she can spot what's causing it. The curtain is grey, with an amber diamond in the cente, and from it we're all affronted by a horrible stench.  In spite of that, Tarva actually feels stronger.  Glendon moves the curtain aside, and we see that the room is full of rotting flesh: half-intact skulls/heads with the eyes melted; a "collection" of severed hands occupies one corner.  A large sheet on a wooden poster bed covers what, by shape, appears to be a matress of limbs.  There is a chest at the foot of the bed.  Another curtain blocks off the far end of the 40' long, 35' wide chamber,  Darred, Glendon, Arvee, and Taizu go inside to investigate further; Taizu going to the chest, which opens for neither of the keys.  Tarva is distracted by the realization that all her injuries and wounds have been healed.

A white light begins to leak around the edges of the far curtain, and at the same time Tarva feels the nervousness change to concern, and realizes she's feeling these emotions from Heart's Reach.  "Ahb, Heart's Reach is concerned about, about something." she says, while her eyes are drawn to the far curtain.  Ahb immediately tells the searchers, "Get out, get away."  All of them except Arvee scramble out to the corridor.  The light comes through the far curtain, and obscures that entire end of the chamber.  Ahb demands, "Arvee, come out."  Arvee replies, "Why?"  Tarva feels HR's concern turn into abject terror, and then a beam of light shoots out and hits her immediately over her medallion, and she passes out.  There is a silent explosion, and everyone else is knocked down also.

As they're getting back up, they hear someone say, "Crap!"  And when they look around, the white light is gone from the chamber, but there is a cone of translucent white light, 10' diameter at floor level, rising to a point 10' off the floor, where it 'terminates' at a floating Heart's Reach.  On the floor, in the middle of the cone, is the collapsed body of Tarva, lying on her back.

Taizu and Ahb each make a beeline to Tarva.  As each touches the cone, they vanish.  Rowan, hoping for the best, says, "Taizu, Ahb?  Are you still there?"  "No."  Glendon, the least surprised at having an answer come back to them (not from either Ahb or Taizu), asks, "Who are you?  Where are they?"  "I'm Heart's Reach, and they've been gated."  "Where?" asks Glendon.  "I don't know: I'm just barely holding it together."  Glendon, "What can we do to help?"  "I don't know," replies HR.  "Something else is pushing power into the gate."  Glendon, "Is Tarva Okay?"  HR: "Well, she's not dead."  Darred, after a careful look without touching, "There is no one else inside the circle.  Let's go find whoever is pushing the power; they're probably behind the far curtain."  HR replies, "I don't think so: the power isn't coming from this plane."  Rowan asks, "Is it good power or evil?"  "I don't know," responds HR. 

Arvee arrives from where he was thrown in the chamber.  "What's going on?" he asks.  Darred tells him, "They disappeared when they touched the light.  Don't go into the light."  Arvee, "Where did Ahb go?"  Darred, "Don't go into the light.  It ... gated Ahb.  Don't go into--" Arvee moves into the cone and vanishes.

Darred addresses Heart's Reach again, "There was light on the other side of that curtain.  I want to check it out."  HR answers, "I think that light was the gate moving closer."  Darred, "What are you doing, exactly?"  HR, "Trying to hold the gate here."  Darred, "What do you want to do?"  HR, "I don't know."  Darred, "Okay, what will happen if  you let go of the gate?"  Glendon, "What can you detect about this gate?"  HR, "What Tarva learned, and recited to me, is that gates move.  I felt this one coming close, but not soon enough to warn her.  I'll probably be able to tell better, now." 

Glendon, "Is Tarva in danger?"  HR, "I know that Tarva needs help."   Glendon, "What kind of help?"  HR, "That's all I know.  It's a sense I get."  Darred, "Well, our choices are either to stay here or to join them.  My best guess: we enter the gate, Heart's Reach let's go, and everyone - including Tarva - ends up 'there'."  Glendon, "Heart's Reach, does that sound like a possibility?"  HR, "I think if everyone goes through the gate they will end up at the same place.  I don't know what will happen if I just let go.  Tarva is not conscious."  Glendon, "Does she need to be?"  HR, "Everything I know, everything she read to me, says she needs to be conscious and direct the gating."  Glendon, "If we wake her up, will we hurt her?"  HR, "I don't know."  Then in a contrite, and quieter, tone, "I didn't mean to knock her out."

Darred moves to the edge of the cone, yells, "TARVA!"  There is no response from Tarva that he can see.  "Well, crap." says Darred,  "we should just wait until Tarva wakes up.  See if Heart's Reach can hold out."  "No," says Rowan, "let's just do it.  Heart's Reach,: we're going through."  Glendon, "I won't leave Tarva by herself:.  Youall go, and I'll stay behind."  Rowan, "What if Heart's Reach and Tarva go also, and you're left here all by yourself?"

Glendon moves close to the cone, and squirts water from a waterskin so that it falls on Tarva's face. She is now wet, but still unconsicous.  Darred says, "Maybe we could push her out of the circle: then we could revive her."  Glendon, "I've got a rope."  Darred wrests a plank away from the poster bed in the carrion chamber, brings it back, and starts to use it to push at Tarva's body.  But as soon as the plank touches the cone of llight, it and Darred disappear.

Glendon, "Heart's Reach and Tarva are bonded; does that mean that if one goes through the gate the other will also?"  Rowan, "Heart's Reach, can you heal Tarva?"  HR, "Not now."  Rowan, "Oh.  Well, when?"  HR, "Not until after I'm no longer holding this gate open."  Rowan looks around, considers trying to climb over, tunnel under, somehow get to Tarva without being tossed away by the gate.  "Heart's Reach, can we get to Tarva without going through the gate?"  HR, "I don't know of any way."  Rowan, "What happens if you let go of the gate?"  HR, "I don't know what will happen -- but I'm not hurting her now.  And there's enough power coursing through me, I could reach out and extinguish your sun."  Rowan, "Please don't do that."

Rowan takes out a sheet of paper, writes on it "Ahb, can you talk to us?  Should we follow you?" crumples it up so it can be tossed, and throws it through the light cone.  It falls to the floor inside the cone and rests there.  Glendon steps to the edge of the cone again and yells for Ahb, for Taizu, at Tarva.  No answer. He says again, "I'm not willing to leave Tarva here by herself."  HR replies, "As long as the gate is open, no-one else can reach her."  That was probably meant to be reassuring, but Rowan is too good an archer to believe this makes Tarva 'safe'.

Glendon, thinking aloud, "If we can wake Tarva up, then she can direct the gate and we can all go through."  Rowan, "Yes?"  Glendon, "What if we pour a potion of cure light down her throat."  Rowan, "But..." Glendon, "I'm going to use Prestidigitation to carry the the vial to her, tip it into her mouth."  Rowan, "Good." and opens a vial.  Glendon casts Prestidigation, lifts the vial and moves it towards Tarva.  When the vial reaches the cone of llight, both it and Glendon disappear. 

After eying the cone, Tarva's body, and the corridor around her, Rowan mutters "Crap!" and walks into it.

And then there is nobody in that section of the Fire Temple to see what happens next.

[The Adventure is continued in the Gate Space Diaries.]