The next day the party again examined the statues. Rheaphlyndar came across a curious one that spoke to his mind, and in fact the minds of the rest of the party as well.

The statue had two outstretched arms, and unlike the other statues, was blindfolded. In one hand was a purse, bulging with coins and gems. The other hand was empty.

A decision about the "gift" was put off, however, and a dwarf who looked like he could handle himself in a battle was chosen to be restored.

After filling him in on current situation and hearing pretty much the same story that Shalin told, the Biscuits decided to delve deeper into the ruins.

Beyond the hall with statues, there was a long hallway with a very fine dust on the floor. Rheaph looked for traps, but found none, so he and Gimar marched down the hallway. Nicola and Jaron ventured out next, while Little John and Wed were just turning the corner.

When the pair reached the end of the hallway, a curious thing happened -- a pair of tiny whirlwinds appeared in front of them and rushed the length of the hallway. They didn't seem to cause any damage, and soon vanished.

Beyond that was a curious room -- a torture chamber contained within a large cage, and a row of benches for spectators! Only Gimar and Rheaph wanted to check this area out, and found little. Beyond was a hallway full of cells, all empty except for a few inanimate skeletons.

Leading from this room and the dusty hallway was a curving and sloping passage. Approximately halfway down that was another door that led to a curious area, full of treasure and traps. Only a few of the rooms still contained any treasure, but what was there was good indeed.

Behind a door with a simple poison needle trap was a ring set upon a pedestal. Yodavan used his telekinetic power to lift the ring, which instantly jumped onto his finger. At that same instant, the floor opened away to a deep pit, then slammed shut again.

Behind another door was a trap releasing a stinging, choking smoke. When that cleared, it was seen that the room contained a staff on a velvet pillow. Yodavan again used the telekinesis to remove the item, and was struck blind by some sort of glyph.

Another door was protected by an arrow trap that Rheaph found but could not remove. Rheaph ducked down and triggered the arrow, figuring it to pass harmlessly overhead. The arrow did that, then struck the opposite wall, which was a cleverly disguised crystal panel. That panel shattered, dropping three crystal globes to the floor, which also shattered in a massive explosion. After all that work, the room was found to contain a small ironbound chest secured by locks, and next to that a book stand in the shape of a huge skeletal claw. After using rope to obtain the chest, a black covered and evil-looking book was found inside.

Behind another simple poison needle door was found a whistle, sitting on a velvet pillow. The now seeing Yodavan again moved the item with his telekinesis.

Behind a door with three locks (one of them already sprung) was an iron portcullis, and behind that only inky darkness. After destroying two continual light coins in the process, the treasure chamber was revealed. Within were five chests, two statues, a throne, three rugs, and everyting piled on a fourth rug, which unfortunately also hid a blade barrier trap.

After playing around with the trap & treasure rooms for a while, it was obvious to Nicola that the item she sought was not contained within. The party continued deeper into the temple.

To be continued . . .

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