This report follows the ongoing adventures of Cynocephalian sorcerer Lyco (Oliver Knorr), Human rogue Teris (Paul Knorr), Myrmidon fighter Myrmex (Andrew Knorr), and Planetouched bard and priestess Angelia (Carter Valentine) as they continue to explore an ancient shrine at the base of ominous Mount Othrys. In this session the party avoided battle with a tough band of humanoids and their accompanying giant, helped a Mephit level up, and finally opened the portals leading into the inner sanctuary of the complex.

On the morning of their seventh day at the Shrine of Othrys, the party awoke on a damp and gloomy morning in the ruins of the mountainside tower they previously used as a campsite. After a quick breakfast of herb tea and dry rations, the companions made their way to the volcanic crater that concealed the approaches to the “Fire Door.”

Having been overcome by the heat of the crater during the party’s previous descent into it, savvy Teris soaked some clothing in cool water and wrapped it around his head and directed his companions to do the same before they entered it again. They then clambered down into the smoky pit with the assistance of a rope and without hesitating in the oppressive heat made their way to the crevice in its hillside face that led to the portals. These consisted of two massive brass double doors, each five feet wide and 10 feet tall and mounted in a heavy black stone frame with side pillars that looked like two monstrous giants with serpents for the lower halves of their bodies — one male and one female — with the 20-foot-wide lintel resting on their heads.

Following the procedure they had learned previously, Lyco cast a bolt of fire at the doors and, as they began to swing open toward them, the party was stunned to hear a cacophony of shouting, stomping, and metallic banging. They were even more surprised to see the burly Orcs and an actual giant, chanting some infernal prayer, beating war-hammers on their iron shields, and stomping in a circle around a lit brazier that had been erected in the center of the great room beyond the doors!

Six of these Orcs were armored in heavy coats of mail, while one wore stiff-looking robes inscribed with cult symbols, and all had sooty-looking skin and reddish hair. Even more imposing was the giant, a nine-foot-tall heavily-armored monster that looked like a larger, coarser version of the Orcs and who wielded in one hand a great maul that a normal human could have used only with two.

Apprehensive about engaging such a formidable-looking group, Angelia attempted diplomacy, and led the Orc acolyte to believe they were fellow cultists, affiliated with the Myrmidons at the “Earth Door,” and on official errand to the “Radiance Chapel” they presumed was up the nearby stairs.

The acolyte uncritically accepted this explanation, said his band had just arrived and were performing a ceremony in honor of their “Lord Cthuga,” and asked if the party wanted to join them in it. As Angelia, Myrmex, and Lyco began to contemplate options, Teris, impatient and wary of doing something that might betray themselves to the Titanists, made excuses for the party and hastened his companions to the narrow stairway cut into the volcanic rock.

These stairs led them to the landing Teris had seen previously when he scouted down the passageway leading from the “Smoke Cavern,” and so continued up the stairs he had not previously followed, at the head of which was a brass door embellished with the image of a golden sun.

Upon opening the door, the party saw a long chamber, at the end of which was a great, heavy, almost bloated-looking glowing golden sphere floating in the air, with images of a powerful celestial deity engaged in various activities painted on the walls. Two flares erupted from the sphere, one two either side of it, and revealed themselves to be “Radiance Mephits,” attacking the party with powerful breath of fire infused with positive energy (what Alchemists would characterize as “plasma”). These creatures were also very hard to look at because of their brightness, impeding attacks against them. Nonetheless, in a coordinated and surprisingly hard-hitting counterattack, the party managed very quickly defeat the monsters, suffering some additional damage as they exploded into balls of energized fire.

Upon the examination of the room, the determined it to be devoted to a non-humanoid form of Hyperion, Titan of Radiance. They also discovered that the five-foot-wide sphere was not actually floating in the air but instead resting on a pedestal that they could not see because of how bright the Mephits had been.

Angelia decided to conduct a ritual honoring Olympian Apollo and to channel some of that deity’s divine power into it. Myrmex participated in this successful ritual, both characters received divine inspiration from it, and Angelia was granted the boon of a fire spell more potent than any she was able to yet cast. Hapless Lyco, however, performed his own ad hoc ritual, calling upon trickster Hermes, and attracted unfavorable attention from him, Hyperion, or some other agency, his eyes being struck with a radiance that blinded him. Teris watched all this from a distance, opting not to participate in any of it.

Departing the shrine, the party was pleased to note that the clamor the Orcs were making had prevented them from hearing their own battle with Mephits, and continued up the stairs and down the passageways leading to the “Smoke Cavern.”

Upon reaching the cave filled with smoke issuing up from some patches of friable rock that lay over the cinders of some subterranean fire, the party encountered a larger version of the “Smoke Mephits” they had battled before, arcane runes flickering like fire across its grimy hide. Four more identical monsters materialized from the smoke around it, and the party readied themselves for a tough fight. These Mephits seemed somewhat more congenial than others of their kind had, however, and in a broken version of the common tongue of Greek the leader warned the party that a strong force occupied the room associated with the “Air Door.” And, when the party insisted on going on, the Mephit and its friends did not oppose them and negotiated a nominal fee of just 40 gold drachmas to allow them passage through its cavern. These creatures did chuckle maliciously, however, when some of the party members crossed what appeared to be a normal section of floor and broke through into the burning cinders below, suffering some injury as a result.

Having been shaken down and partially misled by the “Smoke Mephit Deceiver” and its illusory mirror images and seemingly-intact sections of floor, the party moved on to the antechamber of the “Air Door” and were surprised to discover it to be unoccupied. They had not been dissuaded by the Mephit’s lie about this area being occupied by a strong force and it was consequently disappointed in its hopes that they would turn back and end up getting mauled by the Orcs.

Descending from the middle to the lower level of the great egg-shaped chamber, the party cautiously verified that the passageway leading further into the hill — toward the great stone double doors with the cross-shaped keyhole — were not occupied by “Vacuum Mephits” or any other hazards. They then advanced toward the door, Angelia retrieved from her pouch the ancient iron key with the glowing sigils they had activated at cardinal points throughout the complex, and inserted it into the lock. As she did, she could feel the flanges of the device respond to the magical tumblers within and, when she attempted to rotate it, did so easily. There was an audible click, and the doors swung inward, revealing the party’s first glimpse of the inner sanctuary …

This is where we ended this session until the following week, leaving the party to anticipate what would be revealed beyond the magically-sealed doors!