Editing Burning Sands (section)

==Temple, Level 2==
This level consists of a long, wide hallway, with a large set of double doors at the end, and six small chambers off each side. The doors at the end had ten keyholes in them, and were locked.

Each of the smaller chambers was the final resting place of one of the Temple's guardians.
===Zerk's Tomb===
Zerk was known as the Tenacious, for his refusal to quit a task once accepted. 

He was animated as a mummy.  The Companions defeated him quickly, and found a key amongst the rags with which he was wrapped.
===Jolas' Tomb===
Jolas was known as the Desert Bear, for his special connection to the animal world.

The Companions were attacked by a pair of zombie dire bears, and fought a pitched battle with them.  A key was found on a loop of mouldering ribbon around one of their necks.
===Dosher's Tomb===
Dosher was known as the Hidden.

This room was filled apparently with broken junk.  The Companions found a key amongst it only after a long search.
===Pediah's Tomb===
Pediah was known as the Light of the Desert, for her friendship with the Desert Wisps.

The Companions bypassed a poison lock on the door here, and fought a pair of flame-spewing desert wisps.  They found a key in one of the clay urns scattered around the chamber.
===Esomelech's Tomb===
[[Esomelech]] is known as the Keeper of the Chronicle.

Here, the party found a surprise. Rather than a fight, Esomelech lived, as a [[Deathless]] mummy. He asked for news of the outside world, which he added to his already full library. He willingly gave the party his key, and offered to answer three questions for them -- stating that his ability to answer questions, and thereby interact with current events, was limited by the magic that kept him alive.  He was a watcher, eternal, and prevented from any more than limited interaction with events.

Though two of the questions the Companions asked have since been lost to time, it is known that they asked him what the amulets for which they were questing were ''for''.  He responded by giving them a description of the [[Ceremony of Union]].

When last they saw him, Esomelech was still writing on a scroll, keeping his Chronicle up to date.

===Eitan's Tomb===
Eitan was known as the Collector of Dreams.

One of the most beautiful and foreboding of the tombs, this room was dark and glittered with tiny sparkles of light.

Eitan lay in his sarcophagus, and there was no key to be found. Engraved into the lid of the sarcophagus was an inscription, requesting that each mortal present share his truest wish. [[Jericho]] spoke of a time when his leadership on a dangerous quest would no longer be needed; [[Nigel]] spoke of fighting and dying gloriously in the service of [[Pelor]]; Regina of having a true family, and so on.

Things got tense, though, when [[Baelwren]], who had claimed to be a bard, spoke of her dream of a time and place where those of arcane power would no longer be persecuted, revealing what she had kept hidden - that she was in fact a [[sorcerer|sorceress]]. Jericho spoke in her defense, and, while Nigel threatened her with beheading should she ever use her power to harm the Companions or their mission (a threat he's eminently capable of fulfilling), she was allowed to remain with the Companions.

When all present had told of their deepest dream, a key appeared in Eitan's hand.
===Dati's Tomb===
Dati was known as the Jungle Queen, and her tomb is filled with verdant foliage.

Some of the flora proved poisonous, but fortunately the Companions avoided it and safely retrieved Dati's key from its bed in the moss.
===Chinoar's Tomb===
Chinoar was known as the Thief, for his love of traps.

Where previously all of the tombs had been small rooms, this chamber had a hallway at the back that wound around in ever-decreasing lengths, forming a squared-off spiral. The hallway was chock full of traps, but each of them seemed to have been bypassed by a clever and patient thief.

Proceeding with caution, Kimo and Regina followed the spiral to a small central chamber, where they found what they believed to be the body of the thief, clutching a small box and burned beyond recognition.

When they took the box from the body, they heard the adventurer's most feared sound. It was not the roar of a dragon, nor the clomping of the boots of a battalion of orcs, nor even the chittering of a rust monster... just, a small, simple, *click*.

At this point, Regina turned to Kimo, and said, simply, [[DM's Favorites|"Run!"]].

Moving at top speed, they ran through the spiraling hallway, hearing traps resetting themselves behind them.  Kimo and Regina both slid out ahead of the final trap, but Nigel, who had been waiting some short distance inside the hallway, was not so quick. He did prove lucky, though, as a pendulum blade trap caromed off his brand new ceramic breastplate and didn't hurt him.

Contained in the box, which they fortunately remembered to bring, was Chinoar's key.

===Adir's Tomb===
Adir was known as the Spirit Caller.  In life, he called and bound many spirits, forcing them to do his will.  Justice was in some measure served, though, as upon his death, he turned into a wraith.

One of the more difficult encounters the Companions have faced, he would not give up his key until his destruction.
===Raafe's Tomb===
Raafe was known as the Scorpion Lord, for reasons that became apparent as soon as the Companions opened the door to his crypt.  Attacked by a massive swarm of fire scorpions, and lacking any non-fire-based area affect spells, the Companions were effectively reduced to stomping on the scorpions one by one.

Raafe's key was found in one of the urns lining the walls, once the last of the scorpions was dispatched.
===Ammeen's Tomb===
[[File:Hieroglyphpuzzle.png|thumb|left|250px|Hieroglyph Puzzle]]
Ammeen was known as the Spell-Keeper, as he was one of the most knowledgeable of the Theurgists.

His tomb contained a puzzle, written in an ancient script. Once deciphered, the puzzle read:
<blockquote>Cold and dark, this hallowed tomb<br/>Shall remain, drained of her beauty.<br/>Until once more I look<br/>Upon dawn’s gilded face</blockquote>

After a great deal of thought, Jericho cast ''daylight'' on the sarcophagus.  Ammeen's key appeared, glinting in the light of Pelor.

===Iftah's Tomb===
[[File:Mosaicfloor.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Mosaic Floor Puzzle]]
Iftah was known as the Artisan, for his love of creating beautiful, magic artwork.  

His tomb, on the corner, was actually a large room, with a giant mosaic on the floor.  Each section of the floor pictured a different type of undead, from skeletons and zombies all they way up to liches and vampires. A small pedestal stood against the far wall, with Iftah's key clearly visible.  

The Companions quickly discovered that stepping on a section of the floor set off a magical effect -- damaging the person stepping on it.  A little bit of further investigation revealed that the effects differed depending on the type of undead pictured, with more potent and dangerous effects being triggered on the more powerful undead.  They were then able to pick their way across the floor, sticking to pictures of skeletons and zombies, and retrieve the key.

===Liana's Tomb===
Having retrieved all 10 keys, at great cost to their health and peace of mind, the Companions were able to open the final door.  There they faced a powerful mummy spellcaster, Lianna -- the leader of the Theurgists.  Driven mad by her long stay in a tomb as an undead, she attacked the party at once. 

Slaying her, they found the real treasure -- the [[Keystone of the Great Arch]], an amulet very similar to the one already carried by [[Kimo]] and the one currently in the possession of [[Lady Dara Sunglimmer]].