After the events of the last day, Finn wasn’t sure why he wanted to return to the Temple. Perhaps it was because he just couldn’t remember much more than feeling cold, and then feeling soggy. Nonetheless, there was a compulsion that seemed to call him to the location, despite the foreboding sense of evil that seemed to permeate the ruin.
After a brief walk through the sand and heat, the trio found themselves once again on the threshold of the great old building, and this time Finn was wise enough to keep his senses in check, despite the pressure that seemed to be pressing him from all sides. Daphne sent her rook, Theo, soaring over the ruin to relay any information it could discern. Finn was amazed at her ability to commune with the majestic animal, and longed to hone skills like that someday.
With a vague sense of the building layout, Finn pushed his way through the front door into the cavernous nave of the Temple. It had clearly been avoided for some time, as a layer of sand covered all. In front of Finn stretched a row of dusty pews facing an alter upon which sat a wooden chest. Intrigued by what the chest might contain, and hoping to find some ancient scriptures or religious artifacts, Finn made his way to the front of the great room.
As soon as Finn was close enough to get a good look at the chest, he found that he had been walloped by what appeared to be a giant tongue. A wave of emotions flooded the paladin as he reeled backwards. He was embarrassed that he had been blindsided by a giant tongue, he was angry at himself for embroiling his friends in a mess of his creation, and he was fearful that some harm may come to them as a result of his impetuousness. He was also surprised when, a moment later, Daphne and Araxis both sprung to his aid and started peppering the tongue with bolts, darts, and a flurry of unarmed strikes. Joining in, Finn sliced at the tongue with his longsword, and hacked with his axe. It was a well-choreographed ballet of ferocity, and before long, the trio had vanquished the tongue, suffering only a minor slathering of saliva.
Looking at Daphne and Araxis, Finn felt a deep kinship with his travel companions, the likes of which he had not shared with anyone other than his closest friends at the Temple of Ulther. Without a word, it was understood that they would forge ahead through the ruins, confident that between the three of them, they could handle whatever evil they encountered.
They cleared the hulk of the old building room by room with the only real trouble they encountered, after the tongue, coming in the form of two undead skeletons. The first skeleton took both Finn and Daphne by surprise. Again, this was something Finn had read about, but never encountered in the flesh. Out of a hasty fear both he and Daphne set upon the bones and dispatched it quickly. The second skeleton did not surprise the group nearly as much, and with an opportunity to be rational, Finn attempted to communicate with the creature. Sadly, it seemed the only thing the apparition cared for was release, and so Finn dispatched of it also.
The trio work its way through one side of the crumbling building, and then the other. They came across one room furnished with a dusty chest and a mysterious looking credenza. Daphne began to examine the chest, but Finn was drawn to the credenza. After some investigation, he was able to access a hidden panel of sorts, and removed from the credenza a silver book. He sensed a magic about the item, but was loathe to attune to it in such a place as this. Despite the evil aura about the building, Finn decided he would keep the book, and remove it from the temple. He did not think it held the answers he was looking for, but at the very least he would return it to another temple along his journey, to allow further study of it by his brothers and sisters.
While Finn was pondering the silver book he had just found, Daphne had been enraptured by a treasure of her own. The trunk had produced a few gemstones, and Daphne was happy to share her spoils with Finn and Araxis. Finn declined the sardonyx that was offered him. He felt bad enough taking the book from the temple and didn’t want to risk tempting The Light by being avaricious. Daphne returned her treasure to her backpack, but Finn sensed an excitement about her that wasn’t quite explained by three semi-precious gemstones-valuable as they may be.
The last room explored by the trio was almost missed entirely. Finn had not noticed that a rug aslant on the floor might be hiding something. Ever the wise and sage elf however, Araxis peeled back the rug to reveal a trap door. Once more, Finn was reminded of how much he had to learn from her. The door itself led to the smallest and dankest of rooms, with nothing in it but a book of necromancy and an impending sense of evil, the likes of which Finn had never sensed before. He could not leave the room fast enough, nor the temple for that matter.
Although he had arrived with the hopes of finding answers to questions he wasn’t sure he’d asked, he left with naught but a silver book and some mildewed holy water. Nonetheless, he felt enlightened, and that he had experienced something valuable and necessary. He was content to continue the journey to the university with his new-found friends, and after two more nights in the desert the trio found themselves amidst the foothills on the outskirts of Wayfair. Finn looked forward to what might happen next, provided he didn’t spend any more time as a cactus.
