Dream - The Sand Temple

High Level Sand Temple: Some Floor
	We were deep into the lower floors, having fought, dodged and solved every monster, trap and puzzle up until this point.  We finally made it to the first treasure room.  The floor is sand, and the wall and pillars are made of the same dark bland stone.  Torches give some light, and while we are a ways underground, there is also a sky light providing most of the illumination.  I don't question these things.

	So there's items arranged in a grid pattern, each on their own little display.  It's understood that each party member gets to pick one and move on.  There's weapons with dubious stats, weapons encrusted with jewels meant for showing off rather than fighting, vendor trash, jewels, crystals, and more vendor trash.  Most would sell for a pretty penny in any market though and item levels are high so I can't complain.

	I wait for our party leader to make his choice first, leader's privilege and all.  I probably should have seen it all coming a kilometer away.  He passes up 50 or so suitable items making a bee-line for the biggest, most expensive one in the back.  I don't even know what it is; it looks like some kind of wrought iron throne adorned with onyx gems. All craftsmanship is the highest quality.  It menaces with spikes of wrought iron and silver.  On the throne is an image of soldiers and a dragon.  The dragon is striking down the soldiers.

	It's level 55, more than double anyone in the party, and it's very heavy.  Nevertheless, boss man wants me to help him fit it into his inventory.  I don't know how he plans to walk if he doesn't outright get crushed; a skinny water mage with almost no strength.  Both of us combined might not have enough strength as we soon find out.  After an age of huffing and puffing, struggling and herniating several organs, we budge it off center a few centimeters.  And that's all we're ever going to get done.

	With a loud clunk, followed by some grinding and rumbling that shakes the dust loose from the ceiling, the state of the art temple security system activates.  The temple is very visibly upset that our greedy party leader just tried to yoink an item far too high level for himself and decided to respond with a monster of proportionate strength.  As the items retract into the floor, I try to make for the exit while pulling along Captain Greed, but he hangs on to the throne until the last second as his hopes and dreams sink into the sand.  The tip of the throne glimmers in the light in a sneering fashion before disappearing completely.

	While that was happening, a swirling cloud of sand was brewing in the center of the room, growing bigger and denser by the second finally taking the form of some kind of giant wispy sand-capybara.  Our leader returns to reality just in time to flee from the towering elemental that's possibly three times our level.

	The elemental roars with a sound that should never come from a capybara, just as we duck out of the room back into the hallway from which we came.  At first, it looked like we could escape with our HP intact, until the elemental decided it as time to give chase.  It closed the distance between us in a fraction of the time to took to get away.

	The elemental is almost at biting distance when the water mage has a stroke of genius in the form of spell 5.701.  He tosses a water balloon sized mote of water that splashes the squealing sand rodent in the face.  The spell forces the monster to acquire the water element changing the churning currents of sand into damp chunks of flightless mud.  Water and sand are rarely compatible.  It's no longer able to give chase as it seems to be expending most of its energy just trying to keep shape.  For a moment I'm relieved at the threat being neutralized.  That is until our other party member catches up with us.

	A fire fighter mage whose motto is "shoot first, ask questions later" storms down the hall from the treasure room in his effort to provide aid.  He was scoping out the next set of rooms after the treasure room for us when we triggered the trap.  Unfortunately for us, he was also struck with the same stroke of 'genius' in the form of spell 7.672, the fire version of 5.701.  Before we can stop him, he forces a fire blob into the gurgling mess of once-defeated mud elemental.  It wretches in what I assume is pain as it forcefully acquires the fire element.

	This has the effect of combining the fire and water elements into steam, restoring the monster's vigor and giving it a huge upgrade in vitality.  The dark chunky damp sand boils into a light colored swirling vortex with scalding jets of steam hissing and swishing with hostility.  The renewed and re-energized and now -very- angry sand-steam-capybara thrashes around while building up and releasing a blast that knocks our fighter mage through the air at us.  We only have an instant to recover and try to escape a second time.

	Luckily, now I'm a bit useful, being a ranger with ice spells and a bow.  Their fire and water attacks are easily extinguished, dissipated and resisted, but my ice arrows have the penetration and just enough effect to slow its charge.  It doesn't seem to do anything at first, but with repeated shots, the arrows easily pierce the elemental and explode within, cooling the steam and slowing it down.  This buys us enough time to round a corner, shut the door, and make our way to the exit intact.

	We all made it out in one piece in time for the temple to thunder and pound loudly, rearranging its floor plan and reconfiguring the traps and puzzles totally invalidating the maps and well known solutions for the easy parts.  Not our problem anymore.  After berating our fire fighter, and me asserting my position as first in line when it comes to loot order, we head off for our next site of interest somewhere.  Hopefully one without super heavy treasure.