. Caves of Chaos

Next they make their way back to the Horned Hold. The orcs they killed last time are still lying on the stone floor. They cautiously make their way deep into the keep. After crossing the bridge, they come to the room where boxes had been stacked in front of a large set of double doors. The air is smoky here, and the boxes have been reduced to charred ashes. They head into the foyer that leads into the slave pits and Murklmor’s chamber. All is quiet and in fact the door is still tied as they had left it. They remove the rope and head into the slave pit room. Rayrond sneaks around and the room appears to be empty except for a couple of slave bodies near the pit. Rayrond peers into the pit where the slaves had been kept and finds a truly horrific sight. The slaves have all been eviscerated, chewed and otherwise torn apart. They suspect the spiny devils slaughtered the slaves before leaving. They decide to head make sure the Horned Hold is truly empty and go exploring areas to the south. After a few moments searching the sleeping quarters of the duergar guards they find a chest containing 40gp and three rubies.

Next they head north east to an area of the Hold that obviously hasn’t been used in many years. Why haven’t the Duergar used this area? They head through a couple of doors and then up some stairs to a hallway which is lined with arrow slots. Obviously used to protect the eastern bridge. At the end of the hall is an ornate black wooden door carved with many symbols and images of Minotars. This opens into a large partially destroyed chapel. In the centre of the room stands a damaged statue that depicts a fierce demonic minotaur. One arm has broken off and lies in pieces on the floor. Portions of the ceiling have fallen in, partially filling several small chambers behind the statue. A rusty iron door stands in the western wall. Mathers sends his bear familiar Orso into the room. Suddenly from out of the rubble lurches the body of a long-dead human warrior in tattered black mail. Sunken flesh clings to its bones, and its lips have drawn back from its black teeth. It raises a rotting hand revealing jagged claws as it hisses and attacks. A total of 5 wights rise from various hiding places around the room. A short battle ensures and the wights are forced into their final rest. The battle with the rusted door seems to take longer, but finally they are successful with that as well.
A short narrow hallway ends at a statue of a grim looking skeletal minotaur with a great axe. Panril recognizes it as the minotaur version of the grim reaper. To the east is a crypt containing the bodies of a dozen minotaur warriors in niches along the walls. A door to the west leads back to the room where the slaves where held.
Finding nothing of note, they troop past the desecrated bodies of the innocent slaves without even a backwards glance.

Next they decide to follow the key. The key they found on Maldrick leads them through the Shining Road and into a section of the Labyrinth they have not visited yet. Down un unremarkable stretch of tunnel, it tugs Mathers hand and sticks suddenly into the wall. A door opens that leads them down a tunnel. The tunnel opens into a large room with a glowing set of runes on the floor.
As they approach the circle flares with blinding energy for a moment. When the light fades away, a spectral skeletal figure is standing within the circle. The figure is clad in thick robes of deepest scarlet.
“The Secrets of the tower come at a price. You must each pay for the right to enter this place. What can you offer to the dreaded lord of secrets? I seek lore, power and your souls”
After conferring with each other for a moment each adventure takes his turn regaling the spirit with knowledge, lore or tales of heroic deeds.
Once satisfied he bids the heroes to enter. “You may now enter this tower of mysteries. May its secrets intrigue you”
As they step into the portal each feels a surge of pain though and each loses a healing surge.
With a flash of light they arrive in a 20x20 room with two exits. The walls of the chamber are covered with carvings that depict human faces. Each face wears a blindfold or a gag. Immediately upon your arrival the blindfolded faces animate and begin to chant, while the eyes of the gagged faces glare at you with rage. They fight Norkers and are introduced to the Enigmas of Cyric. Mages who have devoted themselves to the god Cyric for a taste of his evil power. They are able to attack the mind through the pillars.
When a second wave of Norkers arrive they foolishly rush through a ring of fire left behind by Gandor and quickly perish. A hard battle is fought with Gandor’s pet hyena almost succumbing to its injuries. They finally face the Enigmas and at the point when the Enigmas are starting to die they suddenly rip their own faces off in a frenzy of rage and can do nothing but try to claw the life out of the party. Once dispatched the group rummages through the rooms to find an onyx and a quartz gem that resembles an eyeball.
There are no doors or windows so the only way to proceed is through the next portal.
This leads to another level. They are forced to fight another Bronze Warder. If not for Rayrond quickly hobbling the fearsome construct they surely would have perished.
Once the Norkers and Enigmas of this level are dispatched they discover a large glass container featuring tubes, metal pipes, and filled with an acrid glowing liquid. Floating within is the head of a bronze warder. The group decides to destroy this arcane machine, smartly keeping their distance. Immediately a human mage teleports into the room seething with rage. “Oh you fuckers shall die for this” He unleashes a devastating bolt of lightning that arcs between several of the adventurers.
They lock themselves into the lab and rest while Darkface hears the rattle of the locked doors and moans and claws scraping the doors.

After a brief rest the adventurers decide it would be best to find the remaining slaves. They head back to the Horned Hold confident that they have grown enough to lay waste to what ever they face.
They try the same trick again to enter the complex, but it doesn’t work. They manage to storm the gate and attack the Orc guards, but one gets away. They kill the rest and rush into the complex. They find nothing, but stop at the bridge. Last time they had tried to cross they were attacked by animated crossbows. They cross carefully to find the door on the other side locked. Mathers teleports to the other side of the door and gets attacked. The rest of the group manages to smash the door down and a quick battle ensues. The Ogre that chased them out last time gets his come uppance and is dispatched quickly. They continue on to the Ogre’s sleeping quarters. They find dozens of crates stacked up against one door leading out of the chamber. The other door leads to battle with
Fight with Murlkemor


Karl gets thrown into fire.
Mathers goes for a walkabout.
Talk a long time about what to do next. Finally decide to go through door
Holy crap big tough guy and more guys,
Lots of pushing into pits.
Find the slaves. Try to get them to leave. We have a cleric down.
Have to run for the hills again. Back to Seven Pillared hall, take Panril to bar. Then take him to priest to get resurrected. Rest of group goes to sleep in Inn. Darkface hears noise outside the hall. Opens door to find group of Duergar and Duergar spell mage from the Horned Hold busting into the room beside theirs. Starts to attack. Yells across the hall to wake the Halflings.
Heads back into his room to waken Mathers. Gendar wakes grabs his staff, tells his dog to stay and wakes Rayrond up by slapping him with the staff. Rayrond dreams that he jumps up out of bed and immediately tosses a chair throught the window. He then wakes up and quietly gets ready to battle. They dispatch the duergar soldier quickly then finally get the mage.

Must clean up bodies, make reparations to the inn operators and guests, get Panril and figure out what to do next.


Brugg shows up in the inn to find out what all the noise is. He spits on one of the Duergar and says “Orontor wants to see you in an hour, take these bodies to the storeroom in the custom house.”
They do their best to clean up as a couple of the other patrons of the inn look on from the door ways of their rooms. Rayrond stays behind due to his many injuries as does the hyena.
The party meets Orontor in his office. He asks how their mission to find out what is happening with Paldemar is going. In response Gandor slams the severed head of the demonic gnoll Maldrick onto the desk then snarls “We have to go back to find the slaves, and then we will continue to find out what is going on with your mage buddy Paldemar, and if I find out that you have anything to do with Paldemar or the slave trade I am coming back here to get you.”
Orontor tells them that he has a secret to reveal to them. He is impressed with their work so far and trusts them enough to let them know that the other mages are basically on sabbatical with their various areas of research and will be gone indefinitely. He is hoping the rumours about Paldemar are false because he could use his help in running things at the Seven Pillared Hall. He reminds them that he will reward them handsomely for confirmation of Paldemars involvment in any illicit activity and he will have Brugg bring them something to help them on the next stage of their investigation. They take their leave and head back to the inn for some rest.
They wake up and head first to Gendar’s Curios and Relics. Gendar the drow with an eyepatch offers to trade them a set of good quality thieves’ tools, a wand +2 and a potion of healing. Then they visit The Deepgem company to replenish expendable weaponry and Gandor selects a very nice set of Hide Armour. They also leave Ulthand the old dward all of their gems. He will appraise them and provide them with their equivalent value in gold coin.
Next they head to The Temple of Hidden Light to retrieve Panril. He is chatting quietly with the priestess Phaledra, but is happy to see them. Then back to the inn for a very large breakfast. Erra Halfmoon seems to be in a bitter mood and doesn’t speak to them.
Brugg appears and tosses them a small leather bag. “Bring those back when you are done.” He growls.
Inside the bag are two golden medallions shaped to resemble tears.

The group tries to decide if they should head into the Inner Sanctum immediately or brave the white mist immediately incase the doors should close again. They play it cautiously and progress quietly into the whiteness. They walk carefully, not able to see the noses in front of the face, complete white out. Even their footsteps are muffled. They find another set of double doors. These open into a tiered chamber. Ahead and to the right the lower chamber is dominated by a leering idol depicting a howling minotaur warrior armed with a massive axe. Before this idol is an iron cauldron filled with a bubbling liquid that fives off a thick mist. A short staircase leads to a raised area stretching to the left. Three more cauldrons are set on this upper area, along with a simple stone altar. To the east of the altar a series of green ghostly runes have been scribed into the floor.
Two sickly looking humans stand swaying within the glowing runes. Their eyes are glazed as if in a trance.
A gnoll unlike any they have ever seen stands behind the altar. He is chanting in a voice that scratches at the backs of the adventures skulls. His large bat wings flex and stretch as he chants and tosses herbs onto a small fire on the altar. Huge curved horns stretch away from the top of his skull. He grasps a rod in one hand and a sheaf of parchment in the other.
A massive apelike demon; Bargula, stands beside him, while a snarling pack of carnage demons shove and snap at each other atop the raised platform. Looming over them all is a massive skeleton of a minotaur clutching a greataxe. You are unsure it is anything more than bones until the shrill howl from the gnoll spurs it to head towards you, it’s axe blade glinting in the firelight. Everything in the room rushes you except the humans in the runes, and the demonic gnoll casting the ritual. As the group is attacked the notice the gnolls guttural voice peaks and he screams “Yeenogu, Yeenogu, Yeenogu!” and suddenly in a flash of red light and explosion of black smoke one of the humans disintegrates before their eyes. Both the monsters and the adventures are bottle necked at the doorway, but the Bargula leaps up and sticks to the wall to the right of the door. With its enormous hands digging into the very rock of the walls, it agilely scurries along the wall and tries to get in behind the party. The party attacks demons and skeleton while the gnoll continues to chant. At one point he screams “I am Maldrick Scarmaker, leader of the Black Fang Gnolls. Witness! Before we smash your puny lives out of your worthless bodies, witness the glory of Yeenoghu. Witness the second coming of the great Yeenoghu!”

Testament to the groups fortitude and how far they have come as a party of adventurers, they are not swayed and ferociously enter battle. Slowly, too slowly, they battle Maldrick’s companions as the second human is sacrificed. As the dust remains of the slave’s body fall to the runes, all light seems to be sucked away as if it was hiding from Maldrick, Yeenogu, or both. The great minotaur idol of Baphomet shatters violently and the very ground beneath their feet trembles. A momentary pause, then light returns and the battle resumes. Finally with his evil companions out of the way, the group focuses on Maldrick himself.

They battle Maldrick sustaining some serious damage from the Demon Gnoll. Finally Mathers casts a spell that causes a large claw of shadow to pluck Maldrick up and drops him into the nearest cauldron. Great screams of pain emit from Maldrick’s burning body as the caustic liquid flays the skin off of his bones.

Finally they close the chapter on the Well of Demons and the leader of the ferocious Blackfang gang. They find a silver key on the altar along with the ritual papers that Maldrick was reading from. Mathers picks up the key and immediately has a mental flash, a clear vision of a secret tunnel. The key unlocks the magically hidden door, and will lead the owner to its location.

What of the slaves? No sign has been found other than the two whose bodies were sacrificed in Maldrick’s ritual. The group decides to head back to the Seven Pillared Hall to rest. On the way through the Well of Demons every minotaur statue or idol they come across has exploded or shattered. Cautiously they find their way through the labyrinth and back to the Seven Pillared Hall.

At this point Surina decides that she needs to head back to The Temple of Hidden Light. She tells the group that they are honorable fighters, and are fighting the good fight but she is unclear of their motives and needs to find others more aligned with her own ideals. She wishes them luck in their future endeavors.

The group finds a relatively safe place to rest again. Their dreams are not nice. By the time they get ready to head out again they have discerned the mask is the Mask of Baphomet which will enable the wearer to see in the dark. With one item left, they head out. South of the minotaur room they find a small room with four coloured pools of water. One red, one green, one blue and one yellow. The group spends considerable time carefully examining the pools, and the liquid. At the end they discover that the blue seems to be inert. The red makes you rage, the yellow is poisonous and the green protects you from poison. A discussion ensues about what the pools have to do with the items. Does each liquid match one of the artifacts they need to open the inner sanctum? Finally they decide to head deeper south down a long corridor. They find a set of dark wood double doors carved with many leering faces of minotaurs. The doors push in easily and a hot blast of warm damp air washes over them. The room ahead is carved from black rock. Here and there, pillars formed of piled bodies stretch from floor to ceiling. Gibbering mouths, darting eyes, and squirming arms which end in taloned hands move within the strange columns of flesh. As one, the forms within the pillars let loose a mournful howl.
As the group carefully enters the room the air around the pillars warps as the figures within scream in rage. Darkface, found himself teleported to the far end of the chamber next to another pillar. Immediately a Carnage demon squeezes out of each pillar, and one angry Balgura demon appears next to Darkface. After a frenzied and chaotic battle in which the demons and the group are teleported randomly around the room and often grabbed and entangled by the figures in the pillars, and even endure streams of acid from the mouths of the tortured souls, all the demons lay dead. They find a bell sitting on an altar in the farthest corner of the room. Mathers reaches out and picks up the golden bell in both hands. It is covered in glyphs but has no clapper as Mathers discovers by shaking it. He grasps the bone handle and the sharp, steel spikes along its length are driven into his hand dealing excruciating pain and damage. He feels a wash of anger pulse through him and a burst of crimson energy flashes when he rings the bell. He feels strong and reckless. The group runs from the room to avoid any further attacks from the Howling Pillars. They rest again and discuss what to do with the items and if the liquid pools have anything to do with what they need to do with the runes.
Is the length of time they have been underground taking a toll on them?
They decide to position Rayron, Darkface, Gandor and Mathers at a rune each. Panril and Surina stick together near the inner track to yell the trigger for each to drop his item on the rune. When each item is place on the runes at the same time the rune themselves pulse with a blue glow, the items themselves fade away, and suddenly every single door in the complex slams open the noise and vibration rolling over them. A moment of deep silence and stillness, then the eyes of alarm start screaming and an enormous roar, like evil incarnate, shakes them to the core. Something old, evil and very angry has risen unseen from the deep well in the centre of the complex. Chaos erupts. The blue pool of liquid bursts up and becomes a swirling vortex of frothing water. The skeletons chained to the walls which lie at Gandors feet start clutching and grabbing at the Halflings legs. Crossbows drop from the ceiling and start to fire at Rayrond. He escapes the minotaur room to the north and yells to Darkface that he is coming to his position. Mathers is pulled almost twenty feet by the vacumn created by the vortex and barely escapes being pulled into the water elemental itself. He moves out of reach and summons his familiar. Panril sees an enormous boulder rush past him, smashing down the inner track corridor, and then turns to see a small brown bear wearing a fez and riding a ball, rolling up behind him. The bear asks him if he is Panril.

Then a large green wyrm flies past them and takes a bite out of Surina as it flies by.
The battle is one the Guardian turns out to be a large Green Dragon. He flies around the inner track keeping ahead of the rolling boulder. Rayrond and Darkface encounter some small minotaur idols that start to scream and compels them to leave the room. They spend some time trying to smash them.
Surina rushes into the central area and blasts the dragon with arcane energy, it turns on her then flies past. Darkface is compelled to leave the room and comes face to face with the angry dragon. After knocking Darkface down the dragon spies Rayrond. Rayrond lets loose a volley of shurikens that rip the wings and knick the ankles of the dragon causing his mobility to be severely impeded. The group then starts to attack the dragon full force. The boulder comes past three times, crushing Darkface, but the dragon manages to scurry over the boulder. At one point the dragon compels Gandor to come within range. She tries to smash him with her tale, but Gandor morphs into a cloud of bees and flies to safety. It matters not because the group let loose with volley after volley of devastating damage. Finally the dragon collapses and dies. Gandor notices that the door is partially open now, and then ten rounds after the dragon had arrived the doors to the Inner Sanctum slam open to reveal a room full of glowing white mist.

What lays beyond? What treasure was the dragon guarding? What did the BlackFang Gnolls want with the Well of Demons?

Exp. 7508 6th Level.

25th Eleint 9:45 am.
After some discussion about whether or not to put the two pieces of the dagger together, Mathers slams the hilt onto the blade. A pulse of dark energy bonds the dagger whole again. Mathers examines the dagger and reads some of the arcane marks on the dagger. He believes it is the bloodhorn blade, an evil dagger that is extraordinarily sharp and shoves its victims 15ft with a burst of necrotic energy. Weary from their last battle the group takes a long rest. They squeeze as much of the blood from their clothing and armour that they can. They heal wounds and stretch muscles, sharpen blades and tighten armour. By 4am they are ready to continue exploring the Well of Demons in search of answers. Where are the slaves? What does Maldrick Scarmaker need with them? How do they open the door to the Inner Sanctum? What is Paldemars involvement with the gnolls?

The group travels north to the area where they previously met the ghosts. A short corridor ends in a strong door carved with the face of a minotaur. They enter to find a small room, opposite the door, and along the sides of this chamber jet black curtains hang from hooks set into the ceiling. Mathers and Gandor approach. Gandor pulls back the curtain to see what is beyond. He immediately disappears, and the curtain falls back into place without a sound. Mathers asks if anyone else wants to see what is beyond the curtain. Darkface steps forward and he suddenly disappears. Surina grabs Rayronds shoulders and the two of them step past the curtain and into a large room beyond. Rayrond disappears from sight, and Surina feels dizzy for a moment. She glances around the room and sees a long corridor with several pillars supporting the ceiling. The room is lit with no discernable source by a slowly pulsating blue glow from above. On each side of each pillar hangs an eight foot tall mirror attached with a bronze frame. In the mirror immediately before Surina she can see Gandor and Darkface standing infront of another black curtain. According to the angle of reflection they should be standing just to her right, but no one else is in the room with her. Panril follows, leaving Gandor’s dog and Mathers in the curtained room. He too disappears.
Gandor and Darkface find themselves transported to the front of another curtain; this one about 40 feet wide, behind them a long room supported with pillars similar to the room Surina and Panril were left in. Gandor pulls this curtain aside to reveal an altar crafted from brass. It is flanked by two gray stone minotaur statues. And in the corners two Boneshard Skeletons as soon as Gandor opens the curtains they move in to attack.
Meanwhile Panril glances around the room beside Surina, his gaze rests on one of the mirrors and he too is teleported behind Darkface and Gandor. Surina feels dizzy again, but for some reason is not teleported.
Gandor summons his Drake, and the three battle with the skeletons. Panril makes the mistake of looking around and is suddenly teleport again, but his time to a new location.
While the battle with the Boneshards rages, Mathers comforts the dog, whispering gently “I am going to eat you, yes I am. Good boy”. He then stands and lights the curtains on fire.
Where has Rayrond gone? Panril finally discovers the answer. Rayrond finds himself in an odd shaped room devoid of windows, doors or other means of egress.
A very hungry looking Gnoll snarls at him and reaches for his spear. Thinking quickly Rayrond hurls a shuriken at the Gnoll wounding him before the Gnoll can attempt to gut him with its spear. He stabs at the now drooling beast with the bloodhorn blade. The blade sinks easily into the Gnoll’s flesh and then with a sudden burst of black energy throws the Gnoll back against the stone wall. Suddenly a rage washes over the Halfling and he wants nothing more in this world then to dissected the beast before him. With a deep guttural snarl he leaps on the surprised Gnoll and starts to stab him again and again with the dark blade.
Panril teleports into the room to see the Halfling elbow deep in Gnoll.

Meanwhile Mathers finally enters the Hall of Enforced Introspection. He glances at a mirror and gets teleported behind Panril. He notices that Rayrond seems to have the Gnoll at his mercy so he attempts to find a way out of the room. Finding nothing obvious he resolves himself to crouching on the floor leaning on his mace and watching the Halfling battle the Gnoll. With each stab of the dark blade the necrotic force tries to push the Gnoll through the stone wall. Finally the battle ends with Gnoll blood dripping down the walls. Panril says a quick prayer to heal Rayrond. As Rayrond notices his fight over he turns towards Panril, snarls once and rushes dagger first at his friend and comrade. A surprised Panril feels the blade stab into his side and then he is hurled back ass over tea kettle to the back of the room. Mathers deftly dodges the flying priest and thinks to himself “Now this just got interesting!”
He stands and sees the murderous rage in Rayronds eyes. Without a seconds hesitation he lets loose a devastatingly effective blast of arcane energy. Within a few seconds Mathers has blasted the life out of the angry Halfling.
Panril heals the Halfling and Rayrond seems to be back to normal.

Back at the altar one of the skeletons brings his scimitar down onto the drake. Gandor attempts to blast the other with a tundra wind from his staff. The icy cold wind blows through the skeleton without much effect. Darkface fires several arrows into the first skeleton . The battle continues and once the first skeleton is bloodied it bursts little boneshards enfused with necrotic energy in every direction. The blast destroys the summoned Drake. A severely wounded Gandor finally backs away from the skeletons blast range wisely it seems as each skeleton burst again with boneshards when they are destroyed. Gandor and Darkface rip down the curtains and attempt to cover the mirrors. They quickly realize there is no way to affix them to the pillars, and not enough fabric to cover all the mirrors anyway.
They bring their attention back to the altar. Resting on a sheet of black fabric is a simple mask made of black wood. Gandor shoves it into his pack, and then notices the indentation of a minotar hand in the brass top of the altar.

Surina and Gandor discover through yelling that they are in the same room and that the rest of the party is missing. Darkface closes his eyes and walks arms outstretched before him, towards the southern wall. He finds a smooth spot on the wall as if many hands have worn down the stone after hundreds of years of using the wall to navigate through the room. Gandor stays at the altar, he places his hand on the indentation of the minotaur hand. Surina yells out that a dead Gnoll body has appeared on the floor before her. Darkface follows the wall until he comes to Surina then he intentionally looks at the mirror in which he can see Gandor. He is teleported into the Oubliette of the Empty Mind with the rest of the party. He tells Rayrond to stand on the spot where the Gnoll body was. A minute later Gandor places his hand on the indentation again, and Rayrond is teleport back beside Surina. The rest of the party follows suit and they close the doors to this room and find a place to rest.

The group returns to the room they found the dire boar in. They head to the door on the western wall, pausing to listen carefully before opening it. Confident that nothing is beyond, they open the door to find a corridor that runs north back to the room with the chokers, and south into territory unknown. Using his ability to see in the dark, Darkface scouts ahead signaling the others to move up once he feels the area is secure. Around one corner, the corridor widens and a wide swath of dried blood runs across the floor from an eastern corridor to a door on the western wall. As Darkface walks towards the dried blood, the air temperature plummets dramatically, causing him to involuntarily shiver. Slowly the translucent forms of four figures rise from the stone floor in front of Darkface. The rest of the group still huddle around the lantern further back. The ghostly figures hail the dark elf with outstretched arms. A large human with a thick black beard is clad in torn chainmail. He appears to be a cleric of Kord. The second figure may be a dwarf, but his helm’s faceplate is closed. He wears full plate mail adorned with the sun symbol of Pelor.
A thin female elf in long green robes and carrying a wooden staff stands behind them. She is missing an arm. To the side a Tiefling in leather armor with daggers strapped to almost every part of her body skulks cautiously. They offer to tell the adventurers about the Well of Shadows and specifically what Valdrog the Brute calls the Proving Grounds. With a few insults towards the elf, they question the heroes about their motivations. Accusing them of being mere treasure hunters. Slowly the adventurers convince the spectral figures that they have honorable intentions. They wish to free slaves and rid the world of evil. The adventurers learn that the area beyond is the Proving Grounds, a testing place for worshipers of the demon lord Baphomet.
They must find the four items; a knife, a mask, a bell and a book. Each item must be placed on one of four runes found in the complex, at the exact same time. Three of the four items are held in chambers built to test worshipers of Baphomet. To the east is the inner sanctum. Its door opens only when the proper ceremony is completed. The spectral party also tells them that they were killed by the Guardian when trying to complete the task. They then wish the adventures luck and disappear back into the stone.
The heroes then try the door to the north. This opens up into what seems to have been a latrine or garbage disposal. Next they follow the trail of blood through the double doors to the west. They open to reveal a long chamber stretching south. Two stone statues of minotaurs stand against the north wall, and several pillars hold the ceiling up. A circle of runes is inscribed on the floor. Around a corner they find another of the bronze minotaur warders that attacked them in the ambush a couple days ago. The trail of blood ends in a large dried pool of blood before an altar made of bones. The bones are stacked upon each other and support a marble slab with a rotting red velvet cloth. Upon this cloth is a simple bronze bowl. There is only one set of double doors leading to the east. Before they leave Gandor notices that a potion of the bone altar can be moved. They remove this panel to reveal a small chest in a cache. Within this simple wooden chest they find 600gp and three rubies. They collect this booty then continue on through the doors to the east. Here they find a long corridor. This corridor encircles a central area and is covered in bloodstains. (D) The walls and floor look scarred as if a massive object was dragged through here. The central section contains two small stone altars and a deep, pit. (G) The pit is about ten feet by ten feet, and goes down as far as they can see. Gandor retrievesa gnoll finger from the back of holding and they drop it down the pit; they don’t hear it land. A cold sour smell wafts up out of the darkness. The next room opens up into another long chamber, this time there are four stone minotaur statues and two more that seem to have been smashed. Yet another bronze warder stands silent watch in the corner. This chamber also holds a circle of magical runes. Mathers discerns they are written in the language of the minotaurs but can tell nothing else from the runes.
To the west another set of double doors stands, these carved out of some dark black wood with many relief carvings of Minotaur faces. Cautiously they enter. Beyond them is a scene torn from the Abyss.

They stand on a small stone platform overlooking two large pools of blood. A stone walkway divides the room and sits five feet over the top of the blood. On opposite sides of the room, large bronze statues of snarling minotaurs face each other. Each 12 foot statue holds a long barbed whip as if about to strike. A smaller minotaur statue stands beside each of the doors leading into this place. Flanking the large statue on the far side of the room are two pedestals that rise out of the blood. On one pedestal rests a gray dagger sized blade on the other rests a matching hilt. Gandor notices that the statues are built with hinged torsos and shoulders. Figuring that they need to get across Mathers teleports to the nearest platform. Half the party heads back to circle around and come out at the other set of doors that lead to this chamber. That way each smaller group can fit on the platforms. Mathers teleports again to the walkway between the two pools of blood. Suddenly the nearest huge minotaur statue animates and starts swinging its barbed whip, covering a 35 foot radius. Also three snarling fanged creatures burst from below the surface of the blood and start swimming towards the party. These grim looking demons are hairless, and coated in blood. Oversized insicors snap as they make their way to the party. Fortunately the party is able to defeat them without too much trouble. Several times the barbed whip of the minotaur knocks down members of the party and even the demons within reach. With a cunning defined by his race, Darkface lures a demon in close and lets loose a devastating arrow shot right through its dark eye. With the arrow still embedded in its brain the foul creature falls backwards and dies. After the final demon is defeated, the group tries to get the two pieces of the blade. Rayrond bravely decides to climb along the face of the wall to get to the central platform. Unfortunately a piece of plaster comes loose in his hands and he plummets into the blood. He immediately regrets this decision as the blood starts to burn his eyes and mouth. Pain racks his Halfling body as he struggles to get out of the blood pool. Even when he exits the blood the pain continues. Eventually with the help of a magical disc created by Gandor they get both pieces of the dagger and exit this horrible room.
Found 600gp and 3 rubies spent 10gp on ritual.

Exp. 7008 end. 9:40am 25th of Eleint

While perusing the Book of Wrath Unveiled, the adventurers gain a bit of knowledge about Baphomet.

Baphomet, who is also known as the Prince of Beasts, the Trampler, the Minotaur Lord, and the Horned King. Born from the churning chaos of the Abyss near the dawn of time, Baphomet is the embodiment of savagery, one of nature’s most destructive aspects, and the catalyst that looses the beast residing in us all.The Prince of Beasts is a towering horror—a perfect fusion of humanoid and monster. Baphomet has the muscled body of a burly titan. Coarse black hair covers his hide, his feet are cloven hooves, and from his back extends a bovine tail that ends in a stinking tuft of fur. The demon prince has a brutish bull head that is covered in dark fur. Lambent ochre eyes look out from under two outward curving horns engraved with blasphemous sigils. These sigils form phrases so foul, to utter them aloud would forever darken the soul of anyone who hears the filthy words.

Baphomet exults in his muscled physique. He coats his fur with blod fat culled from his victims to accentuate his build. When he dons clothing or adornments, he does so to sate his depraved vanity and augment his appearance. He might wear bracelets,
as well as rings in his long tapering ears, his nose, and in the flesh of his torso. The demon prince dons an iron crown.

A prominent force in the corruption and subversion of mortal communities is the Horned King, Baphomet, known as the Prince of Beasts.
A demon lord of the Abyss, residing on the 600th layer, he finds the greatest
following among minotaurs. His cult is widespread and influential throughout their secluded communities.
Numerous minotaurs resist the Trampler’s allure, but the cult spreads and grows as its vile cabalists spread the faith. Baphomet’s cult threatens to consume the minotaur population with widespread and pernicious demon-worship.
Baphomet sees himself as the darkest aspect of nature—as unbridled savagery. This makes him a rival to Yeenoghu. So Baphomet wages war eternal against the Beast of Butchery.

As an agent of chaos, Baphomet demands little from his followers, preferring to let their madness and brimming evil guide their pursuits. Central to their service, though, is embracing the inner beast. Those new to the cult find their inhibitions weakened until they act without thinking, giving into their darkest desires without thought of consequence. In time, his followers fall so far they begin to manifest monstrous traits, twisting and mutating into feral versions of their former selves until they bark and howl, shrieking and hooting as they enslave and slaughter.

The minotaurs have long had a strong connection to the Prince of Beasts. Baphomet’s cabalists have a great deal more freedom among these people and can often operate in the open.
Outside the minotaur society, Baphomet enjoys a strong, though hidden, following among humans, dwarves, and orcs.

The party once more awakens stiff and sore from sleeping on the cold stone floor. It takes them a bit longer to get moving this morning. They quietly break camp, and then head back into the long corridor to explore the door and area the Demonic Gnoll had come from. This side corridor is hewn from black rock and connects three different areas. Ahead, the passage opens into a chamber while along the eastern wall, one open door and one set of closed double doors can be seen. The doors are made of black wood, and each has an iron knocker carved in the shape of a Minotaur’s snarling face. The flagstones on the floor each have the symbol of a bull’s horned skull worked into them in blood red stone. The first room beyond the open door seems to be a make shift bedroom. A flimsy table of some dark wood has been dragged in here. A bottle of ink and quill rest on the table along with several pieces of parchment. A bed and chest make up the rest of this rooms contents. Inside the chest, which they open with a key found on the body of the demonic Gnoll, they find a pair of black leather gloves, a gold necklace inlaid with diamonds and rubies, a jade bracelet with carvings of birds on it, and a small leather bag with 62 gp.
They make their way to the next room, and open the set double doors. Two tall candleholders stand on either side of the shrine’s entrance, each with a black candle set in it. Near the back wall stands a tall altar. The altar is made of humanoid bones stacked to form a four-legged table. The bones are joined with black wire. A small black leather bound book rests open on the altar.

With a sudden burst of brimstone and a sound like a whip-crack, a huge hulking creature covered in fur appears before the shrine. It roars, scraping its huge incisors together, flexes its deadly looking claws, then fixes its blood-red eyes upon the group. The Barlgura slams both fists into Gendar, then roars again. The party is surprised at how far this creature can reach, and they have a hard time getting close. With a flurry of ranged attacks they are able to defeat even this formidable beast. Once that grisly task is complete, they examine the book on the gruesome table. The book is titled The Book of Wrath Unveiled. It appears to be a treatise on the cult of Baphomet. Baphomet is a demon lord who rules the 600th layer of the Abyss called the Endless Maze. He is the Prince of Beasts and the Demon Lord of Minotaurs. Baphomet hates Yeenoghu, and the two are bitter enemies. The two have been warring against each other for as long as they themselves could remember, and both have forgotten the origin of their feud.
Finding nothing further of note, the party presses on.