After finishing their conversation with the remains of Captain Gregor, Edward decides to cast a spell into the Ring of Spell Storing held by Mornington. Following this he reaches into his pouch and retrieves his -now fiendish- Pearl of Power. It feels warm to the touch, and has done ever since his last conversation with Xarturas. He siphons its power to restore his arcane energy and a dark smoke starts to emit from the pearls surface. It gathers in a cloud on the ground, the glow of purple blooming within. Then, as the smoke clears, a hunched red figure is left in its wake. Brogmim has returned, and gives a snivelling appraisal of Edward as his superior. Crom raises an arm at the imp, feigning an attack, causing Brogmim to shriek and turn invisible. Edward asks if he will help, and if he knows anything of necromancy. Brogmim says he will help, and Edward gets him to take an inconspicuous form. So the imp transforms into a large spider, and crawls within Edwards collar, much to his discomfort.
The party begin to walk in the direction Gregor stated the robed men went. Moving along the flat perimeter of the iceberg, they keep their pace slow to not alert anyone, and increase their chances of spotting anything through the thick fog. Before long they spot a ship out at sea, but unlike the shipwrecks they have seen so far, this one is perfectly intact. After Mornington sends his Familiar Spook toward the ship, it appears to be void of any crew. Curious as to how this ship got here unscathed and calmly anchored, they use their folding boat to sail to it a mere 100ft away. The ship is quiet, no sign of any crew, and it's quite battered. Mornington recognises it to be a Guradam Hulk, a large vessel that has clearly seen better days. The sails have been crudely died in blacks and reds, the ships heavily scuffed, and any insignia has been removed or defaced. Amarion and Edward climb aboard while Mornington and Crom keep their boat next to an exterior ladder on the large vessel.
Amarion and Edward enter the captains quarters, in which they find a strongbox of coin that has some shards of purple crystal within. Upon a table at the centre of the room is a map held to the table by an embedded dagger, It is a crude map, but it is clear what has been marked on it. Greenvale, the Shadowfell Portal (Thorned Grove), Dundel's Desecrated Iron Mine, New Cresthill, and their current location, in the heart of the Hourglass Sea. It is becoming clear that this ship may have recently transported Teo Ramu, and who knows how many others. As they leave Edward snatches the map while Amarion's back is turned.
Crom sees something through one of the oar ports, a thin figure and he worries there is someone beneath the deck after all. Mornington and Crom quickly get up to the deck and meet the others. They open the large cargo grate between the two masts and peer into the oar benches. Before them, row after row, sits a perfectly still skelton, each gripping an oar across their lap. They do not move, they do not react, empty sockets all staring in the same direction. The party quickly make a decision on what to do, they need to sink this ship, and the literal skeleton crew along with it. They quickly gather enough combustibles in the captain's quarters, and Edward produces a magical flame to light it.
Sailing back to the iceberg, the Necromancer's ship is ablaze behind them, radiating a soft glow through the fog in their surroundings. It will be gone soon, and with it, the means of escape for the wanted mage and his morally corrupt crew.
Back on the ice, the party continue walking the perimeter, wary that there could be eyes on the burning ship, and worse, on them. They soon find a cave entrance in the ice, and approach with caution. Once again, Spook is used as a scouting party. Once inside, he spots a sentry, a robed figure wielding a rusted spear. However, the figure is alerted by the flapping of Spook's wings, and moves forward gripping its weapon. Spook retreats, and in his place the party barrell forward.
They engage with the sentry, who has sallow grey skin and wears only dark cultist robes, barely enough for the freezing temperatures. Crom rages and rushes up to strike, the dark essence of his shadow maul leeches into an identical essence that pulls from the cultists silhouette, and before he knows it, the figure passes through the maul unscathed. As the others move up they see the gaunt face of their opponent, and the glow of red within its eye sockets. Edward struggles to get a clear line of sight for his eldritch blast as the others have closed in to melee range around the target. A few strikes are landed and they can see there are more robed figures within, one of which moves to run down a tunnel away from the party, likely to get reinforcements.
Amarion, with Dawn Reach in hand, slashes his longsword aggressively across the cultist's neck. Radiant light burns through the creature's flesh as its head is launched away from the strike, tumbling across the ground mere moments later.
The party advance down the tunnel as a second cultist meets them in combat, they know not the scale of resistance they may yet face, within The Frozen Isle.
Next Session 96
Previous Session 94