I've Got Ninety Nine Problems, But An Alchemist Ain't One

We decided Josh's death was best left without cause. We sent Shatain to tell Saigarn while Brennen & I prepared his body for burial at sea. This extended our supplies a little, but not by much. I was able to eat the first fish the A'aloss prepared for me; I'd have to keep experimenting a bit, but that would extend our supplies some as well.

Brennen & I went to Saigarn. He knew the supply situation well. We discussed port options - the Volu trading city would be safe enough in Saigarn's view, but I didn't think it was a good idea to straggle into that port. We decided to put in at the border between Doreav and Volu. There was a safe stretch of forest at the border (just outside the Demon Forest) where we would likely be able to do some hunting and rest for a few days before continuing on. It would take a day longer than putting into Volu directly. Our current supplies would barely sustain it.

We were at quarter rations by the time we put in at Doreav. We secured the ship as best we could, and all of us put ashore. We quickly fanned out into the forest. The crew all knew that if they encountered Doreav, they should be told we have problems and money.

The dragon & rider landed a ways away. They'd taken the first deer we captured; the rider apparently cooked and ate it. She left what she couldn't eat for us. Everything was fine with the meat, so Brennen portioned it out among the crew to get us ready for the next day's hunt.

The next day, Brennen came across some well-concealed tracks. They were made by a highly skilled Ranger. We looked out for signs of decent game along the way. We didn't find much. After following the tracks for a few hours, we came across a small camp, also well concealed. Brennen was hard pressed to get much detail, but he figured it was 2 people.

By the third day, we'd pretty much stripped the area of the game we'd been able to find. Saigarn proposed we move farther inland. I cast my view high into the air, to get a look at the lay of the land. I found a small lake farther upstream from our current camp, and we decided to make our way there.

During our march, Brennen thought he spotted a person in the forest; 300' out on our left flank, it was hard to tell. I peeked out magically, but didn't spot anything. I also went up in the air, but still couldn't find anything. Brennen & I made sure to keep our hands clear and moved towards where we'd seen movement. I called out our peaceful intentions, cycling through several languages as we moved.

About 200' into the forest, we barely spotted the scout. He rose out of a fully camouflaged position and complimented Brennen's eyes. He told us we brought a dark menace with us. We told him he sought the help of the Doreav with that if possible, but our primary concern was getting enough supplies to get us to A'aloss, or at least a little surplus beyond Volu.

The scout told us we should continue on our path and camp at the lake; he would return with an answer. We returned to the party and continued the march. Fortune favored us; we found a good sized deer, and managed to bring it down. This was large enough to feed us and have some leftovers to make jerky.

Over the next week, hunting and fishing went well. Fresh food and water did a long way to rejuvenate us. The dragon and rider neither helped nor hindered us. Finally, the Doreav returned, in force. 30 emerged from camouflage at our camp.

They asked if there was a leader of the group. I stepped forward with Saigarn. They spoke in Selvesian. The Doreav with the darkest skin stepped forward. We noticed the elves fell distinctly into small, medium, and large categories. The one that stepped forward was pretty medium. He stepped forward until there was about 5' between us.

The leader asked us about the dragon & rider. I gave him the highlights of our journey with the orb. They were not interested in helping us kill the dragon & rider. We negotiated on price for a bit, but settled on 1000 gold for enough food to get us to A'aloss and beyond.

The Doreav returned in about 3 days, with all the food we needed. It was mostly salted meat, but more than we needed. They included some dried fruit and vegetables, enough to keep us healthy for 2 weeks along with the meat.

As we packed up camp, a small band of Doreav returned. We weren't sure if they were the same or different, but one of them was a woman. Her skin was slightly darkened, and the other 4 scouts appeared to be our escort. She was medium sized. She told us she was a spirit walker.

She was interested in the orb, and asked if she could see it. We retreated to a copse of trees. I showed her, and after she examined it for a bit she asked to hold it. I could tell she was trying to determine if the item was important enough for her to step in. I couldn't really get a connection to the orb, but I decided it was worth the risk.

As soon as she took hold of it, she connected well with it. I saw the fire shimmer around the orb. We heard the dragon land and start coming towards us. It took a bit of yelling, but I was able to get her out of her trance. She returned the orb and the dragon stopped its approach. She told me it was beyond her power. She told us the orb was an abomination of magic; destroying it would release the wide variety of creatures inside. It was too dangerous to destroy and too dangerous to exist. Her first thought was to drop it in the deepest ocean we could find, but of course something would eventually find it. She recommended we lock it up in the deepest darkest hole we could find and keep secure.

I took the opportunity to ask a bit about the Doreav. They didn't have their own language; they spoke a dialect of Selvesian. Also they weren't a distinct race as such. The size difference was due to the different races of elves that had joined to form the Doreav.

We returned to the camp, and told Saigarn why the dragon had become a bit agitated. We continued about our business, packing up the camp. We'd been assuming the rider was a lich, but it seemed she might simply be a powerful necromancer. We'd never got a good look at her.

Saigarn thought it might be time to talk to the dragon. I agreed, and removed my armor and weapons. I decided to first try to connect with the orb and seek the druid's advice or opinion.

I settled under the same copse of trees where we'd spoken with the Doreav spirit walker. With a little concentration, I was able to get the connection. The war was ongoing, but had calmed somewhat. It seemed the Witch was a major player; she was getting the fire elementals to merge with the shadow demons.

I asked to speak with her. She was busy, but she had time to talk. I caught her up on where we were and what we'd been doing; especially the dragon and the rider. She asked to see through my eyes. I allowed it; she immediately took possession of my body, and knew all my spells. She used my magical sensor to look at the dragon and rider.

She'd known this necromancer; she'd been a promising spirit walker.Her journey for greater power had taken her first to Emilgar, and then to Ku Rog where she became fascinated with blood magic. She was the most valuable necromancer the General had at his disposal. Her name was Zhanna, and she knew the witch was in the orb. That was why she wouldn't try to take it from us. We could be assured that Zhanna more than likely wanted to take the orb to the General.

I asked the witch about the food and the Volu on board. The Witch didn't know much about the Volu, but she could identify the culprit if given control of my body again. It would require physical contact. I wasn't sure how high a priority it was. When I asked about the food, the witch indicated this was similar to the corruption that tainted the Volu. The infiltrator likely intended to force us into port in Volu. She agreed I should warn Saigarn and re-arm myself.

I broke contact and returned to camp. I picked up my gear and returned to the trees with Saigarn and Brennen. While I put on my armor and hung my weapons, I told Saigarn what we'd learned. He wanted to be sure I trusted the Witch; I assured him that I did, though I will wasn't completely certain that it was safe. He agreed it was our best plan of action anyway. If we lost more people in the fight, then we could always build a smaller boat.

Confident in our course of action, we discussed execution. We would tell the crew we were going to do quick physicals to make sure everyone was fully rested, and if everything checked out, we would be on the move.

I couldn't re-establish the connection in the orb. I could try again in an hour or so, which seemed about the right time to check out the food.

I returned to the trees, and tried again but failed. I told Saigarn we'd need to spend the night, and I could try again in the morning. He told everyone to settle in.

The morning was no better. We were about a day's march from the coast, so I told Saigarn we should get moving and I'd try again in the evening. The day passed uneventfully. I tried again once we stopped for the mid-day break. I still couldn't get it to work. Our march continued, until we stopped for the night.

Finally, I was able to establish the connection. The Witch asked if I was ready. I told her that she should establish a cue for Brennen & Shatain to know who the target was. The Witch told me that it would be very immediate and obvious, since the Volu would know as soon as she did. It might even know before she did if the Volu had any magical training.

We told the camp we were going to go through brief physicals to make sure everyone was ready for the next phase of our journey. We stepped just a little outside of camp, with the A'aloss kids nearby doing weapon maintenance. Shatain & Brennen were close at hand, doing minor tasks with their weapons close.

Things were a little different with the Witch in control. My walk and speech were slightly different, and the surge of her magic was very odd. We started with the elves, which of course were fine. Jayden said he was fine, but the Witch walked on over. She was fairly up front with him - she told him that the corruption of the demon forest was a subtle thing. She could cleanse it with my holy power, but if he had something to say, this was the time.

It caught Jayden off guard, and the camp paused. Jayden acquiesced, but warned me he had seen many things in his life. Through our connection, I sensed an incredible corruption. It was like there was a demon inside him; it was unfathomable that he'd kept this hidden. I saw a wicked smile & glimmer in his eyes. He didn't start a fight, so we let him be for now.

Brennen & Shatain checked out clean of course. We moved on to Robert. He tried to rebuff me as well, but the Witch told her that this was the will of the captain, and mutiny was punishable by death. Robert didn't move. He acquiesced, with a little encouragement from Saigarn. She touched him on the cheek and neck, as she had Jayden; it was a little creepy.

His soul was veined with corruption. The Witch told me he was very likely a Volu. He didn't start a fight, so we released him back to camp. He stood there and weighed his options. Eventually, he walked back to camp, grabbed a pack, and started to walk off.

The Witch nodded to the captain. The captain nodded at the kids. They drew their bows, along with Brennen. Robert turned back, and said he was going to leave; we didn't have to do this. The A'aloss and Brennen fired; he died with 6 arrows in him.

Willie came up next. He was shaking; he was also completely fine. So was Nick, Steve, Sam, Philip, Cory and Seve. Yoric had a bit of a taint, but completely normal for a native of Emilgar. She warned us he shouldn't even step into Volu; he'd be corrupted within a week.

The dragon was much closer than usual - about 200' away, and very curious. We left it unmolested.

I put away the orb, and turned to Saigarn. I told him that Jayden was very, very corrupt, and would likely kill us all given the chance know that I knew. He was definitely powerful enough to have corrupted the food. His corruption was almost mind numbing.

In Dwarven, I commanded the A'aloss to kill the first mate. He morphed into a giant best, and charged straight at me.

Shatain immediately tried to bluff Jayden, but failed. She attacked, but missed. Jayden bluffed me successfully and attacked, but in the process of shoving Shatain out of the way, he swung wide and intersected his wrist with the line of Shatain's failed attack. His hand with the dagger came off, and bounced off my shield just before he crashed into me face first, breaking a tooth off in the wood. The hit was for 24.

Saigarn hit as well, for 11. Brennen hit with his axe for 13. I struck critically for 11. Brennen attacked next, hitting twice for 19 and 16. I conjured my spiritual hammer (maximized), which hit for 10, but missed with its second attack. Saigarn hit critically with his sword for 19.

Saigarn struck again, hitting for 22. My spiritual hammer fell, but missed. I hit twice, for 11 and 9. Jayden fell. He started to recover, but Saigarn pinned Jayden into the ground with his longsword. Brennen stepped in with his axe, and removed his head with a clean coup de grace.

We turned to the crew, but they clearly knew what had happened. Shatain went into the bushes after Jayden's dagger. I went to Robert and took his ring. It was a ring that would let me charm someone 3 times per day.

The A'aloss looked a little upset that we'd hogged the glory, but Saigarn kept them calm. The dragon was still keeping an eye on things, but had backed up a little. There was no need to bury the bodies, but we took their provisions and split up their gold.

Honestly we were surprised Jayden's blood wasn't black.

The Fish Will Kill You

We were able to salvage about 2 months worth of supplies from the captured boat. Sleep was still an issue, but morale improved with the quality of our food. Brennen had found a tome to increase his stamina on the pirate vessel, and was working through it as he could. Everyone was working 20 hour days; along with the supplies and my healing magic, we were surviving.

We had about 30 days of sailing before we reached a port. Saigarn was pretty good at keeping the crew in line and minimizing conflict. The A'aloss kids maintained a fairly cheery disposition; they were the happiest members of the crew. Some resented their attitude, some took it as an additional morale boost.

We were back into deeply magical waters. We were seeing things on an almost daily basis, but thankfully there were few encounters. We were still very careful on what we pulled up when fishing. Merpeople would occasionally mess with out catches; tangling the nets or filling them with sea junk.

The pirate vessel was several days behind us, floating without masts in the open sea. One of the crewmen became violently ill. It seemed he had food poisoning. Somehow he was the only one sick. I was able to verify he was poisoned, but I couldn't tell the exact source. I was fairly certain he'd be fine for a few hours; at this point he just needed rest. I couldn't afford to leave him on the sidelines, but I could safely investigate the source of the poison before curing him magically.

The first barrel I investigated was salted fish; it was poisoned. All the rest were, too. It seemed like all our supplies were spoiled and/or poisoned. It was definitely decay accelerated by magic. I couldn't be sure, but it seemed necromantic. Something wasn't adding up though. The magic was... not standard. I tried to purify the food... it seemed to resist the spell. This was very unusual. I was able to overcome it and get the magic at least salvageable. Even so about 1/3 of it was unusable.

Talking to Saigarn, he recommended returning the one crewman, Cory (a tailor in his forties) to full health before interviewing the crew. Cory was quick to point the finger at Jayden. We suspected this might be a byproduct of the magical waters we sailed through, but wanted to be safe. I made sure to conduct the interviews in a non-accusatory manner. I was looking for any indication of possession or a malevolent magical item. I checked each crew member for magic and poison as I cycled through the crew.

In between interviews, I purified additional quantities of food. That day, I was able to salvage about 3 weeks of food. There were 2 batches of food I could try again the next day. And of course, we were adding days to the journey by pulling crew out of their positions for interviews.

We found several more people that were getting sick; 3 of the villagers. Willie (in his 60s), Robert (our adventure guide) and Nick, a boy in his twenties. I neutralized the poison in Willie first, and interviewed him. Willie thought that if anyone poisoned the food, it would be Josh. As with Cory. Josh was an herbalist that ran an apothecary in the town; he wasn't exactly classically trained either.

Robert hadn't seen anything weird, but he also thought Jayden might have been involved. I cured the poison in his system. He had a magical ring, but the aura was faint and he assured me it was only to give him the upper hand in negotiations. That aligned with what we knew of him; he always seemed to be a little more hard to bluff than normal.

Nick also hadn't seen anything weird, He'd fished these waters most of his life, so he was pretty confident he hadn't brought anything on board by accident. Brennen delayed the poison in him as well. He didn't have any suspicions about who might have done it (if anyone did.) He also told us there were fish in these waters that could contaminate supplies, but not of the level we've been seeing. Not that he was ruling anything out, but it wasn't inside the realm of his experience. He also felt if it came from the sea, people would have been killed rather than spoiling our supplies.

We took an hour before the next two crewmen; Stephen & Sam. Stephen was in his thirties, and was known for some hunting & fishing. He was a good crewmember, generally solving problems rather than creating, and did his job well. Stephen suspected Robert had poisoned the food, if anyone.

Sam was our carpenter and engineer. He was definitely Brennen's favorite on the crew, and an integral part of our crew. Sam hadn't seen anything odd, though he was aware of the fact that we had some odd people and everyone was hallucinating on and off between work & magic.

We had a few hours without interviews. I cured Nick, and rested again. About 5 hours later, I started feeling nauseous, as did Shatain & Brennen. I cured the three of us, and rested again.

Phillip was our next interview; he was in his fifties, and had a reputation as a full time drunk and a part time fisherman. However, he was the comedic genius on the boat. He did his work with a little encouragement, and kept people laughing. He was in an unusually long spell of sobriety, so he had no idea what was going on; he'd seen pretty much everything during the voyage due to withdrawals. We figured it would take too much work to poison the food. I cured him.

Brendan was a fisherman in his thirties, without a lot of personality. He had a dog, but hadn't brought it along. He wasn't very exciting or excited, and didn't have any suspicions. I cured him.

Yoric was one of our original sailors, and was from Emilgar. He had an accent and was a bit creepy. Emilgar was one of main sources of necromancy in the world, and he had some odd religious views. He didn't have any suspicions. I cured him. He had a magical necklace; it was a powerful charm against evil. I didn't ask him about it.

We rested again, and no one else was getting sick. Seve (our other veteran C'oritan sailor) did not get sick; neither did Jayden, the A'aloss, and Josh the hedge wizard. I was able to purify the remaining 2 batches of food, but that only got us another 4 days of food. We were pushing the limits of endurance. We would have to put into port in Volu, and Saigarn did not want to stop there. The A'aloss hated Volu, though the city was a reasonable trading port.

I talked to Saigarn, and made sure he was OK with me interviewing the A'aloss. He wasn't crazy about the idea. I explained I was trying to be as fair as possible, and I would keep it brief. He agreed it was a good method, and promised to send them down.

After a rest, I interviewed Jayden. He wasn't surprised; I emphasized I was trying to put him through the same process as the rest of the crew. He commented that he was happy I was being fair about it. I also told him at this point that I figured this was the lich's doing; it wasn't normal lich magic, but it seemed to be forcing us in the direction she wanted us to go. He also had a magical dagger. After some cajoling, he allowed me to examine it (while he held onto it.) I assured him I would keep his secrets. There were 3 separate enchantments; conjuration, evocation, and necromancy.

I traded him my ghost-touched cold iron warhammer in trust to examine the dagger more closely. The evocation component would cause bleeding wounds that required magical healing to stop. The conjuration was ghost-touched, like my warhammer. The necromancy was an effect that significantly increased the damage from a surprise attack. I passed back the dagger, complimented him on the quality, and assured him of confidentiality. He thanked me and I moved on.

I spoke with with Seve briefly. He didn't have anything to add, other than that there were a lot of odd things in this water, and like others, he wasn't sure if we'd ever pin this on anything. He admired my effort though.

Josh was our final human interview; the hedge wizard. He seemed to have a little poison in his system, though nothing serious; he had a pouch however with a very significant amount of poison in it. He seemed a little nervous, though not really out of the ordinary. He had no magical items. For some reason he believed the A'aloss might have been to blame for the sickness. He pointed out they seemed to really enjoy playing with the magical fish. I told him the A'aloss were up next, and assured him they were going to be questioned just like everyone else. He didn't seem to believe me.

I asked him point blank about the pouch of poison. He told me he didn't know what I was talking about. I pointed at the pouch and explicitly told him that I was willing to do whatever was necessary to find out what was in it. His composure broke, but he kept up with the store that the didn't know what was in it. I warned him I could destroy it with a thought. He turned to leave, and started running when I cast the spell to neutralize the contents of the pouch.

He ran right into the A'aloss. Saigarn had sent them down for their interviews. They immediately restrained him. He struggled harder, and it seemed like they took a little more time than they needed to, but they got him subdued and tied. He was beat up pretty badly, but nothing life threatening. I healed him up so that he wasn't in pain.

I sat the A'aloss down, within earshot of Josh. I asked them the same questions. They had no poison or magical items. They told us they had been eating certain fish, and it was keeping them in better spirits, but it would be lethal to humans. They said some C'oritan natives (like myself and Seve) might be able to handle it. They told me that Josh had been an annoyance; he was constantly trying to get into their circle, and find out any secrets of the fish. They knew he'd got his hands on at least some of the organs.

I took Josh's pouch. It was a small array of alchemy tools, and an unidentifiable paste. He wouldn't tell me anything about it. I thanked the A'aloss, asked them to share a bit of the magical fish with me next time, and sent them on the way. After updating Saigarn, I searched Josh's bunk.

Josh turned out to be hiding an small, amateurish, but passable alchemy lab. He had the organs from the fish in various states of preparation and decay. I called down Robert; he told me it looked like Josh actually knew his business a bit better than he let on. The preparation would make a mild sleeping poison. It would kill in a high enough dose, but it wasn't likely the reason the food had gone bad.

I thanked Robert and went back to the captain. He ordered the materials thrown overboard, and told Robert his life was only spared because the crew was so thin. Saigarn made it clear that if he cooked alone, or was found with any other implements, he would be killed immediately.

We untied Robert and sent him back to duty. His pride was broken. We might have made an enemy, but more importantly he was back to work and the threat was neutralized.

I went down to the hold and pulled out the orb. There was a faint shimmer of fire within it. I could barely see it. I felt an intense connection to the orb, and knew there was a large concentration of chaotic energy inside, and likely a pitched battle. That made sense - the fire elementals had gone somewhere, after all.

I was thinking about calling out the witch to get her take on events, but decided this wasn't the best time.

I reported back to Saigarn and life returned to normal. About 10 hours later, Robert came off shift, went down and came back to grab Jayden. He told us someone killed Josh in his bunk. Saigarn detailed me to investigate.

There was very little blood; his neck had been broken. It looked like he'd been attacked by an animal that had taken him by the neck and shaken him to death. There were some abrasions from teeth, but nothing indicating a normal beast. Brennen checked for any tracks or other sign.

Brennen found enough - he determined the culprit was a wererat. Someone on board was a Volu. We knew the A'aloss hated, loathed, and despised the Volu. This would start a witch hunt if we let the information get out. The A'aloss were the only ones we could rule out.

There was a lot of conjecture about the Volu. We knew they had traders of all races that lived in their city. The common wisdom was that no one should stay in the city for more than 6 months; that was long enough to catch the curse. We knew people disappeared there all the time.

This was its own unique, odd magic that was completely undetectable. Calling them wererats was a bit of a misnomer; there were many mutations within the Volu. Brennen was certain the jaws were truly massive to get around even Josh's scrawny neck. If the jaws were proportional, the hybrid form was 7-8' tall. The only thing we could do is talk to Saigarn and hope for the best.

Frost on the Water

Our ship was running the bare minimum crew. None of us were slipping more than 4 or so hours per night. I was using magic to purify our food and water as needed, but we only had so much. The rations were doing well enough along with catch from the sea. I was also using magic to keep the crew refreshed; we were able to keep the ship maintained and moving, but the possibility of starvation was always in the background. I could keep the crew going until they died, but they couldn't keep up the pace forever.

After about 3 weeks on the sea, we spotted another vessel. It became apparent it was going to attempt to intercept us; it had begun a wide slow turn to realign its course with us. Over the course of the next day, we set up cover for archers and prepared for a fierce battle. The other ship was better crewed, and had their share of archers as well. The dragon and rider was not currently in sight.

We found the ship to be well-equipped with shields and other defensive gear to put up. There weren't many of us, but our defensive position was good. I cast out a magical sensor, and located the captain on the aft deck. It looked liked he had an evil cleric with him. I notified the archers of this. Shatain had the potion of black tentacles ready. It looked like about 50 scruffy crew on deck.

Brennen fired 2 volleys of 3 at about 400', but didn't hit anything. The A'aloss fired as well, but only a few shots. He waited another minute, waiting for them to close about another 100', and fired another volley. 2 of the 3 arrows found their marks, knocking 1 pirate each off of the front line. The A'aloss opened up again, and took down 2 more pirates. Brennen continued firing, killing 1 pirate outright. His 2 additional arrows missed. The next volley hit 1 out of 3 as well, dropping another pirate down. The A'aloss continued firing as well, taking down 1 additional pirate.

At about 200', I checked with my magical sensor again. The cleric was still on the aft quarterdeck. A few pirates were dead, a few more were badly wounded, but they were pretty calm.

Brennen fired, dropping 2 more pirates. The A'aloss took out 2 more. The captain of the other ship issued some angry orders and they hunkered down farther, effectively removing any chance of further shots.

As the boat reached 180', I cast out a hammer of force to start attacking the cleric on the opposing ship. It attacked successfully, hitting for 8. The hammer struck again, hitting for 8 again, but missing with another attack. The cleric attempted to dispel the hammer, but failed. I also smote the back of the ship, including the cleric, captain, and as many crew as possible. It looked like the cleric failed the save, and took the full 15. The crew stayed down, so I couldn't tell how it affected them. The hammer fell again, striking for 4 and 6. I also dropped another burst of holy energy, hitting anyone that was evil and failed their save for 23.

The hammer fell again. It struck twice, killing the cleric. The dragon swooped in behind us, and landed on the aft deck of the pirate ship. It looked like a deliberately destructive landing; the captain was knocked aside, and the wheel house was destroyed. It used its breath weapon, finishing off the crew that were already injured, and quickly killing the rest of the crew.

Shatain lobbed the potion of black tentacles as the dragon prepared to lift off again. It hit the dragon, consuming it as it exploded and grew. The rider dropped to the deck as quickly as possible, but shortly the deck of the ship was covered in thick black tentacles. Remaining crew were grabbed and thrown; the rigging was dismantled quickly.

The ship was still on a bit of a collision course. Saigarn whipped the crew into action, doing his best to avoid a collision. It wasn't enough. The stern of the pirate ship clipped our stern; the tentacles grabbed a bit of our rigging, but we were able to avoid the worst of the collision.

Our crew cheered, though they were a little weirded out. Saigarn corrected our course to stay close to the ship so we could board it once the tentacles disappeared. The dragon reformed as the tentacles dissipated. The rider reappeared, somewhat haggard. He regained his mount and took to the air.

The dragon went about 100' up into the air, and then started gliding back towards our ship. This was not an attack run; we'd seen that. I told everyone to hold their fire but be ready. It landed gently on the aft deck.

The rider spoke. It was a woman. She told us that she'd toyed with us enough; we had something she wanted. We would either take it where she wanted or she would kill us. She strongly recommended we take the supplies from the other ship and get to a port. She would not clarify where she wanted us to go.

We boarded the opposing ship. The whole deck was covered with dead bodies; about 60. The dragon's breath weapon was frost; the bodies were gently smoking as ice evaporated. We checked the ship carefully, but there were no survivors; not even rats. The food was untouched and cold.

We retrieved the supplies and started looking for loot. There was a lot of miscellaneous gold and silver household goods. There was a chest with a little over 4,000 gold in it. Total haul including searching the bodies was about 5,000 gold.

I checked the body of the cleric. He had a rod that would let me maximize a lower spell three times per day. There wasn't much else. On the body of the cook (a mean looking, nasty man), I found a magical cloak. The cloak was hideously ugly; bright orange, with splotches and multicolored patches. The cloak would help the wearer avoid many of the pitfalls of life; avoiding explosions, resisting poisons, and increasing mental toughness. However, unless the ugly side was out and uncovered.

We split the gold evenly between us and the crew. There was about 4,000 gold worth of cargo; olives, silk, various good that we would need to sell off.

It's Raining Cockatrices

We rested for a few hours while we waited for the fires to burn out. As we started to think about trying to identify the magical items we'd obtained, and possibly interrogating the necromancer's spirit, we noticed something. Coming in from the Northwest, about 1000' away, we saw the shape of a dragon. It looked like it had a rider. We couldn't tell exactly what kind of dragon it was, but it was dark. The nearest land it could be from was A'aloss, but we weren't sure where it was coming from. It didn't look like it was coming directly to us.

The dragon flew over the town and the witch, staying at a height of roughly 2000'. It finally looped around and headed for the tower. We closed up around the door of the tower. The dragon banked back & forth in lazy swoops, affording the rider a clear view of the grounds. On its second swoop over us, I noticed the dragon had reins, bit, and bridle. The dragon appeared to be undead; most of its flesh was intact and it appeared to be flying naturally. The rider was heavily swathed in thick, dark robes. The robes were well-maintained and expensive, not tattered.

The dragon looped back around. The rider ran a knife along his arm and sprinkled some drops on the ground near us. I believed it wasn't a spell as such; more a magical effect of the blade. Another necromancer... I didn't recognize the monsters, but they were some kind of winged beast. There were about 10 of them. It didn't take long for them to orient themselves and start coming towards us, while the dragon circled overhead.

Shatain went for the tower; Brennen & I followed. We ran down the stairs, set out our lanterns and set the trap. We heard the creatures enter the tower, and start going down the stairs. They triggered the pit trap pretty quickly, and came tumbling down in a gaggle. They couldn't untangle to fly, and 6-7 tumbed into the pit trap. Some of them landed on top of the others that were already pinned. We also hear a few more coming down.

Shatain stabbed the first one to poke its head up, and hit it for 27. Her 2nd attack missed. 3 were into the room with us. C1 bit Shatain for 5, and removed 2 point of his Dexterity. We recognized these as cockatrices. C2 bit at me, but missed. C3 bit Brennen, doing 3, but avoided the poison. I waited for the others to appear in the room - 6 were with us. I dropped a burst of holy energy, but unfortunately they weren't actually evil creatures. Some took 6, some took 3. C4-C6 attacked Brennen; he took a total of 15 and 2 points of Dexterity. Brennen attacked C4, hitting for 16 and again for 15.

C2 attacked me, biting for 3; I wasn't affected by the poison. I summoned a hammer of spiritual force; it attacked C2 twice, hitting once for 7. Shatain bluffed C1, but missed with her attack. C3-C6 all attacked Brennen; he took 10 total, and was able to resist the poison. Brennen swung at C4, and killed it with an attack for 23. He then attacked C5, hitting for 16. C1 attacked Brennen but missed. C5 attacked late, hitting Brennen for 5 and taking another 2 points of Dex.

Shatain bluffed C1 again, and hit for 23 again. C1 died. Several attacked Brennen again, hitting for 10 total again. He resisted all the poison. C2 attacked me again, but missed. Brennen attacked C5, hitting for 19 and missing with his 2nd attack. My hammer hit C2 twice, for 15 total. My own attacks missed.

Shatain bluffed C6, and hit for 16. My spiritual hammer missed with the first attack, but hit on the 2nd for 10. I struck with my warhammer, missed, and fumbled on the 2nd attack. C2 attacked as the opportunity presented but missed. C2 attacked again, but missed again. C6 attacked Shatain, biting for 3. Shatain resisted the poison. Brennen attacked C5, hitting for 21 and killing it. Brennen then attacked C6, but barely missed. C3 bit Brennen for 2, and 1 point of Dex.

My spiritual hammer struck C2 again, hitting for 5, but missing with the 2nd attack. I attacked with my hammer, but missed critically. The beast bit me for 3, and I resisted the poison. Brennen attacked C6, hitting for 16. He critically missed his 2nd attack. C6 bit back for 4, but Brennen resisted the poison. Shatain bluffed C6 again, and hit for 16, finishing it off. C2 attacked me, but missed again. C3 missed as well.

C3 attacked Brennen & hit for 3. Brennen resisted the poison. Shatain bluffed C3, but missed with her attack. My hammer hit C2 with its 2nd attack for 3; my hammer hit for 11 on the 2nd attack and killed it. Brennen attacked C3, hitting for a total of 32. My spiritual hammer hit C3 twice for 12, and I hit it again for 9, finally finishing it off.

Brennen was pretty badly injured, and slow. Shatain was doing OK. I healed some of Brennen's Dexterity damage, and healed us all up to full. Peeking outside, we could see the fire elementals continuing to burn everything in sight. The dragon was still looping with its riders above us. We went back inside. I regained my spells, swapping out a few so I could heal Brennen & Shatain's Dexterity all the way back up.

Around nightfall, the fire had pretty much burnt out. There was a broad swath, around 100' wide or so, directly to the center of the island, about where the witch was. The destruction hadn't reached out much farther than that, and thankfully the town had been spared. We stayed to the edge of the burnt area and headed towards the witch. The dragon flew over us a few times, kind of keeping an eye on our progress.

There had been a light rain. The ground was still hot, but not really burning. It took us until about midnight to get to the witch's table. The stone table was lightly singed, and the orb was in the middle. There was no ball or chain left on the table. It seemed everything had just gone into the orb.

Brennen & Shatain heard rustling from the Northwest in the bushes. It didn't seem to be a critter. We drew our weapons, and we heard the voice of Robert in the bushes. He told us not to shoot and carefully exited the brush. He seemed a bit surprised to see us.

He'd received a note, telling him to collect the orb. He had no idea where it had come from; no one in his shop knew either. When pressed, he produced the note and handed it to me. All it said was to collect the orb and take it off of the island. I clambered up onto the table and took the orb. Brennen discussed any possible value of the cockatrice bodies; Robert offered us 200 gold for all 10 bodies.

Part way back to the tower, we could see the dragon & rider heading in to land. It seemed like the rider was staying away from us for the most part, so we decided to return to the town and assemble our crew. We arrived a few hours before dawn.

Everyone in the town had torches & lanterns going; it was very bright. There were a few people, looking very cautious, on porches. They asked us to stop about 30' away from the town. A man in his mid-40s, with a longsword & crossbow, was the one talking to us.

He told us about the events of the day - which we'd of course mostly seen. He told us a lot of the townsfolk were ready to leave the island. We said we were looking for crew, so that aligned well. He directed us to the inn; most of the people that wanted to leave were there.

There were armed guards at the inn. They let us in after a brief inspection. The townsfolk were discussing the pros & cons. They quieted down when we entered. We told them that the dragon didn't seem interested in confronting us; we could likely leave with minimal danger. Many of the townsfolk seemed ready to go. We told them we would row out to the ship and be back within an hour or so and talk more once we knew the status of the A'aloss & remaining crew. An older man stepped out of the crowd and told us that he knew how to captain a ship.

It seemed the man did know the basics; we offered to take him with us when we rowed out to the ship. As we conversed, Brennen believed the old man used to be a pirate. We weren't too concerned; he might be old, but he'd probably know how to fight the ship.

The A'aloss had lanterns burning brightly on the ship, and they spotted us pretty quickly. They welcomed us aboard after we identified ourselves. The kids woke up Saigarn, who was looking pretty groggy & stiff.

We asked about the status of the ship. Saigarn told us there was about a day's worth of repairs left. With more hands, it would be a lot faster. We introduced Saigarn to Jayden, who had volunteered to be our captain. Saigarn told us that the supply situation was bad; we'd need to bring in a full stock from the island. We could do some coastal hunting, but most of the nearby coast was the Demon Forest, so the game was a little suspect. Jayden walked through the ship with Saigarn, reviewing the remaining repairs and prioritizing them.

Saigarn told us he'd like to come back to town with us. We got back in the boat, and headed back towards town. Jayden told us that he wasn't sure how many people from town would accept his captaincy. We mentioned having Saigarn be the captain, with Jayden as the first mate. Jayden decided it would be best if we just didn't mention him and Saigarn would be the captain.

We entered the inn and explained we needed at least a dozen crew, but we could take pretty much anyone that could go, and we needed supplies. The unofficial leader of the townsfolk called on the people that wanted to go to stand up.

Only 6 stood. We continued extolling the need to leave the island; Oritan was likely coming, on top of the witch no longer being imprisoned and the dragon. We finally persuaded an additional 8 people to come. We told the townspeople we'd be back and forth throughout the next day while we gathered additional supplies.

Just before dawn, we picked up our 14 from the beach with their gear & supplies, and took them to the ship. The day passed uneventfully. The dragon continued to make long low sweeps over the island, occasionally returning to the tower. Robert decided to join us at the last minute.

We eventually hoisted anchor and sailed out. The dragon followed us, but stayed at a distance. We fished as much as we could. Jayden was very good as a quartermaster; he wasn't really in charge, but he was very helpful with everything going on to keep the ship moving. It seemed he was a little harsher than Saigarn, so having him as a consultant seemed to be the better option.

The dragon stayed with the ship the whole time. Every now and again, the dragon dipped into the Demon Forest for a few hours before returning to its observation post.

I had time to figure out the use of the magical items. The mace was unfiinished; it had a strong necromantic aura, but didn't actually do anything. It seemed it was intended to become a life draining mace. The chain shirt had a resistance to energy drains, and wasn't otherwise evil. The rubies from the mage were elemental stones containing fire elementals. The potion was an oil of black tentacles. We'd have to be careful with those. The wand was a wand of Scorching Ray, with 20 charges. I gave that to Shatain, as she was the only one who could use it.

I took a moment to cure the damage to my constitution, and heal myself up. We didn't see the mage nearby, so I took a moment to examine the different orb in the center of the main chamber.

The main chamber was south of the entrance. Side halls and chambers radiated out from the central room. They were roughly to the Northwest, Southwest, Southeast, and Northeast.

Unlike the silver orbs (2' across) in the other chambers and above ground, this was much larger and black. It was about 20' across, made out of some sort of stone. Examining it carefully, I couldn't pick up on everything, but it seemed to radiate energy into the other 4 chambers where there were cells. It reverbrated and amplified through the chambers. Likely this was what kept the prisoners shielded and suspended.

While I examined the orb, Shatain did her best to check out the chambers. Sound echoed very strongly in here; she was at a severe disadvantage. Brennen & I kept a somewhat loud nonsensical conversation to give her cover. She made it down to the end of the Northwest chamber, and was on her way back when we heard the voice of the mage - "It seems we are at an impasse."

Shatain pointed out that we wanted to speak to the mage, we didn't want to fight. I interjected with basic pleasantries - we gave our names, and he gave us his - Sapien. I explained that we had 2 goals - as the price of our entry, we had promised the elemental that we would turn over the means of control to the prison, and we needed to free the witch.

The mage told us that it was his job to maintain control over the elemental; he couldn't allow us to free it. The witch was not as large a concern, though freeing her would make us some very powerful enemies.

I spoke a bit more with the mage. He clarified that the witch was not part of his charge; he was only responsible for the facility we were in. The most he could do to assist us was to turn a blind eye. He was willing to do so if we left; it was completely possible for us to just walk away.

I could tell that the mage was probably within 50' of us. The corridors were about 80' long, with 15' arches. We kept up the conversation for a while, but didn't get much useful information out of him. For a while he played the game, but eventually he tired. We were pretty sure he was down the SW corridor.

The mage began invoking a magical item. I suspected the orb. I put a burst of holy energy down the corridor where we thought he was, but didn't catch him. We heard a large boom from the black orb; it developed a large crack. It wasn't enough to daze us, but we then heard the sound of hundreds of bodies hitting the floor. Whatever was keeping the prisoners just failed.

Shatain moved down the hallway. About half-way down, he stopped; we could all see firelight growing from all the chambers with silver orbs. Shatain could see that the bodies of the prisoners were catching with some sort of magical fire, without consuming them. The bodies were not animating. The fire grew quickly off of each body. The wizard told us that we would be privy to something no one else knew - the purpose of the facility.

The fires grew, and took on the semblance of fire elementals. The mage suggested that we flee. Shatain dropped caltrops into the room. Each of the fire elementals was a medium or small elemental, and there were different sizes.

The firelord came out of the black orb in the center, in his serpentine form. He charged down the Southwest corner, and we heard a scream from the mage. We charged down the corridor. Shatain increased his speed, Brennen & I increased our resistance to fire, and charged down the corridor.

The firelord was attacking. The mage was ill-equipped to fend off its attacks. Shatain moved up to within 30', and managed to avoid the attacks of any fire elementals in the room. She fired at the mage, hitting for 18. I manifested a warhammer of spiritual energy, and hit the mage for 9. Brennen fired a masterwork arrow, but missed with his shot.

Shatain fired again. She couldn't get flanked against the firelord, missed with the first shot, but hit with the 2nd for 7. My spritual warhammer hit him for 8. I then fired my bow, hitting critically for 14, then again for 6. The mage died.

The firelord wasn't eager to let go of the mage. The firelord spoke - "My brothers, you are free! Go forth and burn the world!" The elementals disappeared into the silver orb. He turned to us, told us we'd done well, and gave us the sword back. He warned us we were free of his wrath, but the others would not be so discriminating.

Shatain hoisted his sword and the mage's body. A slim rod of wood dropped and rolled across the floor. There was also an amulet with a small black orb, which was also cracked. I grabbed the rod with a glove. The entire area was clear of fire elementals and other magic; it was very dark. We took out our lanterns. The cloud of poisonous fog at the entrance was dissipating. I attempted to identify the wand while we waited, but failed.

Once we were out on top, we could tell that all the fire elementals were on the island, and beginning to light things on fire. It looked like we'd need to let things burn out before we could leave.

We inspected the mage's belongings. The amulet was no longer magical, but did have some gold and other precious items. There was a magical crystal ball, 3 rubies of decent size and magical, a small lantern about the size of a small breadbox also magical, and 2 potions which were also magical, in addition to the wand. His robes were somewhat magical, threaded with a form of sunforged metal. Shatain found a coin purse with 30 platinum, 90 gold, and a signet ring. She split it with us... by giving Brennen & I 5 platinum and 20 gold each. We estimated there was about 1.5 lbs. of gold in it.

The crystal ball was a standard crystal ball. I couldn't get anything off of the rubies. The lantern revealed invisible creatures as its light passed over them. One of the potions would protect the user from scrying. The other one was beyond my knowledge; it was black, oily, and sealed in a very difficult manner.

It would have to wait a day. I still needed to identify the wand, the 2nd potion, the rubies, and the mace.

A Cleric, a Rogue, and a Ranger walk into a tower...

With some trepidation, we entered the tower, now unopposed. The first room was small and circular, with no distinguishing features other than a stairwell leading down. Shatain went first, looking for traps. He quickly found one.

The stairs appeared to be a straightforward mechanical trap. It was designed to collapse the stairs into a slide, unless they were locked in place. There was no trigger upstairs, and no way to tell what was at the end. We roped up Shatain & sent her down first. While we rigged a simple harness, Shatain was able to get the rope tied to Brennen's ankle without him noticing.

About 20-30' down, sure enough, the stairs collapsed. Shatain didn't slide much, thanks to the rope. We inched her down slowly. At the bottom was a pit, with several skeletons impaled on spikes. Shatain also found the mechanism to raise the stairs again and lock them in place, and close the pit trap. (She figured.) I went down next; Shatain & Brennen held the rope taught as a guard rail just in case. I got down without any problems, and Brennen also followed safely.

The bottom of the stairs had a bit of a social feel; there was seating and decoration. This was arranged around the reset pit trap. There was a set of double doors on one end. Brennen looked for any sign that the room had been recently used. He found no dust, oddly.

Shatain looked about for traps. There were none other than the pit trap. Examining the door, it was well built with a complex lock. I checked for magic, but found nothing. Shatain tried the door, but it was locked. The lock was superior, and she had no luck opening it. Shatain & Brennen conferred, and decided the door had deadbolts at the top & bottom.

Brennen tried throwing a shoulder into it, but the door didn't budge. He was sure his shoulder would break before the door did. I sat down to rest and recover my spells, as well as learn a spell to shape stone.

Once I was ready, I removed about 6" of stone from around the edges of the door. The stone resisted a bit, but it worked. We gently lowered the door. It seemed the door was layers of wood and steel; we wouldn't have gotten through it any other way.

Down a long corridor into another room, we saw 2 figures lit by a dim, eery light. We immediately dropped the door and jumped to the sides of the doorway. The 2 figures did the same. The acoustics were very good; we could hear them whispering that they needed to be ready.

I recognized the wizard was conjuring black tentacles. Shatain danced free, but Brennen & I were grappled and took a little damage. (I took 7, Brennen took 8.) I attempted to dispel the tentacles; I got through the distraction of being grappled, but couldn't break the spell. Brennen broke free from the tentacles and charged as far as he could; he was almost to the edge. Shatain charged down the hallway as well, but got grappled by the tentacles.

I attempted to cast again, but couldn't get past the grasp of the tentacles. Shatain broke out and got down the hallway. The mage conjured a fog of poisonous gas that began rolling down the hallway; Brennen made his save and lost 1 point of Constitution. Shatain missed her save and took 2 points of Constitution. The necromancer shot a burst of unholy energy in the hallway, in between Brennen & Shatain - I was unaffected, but they were both in the middle of it. Brennen made his save and took 14. Shatain missed her save, took 17, and became sickened. She dipped her sword in poison. Brennen broke out of the tentacles fully, and got down the hallway a bit.

I attempted to cast again, but couldn't get around the tentacles. I was able to break their grip and get out of the area; unfortunately right into the poisonous fog. I made my save, but still took 2 points of Constitution. The necromancer tried to cast a curse on Brennen, but Brennen made his save. Shatain went for the mage, striking with her longsword but failing critically. Brennen attacked the necromancer, hitting critically with a 2-handed power attack for 28.

Brennen attacked necromancer again, but missed. The mage waved a spell I couldn't see and disappeared. The necromancer cast carefully, avoiding Brennen, and seemed to heal himself. I moved through the fog, avoiding any further damage, and cast a burst of holy energy in the room. Both the mage & necromancer made their saves, and took only 8. Shatain made a best guess on the invisible mage's location, but missed with 2 attacks.

Shatain dropped a smoke bomb one one side of the room, where another corridor entered. She was fairly certain she heard someone swear inside the fog, and leaped for it. The mage cast a lightning bolt at Shatain & I. Shatain dodged it, but I took 40. Brennen attacked the necromancer, but missed with both swings. I healed myself for 45. The necromancer cast another burst of unholy damage, hitting me for 31. Brennen & Shatain made their saves and only took 15. I would be sicked for about 3 rounds.

Shatain moved to the necromancer and struck with her longsword (which was still poisoned) for 7, and 1 point of Constitution. I channeled holy energy to heal the 3 of us for 18. The necromancer dropped another burst of unholy energy, hitting Brennen & I for 10. Shatain missed her save, and took 21. She would be sickened for 1 round. Brennen swung for the necromancer, but failed. The wizard cast a spell, but we couldn't see its effect.

The necromancer succeeded in his save against the poison. Shatain had him flanked now; she missed with the first attack, but hit with the 2nd for 17. The necromancer attempted to cast, but this time failed. Brennen followed up with a hit for 17. I healed the 3 of us again for 13. The mage cast a fireball; he found a pocket that would get us without hurting the necromancer. Brennen & Shatain took no damage since our fire resistance was still up; I took 16. Just before it exploded, we noticed the fireball came from above.

40' up, a ball of darkness, about 40' wide, appeared. The ball quickly descended to us, and we heard the clatter of a coin as we were engulfed. The poison killed the necromancer. I felt around for the necromancer and excluded him before channeling energy again to heal the 3 of us for 19. Meanwhile, Brennen & Shatain searched for the coin without success.

I healed us again, for 12. Brennen kept searching for the coin, but couldn't find it. The wizard said "well played" and didn't cast any spells at us. We assumed he left. Shatain searched for the coin again as well, but couldn't find it.

It took us a few more minutes, but we found the coin and cast it down the corridor, back where we entered. We searched the necromancer. He had a flanged mace that was very nice. I couldn't immediately identify it, but set it aside for later. There was a comfortably sized pouch of coins, which Shatain almost slipped out of sight; Brennen & I both noticed it. There was a thin, high-quality chain vest. It could be moonforged, but we weren't very sure. It was very light, and we knew it took a blade well. There was as signet ring, which I identified as a noble's signet from Oritan - the house of Prellian.. There was a non-magical ruby ring. The clothes were dark and nice; proper noble attire for travelling, if a bit cut up and bloody. There was also a ceremonial dagger, not magical. His non-magical necklace was strung together bones & small skulls; we left that alone.

We counted out the coin purse. It held 100 platinum, 56 gold, and 10 copper. We split that mostly evenly.

A Cleric, a Rogue, and a Ranger walk into a ship...

I gained the side of the ship. I immediately healed us all with a burst of holy energy for 18. I was then able to quickly heal Brennen & Shatain for 24 each. One of the A'aloss warned us there was a fire in the hold. Saigarn and his remaining A'aloss went into the ship, going after the mage and to fight the fire. Brennen, Shatain & I went down the opposite side; our target was the necromancer.

We heard calls for water as the A'aloss reached the hold. We reached the rowing decks and found nothing but tangled bones. We continued our search in the bow of the ship, but found nothing living. After checking the lower hold and the rest of the ship, we still didn't find anything. I settled down near the A'aloss and began a divination. Shatain & Brennen went through the ship again. They came up empty again.

The response I received was somewhat straightforward. "You will find them in the halls of the dead warden."

We thought about what we knew about the island. It seemed likely that when Oritan had constructed the magical defenses for the island, they had likely set up some sort of control system, like the tower we'd encountered when traveling with the Coastal Trading Company. We believed the mage & the necromancer were very likely the same people that had imprisoned the druid. We know that the people that crafted the druid's chains were likely very powerful - at least he mage likely had significant standing with Oritan. Therefore, the mage had probably prepared for this expedition by being made the warden of the island. We didn't know if that was simply an amulet or some other talisman, or if it required a ritual in Oritan.

Saigarn was comfortable guarding the ship with his remaining A'aloss. We would head back to shore in one of the longboats; we could all still walk on water, but it would be a lot easier with the longboat to hold onto. I would meditate in the prow, resting as much as I could on the way, and would finish my hour of rest once we reached shore.

Brennen joined me to rest while Shatain went into town. She went to our old guide; he told her that there were legends of catacombs under the island. Many people came to search them out. Overall, about 20% of all the expeditions that came to the island didn't return; no one had returned reporting they'd found the catacombs.

Shatain kept asking questions, but Robert refused to keep providing information without payment. Shatain gave him 20 gold, with promise of more if we found the catacombs. Robert told us that at the end of the battle, he saw an enormous bird flew off the back of the ship. It had a huge wingspan, and seemed like it was flying heavy. He saw it land at the top of the lighthouse and disappear. He didn't know much about Oritan, but he knew they built things big; the lighthouse was right up their alley.

After dithering over the 80 gold before Shatain could check Robert's information, Shatain left him the 80 gold and promised she'd come back for it if the information was false. Robert provided a quickly sketched map. Shatain rejoined Brennen & I just as we were done resting.

We believed the druid could fend for herself; we would set out for the lighthouse right away. We would have to go several hours up the main path around the island, and then head north through the jungle to get to the top of the cliff where the lighthouse stood.

We saw man animals on the way; some of them might even be worth bringing back. We didn't waste our hours. We bypassed an area infested with some sort of spider. We reached the lighthouse without incident.

The lighthouse was beautifully built; there were gazebos, columns, and other outbuildings, with the jungle cleared back about 500'. There seemed to be an indirect flickering of light near the base of the lighthouse. All the structures were roofless except for the lighthouse itself.

Brennen & Shatain moved towards the light quietly, while I stayed back. Once they got close enough, they saw the light was coming from a metal sphere that was glowing with magical fire. It was sitting on a column; it seemed like the same thing that was keeping the lighthouse lit. Looking around, they saw charred skeletons in the ground. All the skeletons were within about 20'-30' of the sphere. And of course the sphere was 20' out in front of the door to the lighthouse. There were no animal skeletons; just humanoids. None of their gear was intact beyond scorched hide and twisted metal.

Finally they waved me in. I looked for magical writings - and found runes encircling the base of the tower, the base of the column, and at 4 points in a square around the column. I recognized the symbols - the sphere was a binding for some variety of fire elemental. Something that could definitely kill us. The elemental was bound to the sphere at the base and we believed one at the top; it could travel freely between them. Fire elementals were intelligent; it could be watching us and waiting for its best opportunity to strike.

Further examination of the runes indicated there was a magical key. The bearer of an appropriate talisman would be able to pass freely. We moved back from the edge of the area by about 50'-60'. I suggested we look for any evidence of underground passages or previous attempts to dig down. If we could find something, I might be able to create a corridor if there was stone down to it.

We did a brief reconnoiter of the area. Brennen was able to find some interesting signs. This area was built in a time when Oritan seemed to have more money than they knew what to do with; the area was built grandly. He guessed there was a major passageway leading deeper, and likely ventilation shafts somewhere.

I used a magical sensor to view the tops of the columns. There were no obvious vents, but there was definitely a pattern to the columns. The columns were of a variety of geometric shapes; all the circular ones seemed to have pigeon-holes. However, there was no evidence of bird habitation. Half of the open gazebos were circular, with these pigeon-holes. It was quite likely these were the ventilation shafts.

Shatain looked over the cliff edge, and noted a few promising divots in the face. Brennen secured the rope for her and Shatain clambered down. He found a small tunnel in the rock, about 1' across. It seemed to be a sewer pipe. We pulled her back up.

I settled down to rest and memorize a few spells to shape stone. Brennen examined all the columns. They all seemed to be exactly the same. Brennen used a rope & grappling hook to get to the top of one of the columns. The top was gently sloped; it wasn't a challenge to stay on it. The pigeon-holes were about 5-6" across, and there was definitely air going in and out, and an earthy smell.

After my rest, I put my sensor into the column. There was a central shaft, but it was only about 8" in diameter. I sent my sensor farther down; it ended about 15' underground in a domed room. There was another flaming sphere in the center. The dome was about 80' up from the floor. There were people in small alcoves around the edge of the room. They were in some kind of magical stasis. About 40% of the alcoves had occupants.

We decided to prepare for a fight with the elemental, but try to reason with it. We would promise to free the elemental or bring it the talisman that controlled the lighthouse's defenses. I rested, and then made Shatain able to speak its language. Also I prepared us with spells to resist fire, and improve our hit chance.

Shatain called to the 'firelord'. A 40' lord of fire appeared, with armor, shield, sword and crown. I knew that this was and elder fire elemental; our worst nightmare. Brennen & I were shaken for a moment, but Shatain was badly intimidated.

Even so, she made a good show of kneeling and speaking gracefully to the elemental. She offered to get the talisman from the mage & necromancer and unbind the elemental. The elemental changed to a serpentine form. Still looming over Shatain, he asked who she was. Shatain told him we were great heroes who had experience with the Oritan wizards, and were happy to unbind him if we could find the mage & necromancer.

The elemental did not trust Shatain's word. Shatain offered his demon-slaying short sword as proof of his good intentions. The elemental accepted the deal, with the promise that it would kill us all if we did not deliver. It took the sword, phased it into its own substance, and disappeared into the orb. The doors to the lighthouse opened.