Bagged

Godsday, Wealsun 4, 592 CY

We stayed in the Temple of the Void for the better part of a day, so we could rest, look at the runes in the Void’s empty “cell,” and so I could study the sky to figure out where (or when!) we were. The stars looked familiar from all the rooms— except the room we first arrived in with the desert landscape. The sun never moved from its spot overhead. I wonder if it is the nature of the location that desert is in, or if time is somehow frozen for that landscape? Needless to say, we didn’t step into it to find out!

We chose to leave through the same landscape, the frozen wastes, as the Void had, though we realized we needed to do some research on how to defeat the creature and decided the libraries of Greyhawk might prove to be our best chance. Fafnir offered to teleport us all, or rather, 600 pounds of us. After counting up all of our equipment and ourselves, we were about 100 pounds too heavy! I offered to get into a bag of holding for the nearly-instantaneous trip we planned, but I weigh too little to make the difference. I suggested that Aramil’s weight would be just right, but he hollered at Ghelt and Pockets when they moved to help him into a bag and started to run off across the wastes. Valon offered to travel in a bag, and his weight is similar to Aramil’s, so that’s the plan we went with. Pockets described the City of Greyhawk well enough for Fafnir to picture it. Within a few seconds, we were all standing in the town square of a thriving metropolis. Valon, Fafnir and I decided to change the party’s “loot” into currency to buy new armor to replace our “Voided” equipment, while Pockets and Aramil insisted on taking Ghelt to a tavern they were fond of. Watch went with them.

We saved half back for our drinking companions, though I bartered for new mithril chain for Ghelt and myself. Fafnir suggested that I get “Slippers of Spider Climbing” since I have a bit of a fear of climbing in caves (truth be told, while I was never as fond as some elves are of climbing trees, I was able to manage that). I got those and had planned on buying some more enchanted items, but Fafnir kept teasing me that I must “tithe” a certain amount at the local Temple of Pelor, so I decided to take the rest of my funds there. We gave Pockets, Aramil and Ghelt their portions of our “loot” to spend in the Marketplace. Fafnir was off to some Wizards’ Guild and Valon accompanied me to the Temple where I planned to stay for the evening; we plan to meet at a nearby library later to start our research.

I went to leave some gold in the poor box in the Temple (called the Solarium here!) and discovered that jade illithid idol we’d found was now stashed in my belongings. Valon wouldn’t admit to putting it there, so I’m thinking perhaps Fafnir wanted me to donate that on behalf of our group. Pelor certainly has provided us with a lot of divine help and healing, so I happily dropped the idol into the offering. I used what I had left to purchase a “Phylactery of Faithfulness,” which is supposed to give me a “warning” if we attempt to do something Pelor would consider harmful.

I was surprised to find that Valon left the Solarium at some time during the night— perhaps he wanted to go perform at one of the local taverns. I had hoped that some time in such a beautiful holy place would give him some peace of mind— I think he is being hard on himself for what happened in the Temple of the Void, though none of it was really his fault! I want to talk to the Chief Cleric here about what we’ve done and encountered so far and to see if I may look through the temple records and historical libraries. I am also told by some of the clerics here that the church of Pelor sometimes employs “Sacred Exorcists” to banish evil otherworldly beings and undead— I think I will ask more about this, as it may be something we will soon need.