"Sea Temple," Dion said leaving it at that. He didn't need to go further really, he was after all a water-race and the sea temple was a natural choice for him here. Yet the sun temple had held sway on his curiosity. He did love the sun, the warmth, the fire and passion of it. He almost retracted his earlier hasty comment but then reargued for sake of the sea and left it at that. Better not to show the turmoil of water and fire that coursed through him and be resolute.

Tikitaa is very quiet through the tours and at dinner that evening. Finally, after fidgetting through most of the meal, she haltingly tells the others about her nocturnal visit.

"I'm not sure which 'temple' we should go to, but I have a feeling that we might find out some answers if we went to the Sea Temple. But part of my reason for going there is that I don't trust Bharat. " She pauses to take a drink. "It seems like we need to find answers in a book of some sort... eight for nine?... maybe that refers to the swords?..... oh, I don't know..." she ends frustratedly.


OOC- I'll still be on sporatically for the next few days. We're waiting for our internet connection to be set up. Til then it's catch as catch can...

There is no doubt as to which alternative the party chooses. It means an early morning coach to the coastal suburb of Masayrah and then a boat ride. Fortunately your slumbers are undisturbed.

The trip to Masayrah goes as well as such trips do. There are ten of you in a carriage meant for six. Also travelling with you are three chickens, two ducks a small dog without a tail and a pot-bellied pig. You arrive at Masayrah in one piece if more crumpled and a little smellier than you were.

Fortunately the trip was 'enlivened' by a middle aged woman who described in graphic and frequently repulsive detail a list of ailments that afflicted her family.

Masayrah is little more than a village. It is situated on a beach that extends in either direction as far as you can see. The sand is pale blond, the beach untenanted and empty save for the twisted skeletons of trees and the odd upturned hulk of a rotting boat. Only one vessel, a disreputably mangy looking craft, is tied up at the dock. Its owner, an equally disreputable old man is prepared to row you to the temple - at a price.

There is no alternative.

It is not long before the beach gives way to the mangroves of the Gurjana delta and the complexity of the waterways becomes apparent. (OOC think Okefenokee Ga or Everglades Fa).

Throughout the trip the man refuses to converse, grunting that he needs to concentrate. Then after nearly two hours he turns to Auriel.

"Nearly there, child. Is there anything you want to know?"

It is clear that he will not talk to anyone else.

Auriel looks at the man with a puzzled look on his face, then decides that there must be something that he's picking up that must be wrong.

"Excuse me, sir, but what is the history of this place? Was it dry a long time ago? It seems to be rather odd to have a temple that is so hard to get to." He then looks at the rest of the party for affirmation that it was a proper question that he asked.

The old man takes out a cheroot, obacco wrapped in some kind of leaf. It stinks but he seems to enjoy it. The rest of the party are generally 'kippered' by the foul-smelling smoke.

"I don't know what is was like before they discovered it. That was about a hundred years ago. I wasn't around, of course."

To look at him, he might have been.

He rambles on at great length saying very little. Two things he mentions do catch your interest. When the site was first discovered priests were sent to maintain its purpose. After two committed suicide, one disappeared and two went mad the attempt to use the site for worship was abandoned. Now it is kept clear of vegetation as a tourist curiosity.

The second comment, almost an aside, was about the strange statues.

When he finally grinds to a halt - after four cheroots - you realise he had not been rowing at all. Futher questions, whilst perhaps desirable, will delay your arrival limiting the time you have to explore and would be best left to the return journey.

He drops you at a point where a grass path leads through the mangrove on a slight rise. By the time you reach the building, his boat is no longer visible.

Just after the boat had vanished from view you notice you are walking over what looked like masonery not properly cleared of vegetation.

Around another twist in the path you come to a broad clearing in the mangroves in the centre of which is 'the Sea Temple'.

What you see is a building of a yellowish white stone with a series of very weathered carvings along the edge of the roof. You cannot see the roof so it is presumably flat. You are facing a rectangular corner. The wall to the right is quite short. That to the left is about four times longer. At the far end of the longer side the wall continues at an angle of 135 degrees and then turns a further 45 degrees to be parallel. This new wall is short. Only in these last two surfaces can you see windows; narrow slit-like apertures.

The corner facing you has collapsed, it seems as if a tree once grew through it. The tree has gone an you can see the interior wall opposite. From the lighting you can guess the small part of the building to the right is roofless but that to the left is not.

There are more statues along the bottom of the building about an arm's length from the wall. Like those on the roof they are too weathered to make out.

Tikita looks at the temple, and breathes in the humid, swampy air. "It reminds me of home....I wonder how my family is...." she sighs. "Grandmama and Mother would love these groves....."

She wanders a bit on the outside looking at the building and the stautes. She's not really paying much attention as she is more caught up in thinking about her own swamps and her family.

Dion was disappointed, he had been expecting something grander perhaps, or something that reminded him of home. This however, seemed named due to its close approximation to the sea and not really, for all he currently knew, for attributes of the sea itself. Tikita was wandering around a bit, Dion would have to ask her about herself sometime, learn more about her. That time was not now, they were here to explore and discover if within these walls sat the answer to their question. Dion waited for Top to declare the next move, while he look around at the ancient temple. Decay was all he saw, he loved life but this place had a feeling of death.

Top walks over to the section with the windows and intact roof. To him, it seems that if whatever they are looking for has remained hidden, it would be much more likely to be in the enclosed area.

Having studied the building more carefully you see it comprises three parts. The windowed part is octagonal. The windows are too high up to see through. From one side extends the long narrow section with the small porch-like part at the end at right angles. If you drew it on a piece of paper it would look like a key.

The small section was once roofed but is now open to the elements. At the front is a small door, though you can enter just as easily through the breached wall. The long section has been sealed with a modern looking temporary wall. There is a small door, currently shut. There is no other entrance into the temple.

Tikita and Dion may not have paid much attention but they take in subconsciously the evidence that a stone wall once surrounded the building.

"This looks really old." Auriel says innocently. "I wonder why they put such a small door when they could have put a bigger one in?" The age of it all makes him think of his mother and father. How long has it been? Oh well, time is time as he always has told himself. Perhaps when this is all done, everything will go back to normal. He runs ahead toward the breach and starts climbing on the rocks.

Tikita looks up from her musings to see Auriel clammering over the rocks. "Auriel! Be careful climbing on the rocks!" she warns. Walking over towards the breach, she climbs up and goes into the temple.

Dion sighs and follows them in, he expects that it will be cold inside there. Away from the warm sun. Sea temple? Dion sighs again, as he moves his way up the rubble pile after Tikita and Auriel. He turned and look back towards Top, then noticing the faint outlines of what once was a wall around the temple. A temple secluded by water and with walls, the inhabitants obviously had something against vistors.

The interior of the long building is clearly divided into sections. The room in which you arrive takes up about a third of the full length. The only light comes from the small door you have opened. Contrary to Dion's expectation the room is uncomfortably warm though there is nothing visibly providing heat. All three of you feel as if you are being looked at but there is nothing in the place, only another door in the far wall.

Top watches the rest of his party with a bit of confusion. It's only an old temple, why should they be so worried? "What's wrong? Do you know something about this place?" he asks.

"I just have the feeling that someone is watching us.... waiting for us to do something." Tikita whispers nervously. She walks over to the door on the far side mumbling to herself about the swords and things that the apparition spoke of- trying to keep it fresh in her memory.

As Tikita approaches the further door sweat trickles down the back of her neck. It is also very dark with just the small amount of light penetrating through the open door. It gets hotter the further in they go.

They notice that Top has pulled his tunic tightly about him as though he were cold.

The door has a small metal handle and no lock.

"Top, are you feeling alright? " Tikita asks.

OOC> for reasons I'm unsure about Peregrine has asked me to post for him during his spring break.

Top grunts. "It's a bit cold in here, that's all. Not surprising when it doesn't get any sunshine. Dion, can you call flame to give us a bit of light and heat, please."

Tikita looks at Top askance. "You're feeling cold? How odd... I feel very warm. Oh well. I'm going to see if there is anything in the next room." She sees preoccupied with looking around the temple.

As she's walking she's trying to interpret if anything the apparition told her makes any sense . She goes over to the door, opens it and walks inside.

Auriel begins dancing over to the others, singing a tune as he comes.

"Hot and cold, hot and cold"
"That's what happens when you get old"
"Your bones begin to creak"
"Then you get all weak"
"Hot and cold when you get old!"

He goes to Top and gives him a big hug.

"Does that make you feel better?"

The next room is a replica of the one they were in - or almost. It is, of course even darker. The trapped air is stiflingly hot but Top's teeth are chattering despite Auriel's administrations. A flash of light causes Tikita to move towards one of the side walls. Although it is hard to tell, it seems that the walls were once mirrored. Indeed Tikita, Auriel and Dion have a sensation that they are being examined. Top has no such sensation. He just finds the increasingly cold air disturbing.

Tikita, rubbing her eyes for no apparent reason, finds that she is actually able to see without light. This has never happened to her before but she can suddenly make out that the room is empty and there is as before a door at the far side. This has to open onto the octagonal room.

Auriel, less bothered by the heat than the others, is more concerned by the sensation of being observed.

And yet there is no obvious threat.

Tikita looks around and marvels at her newfound ability. "This will be very helpful, I think."

Looking back to the others she says "There is another door over here; I can see it. I'm going to see what's in the octagonal room." She heads towards the door.

Auriel stays close to Top, worried about his friend. "Mr. Top? Here, take my shirt if you are cold." He takes off his child - sized shirt and holds it up to Top. "Maybe it's your clothes that aren't quite right."

He looks around the room, trying to see anything in the dark. He begins mumbling a saying he made up when he wanted the townspeople to go away.

Watcher watcher in the night
Save me from your piercing sight
Though your eyes can clearly see
They look around and don't see me
Watcher watcher in the night
No longer am I in your sight.

He continues mumbling as he stumbles around, leading Top to he knows not where.

Tikita looks back to the rest of the group. "Auriel, Top, Dion? Do you need help? The door is right over here...." she asks.

Dion had been silent, the feeling of someone watching them was spreading. At least, by Auriel's comments. The air was also stifling hot, not that he minded too much ... but even a fire inclined person has his limits. He looked at Top concerned.

"Perhaps Top, you could return outside and explore the exterior, we only briefly glanced at it. It seems peculiar that you are cold while myself and Tikita are hot." He followed the voice of Tikita towards the door. He wondered if he could use this heat to their advantage should any ... watchers ... show up.

Top shivers a bit as he pulls his jacket tighter around himself. "You're probably right. Besides, as incomplete as this temple is, the real significant spot might not have anything to do with this building anyway." Top starts walking back toward the enterance, right hand drifiting half consciously to his sword handle. The warmer air outside will be a welcome change... and for more than just personal comfort. In the unnatural cold of the inside, he has no faith in his ability to help his companions. He doesn't fear so much for his own safety, but for the harm that could come to them if they trust his restricted ability.

Tikita opens the door onto the octagonal room. Immediately the light improves in the room where Auriel and Dion are standing. The temperature appears to be normal. It is as if cool air flowed through the building. For Top it feels as if the temperature has risen.

In spite of the apparent return to normality the air feels thick. The sensation of being watched disappears in the octagonal room. At first sight Tikita cannot make out what the room is. It seems only to be a wide corridor. The stone floor has several raised plinths at regular intervals. They may once have held statues but there is nothing there now.

As she follows the corridor round she finds a door to what must be small room contained in the ocatagon within the octagon. She also discovers a large stone with a metal ring set into the floor.

She stares more closely at the door. A handwritten folded note has been pinned to it. Taking the note she reads.

"Four. It only happens when there are four. But still, I can't go on...."

"Top, hold on a moment. I found this note. Do you think it might be a clue?"

She walks back to the others to show them the note. "I also what might be another door leading downward through the floor in the octagonal room." She describes what she saw in the other room and then looks anxiously at the note and then back to others.

"I think that it might be better if we stayed together. Safety in numbers and all that. Are you feeling better... less cold.... now, Top? I'd really feel better if you helped us check out what was down there. " From the tone in her voice you could tell that she had made up her mind to go down further into the temple.

Dion was interested in the second door, Tikita was talking to Top anyway. He goes to open it intent on finding out what is at the center of this temple. Almost compelled to open it ... curiousity.

As the door opens all four of you feel as if you have been called. Dion peers in. The space is small and made smaller being largely filled by four plinths. The one nearest the door is empty but the other three have life sized statues. The odd thing about them is that they are glowing.

At the back is a statue of a handsome youth in armour. It glows with a rich golden colour. He could almost be a Shallaran, like Dion.

To the left a tall figure heavily cloaked to cover all features is glowing a dull purplish green, not unlike the colour of turnips.

To the right the statue is of a girl in a very elaborate costume. The glow here is a dull russet-brown, the colour of Auriel's father's robe.

It would just be possible to squeeze the party inside but each would be obliged to stand in front of one of the statues.

Tikita goes in and stands before the purple cloaked statue. "This is amazing...."

Auriel is happy that Top seems to be in at least less distress than earlier. He rushes forward toward the new room, trying to pull Top along with him. The light through the door draws him, and he squeezes his small body through and in front of the others.

He looks around the new room with wonder. The colors, the statues, everything seems to be so wonderful. He heads over to the statue The coloration makes him feel safe and secure, safer, he realizes, than he has felt since he left his mother and father on the island. He runs over and looks at the statue, hoping to see some semblance of his mother, who he realizes he misses terribly. Whether it does or not, he gives the statue a big hug, wondering if it is as lonely and cut off from its family as he is.

Dion moved over to the third statue, barely squeezing past Tikita and Auriel. He looked at it carefully, the close atmosphere of the room increasing his already warm temperature. He liked it. Warmth was good, it was comforting.

Tikita lets out a shriek as she looks at the statue. The echoes reverberate all through the small room. "The statue.... it's, it's bleeding!"

She touches the statue to see if she can figure out where the blood is coming from.

Dion jumped, not only at the sight of blood trickling down the simitar of his statue, but also at Tikita's scream. He landed his arm rubbing against Tikita's ... the close quarters of the room, the bleeding statues ... Dion was beginning not to like this. He too examined the statue but his thoughts were more towards the possibility of danger. Only something living bleeds, and this blood wasn't congealed, so it was fresh ... Dion felt sick.

Top follows along behind Auriel, wanting to make a more complete search for danger before entering, but also wanting to keep his excited companion out of trouble. At Tikita's scream, he squeezes over to look at that statue. He hadn't seen any blood before they entered, and there shouldn't be any. But what could scare Tikita so badly?

Auriel looks up at the eyes, wondering if the bloody tears are real. If they are real, I should be able to heal them he thinks to himself. He grips the statue even tighter, trying to do what he knows he automatically does. Then he looks up, to see if the tears have turned to real tears again.

He calls up to the statue. "Why are you crying, milady? What is there I can do to help you - to make you stop crying?"

As Top enters the room the door slams shut behind him. The air on the empty pedestal starts to shimmer. Top can make out the outline of a figure, probably male and dressed like a mage. The eyes are closed.

The statue Auriel is hugging suddenly glows brightly. A voice comes through the air.

“It is your Bren. I loved you, Ruhir. I offered you my love. You loved my eyes. You said they were so beautiful, so lovely to look upon. And there by the river, as we lay entwined, you took them from me with your bare hands and left me. Sightless, I fell into the river, to drown. Yet you will return to me, Ruhir. Bren calls you."

The statues flares and them subsides to its dull brown. The mage's eyes are suddenly open, though the only part that seems to be there. There is no expression in them. The temperature drops. From stuffy and warm it is close to comfortable.

Stunned silence surrounds the group. The golden statue in front of Dion flares suddenly.

A man's voice floats in the ether.

“I am yet your friend, Ruhir. Remember Toman, so strong and brave. How you envied me my body. Laughing, happy, we went into the woods to climb trees to look for eggs and I asked if you could help me higher. And you did – so high, so, so high – with that sword in my back. I, Toman, remain loyal, Ruhir, return to me.”

The light becomes intense but dies almost as quickly.

The figure in front of Top is now distinctly corporeal though the eyes remain fixed as if glass. The temperature is now low enough to make anyone feel shivery.

Outside the door a stone can be heard sliding back.

Still the group stands silent and motionless. The third statue in its turn begins to glow more brightly.

It emits a depraved laugh. “Costanta. Remember me, Ruhir? No one was as clever as me, no one as wily, or so you used to flatter me as I grew older. What a loving little pet you were to give in to my every whim. Such imagination I had, you wanted my mind. While I slept, you tied me to the bed and sawed open my skull. My mind is yours now. But you will come back, Ruhir, Costanta knows it.”

Voices are suddenly coming from everywhere.

“Tricked! He tricked us.”

“Where is your heart, Ruhir? You cannot come to me without a heart.”

“Perfidy and treachery.”

“We are all trapped, through you.”

“Bring me a heart! Bring me a heart! I must live.”

The man on the plinth before Top has become sentient, there is an expression of longing, of greed in his eyes.

The temperature has fallen to freezing. Someone or something is scratching at the closed door.

The man screams. "I need a heart. Yours!"

He lunges at Top.

At the sight of the attack on Top, Auriel releases his hold on the statue and jumps to try to get between. "If it's a heart you want I give you one!!!!" He yells as he tries to grab the attacker in a healing embrace. Can I heal someone without a heart? he wonders to himself as he lunges.

Dion's patience and nerves had been strained to the limit, his eyes flashed a second as he reached out to call on the element of fire. There was no other heat source, so he used his own body's calling deep into it, hopefully being able to use it in this situation, if it was at all effective against these statues.

"Top!" Auriel was too close to the statue ... Dion wouldn't risk hurting him, his whip was useless ... however he might be able to shield his friends. Reaching into his own heat he extracted it hoping to shield his friends in the element of fire ... hoping that he would be successful, hoping that it would be effective. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough body heat to shield everybody. He would try to shield his three friends. Dion was irrelevent at this moment, all his companions where between the attacker and himself. He would risk hypothermia, but hopefully the firey shields would persuade even stone itself to turn back ... stone ... TOP!

"TOP! They are made of stone! Stone Top." Then Dion let his body heat flow from him, hoping the outcome was a success, either way he was going to risk freezing or burning alive. Foolish maybe, but he didn't have much time to choose an alternate form of action.

Top just barely managed to hold back a few curses as he dodges out of the way. Auriel's courage was a noble idea, but not if he got himself killed! He began saying a few prayers for their success to any diety he could think of as he drew his sword. Auriel was in the way of a clear attack for now, but if he failed....

Nothing helps. The creature in front of Top is somehow not really there. It's hand passes into Top's chest and he feels a momentary sensation as if his heart were frozen but it vanishes at once.

The thing hisses: "You have one of the swords! But you will never learn the secret of the ninth sword from me. Not unless you bring me a heart; a live, beating, willing heart."

Eyes almost insane with rage the creature screams: "Ruhir will live again. Fetch me a heart!"

More calmly it adds: "The sword protects you from me but not my minions. Perhaps you will be mine after all."

As 'Ruhir' vanishes the statues resume their glow. The only difference in the room from when you first entered is the cold. Not even Dion's spells has been able to affect it and it is still growing colder. You need to get out quickly.

There is one other difference though. Someone or something is trying to get into the room through its only door.

"What are we going to do?" Tikita asks with a note of growing hysteria in her voice. Remembering the apparition from her room and its mentioning of asking the bones she cries out to the statue in front of her "Where can we find the ninth sword?"

Auriel seems concerned over everyone's concerns about him. The hug hadn't worked, oh well. Still, he had to have tried. The scratching at the door did worry him, however.

"What do we do now?" He says, his teeth beginning to chatter a little in the cold. "If we wait here a little while, whatever comest hrough that door isn't going to be able to differentiate between us and the statues.."

OOC>Peregrine has asked me to post for him until after 5/5. In fact it is a bank holiday in the UK so I will be away after tomorrow until 3/5 myself. So I do not expect too much to happen before he is back. In any event as you see below Dion and Auriel are in the line of fire.

As you all stand there contemplating the events that have just occurred the door is broken from it's hinges. You see a skeletal warrior rusty iron dagger in hand. There are at least two others behind. They are quite mindless and obviously once intended as threats to potential thieves. Now all they see is you and you are to be destroyed. Dion and Auriel are nearest to the skeleton. Fortunately for you only one can enter the already crowded room at a time.

It is a question of kill or be killed.

Auriel wonders what healing a thing that is already dead would actually do. Even so, he thinks to himself, it would worry the others and I don't know how quick it would be. That dagger, though rusty, could do significant damage to one such as myself. How can I help? He soon comes up with a plan. He stands directly behind Dion and looks for a spot for him to place his hand on Dion's flesh. Once he finds one, he waits for the opportunity and places his hand there.

"Dion - whatever damage you take should be healed, as long as I am in contact with you - fight defensively, and we may be able to get out of this unscathed."

Knowing she would only be in the way, Tikita moves back to give Dion and the others more room to fight. Recalling what the "Ruhir" statue said, she shouts, "That thing wants the swordpoint. Maybe we can use the sword to hurt the skeletons."

Dion just groaned ... he had a whip and throwing knives ... some good against animated inanimate objects. That left little for the defensive. Hopefully he would be fast enough, and strong enough to do some damage. He pounced forward, grabbing the armed arm with his own and smashing the skeleton bodily into the wall. At the same time he summon the heat back to him. He was going to try something else ... an explosion. Centering his attention on the hallway, himself trying to contain the hard skeleton against the wall ... the knife away from him, Dion summon the heat he had recently sheilded his friends with and attempted to create a concussion blast capable of breaking the other skeletons in two ... at least that was his intent ... then again he would probably be caught on the fringes of the small blast. Dion just hoped Auriel could heal him ... he love life and didn't feel like dieing today.