Enter the Temple of Nazuk-Narbog

The story thus far...

As the party rests from their recent battle this evening, and to sample the spoils of battle, they pause to reflect on the course of recent events.

After chasing rumors of orcs who were organizing under the leadership of men in at least three distinct but allied bands, they find that entire villages are being pressed into service for some kind of coming skirmish.

Narrowly escaping with their lives (well, most of them), our party happens across the aftermath of the siege of a powerful wizard’s keep. Raelith's youngest apprentice encourages them to seek out his master, and in return gives them some magical items from the keep.

After following a long and winding trail over the Namac mountains and into the Burnt Lands, the adventurers find Raelith's captor and free him. Along the way, they find that Raelith knows the supposed location of the Rods of Kadriel, a mythical figure responsible for destroying the Shoggoth nearly 500 years ago with these very same rods.

Unfortunately, the mercenary hired to bring Raelith to the Burnt Lands died without giving up any information. It is apparent, however, that whatever means he used to capture Raelith was so powerful that it has left a lingering befuddlement curse on him such that he is now a fraction of the wizard that he once was.

Raelith was captured in order to lead Ghorul's master to the ruins of an ancient god where the Rods of Kadriel are supposedly kept. To find out why, the heroes have traveled to the very same ruins which are just a few hundred yards away…

The Ruins of Nazuk-Narbog's Temple

After a long rest, the party finds themselves at the gates of what appears to be a recently excavated set of ruins. Immediately, they notice that the temple ruins are encased in a dome of what appears to be grey terracotta. This seems out of place with the rest of the Burnt Lands.

Four crumbling obelisks, in varying states of structural stability, stand in front of a pair of massive "doors". These doors are, in fact, only  carvings of a door. In spite of their age, they seem to have most of their detail intact. However, there are no hinges, no cracks, no sign of entry.

A careful search of the entrance reveals a panel of concentric circles. A similar pattern was on the necklace worn by Khashna Ghorul, which protected him against all forms of magic. As it turns out, this medallion is made of the same grey stone that surrounds the temple.

The party placed the medallion against the panel, which seemed to be immediately sucked into it, like placing a hand over the open mouth of a vacuum tube. Loud, clanging sounds from inside moved closer and closer, until the carvings of the door magically became a real door.

Initial exploration of the ruined temple revealed little. A changing room for priests and an empty gathering room for guests seemed to have been stripped of any valuable artifacts or relics many years ago.

Another set of doors led to the main chamber of the temple. Only when Cassandra used all of her strength to remove the necklace from the panel outside did things get interesting. In the center of the main chamber, an alter on a dais in the middle of the room had another, similar panel of concentric circles on it. 

The Rods of Kadriel

Placing the medallion in the panel caused the alter to sink into the dais, and a large, hallow, spiraling tube of grey terracotta to spin down from the chamber's ceiling. On a whim, Oskar and Valen jumped underneath the column. 

Once sealed, the terracotta became illuminated with golden light. A combination lock was barely lit up before Oskar recognized it as a common mathematical puzzle used by well-trained wizards and sages. Entering the combination, the insides of this inner chamber changed from cold, grey terrecotta into warm, shiny gold. A container also opened up, revealing two rods that looked strikingly similar to the ones depicted in the Yeha-noha mural in the cave in the Namac moutains.

After taking the rods, the gold returned to its former state, and the hollow column receded into the ceiling. 

More exploration of the temple revealed a chamber of empty, long-abandoned cells used to house prisoners. Most of the scratching on the walls indicated something smaller than normal. And angry.

A secret chamber was also found. This appeared to be the quarters of the high priest of Nazuk-Narbog. Unlike everything else that was covered in a thick coat of dust, a pedestal in this room looks to have been recently disturbed, as if a valuable artifact was resting on it until just recently.

The party found another, stranger secret room. Upon entering a room with strange religious markings and wards, Cortes and Valen had a strange experience. The room zoomed away, while the circle on the floor remained stationary. They appeared to be floating in an unimaginably large space. In the distance, large cords of gold stretched in random directions as far as the eye could see.

However, the rest of the part saw nothing. In fact, simply stepping off the floating circle (an act of incredible faith) resulted in a sudden (and intensely overwhelmingly fast) return to the original chamber.

Several attempts were made to used this chamber, but nothing beyond this black void criss-crossed with gold threads was all that they could muster.

A search of the books in the high priest's chamber revealed several interesting insights into this hitherto-unknown deity. For one, the communication chamber required a sacrifice. Another point of trivia is that this deity didn't originate in this part of the world. In fact, most gods only live in regions of Bâleth; but Nazuk-Narbog is the one god who as seemingly traveled to all parts of the world.

Followers of Nazuk-Narbog

Leaving the high preist's chambers in search of more clues, the party was waylaid by a horde of kobolds and gnolls.

The ensuing battle was relatively quick. The party made quick work of the kobolds with Sleep spells, but the opposing force had a human hostage.

Eventually, a détente was reached. The kobolds and gnolls, as it turns out, are the last known followers of this god of old, and are the caretakers of this temple. This hostage, a trader and bard by the name of Niddurok Nazâr, had taken a valuable artifact several weeks ago from this temple. They didn't catch him the first time, but luckily, he returned the previous night, and they were able to capture him then.

A Cursed Totem

As it turns out, Niddurok is a merchant of a nearby village. He and his brother found this temple, and began excavating it. The only thing of value they found was a totem (from the pedestal in the high priest's chamber) of this ancient and unknown (to him) god. They took it back to the village, expecting to make a tidy sum of coin.

Niddurok left town in search of a buyer. After a week, he was successful. He returned home, only to find the town was deserted. His brother (Nabul), Niddurok's wife (Feluna) and their children (Nalar, 7, and Zurada, 4) were in the town of Zabir-Miraz for the week, but were nowhere to be found when he returned. The only thing left behind was a cloud of grey terrecotta dust that seemed to stick to everything in the village. 

Being a traveler and a bard, he has heard of a similar story many years ago. A curse of the god Nazuk-Narbog once made the population of a town disappear. It took a powerful wizard with the Rods of Kadriel to bring them back.

And so Niddurok, with his incredible fortune, set out to retrieve the only wizard who, according to rumor, knows where the Rods of Kadriel are hidden. He hired a mercenary (Khashna Ghorul) and a small army to bring the wizard back, retrieve the Rods, and save his family and the town.

And so Niddurok makes his plea to the party. He asks for their help to restore the people of Zabir-Miraz and his family. In return, he promises wealth and glory.

Naturally, the party agrees...