Session X - The Sacred Stone Monastery

A little surprised that Tico's spell actually worked, the heroes are left standing in this big central room, everyone looking at each other wondering what comes next. Qarbo looking confused, a Black Earth guard speaks in a low voice attempting to understand what just transpired. Eventually the priest tells the party they are to follow the young initiate that brought them here so she can show them where to leave their equipment and some of the restricted area.

They go through the dining area once more where a great number of monks are having a silent dinner in company of a young blindfolded woman.

After deliberating whether the time was right to start throwing fireballs, Tico rests his hand and follows the guide to a desolate dormitory where four monks are currently sleeping on thin pallets. The group is then being led further into the monastery where they are shown a few places that are forbidden to explore including a few closed doors, the Abbess' personal chambers and the entire east wing of the monastery that's in disrepair. 

After this quick tour, the heroes are instructed to head back to the dormitory until Hellenrae, the Abbess of Stone, is ready to welcome them to the dojo where their training will start. Some uncomfortable time passes during which everyone is unnerved, not knowing how to proceed and wondering whether they should come out guns blazing, always in the presence of the four sleeping monks. The latter give quick glances towards the party members every now and then, their facial expression showing signs of broken and submissive souls. 

Eventually, the party hears a large group of people approaching. With the fireball hand once more at the ready, it's with a relief that the heroes understand it is the Abbess' party leaving the dining area and heading towards the dojo. Following them shortly after, Trash is the first one that enters the arena to find the blindfolded woman already throwing punches and kicks at a young apprentice who can hardly stand is own, all the while belittling and insulting him.

Glad to feel fresh blood entering the room, Hellenrae almost instantly starts a long winded sermon about the affront to the might of Ogremoch and the ridicule of having to rely on worldly possessions such as those carried by the party to attain what little skills they've managed to muster. 

Demonstrating her innate power, Hellenrae proceeds to launch a volley of attacks towards Trash who had stepped forward, weaponless, as instructed. He manages to land a clean punch on the Abbess` temple, angering her further. She leaves him bruised up, still spewing a religiously motivated rhetoric. She cuts short any counter argumentation and expels the party from her dojo, deeming them not worthy of her teachings, leaving behind four young monks with fear in their eyes.  

On their way back to the dormitory, the group stops by the scriptorium. Elthas and Halvarth sit at a desk and start rummaging throughout the various books and parchments that are scattered in front of them. Subtlety observed by a few monk scribes, Elthas eventually finds a document labelled "Marlos's Testament".  Reading quickly through the document, he gathers the following information:

• Marlos Urnrayle is the self proclaimed Prophet of Earth.
• He was drawn to a place called "the Fane of the Eye" by powerful visions. There he found "Ironfang, the Holy Implement of Earth Power", and took it for his own;
• Marlos Established the Temple of Black Earth in the ruins of a long abandoned dwarven stronghold that exists below the Sacred Stone Monastery;
• He nurtures something called the Black Geode, and when all is ready, "the Evergrowing Mountain shall come and remake these lands in his own image."

While this is going on, Halvarth is completely absorbed in academic texts on the elemental planes. Subtely grabbing some books, he hides them in the fold of his robes and exits the scriptorium. 

Elthas takes this opportunity to use is innate ability to detect planar portals and, lo and behold, senses the presence of a portal located a thousand feet to the north-west and 500 feet underground.

On their end, Trash and Klaes manage to unlock one of the door of the forbidden area and find a staircase leading down. Not wanting to create a situation, they err to the side of caution and come back up, closing the door behind them.

The party finally heads back to the dormitory where they wait for nightfall. 

At some point, the four sleeping monks wake up, and without saying a word, get dressed and leave, just as a dozen other monks enter the room and prepare for night. Keeping an eye on the corridor outside, Tico sees Qarbo and his two black guards enter the adjacent room and lock the door behind them while, from another room exits four duergar who split up in two groups. 

After Trash jams the doors from both dormitories, the party follows one of the duergar and end up falling back to the dojo to avoid uncomfortable questions and stares from the dark dwarves who were posted as night guards close to Hellenrae's quarters. Realising a fight was unavoidable at that point, Trash bursts out of the room and, using powerful transmutation magic, temporarily and erratically phases in and out of existence, allowing him to move past the duergars and Hellenrae, finding himself behind her in her quarters and launching some attacks at her, this time with a weapon.

Ensues a long battle during which monk initiates, duergars and minotaurs rush into the fray. The party is surprised to witness the resilience of their enemies, even faced with the death of the Abbess, standing their ground and attempting to leave no room for the party to escape. 

After the dust settles and the heroes start bandaging themselves, they can hear all remaining monks, now locked in the dormitories, banging on the respective doors attempting to get out.