After receiving their mission from the scholar Omal, the crew set about gearing up for the trip into the jungles of Ploo II. They purchased speeders and equipment, and the bounty hunter Redd looked up come information about the dangers they may encounter in the depths of the jungle.
They loaded their gear into the G9 Rigger and the pilot Brada set off for the coordinates given to them by Omal. First they did a flyover the supposed coordinates of the temple itself, but could not observe anything from the air. They landed at the clearing that Omal indicated and set out on their speeders to the temple site.
Eventually the jungle tightened up and the party was forced to slow down and fly more carefully to avoid crashing. Whilst picking their way through the gloom the party determined they were being watched. A quick scan of the surrounding jungle revealed an adult tusk cat was stalking the party from the shadows. They wisely chose to avoid the beast and headed off in the other direction.
Unfortunately the other path lead them to the bog. Low trees overhung the fetid waters, known to be the habitat of choice of the deadly dragonsnake. They attempted to cross the bog one by one, with the others covering them with their blasters. Brada made it through first. Lowhhrick made it half way before his speeder was snatched by the creature and Lowhhrick was flung off. The light repeating blasters mounted on the speeders made short work of the beast and they escaped the encounter without any casualties. The Gank bounty hunter Redd took some trophies from the dragonsnake.
The party eventually reached the coordinates given to them by Omal; and found nothing. A brief investigation revealed that the ground beneath them was being shielded from their scanners. The Sullustan Brada “found” the temple when he fell through a hole in the ground but his quick reflexes managed to prevent him from falling to almost certain death.
The party used their climbing gear to descend into the temple and begun exploring. Beneath the hole from which they entered they discovered the skeleton of a strange creature; wolf-like, with spines along its back and at the end of its long tail. Exploring further into the temple they discovered an open room with many pillars and columns. A stone statue sat in an alcove to the north and a short platform stood in front of it. There were stairs leading upwards and there they discovered, hidden behind a pile of fallen stone, an abandoned campsite. Rumaging amongst the debris they found a pack, inside which they found a datapad containing a journal belonging to Omal’s mentor, Murk Lundi.
to the site better prepared.
The journal confirmed that they were standing in the lost Temple of XoXaan. It explains how Lundi discovered the temple much the same way the party did, by falling through a hole in the ceiling. However at the time he was being attacked by a strange creature, black with glowing eyes, spines along its back and on the end of its tail. The creature wounded Lundi, injuring his eye, and in the struggle the pair fell through the roof into the temple. Lundi was too injured to continue his exploration, but vowed to return
Having thoroughly explored the upper levels of the temple and finding no sight of the artifact, the party determined there must be a secret door or passage to another area. Through trial and error, the party discovered that having two people press the raised platform before the statue opened a hidden stairway in one of the rooms, leading further into the temple’s depths.
In the lower levels of the temple, the party discovered what appeared to be a living area, with a kitchen, sleeping quarters, study, and common room. In the study they found a large metal chest which they were unable to open. Amongst the desk and shelves they found scraps of indecipherable documents and papers, which Redd scanned for Omal to study. In the sleeping quarters they found an ancient sword in a footlocker, and swarms of enormous subterranean worms under another. In a fireplace they discovered a small sealed box with no apparent means of opening it.
Working their way around the lower levels of the temple they came across a dead end. At the end of a corridor there stood a statue holding an enormous ancient looking sword. Reasoning that this cannot be the true Inner Sanctum, and remembering the experience with the hidden entrance above, two members of the party grasped the long grip of the sword. The entire wall behind the statue flickered and then vanished, finally revealing the true Inner Sanctum of the Temple of Xoxaan…