Skaya looks down at the people scattered across the ground, eyes wide with surprise. "I..." She shakes her head as if to clear it of cobwebs. "Are you all okay? Or something approaching it, at least?"

Jeremiah nods, patting down his limbs. ‘I think so...?’

He looks around, ‘Anyone need a pick-me-up?’

Jimmy picks himself up off the ground, and confusedly slicks off the goo that coated his robes.  "I'M usually the one who's weird......but that place....takes the cake."  he mumbles out loud.  "Weird." he continues, shaking his head.

Responding to Jeremiah's query, "I'm a little bumped and bruised, truth be told."   (40/57)  "But not as bad as others, I surmise."

'I suggest we rest near here then, and then move on to wrest control of the chalice...?'

"Yeah, do you people want to fill me in on exactly how you plan to kill Strahd?" Skaya frowns.

Jeremiah sighs, casting a gaze in the direction of the grave, 'With difficulty I fear. There is so much darkness to confront.'

Giggles begin to bubble up deep from within Jimmy's chest.  Laughing, he recites out loud to Skaya:

Skaya sighs and ignores Jimmy, focusing on Jeremiah. "Okay, well then, if you don't mind my joining you, I'm all for finding this chalice thing."

Ingrid nods, “ let us find the chalice.”

QUEST FOR THE CHALICE

The Amber Temple.

You've heard of this place before.

A secret society of good-aligned priests built the Amber Temple in the Balinok Mountains more than two thousand years ago. When the Affliction was born, they needed a vault in which to contain the evil manifestations of it they had captured and the hoard of forbidden knowledge they had amassed about it. They dedicated the temple to a god, whom they trusted to keep it hidden from the rest of the world until the end of time. Unfortunately for the priests, even the will of a god couldn’t prevent other evil creatures from learning the temple’s location. The priests were forced to guard the temple themselves, to keep its secrets from falling into villainous hands. The evil forces that were imprisoned within the temple eventually corrupted the priests, turning them against one another.

The priests were dead and gone by the time the Brotherhood arrived at the temple. They breached the temple’s wards, where one corrupted Brotherhood member spoke to a vestige trapped in amber, discovering the secret to becoming a terrible Afflicted lich. 

Of course, these are just stories.

Right?

THE AMBER TEMPLE

Through cliff and snow you climbed to the last known place the Chalice of Inverted Verses was known to be stored in. You pray you're correct.

The road fades away under a covering of snow, but it takes you far enough to see the facade of some kind of temple carved into the sheer mountainside ahead. The front of the structure is fifty feet high and has six alcoves containing twenty-foot-tall statues. Each statue is carved from a single block of amber and depicts a faceless, hooded figure, its hands pressed together in a gesture of prayer. Between the two innermost statues is a twenty-foot-tall archway with a staircase leading down. There is some sort of fissure along the left side, at the end, of the facade. (X1a)

Looking at the statues feels you with a sense of unease.

Ingrid approaches the fissure tentatively, peering over the side. PERCEPTION: 20

A natural fissure has opened in the mountainside west of the temple’s facade, creating a gap two feet wide, ten feet tall, and fifteen feet deep. You see light coming from a room beyond, and you hear human voices there as well. You can't tell what they're saying though.

Ingrid calls back to the group, “I see and hear signs of life down here.”

Dark energy crackles around Skaya. "Afflicted life?"

Could very well be.

Ingrid shrugs, “probably a safe bet, shall we drop in? Or go through the front door?”

“I don’t think they’ll take kindly to uninvited guests. Perhaps we should pay them a visit though the alternate entrance?” Jimmy points out. 

Jeremiah calls upon the spirits of the fey again, bringing forth two giant Dire Wolves.

Romulus: 55 hp

Remus: 57 hp

Ingrid shrugs, “Then let’s go.” And leaps down into the hole. ATHLETICS?: 22

Witnessing Jeremiah call forth two dire wolves gave Jimmy an idea.  "Hey, I'm jealous you get all the fun ... lemme try that!" and then casts [Tooltip Not Found] himself, calling forth a third dire wolf.

Rhea: 25