5. Vau, The Hierophant
The
party will walk for the rest of the day, about four hours, without
seeing anything of note. As darkness falls and they set up camp for the
night they will spot (with perception rolls of 7+) a party of five
figures coming towards them from across the open plain. As these
figures get nearer it will become clear that they are traveling monks.The monks will ask to share the party's camp for the night. They take no notice of Igak and it appears they cannot see him. During the course of the evening meal the monks will explain that they're seeking out the Temple of Knowledge in order to gain an audience with the Hierophant and hear his wisdom. They have been traveling for a long time but they can't remember where they've come from. They aren't unduly worried by this, assuming that the Hierophant will explain everything to them when the time is right.
They are quite insistent that there is no reason for the characters to go to the Temple however, as the Hierophant's wisdom is only for ordained brothers of the cloth.
While they are near the party no player magic will work because of the monks' holy aura.
The
next morning the monks will be up before dawn, chanting away at their
prayers. After a meagre breakfast they will set off on their way. They
will allow the party to accompany them if the characters desire to but
will constantly remind them that they're wasting their time.After several hours of walking the party will round a jutting spur of trees thrown out by the Empress' forest and gat their first view of the Temple of Knowledge. It resembles a magnificent cathedral with a large set of open doors in the front. Other people can be seen entering and the monks hurry forward to join them.
Going up the steps and entering the impressive building the characters will feel a sense of well-being, odd for mages in a cathedral. Inside there is a large foyer with two seperate doors leading into the main part of the Temple. One door is open and has a long queue of people slowly going through it which the players' travelling companions have already joined. The other door is shut and has nobody by it.
If the PCs join the queue a temple worker will appear from the shadows and direct them to the other door. Once they go through this door they will find themselves in an area partitioned off from the main part of the Temple by carved wooden screens. There is a row of pews here also. Looking through the screen in front of them gives them a fine view of the Hierophant.
The
Hierophant is sitting on a high-backed chair between two stone pillars.
The people from the other door, mostly monks, kneel before him in pairs
and he speaks briefly to them before they rise and leave through a side
door. Very occasionally one of the people will leave by a different
side door after the Hierophant has given them a key to unlock it. It is
impossible to make out what he is saying to any of the people.
The characters are stuck where they are, watching the same thing repeared, for a long time. Eventually, as the last of the queuing people nears the Hierophant, a temple worker opens a door in the carved screen and ushers them into the main room. He will get the party to line up in pairs behind a certain spot and then, once everyone is ready, he will motion the first two characters forward to have their audience with the Hierophant.
Vau the Hierophant is old and stern looking but with a kindly air towards those he favours. His full name is The Magus of the Eternal but this is for later. He says nothing to the characters apart from asking them his questions. As each pair comes before him he will lay a hand on each of their heads and ask:'Do you accept the doctrine of the Church as it is told you?'
Anyone that answers 'yes' will receive a blessing from the Hierophant who will then tell them:
'Your path lies through the door to your left.' (the door most of the monks were sent through) 'Return whenever you wish.'
If a character replies 'no' they will be asked the next question:
'Are you on the Fool's errand?'
A character that answers 'no' will be dismissed through the left hand door as above.
A character that answers 'yes' will get the next question:
'Have you earned the right to walk the roads?'
Someone who answers 'yes' is lying and will be shown the left door.
'Where do the Four Kingdoms lie?'
A truthful answer that is right for the character is all that is needed. 'I don't know' or 'at the end of the four roads' etc. are acceptable.
The Hierophant will hand each character a key and say:
'The four Kingdoms can exist within you if you will allow it. Take this key and follow your destiny which lies through the door to your right. Expect only that which cannot be.'
The Tower
Going through the right hand door the players will find themselves in an enclosed courtyard with a tall tower in the centre. The tower is 40' along each side and about 100' tall. There are no windows but each side has eight doors evenly spaced at ground level. The side furthest away from where the characters enter the courtyard has only seven doors and a blank bit of wall where an eighth one would be. Some of the monks that preceded the characters are trying to fit their keys into various doors without success.
Pushing the blank bit of wall causes it to swing inwards easily, revealing a passage. None of the monks seem aware of the party doing this and continue to try their keys in the doors. The passage turns and runs along the length of the tower again before ending in a door that requires one of the Hierophant's keys to open it. The keys are identical so it doesn't matter which one is used. Beyond the door is a plain room with a spiral staircase in the centre that goes up to the top of the tower and ends beneath a closed trapdoor. The trap door requires a second (different) key to open it. If a key belonging to a male character was used downstairs then a female character's key is needed here and vice-versa. (If your party is single sex then this doesn't apply obviously.)
The trapdoor gives access to a square room with four doors, one on each wall. Each door has a shaped indentation that will accept one of the Four Kingdom keys. Wand, Pentacle, Cup and Sword. They can only be inserted one at a time and it must be in the correct order. So, if the players are lucky, they'll start with the wand, it will click into place and the door will swing open. As the door opens, the key and the indentation will disappear to be replaced with a triangular fire symbol indentation. This door will need to be sealed shut with the symbol that the party should find later before the pentacle will open its door. The pentacle door will need to be resealed before the cup will work and so on.If the players do not get the solution straight away they will have to experiment. Nothing will happen until the wand is placed in its door and no other keys are being tried at the same time.
Fire
Looking through the door the characters can see only a red haze because the door is actually a portal to the Elemental Realm of Fire. Once they step through they are immediately engulfed by the stifling heat and oppressive, furnace-like quality of the air. The Realm of Fire is hot!Igack, of course, is not bothered.
Aquam does not function here.
Ignem scores are boosted by +10 and spell effects are tripled.
Terram -5
Auram -5
Vis +5
Creo +5
Corporem +5
Perdo -5
Muto -5
Molten lava flows across a rugged landscape, volcanoes erupt on the horizon and noxious gases erupt from fissures in the black rock. The sky is covered with black clouds of soot through which immense winged shapes (Dragons on a Perception roll of 9+) swoop and dive, emitting blood curdling shrieks and roars as they go.
Behind them is the glowing red rectangle of the portal home.
Nearby a single, thin shaft of light strikes upwards into the clouds. It is coming from the centre of a circular depression in the ground that is about 60’ across. Reaching this depression will require Dexterity and Quickness rolls of 7+ from everybody as they hop from rock to rock to avoid the hotter, almost molten, patches of ground. Enough rolls to make it hazardous but not fatal. Contact with the ‘hot’ parts of the ground will inflict +25 Damage a round with metal armour not counting for Soak.
The depression is bowl shaped and about 30’ deep. Irregular steps are formed from rocks jutting out from the side and spiraling downwards around the inner wall. It takes a rull circuit of the bowl to reach the bottom. In the bottom of the depression, exactly in the centre, is a bowl of burning oil that is emitting the shaft of light. The bowl is made of solid brass, engraved with lions over its whole surface and is about 5’ across. It is standing on a raised plinth that brings its rim above the head of a man.
Approaching to within a couple of feet or so causes the oil to flare up and roil about violently, growing into an immense pillar of flame that condenses into a vaguely humanoid form growing out of the bowl from roughly where its waist would be. This is a Guardian Fire Elemental which will attack the party.
Fire Elemental
| 1st Attack |
Attack |
Damage |
Defence |
Soak |
Body |
| +8 |
+12/+12 |
+15 |
+10 |
+15 |
0 0 0 -1 -1 -1 -3 -3 -5 D |
Instead of attacking it can splash burning oil from the bowl onto everyone who is closer than 10’ doing +25 Damage. A successful Dodge will halve the damage, a critical success will avoid it altogether but leave the character more that 10’ away.
Only enchanted weapons will harm it.
Igack is immune to all fire damge, as is the Elemental, but he can claw and bite it for a certain victory if needs be.
As the Elemental ‘dies’ it will explode into a fireball that will engulf anyone in the crater. However, instead of burning, this elemental out-pouring will increase the Ignem score of everyone it touches by +5. Even non-mages. Everyone will have Creo raised by 1 point also. This means of course that the Companions can now cast Creo Ignem spells.
As the fire dissipates the characters will see that in place of the bowl there is a brass Fire triangle symbol lying on the plinth. This is the key that will relock the Fire door in the tower and allow them to open the Earth door.
Earth
Opening the door with the Pentacle key causes the key to disappear and an Earth triangle symbol to appear on the door. Looking through the characters will see the green haze of a portal to the Elemental Realm of Earth.Stepping through the party emerges onto a desolate plain. The sky is darkened by clouds of abrasive dust that whip along to the whims of unfelt eddies. A few boulders lie scattered about. The portal home stands behind them.
Auram does not function here.
Terram scores are boosted by +10 and spell effects are tripled.
Ignem -5
Aquam -5
Animal +5
Herbam +5
Rego +5
Corporum +5
Intelligo -5
Mentem -5
The only feature on the landscape is a building, half hidden by the dust storms. It appears to be open-sided with the roof supported by pillars. As the characters get nearer they can see it appears to be some form of shrine. It is about 20’ across and 25’ tall. The flat roof is supported by a strong pillar in each corner and has a statue of a bull mounted in its centre. In the middle of the floor, which is raised off the ground and reached by a step, there is a stone throne on a dais.
Nothing will happen at all until someone sits on the throne. At that point the building will shake and start to collapse as if an earthquake was happening, great cracks will appear in the ground. From beneath the shrine will erupt a massive being made of rock and earth, a Guardian Earth Elemental.
Earth Elemental
| 1st Attack |
Attack |
Damage |
Defence |
Soak |
Body |
| +9 |
+12/+12 |
+20/+20 |
+10 |
+15 |
0 0 0 0 -1 -1 -3 -3 -5 D |
Only enchanted weapons will harm it.
It is made from rock and is immune to direct Terram spells but not spells that launch other Earth items at it etc.
As the Elemental ‘dies’ it will explode into a shower of dust that will engulf everyone within 60’ of it. This elemental out-pouring will increase the Terram score of everyone it touches by +5. Even non-mages. Everyone will have Rego raised by 1 point also. This means of course that the Companions can now cast more spells.
Once the dust has settled a character who makes a Perception roll of 9+ will spot an Earth triangle symbol made of lead lying in the ruins of the shrine. Since the party should know they need something like this they only require Perception rolls of 7+ to find it if they’re actively searching. This symbol will re-seal the Earth door in the tower and allow them to use the cup.
Water
Opening the door with the Cup key causes the key to disappear and a Water triangle symbol to appear on the door. Looking through the characters will see the blue haze of a portal to the Elemental Realm of Water.Stepping through the party will be struck immediately by the awful cold that envelopes them. They emerge to find themselves on a floating ice block about 20’ across; the portal home stands open behind them. Other ice blocks dot the water around them. A strange ice structure resembling a spire is floating/standing some way off. Several Dexterity and Quickness rolls will be needed to reach it. Falling into the freezing water will inflict +15 Damage per round.
Igack is not happy here at all, he will take triple damage from any water-based attacks but normal damage from cold etc. His breath weapon does not work here.
Ignem does not function here.
Aquam scores are boosted by +10 and spell effects are tripled.
Terram -5
Auram -5
Animal +5
Muto +5
Imagonem +5
Perdo +5
Creo -5
Vis -5
The spire must be scaled from the outside. Four apertures shaped like arched windows are visible near the top. Each measures approximately 5’ x 3’. The spire is 160’ tall.
Inside is a circular room about 30’ across. There is a sunken pool of water in the centre which appears to be about 2’ deep. On the bottom of the pool is a closed steel box decorated with carvings of eagles.
If this box is disturbed in any way the water from the pool will draw itself together into a large frothing ball, a Guardian Water Elemental, which will hover just below the ceiling, about 20’ above the characters’ heads.
Water Elemental
| Rate | Attack | Damage | Defence | Soak | Body |
| 2 shots/round | +20 -1 per bolt above 1, max 10 per ‘shot’ at the same or multiple targets | +10 per bolt | +5 | +10 | 0 0 0 -1 -1 -1 -3 -3 -3 -5 -5 -5 D |
Only enchanted weapons will harm it.
It is immune to Aquam spells.
As the Elemental ‘dies’ it will explode into a shower of mist that will engulf everyone in the room. This elemental out-pouring will increase the Aquam score of everyone it touches by +5. Even non-mages. Everyone will have either Muto or Perdo raised by 1 point also (roll randomly). This means of course that the Companions can now cast even more spells.
This explosion will also transform the steel box into a steel Water triangle symbol. This symbol will re-seal the Water door in the tower and allow them to use the sword on the last door.
Air
Opening the door with the Sword key causes the key to disappear and an Air triangle symbol to appear on the door. Looking through the characters will see the white haze of a portal to the Elemental Realm of Air.This realm is misty, the only visible things are the portal home behind the party and some indistinct bulky shapes grouped in the distance.
Terram does not function here.
Auram scores are boosted by +10 and spell effects are tripled.
Ignem-5
Aquam -5
Intelligo +5
Mentem +5
Imagonem +5
Corporam -5
Herbam -5
Animal -5
The dim shapes resolve themselves into massive standing stones as the party gets nearer. (They aren’t stones of course, there’s nothing Terram here at all, they just look like stones carved with images of people)
They are containing a massive, swirling, roaring air vortex that crashes around and around between them trying to get out.
Perception rolls of 9+ will spot an indistinct object lying on the ground inside the stone circle, apparently undisturbed by the whirling vortex above it. 12+ will reveal it to be a silver Air triangle symbol.
Nothing can get past the ‘stone’ barrier circle, either in or out. To get the symbol the characters must break at least one of the ‘stones’. These each need to take 100 points of purely physical damage before they will crack apart fully and fall to the ground as rubble.
Destroying a ‘stone’ will free the vortex which is a Guardian Air Elemental. The Elemental will attack the party by rushing amongst them and throwing as many as possible into the sky.
Air Elemental
| First Attack | Attack | Damage | Defence | Soak | Body |
| +20 | +20, -1 per target over 1, max 5 | +20 falling damage, armour counts half for Soak | n/a | n/a | n/a |
There isn’t anything the party can do to this, they need to snatch the symbol and run for the portal. Let’s hope they remember where it is in this featureless landscape.
Once back in the Hierophant’s tower the characters must seal the door with the symbol. This time, instead of just staying in place as a mark on the door, the symbol will glow brightly, flooding the room with light. Everyone in the room will have their Auram score increased by +5. Even non-mages. Everyone will have Intelligo raised by 1 point also. This means of course that the Companions can now cast even more spells.
The party can now descend the tower and get back to the courtyard. The courtyard is empty and the door back into the Temple is locked. A gate to the outside stands open.
Rewards
Overcoming the test of the Hierophant’s tower gains each character 4XP
As well as this they should have become aware of the information summarised in the table below. This information is very important to the characters and is fundamental to understanding how this world functions, getting something wrong later can be fatal. More information will be added as we progress, perhaps someone should take notes?
Elemental Attributes
| Element | Symbol | Key | Direction | Creature |
| Fire |  | Wand | East | Lion |
| Earth |  | Pentacle | South | Bull |
| Water |  | Cup | West | Eagle |
| Air |  | Sword | North | Man |
The Hierophant
I saw the great Master in the Temple. He was siting on a golden throne set upon a purple platform, and he wore the robe of a high priest with a golden tiara. He held a golden eight-pointed cross, and lying at his feet were two crossed keys. Two initiates bowed before him and to them he spoke:--
"Seek the Path, do not seek attainment, Seek for the Path within yourself.
"Do not expect to hear the truth from others, nor to see it, or read it in books. Look for the truth in yourself, not without yourself.
"Aspire only after the impossible and inaccessible. Expect only that which shall not be.
"Do not hope for Me,--do not look for Me,--do not believe--that I am outside yourself.
"Within your soul build a lofty tower by which you may ascend to Heaven. Do not believe in external miracles, expect miracles only within you. Beware of believing in a mystery of the earth, in a mystery guarded by men; for treasuries which must be guarded
are empty. Do not search for a mystery that can be hidden by men. Seek the Mystery within yourself.
"Above all, avoid those towers built in order to preserve the mysteries and to make an ascent to Heaven by stone stairways. And remember that as soon as men build such a tower they begin to dispute about the summit.
"The Path is in yourself, and Truth is in yourself and Mystery is in yourself."
THE SYMBOLISM OF THE TAROT by P D. OUSPENSKY
"Seek the Path, do not seek attainment, Seek for the Path within yourself.
"Do not expect to hear the truth from others, nor to see it, or read it in books. Look for the truth in yourself, not without yourself.
"Aspire only after the impossible and inaccessible. Expect only that which shall not be.
"Do not hope for Me,--do not look for Me,--do not believe--that I am outside yourself.
"Within your soul build a lofty tower by which you may ascend to Heaven. Do not believe in external miracles, expect miracles only within you. Beware of believing in a mystery of the earth, in a mystery guarded by men; for treasuries which must be guarded
are empty. Do not search for a mystery that can be hidden by men. Seek the Mystery within yourself.
"Above all, avoid those towers built in order to preserve the mysteries and to make an ascent to Heaven by stone stairways. And remember that as soon as men build such a tower they begin to dispute about the summit.
"The Path is in yourself, and Truth is in yourself and Mystery is in yourself."
THE SYMBOLISM OF THE TAROT by P D. OUSPENSKY
